Football & Witball

Hub for football updates, insights, stories, and analysis. From Bangladesh to the global stage, we bring all the beautiful game's kicks, tricks & flicks to life

[Football & Witball @FootballWitball]

🧵[THREAD]
𝐁𝐫𝐚𝐳𝐢𝐥 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐞𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐲 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐦 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐍𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐆𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐀𝐰𝐚𝐲

[Football & Witball @FootballWitball]

Brazil's No.9 Trauma Is Back? 🇧🇷 #shorts #brazil #football https://t.co/XRCIYRqjLs via @YouTube

[Football & Witball @FootballWitball]

📷 Iraq's forward Aymen Hussein was held for 7 Hours by US authorities upon arrival in Chicago with the national squad for the FIFA World Cup after a 12-hour journey.

No explanation was provided by the United States. Media outlets mention the case of 'mistaken identity'.

[Football & Witball @FootballWitball]

A robber in Bangladesh got arrested by Police while wearing a Brazil National Team's shirt.

While he was in front of the camera he's covering the @CBF_Futebol 's logo as he didn’t want to disrespect the team he supports.

[Football & Witball @FootballWitball]

According to the ESPN journalist @nachorivarolaok, the Marseille defender suffered a serious injury in the last training session.

The team is preparing for an emergency replacement call-up.

[Football & Witball @FootballWitball]

@SanMarinoTeam has a total population of 33k. Whereas I enjoyed a Bangladesh match in our National Stadium against India with a 35k audience. Bangladesh football fans should think about invading San Marino.

[Football & Witball @FootballWitball]

Bangladesh beats San Marino on European soil. In Dooley's first match. That sentence will take a while to land properly.

The first half showed both versions of this Bangladesh side. Organized build-up, the narrow defensive shape holding well, but San Marino left spaces, and Bangladesh were not always clinical enough to punish them early.

The second half got complicated. San Marino pushed deep, Bangladesh were pinned back, and a questionable sub Bishwanath at right wing raised eyebrows.

Then came the real turning point. Sohel Rana Sr., disappointing throughout, came off for Quazem Shah, and the game shifted immediately. Bangladesh took control, pressed more coherently, and Quazem made two crucial interventions including a tackle inside the box that kept the result alive.

Topu finished from a set-piece off a Bishwanath bicycle assist. San Marino crumbled under pressure.
With 54% possession and 244 completed passes, a win on the board, and stats decent enough despite some question marks over the player selection.

But you can forgive Thomas Dooley in his first match because the promise shown in the approach is real, and you can only hope he takes notes for better squad selections in the matches ahead.

The conclusion, though, is stolen by Bangladesh winning in Europe for the first time ever with hope that "Dooley's work has just started."

[Football & Witball @FootballWitball]

A historic event as the @SanMarinoTeam of Asia beats the San Marino of Europe today.

[Football & Witball @FootballWitball]

🇫🇷🗣️ Didier Deschamps reflects on heartbreaks against Portugal and Argentina:

“In hindsight, both defeats in the finals are painful, because they tip to the wrong side for hardly anything.

I even learned during a FIFA meeting that the Portuguese goal would have been disallowed if VAR had existed, due to a foul in the build-up.

I don’t like to talk about regrets, but about three strong disappointments. 2016 in France hurts, because we hadn’t won a title since 2000. Fortunately, many players went on to win in 2018.

The one in Doha also hurts a lot, because when you are world champions, there is more expectation…”

[Football & Witball @FootballWitball]

The 1950 World Cup: The Day Indian Football Missed Its Golden Ticket 🇮🇳⚽

In 1950, India stood on the cusp of football history. After their qualifiers withdrew, the national team booked a direct ticket to the World Cup in Brazil. Yet, they never boarded the plane. ✈️❌

It was a massive lapse in sporting vision. Back then, the All India Football Federation (AIFF) prioritized the Olympics as the ultimate prize. Facing an exhausting, multi-week travel schedule to South America and a lack of preparation time, the federation pulled the plug at the eleventh hour.

The fallout was harsh. Frustrated by the last-minute withdrawal that disrupted the tournament layout, FIFA penalized India by banning them from entering the 1954 World Cup qualifiers. 🚫📉

The ultimate tragedy? India was moving straight into its Golden Era. Over the next decade, they became an Asian powerhouse, capturing Gold at the 1951 and 1962 Asian Games and placing 4th at the 1956 Olympics. 🏅🔥

They had the talent to shock the world on the biggest stage, but a bureaucratic miscalculation cost a legendary generation their ultimate spotlight—and India has been chasing that elusive World Cup dream ever since. ⏳🌍

[Football & Witball @FootballWitball]

🗼 14 streets in Paris have been renamed in tribute to PSG players by the artistic collective "The True Frame"... ❤️💙

🇪🇨 Pacho Street.
🇵🇹 Neves Street.
🇵🇹 Vitor Machado Vitinha Avenue.
🇫🇷 Doué Street.
🇧🇷 Saint Marquinhos Street.
🇫🇷 Barcola Street.
🇪🇸 Colonel Fabian Square.
🇲🇦 Hakimi Bridge.
🇷🇺 Matvei Street of the Temple.
🇫🇷 Warren Street.
🇪🇸 Saint-Luis Bridge.
🇬🇪 Khvicha the Fisherman Street.
🇵🇹 Nuno Mendes Avenue.
🇫🇷 Ousmane Boulevard.

[Football & Witball @FootballWitball]

One of Real Madrid's first moves in a possible Jose Mourinho 2.0 era is triggering Denzel Dumfries' €20 million release clause from Inter. The profile makes immediate sense to anyone who watched the 2009-10 Inter side that won the treble.

Mourinho is obsessive about defensive structure.
Compact blocks, clear roles, no chaos in transition. His teams are built on discipline and yet he gave Brazilian rightback Maicon more attacking freedom than almost any full-back in Europe at that time.

When Maicon bombed forward at Inter, Cambiasso dropped to cover the channel, Eto'o tracked back on the right, and the defensive block reorganised around him.

The freedom was not chaotic rather pre-planned. Mourinho had built a protective triangle behind Maicon so the right-back could operate like a wing-back, using his full offensive opential without the system breaking.

That goal against Barca in UCL semi is still iconic.
Dumfries is the modern version of that profile.

Coincidentally, another right wingback at Inter MIlan has shown his attacking flairs with 49 goal involvements in 207 Inter appearances. Wins over 51% of his duels. A physical engine built for repeated overlapping runs and late box arrivals.

At Real Madrid you may expect the same logic. One designated attacking risk on the right, with the pivot and winger covering behind him. Mourinho has Valverde like profile to do that for Controlled aggression — exactly how Mourinho prefers it

[Football & Witball @FootballWitball]

Türkiye’s team bus was escorted by an incredible convoy on the way to the airport as their World Cup journey begins 🤯🇹🇷

[Football & Witball @FootballWitball]

His name opens doors, but what happens inside them is on him.

Davide's rise is unusually steep for a 36-year-old. Fitness coach at PSG, then assistant roles across Bayern Munich, Napoli, Everton, and Real Madrid.

In those roles, he shaped the tactical explanation layer, working on pressing structures, build-up solutions, and opponent-specific adjustments alongside Carlo. Especially his analyst role in ensuring Real Madrid's UCL triumphs gave him the most limelight.

His first head coach job at Botafogo last year produced 15 wins from 33 matches in one of football's most emotionally volatile environments. Not spectacular. But respectable numbers for a first full assignment as a head coach.

Now comes Lille. A serious European job with Champions League expectations and a constrained budget. Lille expects him to work on the youth development project as well.

His French familiarity and PSG background reduce the adaptation risk, but the real test is simpler: can he turn smart ideas into repeatable results as the final decision-maker?

The current assistant role in Brazil and Brazil's World Cup result will impact his reputation, but the Lille chapter will decide if he can write the sentences himself.

[Football & Witball @FootballWitball]

Carlo Ancelotti on how he is thinking of using his key footballers for the World Cup,

"Vinícius's defensive position is central, so he can tire less when we try to recover the ball. That's one reason why he defends more centrally."

"(Neymar) has to play inside the field. He won't play on the outside, as a winger, or as an attacking midfielder. The position that Vini or Raphinha played today. It will be one of those positions."

"Raphinha is not a center forward. I don't ask him to play as a center forward; I ask him to be close to the defensive line because I think that in terms of attacking the depth, he's the best in the world. I believe that being closer to the defensive line to attack from behind is more important. But I will never tell Raphinha where he has to play when we have the ball. He has to use his creativity and quality to find the right position."

"What I ask of Raphinha, as I ask of everyone, is to position himself well when we don't have the ball."

"Igor Thiago is the type of striker I think the team needs because at certain moments in the game, especially when opponents might put pressure on you, you can play the ball to him; he's very strong and controls the ball well. That profile is very important for us."

[Source: Globo Esporte]

[Football & Witball @FootballWitball]

Carlo Ancelotti's Post-match press conference. How doubts spark across his mind:

"The second-half performance was important for the team, for the players who came on, who showed quality and showed that they can compete with everyone on the roster."

"But we have to take into account that the opponent slowed down, had less intensity and offered more opportunities to show quality. The first half had good things and things to improve. "

"The possibility of changing the team and the strategy crosses my mind; the second half of the game raises more questions. That's good for me, it's important to have positive doubts. The second half of the game gives me more questions, which is very good,"

"Obviously, with Casemiro, Paquetá, and Danilo, you can control the ball more, but it's less vertical. The team from the first half is more about going back and forth, faster players, one-on-one situations. Playing possession-based football won't highlight the players' characteristics."

"We're going to play with three midfielders... I think the defensive structure is 4-4-2. Then I can choose, like today, where Vini and Raphinha were the two up front, with Cunha as the left winger."

"When you don't have the ball, in the first half Cunha was on the left, Casemiro, Bruno, Luiz Henrique (formed the midfield). I can put a midfielder or a full-back as a winger. Then we have to balance the defensive and offensive aspects. That will be a topic for the coaching staff until the first game. To better balance the team."

[Source: Globo Esporte]

[Football & Witball @FootballWitball]

In Ancelotti's first match in charge for Brazil, he fielded a 4-3-3 in Ecuador that was defensively solid but creatively unproductive. A 4-2-3-1 then produced a dominant 3-0 over Chile.

But eventually, the 4-2-4 won the argument in the backroom.

Starting with the Paraguay match, consistent results with four attackers flooding the pitch and Casemiro-Bruno anchoring behind convinced Carlo to build his entire 26-man World Cup squad around this system.

In this World Cup, most top sides are travelling with 8 defenders. Brazil is going with 9, using Danilo as cover across all three backline positions. A cautious response to what happened to Brazilian defenders in 2022.

But that decision came at the cost of a sixth midfielder, and that is where the risk lives.

Against Panama today, Paquetá came off the bench and instantly gave Brazil rotational energy in the middle. Danilo alongside him completed a three-man shape that controlled the game differently.

But here is the problem: when Brazil field both of them from the start, there is no one like them left on the bench. No Gabriel Sara. No Andreas Pereira. Nobody who can inject that same creative-physical combination into midfield when the game demands it.

Top sides at this World Cup will attack half-spaces relentlessly. Ancelotti may feel mid-tournament, like Scolari did with Kleberson in 2002, that three midfielders is the only answer.

Scolari had the depth to make that call. He still played a double pivot but it was a a three-man backline and let Cafu and Roberto Carlos fly. The system adapted because the squad allowed it. Ancelotti will want that same flexibility. But the squad he has built may not give it to him.

[Football & Witball @FootballWitball]

Panama set up in a compact defensive block and kept it 2-1 until halftime. Brazil had the ball, Brazil had the territory, but Brazil had no answers.

There were moments to expose Brazil's shape to show how disorganised the backline was when numbers pushed forward. The starting XI looked name-heavy but predictable and short of ideas against a side ranked well below them.

Then Ancelotti made 10 changes at halftime.

Paquetá, Rayan, and Igor Thiago came on and within 18 minutes Brazil had scored three times.

Paquetá pulling strings between the lines, Igor Thiago drawing fouls and converting the penalty,

Rayan & Endrick exploiting the space more than whatever happened in the 1st half. The extra midfielder changed the entire tempo and vertical threat.

The 6-2 scoreline tells one story. The first half tells another.

Panama will not be in the knockout rounds. Ancelotti needs to be taking notes before going to a much intense environment.

[Football & Witball @FootballWitball]

Goals from Brazil's Vinicius Jr. Casemiro, Rayan, Igor Thiago, Paqueta & Danilo.

[Football & Witball @FootballWitball]

The End of an Era. No Fairytale Goodbye.

Luis Suárez will not be at the 2026 World Cup. Two reasons.

Tactically, Bielsa's 4-3-3 is built around Darwin Núñez — explosive, pressing, attacking space. Suárez drops deep and links play. Now, at the age 39, his workrate dropped and he plays more of a poacher. That profile has no place in Bielsa's system.

Politically, Suárez publicly accused Bielsa of fracturing the squad after the 2024 Copa América. Bielsa said the comments affected his authority. The relationship never recovered.

Suárez said in April he would never say no to a recall, and Bielsa...never asked.

[Football & Witball @FootballWitball]

📋 New World Cup substitution rule comes into play… and it backfires instantly. 😬

🇮🇸 Hlynsson was subbed off but took longer than the allowed time to leave the pitch.

⏱️ Because of the delay, his replacement had to wait a full minute before entering.

🇯🇵 Japan took full advantage… and scored during that moment of disruption. ⚽