A legendary phrase forever associated with Brazil and the Brazilian footballing life. Joga Bonito is Portuguese for ‘Play Beautifully’. There is a focus not only on winning, but winning with style, scoring outrageous goals and taking the street football skills of the Favela and the beach football style to the international stage. It’s about beauty, style, and individual brilliance, only passing to another player in a good position, not just keeping the ball for the sake of it.
The beautiful game as most of us know it was brought to life and full colour by the great Brazilian national teams from the Pele era in the late 1950s to the 1970s through to Zico and Socrates in the 1980s, and onto Romario, Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, and Kaka in the 1990s and 2000s. It's why there is a famous global chant "it's just like watching Brazil" when any team plays nice football.
The collective name for Scotland's travelling supporters, the term was first used in the early 1970s and took to the global stage at the 1978 World Cup - there was even a novelty pop song called ‘Ally’s Tartan Army’ celebrating the team and its manager Ally MacLeod. They show up to matches in kilts, face paint, and full tartan regalia often even including bag pipes. The Tartan Army has a reputation that goes beyond football; they're consistently voted among the friendliest away supporters at major tournaments, more likely to be sharing a beer with locals than causing trouble.
The Tartan Army took over Boston and the nearby city of Providence during the 2026 World Cup, 28 years since their last appearance at the tournament. They charmed locals with their good natured spirit and incredible marching through the streets. Listening to the Tartan Army singing Flower of Scotland is a spiritual experience.
Traditionally, hydration breaks are used during games when temperatures hit a certain threshold, typically 32°C or above. It’s a short break for players to take on liquids. For the 2026 World Cup, a new, mandated hydration break was brought in. There is one hydration break halfway through each half when the ball goes out of play, and they last for three minutes each. It’s a big talking point, a stealth way for more advertising to be shown during matches, frustrating viewers in the stadiums and at home.
The hydration breaks during the ’26 World Cup are so frustrating. It kills the momentum of the game and it’s led to an Americanisation of the sport with some US commentators calling the match by quarters instead of a game of two halves. There has been plenty of booing, especially in air-conditioned stadiums where there’s no need for a break in play.
The award given to the goalkeeper deemed to have had the best overall performance and biggest impact on their team during the World Cup, part of a trio of trophies along with the Golden Boot and Golden Ball. It doesn’t necessarily mean the keeper who has kept the highest number of clean sheets, although a high number of clean sheets will point towards a great tournament for a keeper. In other competitions, such as the English Premier League, the Golden Glove is awarded the goalkeeper with the highest number of clean sheets during a season.
The first Golden Glove at the men’s World Cup was awarded to Belgium’s Michel Preud’homme despite losing in the first knockout round to Germany at USA 94.
The Golden Ball trophy is awarded to the best player at the World Cup. A shortlist is drawn up by the FIFA technical committee and the winner voted for by the media. Not to be confused with the Golden Boot, which is awarded to the top scorer in the tournament. In the men’s World Cup, it was first awarded in the 1982 edition, and in the women’s World Cup it has been awarded since 1991. Runners-up receive the Silver Ball and third place the Bronze Ball.
In 2023, England’s Lucy Bronze actually won the Silver Ball, just missing out on both the player of the tournament and a Bronze for Bronze.
The award given to the player who scores the most goals in a single World Cup tournament. This accolade is called the Golden Boot in both the men’s and women’s World Cup. It doesn’t always correlate that the player with the most goals at the tournament also win the Golden Ball trophy for the best player. For example, Germany’s Oliver Kahn won the player of the tournament in 2002 despite Ronaldo scoring 8 goals on the way to the title with Brazil. There is also a Golden Glove trophy for the best keeper at the World Cup.
The highest number of goals scored by a Golden Boot winner remains the 13 by Just Fontaine for France at the 1958 men’s World Cup and 10 by Michelle Akers for USA at the 1991 women’s World Cup.
The pinnacle of club football – the European Cup. The best clubs in Europe qualify through performance in their domestic league the previous season. Historically, before the rebrand to the Champions League in 1992 the tournament was a straight knockout, home and away legs each round, and only champions from each country. Now, the format is a large league table of 36 teams, multiple clubs from the top leagues. Each team plays 8 matches before progressing to a home and away knockout phase. The final is the biggest game of the season. It's all about the glory. The Champions League brand is used for every other continent apart from South America (the top competition is called Copa Libertadores de América).
Maybe the greatest European final of all was AC Milan 3-3 Liverpool in Istanbul, 2005. A World Class Milan team went 3-0 up at half time only to be shaken in a special 6 minutes in the second half. An average Liverpool team created the ‘Miracle of Istanbul’, winning a 5th European Cup on penalties.
When a team is accused of spying on another team in training to gain an advantage in an upcoming fixture. It riles up managers, first-team coaches, players, and adds tension to the next meeting between the two. Fans of the team accused of spying use it as an excuse to dress up as birdwatchers with binoculars, and the fans of the team spied on can get very angry. It adds an extra element of rivalry and tension.
The original Spygate involved Leeds United and Derby County in the 2018/2019 Championship season. Marcelo Bielsa admitted to sending a spy to watch Frank Lampard’s side in training in the run up to their match. It was an ethical problem, not technically breaking any rules, but Leeds were fined £200,000. Fast forward to the 2025/2026 season and we witnessed Spygate 2.0 when a member of Southampton’s coaching staff was caught watching and recording a Middlesbrough training session, which is now against the rules.
A popular British idiom referring to a ball that has been booted far out of play, kicking the ball to Row Z in the stands. This could refer to a defender booting the ball to Row Z instead of finding a pass up field or a poor shot from a striker, completely missing the goal and shanking the ball into the stands.
There was a ‘banter’ chant for former West Ham, Brighton, and Fulham striker Bobby Zamora from opposition fans; “when you’re sat in Row Z and the ball hits your head, that’s Zamora!” to say how shit he was as a striker!
The Championship (English 2nd tier) Playoff Final is often referred to as ‘the richest game in football’. It is a one-off game at Wembley Stadium between the two semi-final winners, to see who gets the final promotion spot to the following seasons Premier League. The top two teams are automatically promoted, with the following four teams facing each other in two-legged home and away semi-finals, and the winners playing off at Wembley in the final.
The winners of the 2024-25 Championship Playoff Final, Sunderland, were expected to make a minimum of £200 million in extra income after their victory over Sheffield United. This includes access to the massive broadcast deal, commercial fees, merit payments, and potential parachute payments should they get relegated back to the Championship. It also includes a share of the around £2 million gate receipts from the final at Wembley.