I have a theory as to one reason (of many) the England National Team tends to underperform in major tournaments: the players all play in the same league. Every England international plays in the Premier League. One might argue this breeds familiarity and is therefore good for the national team, but I think it leads to a lack of stylistic variety in the team and makes the payer pool stagnant. It's basically like inbreeding, is what I'm saying.
One unwritten rule of soccer that doesn’t really exist in other sports is the art of players not celebrating if they score a goal against a team they formerly played on.
Nottingham Forest’s Chris Wood took that unwritten rule to heart on Boxing Day when netted a hat trick against his former club, Newcastle.
The New Zealand forward was the hero in Forest’s massive 3-1 victory but hardly celebrated as he followed the unwritten rule of not celebrating after scoring against a former team.
Chris Wood not celebrating vs. Newcastle
The United States men’s national team scored a total of 47 goals in the 2023 calendar year, and I’ve gone through all of them to find the top 10. It wasn’t easy picking the best USMNT goals of 2023, but the list has been made.
Several different factors can go into what makes a goal great including the circumstances/importance of the game. For this list the context and opponents don’t matter, we’re simply judging how nice of a goal it was.
The quality of the assist is also factored in.
Let’s watch some goals.
FIFA announced the finalists for the Puskás Award, and the goals are nothing short of amazing.
It all comes down to this.
On Thursday, Dec. 14, FIFA officially announced the players chosen to stand on the nomination podium for the lead-up of their annual Puskás Award, given to the player with the best goal of the year.
Julio Enciso (Brighton), Nuno Santos (Sporting CP) and Guilherme Madruga (Botafogo) will be in contention for the award during FIFA’s The Best ceremony held on January 15, 2024 in London.
The anticipation for Copa América 2024 continues to grow especially with the recent reveal of the group stage. In the months leading up to the tournament The18 will be doing power rankings and list our picks for the best 2024 Copa América teams.
In a recent interview in his home country of Argentina pertaining to his availability for the 2026 World Cup, soccer superstar Lionel Messi called Major League Soccer -- his current home -- "a minor league."
The comment to Star+ came in the context of laying out his priorities, which continue to be trying to support his national team to the fullest. That includes competing in next summer's Copa America for Argentina.
Tottenham Hotspur manager Ange Postecoglou spoke out bluntly against soccer sin bins on Friday and said the idea itself should be binned.
"Yeah, bin it mate. Just bin the whole idea, just forget about it," the Australian told reporters ahead of his side's weekend Premier League game at champions Manchester City.
"I don't know why they keep interjecting themselves into the game. There’s not that much wrong with the game... I don't think there's a need for it."
United States men’s national team fans and especially Gregg Berhalter will be taking a massive sigh of relief Thursday night after a late flurry of goals resulted in a 3-0 victory vs. Trinidad and Tobago.
The Concacaf Nations League quarterfinal first leg victory will make the Monday’s game in Trinidad way more comfortable with a three-goal aggregate lead. Whoever wins the quarterfinal secures a place in next summer’s Copa América.
Spain and Gotham FC striker Esther González had an amazing 2023 calendar year as she won the World Cup with Spain and scored the game-winning goal in the NWSL Championship on Saturday.
A bullet header from World Cup winner Esther González and Gotham FC lead the NWSL final once more
(via @NWSL)
MANCHESTER — If Young Boys' 3-0 loss to Manchester City on Tuesday was not humbling enough, manager Raphael Wicky said he would need to speak with Mohamed Ali Camara after learning his captain had asked City striker Erling Haaland for his coveted shirt -- at halftime.
Erling Haaland gives Young Boys' Mohamed Ali Camara his shirt at halftime. pic.twitter.com/jDqp3jC0vj