There have been very few bright spots for Juventus this season. On the back of the club’s humiliation in the Champions League midweek, a host of injuries forced manager Massimiliano Allegri’s hand as he utilized many of his younger players against Lecce. His faith was rewarded by Nicolò Fagioli, who scored a stunning goal to give the Bianconeri a 1-0 win.
21-year-old Nicolò Fagioli delivering for Juve ☄️
Brazilian wonderkid Endrick is starting to live up to the hype built around him. The teenage prodigy bagged his first goal as a professional on Tuesday night, becoming the youngest player to do it in Palmeiras' history at 16 years, three months and four days.
Endrick came off the bench in the second half during Palmeiras' visit to Athletico Paranaense and changed the game's narrative, going from a painful 0-1 defeat to a thrilling 3-1 victory that practically secured a new title for the Verdão — one more win over the next four games and they'll be champions.
To prepare you for the tournament, The18 has launched team-by-team previews for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. This is the preview for Group B's USMNT.
World Cup appearances: 11th
Best finish: 3rd (1930)
How they got here: The USMNT qualified directly as Concacaf's third-place finisher, behind Canada and Mexico and above Costa Rica on goal difference.
Chelsea travelled to Red Bull Arena and beat Salzburg 2-1 Tuesday night to clinch passage to the Champions League Round of 16 for the fourth straight year.
Christian Pulisic, making his first start since scoring against Wolves on Oct. 8, played a role in both goals, although they were spectacularly finished by Mateo Kovačić and Kai Havertz.
If you're having trouble visualizing what Canada's Alphonso Davies is about to do to the old man legs of Belgium and Croatia in World Cup Group F, Wednesday's DFB-Pokal match between Bayern Munich and Augsburg offered the perfect illustration.
Augsburg took an early lead at its home ground but Bayern struck back through an Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting brace and one from Joshua Kimmich to go up 3-1 with 30 minutes still to play. A Dayot Upamecano own goal gave Augsburg hope at 3-2, but it's the hope that kills you.
Get Malik Tillman on the plane.
The 20-year-old USMNT prodigy is at that nascent stage in his career where there's going to be ebbs and flows. Tillman arrived on loan at Rangers from Bayern Munich and had an incredible August — scoring in both Champions League qualifying and the Scottish Premiership — but a downturn in form saw him left on the bench for Rangers' last league match and Wednesday's 7-1 UCL defeat to Liverpool at the Ibrox.
It was an eventful Thursday for 21-year-old Arsenal talent Bukayo Saka.
It all started with news of the England international gracing the cover of TIME magazine's "Next Generation Leaders" issue.
How @BukayoSaka87 became the inspiring new face of British soccer. Meet TIME’s latest class of Next Generation Leaders https://t.co/QZAXRmpNZX pic.twitter.com/gMGVdcs55s
MANCHESTER, England - Both Manchester City and Liverpool spent big to revamp their striker department in the close season, with Erling Haaland and Darwin Núñez tipped to be rivals atop the goalscoring charts, but so far it has been no contest.
City's capture of Haaland and Liverpool's addition of Núñez represented a style shift for both, focusing their forward lines around a central striker, as last season's title rivals tried something different.
America's most promising goalkeeping prospect is officially heading abroad, as Gabriel Slonina is set to begin a 13-day training spell with Chelsea.
The youngest signing in Chicago Fire history and the youngest starting keeper in MLS history, Slonina became Chicago's most expensive player ever on Aug. 2 when he joined Chelsea for a $15 million fee. The keeper was then loaned back to the Fire for the remainder of the MLS season.
Real Salt Lake welcomed the Portland Timbers to Rio Tinto Stadium for Decision Day knowing it needed a win to make the MLS Cup Playoffs. A 3-0 rout secured the victory and sent Pablo Mastroeni’s side to the playoffs for the second consecutive season.