Illustration by Federico Manasse The 1982 World Cup may just have boasted more great teams, players and matches than any other since. Champions Italy, the brilliant France of Platini, Giresse and Tigana,…
Tag: world cup
Illustration by Federico Manasse The Maradona of the Carpathians, Gheorghe Hagi is a complex character. There is a dividing line between the hero of the masses he undoubtedly was in Romania, and…
Illustration by Federico Manasse Xavi Hernández departed the pitch for the final time as a Barcelona player, filled with emotion. It was bittersweet for the then-35-year-old, who departed for Qatar in 2015…
The brutality was as effective as it was violent. The claustrophobia inflicted on his opponents was stifling to the point of suffocation. Reputations were swept away as easily as a standing leg…
Watching it back now, as Néstor Araujo’s half-hearted clearance on the edge of the 18-yard box sees the ball squirt out towards New Zealand’s Clayton Lewis 30 yards from goal, Chris Wood…
Many argue that the expansion of the World Cup to 48 teams in 2026 will kill the tournament’s drama. Only time will tell if that will actually be the case, but if it…
Kingston: 16 November 1997. The National Stadium is heaving as 35,000 Jamaicans unite in bustling prayer. The opponents are Mexico and the prize is a place at the 1998 World Cup in France.…
In July 2014, goalkeeper Tim Howard became a worldwide sensation overnight after more than 10 years as one of America’s leading elite athletes. His record-breaking 15 saves for the United States in…
With Real Madrid grabbing the Champions League crown and all of Europe’s domestic leagues over, the focus shifts to the international stage. Through friendlies and qualifiers, teams test and rotate their line-ups…
The Round of 16 at the 2009 FIFA Under-20 World Cup in Egypt; the group stage in the 2013 FIFA Under-17 World Cup that took place in the United Arab Emirates; no…
THEY HAVE ALWAYS BEEN THE UNDERDOG, fighting against the odds, punching above their weight and instilling hope in a nation which has often been in desperate need of some. Northern Ireland’s appearance…
No, it wasn’t anything like the 6-1 humiliation from 2009, but Argentina’s recent 2-0 loss to Bolivia in La Paz was a setback for a group of guys that can only be…
Illustration by Federico Manasse “It’s going to need a bandage, love.” Brilliant, just what I was hoping for. It’s September 1986 and I was just about to start my second season with Hornsea…
WHEN IGOR VRABLIC bundled the ball over the Honduras goal-line for Canada at King George V Park in St John’s, Newfoundland one cold Saturday afternoon in September 1985, he stepped into Canadian…
When Chile travelled to Brazil to see who would head to Italia 90, few could’ve predicted the things Roberto Rojas would do to make it happen
When Brazilians think of Belo Horizonte, a depressing image and scoreline crosses their mind, especially in recent World Cup memory. But as Dunga’s replacement, Tite, walked across the touchline last November in…
ANÍBAL RUIZ COULD sense something special within the Paraguay camp. Days before the 2006 World Cup was set to begin, Ruiz, a Uruguay-born tactician who took over the Paraguay reigns, was convinced…
ASK A FOOTBALL EXPERT about the powerhouses of Asian football and the answers would be familiar: Australia, South Korea, Iran and Japan. Uzbekistan may not be on that list, but its history…