Belgium beat neighbours Holland 4-3 on October 24th 1954. That year they also drew 4-4 with England at the FIFA World Cup that was held in Switzerland. Switzerland (famous for cuckoo clocks, Nestle' and Nazi gold) are in Group A, and play on Saturday at 2pm against Hungary. The last time Hungary played Switzerland in a major tournament was in 1938. Adolf Hitler was in charge of Germany, Austria and Czechoslovakia in 1938. The Hansen Office of Switzerland won the Nobel Peace Prize for their work with homeless refugees. Adolf Hitler was Time magazine's 'Man of the Year'. And Hungary lost in the final of the World Cup to Italy, Hitler's axis ally.

  None of us can escape the wall-to-wall coverage of kickballing entertainment over the forthcoming few weeks. And as a sports fan, I welcome any distraction from broken electoral systems, political soundbites, adversarial doggerel, and an alarming rise in popularity on the right-wings of our troubled continent. So as the ad execs finalise their positioning of livery, and the chief execs of Atos, Just Eat and Visit Qatar watch the cash roll in, I thought I'd put my lack of money where my large mouth is, and stake an armchair supporter's claim to an 'interest'. Ireland will not be there. Neither (rather surprisingly!) will Israel or Australia. As a kilt-wearing clansman, my heart will be with Scotland. But as sure as a cold Bitburger will taste better than a warm Irn Bru, we all know that Scotland's progress will be over after the first 90 minutes of the competition. Somewhere an English commentator will look upon the tartan fans and utter the immortal cliche': ...