#ESPvsARG The Condorhuasi and Tufi cultures flourished in early medieval northwestern Argentina. The Condorhausi were pastoralists, raising llama in permanent settlements, while the Tufi were agriculturalists. Condorhausi zoo- & anthropomorphic pottery and Tufi menhirs survive from c700.

#ESPvsARG The Visigoths had been settled in southern Gaul as Roman foederati, and expanded across the Pyrenees. In the early medieval period, they lost their Gaulish holdings to the Franks. Their rule in Spain collapsed the legal distinction between Goths and Romans in Iberia; both became Hispani.

#FRAvsENG Dumnonia, a Brythonic kingdom in southwest Great Britain, was closely tied to Éire & Brittany. Part of the West Atlantic trade network, archaeologists have found luxury goods from West Asia & Africa at Tintagel, the early medieval capital. The last independent king, Donyarth, died in 875.

#FRAvsENG After the death of Louis the Stammerer in 879, Boso, whose sister Richilde married Charles the Bald, refused to recognise Carolingian authority. Instead, Boso proclaimed himself king of Provence. Provence was independent for 50 years, beset by Carolingian, Islamic and Magyar forces.

#ENGvsARG The Aguada culture of early medieval Argentina extended its influence throughout the northwest, over cultures such as the Ciénaga, Condorhuasi, and Candelaria The Aguada are thought to have emerged from the Alamito culture, and were a hierarchical chiefdom influenced by Imperial Tiwanaku

#ENGvsARG In 631, the Jutish kingdom on the Isle of Wight was invaded, captured, & forcibly converted by Wulfhere of Mercia. The Wihtwara soon recanted; according to Bede, it was the last stronghold of non-Christian religion in early medieval England until Cædwalla of Wessex conquered Wight in 686

#FRAvsESP Spain, like France, also has overseas territories The Canary Islands were settled by the Guanches, a Berber people, from Late Antiquity, with the site of Cañada de Los Gatos inhabited during the early medieval period. Spain also holds a number of territories on the African coast.

#FRAvsESP While it may seem unusual, the French Overseas territories, or DROM, are France. The current World Cup team includes a number of players of DROM descent. Below is a funerary urn from the Aristé culture, which began in the early medieval period and survived until after European arrival.

#ARGvsSUI When Otto I defeated Magyar armies at the Battle of Lechfeld in 955, early medieval Switzerland was incorporated into the Holy Roman Empire. This victory finally halted Magyar incursions westward. Their leader, the Harka Bulcsú, was captured and hanged at the eastern gate of Regensburg.

#ARGvsSUI The ruins of Quilmes, in northwestern Argentina, represent the largest early medieval settlement in the country Founded by the Diaguita in c850, Quilmes has defensive structures, terraced fields, and advanced irrigation systems. Quilmes resisted both Inca and Spanish invasions until 1667

Here's something TOOTHY! A La Tolita culture statue from c 500, depicting a human-jaguar transformation.

#NORvsENG Early medieval England saw many viking raids, and in the late ninth century the various English kingdoms were overwhelmed by the Great Heathen Army. Initially they offered payments, like the Danegald. In ~10 years, only Wessex remained, and Alfred gave the invaders the Danelaw to settle.

#NORvsENG Early medieval Norwegians ruled parts of the British Isles, like Suðreyjar and Norðreyjar (Mann & the Hebrides, Orkney & Shetland) and Jórvík (York). Rollo, first Duke of Normandy, may have been Norweigan; and his descendant, William (Bastard/Conqueror), went on to conquer England in 1066

Drop something toothy

#ESPvsBEL Early medival Belgium was also under the control of a Germanic people, the Franks under Clovis, who may have been former foederati like the Visigoths. When the Franks defeated the Gallo-Roman king Syagrius, he fled to the Visigoths. Clovis demanded his return, and Alaric II acquiesced.

#ESPvsBEL The early medieval Visigothic Kingdom emerged after the Visigoths claimed lands earned by defending Rome. Amid civil war, Athanagild sought Byzantine aid; the Romans instead kept the captured territories. Civil war was a continual problem in Visigothic Spain, eventually causing its fall.

FRAvMAR Early medieval Morocco was closely linked to Iberia and southern France. In ~730, the Moroccan wali of Cerdanya, Uthman ibn Naissa, rebelled and married the daughter of Odo of Aquitaine, Lampegia. The rebellion was crushed, and ibn Naissa killed. Lampegia was enslaved and sent to Damascus.

#FRAvsMAR As well as infighting & viking raids, the Carolingians also faced an invasion across the Pyrenees. Islamic armies were first stalled at Toulouse in 721 & at Tours in 732. This was not the end of their European ambitions, as Islamic influence continued throughout the early medieval period.

#SUIvsCOL The Ciudad Perdida, or "Lost City", an early medieval settlement founded in 800 CE by the Tairona people . Despite its impressive size - 169 terraces carved into the mountainside - it was not rediscovered until 1972, when looters came across the stairs rising from the jungle floor.

#SUIvsCOL In 746, at the Blood Court of Cannstatt, Carloman, son of Charles Martel, murdered the Alemanni nobility and seized their territory, including what is now Switzerland Early medieval Switzerland was turbulent, it wasn't until 955 that Otto I could reintegrate it into the Holy Roman Empire

#ARGvsEGY An early medieval gold rush in Wadi al-'Allaqi, south of Aswan, saw the city's population swell. It became a major hub for trade between Egypt, Arabia, and Christian Nubia As Aswan boomed, Egypt changed too: the ninth century saw Islam surpass Coptic Christianity as the majority religion

#ARGvsEGY The early medieval Tiwanaku collapse (c1000) led to instability in the Andean region & the construction of fortified Pucarás settlements. The Pucará de Tilcara, near the confluence of the Rio Grande and the Huasamayo, was captured by the Inca, becoming an important city on the Qhapaq Ñan

#USAvsBEL Baldwin I, first Count of Flanders, so the story goes, eloped with Judith, widow twice over and teenaged daughter of Charles the Bald. Enraged, Charles had them excommunicated. They fled to the court of Yorik of Dorestad, before pleading their case to the pope. Charles eventually relented

#USAvsBEL Contemporaries of the Pueblo Peoples, the Mimbres culture lived in the early medieval southwest US and north Mexico. In ~900 the Mimbres set their underground kivas (great houses) alight and moved into pueblos. Their black-on-white pottery dates from ~1000, and looks surprisingly modern.

#PORvsESP Asturias is often seen as the start of Reconquista, but early medieval Iberia was more complex than that. Rather than religious ideology, pragmatism was the driving force of Christian-Muslim relations. Friendships, families, and alliances straddled religious lines and were not uncommon.

#PORvsESP In 718, following the Islamic conquest of Iberia, the Kingdom of Asturias was founded in the north of the peninsula following a rebellion. While some argue that it was in protest of Islamic rule, or an increase in taxation, similar rebellions were common in the preceding Visigothic period

#MEXvsENG On January 5 1066, Edward the Confessor died. Ed's mum, Emma of Normandy, had married Æthelred the Unready and then Cnut, the man who seized his kingdom Edward - traditionally seen as piously celibate - left no heirs. The crown passed to Harold Godwinson, king from January until October

#MEXvsENG The Remojadas culture of Veracruz flourished during the early medieval period. Part of the larger Classic Veracruz cultural complex, little is known of the Remojadas subculture. The Remojadas are famed for the production of "Smiling Man" figurines, many of which were also ocarinas.

#BRAvsNOR Cnut's early medieval Empire collapsed upon his death in 1035, but it was already fragile. Of the kingdoms of his Empire, Norway was particularly fractious His Jarls conspired against him, and before Cnut's death had returned Magnus, son of St Olaf, to claim the Norweigan crown at age 11

#BRAvsNOR This figurine, from c400–1200, offers an insight into the Marajoara culture. The figure is female, yet clearly phallic; dual-sexed figures are a recurring motif in Marajoara artefacts. The geometric patterns are thought to represent both tattoos, and snakes, important in their religion.