World Cup

France hosted the FIFA World Cup in 1998, a tournament that they would go on to win in emphatic style. Their opening game against South Africa showed the world just how good Zidane and co could be. South Africa were certainly not the biggest test that the French would face in their route to the […]

Ever heard a mosquito buzzing around your ear? It’s annoying, right? Now imagine a couple more. Now imagine a whole swarm of mosquitoes, all buzzing loudly, so intrusive and incessant that it slowly drives you mad. Yup, that level of annoying. That was the soundtrack to every moment of World Cup 2010, the first World […]

No, Brazil don’t have a player named Boyd, or Boydinho, for that matter. The Boyd that won it for Brazil, in the opening match of the 1998 World Cup in France, was actually an own goal by Celtic right back Tom Boyd. But let’s not get too ahead of ourselves. I’ll back up a little. […]

The 2006 World Cup was truly memorable from start to finish. Everyone remembers the way it concluded, Italy winning a tense penalty shoot-out shortly after “that” Zinedine Zidane head butt. But eleven years on (yes, it really has been that long), not many people remember the opening game of the tournament. That is essentially the […]

Summer 2017, no World Cup, no European Championships, not even a lousy Copa America. There is a Confederations Cup, but quite frankly, who cares? It could be played out in my back garden and I wouldn’t bother to open the curtains. I love the World Cup, to me, it’s the best sporting spectacle in the […]

The Brazilian national football team has qualified for every FIFA World Cup, winning the tournament on five occasions, more than any other national football team. Their record in the Olympics, however, has not been nearly as good. They have been inconsistent in qualification, with second-place being all they could manage until 2016, where they finally […]

When you think back to France 98, there are a few memories that jump to life. The entertaining French team that won the tournament, England losing to Argentina on penalties, and the Ronaldo fiasco which seemed to dominate the final. However, I wonder how many of us still remember the Croatian team who were making […]

The European champions had a very important match to get rid of any possible ghosts of past failed qualifications with a very solid win against a Hungary that was not able to replicate the troubles they had protagonized last June. With a specially in-form Cristiano Ronaldo soon the offensive avalanche that the Seleccao das Quinas […]

Venezuela vs Peru – Maturin, Venezuela (2-2) The Peruvian national team had lost every game in Venezuela since the start of the century (4 qualifiers, 1 Copa America). While it is an improvement over the last few matches in Venezuela, La Blanquiroja saw this game as a must-win and will be disappointed to come away […]

What is old is new again with the U.S. national team as Bruce Arena returned to the bench in the Yanks World Cup qualifier against Honduras. The match was the former manager’s first meaningful match back after replacing Jurgen Klinsmann and the stakes were high. With two embarrassing losses to begin qualifying in the CONCACAF […]

An expanded FIFA World Cup: a promise made by Giovanni Infantino when he confirmed his candidacy for the position of the FIFA president on 26th October 2015. On 26 February 2016, he was elected FIFA president for a tenure of 3 years. As Giovanni Infantino was elected president, a big and bold new came along […]

Sunday night sees the final games being played of the international break and with that comes Germany’s away tie in Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan really are minnows of European football having never qualified for a major tournament in their history of European football. Having no extraordinary players will not help carry them to this feat in the […]

June 22nd 2016. Portugal and Hungary faced off in a decisive match to determine who would qualify in Group F of the European Championship in France. Hungary was the less pressured side for the match, as with the previous results they knew qualification was in their bag and a draw would be enough to guarantee […]

Venezuela vs Peru – Maturin (March 23rd) Peru will want to get back on track after losing at home to Brazil 2-0. Peru are 5 points behind 5th placed team Argentina, but will look to get the 6 points in this international break as the dream for Russia 2018 is far from over. However, Venezuela […]

Every time I switch on the news these days or read the newspapers, there is often some really scary story about North Korea, ranging from nuclear bombs being tested to members of the ruling leader Kim Jong Un’s family being killed with a deadly poison at an airport. But, there was a brief moment in […]

Goodison Park 1966. I can’t speak for the rest of the country but for a 10-year-old boy living in Liverpool, I like all of my friends at primary school, was gripped by World Cup fever. None of my friends had been lucky enough to get tickets for any of the World Cup games to be […]