Subbuteo World Cup success is finger-flicking good

Gage Badger, the player on the right, captained the under-20s to a bronze medal

A student says he is honoured to have captained an England football team to World Cup success... in Subbuteo.

Gage Badger, from the University of Wolverhampton, led the under-20s side to a third-place finish in the tabletop tournament held on domestic soil - or rather plastic - in Tunbridge Wells, Kent.

The competition saw 300 players from 38 countries compete across the individual and team disciplines, with Italy going on to win the under-20s team event.

Mr Badger, who is studying football coaching and performance, also helped to coach the under-12 and under-16 England teams at the tournament.

“It was an honour to represent England at the world cup and to come away with a medal was a great feeling,” he said.

Mr Badger started playing the decades-old game - which uses small plastic figures - in 2017 when his dad began taking him to tournaments.

The second-year student said: “Since then, I’ve been hooked and have been given opportunities to play Subbuteo in other countries such as Belgium and Italy.”

He now plays for Wolverhampton Table Football Club and was previously part of a team that won international open tournaments in Londonderry and Glasgow.

This year’s world cup, held at the end of September, was the third time he has represented England, having competed at the 2022 World Cup in Rome and the 2023 Euros in Gibraltar.