Barcelona won the Fairs' Cup three times. It is regarded as the forerunner of the UEFA Cup and Europa League, but was not organised by UEFA.
Several of clubs won the Cup Winners' Cup, but have not won the other two. So I left them off. It will be interesting to see if any club can do a quadruple by winning the Europa Conference League. Leicester finished 5th in the Premiership last season and ended up dropping to the Conference League. Tottenham is also there. So I can see Manchester United doing that if they finish outside the top four in the league and receive a bad draw in the Europa League. The chance of Barcelona finishing outside the top four this season has been lowered recently and I do see them finishing in the outside top four in the next few seasons. I don't know about Borussia Dortmund. Hamburger appears to be a club that is destined to win the Conference league one day, but it still needs to win the Europa League. The EL is reachable for them one day, but it won't be easy. I can see AC Milan winning the Europa League in the near future, but they will probably stay within the Serie A's top four for awhile.So they won't be dropping to the Conference league. PS: I am not interested in the Conference League. I do not know the rule. My understanding of that no Champions' League team can drop down to Conference League on the same season. So if AC Milan and Barcelona qualify for the Champions' league each year, they won't be playing in the Conference League. Am I right?
Robinho is one of the few players who won league titles in 5 different countries(Brazil, Spain, Italy, China, Turkey). Mateja Kežman also won in 5 countries, but Robinho did it in three different continents (AFC, UEFA, CONMEBOL). Rivaldo also did it in three continents, but he only did it in four countries (Brazil, Spain, Greece, Uzebkistan). Many other players also won in four countries. Beckham was the first English football player to win league titles in four different countries. * I was not sure if Robinho is the only footballer to do it.
Brazil is the only nation that have won the World Cup, World Cup U20, World Cup U16, Beach Soccer World Cup, Futsal World Cup and the Olympic Gold medal. This was well-known. France can claim the same milestone if they can win the Futsal World Cup. The French never qualified for the Futsal World Cup nor they ever qualified for UEFA Futsal Championship. The chance of that happening must be slim. Spain needs to win a Beach WC, in which they came second in 2013. They still need to win the WC U-17, which they came second three times. They have a more realistic chance than France. The other World Cup holders and teams were all long way to accomplish that. Argentina never won the WC U-17, Beach WC and Futsal WC. East Germany's Olympic Gold medal in 1976 can be counted for Germany, but they have no chance at Futsal and Beach football, and they have not taken the U-17. Uruguay and Italy have only won the World Cup and the Olympic gold. Russia/Soviet Union needs to win a World Cup and a Futsal World Cup to complete this. They came second in Futsal World Cup, but they only reached the World Cup semifinal once. No other nation came close. Portugal won three of them, but they still needed three (World Cup, WC U17 and Olympic). Brazil also won FIBA World Cup basketball, FIVB Volleyball Men's World Championship.
https://www.hindustantimes.com/foot...iga-history/story-MFDee62PMS3EkDZnDb9yEO.html The 10 Youngest debutants in La Liga's 21st Century. The article was written in 2020, but it did not matter. I am interested the careers of the players mentioned. So anything between 2020 and now does not matter to this post. Only Joes Antonio Reyes, Iker Muniain and Diego Capel established themselves at the top level. Martin Odegaard at least should remain a Premiership player for years to come. The other six played mainly in the lower diivision or weaker leagues.
https://ftblcult.com/england/youngest-players-in-premier-league-history/ Aaron Lennon is only player who made it. Jack Wilshere did well initially. I would say that he still made it at the top even for a short time. Reece Oxford is only 23, but he is still playing in Bundesliga. Izzy Brown at 25 years old is signed with Chelsea, but is mainly playing English Championship. Harvey Elliot is still 18 years old as of 2022. The rest of the players were all lower division players.
Josip Peruzović, better known as Nikolai Volkoff was a WWF Hall of Flame wrestler. I do not follow WWF. His younger brother Luka Peruzović won the 1983 UEFA Cup with Anderlecht. He was capped by Yugoslavia 17 times. He went to the 1974 WC Finals and Euro 1976.
https://www.bigsoccer.com/threads/t...acts-and-stories.611525/page-25#post-39410869 ENDLESS DUELS II I have found another endless duel and once again Real Madrid is one of the protagonists. This time we are talking about the Copa del Rey (Spanish Cup) of 1922 and specifically the quarterfinal tie between Real Madrid and Arenas Getxo where 5 games were necessary to decide the team qualified for the semifinals. The tie was played two-legged but only the victories were counted and not the goal difference: 1- Arenas Getxo 4-0 Real Madrid (March 12, 1922). At the break, Arenas was already winning 3-0, so they had an easy game. 2- Real Madrid 5-2 Arenas Getxo (March 19, 1922). Real Madrid was always ahead with partials of 2-0, 3-1 and the definitive 4-2 and 5-2. As each team had won a game, they had to play a third, again at the Real Madrid Stadium (O'Donnell Stadium). 3- Real Madrid 1-1 Arenas Getxo (March 21, 1922). The 90 minutes ended with 0-0 and in the first part of extra time (minute 100) Monjardín scored 1-0 for Real Madrid but in minute 119 Barturen tied the game and sent the tie to the 4th game. 4- Real Madrid 1-1 Arenas Getxo (March 22, 1922). The match is played again in Madrid but this time it is not played at the Real Madrid stadium but at the Racing Madrid stadium called Martínez Campos Stadium. Arenas takes the lead in the 40th minute but when the match is nearing the end (80th minute) Escobal equalizes and again a new match would have to be played, which will be the fifth and last of this endless tie. In just 4 days, 3 games had been played, so for the fifth they waited a week to be able to play it. 5- Real Madrid 3-0 Arenas Getxo (March 29, 1922). Once again at the Martínez Campos Stadium, Real Madrid won with Monjardín's Hat Trick and finally went to the semi-finals where they would be eliminated against Real Unión de Irún, of course, in a playoff match. It should be noted that of the 10 goals scored by Real Madrid in the tie against Arenas, 7 were the work of Monjardín (including 2 hat-tricks). As an anecdote, comment on two things about the Martínez Campos Stadium and the team that played there, Racing Madrid: 1- Martínez Campos Stadium: precisely in that stadium, Arenas Getxo won the only national title in its history, the 1919 Copa del Rey (5-2 against FC Barcelona). 2- Racing Madrid: this is one of the few teams that have managed to score 6 goals against Real Madrid as a visitor (I know 4 teams): - Real Madrid 2-6 Racing Madrid, Regional Championship 1918/19 - Real Madrid 0-6 Athletic Club, League 1930/31 - Real Madrid 0-6 Independiente Avellaneda, friendly 1953 - Real Madrid 2-6 FC Barcelona, League 2008/09
1980 FA Cup semifinal 12 April : Liverpool 0-0 a.e.t. Arsenal 16 April : Liverpool 1-1 a.e.t. Arsenal 28 April : Liverpool 1-1 a.e.t. Arsenal 1 May : Liverpool 0-1 Arsenal Although Arsenal reached the final, the number of replays played in a congested schedule so late into the season likely had an affect on the players the following two weeks… 10 May - FA Cup Final West Ham 1-0 Arsenal (As of this post I believe this is the last time a second division club won the FA Cup.) 14 May - European Cup Winners’ Cup Final Valencia 0-0 a.e.t. Arsenal Valencia won 5-4 on penalties
CR7 made his senior debut against Inter Milan in a Champions' League Qualifiers. About 10 days earlier, Ronaldo 9 arrived in Milan from Brazil. This match was Inter Milan's first competitive match, might be the one where the football world appreciated whether R9 would play for Inter Milan. I did not have enough information. Ronaldo's transfer news at the time of CR7's debut. https://www.theguardian.com/football/2002/aug/07/europeanfootball.sport https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ronaldo-to-reluctantly-stay-at-inter-milan-1.432427
Italy's shocking 0-1 defeat to North Macedonia marks the first time Italy lost a World Cup qualifier at home. This leaves only two countries who have never lost a home World Cup qualifying match: Spain (W 51 - D 10 - L 0) Brazil (W49 - D 12 - L 0)
Defending European champions that failed to qualify for the following World Cup: 1976-1978 Czechoslovakia 1992-1994 Denmark 2004-2006 Greece 2020-2022 Italy
France has won four major tournaments, namely two World Cups and two European Championships. However, the French clubs only won two major European trophies in total, namely 1996 Cup Winners' Cup by PSG and the CL by Marseilles. This is actually well-known, but I just never put that together. To put in perspective, Portuguese clubs has won 7 European trophies, Belgian 4, Scottish 3, Ukrainian 3 (including Soviet era), Swedish 2, etc. Ghana has won five AFCON, but only 3 CAF Champions' League. Nigeria won 3 AFCON, but only 2 CAF Champions' League. No club from Senegal and Ethiopia has one the club tournament. Things are different in Africa. The United States has won more Gold Cups than continental club competitions, but it has to do with Mexican clubs' domination of the CONCACAF Champions League.
Very interesting FIFA "Fact Sheet" regarding the hosting of each World Cup. Original link no longer works but someone saved it on the "Wayback Machine". https://web.archive.org/web/2012072...mencompwc/51/97/81/fs-201_13a_fwc-bidding.pdf
If AS Roma wins the Conference League, Jose Mourinho will become the first coach to win the CL, EL and Conference League. That will be very quick to set a milestone.
I have World Cup research questions. What is the shortest time from a World Cup group to a later World Cup where none of those teams qualified? On that note, how many World Cup groups have ever had all of their teams miss the same World Cup earlier or later?
Italy's last participation in a knock-out stage match in a WC was 16 years ago in the 2006 final - which they won crowning them as WC Champion's. Since then, they have either; Not qualified 2018 and 2022 or failed to advance from the group 2010 and 2014.
The goalkeeper jersey for Mexico in 1998 WC Finals was actually their alternative jersey. It was more interesting since Jorge Campos was their keeper. The younger fans might not known that he also played as a striker. earlier in his career. I don't think the setup was a tribute to him. He was known for his flamboyant goalkeeper kit he designed for himself. The outfield jersey seemed dull for him. I do not know the background story to it.
Adidas was known to be associated with German football and its national team. The 1982 World Cup Finals was the first time that the adidas logo and three stripes was seen on a German jersey in the Finals of that tournament. Erima previously provided the jersey for West Germany in the 1970's. However, the German team in the 1982 WC Finals was still wearing the pants provided by Erima. I did not know the background story.
Okay here's a question that I genuinely don't have an answer to.... should Peru beat UAE or Australia on a penalty shootout in the inter-confederations playoff, which would technically be counted as a draw - they'd qualify for the 2022 World Cup with a losing record in qualifiers. They currently have 7-3-8 from the Conmebol table. Has that ever happened before? The only other team that I can think of is Trinidad & Tobago who qualified for the playoff in 2006 from the hex with a 4-1-5 record. However, they did have a 4-0-2 record from the previous round + a win over Bahrain that makes up for that. But Peru could genuinely qualify with a losing record with a penalty shootout playoff win. Would this be a first or does anyone have any previous examples?
I would love to dig up that information. It might take time. I took a glance at the World Cup Finals before 1960's. It was almost impossible. The AFC, Oceania and CONCACAF went through a series of WCQers against very weak opponents in the earlier rounds. So i doubt that it happened there. The UEFA qualifying counbtries must finish in the top two. It is unlikely. The CAF did both, playing weaker teams and then, finished on top of a group. It has to be South America.
In 2018, Peru came closes. They qualified with a record of 7-6-7, including the draw and the win against New Zealand.
From 1973 to 1980, Johnny Giles was the player-manager for national team of Ireland. Sllave Llambi of Albania was also player-manager for the national team in the 1940's. I never heard of a player-manager for the national team until recently. I really do not know if other player-manager for national team. No mention of Giles or Llambi here; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Player-coach#Player-managers_in_association_football