Opinion

Someone Needs To Say It — Qatar’s Stadium 974 Is An Imbecilic Eyesore

The Qatar container stadium for the 2022 World Cup has been receiving a considerable amount of attention online. A plethora of media outlets are oogling over this glorified hunk of metal.

Stadium 974’s exterior is built of recycled shipping containers, 974 to be exact. The stadium seats 40,000 and can be completely taken down and rebuilt in a different location.

The 2021 Puskás Award Is Down To 3 Sizzling Finalists That The18 Somehow Failed To Predict

FIFA has narrowed down the best goal of 2021 — or the Puskás award as it’s commonly known as — to three finalists. The 2021 Puskás award will be won by one of the following three players.

2021 Puskás Award Finalists

  • Erik Lamela’s Rabona Goal vs. Arsenal 
  • Mehdi Taremi’s Bicycle Kick vs. Chelsea
  • Patrik Schick’s Goal From Midfield vs. Scotland

Lamela Rabona

Berhalter Reveals 19-Man Training Camp Roster — These 9 Have The Sauce To Make Final WCQ Squad

American fans are dying to see the USMNT January roster that will take on El Salvador, Canada and Honduras in the crucial upcoming World Cup qualifiers. The fixation on the roster is so intense that fans brushed aside defender Aaron Long’s marriage.

2021’s Most Successful Coach Snubbed From FIFA Best Finalists; We’re Not At All Surprised

There was but one major global international soccer tournament in 2021. For some reason, the coach who inspired an underdog victory in that competition wasn’t deemed worthy by FIFA to even be a finalist for the organization’s FIFA Best Coach of 2021 award. Not that we’re the least bit surprised; we’ve long learned to expect the worst from FIFA.

Ranking The Incredible Jerseys Of The 2021 Africa Cup Of Nations

The 2021 Africa Cup of Nations begins Sunday, Jan. 9, with 24 nations vying for the continental championship. Before a ball is even kicked, we can tell you one area in which AFCON is going to better than last summer's Gold Cup, Copa América and European Championship tournaments: the jerseys.

With 17 different brands on show, there are some real classics from heavy hitters like PUMA and Nike but also some gems from Ireland's Masita, France's Airness and Italy's Macron. 

The Internet Is Divided Over VAR’s Offside Call On Harry Kane — What Call Would You Make?

A controversial Harry Kane VAR decision in Tottenham’s 1-1 draw with Southampton on Tuesday has social media bickering. Kane thought he had scored Spurs’ go-ahead goal in the 53rd minute but was denied after a razor-thin offside call from the video official.

You’re the video referee and you’ve been notified to review the play. The center referee awaits your decision on if the goal should stand or not.

What do you say?

FIFA Gurus Decide USMNT Win Vs. Bosnia Means The U.S. Is Better Than Germany In Rankings

The FIFA rankings are nonsensical 75% of the time and only truly matter for seeding of group stages at the World Cup. Three out of every four years these rankings mean squat, but in 2022 they matter a whole lot. The top seven teams and host get the most favorable seeds during the World Cup draw. FIFA has released the December rankings and the USMNT sits at its highest ranking to end a calendar year since 2005.

The U.S. is ranked No. 11. One spot above Germany.

N.C. Courage Attempt Apology For Signing Homophobic Player; Fans Aren’t Buying It

If you would like to learn how to alienate a club’s fanbase, perhaps irrevocably, you would struggle to find a better case study than the NWSL’s N.C. Courage this week. On Sunday, the club announced the signing of a player, Jaelene Daniels, antithetical to the vast majority of the team’s and league’s fans. After two full days of silence, the club put out a shockingly meek “apology” late Wednesday night, only further upsetting the once devoted fanbase. 

With Brimming Optimism/Deafening Pessimism, Here Are The18’s 2022 Soccer Predictions

Of all the years in the 2020s, 2021 was probably the least bad one. Maybe. But worry not; 2022 can’t possibly be as bad as the first two years of the decade, right? According to our 2022 soccer predictions, it’s going to be the best year ever, or at least the best of the last three. 

The Official Name Of The Joint 2026 World Cup Is Lame And Mundane; Here Are 5 Better Names

The “UNITED 2026” name for the 2026 World Cup doesn’t hit home for me personally. The United States, Canada and Mexico will become the first countries to be part of a three-host World Cup and will unfortunately have a subpar name for the tournament.

Before jumping into my revolutionary alternate names for UNITED 2026, let’s quickly remind ourselves where the games will be played. The host cities for the 2026 World Cup will be announced at some point next year as the excitement grows.

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