Michael Kirwa

Salomon Olembe’s Fifa World Cup debut for Cameroon against Austria at France 1998 when he was 17 years 185 days old was historic. He became the first player born in 1980s to play at the Fifa World Cup. He was born on December 8, 1980. Since then, including this year’s tournament co-hosted by Canada, Mexico, and the US, players born in the 80s have now featured at eight Fifa World Cups, equaling World Cup appearances by players born in the 70s.

The expansion of the Fifa World Cup from 32 to 48 teams has seen the introduction of the Round of 32 in the knock-out stage at the 2026 tournament in Mexico, Canada and the USA. Since 48 is not symmetrical to split the field to a two-team final, Fifa decided to have 32 teams move to the knock-out stages. The top two teams in each of the 12 groups, along with the eight best third-placed teams, will advance to the knock-out stage.

Over a century of service to the sport never made black football boots noticeable until their absence from the sport’s grandest stage. The 2026 Fifa World Cup has made pink the new black. Research has shown that pink stands out on green grass, leaving Adidas, Nike, and Puma all looking the same after they supplied their players with pink boots. The increasing of commercialization football is creating egalitarianism that leaves everyone feeling ashamed.