Prior to Argentina's friendly against Estonia at El Sadar in Pamplona on Sunday, Lionel Messi had only once registered five goals in a single game throughout his illustrious career. That was back in 2012 when Barcelona crushed Bayer Leverkusen 7-1 in the Champions League Round of 16.
You get the feeling that if Ukraine had been playing any other nation on the planet in Sunday's playoff, they'd be going to the World Cup. The team picked up where it left off against Scotland — playing with a passion, verve and energy that saw the visitors threaten to play Wales off the park at Cardiff City Stadium.
The USMNT is flying after Wednesday's 3-0 friendly victory over fellow World Cup participants Morocco in Cincinnati, but a potential wakeup call awaits against Uruguay at Children's Mercy Park in Kansas City on Sunday evening.
CARDIFF - Ukraine coach Oleksandr Petrakov said his players would hang a flag in their dressing room given to them by soldiers on the frontline before their World Cup playoff against Wales on Sunday.
CARDIFF — Wales manager Rob Page believes his team’s talisman Gareth Bale will be ready for Sunday’s World Cup playoff against Ukraine after sitting out last Wednesday’s Nations League clash in Poland.
The Welsh have the chance to make their first World Cup finals appearance in 64 years when they take on Ukraine, who won 3-1 in their playoff semifinal against Scotland in Glasgow on Wednesday.
Con gente abandonando el estadio 15 minutos antes del pitazo final y con los aficionados que se quedaron gritando "Fuera Tata", México sufrió una durísima goleada a manos de Uruguay.
El marcador acabó 3-0 en favor de La Celeste, pero desde un punto de vista moral pareció una derrota mucho más holgada y demoledora. El Tri defendió mal, no generó mucho fútbol en el centro del campo y cuando se aventuró en el área rival falló de manera grotesca, al punto que la pregunta "¿a qué juega México?" se hace cada vez más frecuente.
The animosity between Argentina and Brazil is reaching a fever pitch at the perfect moment: right before the 2022 World Cup. Their only possible clash course in Qatar would see the bitter rivals meet in the semifinals, but that world-stopping event is plausible because La Albiceleste and the Seleção are as good as they've been in a long time.
The two have split the past two Copa Américas, playing out a bad-blooded semifinal in 2019 that Brazil won en route to the title while Argentina had its vengeance in the 2021 final at the Maracanã.
After helping the USMNT beat Morocco 3-0 in a friendly on Wednesday night, Pulisic was asked how he felt being back in America. He responded by calling out the small crowd size at TQL Stadium in Cincinnati.
Neymar scored a pair of penalties to move to within four goals of Pelé at the top of the country's all-time scoring list as Brazil cruised to a 5-1 win over fellow World Cup qualifiers South Korea at Seoul World Cup Stadium on Thursday.
The Paris St Germain striker netted either side of halftime to move onto 73 goals in 118 appearances for his country and close in on the three-time World Cup winner's record in a comfortable win for Tite's side.
In the buildup to the USMNT's friendly against Morocco, with the countdown to the World Cup now well and truly on, one of the most intriguing eye tests was the American midfield trio of Tyler Adams, Yunus Musah and Brenden Aaronson against fellow World Cup contender Morocco.
The three will be linchpins of the squad over the next decade, but the 21-year-old Aaronson was playing a new central role for the United States after previously being stationed on the left or right wing of Gregg Berhalter's 4-3-3 formation.