Emerging from this week with unity over Fifa’s World Cup sell off was quite an acheivement but Europe cannot rest on its laurelsIt was a phrase not always heard when Europe’s football associations discuss a pressing issue....
Read MoreAfter lifting the trophy 60 years ago, some still supplemented their income by performing in working men’s clubs and as after dinner speakersWith each passing World Cup I am reminded of the times I spent in the company of those...
Read MoreIf you thought the 2026 tournament was sprawling, think again with six host countries over three continents getting involved in four years’ timeIf the 2026 World Cup was the tournament’s largest edition yet – featuring 48 teams...
Read MoreIf you thought the 2026 tournament was sprawling, think again with six host countries over three continents getting involved in four years’ timeIf the 2026 World Cup was the tournament’s largest edition yet – featuring 48 teams...
Read MoreAfter his dubious intervention at the World Cup, the president is now an arbiter of high-level fairway disputes. There’s one word for that: SAD! For so many of us around the world, the final scenes of the World Cup were a chance...
Read MorePicture editor Jonny Weeks has created a rapid audio-visual review of the tournament featuring key moments, colourful fans … and the precious trophy. This video contains flashing images and an audio track.Top 30: from half...
Read MoreGame’s greatest player will not see his legacy sullied by defeat to Spain but his team’s display destroyed the gamePlaying on the grandest stage in sport for the last time, Lionel Messi seemed almost certain to provide one last...
Read MoreIt zipped along, cramming in Shakira, Madonna and Coldplay, but football fans may not be convinced of need for this mid-match spectacleLike hydration breaks and Donald Trump’s ability to get refereeing decisions overturned by...
Read MoreA tournament with more teams and more games has been filled with euphoria, heartbreak, and these weird and wonderful viral momentsAs a Japanese supporter exclaimed to a television camera, “Texas is good, everything is big”, we...
Read MoreDanny Murphy’s decision to start talking about his deceased cat will haunt the rest of his career while Christina Unkel’s referee analysis was no-nonsense and to the pointThe final may be Argentina v Spain, but ardent media...
Read MoreLook beyond the flashpoints and flare-ups and perhaps this is the greatest and most romantic of footballing rivalriesIt’s about the ball, right up until the moment it isn’t. On Sunday afternoon Godoy Cruz played Defensores de...
Read MoreDecades after the Falklands war and Maradona’s ‘Hand of God’ goal, the fixture is once again being discussed as far more than a gameWhen Argentina’s national football team burst into the dressing room after beating Switzerland...
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