EP162 [全英] 世足赛为什么没有英国队？而是分成英格兰、苏格兰、威尔士、北爱尔兰？

With the World Cup already underway, I want to talk about one of the most confusing aspects of international sports.

Imagine you’re watching the World Cup for the very first time.
You see England.
You see Scotland.
You see Wales.
Sometimes you even see Northern Ireland.

And naturally you think:
“Wait a second… aren’t they all part of the United Kingdom?”
If the United Kingdom is one country, then where is Team UK?
Why isn’t there a British national team?
And why does this only happen in soccer?
After all, during the Olympics, these athletes compete under Team GB.

So what exactly is going on?

To answer that question, we actually need to go back hundreds of years.
Because this isn’t really a soccer story.
It’s a story about kings, kingdoms, wars, unions, identity, and eventually football.

👉 扫描下方二维码，关注公众号【Blend Inn】，获取节目文字版知识卡片 / 全英文故事双语文稿，加入听友群，随时互动哦~