International Football
THREE DAYS TO FINAL DRAW: A QUICK FACT-FILE ON RUSSIA 2018 WORLD CUP
On Friday, the Final Draw for 21st FIFA World Cup will be held in Moscow. Sports Village Square brings to you some salient points on the event, the preliminary competition and upcoming Russia 2018 World Cup.
- In the last 28 years of the World Cup finals covered by the Editor-in-Chief of Sports Village Square, Kunle Solaja (covering Italy 1990 to Russia 2018), five countries have always qualified for every final competition: Argentina, Brazil, Germany, Korea Republic, and Spain. However, only Spain played in all of those preliminary competitions.
- Nigeria and Tunisia have each played 104 qualifying matches for the World Cup, the second highest in Africa after that of Morocco (112) . In contrast, Mexico have played the most FIFA World Cup qualifying matches (175), three more than Costa Rica (172). In all, 61 associations have played at least 100 qualifying matches.
- The 2018 FIFA World Cup preliminary competition began on March 12, 2015, with six teams playing in the Asian preliminary round.
- The first ever World Cup qualifying match was played on June 11, 1933. It was a contest between Sweden and Estonia. Sweden won 6-2 and the very first World Cup qualifying goal was scored by Sweden’s Knut Kroon.
- The Republic of Ireland, Luxembourg and Portugal are the only teams to have played in all 20 FIFA World Cup preliminary competitions to date.
- Prior to 2002, both the hosts and the defending champions qualified automatically. After 2002, only the hosts qualified automatically. 1934 FIFA World Cup hosts Italy were the only exception, as they had to negotiate a play-off against Greece.
- Five-time world champions Brazil are the only team to have played in every final competition, but they have only played in 12 preliminary competitions. There were no CONMEBOL qualifying competitions before World War II and the Seleção qualified automatically as hosts in 1950 and 2014 and as defending champions in 1962, 1966, 1974 and 1998. Germany have qualified five times without playing (hosts in 1974 and 2006, defending champions in 1958, 1978 and 1994).
- The most successful team in the history of the preliminary competition is Germany, who have lost only two of 94 matches (both at home, to Portugal in 1985 and to England in 2001). The Germans boast an average of 2.55 points and 3.10 goals per game.
- The 208 teams that enrolled for the preliminary competition for the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia set another new participation record, topping the 203 teams that enrolled four years ago for Brazil 2014.
- Only three of the 2011 FIFA member countries did not feature in the preliminary competition for the 2018 World Cup. They are: Russia which as hosts had automatic qualification, Indonesia and Zimbabwe which were under suspension and expulsion from the competition.
- By the time Peru hosted New Zealand in the very last match for Russia 2018, the number of qualifying matches ever played for the World Cup rose to 7,319 matches.
- Almost one-third of the total number of qualifying matches played by European teams in the Preliminary competition for Russia 2018 is 278. This represents almost one-third of the overall total.
Representatives from four national players’ unions on Thursday launched a new global organisation in Madrid, which they say will strengthen footballers’ rights and improve dialogue with governing bodies.
Opening a new front in the battle over who speaks for players, the International Footballers’ Association (AIF) was unveiled, with David Aganzo, president of Spain’s Association of Footballers (AFE) and a former head of the global union FIFPRO, appointed to lead the organisation.
Players’ unions from Brazil, Mexico and Switzerland were also represented.
The initiative drew a swift rebuke from FIFPRO, which said in a statement that Aganzo was acting out of self-interest and aligning himself with organisations linked to football governing bodies, as well as groups expelled from FIFPRO over alleged mismanagement.
Aganzo rejected the criticism, saying he “will not seek confrontation with FIFPRO”.
The launch comes amid strained relations between players’ unions and football authorities, particularly over the expanding international match calendar.
Relations between FIFA and FIFPRO deteriorated in 2024 after the union lodged a complaint with the European Commission, arguing that the global governing body was abusing its dominant position by adding competitions without sufficient consultation.
Aganzo denied suggestions that the new initiative was backed by FIFA president Gianni Infantino, but said “direct dialogue with FIFA” was essential.
AFE’s Extraordinary General Assembly approved the initiative in February with 99.8% of votes cast in favour of spearheading the creation of the AIF.
The same assembly also backed AFE’s withdrawal from FIFPRO, citing what it described as a “complete lack of transparency, as well as its total lack of dialogue with international bodies.”
“We represent over 30,000 footballers, and we come here with a new model aimed at safeguarding players’ rights and facilitating direct communication with all international bodies,” Aganzo told reporters.
“We are in contact with 15 to 20 unions already who were very aware of this moment and waiting for this announcement to make their move and join our initiative.”
He declined to identify any unions beyond those present.
Asked about a report that a senior envoy to U.S. President Donald Trump had urged FIFA to replace Iran with Italy at the upcoming World Cup, Aganzo urged caution.
“These are more political issues; on April 30th, I’ll be speaking to Gianni (Infantino) at the FIFA Congress, and we will discuss those things,” Aganzo said.
“People who want to go to the World Cup have to earn their place on sporting merit.”
-Reuters
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A new trial over the death of Argentine soccer legend Diego Maradona will begin on Tuesday, with seven members of his medical team charged with negligent homicide nearly a year after a previous case collapsed in a mistrial.
An enduring presence in Argentina – from towering murals to tattoos, opens new tab – Maradona died on November 25, 2020, at 60, after a heart attack while he was recuperating from brain surgery to remove a blood clot.
A court in San Isidro, near Buenos Aires, will hear testimony from just under 100 witnesses as it tries Maradona’s medical team over alleged negligence in the death of the 1986 World Cup champion.
His medical team has denied wrongdoing. The defendants are psychiatrist Agustina Cosachov, neurosurgeon Leopoldo Luque, psychologist Carlos Angel Diaz, physician Nancy Edith Forlini, nurse Ricardo Almiron, head nurse Mariano Ariel Perroni, and physician Pedro Pablo Di Spagna. An eighth defendant, nurse Dahiana Madrid, will be tried in a separate jury trial, with no date yet set.
Two months into the first trial, which started last March, a mistrial was declared when one of three judges, Julieta Makintach, resigned after video surfaced showing her being interviewed by a camera crew in the corridors of the courthouse and in her office as part of a documentary, in breach of judicial rules.
The retrial will require both prosecutors and defense lawyers to reassess their strategies after the first trial aired photographs, videos, audio recordings and forensic evidence. Many witnesses, including Maradona’s children and his former wife, Claudia Villafane, have already testified.
Prosecutors argued in the initial trial that medical professionals broke treatment protocols and that the home where Maradona was recovering from surgery amounted to a “theatre of horror,” where necessary care was not provided.
The defense countered that his death was inevitable given his longstanding health problems. Maradona struggled for decades with cocaine and alcohol addiction.
The negligence charges emerged in 2021 after prosecutors appointed a medical board to investigate Maradona’s death. The panel concluded his medical team acted in an “inappropriate, deficient and reckless” manner.
-Reuters
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Aliou Cisse has been named coach of the Angola national team, the country’s football federation (FAF) announced on Thursday, 24 hours after the Senegalese left his post in Libya.
The 50-year-old coach, who led Senegal to their maiden Africa Cup of Nations title in 2022, ended his short stint with the Libyan national team on Wednesday, after taking charge in March 2025.
“Welcome, Aliou Cisse, head coach of the Angola national team,” the FAF said on Facebook. Angola, which failed to reach this year’s World Cup, will start their 2027 AFCON qualifying campaign in September.
-Reuters
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