Spain came into the game as heavy favourites but the spirit and ability shown by Lopes, who has played for Shamrock Rovers since 2017, and his team-mates proved enough to pull off a major shock. “I think everyone expected it to be a walk in the park for the Spanish, understandably,” added Stafford. “I think […]

Five years on, the nation was gripped by post-match footage of the Scotland team bouncing to the beat of Baccara in Serbia after sealing qualification for Euro 2020. Considine was an unused substitute on that famous night in Belgrade but was seen celebrating wildly with dressing-room DJ Kieran Tierney and the rest of the squad […]

Newcastle United defender Tino Livramento is a doubt for England’s World Cup campaign after suffering a muscular injury. The full-back is understood to have been injured during training on Sunday and is being assessed by medical staff. England begin their World Cup bid against Croatia on Wednesday night (21:00 BST). The 23-year-old’s involvement in the […]

Not many people know McInnes better than Docherty, who worked with him at St Johnstone and Aberdeen for well over a decade. The former Dundee boss believes it McInnes’ competitive edge would will help Rangers take the fight to Celtic – in particular – right to the end of the season. When the split came […]

Scotland captain Caroline Weir has signed a three-year contract with French champions Lyon after leaving Real Madrid. The 30-year-old midfielder spent four years in Spain, scoring 63 goals in 125 appearances, and was voted Real player of the year in 2023 and 2025, as well as the Spanish league player of the year three years […]

Yes, Jordan have benefited from the World Cup becoming a 48-team tournament, but qualification still has to be earned – just ask Italy. For a country of just over 11 million people – 0.7% of the population of China, a continental rival who will not be at the World Cup – to reach their debut […]

Available for over a year Cape Verde produce the shock of the World Cup so far after holding Spain to a goalless draw. Rick Edwards and Lloyd Griffith react to a remarkable result and ask what went wrong for one of the tournament favourites. Guillem Balague joins the pod to assess Spain’s performance, what needs […]

Iran head coach Amir Ghalenoei says they are the “most oppressed” team at the World Cup after having last-minute travel restrictions imposed on them. Speaking after his side’s 2-2 draw with New Zealand on Monday night, Ghalenoei said they had expected to stay in Los Angeles overnight and have a recovery session the following day […]

In theory, Rashford could return to his boyhood club and resume his career there. Head coach Michael Carrick knows him well. Carrick has been a team-mate, coach and – for three games following Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s dismissal in 2021 – hands-on manager of one of the recent star graduates of United’s academy. When Carrick was […]

Like I said before, balance was so important to our success in Russia. I described our France team then as ‘complete’ because we had flair but also we were solid. Is this France team the same? We will have to wait to find out. All the components are there but will it all come together […]