Club World Cup

Monterrey gave Liverpool all it could handle in today’s FIFA Club World Cup semifinal in Qatar. The two sides exchanged early goals through Naby Keïta and Rogelio Funes Mori, but it was the substitute Roberto Firmino who scored the dramatic winner in second half stoppage time to book Liverpool’s place in the final, where they’ll meet Copa Libertadores champion Flamengo. 

Leonel Vangioni booked a date with Liverpool with one monstrous lash of his left foot.

Monterrey’s 31-year-old Argentine left back launched a stunning long-range goal to help his team beat Al-Sadd 3-2 in the Club World Cup quarterfinals on Saturday in Qatar. The victory sends Los Rayados to the semifinals against UEFA Champions League champion Liverpool on Wednesday.

Less than 24 hours after capturing the Copa Libertadores in Peru thanks to two late goals from Gabriel Barbosa, Flamengo returned home to a riotous Rio de Janeiro on Sunday to celebrate a first South American title in 38 years. 

FIFA has once again chosen money over human rights. And FIFA president Gianni Infantino’s indifference is infuriating. 

China will host the revamped, 24-team Club World Cup in 2021, FIFA announced Thursday, once again eschewing human rights in favor of handing coveted hosting rights to authoritarian governments. 

The Palestine Cup, a FIFA-sanctioned club championship that sends its winner to the Asian Champions League, was effectively canceled this week by Israel. 

Now the world is waiting to see how FIFA reacts, if indeed it steps in at all.

Chivas Guadalajara blew an early lead by allowing three straight goals in a loss to Kashima Antlers in the FIFA Club World Cup quarterfinals. Then the Japanese club ran into Real Madrid. Namely, it ran into Gareth Bale. 

It turns out, beating MLS clubs is a lot easier than beating continental champions. Chivas Guadalajara learned that the hard way this week at the Club World Cup.

While Club América was back home in Mexico winning an unprecedented 13th Liga MX title, breaking a tie with Chivas for most all time, Guadalajara was in the UAE, getting beaten by teams from Asia and Africa.

Chivas Guadalajara got off to a dream start at the Club World Cup on Saturday.

Then it all fell apart. And with it, perhaps Mexico’s best chance to win the Club World Cup. 

Asian champion Kashima Antlers rallied from an early deficit and held off a late charge to defeat Chivas 3-2 in the Club World Cup on Saturday in Abu Dhabi, UAE. Kashima will now play Real Madrid in the semifinals on Wednesday.

The transformation of the 2018 Copa Libertadores Final from one of the most anticipated club matches of the calendar year to an absurd sideshow was complete when the second leg’s staging at the Santiago Bernabéu was confirmed — a decision that turns the Superclásico into nothing more than the “most costly friendly in history,”