Tag: Sports

Bader Al-Mutawa is regarded as one of Kuwait’s finest goalscorers He participated in all five of his side’s Qatar 2022 qualifying games The captain discusses his squad’s desire to return to a position of regional prominence Kuwaiti people remain proud that their national team led the way in putting Arabic football on the map in Asia, first by winning the… Read More

The Azteca is one of the world’s most revered football stadiums It has hosted a record 19 FIFA World Cup matches and two Finals It wowed Pele and Pope John Paul II ‘The Game of the Century’ ‘The Goal of the Century’ The canonisation of ‘The Beautiful Team’ The most deafening roar in football history The global breakout of the… Read More

Evgeny Lovchev reveals his nerves going into the Opening Match at Mexico 1970 He admits the Soviet Union coach pulled a trick to protect his player from the heat Lovchev raves about Pele and Brazil The legendary Estadio Azteca in Mexico City, which has hosted a FIFA World Cup™ Final on two occasions, is currently celebrating its 50-year anniversary. One… Read More

adidas has provided the official FIFA World Cup ball for 50 years The Telstar debuted at Mexico 1970 It changed football design forever “The secret of football lies in the ball,” West Germany legend Uwe Seeler once said, echoing the thoughts of billions of fans. It is no wonder, then, that the FIFA World Cup™ is one of the biggest… Read More

Diminutive Teruhito Nakagawa was the J.League’s player of the season He scored fifteen times to fire Yokohama to a drought-breaking title win “It is one of my goals to play at the World Cup” Fifteen goals plus ten assists last season. The J.League’s 2019 Most Valuable Player, as well as joint-leading marksman. The raw statistics illustrate what an effective attacker… Read More

Opening of FIFA video archive allowed fans to enjoy 35 premieres across nine weeks 32 full games re-broadcast, three Official FIFA Films aired on YouTube for free 750,000 votes cast on Twitter by fans to choose which matches were shown During unprecedented times of global isolation, FIFA’s digital archive was opened up with the #WorldCupAtHome campaign, and fans from across… Read More

Argentina legend Daniel Passarella​ turns 67 today He captained La Albiceleste to World Cup glory on home soil Passarella: “When you’re handed the cup, you feel numb” This is how it feels to lift the FIFA World Cup™. An image of sheer bliss, its subject – Argentina’s conquering captain, Daniel Passarella – was able to give a graphic description of… Read More

Pat Bonner turns 60 today He is still stunned by the impact of his penalty save against Romania He believes Republic of Ireland’s Italy 1990 campaign brought the nation together Throughout the world, there are footballers destined to be forever remembered for one solitary moment. For the unlucky ones, that can mean an otherwise glittering career being completely overshadowed by… Read More

The Brazil 1950 draw unfolded 70 years ago today A few teams dropped out for different reasons Brazil, England, Italy and Uruguay were the four seeds In the centre of Rio de Janeiro, the then capital of Brazil, the Conference Hall of Itamaraty Palace was the venue chosen for the delegations from 14 countries to attend the draw for the… Read More

Gerald Phiri Jr is Malawi’s playmaker 26-year-old proved decisive in African qualifiers for Qatar 2022 His father, Gerald Phiri Sr, is a household name in Malawian football Although Malawi have never participated in a FIFA World Cup™, hopes are rekindled every four years with the start of the African qualifiers for football’s flagship event. The road to Qatar 2022 was… Read More