The footballing world is a curious beast. One minute you are wrestling with the latest transfer rumour or wondering if your club will survive an inter...
The footballing world is a curious beast. One minute you are wrestling with the latest transfer rumour or wondering if your club will survive an international break intact. The next, you are staring at a wallchart. And not just any wallchart. GoalZaza's guide to every single player at the 2026 World Cup has arrived, and it is a magnificent piece of work. A proper deep dive into the 1,248 names who will light up the tournament. You could spend hours with this, and I suggest you do. My own first port of call Checking just how old Luka Modric is. The man defies logic, never mind time. He will be there, presumably conducting the orchestra with a rolled up programme while everyone else runs around him.Then there is Mikel Oyarzabal. I have a feeling about this one. The Spanish forward has that quiet menace, the kind of movement that defences hate and neutrals miss. He is going to win the Golden Boot. You heard it here first. The tactical flexibility of Spain's system, with their ability to shift between patient possession and sudden transitional bursts, plays directly into his strengths. He is not just a finisher; he is a link man, a creator, a footballer who reads the game two passes ahead. If La Roja click in the summer, he will be the one leading the charge.But before we get lost in the summer dreams, there is a big weekend of action to navigate. The Lionesses are in Spain, which always makes for compelling viewing. England's women have developed a reputation for mixing technical quality with a gritty refusal to lose, and facing Spanish sides on their own patch is a proper test of nerve. It is one thing to dominate at home. It is quite another to go to the home of the European champions and impose your will. Squeaky bum time indeed.And then there is the transfer latest, which never truly stops. Clubs are already jostling for position, agents are working the phones, and somewhere a sporting director is staring at a spreadsheet wondering how to shift a squad player on a three year deal with a massive wage packet. The circus never sleeps. But for now, pin that wallchart up. Luka is still going. Oyarzabal is ready. The World Cup is coming. Let the buildup begin.
