FIFA Organization

The United States women’s national team is a favorite to win a record fourth Women’s World Cup next summer. After the 2019 Women's World Cup draw on Saturday, that status as favorite only increased, though the path after the group stage won’t be easy.

The USWNT was given a fairly easy group as things go for the tournament next summer in France. The reigning champions were placed in Group F along with Chile, Thailand and Sweden.

After 10 years of nothing but Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, Croatia and Real Madrid midfielder Luka Modric has become the first player since Kaká back in 2007 to wrest football’s biggest individual accolade from the two behemoths of the modern game: The 2018 Ballon d'Or winner is Luka.

Today, Wednesday, Nov. 21, 2018, marks four years to the day until the scheduled start of the 2022 World Cup. Aside from that little fact, there’s still so much we don’t know about the world’s premier sporting event.

Four years to go until the 2022 #WorldCup kicks off in Qatar 

We're counting down the days already  pic.twitter.com/ySOnUzJ5LS

The October 2018 FIFA rankings were released Thursday and France is no longer the best team in the world — at least when it comes to arbitrary numerical rankings.

Belgium, which was tied with France at No. 1 in September, moved into sole position atop the October 2018 FIFA rankings. Brazil follows France in third while Croatia and England, which jumped over Uruguay, round out the top five.

As reported by The Guardian’s David Conn, FIFA president Gianni Infantino has submitted a proposal for a revamped Club World Cup that would, like the Champions League, feature multiple Premier League and top European sides annually. According to the article, there will be two proposals considered by the FIFA Council during a meeting on Wednesday in Rwanda, and UEFA is none too enthralled by the second one:

The same week the USWNT booked its trip to the tournament next summer, 2019 Women's World Cup tickets went on sale on Friday.