Who'd have thought we'd be here; winter, December, writing about World Cup football. Confused we are, complaining we are not. As is always the case within the four walls of our barbershops, football rests neatly at the top of the day's agenda, so it's only right we’ve collated our men's hairstyle heroes from this year's event - just in time for Christmas too!
Harry Kane, England.
The hero of the nation, the captain, the talisman, call him what you like, it's impossible not to love Harry Kane, and for us, his haircut is on the same pedestal.
"I like this cut because it's an all-around classic, suits almost anyone and grows out pretty well allowing you to keep it fresh with monthly appointments or even 6 weeks should you become too busy. Ask for a classic two back and sides with a messy texture on top, keep a little more length in the fringe if you want it to look a little more suave. With the styling, add some sea salt spray to damp hair and blast it with the dryer on high heat. Once dry, rub in some sea salt paste for a rough texture that'll last all day, or at least all 90!" Master Barber, Ben Vowles, Soho.
Simon Kjaer, Denmark.
We've seen a lot of longer length, man-bun haircuts in the tournament this year, Wales's Gareth Bale, Switzerland's Riccardo Rodriquez, USA's Tim Ream to name but a few! However, Kjaer, we feel, is the cream of the crop. Pun intended.
"Clip up all the length you wish to keep neatly sectioning the undercut around the ears and neck. Using a number 2 on the clippers, go around the edges tapering and defining the hairline with the mini trimmers. To style, spray in some Sea Salt Spray for texture, tie up as desired, then a small amount of Hair Play to smooth down any loose hairs." Master Barber, Joe Pomper, Covent Garden.
Olivier Giroud, France.
What can we say? Much like when in front of goal, Giroud's style never misses.
"To achieve the look of Oliver Giroud, start off with stunning genetics ... If you do not have the prerequisite of God like genetics, we could start with a haircut. Ask your barber to cut the top of your hair with a square layer and to go as short as you are comfortable with on the back and sides taking it high and tight to the top to create this two-tone high contrast look. Styling wise we need to blow dry some volume in using either of our sea salt spray or sea salt volume mousse. Finish off with some texture paste or matt mud and you're ready for your post-match press conference in which Giroud is famously late for after spending so much time getting his hair and beard spot on.
Essentially the beard is the same as the hair just upside down. We are leaving some length in the goatee area of the beard enough to run your fingertips through. Then with the sides we are going to get them tapered short and quite low. This kind of beard will only require some beard moisturiser or beard balm for maintenance and styling." - Head Barber, Bradley Fearn, Shoreditch.
Bryan Mbeumo, Cameroon.
Why no one has started calling him Bryan the Beard we don't know, but we've long been admirers of Mbeumo's beard.
"Here we've got a classic 0.5 fade for the haircut going up to a 4 or so on the top, a standard for us barbers. The hero here is the beard. For this style you'll want to ask for your beard to be subtly faded at the temples, keeping all the fullness through the jaw and chin areas, you'll take a load of weight out from under the chin and sharpen the beard up nicely when the length is uniform. A beard of this length and glory is bound to encounter a few fly aways, keep these in check with our beard balm. We also recommend shampooing and moisturising your beard daily, and for that added luxury, use beard oil 2 or 3 times a week"
And so it is, our World Cup grooming heroes and how to get their signature on-pitch style. There's only one thing left to say: It's Coming Home! AGAIN!