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 […]
A true symbol of pride in his country, Son Heung-min leads South Korea in his fourth World Cup. And if you ask any random football fan, they couldn’t be happier for the game’s nicest guy. A big part of his journey is Son Woong-jung, his father, who also played football but was forced to retire at the age of […]
“I did not think I would be playing at 40,” admits Edin Dzeko. But here he is. Not just playing but getting ready to captain Bosnia and Herzegovina at the 2026 World Cup, coming into the tournament fresh off a title win with Schalke in Germany. If you had asked Edin Dzeko ten years ago if he would still […]
Who says wining and dining someone to get what you want does not work?Well, at least, it did in the case of the USMNT and Monaco’s Folarin Balogun. And after his brace in the U.S 4-1 win against Paraguay in their World Cup opening group game, the higher-ups at the US Soccer Federation will be all smiles, patting each […]
Dick Advocaat was visibly emotional on the bench ahead of Curaçao’s World Cup debut. He became the oldest manager in FIFA World Cup history at the age of 78 years and 260 days when he led Curaçao against Germany on 14 June 2026, beating out the Czech Republic’ s Miroslav Koubek who had claimed the record a few days […]
Thomas Partey will not be allowed to play matches for Ghana in Canada after losing an appeal in Ottawa following his visa denial. Ottawa denied the Villarreal player a visa over rape charges in Britain, preventing him from playing for Ghana in their 1-0 win against Panama on Wednesday at the Toronto Stadium. The Villarreal midfielder was charged with […]
Brazil national team manager Carlo Ancelotti has revealed that superstar forward Neymar will still be unavailable for their second group game, as he is not up to full fitness. Neymar’s inclusion in Ancelotti’s 26-man World Cup squad announcement on May 18th was a hot topic for debate in Brazil and worldwide. Many Brazilians believed Ancelotti was contradicting himself when […]
After watching Portugal crash out of the 2022 World Cup in a 1-0 defeat to Morocco, there was a feeling that we had seen Cristiano Ronaldo for the very last time on football’s biggest stage. He only managed one goal throughout that tournament – penalty in their Group H opener against Ghana – and it’s fair to say he […]
There are football stories that inspire. There are football stories that entertain. And then there are football stories that remind us why dreams matter. This is one of those stories. Before the roaring stadiums, before the professional contracts, before the World Cup spotlight and the comparisons to football’s biggest stars, there was a little girl in Abidjan who believed […]