Politics and football mix. I’ve put together a chronology of some of the most significant matches in history, plus some historical milestones for context. Please note this doesn’t include famously contentious recurring rivalries, such as Madrid-Barça or Rangers-Celtic, or clubs with a particular political identity (FC St Pauli, Rayo Vallecano etc.), rather some key standout matches with a political edge. You can read more detail on many of the stories here in my book, The Defiant: A History of Football Against Fascism.
This is by no means exhaustive, so please send me your suggestions on Bluesky.
Year Zero: 26 October 1863 – The Foundation of the Football Association
The Football Association (FA) is formed in London, leading to the creation of the Association Football rulebook, consolidating various football codes from contributing schools and clubs. Those favourite the Rugby School code of football form their own Rugby Football Union (RFU) in 1871 to complete the footballing code split.
More in my first book, Origin Stories.
30 November 1872 – the First International
The first official international takes place in Glasgow between Scotland and England, resulting in a goalless draw. While five ‘Alcock Internationals’ between an England XI and a Scotland XI were held at the Kennington Oval in London in the previous two years, they are not considered ‘official’ internationals. England v Scotland is the world’s oldest international football rivalry.
More here on the world’s first football international.
7 May 1881 – the Launch of Women’s Football
The first recorded women’s football match is held at Easter Road, Edinburgh, ostensibly a game between a Scottish XI and an English XI, resulting in a 3-0 win for the hosts. Victorian society was mixed in its response, but the patriarchal press was, unsurprisingly, against it.
31 March 1883 – the Working-Classes Wrest the Game from the Upper-Classes
Blackburn Olympic defeat Old Etonians in the FA Cup final at the Kennington Oval, overturning the southern, upper-class development of the game. Football was now the team of the working-class masses, at least in the stadium and on the pitch, if not in the administration.
Download this podcast on Blackburn Olympic’s 1883 FA Cup win for more.
Milestone: 1885 (July) – Dawn of Professionalism
Professionalism approved in England by the Football Association. Players can now be paid legally, as was often happening under the counter previously.
Milestone: 1888 – Football League Launched
The Football League in England kicks off with 12 clubs from the north and Midlands. Preston North End wins the league and cup double unbeaten, but as a proof-of-concept, the world’s first league sets the template for all that follow.
More on Preston’s ‘Invincibles’ in this podcast.
Mid-1890s – Sectarian Violence Surfaces in Ireland
The first politically motivated football violence takes in Belfast, as fights break out between fans of Protestant clubs Glentoran and Linfield, and the Catholic community side Belfast Celtic.
For more on Irish football history and groundhopping, read my book, Shades of Green: A Journey into Irish Football.
29 July 1911 – Indian FA Shield Final
Playing barefooted, the Indian side Mohun Bagan beats the British East Yorkshire Regiment 2-1 to lift the IFA Shield, becoming the first Indian side to win the trophy in the British-run competition. It was a big moment for the growing Indian nationalist movement.
24-25 December 1914 – Truce Matches
Christmas Truce matches reputed to have taken place in parts of the Western Front during the First World War, when Allied and German soldiers are said to have had kickabouts in No Man’s Land.
5 December 1921 – FA Bans Women’s Football
The FA bans it members from hosting women’s football matches, despite – or maybe because of – its growing popularity, effectively outlawing the women’s game for five decades.
Check out my podcast on the history of women’s football for more.
29 June 1923 – Fenerbahçe Represents Türkiye
British forces departing what is now Türkiye following the defeat of the Ottoman Empire play one last match against local side, Fenerbahçe. British commander General Charles Harington gave his name to a trophy for the occasion. Despite having a Scottish professional in the British forces side, Fenerbahçe run out 2-1 winners and the Harington Cup now resides in the club museum.
14 June 1925 – FC Barcelona v CE Júpiter
In a protest against the Madrid-based dictatorship of Primo de Rivera, fans at a match between FC Barcelona and CE Júpiter boo the Spanish national anthem. The government bans Barça from its ground for six months and founder/president Joan Gamper is forced to resign.
10 June 1934 – the World Cup in a Fascist State
Italy host and win the World Cup, providing fascist dictator Benito Mussolini with a huge soft-power propaganda triumph. However, the tournament was overshadowed by accusations of state influence to help Italy win.
For more, listen to my podcast with Aidan Williams on football in Mussolini’s Italy.
14 November 1934 – the ‘Battle of Highbury’
A feisty match between world champions Italy and England at Arsenal’s ground becomes dubbed ‘The Battle of Highbury. England win versus an Italy side that plays much of the game with ten men, prompting Mussolini to dub it a moral victory for the Italians.
4 December1935 – England v Germany
England host Nazi Germany at White Hart Lane. The match is controversial for two reasons: Firstly, that England were entertaining the Nazi side at the time of increased oppression of minorities and, secondly, that the match was held in the populous Jewish area of Tottenham. One spectator scaled the roof and slashed the rope holding the swastika.
7 August 1936 – Germany v Norway
Norway beat hosts Germany 2-0 in the quarter-finals of the Olympic football tournament. It’s the only football match Adolf Hitler is said to have attended. He left early after the Norwegians scored their second goal.
1937 – Euskadi and FC Barcelona go on tour
Escaping the height of the Spanish Civil War and flying the flag for their causes abroad, a Basque national side (Euskadi) is assembled and tours Europe, including France, the USSR and Scandinavia, before ending up in the Mexican league. FC Barcelona under Irish manager Patrick O’Connell also head to the Americas to keep the club solvent while the war rages, returning at the end of hostilities to take their place in La Liga.
18 July 1937 – Levante Win the ‘Free Spain Cup’
Levante wins the Copa España Libre (Free Spain Cup), a tournament run in Republican-held territory on the east coast of Spain while the Spanish Civil War raged across the country.
Listen to this podcast for more on football during the Spanish Civil War.
14 May 1938 – Germany v England
Under heavy diplomatic pressure, the England team is made to perform the ‘Roman salute’ at a friendly versus Germany in Berlin. England win 6-3 but the salute caused outrage at home while being propaganda gold for the Nazi regime.
9 August 1942 – FC Start v Luftwaffe XI
The infamous ‘Death Match’ takes place in Kyiv, with players of FC Start beating a Nazi Germany air force team 5-3. Four players from the Ukrainian side died later, but – unlike the myth – those deaths were not directly connected to the match. The game is said to have inspired the film, Escape to Victory.
2 May 1943 – Traktor v Spartak Moscow
To celebrate the liberation of Stalingrad and coinciding with International Workers’ Day, the Soviet leadership flies Spartak Moscow to Stalingrad to play local side Traktor in the ruins of the Azot stadium. Traktor win 1-0 in front of 12,000 people.
November 1945 – Dynamo Moscow Tours Britain
Dynamo Moscow tours Britain as part of post-war rapprochement, famously described by George Orwell as “war minus the shooting”. Dynamo returned unbeaten, having stunned the British public with their skill, but a new Cold War with the Soviet Union was brewing.
27 December 1948 – Linfield v Belfast Celtic
A Linfield mob invades the pitch at the end of a fraught derby with Catholic side Belfast Celtic, leading to some deliberately breaking Celts’ striker Jimmy Jones’ leg. Jones was lucky to survive and went on to become the Irish League’s leading goalscorer of all time, but – after several sectarian incidents in its time – Belfast Celtic withdraw from the Irish League at the end of the season, never to return.
21 June 1964 – Spain v USSR, European Nation’s Cup Final
In 1960, Spain’s fascist dictator, General Francisco Franco, refused to allow Spain to play the communist USSR. Four years later, at home, Spain faced the Soviet Union in the Euros final, winning 2-1. Franco, no stranger to politicising football and understanding the propaganda potential of the sport, made political capital from the win, describing it as an extension of the Francoist defeat of communism in the Spanish Civil War (1936-39).
More in this podcast on football in Spain under Franco.
July 1966 – Africa Boycotts the World Cup
African nations boycott the World Cup in England in protest at the continent being restricted to a single spot in the 16-team tournament.
June 1969 – the ‘Football War’
Honduras and El Salvador meet in a two-legged qualifier for the World Cup in Mexico the following year. The two countries were already at loggerheads over rights and land occupied by Salvadorans living in Honduras. There was violence around both legs, and at third deciding match held in Mexico City, and in the following days, skirmishes took place in early July between the two countries into a wider conflict that became known as ‘The Football War’.
22 June 1969 – Académica de Coimbra v Benfica
Académica de Coimbra protest against the ‘Estado Novo’ (New State) dictatorship at the Portuguese Cup final, entering the field in gowns walking slowly as if pallbearers while the club’s fans sing anti-government songs in the stands. It was a major show of dissent against Western Europe’s longest-running dictatorship, which fell five years later.
Read this blog post for the full story of how Académica de Coimbra challenged the Portuguese dictatorship.
June 1970 – Brazil’s Junta Politicises World Cup Win
Brazil’s far-right dictatorship under General Emílio Médici makes huge political capital out of the national side’s World Cup triumph in Mexico, with Médici himself photographed lifting the trophy.
Listen to this podcast for more on how South American dictators used football for political gain.
21 November 1973 – Chile v USSR
The Communist USSR refuses to play the second leg of their 1974 World Cup qualifier with Chile at the Estadio Nacional in Chile. The ground had been used by General Augusto Pinochet to imprison, torture and execute supporters of Salvador Allende, the democratically elected president whom Pinochet had deposed in a coup two months earlier. Chile played a farcical match against no opposition to qualify, walking the ball into the opposite net to score the winning ‘goal’.
22 June 1974 – West Germany v East Germany
West Germany, hosting the World Cup for the first time, found themselves drawn in a group stage against neighbours East Germany. The two had been divided after World War II, with West Germany aligned with the capitalist Western powers and the East (GDR) under the influence of Moscow as part of the Communist Bloc on the other side of the ‘Iron Curtain’. East Germany won 1-0 with a goal from Jürgen Sparwasser, but West Germany progressed to win the tournament weeks later.
Check out this podcast for more on football in East Germany.
5 December 1976 – Real Sociedad v Athletic Club de Bilbao
Less than a year after the fall of the Franco dictatorship (1939-75), the Basque flag, the Ikurriña, was still outlawed. To test the political waters, in the Basque Country derby, the captains of Real Sociedad and Athletic Club de Bilbao walk onto the pitch with an Ikurriña sewed by a player’s sister. There are no arrests and it’s seen as a watershed moment in the acceptance of the Basque flag.
For more on this incident, listen to my podcast with Christopher Evans on the Basque Derby.
June 1978 – the Junta’s World Cup
The controversial World Cup, hosted by Argentina’s brutal Junta, attracts global attention on the fate of the ‘disappeared’, which eventually is thought to have numbered over 30,000. Argentina win the World Cup, but it remains tainted.
Check out my podcast with author Rhys Richards on the 1978 World Cup in Argentina.
December 1980 – January 1981 – El Mundialito
Having failed to qualify for the 1978 World Cup held in neighbouring Argentina, Uruguay’s military dictatorship host the ‘Mundialito’ (Little World Cup) of former world champions. Uruguay wins the tournament in the final against Brazil, but the crowd at the Estadio Centenario sings songs against the dictatorship.
27 October 1982 – Corinthians v São Bento: Corinthians Democracy Makes its Mark
Corinthians take to the field against São Bento with the message ‘Dia 15 Vote’ (Vote on the 15th) to encourage people to go out and vote in the first elections held in nearly two decades since the dictatorship had taken over. This movement was known as ‘Corinthians Democracy’.
Listen to my podcast on Corinthians’ captain, Sócrates, with his biographer Andrew Downie for more.
22 June 1986 – Argentina v England, Mexico ’86
In their first meeting since the Falklands/Malvinas conflict of 1982, Argentina and England meet in the quarter-finals of the Mexico ‘86 World Cup. An otherwise unremarkable match is defined by two goals in five minutes from Diego Maradona – the infamous ‘Hand of God’ punch past Peter Shilton and the ‘Goal of the Century’. Argentina’s 2-1 win sparks massive celebrations in Buenos Aires and other parts of the Global South, while Maradona himself is elevated to another level altogether.
Check out my podcast with Dr Pete Watson from the University of Leeds for more on Argentina v England at Mexico ’86 and its wider political context.
13 May 1990 – Dinamo Zagreb v Red Star Belgrade
Amid rising tensions in Yugoslavia as it slipped towards civil war, Red Star Belgrade visited the Maksimir Stadium in the Croatian capital Zagreb to play Dinamo. Ultras from both sides fought and, famously, Zvonomir Boban of Dinamo Zagreb kicked a police officer. Boban was banned from the Yugoslavian side for the Italia ’90 World Cup for his part in the Maksimir Riot. Both clubs’ ultras would feature in the civil war that followed as Yugoslavia broke apart.
In my podcast with Richard Mills, I cover the Maksimir Riot and the breakup of Yugoslavia in more detail.
17 November 1993 – Northern Ireland v Republic of Ireland
Northern Ireland host the Republic of Ireland at Windsor Park at a sensitive time, with tit-for-tat sectarian violence occurring in Ulster. The Republic could still qualify for the USA ’94 World Cup with a point, while Northern Ireland could prevent their neighbours qualifying with a win. The match was fraught before, during, and after with Northern Ireland boss Billy Bingham labelling some of the British-born Republic players as ‘mercenaries’. The game finished 1-1 but Bingham and Republic manager Jack Charlton exchanged words at the end.
21 June 1998 – Iran v USA at France ‘98
Lyon hosts one of the most politically charged matches in World Cup history as Iran dispatch the USA 2-1. I remember UK commentary dubbing it ‘the Great Satan’ (what Iran called the USA) versus ‘the sponsors of international terrorism’ (how the US viewed Iran). Both sides were ultimately eliminated from the World Cup, but the US got their revenge in Qatar 24 years later, winning their group match 1-0.
14 October 2014 – Serbia v Albania
This Euro 2016 qualifying match was abandoned after numerous incidents, most notably when a drone carrying an Albanian nationalist banner was flown into the stadium. Serbian defender Stefan Mitrović brought the banner down, sparking a brawl. After arbitration, a 3-0 win was awarded to Albania.
The two countries have history over Kosovo. For more, listen to my podcast with Kirsten Schlewitz on football and identity in the Balkans.
22 June 2018 – Switzerland v Serbia, 2018 World Cup
Serbia took an early lead in this group stage match, however Switzerland scored twice in the second half, including a 90th-minute winner. Both Switzerland’s goals came from players of an Albanian background – Granit Xhaka and Xherdan Shaqiri – who performed the Albanian nationalist gesture of performing the ‘double-headed eagle’ with their hands, denounced by Serbian government officials as ‘provocative’.
8 April 2019 – CE Júpiter v Clapton CFC
Progressive London side Clapton Community Football Club visited CE Júpiter as part of Catalonia’s ‘Republican Spring’ festival. The two sides’ fans share similar left-leaning politics. Júpiter’s ground had been used to store weapons during uprisings in Barcelona in the 1920s and also during the Spanish Civil War (1936-39). Clapton celebrate the International Brigades – overseas volunteers who fought Franco in Spain – with an away shirt in the red, gold and purple colours of the Second Spanish Republic.
15 May 2024 – Bohemian Women v Palestine Women
Progressive Dublin club Bohemians hosted Palestine’s women’s team to play Bohs’ women’s side at Dalymount. The match was sold out, with 4,390 in attendance, including the Irish president, Michael D. Higgens. Palestine won 2-1 in a show of solidarity from the Irish people, who have experienced oppression and attempted genocide in the past, to the people of Palestine.
Have you got any suggestions for politically significant football matches that I should include? Ping me on Bluesky (I am no longer active on Twitter/X)