National Teams

Following a 9-0 beatdown of San Marino on Thursday, Belgium became the first nation to book its place at next summer’s European Championship. Today, the Red Devils maintained their 100 percent record in Euro 2020 qualifiers with a 2-0 victory over Kazakhstan in Nur-Sultan. 

As the world’s top-ranked side, Belgium boasts an embarrassment of attacking riches. After netting goals 50 and 51 for the national team against San Marino, striker Romelu Lukaku was rested against Kazakhstan, but it was his replacement, Michy Batshuayi, who opened the scoring in the 21st minute.

Christian Eriksen may not be having the best of seasons with Tottenham, but he’s still one of the most visionary midfielders in the game today. 

With his country hosting Switzerland in a big Euro 2020 qualifier, Eriksen reminded Spurs fans of the quality he’s capable of with a game-changing assist on Saturday. Aided by some huge saves from Kasper Schmeichel, Denmark scored a 1-0 win, with Yussuf Poulsen’s 84th-minute strike set up by Eriksen proving just enough for the home side. 

Mexico opened play in the Concacaf Nations League with an easy 5-1 road win over Bermuda on Friday night. 

Well, it was mostly easy.

Chucky Lozano was the victim of an incidental punch to the face from the referee, an intentional stomp from an opponent and sliced a penalty kick off the post and wide. But the Napoli winger persevered to record a goal and two assists.

Mexico vs Bermuda Highlights

Early in the match, Lozano was getting up from a foul when the referee inadvertently smacked the Mexican in the face.

France? Naw. England? Pshh. Brazil? As if. 

Want a favorite for the 2022 World Cup? Look no further than the United States men’s national team after it throttled Cuba 7-0 on Friday night. 

Any team that can score four goals in 13 minutes against the 178th-ranked team in the world has to be the frontrunner for the 2022 World Cup. That 3-0 loss to Mexico last month? That was just a meaningless friendly, nothing compared to the intense rigor of a Concacaf Nations League match. 

In 1999, the USMNT was coming off a miserable showing at the 1998 World Cup in which it finished dead last. It was a dark time for U.S. soccer fans, but the following year showed reason for hope with the performance from a bunch of then-unknown kids on the U-17 USMNT at the U-17 World Cup in New Zealand.

Now the USMNT is again coming off a miserable couple of years having failed to qualify at all for the 2018 World Cup, and 20 years later the U-17 USMNT might give fans a reason to believe the country is heading in the right direction.

Wales recorded an important 1-1 draw with Slovakia in Trnava on Thursday to keep control of its Euro 2020 destiny. Ryan Giggs’ side had the better of the opening 45 minutes, and Kieffer Moore — making his competitive debut at the age of 27 — put Wales ahead before Slovakia equalized via a stonking volley from Juraj Kucka. 

With Croatia looking uncatchable at the top of Group E, this meeting between second place Slovakia and fourth place Wales (only the top two advance to the finals) qualified as can’t-miss viewing during this particularly uninspiring international break.

One section of Azadi Stadium in Tehran burst with colors, enthusiasm, joy and revelry.

The rest of the stadium echoed, empty and still.

The first men’s soccer match attended by women in Iran in nearly four decades was a stark reminder of where fans have come from and where they still have to go.

Iran smashed Cambodia 14-0 in a World Cup qualifier on Thursday, but the match was of little significance compared to what happened in the stands at Azadi Stadium. 

You just can’t escape Liverpool these days, even during the international break, which can’t end soon enough.

Liverpool has won 17 straight Premier League matches, a run that includes winning the Champions League trophy at the end of last season. The Reds are already eight points clear of Manchester City atop the league table and look poised to run away with the title. 

When the Hong Kong national team hosted Iran in a World Cup qualifier in September, fans of the home side showed support for Iranian women, who are still fighting for the right to attend soccer matches in their home country. Even amidst the region’s turmoil and unrest with massive protests staged against the Chinese government, the fans found room to empathize with their opponents. 

When Germany and Italy lineup in international play, you stop what you’re doing and take notice — even if the players on show are in their 40s, 50s and 60s. On Monday, a team of Azzurri Legends — with a starting XI comprised entirely of ’82 and ’06 World Cup-winners — played against a team of Germany All-Stars in Fürth. 

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