For years, Erling Haaland dominated club football while the FIFA World Cup remained beyond his reach. Now, the game’s most prolific goalscorer has finally arrived on football’s grandest stage. Their last appearance was a round of 16 exit in France in 1998 – approximately two years before he was born – and he is looking to take all that […]
Since making his senior international debut in November 2017 against Saudi Arabia, Bruno Fernandes has evolved into one of Portugal’s most influential players. He has evolved as a key figure in the team, alongside Cristiano Ronaldo and the country’s new generation of stars, thanks to his creativity, passing range, leadership, and eye for goal. Bruno Fernandes is a creative […]
One of the most recognizable goalkeepers in the competition’s history, Mexico’s Guillermo Ochoa has become synonymous with the World Cup. There is a joke that he only spawns into existence every four years when the Mundial comes around and no one knows his club side at that moment. That’s how much of an imprint he has made throughout his […]
Without any trophies to show for it, James Rodríguez has enjoyed one of the greatest international careers in the history of the Colombia national team. While his club career has been marked by ups and downs, he has almost always produced his best football in a Colombia shirt, becoming the face of the national team for more than a […]
After lifting the World Cup trophy for Argentina and securing his crowning moment, it seemed the perfect time to end a fulfilled international career, as was the thought of many. End the story with the trophy that eluded him the most and brought heartache on numerous occasions, most notably in 2014. But Lionel Messi is back at the World […]
Nine goals in his first 50 caps, four goals in his last three. The significance of the last three caps is that they have been World Cup games. Vinicius Jr could not have asked for anything better than delivering at the biggest stage. His international career up to a few days ago has been heavily dissected and criticized. He […]
Kevin De Bruyne’s last twelve months have not gone as planned. Few players of his stature are accustomed to uncertainty. Yet the past year has presented one of the greatest footballers of his generation with challenges he could scarcely have anticipated. The former Manchester City’s Midfield conductor’s debut season at Napoli was cut short in October by a hamstring […]
Football was an escape for Luka Modric, a compulsion during the difficulties of his teenage years, his family displaced from their ancestral village. Modric grew up as a refugee in Zadar, his family members were victims of the Yugoslav Wars that claimed more than a hundred thousand lives. Modric’s grandfather was one of the victims executed by Serb rebels […]
Few World Cup journeys have begun with a LinkedIn message. Fewer still have started with a message that went unread for nine months. Yet that unlikely sequence of events would ultimately change the life of Roberto “Pico” Lopes and help shape one of Cape Verde’s greatest football stories. Roberto “Pico” Lopes was born in Crumlin, Ireland to a Cape […]
Few players have arrived at a FIFA World Cup carrying as much anticipation as Lamine Yamal. Still only 18, the Barcelona and Spain sensation has already established himself as the most captivating young talent in world football and one of the game’s most influential performers. At Euro 2024, his debut international competition, Lamine Yamal was a 16-year-old schoolboy who […]
