The Sweeper

📺 𝗡𝗘𝗪 𝗘𝗣𝗜𝗦𝗢𝗗𝗘 📺 🇺🇿 WORLD CUP DEBUTANTS: UZBEKISTAN 🇺🇿 🔒 First double-landlocked WC country 🇮🇹 Fabio Cannavaro: Big-name coach 🚄 Abdudokir Khusanov: Train in defence ❌ Chokers and nearly men no more 🇵🇹 Cristiano Ronaldo & Co. in the group PLUS 📺 Our Germany v. Curaçao watch-along 🇨🇩 DR Congo's Ebola outbreak at home 🇧🇦 Bosnia's humungous coffee pot in Boston

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Scotland have won a match at a World Cup for the first time since beating Sweden in the group stages at the tournament in Italy in 1990. The victory means that Scotland currently sit top of the group after Brazil and Morocco played out a draw in the other game earlier today.

Four co-hosts: 🇦🇩 Andorra 🇬🇮 Gibraltar 🇱🇮 Liechtenstein 🇸🇲 San Marino

🍻 Sweeper and friends in for an all-nighter for all four World Cup games 🤩

🇶🇦 Qatar pick up the first World Cup point in their history thanks to a stoppage-time equaliser in their opening game against Switzerland! The Qataris have qualified for the World Cup for the first time in 2026, having previously been the host country for the 2022 tournament.

🇩🇪 WORLD CUP WATCH-ALONG 🇨🇼 Join The Sweeper Podcast this Sunday 14th June for the ultimate David v. Goliath clash: four-time champions Germany against debutants Curaçao, the smallest-ever World Cup country! Hosts Lee and Paul will go live on YouTube with Producer Tom a quarter of an hour before kick-off - at 12:45 EDT / 17:45 GMT / 18:45 CET. See you soon! 🔗 bit.ly/sweeper-watch-…

We have a favour to ask: If you enjoyed reading this thread, please could you share or repost it? The expanded 48-team tournament with plenty of unfamiliar faces is a great chance for us, as underdog aficionados, to grow and reach new people who may like our social media content and podcast. A simple share, repost or follow can really help with that. Thank you! 😊

10/10 - Rank outsiders 🎫 Unsurprisingly given their minnow status, Curaçao are the rank outsiders to win the World Cup with ESPN giving the islanders odds of 2500/1. Only two other participating countries, Haiti and fellow debutants Jordan, have been given the same odds to win the entire competition. Their odds of 120/1 to win the group are matched only by Haiti.

🇨🇼 Curaçao will become the smallest country in the 96-year history of the World Cup when they make their tournament debut v. Germany on Sunday. But are they actually a country? And what scarcely believable stat do you need to know ahead of their clash with the four-time world champions? Here are 10 facts you need to know about the Blue Wave! THREAD 🧵

🏝️ The Scotland versus Haiti game today is a rare example of a World Cup match between two nations who share their home island with one or more neighbouring countries. Scotland, of course, are located on the island of Great Britain along with England and Wales, while Haiti share the island of Hispaniola with the Dominican Republic.

We have a favour to ask: If you enjoyed reading this thread, please could you share or repost it? The expanded 48-team tournament with plenty of unfamiliar faces is a great chance for us, as underdog aficionados, to grow and reach new people who may like our social media content and podcast. A simple share, repost or follow can really help with that. Thank you! 😊

10) Frantzdy Pierrot Day 📅 There is even a player in the squad, forward Frantzdy Pierrot, who grew up in that Haitian community in Massachusetts, having moved to the United States from Haiti at the age of 11. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts declared 26 May as Frantzdy Pierrot Day to honour the striker after he helped his nation to World Cup qualification.

🇭🇹 Haiti will return to the men's World Cup for the first time in more than half a century when they kick off their campaign against Scotland on Saturday. But why has tactician Sébastien Migné never set foot in the country he coaches? And why won't fans be travelling from the island of Hispaniola to the USA this summer? Here are 10 facts about the Grenadiers. THREAD 🧵