Upsets

AL WAKRAH — South Korea finished second in their Asian Cup group after Malaysia held them to a 3-3 draw on Thursday with an equalizer in the 15th minute of added time which saw Bahrain finish top with a 1-0 win over Jordan.

Bahrain topped Group E with six points thanks to an Abdulla Yusuf Helal winner while South Korea finished with five points. Jordan finished third with four points and also went through as one of the best third-placed teams.

Palestine and Syria qualified for the knockout stages of the Asian Cup for the first time on Tuesday with victories in their last group matches.

Syria beat India 1-0 after Omar Khribin -- the 2017 Asian Footballer of the Year -- netted in the 76th minute to give the Middle Eastern side their first goal of the tournament.

Syria finished with four points and the AFC later clarified that they are also through to the last 16 as one of the four best third-placed teams across all groups "regardless of final results from other groups".

Fans that traveled to the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Texas, on Monday for a preseason fixture between Inter Miami and FC Dallas likely went to the game to see Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez, Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba. The only goal they would see was from Jesús Ferreira assisted by Paul Arriola.

A night that was advertised with some of the world’s biggest names was beautifully stolen by two USMNT players. Incredible.

In the third minute of play Arriola and Ferreira silenced any Miami fans in attendance and gave the Dallas faithful a priceless moment.

Gregg Berhlater won’t be too pleased with his young USMNT side as they lost 1-0 to Slovenia on Saturday at Toyota Field in San Antonio, Texas.

With it not being a FIFA international window, both the U.S. and Slovenia fielded teams with little to no international experience. Seven of the USMNT’s 11 starters were making their international debuts.

Center back Miles Robinson was the only USMNT player who played and is currently in consideration for Berhalter’s “A-team.”

ABIDJAN — An angry supporter attempted to strike Ghana coach Chris Hughton after their upset 2-1 loss at the Africa Cup of Nations finals on Sunday and was taken away by police, team officials confirmed on Monday.

Ghana were beaten by a stoppage time goal by the Cape Verde Islands, the smallest of the 24 teams at the tournament in the Ivory Coast in one of several shock results on Sunday.

Hughton was accosted at the team hotel as Ghana returned from the match but the angry fan was intercepted by security officials.

One unwritten rule of soccer that doesn’t really exist in other sports is the art of players not celebrating if they score a goal against a team they formerly played on.

Nottingham Forest’s Chris Wood took that unwritten rule to heart on Boxing Day when netted a hat trick against his former club, Newcastle. 

The New Zealand forward was the hero in Forest’s massive 3-1 victory but hardly celebrated as he followed the unwritten rule of not celebrating after scoring against a former team.

Chris Wood not celebrating vs. Newcastle

BARCELONA — High-flying Girona reclaimed top spot in LaLiga after beating champions Barcelona 4-2 away on Sunday, condemning Xavi Hernandez's side to their second league defeat of the season.

Artem Dovbyk and Miguel Gutierrez both scored for Girona in the first half, either side of Robert Lewandowski's equalizer, before Girona's Valery Fernandez and Cristhian Stuani added two more goals after the break with Ilkay Gundogan netting another for Barca.

MANCHESTER — Miserable Manchester United were humiliated 3-0 at home by Bournemouth in the Premier League on Saturday as the pressure ratcheted up once again on manager Erik ten Hag.

A midweek victory over Chelsea had offered cause for optimism but in-form Bournemouth exposed just how far Ten Hag's United have fallen behind this season.

The Dutchman looked forlorn as he watched on in the teaming Old Trafford rain as his shambolic side were comprehensively outplayed and fortunate not to lose by more.

Pelé's former club Santos were relegated for the first time in their 111-year history on Wednesday following a 2-1 home loss to Fortaleza in the final round of Brazil's Serie A.

The costal city team were one of three clubs, along with Sao Paulo and Flamengo, never to have been relegated from Brazil's top flight but a woeful run of five games without a victory saw them drop to 17th in the standings with 43 points.

America Mineiro, Coritiba and Goias had already been assured of relegation from the 20-team division.

It’s no secret that Sweden have been the biggest thorn in the side of the United States women’s national team in recent history. The Swedes knocked the USWNT out of the 2023 Women’s World Cup, the 2016 Olympics and thrashed the Americans 3-0 in the group stage of the 2020 Olympics.

Sweden are the USWNT’s kryptonite. They won’t be able to hurt the USWNT in Paris next summer though because they failed to qualify due to a 1-0 loss to Switzerland on Friday.

Sweden fail to qualify for Olympics