Brian Thompson is a former reporter, and through his eyes the World Cup's great matches play out again. Moving through memories of his own youth alongside the sport's greatest moments, he retraces the tournament's history from the first edition in Uruguay in 1930 to the 1994 event in the United States. Along the way, legendary players such as Pelé, Franz Beckenbauer, Müller and Eusébio bring the game to life on the pitch. Thompson's own life story, from his early years to the present, runs alongside the football, making this long-running sports series part tournament history and part personal chronicle.