For almost an entire year, Argentina’s national team refused to speak with the press. The boycott was the result of a terrible run in qualifying which led to extremely harsh criticism from the media, including an unfounded substantiation that Ezequiel Lavezzi had been dropped for smoking pot after training.
FIFA’s international breaks can be full of thrilling competition between the world’s best. This break will see some of the most intense matches outside of a major competition you’ll ever see in the UEFA and intercontinental playoffs to qualify for the 2018 World Cup.
The18.com knows you don't have time to waste when it comes to your soccer news. That's why we've created the fastest rundown in soccer. Greg Ellis takes you through 18 different soccer topics, and spends 18 seconds on each. This time he goes over the most iconic celebrations, the worst hairstyles, the best soccer movies, World Cup qualifiers, soccer robots and much more. If you liked this episode Watch Episode 2 of 18 Things in 18 Seconds.
FIFA president Gianni Infantino has come through on his promise to make the World Cup bidding process more transparent and open to scrutiny after the fallout following the 2010 vote which saw the 2018 and 2022 World Cups handed to Russia and Qatar.
On June 13, 2018, 211 member federations and the 38-person FIFA council will decide who’ll win the right to host the 2026 FIFA World Cup, and all of those votes will be open to public viewing.
We’re now only 220 days away from the 2018 FIFA World Cup kicking off at Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, and the entire 32-team field for the event will be decided by Wednesday, November 15. We’ve seen various unconfirmed leaks regarding what the competing nations will be wearing come June, but Adidas has lifted the lid on their entire range of designs before the start of this week’s international break.
Between November 9 and November 14, the complete European field for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia will be decided over the course of eight gut-wrenching playoff ties. The two-legged affairs will mark the final cuts in a qualifying marathon that began with 54 hopefuls back on September 4, 2016, and will end with 14 European nations vying for glory next summer.
Mexico are certainly not taking it easy with regards to November’s international window. Friendlies against Belgium and Poland in Brussels and Gdansk represent World Cup warmups against the nations currently ranked fifth and sixth in the world, and their UEFA qualifying campaigns certainly give credence to those high-water marks.
Monday night’s playoff encounter between the New York Red Bulls and Toronto FC saw the continuation of a narrative that’ll likely follow TFC for years to come: wherever the club goes, Michael Bradley and Jozy Altidore are not going to be given a warm reception. It began on October 22 with Toronto’s visit to Atlanta, TFC’s first road match since that unspeakable encounter between the United States and Trinidad & Tobago. It continued on Monday night at Red Bull Arena.
England completed a rare double on Saturday, rallying to defeat Spain 5-2 and claim the U-17 World Cup after winning the U-20 World Cup earlier this year. The Three Lions also finished second in the U-17 Euros and reached the semifinals of the U-21 Euros. Is England on the verge of a new golden age of football?