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France

03/07/2024
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Euro 2024: The Other Half Of The Knockout Bracket…

While England fans eagerly follow their team’s progress, it’s crucial to keep an eye on the other half of the knockout stage bracket. This part of the tournament features some of the biggest footballing nations, each vying for a spot in the final. For England supporters, understanding the dynamics of this side of the draw is essential, as one of these powerhouse teams will be the Three Lions’ opponent in the ultimate showdown, should they make it that far. On the opposite side of the bracket, four football giants have... Read More

11/07/2016
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UEFA EURO 2016: Portugal’s First Major International Trophy

Draw, Draw, Draw, Extra Time, Penalties, Win, Extra Time. It doesn’t make good reading, but that’s how Portugal won their first ever major international trophy. After years of trying, finally, Cristiano Ronaldo had his biggest moment. And yet, he played such a small role as it turned out come the final. Very early on in the match, Ronaldo was involved with a hard tackle courtesy of Dimitri Payet – injuring the Portuguese mega star. Given the huge occasion, Ronaldo refused to come off and played on, despite his obvious pain.... Read More

08/07/2016
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UEFA EURO 2016: Portugal vs. France – The Final

For the home nations, the journey is over. But what a run Wales had – It might be their first major tournament since 1958, but they made the most of it with their best ever showing, and only just missing out on a phenomenal final. Alas, three minutes of Portuguese magic was all it took to undo Wales. Bale & co. have nothing to be ashamed of, and an open top bus tour is being held back home for the Welsh heroes – where the future looks bright for the... Read More

04/07/2016
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UEFA EURO 2016: Wales Go Marching On

Since the 1996 Semi Final appearance for England in the Euros, they’ve appeared at all but one major tournament yet haven’t reached the final four in any of those eight appearances. Wales haven’t even been in a major tournament since 1958, 58 years ago. They’ve reached the Semi Finals for the first time in their history. Not only that, but they did it with their backs against the wall, too.   WALES (3-1 win vs. Belgium) Following a nervy previous match against Northern Ireland where only an own goal put... Read More

28/06/2016
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UEFA EURO 2016: Then There Was One…

Well, the first round of knockouts couldn’t really have gone much worse for our four teams, really. We were guaranteed one to get to the quarter finals, but we weren’t expecting that one to be the lone survivor…   WALES (1-0 win vs. Northern Ireland) It’s the debutantes who’ve impressed so far that stand as the lone survivors – but impress was not exactly what they did here. If anything, Northern Ireland really brought the fight to them and, arguably, possibly deserved to go through instead. It was a very... Read More

23/06/2016
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UEFA EURO 2016: Welsh Dragons burn Russia, England Falter, Irish Party Continues

The group stages are done. Time to bring on the knockout rounds!   WALES (3-0 win vs. Russia) Six goals, taking their opportunities: It’s a tale of what England should’ve done. Instead, it’s Wales, who have rightfully earned their place at the top of Group B. It was a celebration in itself for the nation to even get to Euro 2016, so to top the group (and in such commanding fashion as well) is a dream come true for them. A last-minute loss to England aside, Wales took it to... Read More

07/06/2016
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UEFA EURO 2016: The Home Nations

So, the Euros are going to be particularly interesting for our home nations, as four out of five qualified (sorry Scotland) for the contest in France. While you can pretty much bank on England making an appearance (let’s just forget about 2008), for the other nations it’s not quite been so successful – Republic of Ireland are in their second consecutive Euro Tournament, but it’s also been 14 years since their last World Cup appearance. Both Wales and Northern Ireland are making their debuts in the tournament this time round... Read More

02/06/2016
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UEFA EURO 2016: One Week (and a day) To Go

As incredible as it was to see Leicester City of all teams win the Premier League, that’s now the past (and one we’ll look fondly on in decades to come). Right now… it’s time to upscale. Yep, we’re going International. It’s now June, which means the UEFA EURO 2016 Tournament is a little over a week away – with some slight differences to previous tournaments. Whereas previously the tournament consisted of just 16 teams, this year it will feature 24: eight more spots means more unusual names appearing – including debuts from Albania,... Read More

19/11/2015
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Euro 2016: The 24 Finalists Confirmed

This week, we learned the 24 teams that will compete in next year’s Euro 2016 tournament: France (Hosts) Spain (Defending Champions) Albania Austria Belgium Croatia Czech Republic England Germany Hungary Iceland Italy Northern Ireland Poland Portugal Republic of Ireland Romania Russia Slovakia Sweden Switzerland Turkey Ukraine Wales Partly due to the increase in number of teams that can compete in this tournament (up from 16 in 2012), the finals see five new sides who haven’t been here before: Albania, Iceland, Northern Ireland, Slovakia and Wales – although you could claim the... Read More

10/06/2015
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Women’s Football Takes the Spotlight

Amidst all the corruption scandals, boring friendly internationals and summer break, one thing is shining away in Football right now – and that’s the women of the sport. There’s plenty to be happy about if you’re a fan of the women playing the beautiful game: for the first time ever, women’s international teams will feature in the FIFA video game series (see right, a screenshot from the upcoming FIFA 16), and of course right now the Women’s World Cup is taking place in Canada. At this early point in the... Read More