I’m not spending every second thinking about the World Cup, but it’s always in my mind when I make choices and decisions.
My goal against Italy in the World Cup qualifier was probably my most memorable: we had to go to Italy and had to win, or we wouldn’t go to the World Cup, and I scored in stoppage time.
I thought it was really important for my son to come to a World Cup with my missus, who has been there for me from day one and supported me.
There is nothing nicer than playing in a World Cup against France, England, or Spain. There is nothing nicer than instead of playing a friendly, you can play a game where, if you win, you can make history.
The athlete of the century, he scored more than 1,000 goals, and won the World Cup three times. He was complete. I don’t need to say anything more. Pele is Pele. No one can beat him.
The thing that made it so hard to get that call from Jill Ellis in 2015, letting me know I wouldn’t be at the World Cup, was that I felt like I’d lost what I love most about putting on the U.S. kit: representation.
I believe my chances of making the World Cup squad will improve if I join City. My exposure would be better because Brazil is biased towards the Ukrainian league.
Every player wants to win the World Cup – every country wants to win the World Cup – so anything less than that is not really a bonus. Of course you can take positives out of everything, but you won’t be entirely happy if you don’t win it.
I’ve seen elbows that broke eye sockets. I’ve seen a German goalkeeper just level a French guy. His teammates thought he was dead lying on the ground. This was in 1982 at my first World Cup. But a bite is outside any kind of contact collision: dirty foul play. A bite is a bite.
I remember listening to my first World Cup in 1966. I was with my parents, helping them build our house and listening to it on the radio. We still didn’t have a TV back then, but fortunately the first time I listened to a World Cup Jose Maria Munoz was commentating, and he’s one of the best there is.
I’ve always said the World Cup is a dream for any player.
I was watching the 2014 World Cup, and I was playing with the U-17s, I think, at the time. I remember watching it in the summer, and I was like, ‘You know what? It’s a pretty crazy goal, but I want to be there in 2018.’
There are a lot of players that want to go to the World Cup, so you have to be the player that goes out and performs and shows how much you want to go.
I think every time I’m with the team, even in a World Cup, as a coach, you’re constantly evaluating.
I’ve been through the process qualifying for the World Cup, which is an amazing, two-year process. It was an honor to represent the U.S. and to represent the city of Los Angeles and California.
You always want to see the best players in action at a World Cup, and the players always want to measure themselves up to the very best.
I always say I’ll rest when I die – that’s my motto. I just hope I don’t die before the World Cup!
The World Cup is always difficult, you need to come physically prepared.
There are a lot of players competing for that wide attacking role, and if I’m brutally honest, if you aren’t playing regularly, you can’t get picked. I found that out, missing out on the World Cup.
I think the World Cup is going to be bigger than what a lot of people are anticipating. At this stage in my career, when there is an opportunity, albeit a small one, of being on the team, what a great way to possibly end my career.
World Cup is very special because it happens once in four years, so for every individual, it’s very special.
You don’t want to turn up like a Nepal or an Ireland where the entire world thinks that you’re not going to win. You rather turn up like an India or an Australia or an England where everybody says this team is going to win the World Cup.
I think that the World Cup is a big factor for this increased interest. I don’t believe all of this is a result of just myself but also because of the others who are playing abroad.
Winning the World Cup is something that will always be inside your mind and inside your body.
I’m sure Jofra Archer will be loving heading into his first World Cup. He is in the dressing room as he comes across on the field – laidback and very confident in his ability.
It was my proudest moment as a manager when England drew 0-0 with Italy in Rome to qualify for the World Cup finals. Fifteen years later, the stakes are equally high for both countries as they go head-to-head for a semi-final place at the European Championship.
If you’ve got an opportunity to improve your squad before a World Cup you must take it.
I’m fully aware that Qatar are striving to become one of the leading sporting nations and they have big plans for football. Winning the honour of hosting the 2022 World Cup is the best possible proof of their intentions.
I’ve been lucky enough to play in the final of a World Cup before, but it’s always an amazing experience to walk out at a packed stadium.
My best World Cup memory as a fan? The Michael Owen goal against Argentina at the 1998 World Cup in France.
It is the dream of every player. Imagine winning the World Cup in your own country. It would be the happiest day of my career.
You can’t predict anything in football, particularly in the World Cup.
In a year without the World Cup, the national leagues and the Champions League have much more weight.
In World Cup qualifying in 1997, I will never forget Tony Adams and Sol Campbell: two very strong lions physically and mentally. Italy too had and has formidable defenders, but I have a great memory of those two. It was a pleasure to fight against them.
It’s probably the happiest moment for me, to play in a World Cup hosted in Africa.
You don’t pay for winning like that – whether it’s the World Cup, whether it’s the Brazilian national team. Paying the price with someone’s health or rushing someone’s recovery, we don’t do that.
I’ve played for England Under-21s, in the Under-20 World Cup and I’ve been part of the play-offs in the Championship. But in terms of helping my career and getting me ready, going to Cheltenham Town was a massive experience.
You can’t rely on your defence to win a World Cup.
You can’t win anything more special than a World Cup.
It has always been a dream to win either the Olympic gold medal or the World Cup.
The competition for World Cup places is massive, and you can’t just rest on what you’ve done in the past or anything like that.
The greatest challenge of a World Cup is having mental fortitude. The pressure is immense.
I remember when we were in the World Cup in Australia and I had to win the singles against Tony Payne, best of seven legs, to win it. I was 2-0 down but ended up beating him 4-2.
I do not have to whine about missing the chance to play in a World Cup.
I want to continue to win things, hopefully something with England, and if I can score the winning goal at the World Cup, then maybe they will like me again.
Soccer is a great game, and the rich variety of styles and passions that come with being truly global makes the World Cup a nonpareil event in the universe of competitive sport.
Some anthems are great for sports. You’ve got the Russian national anthem… ‘O Canada,’ how wonderful is that for hockey… but I chose the Italian national song because at my first World Cup, I saw the Italians play four times, and they won all four times – they won the championship.
To win the World Cup in your own country was magical. When Didier Deschamps lifted the trophy, I thought: ‘Wow, I’m a very lucky man.’
My first World Cup appearance remains fresh in my memory and what made it incredible was that I had made my first appearance for Nigeria just a year before.
My best years were 2010 and 2011, and the 2010 World Cup was the most incredible experience. Our tiny nation reached the semi-finals, I finished joint-top scorer in South Africa, and my goal against Germany was voted the best of the tournament. I was also named the best player of that World Cup.
People have been saying life will change for us now but me? No chance. I may be a World Cup winner but I will always be the lad who played cricket with his friends and cousins in the park on Stoney Lane in south Birmingham using an old milk crate for stumps.
I definitely see this team, the Canadian national team, definitely fighting for a spot in the 2022 World Cup.
After all these years, I’m finally into soccer. The World Cup is on, and my band is an international group – they’re all around me, cheering in the hotel bars.
I want to be the world’s number one one-day player; I want to win a World Cup, win the championship with Lancashire – those are my motivations.
I would never dream of telling them how to play but it would be amazing if England won the World Cup.
It’s funny that as soon as I retired from international football, Italy won the World Cup.
When I was a child, all I wanted was to enter the Austrian team and to compete on the World Cup tour. I had to fight hard to reach this. I wanted badly to win each race.
Belgium’s 1986 team is like the Christmas movie that they bring out every single year. That World Cup is something we get to see and hear about all the time. It is part of our general education in Belgium.
The best goal I have scored for the national team would be during the 2002 World Cup against Portugal. It was my first World Cup and my first goal in the World Cup. It was like a dream, and that’s why it was so memorable.
