World Cup 2018

1958 Brazil celebrate becoming the first country to win a World Cup outside their own continent after beating Sweden 5-2 in Stockholm. 1966 Bobby Charlton parades the World Cup around Wembley Stadium after England’s 4-2 victory over West Germany. 1986 Diego Maradona’s “Hand of God” goal helps Argentina to beat England 2-1 in the quarter-finals in Mexico. 1994 Roberto Baggio’s miss in the penalty shoot-out hands Brazil a 3-2 victory in the Final at Pasadena’s Rose Bowl in the USA. 2006 France’s Zinedine Zidane is sent off for head-butting Marco Materazzi in the chest as Italy go on to win the Final on penalties in Germany. 2014 Andre Schurrle (left) celebrates scoring Germany’s sixth goal in their 7-1 semi-final thrashing of hosts Brazil.…

Is it easy being Lionel Messi? “I’m a normal person who tries to have a family life. Yes, it’s true that I’d like to go unnoticed and have a normal life without everyone watching me from time to time.” How has the birth of your children changed your family life? “It’s a very big change in every respect. You start to see different things, and in a different way. The truth is that being a father is the most beautiful thing that’s happened to me in all my life. In the morning I take Thiago and Mateo to school and when I come back from training I practically leave straight away to pick up Thiago.” Do the kids ask you to play football with them at home? “Thiago is already…

Harry Kane is living proof that hard work pays off. Injury permitting, he will be England’s main hope for goals in Russia this summer in what will be the next stage in a flourishing career that has seen the 24-year-old striker defy his critics in spectacular style. As a skinny teenager in Tottenham Hotspur’s youth ranks, many at the club doubted he could make it as a professional. But after knuckling down and learning his craft on loan at lower-league clubs Leyton Orient, Millwall, Norwich City and Leicester City, Kane returned to Spurs and edged aside established centre-forwards Emmanuel Adebayor and Roberto Soldado. Harry Redknapp was Spurs’ manager when Kane was first sent out on loan rather than be given a chance in the first team. “We had him as…

1 BOBBY CHARLTON July 16, 1966 London, England Group A v Mexico Having drawn 0-0 with Uruguay in the opening game of the tournament, nerves were beginning to show in the hosts’ second outing, against Mexico, until Charlton picked up the ball on the halfway line. Running beyond opposition midfielders and swerving away from retreating defenders, he unleashed a shot that gave keeper Ignacio Calderon no chance and put England on their way to a 2-0 win. 2 BOBBY CHARLTON July 26, 1966 London, England Semi-final v Portugal Already leading through Charlton’s first-half goal, George Cohen picked out the run of Geoff Hurst, who held off a Portuguese defender before laying the ball into the path of the on-running Charlton. His sweetly struck shot from the edge of the penalty…

A World Cup without Brazil’s biggest star, Neymar Da Silva Santos Junior, is unthinkable. However, the world’s most expensive footballer faces a race against time to be fit in for Brazil’s first game, against Switzerland in Rostov on June 17, after he injured his foot playing for Paris Saint-Germain against Marseille in February. Without Neymar, PSG crashed out of the Champions League to Real Madrid, outplayed by Cristiano Ronaldo and co. Without Neymar, Brazil are also a different team. Four years ago the Selecao were humiliated in the World Cup semi-final in front of a home crowd in Belo Horizonte, thrashed 7-1 by eventual champions Germany. Neymar, of course, did not play in that fateful game as he had been injured in the quarter-final against Colombia. After being kneed in…

You won all the individual awards last year: World Soccer’s World Player, the Ballon d’Or, UEFA’s Best Player. Is it unfair that your team-mates don’t get the credit? Or do you think: “I’m the striker, I score the goals that win the games, that win the trophies, and I deserve the awards…” Well, I don’t know if the word “unfair” is the proper word. When you go to the stadium, what do you want to see? We want to see goals… Right, you like to see goals. It’s always a challenge for us. We have to score goals. We have the skills, we make assists, we have to make entertainment for the fans. This is what we try to do. Maybe, sometimes, defenders can win the awards, but when the…