Marking Pelé, team bonding in war-torn Vietnam, stubbing your toe when your nation’s first ever World Cup goal beckons. An alternative, international history of the World Cup, told through the 48 different stories of 48 men whose lives converge there: www.thetimes.com/sport/footba...

48 countries, 48 players: World Cup through eyes of men who played in it

From all-time legends to little-known pros, James Gheerbrant hears the stories and memories of those who lived every child’s dream: walking out on football’s greatest stage

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A few months ago, I embarked on a quest to speak to 48 World Cup footballers past and present: one from each nation at this year's finals. It was a mission, and a joy. This is what it means, through the decades and across the planet, to play at the World Cup: www.thetimes.com/sport/footba...

48 countries, 48 players: World Cup through eyes of men who played in it

From all-time legends to little-known pros, James Gheerbrant hears the stories and memories of those who lived every child’s dream: walking out on football’s greatest stage

thetimes.com

Santos FC gave us Brazil's two greatest scorers. But whereas Pelé was gospel, Neymar is content. Parties, posts, poker, Bolsonaro...as he awaits Ancelotti's World Cup call, is Neymar a symbol of decadence and wasted talent, or a misunderstood modern icon? www.thetimes.com/sport/footba...

Indulged and reviled: how Neymar’s star came crashing down

James Gheerbrant travels to Brazil where the forward – once hailed as Pele’s heir – is running out of time to make Carlo Ancelotti’s World Cup squad

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Back at Santos, cradle of Pelé, as Brazil's record scorer: it should be a fairytale. Yet Neymar stands for avarice and 'happiness squandered'; a possible hero, lost. As the World Cup squad looms, will he get one last chance to reclaim his story? Special report from 🇧🇷 www.thetimes.com/sport/footba...

In search of the real Neymar: heir to Pelé or fallen star?

James Gheerbrant travels to Brazil, where the forward is both indulged and reviled. Can he still be nation’s saviour at World Cup, or is he running out of time?

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Back at Santos, cradle of Pelé, as Brazil's record scorer: it should be a fairytale. Yet Neymar stands for avarice and 'happiness squandered'; a possible hero, lost. As the World Cup squad looms, will he get one last chance to reclaim his story? Special report from 🇧🇷 www.thetimes.com/sport/footba...

In search of the real Neymar: heir to Pelé or fallen star?

James Gheerbrant travels to Brazil, where the forward is both indulged and reviled. Can he still be nation’s saviour at World Cup, or is he running out of time?

thetimes.com

Graham Potter is returning to Swedish football just as it sees itself at a profound fork in the road, between old & new, collectivism & individualism. Can he navigate that, while rediscovering the daring to be different which defined his own success there? Column: www.thetimes.com/sport/footba...

Graham Potter has hidden behind cliché — time to be bold with Sweden

New manager has receded into safety of normcore with every job. Now he has chance to revert to what made him so good at Ostersunds and Brighton

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One of the big sports moments of 2026 could be the fall of the men's mile record. With a new generation in pursuit of that goal, I went in search of the soul of this mythic event, which spans continents and decades, but also resides in a glorious but dwindling club: www.thetimes.com/sport/athlet...

In search of the great milers… and a record not broken for 26 years

James Gheerbrant goes on the trail of an exclusive but dwindling club, and discovers how a new breed of runners have immortality within their grasp

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With 35 scored in 2 & ¾ years, penalties have become Harry Kane's daily bread, but each one leaves a trail of crumbs. Can he stay ahead of the keepers in an era when penalties are an information war? And could his single-kick mastery be a bridge to another sport? www.thetimes.com/sport/footba...

How Harry Kane’s mastery of penalties can help him achieve NFL dream

Forward has become No1 from the spot since his miss in the 2022 World Cup quarter-final, a monument to self-improvement and maybe even a bridge to an NFL career

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With 35 scored in 2 & ¾ years, penalties have become Harry Kane's daily bread, but each one leaves a trail of crumbs. Can he stay ahead of the keepers in an era when penalties are an information war? And could his single-kick mastery be a bridge to another sport? www.thetimes.com/sport/footba...

How Harry Kane’s mastery of penalties can help him achieve NFL dream

Forward has become No1 from the spot since his miss in the 2022 World Cup quarter-final, a monument to self-improvement and maybe even a bridge to an NFL career

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Since the Premier League went to 38 games in 1995, there have been 8 instances of a team both scoring & conceding 60+ goals; 7 have come in the last 3 seasons. I wrote about how managers who invite fire with fire have come to outnumber the managers who hero the zero: www.thetimes.com/sport/footba...

Ange-ball trumps Scott Parker’s clean sheets in era of entertainment

Wanting our teams to win has seemingly given way to wanting lots of goals, which explains why Postecoglou is in demand while Parker is fighting against the rising tide

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Few careers are more carefully plotted than Xabi Alonso's. Few are more impulsively adventurous than Roberto de Zerbi's. Ahead of their first meeting in the CL on Tuesday, column on two of the finest coaches of their generation, and their fundamental differences: www.thetimes.com/sport/footba...

Salesman v Madman in clash of Europe’s most innovative coaches

Xabi Alonso and Roberto De Zerbi have taken very different paths to Champions League tie between Real Madrid and Marseille, but the contrasting characters share some common principles

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In England we tend to see half-time interviews etc as part of an unwanted Americanisation, but is football, as the the Lens midfielder Adrien Thomasson eloquently argued, too mistrustful of any opening-up, & not mindful enough of the TV audience? This week's column: www.thetimes.com/sport/footba...

This week's column is on Tomas Soucek, West Ham's robot lawnmower, who I think might be the most unique footballer in the Premier League: www.thetimes.com/sport/footba...

Why Tomas Soucek is unique player in Premier League

He is a jogging, blocking, scoring machine with Sunday League energy. Yet West Ham midfielder’s efficient finishing, intuition and sheer obstinacy make him a great outlier

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No England men's player has ever started at six straight major tournaments. Kyle Walker is potentially one good season away from that feat; but last season he seemed in terminal decline. Can Scott Parker, the man he came on for on his England debut, get him there? www.thetimes.com/sport/footba...

With trust of Scott Parker, can Kyle Walker reach ending fit for a great?

Beneath the bluster and bling the 35-year-old has been assailed by doubts. Now he must defy them again to add to 96 caps and go out on World Cup high

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Maybe never in the great Hadron collider of fate have elite sport & quantum physics smashed together...until now. I loved talking to F1's new star Isack Hadjar & his scientist dad Yassine about how the lessons of a life devoted to the subatomic can build a champion: www.thetimes.com/sport/formul...

Isack Hadjar: Son of quantum physicist with equations on his F1 helmet

The F1 rookie, named after Isaac Newton, and his father explain how they apply scholarly discipline to a sport more associated with glitz and glamour

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Isack Hadjar has been F1's revelation of the season. His dad Yassine is a quantum physicist. Their story runs through Algeria and academia, manga and Pixar, Isaac Newton and Schrödinger's equation. They told me about a plan for stardom rooted in the rigour of study: www.thetimes.com/sport/formul...

Isack Hadjar: Son of quantum physicist with equations on his F1 helmet

The F1 rookie, named after Isaac Newton, and his father explain how they apply scholarly discipline to a sport more associated with glitz and glamour

thetimes.com

Scott McTominay was the ultimate 'Ask Me Anything' footballer. He built a fine Man Utd career on following instruction. Now he's on the brink of a Scudetto: no longer a player in listening mode, but one who has relearnt how to get lost in the game. This wk's column: www.thetimes.com/sport/footba...

Joyful Scott McTominay — a title-chaser made and discarded by United

From obedient Old Trafford foot soldier to Serie A star: Scott McTominay has exceeded expectations at Napoli, showing Manchester United what they’re missing

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I can't recall a final that's offered such a contrast in tone, messaging & narrative energy as Ange's pugnacious optimism vs Amorim's ascetic adherence to the truth. Rarely has one game felt so much like a referendum on how to be the public face of a club. Column: www.thetimes.com/sport/footba...

Will Postecoglou’s positivity or Amorim’s realism win in Bilbao?

Their seasons have been identical so far yet one coach is destined for glory and the other for infamy when contrasting philosophies clash in Europa League final

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Mikel Arteta has built a v good, highly methodical team. They win through control; when they don't, it's things outwith their control: a weird red, an odd ball, a keeper on 🔥. Are they too easily destabilised by the inherent randomness of football?This week's column: www.thetimes.com/sport/footba...

Mikel Arteta’s rigid style has left Arsenal incapable of facing adversity

Arsenal manager pursues total control, but football isn’t chess — his team struggle to cope when even the slightest intrusion of chaos or randomness takes over

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Jürgen Klopp always understood that football is a business of stories. How does his own story end? This week’s column: www.thetimes.com/sport/footba...

Jurgen Klopp wasted in desk job but don’t expect return to dugout

Everything that made German great drained him so much during 23 years of management in three cities that being back at pitchside would seem unlikely for 57-year-old

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