International Soccer

In 365 days — or 31,536,000 seconds, but who’s counting? — the 2018 World Cup will kick off from Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow on June 14. A month later, the world champion will be crowned at the same stadium on July 15.

For that one month, all eyes will be on Russia, not for their meddling in U.S. elections or invading sovereign nations, but for the planet’s greatest sporting event.

Here’s what you need to know for the rapidly approaching World Cup.

Dates

Leave it to the outspoken Noel Gallagher to bring France and England together.

The Oasis front man’s song "Don’t Look Back In Anger" was played prior to the England-France friendly Tuesday in Paris in a show of solidarity between the two nations following the recent terrorist attacks in England. 

The Big Game between Mexico and the United States may have come and gone, but that doesn’t mean attention should shift away from CONCACAF World Cup qualifying. What happens in tonights' Hexagonal fixtures between Panama/Honduras and Costa Rica/Trinidad & Tobago will put the final standings into greater focus with only four matches remaining. 


Three games: 14 goals scored, zero conceded. All things considered, that should be enough for a successful international break. Given Italy’s history of playing badly throughout qualification rounds, this high-scoring shut-out round of fixtures seems almost entirely positive, it’s not quite that simple.

The United States women's national team, ranked No. 2 in the world, failed to really take hold of the game against a strong Norwegian team, ranked No. 11, on Sunday in Sandjeford, Norway. USWNT coach Jill Ellis cotinued her experimentation with personnel and formations — the starting line-up featured just two players that got minutes at the 2015 World Cup. 

A lot of people like to moan about international football, but it can be really fun if you approach it with a no f**ks given attitude — just follow the example set by San Marino’s social media team during their qualifier against Germany. If you didn’t follow any of Saturday’s UEFA qualifying, here’s what you missed.

#1. Norway And Martin Odegaard Won’t Be At The 2018 World Cup

A year out from the World Cup, the final stages of qualifying are at their halfway point. As is normally the case, Europe is proving to be the most difficult region to advance from. If the group stage were to end today, Portugal and Italy would have to square off against other second place teams in a two-legged tie just to qualify for Russia next summer.