World Cup 2018 Preview (Part One)

1,432 days after Mario Gotze’s volley nestled into the back of the Argentinian net, the twenty-first edition of the FIFA World Cup will kick off in the Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow. In spite of all the talk of bribery, the fall of Sepp Blatter’s regime, condemnation over the ingrained culture of racism at games, concerns over […]

Vile Barrage’s Eurotrip - Episode 10: Russia

For his final assignment of the season, we’ve sent that gammon-faced old rotbag over to Russia to give us a review of the Russian Premier League season, and also offer a guide to some of the cities hosting the forthcoming World Cup. Let’s hope nothing terrible happens to him along the way… “ Hello? Hello?! […]

Three Lions (and Two Bonus Points)

As the saying goes – form is temporary, class is permanent and, if you’re English, reputation can cover a multitude of sins. When Gareth Southgate named his 27 man squad for this international break plenty of people were quick to offer their opinions on some of the manager’s choices. Besides ignoring the in-form players at […]

Oranje Crush

The Netherlands’ inability to reverse a seven-goal swing in their final qualifier for Russia 2018 against Sweden condemned them to their first back-to-back failure in international tournament qualification since 1986. With a severe lack of quality available to the national team manager, and the standing of the national league dipping by the season, TLF wants […]

Don’t Cry For Me Argentina

International breaks. Those fortnights that, at the start of the season, fans of domestic football highlight and attempt to fill with anything other than watching yet more tedious, pedestrian, and often meaningless qualifiers and friendlies. Visitng relatives perhaps, finally getting round to redecorating the living room, or maybe a long weekend staring into the mirror […]

Rainy Night in Georgia (Reprise)

Wales’ narrow victory in Tbilisi on Friday night kept alive their World Cup hopes and, coupled with Serbia’s defeat in Austria, gave them an outside chance of automatic qualification for Russia. The gritty performance exemplified the great strides the Welsh side have taken in the past few years, and while they look to qualify for […]

The Road From Damascus

This week’s international break has seen Mexico and Japan qualify for the 2018 World Cup, joining hosts Russia alongside Brazil and Iran. With teams across the world coming to the business end of the qualification process, the final set of AFC round three fixtures take place on Tuesday. Australia and Saudi Arabia are both vying […]