NWSL side Angel City FC announced a completed a trade with the Orlando Pride for former USWNT forward and 2015 World Cup champion Sydney Leroux. The Leroux trade sees her move to Los Angeles following an almost five-year stint with the Pride during which she scored 16 league goals in 53 appearances.
Welcome back to L.A., Sydney!
CAPE TOWN - World Cup places will be up for grabs at the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations, which kicks off in Morocco on Saturday, with the top four finishers guaranteed a spot at the 2023 finals in Australia and New Zealand.
Africa previously had three places at the 2019 Women’s World Cup in France, but with the field for the 2023 tournament expanded to 32 teams, there are now four automatic berths for the continent and the chance of two more places via a proposed 10-team playoff tournament.
The USWNT huffed and puffed its way to a 2-0 victory over Colombia on Tuesday night in Sandy, Utah. It was hardly the first time the Americans struggled to put away lower competition, and with World Cup and Olympic qualifying less than a week away, you have to wonder if it’s time to start worrying about the USWNT’s rebuild.
Heading toward the World Cup, the USMNT needed to do something drastic to alter its approach to set pieces.
In the 14-game qualifying cycle, the U.S. managed only three goals from set pieces. They all came in a single match — the 3-0 victory over Honduras in Minnesota. It's also worth noting that Kellyn Acosta, the best dead ball specialist in the squad, provided the service on all three and is expected to start on the bench in Qatar as Tyler Adams' backup.
The upcoming Mexico friendlies schedule was released on Tuesday, and it was announced that El Tri will play Peru and Colombia in the U.S. in September. There will also be a third friendly in November vs. Sweden in Girona, Spain.
What is the group of death World Cup 2022? With all 32 spots filled and the tournament in Qatar fast approaching, it's time to reveal The18's collective rankings for all eight of the competition's groups.
By asking our writers to individually rank each group, we've taken their responses and found the average of their picks. The two easiest groups fell far below the other six in our rankings, while we also had a clear selection for the feared "group of death."
*Groups ranked from softest to hardest*
Teams will be able to select up to 26 players for this year's World Cup after global soccer's governing body FIFA increased the maximum squad limit by three on Thursday.
FIFA said the change was due to the unusual timing of the tournament as well as the impact of Covid-19 on squads. The showpiece event in Qatar will run from Nov. 21-Dec. 18.
Ahead of the World Cup, there is always an influx of transfers featuring players who are on the fringes of their national teams and want to secure a roster spot for the tournament. Many players who sit on the bench for bigger clubs and get limited minutes desperately need quality playing time to be noticed by their national team managers. With so many rumors and confirmed deals happening every day, let's take a look at 10 players who need a transfer ahead of the 2022 Fifa World Cup in Qatar.
Qatar has been in the headlines recently as another of its rules for visiting fans ahead of the World Cup in late November has caught the public’s attention. After the recent reminders about Qatar’s ban on homosexuality, any single individuals who still wish to watch their team play in person have been warned to not have sex during their stay.
Qatar 2022 sex ban as fans warned they face 7 years in JAIL for one-night stands https://t.co/3x6Vm0Wj5q
The United States men’s national team only has two more games to gear up for the 2022 World Cup. Those final two opponents for USMNT friendlies were revealed on Tuesday. The U.S. will be playing Japan and Saudi Arabia, two teams also competing at the 2022 World Cup.
We're headed across the pond! ✈️
Japan vs USA
September 23
TBDSaudi Arabia vs USA
September 27
Estadio Nueva Condomina, Murcia, Spain