National Teams

Mexico ended the group stage of World Cup qualifying undeafeated but disappointed after a listless 0-0 outing against Hondiras in Estadio Azteca.

Honduras did the thing pretty much everybody expected them to do and parked the bus basically from the beginning. Even firing on all cylinders, Mexico might have had trouble beating this defense.

As it turned out, though, Mexico weren't firing on all cylinders, and the crowd let manager Juan Carlos Osorio know they didn't like what they were seeing.

FIFA president Gianni Infantino has dropped the biggest hint yet as to where he believes the 2026 World Cup should take place. Following the awarding of the 2018 World Cup to Russia and the 2022 edition to Qatar, the venue for the 2026 version of the competition is to be decided in 2020.

Originally, the process was due to be completed in May of 2017, but FIFA experienced some minor setbacks that you might’ve heard about.

The folks attending El Salvador's press conference before their World Cup qualifier against Canada got quite a surprise when the team played a tape of a man trying to bribe them to play well.

The man, alleged to be Honduran businessman Ricardo Padilla (if El Salvador draws or beats Canada, Honduras is guaranteed advancement to the 'Hex'), is probably the worst match-fixer of all time.

Having lost Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Kim Kallstrom and their manager Erik Hamren after Euro 2016, Sweden still managed to draw with the Netherlands in Stockholm. 

For the Netherlands, their only possible excuse is that they’re now terrible. With nine more qualifying matches still to play, the Dutch have time to improve, it’s just difficult to foresee where that improvement will come from. 

Let's be honest, El Tri failed to meet extremely high expectations this summer. What was expected of the Mexican national team was to excel in all competitions, but they fell flat at the Copa America Centenario and the Rio Olympic Games.

Competing in the Copa America in the team’s ‘second home’, the United States, fans and spectators alike believed El Tri had a chance to make history in the competition. 

They were one of the early favorites. With a win over Uruguay and the top dogs, Brazil, crashing out early, they had a chance but blew it. 

Adenor Leonardo "Tite" Bacchi might not be a name as widely known as Pep Guardiola or most European managers. But have no doubts that under Tite’s guidance Brazil has all of the tools to turn a struggling national team back into the powerhouse it used to be. 

If his first match ahead of the squad proved anything, it was that the talent has always been at Brazil’s disposal. All they needed was someone to pick the right pieces and make them tick. 

OK, let's get the qualifiers out of the way before we jump into any analysis: St. Vincent is terrible at soccer and so are the Grenadines. You can't really learn anything from how anyone played in a game between such mismatched opposition.

We can learn, though, from who played. Because Clint Dempsey is out, USMNT manager Jurgen Klinsmann started Bobby Wood up top with Jozy Altidore. Both scored.

September is upon us. For many, that means looking forward to cooler weather and an opportunity to view the fall coloring. For soccer fans, however, that means a few weeks of zero club action. There will be no games until the weekend of September 10 because of the break for international matches

Why the interruption? Well, this particular break is to stop play so players could take part in qualifying matches for the 2018 World Cup in Russia. Yet, for fans, that means no top level club soccer matches, which simply isn’t fair. 

The list of great Italian goalkeepers surpasses that of any other nation on the planet. The likes of Gianluigi Buffon, Dino Zoff and Walter Zenga, to name just a few, have all represented the Azzurri with great ability and longevity. On Thursday, we got our first look at the next great Italian goalkeeper, AC Milan’s exceptional 17-year-old Gianluigi Donnarumma. 

Mexico enter their final two games of the fourth round of CONCACAF World Cup qualifying assured of their place in the fifth and final round, the ‘Hex’. However, their matches against El Salvador and Honduras will not be taken lightly by Mexico coach Juan Carlos Osorio, for whom they present something of a poisoned chalice. 

Two victories are expected, but any slip-up against the sides ranked 137th and 84th in the world would only magnify the hurt of Mexico’s last competitive match — that 7-0 defeat to Chile in the Copa America Centenario quarter-finals.