Opinion

3 Nations Primed For Devastatingly Poor World Cups

Since the turn of the 21st century, it’s happened without fail: every World Cup, three nations that began the tournament ranked in FIFA’s top 20 have been unceremoniously dumped from the competition at the group stage. In fact, in two of the four World Cups this century, three of the world’s top 10 ranked sides have capitulated before the knockout rounds. 

Here’s a rundown of the three highest ranked sides to fall at the first hurdle in the last four tournaments:

2002 

The 10 Most Shocking Moments In Soccer History, Ranked

For over a century now, soccer has cultivated much of our pride and joy. The beautiful game, along with music, peanut butter and Netflix, is humanity’s pride and joy. However, with all the cheers and smiles, soccer comes with a dark side and over here, rainbows and sunshine are replaced with shame and disgrace. How far into the rabbit hole are you willing to go?

Take the red pill and enjoy The18’s list of the most disgraceful soccer moments . . . just remember, you might not like what you find.

The 10 Most Shocking Moments In Soccer History

The Most Interesting 0-0 Bore Draw Of The Season Could Decide Serie A

Reading about a scoreless draw is pretty boring, right?

No goals, no costly mistakes, no tactical masterstrokes which decide the game. We might as well not bother. But here we are, with an article about a nil-nil match which happened on Saturday night when most people were somewhere having much, much more fun.

15 Savage Nutmegs That Broke The Internet And Ended Once-Promising Careers

During Racing Club’s 5-0 defeat of Patronato in the Argentine Primera Division on Sunday, 20-year-old forward Lautaro Martinez — who just received his first Argentina call-up and is reportedly being heavily courted by both Borussia Dortmund and Inter Milan — provided the play of the weekend with just two delicate touches of the ball. 

His intricate little tippy tap sent the ball through the legs of the defender, ending his life and sending his soul down the river Styx. 

Stadium X Offers The Best Fan Experience In The World

During a recent editorial meeting, we here at The18 came to the distressing conclusion that there is no one stadium that provides the perfect fan experience. Being Americans and therefore experts on amusing the masses to the point of overload, we made up our own stadium that has all the amenities that come together to create the perfect fan experience. Welcome to Stadium X, where fans have a good and cool time thanks to the following things:

A Big Ol' Pool Bar

Boring, Boring Man United As The Reds Go Marching Out, Out, Out

On Tuesday, Manchester United were scraped off the Champions League roster the same way a disgruntled toddler tosses away an old, broken toy: with no remorse. The toy, like the Red Devils, deserved it. The toddler, you wonder? Jose Mourinho.

Bundesliga Fans Need To Get Over It And Stop Complaining About Monday Matches

Monday night football is a huge part of American sports culture, a showcase evening where the sports world focuses on whatever subpar matchup the NFL has decided everyone must watch. MNF games typically have some of the biggest TV audiences of the year, regardless of who is playing. Monday night football in Germany, on the other hand, hasn’t caught on yet, as the latest Bundesliga protests have put on full display.

Germany, it seems, is the Garfield of Europe — they hate Mondays.

Giovani Dos Santos Is Playing Himself Off Mexico’s World Cup Squad

With 102 appearances, 18 goals and as a veteran of two World Cups, history is on Giovani dos Santos’ side. However, his play on the field over the last year and a half makes his inclusion in Mexico’s 2018 World Cup squad, by Juan Carlos Osorio’s own stated standards, a real doubt.

When Dos Santos arrived in MLS in 2016, his initial return of 14 goals, 12 assists and a place in the MLS Best XI seemed to fully justify a Designated Player salary of $5.5 million per year. 

Spanish Announcers Are Better At Football Than English Announcers And You Won’t Convince Me Otherwise

Football is a sport of moments, of building up to a climax and exploding with joy, relief, anger or sadness. It is in these moments that football announcers show their true worth. But in the debate of English vs. Spanish football announcers we just made up, there is no doubt in my mind who wins. 

The Next USMNT Coach Absolutely Does Not Need To Be American

In a wide-ranging interview recently, Landon Donovan spoke of coming out of retirement for a second time, opting to join Liga MX, Mexico-U.S. politics and the state of U.S. Soccer. Donovan, perhaps the greatest American player ever produced, knows as well as anyone what he’s talking about when he discusses the state of U.S. Soccer, but he’s dead wrong in saying the next USMNT coach needs to be an American. 

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