With the UEFA club competition qualifying rounds getting under way this week, it’s time for a full Sweeper preview of the action in Part 1 – in the form of a trivia quiz, of course! Join us and play along in our three rounds – Multiple Choice, Odd One Out & The Right Order – as we look ahead to the Champions, Europa & Conference League qualifiers: the debutants, the second-tier teams, the geographical extremes, the funny back stories and much more besides. And there’s plenty at stake, with Lee and Paul competing for a coveted prize.
 
We’re off to the Pacific in Part 2 to look ahead to the Marshall Islands’ long-awaited international debut at the end of July. But where will the match take place? Who will the opponents be? And why is the landmark fixture taking place on a futsal court rather than a football pitch? Finally, we discuss a match between Germans Erzgebirge Aue and Glenavon of Northern Ireland that should have taken place in 1960. So what’s the reason for the 64-year delay? Why is it taking place now? And what other unlikely fan friendships exist in the football world?
 
Join for our patron-only Part 3 at patreon.com/SweeperPod for a deeper dive into two little-known international football competitions that are taking place at the moment: the UEFA Regions Cup and the Europeada. There’s also an alternative look at the transfer window, including Rosario Central’s offer of an armoured car to Angel di María, a lower-league Spanish side signing Zidane and Ronaldo – but not those ones – and Kazu Miura’s loan move to Atletico Suzuka in his homeland at the age of 57.

RUNNING ORDER:

00:00 - Intro
00:41 - UEFA qualifier quiz: Multiple choice
08:53 - UEFA qualifier quiz: Odd one out
17:17 - UEFA qualifier quiz: The right order
22:46 - Marshall Islands' international debut
28:36 - A delayed Cold War friendly