World Cup final is Argentina v France, Messi v Mbappe and past v future December 16, 2022 More than decade of Qatar’s multi-billion-pound investment in football will reach a crescendo on Sunday afternoon when two stars of Paris Saint-Germain, the club owned by the Gulf state’s investment arm, face off at the Lusail Stadium in the World Cup final. But while it is seen as an ideal outcome for Qatar’s rulers, a [...]
Ed Warner: Bullingham must own England manager decision if it comes December 15, 2022 “The FA should only look at English managers if Gareth Southgate steps down.” “No, the FA should be prepared to hire a foreign coach.” Discuss ad nauseam. Now imagine you are Mark Bullingham, the Football Association’s chief executive, possibly (but not certainly) about to have to make an appointment whose success or failure would stand [...]
Morocco airline cancels World Cup fan flights to Qatar December 14, 2022 Royal Air Maroc has cancelled flights that were going to carry football fans to Qatar for the World Cup semi-final. The Morocco vs France semi-final saw Moroccans booking match tickets and flights to Qatar. Royal Air Maroc had said it would add over 30 flights between Casablanca and Doha to meet demand. These flights are [...]
UK supporting family of British man ‘bludgeoned’ to death on oil rig in Qatar December 14, 2022 A British has been was killed on an oil rig in Qatar, the foreign office has confirmed, with police investigating it as a murder. Qatari police opened a murder investigation after a Scottish worker for the France-based company Stapem Offshore. He was later named as 38-year-old Robert Robson, of Tyne and Wear. His family issued [...]
Putting the Atlas Lions on the map: Morocco aiming to ‘do a Greece’ at the World Cup December 14, 2022 It may not quite be in the realms of Leicester City’s 5,000-1 Premier League triumph, but Morocco’s progress to the last four of this World Cup still represents a minor miracle. In reaching the semi-finals, the Atlas Lions have gone further than any previous African or Arab nation on international football’s biggest stage. Were they [...]
ITV scores best Saturday night ever as record 23m Brits witness England getting trashed by France December 13, 2022 England’s World Cup Quarter Final match was watched by a peak audience of 23m across ITV and ITVX on Saturday evening as the Three Lions were narrowly defeated by France. The game drew the biggest audience of the tournament and the highest peak on any channel this year, the biggest since the final of last [...]
Lionel Messi should be regarded as the best ever whether he wins a World Cup or not December 12, 2022 It is the curse of every Argentinian No10 to be measured against Diego Maradona, but for Lionel Messi the comparison took on extra weight during the summer of 2005. Messi won the top scorer and player of the tournament prizes as he led his country to victory at the Under-20 World Cup in the Netherlands. [...]
Ranked: England’s five most painful defeats in major football tournaments December 11, 2022 England added another chapter to their history of World Cup heartbreak in Saturday’s quarter-final against France. But what were England’s most painful major tournament defeats, and does Harry Kane’s penalty miss even make it into the top five? 5. Argentina 1998 Michael Owen’s dazzling goal, David Beckham’s red card, Diego Simeone’s machiavellian antics, Sol Campbell’s [...]
Trevor Steven: England lacked belief of winners France – but we’re 95 per cent there December 11, 2022 England’s World Cup quarter-final with France was always going to be touch and go. There isn’t much above it for quality, pressure and match-ups. This was football at the highest level. But in games like that it is important to get into it as quickly as you can, and England were poor in the first [...]
EU lawmaker arrested in Qatar corruption probe December 11, 2022 A top-ranking member of the European Parliament has been suspended from her job after being arrested by Belgian police in a Qatar World Cup corruption probe. Greek MEP Eva Kaili was suspended from her job as one of the EU parliament’s fourteen vice-presidents after being detained in the investigation into potential bribes paid by [...]