📺 𝗡𝗘𝗪 𝗘𝗣𝗜𝗦𝗢𝗗𝗘 📺 ☀️ Infantino’s Icarus moment ☀️ 🇲🇸 Montserrat: Run by FIFA-appointed officials 🇳🇵 Nepal: Suspended with no funding 🇰🇲 Comoros: Africa’s financial reality 🗞️ Plus 🗞️ 🇲🇪 Montenegro’s continental calamity’s 🇨🇴 Colombia’s cold-blooded reserves Watch or listen on Spotify, Apple or YouTube! 🤩

🎙️ NEW BONUS PODCAST 🎙️ 🌍 Where are football's six continental confederations headquartered and why? 🌍 🇲🇾 AFC - Kuala Lumpur 🇪🇬 CAF - 6th of October City 🇺🇸 CONCACAF - Miami 🇵🇾 CONMEBOL - Luque 🇳🇿 OFC - Auckland 🇨🇭 UEFA - Nyon Join us at patreon.com/sweeperpod to listen.

🇨🇴 Insane story in Colombia, where reigning national champions Atlético Junior have been eliminated from the cup by Barranquilla FC, their second-tier reserve team! Despite conceding a late equaliser to take the tie to extra-time, the underdogs sealed the upset with a Panenka in the shootout!

*Summer break* We're now taking a summer break until 4 August. You can get episodes in the meantime on Patreon. Thanks for your support, have a wonderful summer and see you at the start of next month 😊

🎙️NEW BONUS PODCAST🎙️ How do football shirts explain global politics, money and power? With special guest Joey D’Urso. 🇮🇹 Parma FC's disappearing sponsor 🇨🇴 Envigado FC's shadowy shirt 🇨🇳 China's rise and retreat Join us at patreon.com/sweeperpod to listen!

🇮🇸 Second-tier club Vestri, who hail from the north-west of Iceland just below the Arctic Circle, will make their continental debut v. Qarabağ in the UEFA Europa League first qualifying round today. Vestri won the Icelandic Cup last season, but were subsequently relegated from the top flight.

🏆 The 14 debutants in the UEFA club competitions in 2026/27: 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Bournemouth 🇮🇹 Como 🇰🇿 Yelimay Semey 🇱🇺 Atert Bissen, Mondorf-Les-Bains 🇺🇦 LNZ Cherkasy 🇷🇸 Železničar Pančevo 🇧🇾 ML Vitebsk 🇦🇱 AF Elbasani 🇸🇮 Aluminij 🇧🇪 Sint-Truiden 🇵🇹 Torreense 🇮🇸 Vestri 🇸🇪 Mjällby *Excludes past Intertoto Cup involvement

📺 𝗡𝗘𝗪 𝗘𝗣𝗜𝗦𝗢𝗗𝗘 📺 🇨🇻 Cape Verde's World Cup tourism boost 👰 Taylor Swift's wedding or Cape Verde v 🇦🇷? 💥 Sydny Lopes Cabral & binbags for curtains 🇵🇾 The story of Paraguay's keeper Orlando Gill 🇳🇿 Tim Payne's "homecoming" move to Olimpia 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 The England fan who sparked a manhunt

🏆 Did you know that... 🇮🇸 ...Víkingur Reykjavík were founded by children? 🇱🇺 ...Atert Bissen's stadium was built by its president? 🇫🇴 ...KÍ Klaksvík's star striker used to sell frozen pizza? The UEFA Champions League first qualifying round starts today. Let's meet the standout teams! THREAD 🧵

🇳🇴 It is the greatest moment in Norwegian football history!!! Norway have eliminated record champions Brazil in the World Cup thanks to a brilliant second-half Erling Haaland double! Norway remain the only country that Brazil have ever played against but not beaten at any point!

🎙️ NEW BONUS POD 🎙️ 🆕 The debutants in the UEFA competitions this season 🆕 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Bournemouth 🇮🇹 Como 🇰🇿 Yelimay Semey 🇱🇺 Atert Bissen, Mondorf-Les-Bains 🇺🇦 LNZ Cherkasy 🇷🇸 Železničar Pančevo 🇧🇾 ML Vitebsk 🇦🇱 AF Elbasani 🇸🇮 Aluminij 🇧🇪 Sint-Truiden 🇵🇹 Torreense 🇮🇸 Vestri 🇸🇪 Mjällby Listen at patreon.com/sweeperpod

📺 𝗡𝗘𝗪 𝗘𝗣𝗜𝗦𝗢𝗗𝗘 📺 The Only 6 Countries To Reach The World Cup Knockouts With 3 Draws Plus: 🇨🇻 Cape Verde’s meeting with Messi 🆕 The seven knockout debutants 🇦🇹🇪🇸 Austria & Spain’s ‘Habsburg Derby’ 🇰🇷 S. Korea’s presidential intervention 🇺🇾 Marcelo Bielsa’s massive meltdown

🇵🇾 Paraguay have pulled off a huge upset and won a World Cup knockout tie for only the second time ever, eliminating four-time champions Germany to go through to the round of 16. It is the first time in history that Germany have ever lost a penalty shootout at the tournament!

🏆 With the World Cup knockout stages now under way, a shoutout to the only group game in history that also served as a direct knockout tie: Group 4 at the 1950 World Cup in Brazil. Uruguay beat Bolivia 8-0 - in a two-team group caused by multiple withdrawals! They went on to win the trophy!

🇨🇻 Absolutely extraordinary from Cape Verde, who have gone unbeaten and reached the knockout phase in their first-ever World Cup finals campaign! Their reward? A meeting with reigning world champions Argentina and Lionel Messi in Miami next Saturday! Fantastic stuff for the Blue Sharks! 🦈

🇩🇿🇦🇹 Why is Algeria v. Austria the biggest grudge match of the 2026 World Cup? Why might both teams benefit from losing? And why did FIFA change the tournament rules the last time they were in a group together in 1982? Welcome to the mad end to Group J - a rivalry 44 years in the making... THREAD 🧵

📺 𝗡𝗘𝗪 𝗘𝗣𝗜𝗦𝗢𝗗𝗘 📺 🏆 WORLD CUP 2026 HIGHLIGHTS 🏆 🇩🇿 The 'Disgrace of Gijón' grudge match 🇹🇳 Tunisia: Hervé Renard's crisp white shirts 🇸🇳 Senegal: Unpaid salaries & takeaways 🇳🇱 The Dutch royal family's epic groundhop 🇩🇪 Germany's viral World Cup fan Freddy Watch or listen on Spotify, Apple or YouTube! 🤩

📆 It is a day to remember for the Kingdom of the Netherlands at the World Cup, with two of its constituent countries claiming memorable results: 🇳🇱 Netherlands 5-1 Sweden - One of the biggest wins in their World Cup history 🇨🇼 Curaçao 0-0 Ecuador - Smallest country to ever get a World Cup point

🇨🇼 CURA-WOW! The Caribbean island, with a population of 160,000, become the smallest country in history to pick up a point at the World Cup finals! They showed great mental strength to draw with Ecuador, having previously suffered a 7-1 thrashing at the hands of Germany in their opening game!

📺 𝗡𝗘𝗪 𝗘𝗣𝗜𝗦𝗢𝗗𝗘 📺 🇨🇻 Cape Verde & Vozinha's heroic draw with Spain 🇺🇸 Folarin Balogun's curious US citizenship 🇵🇪 Drug bust inspired by World Cup mascots 🇧🇷🇲🇦 Brazil & Morocco's 'European border derby' 🇩🇿 Algeria: World Cup Sleep Tax & Kansas love-in Watch or listen on Spotify, Apple or YouTube! 🤩

🇪🇬 Is there a national team with a greater contrast than Egypt between their results at continental and global level?! They have become champions of Africa a record 7 times - but have only played in four World Cups and have never won a sgame. A run that continues with their draw v Belgium today.

🇨🇻 CAPE VERDE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 🤩

🇨🇻 Tiny Cape Verde become the smallest-ever country by surface area (4,033km²) to claim a World Cup point on their debut in the competition! An archipelago of half a million, one of the oldest squads at the tournament, a player recruited on LinkedIn. It is one of the all-time World Cup shocks!

🇧🇪🇪🇬 Belgium v Egypt is the only 2026 World Cup group game between two countries with bizarre border anomalies revolving around the number 22.

🇨🇻 Cape Verde will make their World Cup debut when they take on giants Spain on Monday. How has an island nation with only seven FA staff got to the World Cup? And how has LinkedIn played such a big role in their recruitment? Here are 10 fun facts about the Blue Sharks! THREAD 🧵

🏝️ Spain-Cape Verde is the only World Cup group game between two sovereign countries that both hold territory in the same volcanic island region: Macaronesia. While Spain is a mainland European country, the Canary Islands sit in the North Atlantic above the independent island nation of Cape Verde.

COMING 🔜 🇩🇪🇨🇼 Join our World Cup watch-along for Germany v. Curaçao from 17:45 GMT. Needless to say, we're supporting the Blue Wave! 🌊 Please share the stream link with anyone you think might be interested! See you soon! 🤩 🔗 bit.ly/sweeper-watch-along-ger-cur

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Scotland have won a match at a World Cup for the first time since beating Sweden in the group stages at the tournament in Italy in 1990. The victory means that Scotland currently sit top of the group after Brazil and Morocco played out a draw in the other game earlier today.

🇶🇦 Qatar pick up the first World Cup point in their history thanks to a stoppage-time equaliser in their opening game against Switzerland! The Qataris have qualified for the World Cup for the first time in 2026, having previously been the host country for the 2022 tournament.

🇩🇪 WORLD CUP WATCH-ALONG 🇨🇼 Join us this Sunday 14th June for the ultimate David v. Goliath clash: Germany v. Curaçao, the smallest-ever World Cup country! Hosts Lee and Paul will go live on YouTube with Producer Tom at 12:45 EDT / 17:45 GMT / 18:45 CET. 🔗 bit.ly/sweeper-watch-along-ger-cur