This week, Colin sits down with Matt Walker—author of Europe United and the only person to attend a live football match in all 55 UEFA nations in a single season—to build the ultimate travel guide for the 16 European countries headed to World Cup 2026. Matt walks us through which European nations are most worth visiting, which to skip, where the football culture actually lives, and the best (and worst) reason to visit every single one of the 16. Plus: a definitive ranking of Europe's five most popular budget airlines!

In this episode:

• How Matt pulled off seeing a game in all 55 UEFA nations in the 2017–18 season

• How he forced his way into the worst match he saw

• Which World Cup 2026 European nation has the richest football culture (Turkey vs. Scotland)

• The surprising answer for least rich football culture in Europe — and why

• Brazil vs. Argentina for the best non-European football experience

• Whether Morocco belongs in our World Cup 2026 trip plans

• Where to eat in Europe when your matchday plans fall through

• Why you should avoid Barcelona and Bilbao for Spain national team matches

• Best and worst reason to visit all 16 European World Cup 2026 nations — Sweden, Norway, Scotland, England, Portugal, Spain, France, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Czechia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Turkey

• The best balance of dark history and modern travel in Europe today

• A definitive ranking of Europe's five biggest budget airlines: Ryanair, Wizz Air, EasyJet, Eurowings, and Vueling

Foot(y)notes...

Our guest:

Get your copy of Europe United by Matt Walker: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Europe-United-football-season-nations/dp/1787476138/

Follow Matt's ongoing footy travels at 55footballnations.com: https://www.55footballnations.com/

Follow Matt on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/55footballnations/

The Footy Travelers:

Follow The Footy Travelers' "Chasing the World Cup Spirit" trip through Europe: https://linktr.ee/Footytravelers

Join our upcoming group trips: https://footytravelers.com/trips

Get our monthly newsletter: https://newsletter.footytravelers.com