Controversial

The Norwegian Football Federation (NFF) on Tuesday said it will vote against FIFA's awarding of hosting rights for the 2030 and 2034 World Cups by acclamation, adding that it had formally criticized the process in a letter to the world governing body.

Votes are due to be held at FIFA's virtual extraordinary Congress on Wednesday to approve the 2030 and 2034 World Cups, though each has only a single bid, which are both expected to be confirmed by acclamation.

Major League Soccer announced Lionel Messi as the winner of the Landon Donovan MLS MVP award on Friday. The Messi MLS MVP reaction from fans has been mixed with some upset that a player who appeared in only 19 games got the award.

The vote for MVP is done so by players in the league, select media members and club technical staff. After all the votes were accounted for the Inter Miami star edged out Columbus Crew’s Cucho Hernández.

Messi received 38.4% of the vote while Cucho accounted for 33.7%. 

Messi vs. Cucho 2024 stats

Taunted by the Kop with chants of "getting sacked in the morning", Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola afforded himself a wry smile and held up six fingers to remind the ecstatic Liverpool fans of how many Premier League titles he has won.

It was an unforgettable moment on a Sunday evening on Merseyside which could spell the end of Manchester City's domination of the English top flight.

Nov 30 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia's 2034 World Cup bid received a higher technical score from FIFA than the 2026 joint bid by the United States, Canada and Mexico even though the Middle East nation has yet to construct several stadiums proposed for the tournament.

2034 World Cup in Saudi Arabia receives higher bid score than 2026 World Cup

FIFA released its bid evaluation report and said the 2034 bid received an overall average score of 4.2 out of 5 even though eight stadiums are still to be built.

FIFA is showing their appreciation for Messi on Thanksgiving.

Lionel Messi made headlines on Thanksgiving Day after making the nominee list for FIFA’s The Best Award, honoring the players with the best individual performances in the past year.

The 37-year-old made the list as the only player currently outside of Europe, with the rest of the nominees playing inside of Europe’s top-five leagues. Toni Kroos (who retired at the end of the 2024 European Championship) is the only exception.

Christian Pulisic received plenty of backlash for his Donald Trump dance celebration vs. Jamaica on Monday and has now been publicly called out by a USMNT great. The Tim Howard Pulisic takedown was posted to the Mail Sport on Thursday.

Following a record-breaking season with the Columbus Crew, Wilfried Nancy was rewarded with 2024 MLS Coach of the Year honors on Wednesday.

Nancy, a finalist for the award for the last three seasons, won the award over Chris Armas of the Colorado Rapids and Gerardo "Tata" Martino of Inter Miami.

Nancy was hired by Columbus in December 2022 after two seasons at the helm of CF Montreal, where he finished 37-25-15. With Columbus, Nancy is 51-19-24.

Wilfried Nancy MLS Coach of the Year

Christian Pulisic’s red-hot form with both AC Milan and the U.S. men’s national team has the American placed amongst the best players in the world right now — though, it's not exactly exempting him from criticism. The reason? His latest celebration.

Pulisic scored two of the four goals in the USMNT's 4-2 victory over Jamaica (5-2 score aggregate) to seal their spot in the Concacaf Nations League semifinals, further cementing his status as the United States’ target man and main attacking threat.

Netherlands striker Wout Weghorst has come in for sharp criticism in his own country for zealously celebrating a penalty he netted against Hungary on Saturday minutes after an opposition coach collapsed and was taken to hospital.

The Nations League clash at the Johan Cruyff Arena was stopped seven minutes after kickoff when Adam Szalai collapsed. The 36-year-old could be seen lying on the ground next to the team’s bench with his legs twitching, as staff and substitutes quickly formed a protective barrier around him.