Ecuador announced their squad for the upcoming World Cup with a big, big surprise. Coach Gustavo Alfaro decided to leave Byron Castillo out of the team to avoid future legal battles related to the player's eligibility.
LONDON - Alejandro Garnacho came off the bench to score a stoppage-time winner for Manchester United as they beat Fulham 2-1 at Craven Cottage in their final Premier League game before the World Cup break on Sunday.
Christian Eriksen, who is set to play for Denmark at the World Cup, scored the opener in the 14th minute, sliding in at the far post to steer the ball home after Anthony Martial and Bruno Fernandes combined cleverly to create the chance.
Argentina, uno de los favoritos para ganar la Copa del Mundo y rival de México en la fase de grupos, dio a conocer hoy la lista de 26 jugadores que tendrá disponible en Catar.
Por supuesto, Lionel Messi es quien lidera la convocatoria.
La nómina la dio a conocer el técnico Lionel Scaloni a través de un video diseñado especialmente para irse a dormir una siesta.
Barcelona and Spain's national team popularized tiki-taka in soccer. But their hypnotic passing style — when a squad tries to control the ball and dominate its opponent — is not alone . In Costa Rica there exists the tico-taka, which was on full display during a 2-0 win over Nigeria on Wednesday night.
It's true we're used to seeing Costa Rica with a more rough and raw style of play, but from time to time they show they can produce beautiful and poetic moments of fútbol. And that's when this tico-taka appears.
Ecuador will play at this year's World Cup in Qatar after the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on Tuesday said Byron Castillo, whom Chile claimed was ineligible to play during the qualifiers, was deemed an Ecuadorean national.
Ecuador will, however, get a three-point deduction at the start of the qualifying campaign for the 2026 World Cup and must also pay a fine of 100,000 Swiss francs ($101,600) for the "use of a document containing false information", CAS said.
The 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar begins Sunday, Nov. 20, with the curtain-raiser at Al Bayt Stadium between the host nation and a fortunate Ecuador. Why's Ecuador so lucky? Because, as the latest World Cup odds 2022 show, Qatar is by far and away the worst seeded team in the eight groups.
Brazil, king of kings, became one of the first World Cup participants to reveal their final squad Monday — basically telling the rest of the world to gaze upon its marvelous 26-man roster and despair.
Brazil just announced their final squad ahead of the start of the World Cup this month and they're one of the first big nations to do so.
Big names, young stars and attacking machinery. The clear outcast? A very, very familiar face in world soccer.
Brazil's squad for the World Cup pic.twitter.com/en8JnQha8D
It's early in the race for the 2023 Ballon d'Or, but with the season now over 30 percent complete, there's no denying that Real Madrid utility man Federico Valverde has put himself in the conversation with some unbelievable contributions in the Champions League and LaLiga.
It used to be that Valverde was the unsung hero of either the midfield (deputizing effectively for Luka Modrić or Toni Kroos) or right wing (with Karim Benzema and Vini Jr in the spotlight), but this year, whether deployed on the wing or in midfield, the 24-year-old has blossomed into the star of the show.
Copa América 2021 was pretty special for Argentina. They lifted their first adult international title since 1993 – beating Brazil in the legendary Maracanã Stadium –, exorcized the ghosts of the two finals lost against Chile in 2015 and 2016 and created a very candid narrative around Lionel Messi heading to the World Cup that starts on Nov. 20.
Messi, of course, was the main architect of the victory. And not only thanks to his extraterrestrial talent but also his commanding voice inside the dressing room.