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Long-form football features, in-depth stories and exclusive content from the Footy Times team.
Of Cimbom, Hagi and some Turkish tea
Filip Landers opened his eyes, looked at the ceiling of his hotel room and sighed. He hadn’t recovered from the jet lag. A long busy day awaited him. He peered out of the window. Istanbul looked ravishingly beautiful early in the morning.…
Estadio Azteca: the ground that will not host the 2026 FIFA World Cup Final
Most football fans have one or a few iconic stadiums that come to their minds when asked what ground they would wish to experience a football match at. Some say Anfield, while many votes go to the Signal Iduna Park, and others suggest…
N’Golo Kanté: Greatness Without Noise
N'Golo Kanté a defensive mindfileder for Fenerbahçe and the France national team, one of the most remarkable players in modern football, known for his incredible stamina,humility, and intelligence , he became globally known for doing the…
The Mbappé Paradox: Why Managing Him is the Toughest Job in Football
There is an old saying in football. Players lose matches, managers lose jobs. But in the age of Kylian Mbappé, that line feels less like wisdom and more like a warning label. The proverb is catching fame after Real Madrid fired Xabi Alonso,…
The Naples Hero
Just imagine the greatness of a person who divided a nation known for its rich footballing heritage into two parts. He caused massive civil war across the country, with their own supporters backing an opposition team in a FIFA World Cup…
‘Kane, Bellingham and Foden can’t all play together’: Tuchel !
England manager Thomas Tuchel has barely put a foot wrong in World Cup qualifying, winning all six matches, keeping six clean sheets and securing a place at next summer’s tournament with two games to spare. Yet his latest comments have…
Unsung Heroes in World Cups: Rob Rensenbrink | 1978 Argentina
The 1978 FIFA World Cup was staged in Argentina. It was the last time that just 16 countries competed in a World Cup. This tournament marks another dark chapter in the history of the World Cups, as it became the perfect occasion of…
Football as an extreme sport: The Canadian Premier League final
When I was growing up, often in my neighbourhood playground, there were heated arguments between groups of kids who wanted to play cricket and those who wanted to play football, respectively. One of the many justifications regularly…
Cha Bum-kun: A trailblazer | Part II
The tireless work ethic that Cha Bum-kun exemplified had impressed the Eintracht manager Friedel Rausch, who called him “the best and the most willing forward" he had ever seen, soon after Cha joined Eintracht. His first goal came at the…
Cha Bum-kun: A trailblazer | Part I
When Son Heung Min played his last game for Tottenham in a friendly game at Seoul, there were widespread discussions surrounding the proper place of Son in the pantheon of Asian footballers who have excelled in European club football.…