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World Cup

World Cup 2026: Five pre-tournament predictions

For a sport that is so meticulously data-driven at the top level, football still remains wonderfully alive for diverse analytic opinions because the data only tells the facts and omits the context that provides the story. And in…

Riquelme: The Last Pure Number 10

There is a moment in the 2006 World Cup quarter-final against Germany, in the 71st minute at the Olympic Stadium in Berlin, that tells you everything about Juan Román Riquelme and nothing about football's wisdom. Argentina lead 1-0. The…

The World Cup of our Times

It was a long summer afternoon I remember like yesterday. The latest issue of the bi-weekly Bangla magazine, which had satiated most of my growing appetite for reading when I was eight, had arrived. That summer afternoon, about a month…

2026 FIFA World Cup Fixture Schedule and Kick-Off Times

2026 FIFA World Cup Fixture Schedule and Kick-Off Times | The 2026 FIFA World Cup kicks off in the early hours of Friday, 12 June IST, with hosts Mexico facing South Africa at the Estadio Azteca in Mexico City. This summer's tournament…

Michael Ballack: Germany’s Glorious Nearly-Man

There is a photograph from the night of 25 June 2002 that captures something essential about Michael Ballack. He is sitting in the locker room at Seoul World Cup Stadium, still in his Germany kit, and he is weeping. His team had just beaten…