To coincide annually with The Guardian’s excellent list of the 100 best male footballers in the world — compiled by a panel of 239 experts from 63 different nations — we here at The18 have compiled our own list over the last few years. There are no experts involved, there’s no rhyme or reason for anything, but we do hope you’ll join us on this adventure into the bowels of the beautiful game.
Rewind about five years and you'll find a name on the USMNT that most people have forgotten about: Aron Johannsson. People were excited about his potential and what the then 24-year-old could bring to the national team after scoring 17 goals and picking up 16 assists for AZ Alkmaar in the Eredivisie.
Since that season, Johannsson has struggled with injuries and has barely seen the field, not only taking him off the pitch but also off the USMNT, where he scored four goals in 19 appearances.
Cristiano Ronaldo is still dominating the soccer world, but he’s already making plans for life after football.
At a sports conference on Saturday, Ronaldo said he’d like to try out acting.
“One of the things that I seek to challenge myself in, for example, is acting in a movie,” Ronaldo said.
Yes! Let’s make this happen!
Ronaldo would hardly be the first athlete to turn to acting, nor even the first footballer.
Any self-respecting Texan can vividly recall images of running back Earl Campbell plowing through defenders, his jersey turning to tissue as opposing players try in vain to bring him to the ground.
After an incessant 19-month news cycle that began on Mar. 31, 2018, with an incredible brace against LAFC and concluded on Oct. 24, 2019, with a playoff defeat to the same team, we’ll admit that we’re already feeling pretty empty without Zlatan Ibrahimović in America.
We’re nearing the end of the decade and we here at The18 have watched a whole lot of soccer over the last 10 years. So to commemorate the end of the era, we’ve compiled a best XI of our favorite soccer players — and our least favorite soccer players.
While other outlets are doing Best XIs for the decade, we wanted to go a different route. Anyone can say Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo were the two best male players of the decade; who really cares about that? What’s more interesting, to us, is who people choose to like and dislike.
Last Friday, 25-year-old Philly native Lil Uzi Vert released the third single off his highly anticipated second studio album Eternal Atake. The song is entitled “Futsal Shuffle 2020,” which gives us more than enough loosely-based license to discuss it here at The18.
MLS teams released their 2020 schedules on Dec. 19, prompting a tidal wave of American soccer fans to come out of their caves.
The Los Angeles Galaxy were among those to naturally take to Twitter for the unveiling of their 2020 campaign. The Galaxy, however, took a different approach than your average hype video or link to tickets.
Look, we've all been there. We've accidentally walked into the wrong work cubicle after moving a few weeks prior, went to the wrong classroom after the start of a new semester or called our significant other by our ex's name (hopefully this one doesn't happen too often).
We become so used to doing something that we just do it on autopilot. That's what happened to the ever-confusing player that is Tiémoué Bakayoko on Saturday.
Once dubbed the future holding midfielder partner of N'Golo Kante at Chelsea, the French international is now on loan with Monaco for the season.