FIFA World Cup (Men's)

The 2019 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup kicked off today in Luque, Paraguay, and we’re going to be all about it over the next 10 days. 

There’s nothing like it — the way you can make a little tee for your free kick before smashing it off a sand dune to leave the keeper wrong-footed; the sight of a goalie slowly juggling it up the beach with one knee while looking the supreme image of concentrated paranoia and anxiety; the civil engineering majors giving it hell; the sound of “What’s Luv?” by Fat Joe and Ashanti blaring out the speakers.

Mexico pushed Brazil to the brink in the final of Sunday's 2019 FIFA U-17 World Cup, but late goals from Kaio Jorge and Lázaro sent a raucous crowd of over 15,000 into raptures in Brasília. Inspirational captain Eugenio Pizzuto had provided the assist on Bryan Gonzalez’s opener for El Tri in the 66th minute, but Brazil’s ferocious comeback began in the 84th with Kaio’s VAR-assisted penalty and ended — just before the match was headed straight to a shootout — with Lázaro’s stunning winner with only one minute remaining in stoppage time.

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. 

In 1999, the USMNT was coming off a miserable showing at the 1998 World Cup in which it finished dead last. It was a dark time for U.S. soccer fans, but the following year showed reason for hope with the performance from a bunch of then-unknown kids on the U-17 USMNT at the U-17 World Cup in New Zealand.

Now the USMNT is again coming off a miserable couple of years having failed to qualify at all for the 2018 World Cup, and 20 years later the U-17 USMNT might give fans a reason to believe the country is heading in the right direction.

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.

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.

Taika Waititi is a genius. The New Zealand filmmaker finally earned global recognition after directing Thor: Ragnarok, where he also showcased his acting chops in the role of Korg, the hilarious rock-like creature that returned for Avengers: Endgame.

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.