National Teams

At every major international tournament, there’s always a player that does something so sensational that he finds himself the subject of a massive transfer. This goal from Piqueti of Guinea-Bissau may be the example of that at the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations.

This is Guinea-Bissau’s first-ever appearance at the African finals, so next to nothing was expected of the side from West Africa. However, they opened the tournament with a shocking 1-1 draw against the hosts, Gabon. In their next match against heavily favored Cameroon, they took an unexpected 1-0 lead through Piqueti. 

Heather O'Reilly has made the move. The star midfielder, who scored 47 goals in 231 appearances for the USWNT, signed with Arsenal Ladies. Te move was officially announced by Arsenal on Wednesday.

"Having come over to Arsenal last year to train, I was very impressed with the club. The facilities are world class and they have a tradition of excellence at the club that I wanted to be a part of, I’m very happy to be here,” O’Reilly said.

We would like to share with you two moments from the Africa Cup of Nations that made us lean forward in our seat and open our eyes really wide. These happened on different days and in different matches, but they are both glorious.

The first is Burkina Faso's goalkeeper doing his best sweeper-keeper.

Burkina Faso's keeper will soon find himself in a Chinese club's back four on £300k-a-week after this tackle pic.twitter.com/TDgvJnFc3I

U.S. Soccer has announced that they will host the second annual SheBelieves Cup. From March 1-7, 2017, four out of the five top ranked teams in the world will travel to the northeast region of the U.S. to compete. Germany, France and England will join the USA in the most elite international tournament of the year. USA is currently ranked number one in the world, with Germany coming in second, France in third and England in fifth. 

Carli Lloyd had quite the year before adding another international award to her name. Early in 2016, Lloyd released her autobiography When Nobody Was Watching: My Hard-Fought Journey To The Top Of The Soccer World. It was a book that reflected on her family falling-out as well as the struggles and sacrifices she encountered as she rose to the top. 

The FIFA World Cup is set to undergo its first expansion since the current format of 32 teams was employed at the 1998 World Cup in France. The 2026 World Cup, as unanimously approved by members of the FIFA Council on Tuesday, will feature 48 teams.

The 2018 World Cup in Russia and the 2022 World Cup in Qatar will stick to the 32-team format, meaning that the expanded tournament will likely make its debut in the CONCACAF region come 2026.

FIFA’s plan to expand the World Cup to 48 teams will be given the green light on Tuesday according to reports. The plan, long expounded by FIFA President Gianni Infantino, could yet encounter resistance as qualifying places for the tournament have yet to be explained. Also, nations like Germany directly oppose the plan.

Bruce Arena's first USMNT squad probably won't tell us much. The Europe-based players are unavailable because it isn't an international break, and the USA-based players aren't in shape because the MLS doesn't start for a while. Also, the games won't be anywhere near competitive international matches.

That said, it is his first squad and therefore people will wildly speculate on what his team selection means. Maybe we'll learn something about the type of player Arena is looking for. More likely we won't.

Cameroon is very mad at Liverpool because Joel Matip doesn't want to play in the Africa Cup of Nations.

Matip is a senior-capped Cameroon international, has had disagreements with the country's sport governing body before, when he was playing for Schalke, and has evidently decided he just doesn't want to play for them anymore.

Naturally, the Cameroon FA decided that of course Joel Matip wants to play for Cameroon, who wouldn't, and it's all Liverpool's fault he's not going to the African Cup of Nations.