Welcome to The Sweeper Podcast, the unique world football show covering all 211 FIFA countries and beyond. Join Lee Wingate and Paul Watson for the best headlines from across the football world, and news, stories, insight and interviews you won't find elsewhere.
Whether you're into underdogs and upsets, ultras and fan culture, groundhopping and travel, derbies and rivalries, geography and geopolitics, or simply want a break from the relentless churn of big-money football, The Sweeper Podcast has you covered!
Featured topics: FIFA, UEFA, CONCACAF, CONMEBOL, CAF, AFC, OFC, FIFA World Cup, FIFA World Cup qualification, UEFA EURO, UEFA Nations League, UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, UEFA Conference League, CONCACAF Champions Cup, CONCACAF Caribbean Cup, CFU Club Shield, Copa Libertadores, Copa Sudamericana, CAF Champions League, CAF Confederation Cup, AFC Champions League Elite, AFC Champions League Two, AFC Challenge League, OFC Champions League, OFC Professional League, Coupe de France, Greenlandic Football Championship, San Marino
Join us on Patreon: patreon.com/SweeperPod
Video & audio editing: Ralph Foster & Tom Middler
Graphic design: The Gentlemen Creatives, Vienna
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Welcome to The Sweeper Podcast, the unique world football show covering all 211 FIFA countries and beyond. Join Lee Wingate and Paul Watson for the best headlines from across the football world, and news, stories, insight and interviews you won't find elsewhere.
Whether you're into underdogs and upsets, ultras and fan culture, groundhopping and travel, derbies and rivalries, geography and geopolitics, or simply want a break from the relentless churn of big-money football, The Sweeper Podcast has you covered!
Featured topics: FIFA, UEFA, CONCACAF, CONMEBOL, CAF, AFC, OFC, FIFA World Cup, FIFA World Cup qualification, UEFA EURO, UEFA Nations League, UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, UEFA Conference League, CONCACAF Champions Cup, CONCACAF Caribbean Cup, CFU Club Shield, Copa Libertadores, Copa Sudamericana, CAF Champions League, CAF Confederation Cup, AFC Champions League Elite, AFC Champions League Two, AFC Challenge League, OFC Champions League, OFC Professional League, Coupe de France, Greenlandic Football Championship, San Marino
Join us on Patreon: patreon.com/SweeperPod
Video & audio editing: Ralph Foster & Tom Middler
Graphic design: The Gentlemen Creatives, Vienna
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
In this episode of The Sweeper Podcast, we cover the big stories from 2026 World Cup qualifying and the latest international football news from Europe and beyond:
Part 1: Europe
Part 2: Rest of the world
The Sweeper is the global football podcast bringing you weird and wonderful stories from every corner of the planet. Whether you're into underdogs and upsets, ultras and fan culture, groundhopping and travel, derbies and rivalries, geography and geopolitics, or simply want a break from the relentless churn of big-money football, The Sweeper has you covered!
Support The Sweeper:
The Sweeper team
Chapters:
00:00 – Intro
00:58 – Austrian sink holes and bicycles
05:34 – Mircea Lucescu: Football’s oldest coach?
09:08 – The 2025 Amateur Nations Cup
11:14 – The World Tram Driver Championship
13:48 – Kosovo’s unofficial world title
16:18 – UEFA’s seven banned match-ups
21:35 – Norway’s demolition job on Moldova
26:33 – Celebrations for Slovakia & Iceland
31:03 – Suriname’s World Cup push
34:59 – Bolivia’s strategic masterclass
38:25 – New Caledonia’s Gibraltar friendly
40:56 – Uzbekistan are Central Asian champions
42:29 – Nepal’s protest-related cancellation
45:02 – China’s U23s thrash Northern Mariana Islands
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.