The UEFA Champions League, the pinnacle of club football, the best if the best battle it out every year to be crowned champions. In the past we have seen the likes of Messi and Ronaldo grace the competition; now we have Haaland and Mbappe. Top players, at the top of their games. If the European competition doesn’t take your fancy there’s always Asian, Africa, South American, and North American competitions to choose from. Little is said about the Oceanic variety of this competition. 

Young goalkeeper Elyh Harrison traded Old Trafford for League Two prior to the commencement of the season. After a 20-game spell at Chester FC, Shrewsbury enquired about the possibility of taking Harrison for the season upon their relegation from League One. This was accepted by United, and Harrison started the first nine games of the new season before being recalled in early January.

Harrison had a few tough performances early on, notably in defeats against Salford and Notts County, which led to manager Michael Appleton deciding it would be best if Harrison was “taken out of the firing line”. He was replaced by Will Brook, who, unfortunately for United’s young-stopper, impressed enough to regain the goalkeeper jersey right up until a televised FA Cup game against struggling Premier League side Wolves.

India, the world’s most populous country, has roughly over 1.4 billion people who call this Asian nation their home. With such a large population, it does come as a surprise that they are ranked as low as 141st in the FIFA world rankings. To put that into perspective, Curaçao, the smallest nation to ever qualify for the FIFA World Cup, has a population of just over 150,000, and they find themselves ranked 81st in the rankings (as of 01/02/2026).

Why does India find itself in this situation? Well, common knowledge is that cricket takes centre stage in popularity for the majority, but according to surveys, around 21% of people in India are football fans. This equates to roughly 305 million people. Why then does India perform so poorly when it comes to football? What are the factors behind the unfulfilled potential of this great nation?

The unlikely emergence coming out of Azerbaijan. Qarabag FK will be looking to further create history the deeper they progress through this years UEFA Champions League. Newcastle United await UEFA Champions League history-makers Qarabag FK from Azerbaijan. Eddie Howe’s Newcastle United are up next for Qarabag in the UEFA Champions League as both sides progressed to the knockout phase playoffs. A face-off with Chelsea or Barcelona in the round of 16 is up for grabs for both sides. A potential chance for Qarabag to stun Chelsea again in this competition having surprised the world with a 2-2 draw against the Blues on matchday four.

What is the most obscure football team in the world? This is a question that is probably impossible to answer. Everyone will have their opinions on what makes a team obscure. Location, size of the club, and the owners. Even quirks such as Basque-only players at Athletic Club. Personal belief is that obscurity comes from the unknown. As obscure as Athletic Club is with their recruitment, a high volume of fans know this now and therefore cannot be deemed obscure.

Famously, the lowest-ranked nation in the world, according to the FIFA world rankings. San Marino has long been adrift in last place, almost to the amusement of people around the world. But why are they cemented to the bottom? Are they showing signs of improvement? What of the domestic football league?

When thinking of Ghanaian football, more than likely, the thought of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa springs to mind, the excitement they bought, the joyous fans and unfortunately the agonising penalty miss by Asamoah Gyan in the quarter-final against Luis Suárez’ Uruguay. Since that fateful day the trend on the national team has been on a downward trajectory, they have managed to qualify for the next World Cup but not convincingly.

Somewhat surprisingly, Ghana deserves a lot of praise for bringing so much talent into the football sphere. Specifically, the Right To Dream Academy (RTD) in the Eastern Region of the nation. Why is this academy so important? Why are we talking about it? Unknown to many, the RTD is growing, and the players produced from their system is only growing larger, across Africa, Europe and Worldwide.

What qualifies this story to earn the title of most difficult journey to reach a Champions League? Firstly, for some context, we have to travel to the digital world where this story was first popularised online. Football Manager, the game in which you take over a club from a plethora of options worldwide and guide them to win as much as possible. Many online creators play the game and show their journeys to success. Often choosing their favourite clubs, most of which are very recognisable, as they can bring in more viewers. Then there are the so called ‘FM Challenges’. These are very different to a usual game file save.

No, you're not misreading it, this is the story of Scottland in Zimbabwe, and how they are beginning to dominate African football.

Scottish football is used to some pretty wild stories. In recent years, we have seen St Johnstone win a cup double. Falkirk gaining back-to-back promotions to the Premiership, and the league is becoming increasingly competitive with every passing season. This all doesn’t quite compare to the completely bewildering events unfolding in Zimbabwe for the new champions, Scottland FC.

Residing quietly as part of the Caribbean Islands sits a small autonomous country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Historically being colonized by the Dutch in 1634 Curaçao became a major cog in the Dutch West India Trading Company and played a huge part in the transatlantic slave trade. Curaçao, thankfully, has managed to move with the times. Slavery was abolished in 1863 and eventually in 2010 Curaçao became the autonomous region within the Kingdom of the Netherlands where it remains today.

With the 2026 World Cup edging ever so closer every day, the full list of competitors is almost confirmed. The European play-offs are yet to be concluded, not only that but also the inter-confederation play-offs (ICPO) need to be resolved.

The ICPO are a unique path to qualifying for the World Cup with six teams from five continents competing for the two available places that will gain access to the golden ticket of World Cup qualification. As Europe have their own play-offs to decide their final competitors they are not involved in this mini knockout phase. Instead, nations from Asia, Africa, Oceania, South America and CONCACAF compete for their last shot of glory.

Famously we have the likes of Swansea, Cardiff, Wrexham and Newport County plying their trade in the English football league system even though they reside in Wales. These clubs applied and exceptions were made to allow them to compete in a different football league to their own. This has come with positive results with all four of these clubs being at the professional level in England.  

The dream to top all dreams. How often have mates sat around in the pub dreaming of becoming professional footballers? Many players have represented pubs in local football leagues, many players have used pub football to play for a local league team, and some have even gone as far as reaching the lower levels of the football pyramid. What would happen if that local pub team performed to a level so high that they qualify for UEFA competition? This is the story of Bruno’s Magpies, the best pub team in the world.

The Island Games, a biennial event organised by the International Island Games Association (IIGA). A huge celebration of sports and culture, bringing many island territories to one place and competing in a range of sports from cycling to archery.

The games date back to 1985 and were held on the Isle of Man. All island members represent non-sovereign territories with sporting teams representing places such as Shetland, Ynys Mon, Saint Helena and as far as the Falkland Islands. The event runs for one week, with around 14 different sports being competed in, although the inaugural edition consisted of just seven sports.

In one of the most remarkable stories of the season, we have witnessed a fairy tale happen in Sweden. A story not dissimilar to that of Leicester City winning the Premier League. In stark contrast to Leicester’s historical title win, Mjällby AIF resides in the small fishing village of Hällevik, also part of the Sölvesborg Municipality in Blekinge County.

Welcome back to Niche Football Journalism. This week, we have a different kind of article. If you listened to the podcast from Thursday, you may understand why we have released this today. We’ve had guests on the podcast recently, and we tend to tell stories from all around the world that do not often get the light of day in the modern mainstream media. However, today, we are looking at something that has come out in recent days and that has caused a huge stir in the world of football. The 2026 World Cup ticket prices.  

This isn’t a rant about FIFA charging too much for their tickets. Unfortunately, FIFA is the governing body and is free to charge what it wants. The issue is that the average football fan is now being priced out because of this.

In years gone by, it has been projected that FIFA has become a greedy organisation and will go to extreme lengths to squeeze every penny out of the people who make the game what it is, the fans.

Across the globe, football is played from grassroots to professional. From the less economically developed nations to the most, there is almost always a connection with the beautiful game. At the very top of the game, we find the usual suspects: Liverpool, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, and so on. Outside of Europe, we find the giants of South America with Boca, River Plate and Flamengo. Africa can boast of the Egyptian giants, and Morocco can bring forward their teams from Casablanca.

CONCACAF steps into the ring with representatives from Mexico and the United States, while Asia promotes the Japanese, Korean, and Middle Eastern teams. But what about Oceania? Since the beginning of the beautiful game, Oceania has been behind the other continents in terms of footballing progress. The shining light of the Oceania Football Confederation was Australia; however, they have since moved to the Asian Football Confederation to pursue tougher challenges, which they believe will help their nation succeed. 

Now, the Champions League has kicked off for the 25/26 season, and the regular names are amongst the competition. Real Madrid, Liverpool, Barcelona and so on. Then you see the name, Pafos FC, who? You may be thinking. Who is this team that has made it to the Champions League proper?

Most young footballers dream of playing international football for England. Some forge long, decorated careers, while others international careers fade into obscurity. 

Let’s look at ten “one cap wonders” - players whose England careers were all too brief.

A mild night in the Jetisu region of Kazakhstan produced one of the most remarkable stories in football from the last decade. The once capital city of Kazakhstan, Almaty, brought fever dreams to life with the performance of the football club, Kairat. A nation with a league ranked 34th in the UEFA Coefficient rankings has produced an incredible feat by reaching the Champions League, League Phase.

This is not the first time a Kazakhstan side has reached the promised land. FC Astana appeared in the Champions League in the 2015-16 season, although they did not progress past the group stage. Historically, Astana are the most successful team in Kazakhstan, winning the title on seven occasions.