There’s totally dominating a league – and then there’s Johor Darul Ta’zim! The Malaysians have won the last 12 Super Leagues, the joint-longest active title-winning run in world football.

But JDT are currently in the limelight for a different reason: they have set a new record for the longest league unbeaten streak in football history at 109 games, surpassing the run of Ivorian club ASEC Mimosas between 1989 and 1994.

So how did they become such an all-conquering force? Why have they drawn scrutiny and criticism for their methods? And are they the world's most dominant team at national level?

Plus, Krieschow (with 560 inhabitants) becomes the smallest village to ever host a match in Germany’s DFB-Pokal, and UEFA reportedly talk to CONCACAF about joining forces on a new Nations League as the backlash against FIFA continues.

Join us on Patreon at patreon.com/sweeperpod for a Korean student’s real-life game of Football Manager in Malawi, a former tennis star playing in Austria’s lower leagues and an Albanian club owner literally throwing the cash around.

Chapters:

00:00 – Intro

00:50 – JDT’s 109 games unbeaten

04:40 – Royal rescue and scrutiny

09:43 – Domestic records worldwide

13:12 – Performance at AFC level

18:22 – The DFB-Pokal’s smallest village

26:10 – The UECACAF Nations League

Mexico broke ranks with the rest of CONCACAF over Gianni Infantino’s botched plans to sell off stakes in the World Cup. Now there are reports the Mexican Football Federation (FMF) has hatched a secret deal with the FIFA President to help them join CONMEBOL.

The FMF has a long history in South American football. El Tri have played in the Copa America as guests 11 times, while its clubs have featured in the Copa Libertadores – even reaching the final three times. But a confederation switch would be another matter entirely.

So why would the FMF want to join South America’s governing body? What would be the pros and cons of leaving CONCACAF and moving down south? And which countries have set a precedent by trading one confederation for another in the past?

Plus, Malawi’s women make history by reaching the AFCON final – despite being the lowest-ranked country in the entire competition. And Ireland prepares for the launch of its brand-new third division: the FAI National League.

Join us on Patreon at patreon.com/sweeperpod for a full report from the Super Cup final between PSG and Aston Villa in Salzburg, where Somali referee Omar Artan became the first non-European to take charge of a major UEFA final.

Ali Howorth's excellent article about Malawi's women's team: 'Two clubs, two sisters and a condom company: how Malawi emerged from obscurity to the verge of the World Cup' is on his Substack here.

Chapters:

00:00 - Intro

00:50 – Mexico’s CONMEBOL switch rumours

03:37 – Past involvement in South America

05:30 – Pros & cons of confederation move

13:25 – Precedents for a continental switch

17:04 – Countries in a different geographic confederation

22:21 – Outsider Malawi’s historic WAFCON run

27:09 – Ireland’s brand-new third division

The Coupe de France is the most international national cup competition in the world, with overseas territories located in every continent bar Asia taking part. The first to enter each year is always the team from Saint Pierre and Miquelon, in round 3.

And this season, the tiny archipelago off the coast of Canada’s Newfoundland will have a representative from the less populous island of Miquelon for the very first time, after AS Miquelonnaise won the local qualifying tournament.

But how does qualification work when there are only three teams in the archipelago? Why does Saint Pierre & Miquelon’s representative always start earlier than other overseas territories? And could a North American team theoretically play in the Europa League?

Plus, more withdrawals than usual from the week-long national championship forces Greenland into a strategic re-think. And Caito Teixeira, the president of Guinea-Bissau’s FA, breaches his bail conditions and goes on the run!

Join us on Patreon at patreon.com/sweeperpod for a bonus episode this Thursday all about the 2026 OFC Champions League and how the most remote places on the planet watch football.

Sweeper listeners get 10% off at Golaço Kits by using the code SWEEPER10 at checkout and if you join us on Patreon, you will get 15% off!

Chapters:

00:00 - Intro

00:48 – Football in Saint Pierre & Miquelon

04:00 – Miquelon’s Coupe de France debut

08:26 – Subarctic temperatures & a short season

10:32 – North America in the Europa League?

16:59 – Greenland’s chaotic championship

26:50 – Guinea-Bissau’s presidential escape

31:05 – Golaço Kits competition

Football never stops. Only nine days after the World Cup final, the news was leaked that FIFA were looking to sell a stake in the tournament, sparking a furious backlash across the globe.

UEFA responded by threatening to boycott FIFA competitions, with CONCACAF and AFC subsequently releasing statements condemning the proposal, which would have seen all 211 member associations receive $40 million each.

It’s easier to understand why the big guns resisted, but the money could have transformed the smaller nations, so why have so many of them declined the offer? And which tiny island’s FA condemned the plan despite being run by...FIFA-appointed officials?

Plus, Montenegro’s four clubs are all eliminated from UEFA club competition qualifying with a perfectly awful record of 10 games and 10 defeats. We examine why they fared so badly. Plus a Colombian giant is knocked out of the cup...by their own reserves!

Join us on Patreon at patreon.com/sweeperpod for a bonus episode this Thursday all about the death and resurrection of former Portuguese champions Boavista.

Chapters:

00:00 - Intro

00:46 – FIFA’s collapsing house of cards

01:56 – Montserrat

08:15 – Guadeloupe

11:52 – Nepal

14:30 – Comoros

21:10 – Montenegro’s continental calamity

29:36 – Colombia’s cold-blood reserves

The 2026 World Cup continues to produce breathtaking matches – arguably none more so than debutants Cape Verde versus world champions Argentina.

With players who once worked as electricians and mortgage advisors, Cape Verde pushed Lionel Messi & Co. to extra time in the round of 32, serving up one of the most memorable knockout ties in World Cup history. And one of the all-time great goals, scored by Sydny Lopes Cabral, who was playing in the German fifth tier not long ago and was so poor that he was hanging up binbags as makeshift curtains.

But how does the game compare to other World Cup classics in the modern era? And what will Cape Verde’s fairytale run do for tourism in the country?

Another outsider surpassing expectations is Paraguay, who eliminated four-time world champions Germany. Goalkeeper Orlando Gill, who was facing his idol Manuel Neuer, boasts one of the best rags to riches stories at the tournament.

Plus: Viral Kiwi Tim Payne completes a transfer to Olimpia in South America and an England fan sparks an international manhunt.

Sign up to The Sweeper’s Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/SweeperPod

Chapters:

00:00 – Intro

00:53 – Cape Verde v. Argentina

05:50 – From zeroes to heroes

19:00 – A World Cup tourism boost

23:06 – Paraguay’s dark arts

25:17 – Orlando Gill’s amazing story

26:55 – Tim Payne’s Olimpia move

29:48 – An England fan manhunt

The 2026 World Cup group-stage is over – and we’re already under way with the knockout phase of the tournament!

Among the teams in the last 32 are seven knockout debutants: Bosnia & Herzegovina, Canada, DR Congo, Egypt, Ivory Coast, South Africa and Cape Verde, who have been the story of the tournament and face Lionel Messi’s Argentina next. But which other countries reached the knockouts on their first-ever World Cup appearance? And which others made it through the group phase with three draws?

Elsewhere, there are some ties with intriguing political backdrops. Austria face Spain in a battle of the two branches of the Habsburg family, while co-hosts Mexico and Ecuador go head-to-head in the Latin American Embassy Derby. There’s also a sinister history between Germany and Paraguay, an assassination plot involving England and DR Congo, and an air base that will link the USA and Bosnia forever.

Plus: South Korea’s president intervenes following the country’s miserable World Cup performance, Marcelo Bielsa has a full-scale meltdown on camera and Tunisia stake a claim for being the worst team at the World Cup.

Sign up to The Sweeper's Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/SweeperPod

Follow Joey D'Urso on Instagram here:

https://www.instagram.com/joey.durso/

And Joey D'Urso's Substack is here:

https://joeydurso.substack.com/

Chapters:

00:00 – Intro

02:38 – Debutants and draws

05:10 – Knockout newcomers

10:50 – Cape Verde’s Messi meeting

17:51 – Political pairings

28:11 – Regrets and recriminations

It has been another scintillating week of action at the 2026 World Cup, where the final round of group games is about to get under way.

Algeria are preparing to exact revenge against Austria for the ‘Disgrace of Gijón’ 44 years ago, in what may be the biggest grudge match of the tournament, while the Dutch royal family has been groundhopping to watch the Netherlands and Curaçao on the same day.

Elsewhere, Hervé Renard and his crisp white shirts have failed to salvage Tunisia’s campaign, a marriage proposal went wrong at the Uruguay-Cape Verde match and Senegal have resorted to ordering takeaways to their team hotel in the absence of a proper chef.

Plus: Borja Iglesias struggles to get into the Spain training base, an Iranian player has his celebrity aunt to thank for his call-up, German fan Freddy sparks a bidding war from North American airlines and Montevideo tops the all-time World Cup birthplace table.

Chapters

00:00 – Intro

01:10 – Shocking scandals

11:18 – Famous fans

16:58 – Crazy call-ups

21:55 – Miscellaneous mayhem

26:09 – Bountiful birthplaces

The 2026 World Cup is already producing crazy quirks and hilarious headlines – with the co-host trio of Canada, Mexico and the USA leading the way.

The USMNT have a star striker who gained citizenship by pure coincidence, while the American and Canadian tournament mascots have inspired a Peruvian drug bust and a Mexican duck wearing a national team shirt has gone viral across the world.

Meanwhile, Algeria have begun a love affair with the people of host state Kansas, who have completely thrown their support behind the team, while Scotland are BBQing with AirBnB hosts in Boston and South Korean fans are forging a tequila-based bond in Mexico City.

Plus: Cape Verde stun the football world against Spain, Brazil and Mexico contest the ‘Non-European European Border Derby’, Australia’s refugee strikeforce make a flying start and Algeria top the ‘World Cup Sleep Tax’ table.

Chapters:

00:00 – Intro

00:50 – Cape Verde’s heroics

04:45 – Curious citizenships

10:20 – Glorious geography

14:10 – Strange statistics

20:26 – Beautiful bonds

25:40 – Amazing animals