Inspiring

If you say it now, you say it without a tone of mockery and without the ability to harvest likes through shit posting: The USMNT is in contention for the World Cup.

The road to Qatar begins in September with six high profile friendlies over the course of 74 days. It shouldn’t be difficult to get excited about tests against Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, Argentina, England and Italy, but if you’re still having trouble buying into the new cycle, U.S. Soccer is here to help with a beautifully produced series profiling America’s new generation.

“Oh man, the World Cup is over! Now I have to wait four more years for more soccer?!” 

Not exactly — we still have the International Champions Cup, and then we have to wait until 2022 for more soccer. Just kidding! There’s a thing called club soccer. Google it, but then come back here to find out which club team you should support based off your strange 2018 World Cup team fetishes!

Picking A Soccer Team To Support (2018 World Cup Edition)  

32. Panama | Your New Club: Getafe (La Liga)

Folks, we made it. The World Cup final has arrived and France and Croatia are sure to give us a final to remember. Good thing this World Cup Drinking Game may make it so you don’t remember it! 

Dreams have been squandered, tears have been shed and football isn’t coming home, but the heroes will soon. Gareth Southgate and the Three Lions will return home empty-handed but wholehearted.

It’s coming home. At least that’s what just about every English person is saying right now. Laugh at them if you want, but based off how this England side is playing right now, it might actually be coming home.

Many fans would associate England with being one of the most underwhelming sides on the international stage. In terms of World Cup performance, England made the quarterfinals in 2006, followed that up with a Round of 16 finish in 2010 and then in 2014, they failed to make it out of the group stage. 

The story of why is Seven Nation Army a soccer chant began, as most great stories do: in a bar, before a soccer match. But what makes Seven Nation Army such a unique force in soccer culture is not its small-time origin story or even its catchy riff — it’s the ability for people around the world, regardless of language or background, to meld as one in a unique chorus.

For all the love players like Neymar, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo receive, for all the fans of Brazil, Germany and France, there is nothing like an underdog succeeding on the world’s biggest stage. As proof, we present to you the biggest World Cup upsets in 2018. 

The appeal of the World Cup comes in a variety of flavors. There’s the excitement of watching the world’s best players go head-to-head as they compete for ultimate glory. But there’s also the joy of seeing teams from smaller, non-traditional footballing nations going up against the tournament favorites. 

Many professional footballers today are categorized as "players." Indeed, this classification applies to their skillfulness and playing ability on the soccer field, but it additionally speaks to their charm and game they have with the ladies. It is not uncommon for a pro "player" to have a long list of models and actresses, otherwise known as WAGs, with whom they have had casual hookups and romantic relationships.

When the groups were announced for the 2018 World Cup, people would have bet the house on Germany to make it into the knockout rounds in a group alongside Mexico, Sweden and South Korea. But if you believe in superstitions, then you would have seen Germany crashing out of the group stages, as the last three European World Cup winners before them had the same fate. 

Instead, Sweden finished at the top of Group F. But, how did a team that didn’t have much expectation from the public achieve what many thought was highly unlikely?