Poland qualified for the 2018 World Cup with a 4-2 home victory over Montenegro on Sunday, a result that also eliminated Montenegro. More importantly, we saw why Poland World Cup aspirations are so high, as a fantastic team goal to take a 2-0 lead in the 16th minute showed why it’s going to be such a hard out next summer.
For those looking forward to turning on their television sets in late June to get a glimpse of the comforting quadrennial event that is the United States versus Ghana, you’ll be shocked to discover that the World Cup will no longer feature a clash of the old enemies. Tragically, a rivalry dating back to time immemorial has been scuppered.
It took Costa Rica all of 95 minutes to accomplish the feat, but in the end, Kendall Waston’s stoppage time equalizer secured the nation’s qualification to the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. It was another surreal moment in Los Ticos’ qualifying campaign, one that’s seen them defeat the United States twice and finish second behind only Mexico in CONCACAF’s Hexagonal round.
Nigeria became the first African nation to secure their spot at the 2018 FIFA World Cup after a 1-0 victory over Zambia on Saturday, successfully navigating the continent's group of death with a match to spare. Nigeria’s qualification comes at the expense of today’s opponents, Cameroon and Algeria.
Alex Iwobi has just scored this goal for Nigeria to put them 1-0 up - A win sends them to the World Cup. pic.twitter.com/5iYTtqN8eb
Heading into Saturday’s early UEFA Group A World Cup qualifying match between Sweden and Luxembourg, the Netherlands’ only hope was that the tiny landlocked country wouldn’t get slaughtered by their Scandinavian opponents.
Less than three weeks after a devastating earthquake rocked the country, Mexico hosted Trinidad and Tobago in a World Cup qualifier on Friday. The match took a back seat to the healing that took place with the nation rallying around El Tri and an emotional national anthem and moment of silence before the match.
It’s getting harder and harder to deny the hype of Christian Pulisic; it’s getting harder and harder to find new superlatives for the teenager. Pulisic, who recently turned 19, was brilliant for 55 minutes but that was all he needed to inspire the United States to a crucial 4-0 rout of Panama in World Cup qualifying on Friday in Orlando.
Tiny little Iceland, which thrilled neutrals across the world in the 2016 Euros, has nearly qualified for the 2018 World Cup, which would be the first for the island nation. A nation of 334,000, Iceland traveled to Turkey, a nation of nearly 80 million, and pummeled the hosts 3-0 on Friday to climb to the top of the Group I standings with one match left to play in UEFA World Cup qualifying.