On this day… 10th July 1994

Germany play in the third place play-off tonight, and if any nation’s presence in the last four should come as no surprise it should be theirs. The 2010 World Cup represents the twelfth time Germany (or West Germany) has appeared in the semi-finals, that’s one more occasion than the rest of this year’s semi-finalists combined. Only twice in the last eight tournaments have Germany failed to reach the World Cup semi-finals, the first of which came courtesy of a shock quarter-final defeat to Bulgaria which happened on this day sixteen years ago.

On this day… 15th June 1986

After some very drab games thus far the second round of this year’s World Cup currently looks a very long way away. Twenty-four years ago today the Mexico ’86 World Cup moved onto its knockout stages and it as that tournament to which we turn our attention. On paper the second round fixture between the USSR and Belgium had not looked to be a particularly stand-out fixture, but it turned out to be the tie of the round.