It was a brutal exit from Euro 2020 for Switzerland. Spain scraped through on penalties after a game where, I think it’s fair to say, almost nothing went the way of the Swiss. For starters, Captain and talisman Granit Xhaka, who had been so influential in the previous round, was suspended. Things quickly got more…

The first European Cup was held in 1955 and the European Championships followed five years later, yet only nine players have ever won both tournaments in the same year. However, today, Italy’s Jorginho or Mason Mount, Recce James or Ben Chilwell of England have the opportunity to add their names to the list.    To…

Since 2015, Syria have jumped from 155th to 78th in the FIFA/Coca-Cola Men’s Rankings…   Little over a year ago, FIFA visited Syria for the first time since 2012. They combined this visit with the mission to “assess the country’s footballing situation” for the first time in eight years. Additionally, when FIFA announced this on…

Many facts about the men’s European Championships are well-known, like that it started in 1960 and Cristiano Ronaldo is the all-time top-scorer with 14 goals. However, you may not be aware of the individual Golden Boot winners in each edition since the European Nations Cup as it was initially known started 60 years ago with…

Whether it’s heart attacks or fistfights, historic speeches or cathartic rants, the halftime dressing room is a lion’s den…    They say football is a game of two halves but that short interval between when the players traipse back to the dressing room is often overlooked amidst the excitement of the game. This is where…

As the 2020/21 European football campaign draws to a close for the summer, the upcoming 2021/22 season will once again bring with it, new hopes, expectations, surprises, disappointment amongst many other emotions for football fans everywhere. It is also noteworthy that 2021/22 will be the first time in 23 years that a new football season…

This is part two of a series on the best moments of the UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup. To read “Part 1: Slovan Bratislava 1968/69,” click here.   Glasgow’s two main football teams, Celtic and Rangers, share a long-standing rivalry going back over a century. Rangers may have more league titles (55), but when it comes…

Eric Cantona was an enigma. He was one of the few footballers who embraced the essence of being ‘crazy’ and revelled in his image of being a ‘rebel’. Because of his actions, Cantona acquired the tag of being a ‘journeyman’ who changed clubs as a result of his longing for a place which he could…

Paris Saint-Germain are known for a lot of reasons. Their dominance in the French league, their entertaining collapses in the Champions League, their willingness to dump a mere €402 million on two attacking players despite having a midfield that’s overrun every time they face decent opposition, and of course, their infamous ultras.    Known as…

In football, there are an elite set of teams within which a philosophy of refusing to settle for second best is instilled within their roots and fortified by their fanbase. In Scotland, a seemingly respectable second place would be deemed as humiliation by both Celtic and Rangers and only the fierce Glasgow rivals. When it…