Northern Ireland v Bulgaria

WORLD CUP MEMORIES COME FLOODING BACK I love the World Cup. I love the festival, the colours, the relentlessness of the tournament – football on the TV nearly every minute of every day – and I love the ‘journey’ as we follow an unexpected and unfeted team into the farther reaches of the tournament.

in 2018 in Russia Luka Modric ran the show until the Croatians ran out of steam in the final against the French. All memorable in their own merits. I know that Northern Ireland fans have latterly learned to love the Euros, but there is a remaining fascination about the World Cup – the chance to play exotic opponents like Honduras or Algeria and be part of a worldwide TV audience of hundreds of millions. Of course we have to get there first, and that won’t be easy. Participation in the play-offs in 2017 against Switzerland was as close as it has been for Northern Ireland in 30 years, and our task to overcome the Italians, Swiss, Bulgarians and Lithuanians will not be straightforward. Twice before we have been paired with the Bulgarians in World Cup qualification and (whisper it please) we have yet to record a victory, the closest to one being a scoreless draw in 1973 played at Hillsborough, Sheffield during our wilderness years (1971-1975), so it’s about time that that particular record was amended. None of us know what these matches will provide or what the World Cup journey to Qatar will look like, but let’s buckle our seatbelts, prepare for take-off and enjoy the ride! Words William Campbell

Even a tournament played out in Qatar during the depths of a northern hemisphere winter in December 2022 will excite and enthrall. Every match brings a different story – whether East v West Germany in 1974, the Saudi Arabians wanting to take their team off in ’82, the dullness of sterile scoreless draws or the excitement of penalty shootouts. Many of my early football memories are around World Cups. I can vaguely remember England 1966. I enjoyed the wonderful Brazilians of 1970, the rain of Germany 1974, the tickertape and Ally McLeod of 1978 (my first replica shirt was a Mario Kempes 10 shirt from that competition; I even had an aborted attempt to grow a gaucho moustache!). For Northern Ireland fans ’82 and ’86 are etched in history, 1990 was Schillaci and Italy and ’94 brought the game to the USA. I wouldn’t be asking Diana Ross to take any penalties, however. Then 1998 saw the great French team that won without a central striker, 2002 brought Roy Keane’s Saipan tantrum and the South Korean fans, while 2006 in Germany is memorable for Zidane’s headbutt, 2010 in South Africa was the Howard Webb final or who can forget Suarez’s last minute handball and red card and the subsequent Ghanaian penalty miss? In Brazil four years later the hosts were unceremoniously swept aside by the ruthless Germans who went on to lift the trophy, while

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