Now just six months away, the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ is front and centre of the latest episode of Living Football, which features a France 1998 world champion, a Germany 2006 winner and a much-respected ambassador of the upcoming world finals. Also appearing is a Costa Rican legend and two-time world finalist, who gives his views on the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup™ that his country is set to stage in August.

A FIFA World Cup winner with Italy in 2006, Fabio Cannavaro moved into coaching after playing his last game in 2011 and has since worked in Saudi Arabia and China PR. The former Azzurri centre-back and captain continues to build up his CV, however, and has just completed the FIFA Diploma in Club Management along with 31 other club executives. “I am so, so happy because this experience makes me not only a better coach, but also a better man,” Cannavaro, one of the diploma’s very first graduates, told Living Football. “I had the opportunity to speak and listen with many people around the world, and this was great for me.”

Costa Rica’s Paulo Wanchope is a fellow World Cup veteran, having appeared at both Korea/Japan 2002 and Germany 2006. The Tico legend is looking forward to another world finals, as his home country prepares to host the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup Costa Rica 2022™ in August. In an interview with Living Football, Wanchope spoke about the upcoming competition and the excitement it is generating in Costa Rica. He also looked ahead to Los Ticos’ intercontinental play-off against New Zealand, with a place at Qatar 2022 the prize for the winners: “I can assure you that everything will come to a stop that day,” he said. “We'll all watch that game, and I think we will win that game.”

In making the journey to Qatar, the winners of that tie will perhaps have the chance to meet one of the country’s most engaging people: Ghanim al-Muftah. A victim of caudal regression syndrome, an extremely rare disorder that prevents development of the lower half of the body, this young Qatari excels in a number of sports, including swimming, climbing, diving and, of course, football. Ghanim took time away from his busy life to speak to Living Football. The programme’s final port of call is the Mongolian capital of Ulan Bator, where FIFA Foundation President Youri Djorkaeff and his father Jean met up with another legendary father-son duo: Cha Bumkun and Cha Duri of Korea Republic. Living Football caught up with the four of them at a Football for Schools event.