This recent international break has proven, once again, why South America is the toughest qualifying process of any continent on the planet. On Thursday, Brazil trounced Argentina 3-0, Venezuela put up five on Bolivia and Peru handedly laid waste to Paraguay, 4-1. Then on the following Tuesday, Ecuador beat that same Venezuela team 3-0, that same Bolivia team beat Paraguay 1-0 and Argentina rebounded to shut Colombia out in a 3-0 win.
Nick Castellucci, Ricky Miller, Eaton Zveare and Anthony Clark, all 24, must’ve known things had gotten a little out of control when they began buying Audi A3s and Ford Explorers while their bank accounts showed that they’d become multi-millionaires.
One imagines the fright that Peter Gibbons, Samir Nagheenanajar and Michael Bolton felt in Office Space upon discovering a bug in their code that had inadvertently stolen way too much money from their company in only a few days.
The USA suffered their first home World Cup qualifying defeat since 2001 on Friday night, losing 2-1 to Mexico in Columbus for the opening game of the Hex.
Coach Jurgen Klinsmann made unexpected changes coming into the game. He sent out a 3-5-2 formation instead of the usual 4-4-2, causing some players to play out of their positions. The new formation had three center backs in defense with Matt Besler, John Brooks and Omar Gonzalez.
The FIFA World Rankings have long since been a point of contention among football fans, mainly because they just don't seem to add up. As opposed to sports like rugby or tennis where they seem logical, it honestly feels as if the FIFA pick names out of a hat and decide teams' positions o that basis.
The Unofficial Football World Championships (UFWC) are a beautiful anomaly in the world’s game. While world and continental champions are officially determined by the corresponding, internationally sanctioned tournaments, what if the world champion was instead determined using a knock-out system like the one used in boxing? That’s exactly what the UFWC set out to do in 2003, spearheaded by freelance journalist and author Paul Brown.
While the focus has rightly been on corruption allegations in the bidding process, bribery, money laundering, forced labor, human rights abuses, the host country’s stance towards members of the LGBT community and climactic conditions resulting in a contentious decision to move the tournament to November and December, Qatari officials have come to another controversial decision by forbidding the consumption of alcohol “on the streets, squares and [in] public places” at the 2022 World Cup.
It's a tired cliche, but the game isn't over until the referee blows the final whistle. An unbelievable, historic match at the 2003 FIFA U-17 World Championship proved as much.
As soccer fans, we typically hate to see a game end in a 0-0 tie. But, there is nothing more humiliating than watching one team lose to another by five or more goals. In soccer, it's very important for a team to score the first goal of the game. If that's the case, your team automatically sets the pace for the match, and it also shows your opponents that you are here to compete.
For Argentina, a nightmarish World Cup qualifying campaign somehow managed to grow worse outside of an international break. In early September, Bolivia had managed to gain an unlikely 0-0 draw with Chile and a 3-0 victory over Peru in CONMEBOL qualifying. However, FIFA have ruled that Bolivia fielded an ineligible player in both matches, defender Nelson Cabrera, resulting in automatic 3-0 wins for both Chile and Peru.
Mexico has previously stated its desire to host the 2026 World Cup, a tournament that will almost certainly be given to the CONCACAF region, but now it's getting serious.
Following CAF in 2010 (South Africa), CONMEBOL in 2014 (Brazil), UEFA in 2018 (Russia) and AFC in 2022 (Qatar), FIFA has all but promised the tournament to North America.
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