France steamrolled the Netherlands 4-0 in Paris on Thursday night, climbing to the top of UEFA Qualifying Group A in the process. A brace from Thomas Lemar and additional goals from Antoine Griezmann and Kylian Mbappe marked a famous victory for the French, but this Dutch side is a shell of the one that finished third at the 2014 World Cup.
Solomon Islands has 900 islands, about half a million people and was home to one of the more famous battles in World War II in the South Pacific. And it’s a couple wins away from actually making it to the World Cup.
Solomon Islands faces New Zealand in a two-legged affair Friday (3:35 a.m. EST) and Tuesday. The winner of the home-and-home series wins Oceania’s half of a World Cup bid and the right to face the fifth-place team from South America for one of the final World Cup berths.
Syria’s 3-1 victory over Qatar in World Cup qualifying on Thursday was remarkable for two reasons: 1.) Syria are now in third place in Group A heading into the final matchday, a finish that would see them improbably qualify for the fourth round playoff. 2.) Defeat for Qatar means that they’ve been mathematically eliminated from the 2018 World Cup, so they’ll be the first nation since Italy in 1934 to host the tournament without having ever taken part.
Japan joined hosts Russia, Brazil and fellow AFC side Iran as the only countries to have booked their places at next summer’s World Cup finals after defeating Australia 2-0 in front of over 60,000 delirious supporters. This will be Japan’s sixth straight World Cup finals appearance.
Takuma Asano gave the Samurai Blue the lead in the 41st minute, and 21-year-old midfielder Yosuke Ideguchi secured the victory with this stunning goal in the 82nd. With only one matchday remaining in AFC qualifying, Australia’s road to Russia just got a lot more complicated.
The world has changed a lot since the U.S. Men’s National Team last lost a match on Nov. 15, a dark time for America. For starters, the United States saw a great man who has accomplished so much throughout the world replaced by a goofy New Yorker with awful hair. We’re talking about Jurgen Klinsmann making way for Bruce Arena, of course.
It’s do or die time in South American World Cup qualifying, and Thursday features some all-important matches between Uruguay-Argentina, Brazil-Ecuador and Chile-Paraguay. For Chile and Paraguay, the stakes couldn’t be higher.
Paraguay’s World Cup hopes are hanging by a thread with only four matchdays remaining. Defeat at the Estadio Monumental in the Chilean capital of Santiago would essentially put an end to any hopes of participating in Russia, but Los Guaranies can take heart from the fact that they defeated La Roja 2-1 in their last encounter.
Major League Soccer may be a retirement home for some, but David Villa affirmed last week you can still factor into one of the best national teams in the world while plying your trade in MLS.
So why can’t Sebastian Giovinco get a recall from Italy?
Villa earned a spot on the Spanish roster for the two upcoming World Cup qualifiers after starting the season with 19 league goals for New York City FC. These aren’t throw-away qualifiers either; Spain faces Italy for first place in UEFA Group G on Saturday.
Up until their quarterfinal defeat to Brazil, no side was more thoroughly entertaining at the 2014 World Cup than Colombia. James Rodriguez was the tournament’s standout performer and plenty of additional firepower was provided by the likes of Juan Cuadrado, Jackson Martinez and Teofilo Gutierrez.
FIFA doesn’t have a good record of awarding World Cups to the best countries, instead opting to award the world’s premier sporting event to nations with questionable backgrounds, from Mussolini’s fascist Italy to Argentina’s military junta.
Barring nuclear war, the 2018 World Cup will be hosted by Russia, a nation that has in the last decade invaded multiple countries, illegally annexed territory, led insurrections in border nations, murdered opposition journalists and denied rights of the LGBT community. Oh and that whole U.S. election thing that has yet to be sorted out.
New York City FC striker David Villa has earned a recall to the Spanish national team for crunch World Cup qualifiers against Italy (Sept. 2) and Liechtenstein (Sept. 5). Villa last played for La Furia Roja at the 2014 World Cup, but he retired after the nation’s group stage exit.