Opinion

Is USWNT ready for the 2023 World Cup? Two friendlies vs. Ireland scheduled for April

The expectations for the United States women’s national team are about as high as they get for any team. The best evidence of the astronomically high bar for the USWNT is the coverage of their 2023 SheBelieves Cup triumph.

Despite getting three-straight wins against No. 6 Canada, No. 11 Japan and No. 9 Brazil while only conceding once, the consensus is that there’s still lots of work to do and roster spots to figure out.

‘Stop trying to be a hard a** and pass the ball’ — Alexi Lalas tears into Adams and McKennie

Polarizing soccer pundit Alexi Lalas ruffled feathers in the USMNT sphere after sharing his opinion about the midfield duo of Tyler Adams and Weston McKennie. Lalas doesn’t seem to be a fan of their physical approach in the Premier League.

Adams and McKennie have only played four EPL games together at Leeds United and have already earned a name for themselves. We at The18 refer to them as the ‘Premier League Bad Boys’ due to their hard tackles and how they never back down from a fight.

The year's best story? Karius out for redemption in EFL Cup final on his Newcastle debut

Sunday's EFL Cup final is a tale of two clubs desperate to herald the beginning of a new era with silverware. For Manchester United, ending a six-year wait for a major trophy would affirm Erik ten Hag's revolution. For Newcastle United, a 68-year drought would be remedied by the wealth of the Saudi PIF and the tinkerings of Eddie Howe. 

MLS expansion fee enters the stratosphere — who can afford it?

Major League Soccer's ambition of being a true player in the world's club game by the 2026 World Cup is slowly being realized. 

The league's 28th season kicks off Saturday with a new team (St. Louis City SC), a new 10-year partnership with Apple TV (worth $250M per season) that's available in over 100 countries and Tuesday's announcement of a three-year extension with Audi that pays a multimillion-dollar fee annually.

South African showboating reaches divine level with an on-field prayer

This is becoming an annual occurrence. Every so often, a bit of "kasi flava" in South Africa goes viral and people go off with the power of a thousand Roy Keanes — "IT'S A DISGRACE!" "IT'S NOT PROPER FOOTBALL!" "I'D BREAK THEIR LEGS!"

Top 10 new MLS jerseys for 2023

Now that almost every team has released its new jerseys, it's clear that this year is going to be special. From California to Chicago and DC to Dallas, every single team has produced some magic making a list like this almost impossible. Honorable mentions must go out to Columbus, New England and Real Salt Lake who all just missed out but undoubtedly deserve recognition for creating spectacular kits for their cities. These ten were just a step above. 

The18’s 2023 MLS predictions — Who will be the champion, Golden Boot winner and more

The 2023 Major League Soccer season kicks off on Saturday, Feb. 25, and there's plenty of excitement heading into the new campaign. Apple’s mega 10-year, $2.5 billion deal with MLS means fans can watch every game on MLS Season Pass without blackouts.

Topping last season’s drama will be a tall order for the 2023 edition. In 2022 Los Angeles FC and the Philadelphia Union played arguably the greatest MLS game ever which saw LAFC win their first MLS Cup.

Rodrygo skill move against Elche reminds us of vintage Robinho at Real Madrid

Rodrygo is enjoying his football at the Santiago Bernabéu this season, and a beautiful set of skills against Elche on Wednesday sent us back to the days when another young Brazilian was mesmerizing the Spanish crowd.

The match was goal-scoring fiesta for the Merengues — they managed to score four goals in a league match for the first time since September while keeping a clean sheet. Marco Asensio, Luka Modrić and a Karim Benzema’s double lit up the world champion’s celebratory victory.

Guardiola's apology to Gerrard for slip joke was almost as funny as Gerrard's slip

In life we have those rare instances that become so engrained in the memory they become "where were you when..." moments. One of those instances was Steven Gerrard's infamous slip against Chelsea that cost Liverpool the 2013-14 Premier League title.

Alex Morgan named a finalist for FIFA’s bizarre list of best women's players of 2022

Alex Morgan was named one of three finalists for the Best FIFA Women’s Player for 2022. This is the first time in three years that an American has been a finalist.

The finalists for best women’s players of 2022 are Morgan, Alexia Putellas and Beth Mead. 

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