SWOON SQUAD

The world's biggest sporting event has kicked off and we're not just watching for the football. These talented soccer players are decidedly easy on the eye

- SIPHOKAZI ZAMA

It's here again - the greatest sporting spectacle on Earth! Thirty-nine days of games, goals, agony, ecstasy, singing, dancing, red cards, yellow cards, golden boots and everything in between.

Yes, the run-up to the 2026 Fifa World Cup hasn't been without controversy - the war in Iran, the ticket-pricing fiasco, some visa issues...

But let's forget about all that for a little while, shall we?

This is the beautiful game we're talking about - and there sure will be some beauties out on the pitches of the US, Canada and Mexico in the coming weeks.

From Portuguese defenders freshly out of celebrity breakups to Spanish wizards barely old enough to rent a car, footie fields are going to be the hottest place on the planet.

We've scouted about for some of the head-turning men who make watching football a whole lot of fun.

Grab a cold one, blast that vuvuzela and settle in.

RONWEN WILLIAMS

CAPTAIN FANTASTIC

Age 34

Team South Africa

Position Goalkeeper

Ronza, as the fans call him, will captain Bafana Bafana as they go into battle and it's always fun to watch our main man out there on the pitch, singing the national anthem as though his life depended on it and doing his thing in goal.

Off the pitch, Ronwen is a man who knows the value of loyalty. He and wife Roshni-or his "first lady" as he calls her -have been together since their teenage years and welcomed son Mikael in their early twenties.

"She's known me from when I had nothing" he told the Sowetan.

Loyal, good at his job and a heart of gold? Now that's a keeper in every sense of the word.

LAMINE YAMAL

THE TEENAGE SENSATION

Age 18

Team Spain

Position Winger