It’s been a good week for PSG phenom Kylian Mbappé. Despite his tender age of 20, Mbappé finished in the top 10 of Ballon d’Or voting for the third straight year on Monday. On Wednesday, he scored in PSG’s 2-0 victory over Nantes. On Saturday, he scored an outrageous backheel goal and recorded an assist in PSG’s 3-1 victory over Montpellier.
Soccer is increasingly a young person’s game. More and more focus is being put on youth soccer to create the next Lionel Messi, Christian Pulisic or Mallory Pugh. So what do you give as a gift for the budding soccer star in your life? We here at The18 have put together a list of the 18 best soccer gifts for kids to answer just that question.
Tired of hearing about Megan Rapinoe? Yeah, me neither.
Rapinoe has had herself quite the year and to add on to her standout persona, Nike honored her with a pair of cleats designed specifically to commemorate her triumph at Monday’s Ballon d’Or ceremony.
She’s known for her pink hair, her activism and her recent World Cup performance with the USWNT, where she earned herself the Golden Boot and Golden Ball awards. Now if you had to describe Rapinoe by customizing a cleat, it would look a lot like Nike’s design.
The 2019 Liga MX Apertura playoffs begin on Wednesday, Nov. 27, with the first legs of the quarterfinals.
There’s a lot of flavor in this liguilla’s sauce, but the tastiest matchup is certainly a meeting between 2019 Clausura champion Tigres (three seed) and 2018 Apertura winner Club América (six seed). It’s André-Pierre Gignac versus Henry Martín and we couldn’t be more excited.
Following hot on the heels of the latest releases from adidas ahead of Euro 2020, Puma is now unleashing the latest threads for its stable of competitors at next summer’s competition. Italy, Switzerland, Austria and the Czech Republic have all already guaranteed their places at the European Championship, and these are the away shirts they’ll be wearing.
Did you ever wear your shirt untucked, look at yourself in the mirror and scream: “GOOD GOD, WHY IS THIS UNTUCKED LENGTH SO UNBECOMING ON MY PERSON?!” I never did that either, but then UNTUCKit came along and introduced the thought into my head.
The casual men’s clothing company now has 80+ stores across the U.S. and Canada and entered the NFL Hall of Fame in 2019 after airing a commercial starring Drew Brees dragging the "NOLA No-Call.”
At the age of 25, Paulo Dybala’s already conquered much of the footballing world — fitting for a man that celebrates his goals by donning a figurative gladiator mask. This season marks his fifth with Italian power Juventus, and every previous year has finished with a Serie A title to go along with three Coppa Italia triumphs.
Following this November’s upcoming international break (Nov. 14 — 19), we’ll know 20 of the 24 participating nations at UEFA Euro 2020. While the four remaining spots will be decided in late March through the qualifying playoffs, it’s safe to say that we can begin to look forward to next summer’s European Championship in earnest.
Adidas feels the same way.
For a country that’s madly in love with the game, the football tournaments at the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics will be sources of exorbitant amounts of pride and pressure for the host nation of Japan.
The women’s team treated the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup as something of a trial by fire for a squad that featured 14 players aged 23 and under, including young midfield maestro Yui Hasegawa. That side advanced to the Round of 16 before losing to eventual finalist the Netherlands.
Attention all 34.5 million Americans who list their heritage as primarily or partially Irish: The Republic of Ireland is dropping a fantastic new home shirt (apart from the damn Three Ireland sponsor) that’ll serve you very well on Saint Patrick’s Day and then throughout next summer’s Euro 2020 tournament.
The New Balance-produced number is a beautiful Eden Green, features subtle tonal pin stripes, a smart collar and some nice touches of gold, including a gold border that frames the Ireland crest and the gold-inscribed “Éire” on the back.