FIFA

Moscow If football is nothing but 22 men chasing the rawhide sphere, then art is the result of eccentric, observant men and women with a paintbrush and easel and much time to spare, while dance is all about limbs thrown around in random angles that serve no conceivable function. There is much that meets the […]

Russia They tell you it’s about who wants it more. It’s not. You don’t get to a World Cup semifinal — via a combined three penalty shootouts — if you don’t want it desperately, as much as the air you breathe and the affection you crave. Nobody could look the players from England or Croatia […]

Russia The English youngsters – the second youngest squad in this World Cup – were not meant to have their date with destiny in the land of Gogol – not yet. The temerity of Gareth Southgate to leave the established names of the club games for a more youth-driven, team-centric approach was a means to […]

Moscow Two nations who have been waiting years to put right the bitter memories of World Cup semifinal defeats will face each other on Wednesday in Moscow with the chance to finally go one step further. England’s last appearance at this stage was in 1990 when they lost in a penalty shootout to West Germany […]

THE World Cup was already in tatters before the start of the quarter-final phase, and the stage was set for Brazil to pick up the pieces. But the shocks kept coming and so too did a historic first. Belgium stunned Brazil in a 2-1 upset in Kazan on Saturday morning (AEST) — two first half goals […]

After a decade of duopoly, the FIFA-run vote to crown football’s best player finally seems open to third parties after Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo left the World Cup early. Neymar must help Brazil lift the trophy next week if he wants to join the greats, according to the World Cup winner who first took […]

Moscow At a World Cup rocked repeatedly by the fall of giants, Brazil and Belgium have managed to hold firm in the maelstrom and will meet in a blockbuster quarterfinal in Kazan on Friday. Most pre-tournament modelling has been put through the shredder by the eliminations of traditional heavyweights like Germany and Spain. However, the clash of the fancied […]

60 years since Pele became the fourth teenager to score multiple goals in a FIFA World Cup™ game, Kylian Mbappe became the fifth. 48 years had passed since a team had overturned a two-goal deficit and won a knockout-phase match at the World Cup until Belgium rallied to stun Japan 3-2. The last had been West Germany, who came from two goals down to […]

Moscow You are huddled in the centre circle along with your teammates and Michael Krohn-Dehli has just scored for Denmark; you have to make that long walk to the penalty area next and unless you score, your team is probably going out in yet another Round of 16 encounter at the FIFA World Cup. The […]