Football Opinions

Latest opinions articles covering football.

Aug 10, 2026

Liverpool have thrown away a two-goal lead twice in a week, and fitness is only half the answer

Two up on Leeds in Chicago, two up on Monaco at Anfield, beaten both times. Andoni Iraola says his players do not have ninety minutes in them yet. The...

Aug 10, 2026

Barcelona are about to sell the man who won Spain the World Cup, and the maths says they are right

Three weeks after his extra-time goal beat Argentina in the World Cup final, Ferran Torres has agreed personal terms with PSG. Look at Barcelona’s for...

Jul 28, 2026

Chelsea chasing Welbeck and Henderson is the clearest sign yet that BlueCo has changed its mind

Positive talks for a 35-year-old striker and interest in a 36-year-old midfielder do not look like anything Chelsea have done in four years. That is e...

Jul 20, 2026

Spain look built to last, and that should worry the rest of the world

Spain backed up Euro 2024 with the World Cup, and with Lamine Yamal only nineteen and Rodri collecting the game’s top prize, the dynasty question is a...

Jul 18, 2026

Whatever happens against Spain, this feels like Messi’s long goodbye

At 39, and openly admitting he is exhausted, Lionel Messi has dragged Argentina to a third World Cup final. Sunday against Spain may well be the last...

Jul 18, 2026

England’s 60-year wait goes on after another semi-final collapse

England led their World Cup semi-final and lost it late to a Messi-inspired Argentina, and sixty years on from 1966 the wait drags on. Thomas Tuchel w...

Jul 15, 2026

France’s run of World Cup finals ends as Deschamps bows out a game short

France’s decade of reaching finals ended in Dallas, and with it the Deschamps era. A 2-0 semi-final defeat to Spain leaves the most successful France...

Jul 12, 2026

Four teams, two ties, and a France-Spain semi-final that feels like the final

The World Cup is down to four, with France v Spain and England v Argentina to come. Two heavyweight semi-finals, one wide-open trophy race, and a pick...

Jul 9, 2026

France are the team to beat at the World Cup, but the hard part starts now

France have won all five games and look the tournament’s most complete side. Their history says the knockout rounds are where even the best teams come...

Jul 8, 2026

Ronaldo’s World Cup story ends with the one prize he never got

Spain’s late winner in Dallas sent Cristiano Ronaldo out of his sixth and final World Cup, the one prize that eluded him across two decades at the top...

Jul 6, 2026

Brazil’s earliest World Cup exit since 1990 asks harder questions than Ancelotti will admit

Carlo Ancelotti is calling a last-16 defeat to Norway the start of a new cycle. The harder truth is that Brazil’s problems ran through this whole camp...

Jul 2, 2026

Why France already look like the team to beat at World Cup 2026

Germany are already home and Brazil needed a scare to survive. France, meanwhile, have strolled into the last 16 with Mbappe level with Messi’s tourna...

Jun 30, 2026

Germany’s exit to Paraguay is the same old story, just with better players

A four-time world champion ranked 10th went out to the 41st-ranked side on penalties. The talent has come back to this Germany team. The tournament re...

Jun 30, 2026

The 48-team World Cup was supposed to be soft. The last 32 says otherwise

Germany and the Netherlands are gone, both on penalties, and the expanded format that was meant to cushion the big sides has done nothing of the sort...

Jun 27, 2026

The 48-team World Cup gave us Cape Verde, but it also gave the big sides a safety net

Cape Verde’s debut run and Uruguay’s exit are everything FIFA hoped the bigger World Cup would produce. The trouble is that letting 32 of 48 teams thr...

Jun 26, 2026

France top the betting, but Spain look the team to beat at this World Cup

France may lead the market, but Spain’s demolition of Saudi Arabia and the depth behind Lamine Yamal make them the side nobody should want to meet in...

Jun 25, 2026

Tuchel’s England are winning without convincing at the World Cup

England sit top of Group L and are unbeaten, but a flat goalless draw with Ghana dragged up the old questions Thomas Tuchel still has to answer before...

Jun 25, 2026

The Golden Boot race is wide open, and the World Cup’s format will decide it

Lionel Messi leads the World Cup Golden Boot race on five goals, but with Mbappe, Haaland and Vinicius all on four and a 48-team knockout draw to navi...

Jun 18, 2026

Messi and Diaz aside, South America’s World Cup openers raised more questions than answers

One round of group games in, only Argentina and Colombia have truly delivered for South America. Brazil and Uruguay were held, Ecuador and Paraguay be...

Jun 17, 2026

Mbappe and Haaland delivered, but the World Cup’s day of stars belonged to Messi

Three superstars scored on the same June afternoon, and the two cast as the future both delivered. At 38, Messi still walked off with the headline.

Jun 16, 2026

Everyone wants Ayyoub Bouaddi, but the World Cup is inflating his price

Arsenal, PSG and a string of giants are circling the Lille teenager, and Lille reportedly want 75 million euros. Here is why I would think twice befor...

Jun 15, 2026

The 48-team World Cup’s opening round belonged to the sides nobody expected

Germany’s 7-1 rout of Curacao was the nightmare the expansion’s critics predicted. The rest of the opening round told a more encouraging story.

Jun 13, 2026

The USA look the part, but their two co-hosts have work to do

Mexico, the United States and Canada have all opened their home World Cup. One of the three hosts looked a class above the other two.

Jun 12, 2026

Ivory Coast have the squad for a deep World Cup run, but their AFCON exit is a warning

One of the most gifted squads in Africa, a coach who has already won a major trophy, and a kind draw. So why does a deep run for the Elephants still f...