Colombia’s friendly against South Korea on Nov. 10 did not endear the South Americans to the world. Midfielder Edwin Cardona made a racist gesture to South Korean players following an embarrassing flop by James Rodriguez. We wrote then that if FIFA had any sense, Cardona would be given a lengthy ban lasting through the World Cup.
Paolo Guerrero thought he could be Diego Maradona. Now Peru’s captain and all-time leading goal scorer will be suspended for the country’s first World Cup in 36 years. FIFA handed down a 12-month ban to Guerrero for testing positive for a banned stimulant following a CONMEBOL World Cup qualifier, football’s world governing body announced Thursday.
Carles Puyol is a legend. One of the best central defenders of all time, he won 20 major trophies with Barcelona and helped Spain to their 2010 World Cup triumph. Because of his impressive resume, it makes sense that Puyol was asked to participate in the draw for the 2018 World Cup. Puyol drew groups G and H and everything went off without a hitch.
Until that evening, when a fan hit Puyol in the face with a dildo.
Mexico did not receive the easiest group in Friday’s World Cup draw and some would argue (perhaps unsuccessfully) that El Tri’s Group F is the Group of Death. But one thing Mexico fans can be happy about: Their team won’t be playing in the World Cup opener.
The 2018 World Cup opening match will pit Russia vs. Saudi Arabia on June 14 at Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow. It’s a matchup of the two worst teams (by FIFA ranking) in the entire tournament. The World Cup opening match in 2018 is going to unequivocally be the worst ever. But it’s not the end of the world.
The World Cup opening match has only been a big deal for the past 13 World Cups (out of 20), with a mixture of previous champions and hosts taking part in the first kickoff. Five of the first seven World Cups began with simultaneous matches.
The World Cup draw was completed this morning at the State Kremlin Palace in Moscow with the 32 finalist nations placed into eight groups of four. The 2018 FIFA World Cup will kick off on June 14 at Luzhniki Stadium with a match featuring hosts Russia and Saudi Arabia. Here are five can't-miss matches from the 2018 FIFA World Cup group stage.
The World Cup draw was completed this morning at the State Kremlin Palace in Moscow with the 32 finalist nations placed into eight groups of four. The 2018 FIFA World Cup will kick off on June 14 at Luzhniki Stadium with a match featuring host-side Russia and Saudi Arabia. We now know the makeup of the entire field for the competition as well as the group stage matches that'll captivate the planet next summer. Here are the full results from the 2018 FIFA World Cup draw.
Maybe you haven’t heard, but the U.S. will not be participating in the 2018 World Cup in Russia. But that hasn’t stopped Americans from purchasing more tickets for next summer’s tournament than any other country outside the host nation. And the U.S. isn’t the only country that won’t be competing in Russia to rank in the Top 10 in World Cup ticket sales.
As unbelievable as it sounds, Italy could still go to the World Cup. Peru is looking at trouble as they could possibly be excluded from the international championship by FIFA should a Congress initiative become effective.
The problem is that the initiative, proposed by legislator Paloma Noceda, would potentially result in the government taking over the Peruvian FA.