So Germany won the Confederations Cup on Sunday. It’s exciting for the players and the fans always want to watch their team win, but what does it mean in the big picture?
More precisely: What does it mean for Germany's chances in the 2018 World Cup next summer?
The Confederations Cup, in its current format, has been played the summer before the World Cup prior to the last five four-year cycles.
Only days after Germany's under-21 side won the European Championship, the senior team has won the Confederations Cup over Chile.
While Chile had chances throughout the match, they couldn't find a way to outmaneuver Germany – even though the German side was missing key talent like Marco Reus, Thomas Müller, Mesut Özil, Sami Khedira, Mats Hummels and Jérôme Boateng.
Soccer has fans in all the nations of the world, with countries as small as San Marino (population 33,000) and as big as China (1.38 billion) fighting for the World Cup trophy.
Regardless of size, some countries, like Uruguay, are far more successful than others, say, Indonesia.
But what sets the following nations apart isn’t their success or failure, it’s their fans' relationship with the latter.
You likely know by now the outcome of the third-place match between Mexico and Portugal in the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup. If you don't, let us catch you up.
After a series of impressive saves (including a penalty) from Man of the Match Guillermo Ochoa, Mexico were just three minutes away from a third place finish. Then Pepe got ahold of a cross from Ricardo Quaresma to send the game into extra time.
Mexico took care of Paraguay in their final warm-up before the CONFACAF Gold Cup, winning 2-1 behind goals from Rodolfo Pizarro and Elias Hernandez.
Pizarro opened the scoring when he pounced on a rebound and put it in the back of the net.
Chivas making presence felt on the NT tonight. @Rpizarrot w/ the golazo. #ElTriEng pic.twitter.com/nXiyHq2MKf
Dom Dwyer is an American citizen. He celebrated his American citizenship by blasting the USMNT ahead of Ghana in the 19th minute of his first cap.
Everyone, meet @Ddwyer14. @Ddwyer14, meet everyone. A dream #USMNT debut for the 26-year-old! pic.twitter.com/41cLap5kGK
While Germany’s A-team takes a much-needed breather before next summer’s World Cup finals, Germany’s B-team have advanced to the final of the Confederations Cup and Germany’s C-team have just captured the UEFA European Under-21 Championship. One can only imagine what it’s like to support the German national team.
The much-heralded attacking talents of Spain, spearheaded by Real Madrid’s Marco Asensio and Atletico’s Saúl, could only manage a single shot on target against Germany in the final.
Mexico already trailed by three when Marco Fabian lashed at the ball with all his might, catching everyone by surprise.
Fabian sliced a wonder strike past Marc-Andre ter Stegen in the 89th minute, but few will remember this match for that goal.
Instead, what will be remembered is El Tri surrendering two goals in the first eight minutes en route to a crushing 4-1 defeat in the Confederations Cup semifinals Thursday in Russia.
Germany will play Chile in the final on Sunday while Mexico gets a Cristiano Ronaldo-less Portugal in the third-place game.
Jesse Gonzalez is probably the best young goalkeeper in MLS. The 22-year-old FC Dallas goalie is tall, athletic and composed. Sounds perfect for the USMNT, right? I mean, Tim Howard and Brad Guzan are getting older, and there hasn't been a heir apparent to step into their shoes.
The problem was until today, Gonzalez was actually in Mexico's player pool. However, Gonzalez filed paperwork for a one-time national team switch, and today FIFA approved the move. This is a big deal. Gonzalez has a while to go before he even hits his prime, and he's already really good.
Ghana coach James Kwesi Appiah might be on board with Donald Trump’s vision for a big, beautiful wall along the Mexican border.
After Ghana lost 1-0 to Mexico on Wednesday in Houston, Appiah didn’t complain about his team’s inability to put away chances, but instead he was dismayed that a Mexican-American was allowed to referee the game.