Lists

Ahh soccer. Yes, soccer. Not football, but soccer. American soccer. 

Americans who follow the world’s game have it tougher than footie fans just about anywhere else on the planet. In the U.S., soccer isn’t the most popular sport — it’s not even in the top four — providing unique challenges to those who love the beautiful game.

But American soccer fans persist, because our love for the game is greater than any annoyance.

Here are 11 most annoying things about being an American soccer fan:

We've already covered the top questions for Cristiano Ronaldo, so now it's time to delve into what people want to know about soccer’s other great, Lionel Messi. The questions range from his jumping abilities to if Messi is still alive. Instead of the top searches, here's a list with five of the oddest Messi searches.

“Variety is the spice of life,” someone once said before doing something obviously stupid and dangerous. But with danger and stupidity comes ingenuity and joy, and that’s the common thread that connects the majority of these bastardized forms of soccer. Here are 10 variants of the beautiful game that are strangely captivating.  

10 Soccer Variations You Should Try Before Death Comes For You

#1. Eisfussball

Danish midfielder Christian Eriksen could soon have his wish of leaving Tottenham granted. Eriksen has voiced his displeasure with the club and intends to leave the Premier League to go elsewhere. Serie A side Inter Milan has focused its sights on the 27-year-old and is prepared to offer him quite the lucrative deal. Eriksen could be earning $130,000 a week after taxes according to The Times.

The idea of helping youths develop and hone their skills in soccer is appealing to a large number of coaches. In the U.S. alone there are coaches teaching millions of young players how to play the sport.

Coaching, like most things in life, doesn’t come without drawbacks. Whether it’s a player forgetting to bring their shin guards or Karen the Super Soccer Mom complaining about her child not getting enough playing time, the task of coaching can be strenuous. Here is a short list of shortcomings for youth soccer coaches.

The statistic for goals in a calendar year is obviously a strange one since it combines feats from two separate seasons (the back-half of one campaign and the first half of the next), which isn’t really a useful metric. However, when looking at the top goal scorers from each calendar year over the past decade, there are a few interesting trends which speak volumes about the 2010s.

To coincide annually with The Guardian’s excellent list of the 100 best male footballers in the world — compiled by a panel of 239 experts from 63 different nations — we here at The18 have compiled our own list over the last few years. There are no experts involved, there’s no rhyme or reason for anything, but we do hope you’ll join us on this adventure into the bowels of the beautiful game.

We’re nearing the end of the decade and we here at The18 have watched a whole lot of soccer over the last 10 years. So to commemorate the end of the era, we’ve compiled a best XI of our favorite soccer players — and our least favorite soccer players. 

While other outlets are doing Best XIs for the decade, we wanted to go a different route. Anyone can say Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo were the two best male players of the decade; who really cares about that? What’s more interesting, to us, is who people choose to like and dislike.