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The Gaffer
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A player, usually a striker, that’s all about the goals. The rest of their play doesn’t really matter, they might go all game with very few touches, but then appear at the right time in the box to score a goal. Shevchenko, Inzaghi, and Haaland are all great examples of goal machines that focused less on all round play and more on making the net bulge.
When Erling Haaland joined Manchester City in 2022 some wondered whether he could replicate the goals he’d scored at previous clubs. He could, smashing the Premier League goalscoring record with 36 goals in 35 games. He’s a goal machine.
The third tier of European football, the UEFA Conference League was originally due to be named Europa League 2 before it was launched as the Europa Conference League in the 2021-22 season. It was intended to provide greater opportunity for lower-ranked European nations to play in European competition for longer. It’s opened up positive European experiences for many clubs, including lower-ranked teams from the top leagues who would otherwise never have successful adventures, such as West Ham and Crystal Palace from the Premier League or Olympiakos from Greece. The winner of the Conference League qualifies for the following season’s Europa League.
Despite being branded as a competition aimed at providing teams from leagues with lower-coefficients a chance at European football, three of the first five winners of the Conference League have come from the Premier League.
Gianni Infantino, president of FIFA since 2016. He has been heralded as a hero by many African and Asian football federations as he has been key to expanding the World Cup to 48 teams and growing funds for the game in parts of the world that previously felt left out. To European and South American eyes, Infantino has become synonymous with a corrupt FIFA, becoming the centre of attention rather than the administrator the FIFA president should be as head of a non-profit organisation.
Days prior to the opening match at the 2022 Qatar World Cup, Infantino gave an on-the-cuff press conference where he bizarrely claimed that “today I feel gay. Today I feel like a women. Today I feel disabled. Today I feel like a migrant worker”. This was in response to heavy criticism of the choice of Qatar as host due to the poor treatment and deaths of migrant workers in the country when building the stadiums for the World Cup, alongside worries for the LGBTQ+ community in a country where homosexuality is illegal.
Italian for “biscuit”, it is a term used when two teams enter a final group game or league fixture knowing a particular results – usually a draw – eliminates a third side and suits both the teams playing just fine. It originates from historical horse-racing cheats, where targeted horses were fed a ‘biscuit’ laced with sedatives prior to a race. In football, sometimes teams genuinely play for a point and there is no outright collusion. If a scoreline suits both sides it’s natural they play to that result. The term is rooted in Italian football but applies wherever groups are involved.
The classic biscotto – before the word existed – was West Germany 1-0 Austria at the 1982 World Cup. When West Germany scored early, both sides knew a 1-0 scoreline would send them both through to the next phase at Algeria’s expense. The crowd booed, the Algerian FA lodged a complaint but the result was upheld. It led to future tournaments changing format where all last group matches kick off simultaneously. A modern twist saw Algeria play Austria at the 2026 World Cup, where a 2-2 going into injury time would send both teams through. Instead, Algeria scored in injury time, before a dramatic 96th minute equaliser from Austria locked in the script. 3-3, both went through.
If a match in a knockout tournament ends level after 90 minutes it will then move into extra time in most cases (some competitions like the English League Cup now go straight to a penalty shootout). This notches up the drama and anxiousness for fans, especially at big tournaments like the World Cup, Euros, or AFCON. Extra Time is made up of two 15-minute periods. If the tie is still level after that, a penalty shootout takes place.
In the 1990s and early 2000s, FIFA introduced the Golden Goal, first goal wins in extra time. Instead of making games more dramatic, most teams sat back in a low block and played for penalties. They then introduced the Silver Goal rule, where if a team scored in the first half of extra time the game didn’t end immediately, but at half time if the score remained the same. There was only one Silver Goal scored; Greece beating Czech Republic at Euro 2004.