February 5th is a special date for Real Madrid

Please also see my All-Time World Cup Team Index.
Real Madrid
Real Madrid All-Time Team Under Florentina Perez
Real Madrid All-Time Team Under Miguel Munoz
Real Madrid Argentine Best XI
Real Madrid Castilla Greatest All-Time
Real Madrid All-Time Team for Foreign Players

Real Madrid All-Time Team for Spanish players

Emilio Butragueno 

On February 5th, 1984, Emilio Butragueno made his debut with Real Madrid.  He would become an icon of his generation.  A year later, a boy was born in Funchai, Portugal on February 5th.  He would grow up to wear Butragueno's number 7 jersey at Real Madrid. His name is Cristiano Ronaldo.

Ronaldo

Meanwhile, Neymar, Gheorghe Hagi, Carlos Tevez and  Cesare Maldini all share the same birthday on February 5th.

Hagi also played for Real Madrid.

Some of the best posts from this blog have been turned into a two-volume book: The Multiverse of the Beautiful Game: National Teams of Pure Fantasy.

Volume 1 takes you back in time and asks the questions every football fan has dreamed about. What if Brazil had a more beautiful team in 1982 — would they have cruised to the title? What if the United Kingdom could send its team to the 1970 World Cup? I believe they would have been the strongest side on earth. What if Argentina had fielded both Omar Sivori and Alfredo Di Stéfano together in 1958? What if Johan Cruyff had lined up alongside Marco van Basten, Ruud Gullit, and Frank Rijkaard? What if Eusébio had played for Brazil? And that's only scratching the surface — Volume 1 is packed with legendary "what ifs" that will keep you turning pages.

Volume 2 brings the fantasy closer to home. What if England had Michael Olise, Erling Haaland and others in 2026 — could they go all the way? What if Yugoslavia had gone to the World Cup in 2018? What if the United States could select more players in 2010? It would be the greatest American side ever. And what if Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi had actually played for the same national team in 2006? It could have happened — if the soccer gods had smiled on us.

*** Both Volume One and Volume Two are available now on Amazon. ***

Wales and Israel's World Cup Qualifiers 1958

The World Cup Qualifying campaigns for both Wales and Israel were probably the strangest ever.  Israel actually "qualified" for the World Cup Finals in Sweden, but ended up playing in a playoff series vs Wales.  


In the original WC qualifying round, Wales came second behind Czechoslavia in Group 4 of the European zone. Only the group winners qualified for Sweden.

Meanwhile, Israel had a "successful" campaign in the Africa/Asia zone and qualified for the World Cup Finals.



First round
Israel was set to play against Turkey, but Turkey, a Muslim country, refused to play Israel and withdrew. Israel advanced to the next round.

Second round
Israel was set to play against Sudan, Egypt and Indonesia, but the Muslim countries refused to play Israel and withdrew. Israel advanced to the next round.

Final round
Israel was set to play against Sudan, but Sudan, a Muslim country, refused to play Israel and withdrew. Israel technically qualified for Sweden 1958.

But FIFA ruled that no team would qualify without playing at least one match (except for the defending champions and the hosts), and Israel had yet to play any. So a special play-off was created between Israel and the runner-up of one of the UEFA Groups, where the teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis, with the winner qualifying. After Belgium rejected the invitation, Wales played and beat Israel in the special playoff.

Some of the best posts from this blog have been turned into a two-volume book: The Multiverse of the Beautiful Game: National Teams of Pure Fantasy.

Volume 1 takes you back in time and asks the questions every football fan has dreamed about. What if Brazil had a more beautiful team in 1982 — would they have cruised to the title? What if the United Kingdom could send its team to the 1970 World Cup? I believe they would have been the strongest side on earth. What if Argentina had fielded both Omar Sivori and Alfredo Di Stéfano together in 1958? What if Johan Cruyff had lined up alongside Marco van Basten, Ruud Gullit, and Frank Rijkaard? What if Eusébio had played for Brazil? And that's only scratching the surface — Volume 1 is packed with legendary "what ifs" that will keep you turning pages.

Volume 2 brings the fantasy closer to home. What if England had Michael Olise, Erling Haaland and others in 2026 — could they go all the way? What if Yugoslavia had gone to the World Cup in 2018? What if the United States could select more players in 2010? It would be the greatest American side ever. And what if Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi had actually played for the same national team in 2006? It could have happened — if the soccer gods had smiled on us.

*** Both Volume One and Volume Two are available now on Amazon. ***