When it became clear after the World Cup draw that both England and the US would play games in Manaus, England manager Roy Hodgson instantly showed promising verbal form by explaining the problem with Manaus was "the tropicality" (a word actually already invented a generation ago by Brazilian singer Caetano Veloso; could Roy, who really is a man of unexpected depths, actually have been making an oblique reference to Caetano's great hit "Tropicalia"?).

The Americans win; The Mexicans advance:  Panama’s Golden Generation goes home.

Some would call it intuition, an assumption based on past experiences; others would credit neurons calculating trajectories at the speed of light. Whatever it was I knew, I just knew – as soon as the ball was struck – that ball was going to not only nestle in the net, but also consign Longford Town to another season of toil in Ireland’s second tier.

QPR Greenford Doc

A much awaited comeback: Gervais Martel & RC Lens

I hate it when it happens. You’re there, doing your best. Not just selling 32 pages of printed paper, but selling hours of planning, of work, of writing, of getting pictures, of pleading with others to help you with an article or some design work.

For many Latin Americans over thirty, the Bundesliga will always have a particular voice - that of Colombian broadcaster Andrés Salcedo, who provided the Spanish play-by-play commentary of the German first division between the mid-seventies and early nineties.

Summer is a hellish time to be in Buenos Aires. First, because the temperatures are enough to wilt even the strongest constitution – I type this whilst sitting in the living room in my pants, with the air conditioning on, and thanks to the 40 degrees Celsius outside, I'm still sweating.

When Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain scored for England at Rio de Janeiro's famous Estádio do Maracanã, you'd have been forgiven for thinking it would be a while before the British Isles had another goalscorer there, and that Oxlade-Chamberlain's tale - that of a wide-eyed youngster seizing his moment in the sun - would be the most compelling even once the World Cup in Brazil this summer is in the history books.

Christian Eissele has a highlight reel showing the skills to become a potential threat to meanest of defences in the world. He shows a poacher's instinct inside the box, an eye for goal outside it and a neat touch to link the play to boot.

Back in the early eighties Italy was the centre of the world of football and would remain such for the best part of a decade. 

In the weeks since the death of Nelson Mandela, certain moments, images, quotes and figures from his history have made recurring appearances on our television screens, on newspaper pages and in the text of tribute.

The Brazilian state of Amazonas is one of the most awe-inspiring places on the face of the Earth.

Lee Keun-Ho isn’t one of football’s household names, but Borussia Dortmund and Manchester United supporters know very well who Japanese international Shinji Kagawa is.

The great and the good assembled on an otherwise unremarkable Sunday afternoon, the season barely over and done with; rivalries put aside for the summer. They expected to hear ‘Happy Birthday’ but got something a lot more shocking to accompany their coffee and cakes.

No introduction needed, this is The IBWM 100 For 2014.  If want to know more about why we chose these players, read this.  You can download a PDF version of the list here.

On Wednesday 18 December, 2013 we reveal The IBWM 100 for 2014, our annual watch list of the most exciting young footballers from around the world.

Last December, after months of deliberation and assessment, we identified 100 young footballers across the globe that represented the finest of their generation.

Of the Premier League's handful of ever-present teams, Aston Villa have perhaps enjoyed and endured the widest range of fortunes during the last couple of decades in the top flight

The more-than-a-century old rivalry between Glasgow giants Celtic and Rangers is well established in the minds of football fans the world over.

As the car pulled out of Milanello on that mild morning, the man in the back sank down into the groove of the seat and pondered for a moment whether he’d made the right decision.

The scoreline is familiar, as is the fateful date, but surely the title for this article should be ‘The Hand of God’?

FC Petržalka 1898; not a name synonymous with the footballing greats, but for a brief two year spell the club incredibly took its place alongside some of Europe’s finest.

The small town of Reigate, tucked away at the bottom of the North Downs in Surrey, is not an obvious place to find an international footballer. 27-year old James Shearman has played for his local amateur side there for years via the most unlikely representation of a Caribbean island thousands of miles away.