The Turkish Süper Lig has recently become a league known for developing young talent. I’ve long been a big fan of the league, and recent sales and player developments have increased the potential of Turkey’s top flight. However, while things have been improving for the first tier, the lower tiers are slightly dicier. Finances for […]
Player development in Scandinavia has been improving over time. Just eight years ago, the future of Norwegian football was Mats Møller Dæhli, who now plays in the Bundesliga 2. Sweden looked to Muamer Tanković, who currently plays in Cyprus. Finland was optimistic about Joel Pohjanpalo, who has fallen to Italy’s second tier. Only Denmark had
Recently, Indonesian football has faced scrutiny. This year, a stampede following a match between Persebaya and Arema FC led to the deaths of more than 130 fans. This incident was worsened by the police, who fired tear gas into the crowds, and the fact that the exits were nowhere near wide enough for the fans
In 2010, South Africa was on top of the world. They had just become the first African nation to host the World Cup, displaying an electrifying atmosphere. They scored the tournament’s first goal, a great strike from Siphiwe Tshabalala. They even beat France, although the Bafana Bafana didn’t make it to the knockouts — the
Well, that was exciting. The World Cup group stage is officially over, with 16 of the original 32 teams moving to the knockouts. Many of those 16 teams were not expected to advance: just look at Australia, who stunned Denmark to advance. South Korea advanced over Uruguay, Japan over Germany, Morocco over Belgium: the list
Group H has many of the biggest storylines in Qatar. For a starter, Ghana are playing Uruguay in a rivalry 12 years in the making. This stems back to the 2010 World Cup when Luis Suarez batted away the ball on the goal line, preventing Ghana from becoming the first African country to reach the
Group G has some of the typical World Cup powerhouses. Brazil, obviously, are fixtures in the tournament — they’ve never missed one and have more wins than any other country. Switzerland, too, are regulars at the tournament, having only missed the tournament once since the turn of the century. Cameroon missed out on qualification in
Group F of the World Cup has some of the most interesting teams in the whole tournament. Croatia reached the final in 2018, losing to France after an impressive run. That same year, Belgium finished third, narrowly losing to France in the semi-finals. Both nations will depend on a young core this tournament, with several
Group E has two of the strongest candidates for the World Cup: Germany and Spain. While both of these teams struggled in the tournament’s last edition, they have both won since 2010. Both have also rebuilt with some younger stars, including some of the best young players in the game. Japan, too, has a strong
In 2018, France won the World Cup after navigating through a tricky group that consisted of Peru, Australia, and Denmark. Four years later, they return to the tournament again being considered the favorites in a similar group. Not only are Denmark and Australia returning, but Australia additionally had to beat Peru in the World Cup