Never Mind the Penalties

84 years since the first tournament, 48 years since England won it, the World Cup has its critics, but time stands still when your team plays. Hope and horror, passion and pain—and that's just the draw for the final groups! This is the ultimate collection of World Cup teasers, pulling together the highs and lows, the match-winners and the madness, the bizarre and the beautiful, from soccer's greatest tournament. Test your mates in the pub, liven up the pre-match warm-up, deliver a little half-time entertainment, and create your own penalty shoot-out. Keep a copy in your pocket as you count down to Brazil 2014—it's an essential part of your World Cup build-up. Author and journalist Phil Ascough has trawled through his own memories, picked the brains of fellow followers, and produced a compilation designed to furrow a few eyebrows and also raise a smile. Get your FIFA thinking caps on—it's quiz time!