It was historic, but amidst renewed tensions and the recent launching of some unidentified projectiles toward the Sea of Japan (as well as a forthcoming "Hog Apocalypse"), it wasn’t exactly euphoric. For the first time since a 1990 friendly, the men’s teams of North and South Korea faced off in Pyongyang.
When the Hong Kong national team hosted Iran in a World Cup qualifier in September, fans of the home side showed support for Iranian women, who are still fighting for the right to attend soccer matches in their home country. Even amidst the region’s turmoil and unrest with massive protests staged against the Chinese government, the fans found room to empathize with their opponents.
Without warning, the Iranian Football Federation made 3,500 tickets for Iran’s World Cup qualifier against Cambodia on Thursday available to women, essentially permitting women to attend a men’s soccer match for the first time in 40 years.
Through social media, women found out about the tickets anyway, and within minutes they were all gone, Reuters reported Friday.
Beer in Qatar may be subsidized for the 2022 World Cup, but organizers are worried about the behavior of English fans.
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.
The Best FIFA Football Awards 2019 went down in Milan today, and you can rest assured that The18 tried its best to watch on YouTube, but good lord, this stuff is mostly unwatchable. It's remarkably drawn out, full of self-aggrandizing nonsense from FIFA and the forced banter between hosts Ilaria D'Amico, Ruud Gullit and the guests makes you search for the mute button while your skin crawls.
But other than that it's pretty good!
Let’s go to the green carpet for some select photos before the ceremony. Here’s Alex Morgan and Megan Rapinoe looking fly.
FIFA president Gianni Infantino has just publicly announced that Iran’s ban on women attending soccer matches is “unacceptable” and must be lifted.
The comments come in response to the tragic death of Sahar Khodayari, an Iranian woman who set herself on fire in protest after she was arrested for attempting to attend a soccer match in Tehran.
Sahar Khodayari, a 29-year-old woman facing six months in prison for simply attending a men’s soccer match, died Monday.
Donald Trump has become the latest figure to join in on the debate surrounding equal pay for the U.S. women’s national team. Sort of. We think.
The four-time Women’s World Cup champion USWNT is in the middle of a legal battle with U.S. Soccer over equal treatment to the USMNT, which wasn’t even able to qualify for the last World Cup. President Trump received a visit from FIFA president Gianni Infantino on Monday and the two discussed women’s soccer.
Infantino was in D.C. to discuss preparations for the 2026 World Cup, which the U.S. will co-host with Mexico and Canada.
FIFA's unveiling of the 2022 World Cup logo was . . . underwhelming. The unveiling took place in Qatar's capital Doha on Tuesday at around 8:00 p.m. local time, with thousands of spectators watching as the logo was projected on billboards and buildings throughout the city.