OTD E0226 — 14 Jun 1990: Cameroon beat Romania 2–1 in Bari, and 38-year old Roger Milla scores twice off the bench before dancing by the corner flag. This episode traces Cameroon’s AFCON power, chaotic Italia ’90 preparation, Milla’s late presidential recall from Réunion, the Argentina shock, the Romania goals, Cameroon becoming Africa’s first World Cup quarter-finalist, and how Milla helped create the modern signature goal celebration.

Ideas: [email protected]

OTD E0225 — 13 Jun 1956: Real Madrid beat Stade de Reims 4–3 at the Parc de Princes in the first European Cup Final. This episode traces the Mitropa Cup roots, Wolves–Honvéd and Gabriel Hanot’s provocation, L’Équipe, Jacques Ferran, Bernabéu and Saporta, the first European Cup campaign, Di Stéfano, Kopa, Reims 2–0 and 3–2 leads, Rial’s winner, and the what-if of a Reims victory before Madrid’s five-year dynasty began.

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OTD E0224 — 12 Jun 1938: Brazil and Czechoslovakia draw 1–1 after extra time in a World Cup quarter-final remembered as the Battle of Bordeaux. This episode traces 1930s football politics, Italy’s fascist-era dominance, Czechoslovakia’s golden generation, Brazil’s 1938 arrival with Leônidas, the violence at Parc Lescure, Plánička’s broken arm, Nejedlý’s broken leg, three dismissals, the replay two days later, and the later World Cup “Battles” of Berne, Santiago, Nuremberg and Lusail.

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OTD E0223 — 11 Jun 1933: Sweden beat Estonia 6–2 at Stockholm Olympic Stadium in the first World Cup qualifier — and effectively the first qualifying match for any major international football tournament. This episode traces early international tournaments, why 1930 used invitations, why 1934 needed qualification, Knut Kroon’s first goal, Sweden’s win, and how qualifiers grew from 27 matches in 1934 to a global football universe of thousands.

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OTD E0222 — 10 Jun 1978: final-day drama in World Cup Group 1. France and Hungary both arrive in white, so France borrow green-and-white shirts from Atlético Kimberley and win 3–1. Meanwhile, Italy beat Argentina 1–0 at the Monumental through Roberto Bettega, meaning the hosts finish second and move to Rosario — where their road to the 1978 World Cup title takes its strangest turn.

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OTD E0221 — 09 Jun 1938: Cuba beat Romania 2–1 in Toulouse in a WorldCup replay, recordingthe only World Cup finals win in Cuban football history. This episode traces pre-Castro Cuba, Havana’s immigrant football clubs, José Tapia, Héctor Socorro, José Magriñá, Tomás Fernández, the chaos of 1938 qualification, Cuba’s quarter-final run, the 8–0 loss to Sweden, and the long interrupted story of Cuban football since.

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OTD E0220 — 08 Jun 1969: Honduras beat El Salvador 1–0 in Tegucigalpa in a World Cup qualifier that became tied forever to the Football War. This episode explains why football did not cause the war — land, migration, expulsions, inequality and nationalism did — but also why the qualifiers mattered as spectacle, accelerant and public ritual. Plus: Iran–Israel, England Argentina, Dinamo–Red Star, Serbia–Albania, and other fixtures where old conflicts entered the stadium.

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OTD E0219 — 07 Jun 1970: Brazil beat England 1–0 in Guadalajara, but the immortal moment is Gordon Banks flying across goal to deny Pelé’s downward header. This episode traces England’s 1966 crown, Brazil’s 1966 wound, Zagallo’s 1970 masterpiece, the save itself, Jairzinho’s winner, the Pelé–Moore respect image, Banks’s later illness against West Germany, and why this remains the save by which all saves are measured.

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OTD E0218 — 06 Jun 1937: Bologna beat Chelsea 4–1 in Paris to win the Tournoi international de l’Exposition Universelle. This episode traces post-WWI professionalism, the Danubian school, Meisl, Pozzo, the Mitropa Cup, the Battle of Highbury, the 1937 Paris Exposition, Bologna’s Árpád Weisz golden age, Reguzzoni’s hat-trick, the 1938 World Cup echo, and the tragedy that followed.

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OTD E0217 — 05 Jun 1957: Belgium beat Iceland 8–3 in a World Cup qualifier, but the immortal moment is Rik Coppens turning a penalty into a one two with André Piters. We trace Law 14, the Blanchflower–McIlroy attempt five weeks earlier, Belgian outrage, Cruyff and Olsen, Plymouth, Brøndby, Messi Suárez, and the famous Pirès–Henry disaster.

Ideas: [email protected]