As much as 75% of men's professional footballers opt for maintaining the current World Cup cycle and want it to be played every four years, global players' union FIFPRO said in a statement on Tuesday.
In November FIFPRO surveyed more than 1,000 players from six continents, including more than 70 different nationalities, following a proposal by football's governing body FIFA to switch to a biennial format.
ROME - The Italian Football Federation (FIGC) has requested the postponement of a round of Serie A fixtures to help the Italy national team in its preparations for the FIFA World Cup playoffs, FIGC president Gabriele Gravina said on Monday.
European champions Italy risk failing to qualify for a second consecutive World Cup after finishing behind Switzerland in their qualifying group, and they face North Macedonia in a playoff in Palermo on March 24.
Despite USMNT head coach Gregg Berhalter claiming that his team was “dominant” in its 2-0 defeat vs. Canada, FIFA didn’t see it that way. This was evident in the latest FIFA Rankings where Mexico leapfrogged the U.S.
The teams around the U.S. in the world rankings now look like this.
11. Germany
12. Mexico
13. U.S.
14. Switzerland
For Americans asking the all-important question of "when is the World Cup?" the answer is Nov. 21 through Dec. 18, 2022. Most of the games will be played in the morning, with the final kicking off at 10 a.m. ET. All games will be shown on FOX networks.
Americans might find it hard to watch all the games with the World Cup being both in the winter and in Qatar. Those still in school will find it especially difficult to watch the World Cup this time around as students will be in class during most of the tournament.
The United States men’s national team’s victory against Honduras in the freezing Minnesota cold is going to be a game talked about for years down the road.
The USMNT is one step away from qualifying for the World Cup after taking care of business on Wednesday night against an already eliminated Honduras side in "the coldest game ever."
I was on hand in Saint Paul to watch Kellyn Acosta again demonstrate why those who mocked his nomination for 2021 U.S. Soccer Male Player of the Year deserve to be ostracized from our country and to see Christian Pulisic exorcise that lecherous demon known as Thomas Tuchel.
Mexico secured a tough three points at Estadio Azteca Wednesday night with a narrow 1-0 victory against Panama. The win was anything but confident from El Tri as a late penalty was the only thing to separate the two sides.
Panama looked comfortable inside the mostly empty Estadio Azteca — Mexico was serving its final game with limited attendance after punishments for homophobic chants — and had the better chances in the first half.
Héctor Herrera pulled off some goal line heroics in the 12th minute to deny Panama from taking the lead.
The U.S. men’s national team has never played a game like Wednesday night in Saint Paul, Minnesota. The temperature at Allianz Field was measured in single digits, the wind chill a dozen degrees below zero. Americans may be more accustomed to just frigid weather than Honduras, but it was the Texas boys who made the difference for the USMNT in a crucial 3-0 win in World Cup qualifying.
Temperatures in the single digits. Wind chill at least 15 below. It’s gonna be cold when the U.S. takes on Honduras in World Cup qualifying on Wednesday night. Here’s how the USMNT plans to keep warm.
U.S. Soccer decided to play a World Cup qualifier in February at Allianz Field in Saint Paul, Minnesota. They knew it would be cold, and it’s no surprise the scheduled temperature is going to be close to 1 degree Fahrenheit at kickoff, with threat of frostbite in less than a half of soccer. That’s not normally shorts weather, but the USMNT came prepared.
Before the only story that anyone ever really remembers is written at the World Cup finals, there's the meandering, melodramatic tale of qualifying composed over a multi-year period. Players become heroes for firing their nations into the 32-team fold, but the prolificacy of qualifying's highest scorers doesn't always foreshadow greatness at the tournament itself.