National Teams

World Cup favorites Spain bounced by ultimate humiliation: a Panenka and a waddle

Spain's shock 2018 World Cup Round of 16 exit at the hands of Russia — when La Furia Roja took 79% possession with 1,115 passes but fell in a penalty shootout — was supposed to be the ultimate nightmare fuel for the purveyors of tiki-taka.

On Tuesday in the 2022 World Cup Round of 16, Spain suffered another incredible upset in a penalty shootout, this time to African neighbors Morocco after taking 77% possession with 1,019 passes. 

Morocco’s Sofiane Boufal sends Marcos Llorente back to Spain with filthy skill

Spain manager Luis Enrique made the surprise decision to start Marcos Llorente at right back for his team’s Round of 16 clash with Morocco. Llorente hadn’t played a single minute in this World Cup before Tuesday and Morocco’s Sofiane Boufal had a field day with him in the first half.

Boufal was a Moroccan menace in the opening 45 minutes showing off a variety of skills and good dribbles. The 29-year-old winger who plays for Angers in Ligue 1 made Llorente’s life a living hell.

Neymar is a goal away from equaling Pelé's all-time scoring record for Brazil

Jogo Bonito is back. Again.

Neymar is back from the injury that kept him off the pitches of Qatar for Brazil's remaining couple of group stage matches.

After much speculation over his presence, Brazil's No. 10 started and scored a penalty in a marvelous 4-1 victory over South Korea in the Round of 16.

Cold as ice.

Brazil's four-goal first half vs. South Korea was football heritage

In a World Cup of meticulously calculated added time, South Korea was extremely grateful to the officiating crew for only adding five minutes to the end of the first-half Monday after Brazil scored four salacious goals and accented each with a three-part dance production.

You felt bad for the Taegeuk Warriors because it definitely got embarrassing, but this is why you always, without fail, put Brazil on the television when they're playing at a World Cup — this is the beautiful game.

Mbappé has been sneakily hiding Budweiser's logo every time he's named Man of the Match

Kylian Mbappé is tearing apart the 2022 World Cup. The French star has been phenomenal during the tournament, leading the Golden Boot race with five goals and making a solid case to grab the Golden Ball, too. 

Another proof of his extraordinary performance is that he's won three man of the match awards in the four games he's played, the last against Poland in the Round of 16. As usual in this tournament, FIFA recognized the job with a trophy provided by Budweiser, one of their sponsors, and a photo immortalizing the moment. 

Croatia beats Japan on penalties as keeper pulls off 3 saves in the shootout

AL WAKRAH, Qatar - Croatia goalkeeper Dominik Livaković saved penalties from Takumi Minamino, Kaoru Mitoma and Maya Yoshida before Mario Pašalić netted the winning spot-kick in their 3-1 shootout win over Japan on Monday to reach the World Cup quarterfinals.

Croatia vs. Japan full penalty shootout

Ronaldo in focus ahead of Portugal match after reportedly agreeing $500M deal with Al Nassr

AL RAYYAN, Qatar - Speculation regarding the future of Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo and his outburst following his substitution against South Korea were in sharp focus on Monday ahead of their World Cup last-16 game against Switzerland.

The forward, who left Manchester United by mutual consent last month following a controversial interview, was linked with a potential move to Al Nassr of Saudi Arabia but Portugal coach Fernando Santos said he knew nothing about it.

Desperate fans facing 1,000% markups in Qatar for World Cup tickets

DOHA - Ashraf Ali arrived at Stadium 974 six hours ahead of the Argentina-Poland World Cup match and, in desperation, raised a hand-written sign: "We need tickets."

Someone offered one for $2,000, nine times face value.

That was too steep for Ali, 30, who traveled to Qatar from Egypt to fulfill a dream to see Argentina star Lionel Messi play. Thirty minutes before kickoff, he managed to nab a ticket for $500 and witnessed Argentina's 2-0 win.

Seeing the Messi kids hugging each other after daddy's goal vs. Australia will melt your heart

This World Cup is special for Lionel Messi — not only because he wants glory, not only because it's probably his last one, but also because his three kids are old enough to watch him play.

"From the very beginning, from kick-off to the final whistle, I'm thinking of my children," confessed the Argentine star after defeating Australia and qualifying for the quarterfinals against the Netherlands. 

It's England vs. France: Three Lions cruise to 3-0 win over Senegal in last-16

England was clinical in dispatching Senegal 3-0 on Sunday to advance to the quarterfinals of the World Cup with defending champion France awaiting on Saturday, Dec. 10.

Senegal was playing with confidence after back-to-back wins over Qatar and Ecuador to reach the Round of 16, and the Lions of Teranga were the better side in the opening 35 minutes by forcing England into mistakes at the back. But the African champions couldn't make the Three Lions pay with Jordan Pickford keeping it level at 0-0.  

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