Toni Kroos is the only East German on the German national soccer team.
AP Photo/Martin Meissner
Made up almost entirely of West Germans, the roster of Germany’s national soccer team reflects divisions that remain almost 30 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall.
One of the favourites to win the World Cup, Germany’s national football team, on their way to Russia.
Armando Babani/EPA
Can we trust expert football predictions? Perhaps, but it’s variable.
Brazil, the 1958 World Cup winners: Vicente Feola (coach), Djalma Santos, Zito, Bellini, Nilton Santos, Orlando, Gylmar, Garrincha, Didi, Pelé, Vava, Zagallo.
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The 17-year-old prodigy thrilled the world and set the scene for Brazil’s decades-long dominance of the World Game.
French riot police move in to arrest Russian fans after violence broke out between supporters ahead of the England vs Russia match in Marseille, France in 2016.
Niall Carson/PA Archive/PA Images
The Russian people need to show the world a different side to the scandal-struck country when the World Cup kicks off.
Nick Potts/PA
Each player needs a tailor-made strategy based on his own physiology.
Egyptian striker Mohamed Salah at a training session in Cairo.
Khaled Elfiqi/EPA
Africa has always promised a great deal in the international showcase but delivered very little at the football world cup.
EPA/Guillaume Horcajuelo
The true bane of an organisation is a lack of engagement and job satisfaction among its employees. World Cup mania could actually help.
Tibet take on Northern Cyrus in Enfield, London.
Joel Rookwood
The tournament featured teams from Tibet, North Cyprus, the Isle of Man and many more.
Senegal’s starting 11 before a recent friendly against Luxembourg.
Julian Warnand/EPA
When Senegal face Poland in their first World Cup match in Russia, the whole nation will be roaring them on to victory.
At the 2014 World Cup African fans felt that Nigeria were on the receiving end of poor refereeing.
Peter Powell/EPA
Video Assistant Referees at the World Cup finals in Russia might help African teams to do better than they have done so far.
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For FIFA, the tournament is a commercial and technological opportunity.
Greece’s players sing their national anthem during the 2018 Fifa World Cup play-off in November 2017.
EPA-EFE
New research suggests that a football team’s rendition of its national anthem says a lot about its level of togetherness.
Even the best players in the world will have to be wary of cyber threats.
EPA/ Ennio Leanza
All the cyber threats that fans and footballers face at the World Cup…and tips for remaining safe.
EPA-EFE/Kiyoshi Ota
The Chinese president dreams of World Cup glory. His best first step is to win the right to stage the finals.
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Italy failed to make it to this year’s tournament – but we should applaud their notion of ‘fiero’.
Riot police drill outside Saint Petersburg’s new soccer stadium ahead of the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky
After a series of debacles, many metropolitan areas no longer want their leaders to vie for these opportunities.
German Federal Archives
As Hitler showed in 1936, there’s nothing like a massive sporting spectacle to promote your regime.
North Korean cheerleaders holding the unified Korea flag during the Summer Universiade 2003 in South Korea.
EPA-EFE/YONHAP SOUTH KOREA OUT
A delicate truce between North and South Korea has been reached in the run up to the Winter Olympics. It’s a high profile win for an event which is struggling to remain relevant.
Will the World Cup give Brand Russia a boost?
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Russian officials will be hoping that excitement about one of the world’s biggest sporting events generates some goodwill for the country.
Lining up at Argentina 1978.
Scotland faces another exit at the World Cup qualifiers stage. Time for radical thinking.