World Soccer magazine (July 1994) page turning

In the third World Soccer magazine page turning series of videos I look at the July 1994 issue of World Soccer.

This issue included a 1994 World Cup preview including a bonus booklet listing all the squads and officials that took part in the competition that Brazil eventually won. Additionally a report on Milan’s 4-0 famous beating of Barcelona in that year’s Champions Cup final.

Opening topps Match Attax Season 2021/22

In this video I am opening a topps Match Attax Season 2021/22. It is a lava mega tin for the 2021/22 season featuring players from the UEFA Europa League, Champions League and Europa Conference League. It features 66 cards plus 3 gold and 1 exclusive lava limited edition card for a total of 70 cards.

It is certainly not a high end product with no guarantees of special cards like player worn jersey relic cards.

World Soccer magazine (February 2004) page turning

In the second World Soccer magazine page turning series of videos I look at the February 2004 issue of World Soccer. This issue included a few pages on the then upcoming Euro 2004 held in Portugal and a more complete guide on the 2004 African Nation Cup – or African Cup of Nations – that was hosted in Tunisia.

World Soccer magazine page turning

In this no talking video I look through a special edition of World Soccer magazine. The issue was published in 2020 to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the magazine. The issue included reprints of articles featured in the magazine during the 60 years.

2022 World Cup qualification UEFA Second Round

As FIFA and UEFA started down the path of complicating the qualifying process for the World Cup it is not as clear as it could be as who can qualify. In most previous World Cups the (best) second placed teams in UEFA groups would play off against each other and the winners would move to the World Cup.

uefa 2022 second round

It is different for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. As before the second placed teams have to go through a play off but they will be joined by best ranked teams from the 2020-2021 Nations League. This time all second placed teams qualified for this so called second round and they were joined by aforementioned best two from the Nations League. The two teams, Austria and Cech Republic, joined to make up a 12 team second round.

To whittle down 12 teams to three – UEFA has 13 spots in the World Cup – had the governing body come up with a process of dividing the teams into three ‘groups’ of four where a one leg semi final would lead to a one leg final.

Portugal, Turkey, Italy and North Macedonia were grouped together, Russia, Poland, Sweden and Czech Republic in another and Wales, Austria, Scotland and Ukraine in the third. This means one of Italy or Portugal, or both, won’t be in Qatar.

Things were further complicated as Russia were just banned due to the war in Ukraine. It is not clear who will take their spot. Perhaps Slovakia? The team that finished third in Russia’s first round group.

The semifinals are on March 24th and the finals on March 29, 2022.

2021-2022 Champions League Playoffs

info courtesy flashscore.com

As the 2021-2022 Champions League playoffs and round of 16 kicked off the first two games provided differing results to illustrate the state of the game.

Mauricio Pochettino’s PSG defeated Carlo Ancelotti’s Real Madrid 1-0. A look at the stats for the game show how lopsided the score could have been. However it took a well worked added time Kylian Mbappe goal to get the crucial win. A win that has a different dynamic now that the away goals rule has been scrapped. Both teams play a nominal 4-3-3 but the style and intentions are not the same. Mauricio Pochettino will attempt to maintain possession and to gain it back quickly with a press. Carlo Ancelotti generally favours fast counters and to take advantage of the skills of midfielders to get the ball to Vinicius Junior and Karim Benzema.

In the other game the 0-5 rout may have been predictable. Though Sporting have revived their league fortunes in Portugal they are no match for the experienced and familiar with big wins team that includes the likes of Bernardo Silva – long ago discarded by Sporting’s biggest rivals Benfica – Riyad Mahrez and others. The first half saw the Portuguese team all but destroyed with relative easy finishes with the hosts not enjoying the best of lucks either.

World Cup Every Two Years

FIFA president Gianni Infantino has promised billions of new revenue if the World Cup is to take place every two years. 
Some $4.4 billion for the first cycle & billions of it in solidarity fund. 
UEFA and CONMEBOL's opposition delayed a possible vote on the issue but it may yet still happen in March 2022.
World Cup Two Years

FIFA president Gianni Infantino has promised billions of new revenue if the World Cup is to take place every two years. Some $4.4 billion for the first cycle & billions of it in solidarity fund.


UEFA and CONMEBOL’s opposition delayed a possible vote on the issue but it may yet still happen in March 2022.

This will affect other tournaments like the Africa Cup Of Nations that are already disliked in Europe for being in the middle of European seasons.

The idea and monetary promises does have large support in other confederations mainly due to the promised revenue.

FootballMania Hall Of Fame: Thierry Henry

Started out at Monaco with four and a half good and promising seasons. A short lived stay with Juventus was considered a failure but all changed when Arsene Wenger took the French international to Arsenal. He went on to be considered one of the top Premier League imports ever with 226 goals in eight seasons. Two EPL wins and numerous personal trophies including a Ballon d’Or runner-up in 2003 and two European Golden Shoes in 2003–04 and 2004–05 highlighted his time in England. He then moved on to Barcelona and was part of two La Liga wins in 2008–09 and 2009–10. Henry is also a World Cup winner in 1998.