The soccer world sat captivated as the two biggest names in the sport received the axe in the Champions League Round of 16. When the dust settled both Cristiano Ronaldo’s Juventus and Lionel Messi’s Barcelona had been reduced to rubble at the hands of Porto and Paris Saint-Germain.

In the last months of 2020, Neymar was involved in a love triangle with Colombian singer Maluma and his ex-girlfriend, Natalia Barulich. At the end of July, Maluma released his single "Hawái", a song that was an immediate success.

As the days went by, public opinion began to link the song with his ex-girlfriend, Natalia Barulich. More and more people were convinced that the song was dedicated to her, and Maluma had not commented on the matter.

What inspires the world’s best footballers? What do World Cup legends Carli Lloyd and Ivan Rakitić listen to before the biggest games of their lives? That’s what a new FIFA music podcast hopes to explore.

The FIFA PlayOn podcast, which launched Wednesday, delves into the relationship between musician and footballer. Hosted by former One Direction member Liam Payne, each episode features one world-class soccer player and a musical artist to discuss the soundtrack to their lives. 

Get ready for FIFA Sound.

One element the FIFA videos games have the edge on compared to any other video game series is their soundtracks. Over the past two decades the soccer video game series has been paired to the tunes of endless bangers. The sheer volume of hits means there are also a plethora of underrated FIFA songs dying to be played.

Supporters of Ligue 1 club Nantes discovered one of the highest echelons of pettiness that the Earth has ever seen on Wednesday. A band of rowdy supporters berated the team with insults and clown music during training as a means to voice their displeasure with the appointment of former France national team manager Raymond Domenech.

On Tuesday the FIFA 21 soundtrack was revealed. Like the previous edition, there are separate tracklists for the regular mode and the Volta street mode, but we’ll be focusing on the 36 tracks that comprise the one that people actually play.

I’m happy to report that while I initially recognized some of the artists — LA Priest, Louis the Child and Tame Impala among them – I hadn’t yet heard a single track off this playlist, which amounts to roughly two hours of listening time.

Until our top thinkers figure out how to break our current understanding of physics and develop time travel, the only real way to go visit the past is through music. Listen to an old album and you’ll immediately be transported back to when you first heard the music.

In this way, FIFA has always been my barometer for the passage of time, having been playing the series regularly for over 20 years. 

Barcelona is reportedly close to announcing the signing of Dutch striker and worldwide rap artist Memphis Depay. The full-time footballer, part-time rapper caught the eye of the Catalan club after helping Olympique Lyonnais reach the 2019 Champions League semifinal. We know he’s a talented footballer, but is Memphis Depay a good rapper?

He’s definitely not the most popular rapper, that’s for sure. His monthly listener count on Spotify isn’t anything to gawk at.

Hamburg-based St. Pauli's new signing Kofi Kyereh became one of the latest players to undergo the traditional initiation ritual of serenading his new teammates on Saturday. 

Kyereh, signed from Wiesbaden on a free transfer, treated the club to a rendition of the classic song "Stand by Me" as St. Pauli prepares for the new season with a training camp in Herzlake.