Tag: International Football
World Cup 2026: Concerns over fans’ U.S. visa wait times – ‘Your window might already be closed’
Concerns have been raised with the United States government, including an official meeting in the White House, over fears supporters may be deterred from the 2026 men’s World Cup owing to excessive wait times to process visa applications to visit the country.
The tournament begins in 777 days and it will be at least another 18 months before many countries will be assured of qualification, yet the wait times for U.S. visa interviews in two Mexican cities are already in
The tiny Brazilian club that fooled North Korea – ‘They would have been angry if we had won’
Everyone seems to have a slightly different estimate of how many people were outside the stadium on that strange November afternoon, but the consensus is that it was a lot.
As the bus crept through the crowd, the Brazilian footballers on board stared out of the windows. Locals — tens of thousands of them, on some accounts — flooded the streets. Most greeted the bus with diffident waves. A few ran alongside, hoping to catch a glimpse of someone they
Remembering the Zambia air disaster – ‘The boys would say: ‘This plane will kill us”
“The spirit of the 1993 team will always be there for Zambia.”
Kalusha Bwalya, Zambia’s former football captain, is reflecting on the day that changed his life forever.
On April 27, 1993, a military aircraft taking 18 of his team-mates and their coach to a World Cup qualifier against Senegal crashed shortly after refuelling in Gabon. All 30 people aboard died.
Bwalya would have been on the plane, too, but for the fact that he was playing for PSV Eindhoven
Christian Pulisic interview: ‘I want to show the world what the U.S. can do’
Christian Pulisic is perched on a bar stool in the old clubhouse overlooking the first-team training pitch at Milanello, AC Milan’s training ground.
He makes a hand gesture, one he didn’t need the past six months living in Italy to learn. Pulisic is talking about himself as one of the “older guys” on the USMNT and, as he does so, he is sure to put air quotes around it.
Nearby is a portrait of Milan legend Paolo Maldini lifting a
The footballers who escaped one of the most dangerous countries on Earth
“We see potential spies and enemies everywhere,” says David. “It can be at border control or it can be in a cafe. The other day, a guy was looking at me strangely, so I left without finishing my breakfast, and jumped in a taxi — asking the driver to take me to the wrong address.”
David is an Eritrean footballer, a refugee who thinks government agents are still watching him even though he fled the country a long time ago