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.

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.

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.  

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.

Russia, not a popular country in the current era amidst all the happenings with Ukraine and the threats to other nations. Thankfully, this is a football article, so we don’t have to get into the weeds with all that. Instead, let’s focus on the Russian Premier League, which has just kicked off.

The league consists of the usual names, such as Zenit Saint Petersburg, Rubin Kazan and the Moscow clubs CSKA, Spartak and Lokomotiv. All clubs that have represented the country on the European stage.

By now, we are used to seeing British footballers play abroad. Harry Kane scoring goals for fun in Munich, Bellingham lighting it up in Madrid, and more recently, a gold rush of players to the Saudi Pro League.

But beyond the headlines, there’s a wave of British footballers making names for themselves in unexpected corners of the world, away from the bright lights of Europe or the money from America or Saudi Arabia.

How can it be that the world’s largest island has a footballing history and culture that next to nobody knows anything about? Greenland, unlike the name suggests, is not very green, in fact, the island is snow-covered and consistently exists with extremely cold weather conditions.

The Shetland Islands, an archipelago belonging to Scotland and north of the mainland, is a place with a rich historical past more associated with the Nords than the Scots and populated with people who would much rather identify themselves as Shetlanders over Scottish.

A group of islands with an estimated population of 23,000, long cold winters and short warm summers, but what is the story behind the football on the islands?

We’ve all heard of David against Goliath, well this story focuses on David’s younger brother and how he accepted a challenge to compete with the rest of the European Continent. This is the story of Klaksvíkar Ítróttarfelag (KÍ). A small Faroese fishing town with a passion for football and a desire to mix it with the best Europe has to offer.

Norway, is famous for the Northern Lights, the beautiful coastlines, or perhaps the cold weather. Whatever the case you will know something about this Scandinavian country.

What might become of interest to some people, though, is the football league and how two teams playing out from within the Arctic Circle are leading a charge to the top of the Eliteserien and setting their eyes on European football and glory.