Reigning World Cup winners Germany will prove hard to beat at this year’s European football championships.
Reuters/Darren Staples
Based on goals scored at the 2014 World Cup, goals emerge when teams develop small and rapid passing networks comprising only a few players.
And so it begins …
EPA
France are favourites, Albania are playing and there are more teams than ever before. Your essential guide to Europe’s summer football festival.
The party was over before it started for Louis Van Gaal.
Nick Potts / PA Wire/Press Association Images
The sacking of Manchester United’s Louis van Gaal shows football really is a funny game. But was anyone else to blame?
England team position called into question.
Mike Egerton/PA Wire/Press Association Images
Some have questioned whether the England captain should be in the starting squad – here’s how Rooney compares to his rivals.
Klip Klopp, watch him pop.
Jurgen by Shutterstock
Four football managers who made it to the top of their game with talent, and just a little charisma.
Secrets of success.
PA
The beautiful game is not a normal business.
New FIFA president, Gianni Infantino is tasked with reforming football’s governing body.
EPA/Jeon Heon-Kyun
After years of being dogged by scandal, football’s governing body has the chance to demonstrate it is serious about reform.
Goal! But who would benefit from Brexit?
Val Thoermer/shutterstock.com
If there was a Brexit smaller clubs lower down the league structure would likely struggle to get the best talent.
Choosing the right tactics?
EPA/MARK
Xi Jinping is spearheading an extraordinary bid to dominate the world’s favourite sport. But will he take the Chinese people with him?
Facundo Arrizabalaga/EPA
Exactly how does one structurally define a fairy tale, and can we accurately describe The Foxes’ win as such?
Smells like team spirit. Leicester captain Wes Morgan celebrates scoring against Manchester United.
EPA/Nigel Roddis
Egg roulette, terrible passing stats and the odd pizza. The psychology that builds success.
Martin Rickett/PA
There is no point in trying to explain how it happened – we just need to enjoy it.
Modern standing terraces are safer than all-seater stadiums.
Jon Darch
Safe standing stadiums and less invasive crowd control would be the final step to overturn Hillsborough’s wrongful legacy on British football.
Fan’s question what the future holds for Aston Villa.
Paul Harding / PA Wire/Press Association Images
Where did it all go wrong for Aston Villa?
They’ll never walk alone.
Linksfuss
Two inquests, millions of pounds, 27 years, 96 dead, one verdict: that police failures led to the 1989 Hillsborough disaster, and police lies tried to cover it up.
The force on a triple jumper’s bones is 15 times their body weight.
www.shutterstock.com
Studying how athletes’ bones contort during exercise is helping scientists understand which exercise is best for maintaining healthy bones as we age.
DerHexer/Wikimedia Commons
Making it into the world championships can depend more on your sport’s rules than how good you are.
Another day, another trophy.
Reuters
Whether the women’s U.S. soccer team wins its fight for pay equity, its existence alone shows just how much has already been won.
Cruyff, a cultural figure as well as a footballing one.
EPA/Koen van Weel
Why the loss of the pioneering great, Johan Cruyff, is being felt beyond the world of football.
Predicting the outcome of each of the 198 AFL home-and-away matches is no small task.
AAP/Joe Castro
If you’re looking to win your colleagues’ and friends’ respect in a footy tipping competition you can do a whole lot worse than simply tuning out of the countless hours of TV and radio analysis.