Tuesday's FIFA World Cup Tonight show put Clint Dempsey, Stu Holden, Maurice Edu and Chad Ochocinco Johnson on the spot by asking if Gregg Berhalter should be USMNT manager at the 2026 World Cup.
Berhalter's contract is over at the end of the year, but negotiations on an extension have begun between U.S. Soccer and the 49-year-old after the team reached the Round of 16 in Qatar.
Argentina and the Netherlands delighted the globe with one of the greatest World Cup quarterfinals of all time on Friday. Argentina took a 2-0 lead with Lionel Messi providing an outrageous assist before converting from the penalty spot and that advantage remained until the 83rd minute.
When the Netherlands ceded possession to the United States in the World Cup Round of 16, it was a departure from football history but a masterstroke from the Dutch: they knew the U.S. wouldn't have the quality to find that final pass in the attacking third and that they'd slice the Americans apart going the other direction.
A similar approach could be seen by the Netherlands at the start of its quarterfinal match against Argentina. Playing in a 3-4-1-2, the Dutch packed the middle of the park and said there's no way you're finding joy centrally.
After two days of really not knowing what to do with ourselves, the World Cup finally returns Friday with the start of the quarterfinals. At this point, the bracket doesn't lie — the eight remaining teams all fully deserve their places, and we've got a nice variety with five European nations, two South American and one African.
Action begins Friday at 10 a.m. ET with Croatia vs. Brazil and continues at 2 p.m. ET with Netherlands vs. Argentina. Saturday features Morocco vs. Portugal at 10 a.m. and England vs. France at 2 p.m.
DOHA - One of the most mouth-watering aspects of Saturday’s World Cup quarterfinal between England and France will be a head-to-head battle between Kylian Mbappé and Kyle Walker as the tournament’s most devastating forward faces its fastest defender.
Mbappé has been on fire in Qatar, scoring fabulous goals and playing with a freedom, zest and pure joy rarely seen at international level and particularly within the sometimes stultifying tension of a major tournament.
After the Round of 16 there are no teams from Concacaf still competing at the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Of the five confederations that competed in Qatar, Concacaf had the lowest number of victories with a measly three. None of the four teams finished with a winning record.
The gradebook is coming with full force Concacaf, and it’s not pretty. Here are the 2022 Concacaf World Cup grades.
Wednesday's news is that the search for the next USMNT coach could be a short one — Gregg Berhalter and U.S. Soccer have opened discussions on a new contract with the manager's current deal expiring at the end of the year.
The lasting memories of World Cups should be the celebrations of football — the glorious goals, the mesmerizing skills, the feel-good stories. But we also know that there's no joy without suffering and no winners without losers, and sometimes, it's those dramatic failures that really resonate because life's a snitch and then you die.
Some of this is completely unfair to players who've given us so much over the years and to young guys who've got a lot of ball left to play, but these are the 10 individuals who really let me down in Qatar.
In a World Cup of meticulously calculated added time, South Korea was extremely grateful to the officiating crew for only adding five minutes to the end of the first-half Monday after Brazil scored four salacious goals and accented each with a three-part dance production.
You felt bad for the Taegeuk Warriors because it definitely got embarrassing, but this is why you always, without fail, put Brazil on the television when they're playing at a World Cup — this is the beautiful game.
The United States qualified for the knockout stage of the FIFA World Cup. It had been over eight years since the men’s team had last reached this stage, only to fall in overtime to a strong Belgium side in 2014. This time, the Netherlands stood between the United States and a place in the quarters.
The Dutch side was no stranger to making it all the way to the final match. Their world-class team was headlined by one of the top defenders in the world, Virgil Van Dijk, along with Frenkie de Jong, a speedy midfielder in his prime. Netherlands were clear favorites to win.