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The UEFA Champions League, Europa League, & Conference League Draw

written by footieguy71

In this article we will take a look at the recent UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, and UEFA Europa Conference League Draw’s which took place on Monday the 18th of December 2023.

UEFA Champions League – Round of 16

With the eight groups complete, the eight winners will enter the draw as the seeded teams to face-off against the eight runner-ups.

The first legs will be played on Tuesday the 13th of February, Wednesday the 14th of February, Tuesday the 20th of February and Wednesday the 21st of February. The second legs will take place on Tuesday the 5th and Wednesday the 6th of March, and Tuesday the 12th and Wednesday the 13th of March 2024.

Porto vs Arsenal

Napoli vs Barcelona

Paris Saint-Germain vs Real Sociedad

Inter Milan vs Atletico Madrid

PSV Eindhoven vs Borussia Dortmund

Lazio vs Bayern Munich

FC Copenhagen vs Manchester City

RB Leipzig vs Real Madrid

There are some interesting games ahead in the UCL Round of 16 with the Napoli versus Barcelona looking to be the standout game, looking at the draw the big  teams should be reasonably confident with PSG, Bayern Munich and Man City all getting favourable draws – on paper.

UEFA Europa League – Round of 16 Playoffs

The UEFA Europa League format sees the eight group winners going directly into the Round of 16, with the eight runner-ups facing off against the eight third placed teams from the UEFA Champions League in the Round of 16 Playoffs.

These games will take place on Thursday the 15th of February 2024, and Thursday the 22nd of February 2024.

Feyenoord vs Roma

AC Milan vs Rennes

Lens vs Freiburg

Young Boys vs Sporting

Benfica vs Toulouse

Sporting Braga vs Qarabag

Galatasaray vs Sparta Prague

Shakhtar Donetsk vs Marseille

The playoff round for the Europa League took place and for me the standout was Feyenoord v Roma. The rest of the games look fairly even with the biggest team being AC Milan, who should be confident of getting through

The draw for the Round of 16 will take place on the 23rd of February 2024.

 

UEFA Europa Conference League – Round of 16 Playoffs

Similar to the UEFA Europa League, the UEFA Conference League format sees the eight group winners going directly into the Round of 16, with the eight runner-ups facing off against the eight third placed teams from the UEFA Europa League in the Round of 16 Playoffs.

These games will take place on Thursday the 15th of February 2024, and Thursday the 22nd of February 2024.

Sturm Graz vs Slovan Bratislava

Servette vs Ludogorets

Union Saint-Gilloise vs Eintracht Frankfurt

Real Betis vs Dinamo Zagreb

Olympiacos vs Ferencvaros

Ajax vs Bodo/Glimt

Molde vs Legia Warsaw

Maccabi Haifa vs Gent

Hard to pick any stand out games in this competition at this stage, although Ajax are worth watching as are Real betis

The draw for the Round of 16 will take place on the 23rd of February 2024.

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Lists

List of National Teams nickname

written by footieguy71

Team Nickname notes
Afghanistan Team Melli meaning “the National Team” in Persian
Albania Kuqezijte “the Red and Blacks” in Albanian
Algeria Les Fennecs The Desert Foxes in French
American Samoa Au Filli “the National Team” in Samoan
Andorra la Seleccio Tricolor “the Tricolor Selection” in Catalan
Angola Os Palancas Negras The Black Antelopes in Portuguese
Anguilla “the Rainbow Warriors” or “the Soccer Dolphins”
Antigua and Barbuda the Wadadi Boyz Wadadi is a local dance
Argentina la Albiceleste “the White and Sky Blues” in Spanish
Armenia Azgayin Havaqakan “the National Team” in Armenia
Aruba La Selección “the Selection”
Australia the Socceroos a hybrid word from Soccer and Kangaroo
Austria Wunderteam meaning the Wonder Team
Azerbaijan Odlar Yurdu Komandasi “the Team from the Land of Fire” in Azeri
Bahamas the Rake and Scrape Boys
Bahrain Al Theeb Al Ahmar meaning “the Red Wolves” in Arabic
Bangladesh Jatyia Dol “the National Team” in Bengali
Barbados Bajan Pride Bajan is a popular team for citizens of Barbados
Belarus Belyia kryly which means “White wings”.
Belgium les Diables Rouges / Rode Duivels meaning ‘the Red Devils’ in French and Dutch
Belize The Jaguars
Benin Les Ecureuils The Squirrels in French
Bermuda the Gombey Warriors
Bhutan the Yellow Dragons also Druk XI (“the Dragons XI” in Dzongkha)
Bolivia La Verde La Verde means ‘The Green’ or to some ‘The Green Pasture’
Bosnia-Herzegovina Zmajevi
(“The Dragons”)		 “Zmajevi” means “The Dragons”.
Botswana Dipitse (“The Zebras”) meaning “The Zebras” in the Tswana lanuage
Brazil Canarinho, or Seleção Canarinho means ‘little canary’, and Seleção means The Selection/Team (in Portuguese).
British Virgin Islands the Nature Boyz
Brunei Darussalam Tebuan meaning “The Wasps” or “the Hornets” in Malay.
Bulgaria Lavovete “the Lions” in Bulgarian
Burkina Faso les Etalons the Stallions” in French
Burundi les Hirondelles – Intamba Mu Rugamba “the Swallows” in French and Kirundi
Cambodia Krom Chumreswcheit “the National Team” in Khmer
Cameroon Lions indomitables meaning Indomitable Lions in French
Canada the Canucks Canucks is a slang term for Canadians.
Cape Verde Tubaroes Azuis “the Blue Sharks” in Portuguese.
Cayman Islands Cayman Islands Team
Central African Republic les Faons d’Ubangui
Chad les Sao
Chile La Roja The Reds in Spanish
China Team China – Zhong Guo Dui,
Chinese Taipei Zhong Hua Dui “China Team” in Chinese
Colombia Los Cafeteros meaning The Coffee Growers in Spanish.
Comoros les Coelecantes “the Coelecanths” in French, a prehistoric fish once believed to be extinct but which has reappeared off the coast of Comoros
Congo les Diables Rouges “the Red Devils” in French
Congo DR Les Léopards / The Leopards
Cook Islands Soka Kuki Airani “the National Team” in Maori, the Green and Whites
Costa Rica Los Ticos Spanish slang for natives of Costa Rica.
Cote d’Ivoire Les Éléphants The Elephants (in French), due to their part in the 19th century Ivory trade
Croatia Vatreni meaning Fiery boys.
Cuba la Tricolor meaning “the Tricolors” (in Spanish).
Curaçao ?
Cyprus I Galanolefki “the White and Blues” in Greek
Czechia Lokomotiva The Locomotive.
Denmark Danish Dynamite
Djibouti les Riverains de la Mer Rouge the Young Red Sea in French
Dominica Dominica Team
Dominican Republic los Quisqueyanos a slang term for Dominicans in Spanish
Ecuador la Tri, or la Tricolor the Tricolor in Spanish
Egypt the Pharaohs
El Salvador Los Guanacos or La Selecta “Guanaco” is Spanish slang for citizens of El Salvador
England the Three Lions
Equatorial Guinea la Nzalang Nacional “the National Lighting” (in Fang).
Eritrea Red Sea Camels
Estonia Sinisargid “the Blues” in Estonian
Eswatini Sihlangu Semnikati “the Shield of His Majesty” in Swazi
Ethiopia Walyas a species of wild goat
Faroe Islands Landslidid “the National Team” in Faroese
Fiji Bula Boys Bula is a fijian greeting.
Finland Huuhkajat Huuhkajat means “The Eagle-Owls” in Finnish.
France les Bleus meaning ‘the blues’ in French
Gabon Les Panthères meaning “the Panthers” in French
Gambia the Scorpions
Georgia Jvarosnebi meaning “the Crisaders” in Georgian.
Germany Die Nationalmannschaft, or Die Nationalelf meaning ‘The National Team’, ‘The National Eleven’ (in German).
Ghana the Black Stars a reference to the black star on Ghana’s flag
Greece I Galanolefki translates as “the Sky Blue and White team” in Greek
Grenada the Spice Boyz
Guam Matao
Guatemala el Equipo Chapin “Chapin” is Spanish slang for a citizen of Guatemala.
Guinea Syli Nationale the National Elephants.
Guinea-Bissau os Djurtus Creole for a species of fox
Guyana The Golden Jaguars, the Guy Stars
Haiti les Bicolores les Bicolores means “the Bicolors” in French.
Honduras Los Catrachos Catracho is Spanish slang for a citizen of Honduras, therefore meaning ‘the Hondurans’.
Hong Kong Hong Kong Team
Hungary Valogatott “the National Team” in Hungarian.
Iceland Strakamir Okkar “Our Boys” in Icelandic
India Blue Tigers
Indonesia Merah Putih meaning “the Red and Whites”.
Iran Team Melli meaning the National Team (in Persian).
Iraq Osod Al Rafideen “the Lions of the Two Rivers” in Arabic
Israel Nivheret Hatchelet “the Sky Blue Team” in Hebrew
Italy Azzurri Azzurri is the plural of Azurro (Blue), therefore Azurri means “The Blues”.
Jamaica Reggae Boyz
Japan Samurai Blues also Nihon Daihy
Jordan Al Nashama “the Brave” in Arabic
Kazakhstan Kazakhstanskie barsy “the Snow Leopards” in Russian
Kenya the Harambee Stars “Harambee” means “We will work together” in Swahili
North Korea (Korea DPR) Chollima A Korean mythical horse, translates as “thousand-mile horse” and is portrayed as a mythical winged horse.
South Korea (Korea Republic) Asian Tigers or Taeguk Warriors also the Red Devils. The Taeguk symbol of two hands clasping is in the middle of the Korean flag.
Kuwait Al Azraq “the Blues” in Arabic
Kyrgyzstan Krasnaya Sbornaya “the Red Team” in Russian
Laos Thim Xad “the National Team” in Laos
Latvia Izlase “the National Team” in Latvian
Lebanon Al Aarz “the Team of Cedars” in Arabic
Lesotho the Likuena “the Crocodile” in Sesotho
Liberia the Lone Star
Libya Al Akhdar “the Greens” in Arabic
Liechtenstein Nati short for “Nationalmannschaft”, meaning “National Team” in German
Lithuania Rinktine “the National Team” in Lithuanian
Luxembourg D’Leiwen “the Lions”
Macau a Equipa Verde “the Green Team” in Portuguese
Macedonia (Republic of North) Црвени Рисови /
Crveni Risovi		 “The Red Lynx”.
Madagascar Bareas a species of zebu, which appears of the country’s coat of arms
Malawi the Flames the word “Malawi” itself means “flames” in Chichewa
Malaysia Harimau Malaysia “Malaysian Tigers”
Maldives Red Snappers The Red snapper is type of fish abundant in the waters around the Maldives.
Mali Les Aigles The Eagles in French
Malta Knights of St John
Mauritania les Mourabitounes after an ancient dynasty that ruled Mauritania
Mauritius Club M
Mexico el Tri / el Tricolor / Tricolores
Moldova Selectionata “the Selection” in Moldovan
Mongolia Blue Wolves
( Хөх чононууд )		 Blue Wolf is a symbol of Turkic and Mongolian people.
Montenegro Hrabri sokoli “The Brave Falcons” in Serbian
Montserrat the Emerald Boys
Morocco les Lions de l’Atlas, Atlas Lions “the Lions of Atlas” , named after the Atlas Mountains
Mozambique the Mambas poisonous snake
Myanmar White Angels “the National Team” in Myanmar
Namibia the Brave Warriors
Nepal Gorkhalis
Netherlands / Holland Oranje meaning ‘orange’ in Dutch
Netherlands Antilles e Selekshon “the Selection”
New Caledonia les Cagous French for the kagu bird that is native to New Caledonia.
New Zealand the All Whites The name All Whites is word play on the Rugby Union team nickname the All Blacks.
Nicaragua la Azul y Blanco meaning “the Blues and Whites”.
Niger the Mena a species of antelope
Nigeria the Super Eagles a reference to the Eagle in the country’s Coat of Arms.
Northern Mariana Islands Blue Ayuyus
Northern Ireland the Green and White Army
Norway Landslaget “the National Team” in Norwegian
Oman Al Ahmar “the Reds” in Arabic
Pakistan the Green and White Team
Palestine Al Muntakhab “the National Team” in Arabic
Panama Marea Roja “the Red Tide”. Also known as el Equipo Canalero (“the Canal Team”)
Papua New Guinea PNG Team – Nesenol Tim “the National Team” in Tok Pisin
Paraguay Guaraníes also La Albirroja (White and red in Spanish)
Peru la Blanquirroja “the White and Reds” in Spanish
Philippines Azkals Azkals is a stylized form of askal which is shortened from ‘asong kalye’, which literally means ‘street dog’ in Philipino (not ‘stray dog’).  Street dogs in the Philippines are wily, robust, and scrappy survivors. The team is also known as the “Tri-Stars” (From the three stars on their flag).
Poland Bialo-Czerwoni White-Reds (in Polish). Also Polskie Orly (“the Polish Eagles” in Polish)
Portugal Selecção das Quinas
Puerto Rico El Huracán Azul Spanish for “The Blue Hurricane”
Qatar Al Ennabi “the Crimsons” in Arabic
Republic of Ireland the Boys in Green
Romania Tricolorii Three Colored Ones
Russia Sbornaya
Rwanda Amavubi “the Wasps”
Samoa Manumea
San Marino la Serenissima “the Most Serene” in Italian
Sao Tome e Principe os Verde-Amarelos “the Green and Yellows” in Portuguese
Saudi Arabia Al Sogour Al Akhdar “the Green Hawks/Falcons” (in Arabic).
Scotland The Tartan Terriers The “Tartan Army” is also used, particularly in reference of Scotland’s fans.
Senegal Les Lions de la Teranga The Lions of Teranga / the Lions of Hospitality (in French).
Serbia Plavi the blue, or Orlovi
Seychelles the Pirates
Sierra Leone the Leones Stars
Singapore the Lions
Slovakia Repre In Slovakia the team is typically referred to as the Repre (Representation) or Národný tím (National team).
Slovenia Fantje Fantje translates as ‘the boys’. wikipedia says that Slovenia does not have a nickname.
Solomon Islands the Bonitos Bonito is a species of fish similar to tuna
Somalia the Ocean Stars
South Africa Bafana Bafana “the boys, the boys” in isiZulu.The name was coined by journalist Sibusiso Mseleku in 1992
Spain La Furia Roja meaning ‘The Red Fury’. Also la Seleccion (“the Selection” in Spanish).
Sri Lanka Brave Reds also sometimes known as Papandu Kandyama, which means “the National Team” in Sinhalese.
St Kitts and Nevis The Sugar Boyz
St Lucia The Piton
St Vincent and the Grenadines the Vincy Heat
Sudan Sokoor Al-Jediane Desert Hawks. Also the Nile Crocodiles
Suriname Natio Natio stands for the abbreviation of national, and national refers to national team. Other names that are used are A-Selektie, which means “the A Selection” in Dutch, and Suriboys.
Sweden Blågult the Blue and Yellows (in Swedish).
Switzerland Schweizer Nati, or just Nati meaning ‘The Nats’
Syria Al Ahmar the Reds” in Arabic
Tahiti Toa Aito
Tajikistan Dastai Muntakhabi “the National Team” in Tajik
Tanzania the Taifa Stars “Taifa” is Swahili for country.
Thailand ‘War Elephants’
Timor-Leste O Sol Nascente Meaning ‘The Rising Sun’ in Portugeuese. Also known as The Little Samba Nation and El Lafaek.
Togo les Eperviers the hawks or Sparrowhawks
Tonga Timi Fakafomua “the National Team” in Tongan
Trinidad & Tobago The Soca Warriors
Tunisia Les Aigles de Carthage The Eagles of Carthage
Türkiye / Turkey Ay Yıldızlılar (or Ay Yildiz) Crescent Stars
Turkmenistan Akhal-Teke means the Dark Horses
Turks and Caicos Islands TCI Team
Uganda the Cranes the bird which appears on their crest
Ukraine Zbirna or Sbirna
United Arab Emirates Al Sukoor “the Eagles” in Arabic
Uruguay Charrúas
US Virgin Islands The Dashing Eagle
USA The Stars and Stripes
Uzbekistan White Wolves (Oq boสปrilar/Oา  ะฑั pะธะปap)
Vanuatu the Men in Black and Gold
Venezuela la Vinotinto meaning “the Burgundies” in Spanish. They are also know by the names Los Llaneros (The Plainsmen) and La Remolacha Mecanica (The Clockwork Beet).
Vietnam Doituyen Qocdia “the National Team” in Vietnamese. Other names used are: Những chiến binh đỏ (The Red Warriors) and Ngôi sao vàng (The Golden Star).
Wales the Dragons
Yemen Al Yemen al Saeed “Happy Yemen” in Arabic
Zaire Leopards
Zambia Chipolopolo
Zanzibar Zanzibari Heroes
Zimbabwe The Warriors
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France

Over 25 amazing facts about Kylian Mbappé

written by footieguy71

Kylian Mbappé Lottin is a French professional footballer who plays as a forward for Ligue 1 club Paris Saint-Germain and the France national team. Considered one of the best players in the world, Mbappé is renowned for his dribbling abilities, exceptional speed, and finishing.

Born: 20 December 1998 (age 24 years), 19th arrondissement of Paris, Paris, France
Salary: 90.91 million EUR (2023)
Dates joined: 31 August 2017 (Paris Saint-Germain F.C.), 2017 (France national football team), 2015 (AS Monaco)
Height: 1.78 m
Current teams: Paris Saint-Germain F.C. (#7 / Forward), France national football team (#10 / Forward)
Parents: Fayza Lamari, Wilfried Mbappé
Weight: 73 kg

Facts

Kylian Mbappé Lottin was born on 20 December 1998

Mbappé began his senior club career in 2015 playing for Monaco, where he won the Ligue 1 title

In 2017, aged 18, Mbappé signed for Paris Saint-Germain on an eventual permanent transfer worth €180 million

At PSG he has won four Ligue 1 titles and three Coupes de France, and is the club’s second-highest all-time top goalscorer. So far.

At international level, Mbappé made his senior debut for France in 2017, at age 18

At the 2018 FIFA World Cup, Mbappé became the youngest French player to score at a World Cup, and became the second teenager, after Pelé, to score in a World Cup Final.

Geoff Hurst and Kylian Mbappé are the only men’s players to score a hat trick in a World Cup final

Only two scorers, Pelé and Kylian Mbappé, scored a World Cup finals goal as teenagers

Mbappé was named to the FIFA FIFPro World11 in 2018 and 2019

He has a younger brother, Ethan, who played for Paris Saint-Germain’s under-12 squad in 2018

At the 2022 FIFA World Cup, France finished as runners-up, with Mbappé scoring a hat-trick in the final, winning the tournament’s Golden Boot and Silver Ball

Mbappé has finished as the Ligue 1 top scorer for four seasons

Kylian Mbappé Lottin was raised in Bondy, Seine-Saint-Denis, a commune 10.9 km from the centre of Paris

His father, Wilfried, is originally from Cameroon, and, as well as being Mbappé’s agent, is a football coach

His mother, Fayza Lamari, is of Algerian Kabyle origin and is a former handball player

Growing up, his idols were Zinedine Zidane, Ronaldo Nazário, and Cristiano Ronaldo

Mbappé began his career at AS Bondy, coached by his father, Wilfried.

At age 14 he travelled to London after an invite from Chelsea, playing a match for their youth team against Charlton Athletic – boy that was a missed chance

He became Monaco’s youngest-ever first-team player aged 16 years and 347 days

On 20 February 2016, Mbappé scored his first goal for Monaco, a stoppage-time goal in a 3–1 win over Troyes; at the age of 17 years and 62 days, he became the youngest first team goalscorer in Monaco’s history

Mbappé has a sponsorship deal with sportswear and equipment supplier Nike.

His trademark goal celebration – posing with his arms folded and hands tucked under his armpits – was inspired by his younger brother Ethan who would celebrate in this manner when beating Kylian at FIFA

To date he has played 66 games for France scoring 36 goals

To date he has played 309 games in club football scoring 221 goals

Mbappe was chosen for the cover of the video game FIFA 2021.

After the World Cup in 2018, Mbappe gave all of his earnings – 400,000 euros to a children’s charity in France.

Just over four years after making his professional debut he had already amassed 87 million followers on Instagram

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World

The greatest player ever to play the game Pele dies

written by footieguy71

Well the worlds greatest player is gone.

Lets look at some bullet points first of achievements

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  • Pelé began playing for Santos at age 15 and the Brazil national team at 16.
  • He won three FIFA World Cups: 1958, 1962 and 1970, the only player to do so.
  • Pelé is the joint-top goalscorer for Brazil with 77 goals in 92 games.
  • He was Santos’s all-time top goalscorer with 643 goals in 659 games.
  • He led the club to the 1962 and 1963 Copa Libertadores, and to the 1962 and 1963 Intercontinental Cup.

Early Life

Pelé was born Edson Arantes do Nascimento on 23 October 1940 in Três Corações, Minas Gerais, the son of Fluminense footballer Dondinho and Celeste Arantes. Pelé has a street named after him in the city – Rua Edson Arantes do Nascimento. A statue of Pelé is also prominently placed in a plaza near the city’s downtown.

He was the elder of two siblings, and was named after the American inventor Thomas Edison. His parents decided to remove the “i” and call him “Edson”, but there was a typo on his birth certificate, leading many documents to show his name as “Edison”. He was originally nicknamed “Dico” by his family. He received the nickname “Pelé” during his school days, when, it is claimed, he was given it because of his pronunciation of the name of his favourite player, local Vasco da Gama goalkeeper Bilé, which he misspoke, but the more he complained the more it stuck.

In his autobiography, Pelé stated he had no idea what the name means, nor did his old friend

World Cup

He was an outstanding young talent in 1958 world cup, on 29 June 1958, Pelé became the youngest player to play in a World Cup final match at 17 years and 249 days. He scored two goals in that final as Brazil beat Sweden 5–2. He was unlucky to get injured in the 1962 world cup in only the second game of the tournament, in 1966 he was subjected to some disgraceful tackling and in particular against Portugal one of the worst decisions in World cup history left an injured Pele on the pitch because substitutions were not allowed.

He was going to quit international football but thankfully for history he played in one of the greatest, if not the greatest teams in World cup history. Brazil’s 1970 World Cup squad, which included players like Pelé, Rivelino, Jairzinho, Gérson, Carlos Alberto Torres, Tostão and Clodoaldo, is often considered to be the greatest football team in history. In terms of his goals and assists throughout the 1970 World Cup, Pelé was directly responsible for 53% of Brazil’s goals throughout the tournament

Club

Pelé’s goalscoring record is often reported by FIFA as being 1,281 goals in 1,363 games.

This figure includes goals scored by Pelé in friendly club matches, including international tours Pelé completed with Santos and the New York Cosmos, and a few games Pelé played in for the Brazilian armed forces teams during his national service in Brazil and the Selection Team of São Paulo State for the Brazilian Championship of States

Records

Now for some of his records

  • Joint-most goals for Brazil national football team: 77 (95 including unofficial friendlies) (tied with Neymar)[312
  • Highest goals-per-game ratio (0.84) of any South American top international scorer[314]
  • Highest goals-per-game ratio (2.33) of any leading scorer in the Intercontinental Cup
  • Most goals in the Intercontinental Cup: 7[315]
  • Most goals for Santos: 643 (in 659 competitive games)
  • Most goals scored in a single Campeonato Paulista season: 58 (in 38 competitive games,1958)
  • Most goals in a calendar year (including friendlies, recognised by FIFA): 127 (1959)
  • Most hat-tricks in world football: 92
  • Most hat-tricks for Brazil: 7
  • Most career goals in world football (including friendlies): 1,283 (in 1,363 games)
  • Most FIFA World Cup winners’ medals: 3 (1958, 1962, 1970)
  • Youngest winner of a FIFA World Cup: aged 17 years and 249 days (1958)
  • Youngest goalscorer in a FIFA World Cup: aged 17 years and 239 days (for Brazil vs Wales, 1958)
  • Youngest player to play in a FIFA World Cup Final: aged 17 years and 249 days (1958)
  • Youngest goalscorer for Brazil national football team: aged 16 years and nine months (Brazil vs Argentina, 1957)
  • First player to score in three successive FIFA World Cups
  • Most assists provided in FIFA World Cup history: 10 (1958–1970)
  • Most assists provided in a single FIFA World Cup tournament: 6 (1970)
  • Only player to reach 25 international goals as a teenager
  • Only player to score in a FIFA World Cup before turning 18
  • Only player to score a hat-trick in a FIFA World cup before turning 18
  • Only player to have scored a hat-trick in the Intercontinental Cup

The greatest of all time, if you can find the 1970 world cup matches with Brazil watch them – just brilliant. Just think about it – until he played the number 10 jersey was arguably not that important a number. Now its the number that most players want to wear – you could say its Pele that did this.

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World

Fifa World Cup 2022 – alternative awards

written by footieguy71

Here are some alternative awards for the Fifa World Cup 2022

Game of the tournament

It had to be the final, barring the 2019 version there have been a few poor finals

This was not one of these. 3 goals for Mbappe – 2 of them in a minute when France looked down and out, 2 goals for Messi, a tremendous team goal for Argentina scored by Di Maria. 3 penalties in normal/extra time – all of them converted

Finally, Argentina won the shoot out with some interesting gamesmanship by the Argentina goalie.

A game that befitted the occasion played out by 2 football powerhouses, fantastic stuff.

Player of the tournament

The narrative was about Lionel Messi and the nonsense about him not being a great unless he won the world cup. He did and his contribution to Argentina should not go unnoticed – a true legend who scored 7 goals and had 3 assists

Honorable mentions

Antoine Griezmann – a very good tournament where he looked back to his best

Kylian Mbappe – If France had won, he would probably been the player of the tournament

Best goal of the tournament

After first mis-controlling a pass from Vinicius Jr, Richarlison readjusted to brilliantly take the aerial route and fire in an acrobatic right-foot finish. A great goal.

I also thought his team goal against Serbia was a great move

Honorable Mentions

The Argentina 2nd goal in the final was a terrific move finished off

A couple of good free-kicks by Marcus Rashford and Luis Chavez

A rocket from Paik Seung-ho against Brazil in the round of 16 which was only a consolation

Biggest disappointment – Team

Oh boy there were a few teams that fell into this category

Germany – Did not get out of the group, lost to Japan which prove to be crucial. Another poor tournament.

Belgium – Failed to get of the group and this looks like the end for arguably one of the most talented teams who lets be fair underachieved in big tournaments

Denmark – Very poor tournament,a few people had them as dark horses – the went out by picking up only one point from three games in a group containing France, Australia and Tunisia.

For me it was Belgium

Biggest disappointment – Player

It looked one tournament to many for Cristiano Ronaldo, still a very good player and a legend but it didn’t quite work out for him at this tournament

He was replaced in the Round of 16 game against Switzerland and his replacement Goncalo Ramos scored a hat-trick and was very impressive.

I could also add in most of the German team, Belbium teams and Uruguay teams – full of good players, most of them underperformed but the headlines will go to Ronaldo

Story of the tournament

Messi is the obvious one but for me its Morocco. We knew they had a couple of top players like hakimi and ziyech but a relatively new manager and in a group with Croatio and Belgium.

They finished to top the group then beat Spain on penalties after a 0-0 draw, they then beat Portugal 1-0 and gave France a game in the semi final losing 2-1 but playing very well

A few players were propelled into the general publics eyes and I would be surprised if a few moves to other clubs didn’t happen – especially the Goalkeeper Bounou and Sofyan Amrabat

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World

Lionel Messi – GOAT status confirmed

written by footieguy71

Would you believe  that a lot of football fans doubted Lionel Messi because he had not won the World Cup with Argentina. If there was any doubt that has been dispelled for good but lets look at his stats

Lets look at the list of honours – a quite staggering array of them

List of honours

Barcelona

  • La Liga: 2004–05, 2005–06, 2008–09, 2009–10, 2010–11, 2012–13, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2017–18, 2018–19
  • Copa del Rey: 2008–09, 2011–12, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2020–21
  • Supercopa de España: 2006, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2016, 2018
  • UEFA Champions League: 2005–06, 2008–09, 2010–11, 2014–15
  • UEFA Super Cup: 2009, 2011, 2015
  • FIFA Club World Cup: 2009, 2011, 2015

Paris Saint-Germain

  • Ligue 1: 2021–22
  • Trophée des Champions: 2022

Argentina U20

  • FIFA World Youth Championship: 2005

Argentina U23

  • Summer Olympics: 2008

Argentina

  • FIFA World Cup: 2022
  • Copa América: 2021
  • CONMEBOL–UEFA Cup of Champions: 2022

Individual

  • Ballon d’Or/FIFA Ballon d’Or: 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2019, 2021
  • FIFA World Player of the Year: 2009
  • The Best FIFA Men’s Player: 2019
  • European Golden Shoe: 2009–10, 2011–12, 2012–13, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19
  • FIFA World Cup Golden Ball: 2014, 2022
  • FIFA Club World Cup Golden Ball: 2009, 2011
  • Laureus World Sportsman of the Year: 2020
  • La Liga Best Player: 2008–09, 2009–10, 2010–11, 2011–12, 2012–13, 2014–15
  • Pichichi Trophy: 2009−10, 2011–12, 2012−13, 2016–17, 2017−18, 2018–19, 2019–20, 2020–21
  • Argentine Footballer of the Year: 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2020, 2021

Now lets look at goals and appearances

His career total at club level is

Career total 863 appearances 706 goals

His total for Argentina at all levels is

Career total 195 appearances 114 goals

Of course this do not even do justice to his contribution for club and country, setting up countless chances for others.

Lets take a look at his world cup

Messi scored a penalty in Argentina’s opening game, a 2–1 defeat to Saudi Arabia, before scoring with a low 20-yard strike in their next match against Mexico in which Argentina won 2–0, also recording an assist on Enzo Fernández’s goal.

In the last 16 game against Australia, Messi scored the opening goal in Argentina’s 2–1 win in what was his 1,000th senior career appearance,and he also became the most-capped male South American footballer of all time, beating the previous record set by Iván Hurtado of Ecuador, combined with surpassing and equalling several other FIFA World Cup and national team related records.

In the quarter-final against the Netherlands, Messi assisted Argentina’s first goal for Nahuel Molina with a reverse pass and then scored a penalty as the game finished 2–2 after extra time. Argentina won 4–3 in the penalty shootout and Messi scored the first penalty.

In the semi-final against Croatia, Messi made a record-equalling 25th World Cup finals appearance, drawing level with Lothar Matthäu of Germany, and he also scored the opening goal with a penalty before he assisted Argentina’s third goal which was scored by Julián Álvarez in a 3–0 win.

Messi made his record 26th World Cup finals appearance and won the World Cup with Argentina following a 4–2 penalty shoot-out victory over France at Lusail Stadium after a 3–3 draw in extra-time which ended Argentina’s 36-year long wait for the trophy. Messi scored two goals and also converted his penalty in the shoot-out. He was also prominently involved in the second goal being involved in the build up for Di Maria’s goal.

With seven goals in seven games, Messi became the first player to score in each round of a World Cup since the last-16 round was introduced in 1986, and he received the Golden Ball for player of the tournament, becoming the first player to win it twice

The debate if there ever was one is done – he is and always is a true great

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World

World Cup 2022 last 16 matches

written by footieguy71

Netherlands 3–1 United States

Netherlands scorers

Depay 10′
Blind 45+1′
Dumfries 81′

USA scorers

Wright 76′

The Dutch were in control with two first half goals, at time showing signs of that famous dutch football of years gone by. This was after Pulisic missed a golden chance at 0-0. USA managed to score to make it 2-1 and briefly threatened a revival but the Dutch scored again 5 minutes later through the impressive Denzel Dumfries to see the game out 3-1.

Argentina 2–1 Australia

Argentina scorers

Messi 35′
Álvarez 57′

Australia scorers

Fernández 77′ (o.g.)

That man Messi scored a delightful goal before Alvarez punished a mistake from the Australian goalkeeper Matt Ryan. Australia managed to get a goal back which was credited as an own goal.

France 3–1 Poland

France scorers

Giroud 44′
Mbappé 74′, 90+1′

Poland scorers

Lewandowski 90+9′ (pen.)

Poland were very poor and boring in the final group game and then brought it to this game but it took France 44 minutes to make the breakthrough. Then that man Mbappe scored 2 goals to secure an easy win. Lewandowski scored a consolation penalty.

England 3–0 Senegal

England scorers

Henderson 38′
Kane 45+3′
Saka 57′

Senegal were always the underdogs but failed to take a good chance at 0-0, then after England made the breakthrough there was always going to be only one winner of this game.

Japan 1–1 (a.e.t.) Croatia

Japan Scorer

Maeda 43′

Croatian Scorer

Perišić 55′

Penalties 1–3

A closely fought match, another poor penalty shoot out decider with some dreadful Japanese penalties

Brazil 4–1 South Korea

Brazil scorers

Vinícius 7′
Neymar 13′ (pen.)
Richarlison 29′
Paquetá 36′

South Korea scorers

Paik Seung-ho 76′

Brazil produced their best performance by a long way scoring 4 goals in a devastating first half display with a great team goal by Richarlison. The second half was basically a training session lit up by a cracking goal by South Korea, even if it was just a consolation strike.

Morocco 0–0 (a.e.t.) Spain

Penalties 3–0

A fairly dull 120 minutes plus of football, teh penalty shoot out was yet another display of poor penalty taking in which Spain missed all 3 of their penalties.

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World

World Cup 2022 group stage

written by footieguy71

Group A

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1  Netherlands 3 2 1 0 5 1 4 7
2  Senegal 3 2 0 1 5 4 1 6
3  Ecuador 3 1 1 1 4 3 1 4
4  Qatar(H) 3 0 0 3 1 7 −6 0

Qatar surprised no-one in being one of the poorest ever host nations and finished bottom, Netherlands were far from spectacular but managed to grind through the group games. The second place was a shoot out between Senegal and Ecuador – Senegal even without the talents of Sadio Mane managed to progress

Group B

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1  England 3 2 1 0 9 2 7 7
2  United States 3 1 2 0 2 1 1 5
3  Iran 3 1 0 2 4 3 -3 3
4 Wales 3 0 1 2 1 6 −5 1

England had on paper an easy group, after disposing of Iran who were unbelievably negative they then struggled against the USA and beat a very poor Wales easily as well. USA looked compact and good but the main issue was the lack of goals and a real goalscorer, they qualified in second place but the lack of  atop goalscorer will probably always impact there chances to go deep in a tournament. Iran beat Wales which more highlighted the welsh weaknesses, what are those weaknesses – Wales top players seem to be coming to the end of there international careers and were poor.

Some of the Welsh team selections and substitutions relying on these players was bizarre.

Group C

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1  Argentina 3 2 0 1 5 2 3 6
2 Poland 3 1 1 1 2 2 0 4
3  Mexico 3 1 1 1 2 3 -1 4
4 Saudi Arabia 3 1 0 2 3 5 −2 3

Argentina suffered a shock defeat in the first game against Saudi Arabia who somehow managed to win 2-1 with only 3 shots on goal. They then managed to beat a dissapointing Mexico 2-0 and an ultra boring Polish team 2-0. Poland although putting in one of the most boring performances managed to qualify by 1 goal in front of Mexico in a low scoring group.

Group D

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1  France 3 2 0 1 6 3 3 6
2 Australia 3 2 0 1 2 2 -1 6
3 Tunisia 3 1 1 1 1 1 0 4
4 Denmark 3 0 1 2 3 5 −2 1

France manged to qualify after the first 2 games, easily beating Australia 4-1 then defeating Denmark 2-1.  A much changed side lost to Tunisia 1-0 in the final game but it was not enough for Tunisia who only scored 1 goal and conceded 1 in the 3 games highlighting the problems they have. Australia after that setback managed to secure wins against Tunisia and a great result versus Denmark. For Denmark who were a few peoples dark horses this was a terrible tournament, finishing bottom of a group they should have qualified from.

Group E

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1  Japan 3 2 0 1 4 3 1 6
2 Spain 3 1 1 1 9 3 0 4
3 Germany 3 1 1 1 6 5 -1 4
4 Costa Rica 3 1 0 2 3 11 −8 3

This was the group where everyone thought Spain and Germany would qualify. Japan had 2 amazing 2-1 results against Spain and Germany but lost to Costa Rica who looked a poor team in other games. Spain after an initial 7-0 thrashing of Costa Rica seemed to regress in the next 2 games but still qualified on goal difference from Germany, thanks to that Costa Rica result. Germany had a very forgettable world cup ultimately that shock 2-1 defeat to Japan was costly but defensively they looked poor and going forward seemed lightweight.

Group F

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Morocco 3 2 1 0 4 3 1 7
2 Croatia 3 1 2 0 4 1 3 5
3 Belgium 3 1 1 1 1 2 -1 4
4 Canada 3 0 0 3 2 7 −5 0

On paper Belgium and Croatia were favourites to be competing to win the group. Belgium now appear to be a team in decline with aging players and also there appeared to be infighting in the squad.

Belgium only scored 1 goal although the injuries to Lukaku proved costly, they never seemed to look dangerous in games. Morocco were the surprise package playing solid defensive football and securing 2 solid wins, Croatia beat Canada easily and had 2 boring 0-0 draws. Canada had a couple of good players but lacked a goal scoring threat and were poor at the back – some work needed before the next world cup

Group G

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Brazil 3 2 0 1 3 1 2 6
2 Switzerland 3 2 0 1 4 3 1 6
3 Cameroon 3 1 1 1 4 4 0 4
4 Serbia 3 0 1 2 5 8 −3 1

Brazil were the favourites, they played good football at times and won the first 2 games and comfortably qualified but you just wanted a bit more from them in the group games. The injury to Neymar didn’t help.

After that it looked like a toss up between the other 3 teams in what was arguably the best group. Serbia with an abundance of talented players managed to blow a 3-1 lead to Cameroon to finish 3-1 in one of the best games in the tournament. Against Switzerland they were 2-1 up and lost 3-2. A talented team who once again fell short. Switzerland one the win all game against Serbia and pipped Cameroon to second place.

Group H

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Portugal 3 2 0 1 6 4 2 6
2 South Korea 3 1 1 1 4 4 0 6
3 Uruguay 3 1 1 1 2 2 0 4
4 Ghana 3 1 0 2 5 7 −3 3

Portugal won the group after 2 initial wins against Uruguay and Ghana.

South Korea left it to the 91st minute against Portugal to score, win 2-1 and pip Uruguay to second place. Uruguay were disappointing, a talented squad who never seemed to kick on other than against Ghana. Ghana showed what they could do against South Korea but didn’t have enough

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