For a moment, it looked like plucky Ireland were going to qualify for the World Cup. Shane Duffy's silly goal put them up 1-0 on Denmark at home. All they had to do was see the game out without conceding. But then Christian Eriksen decided he had had enough, as only a handful of players in the world can do, and tore Ireland up on the way to a hat trick, a 5-1 win and World Cup qualification for Denmark.
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As far as debuts go, it doesn’t get any better than this. 19-year-old Texan Weston McKennie, fresh off breaking into Schalke’s first team in the Bundesliga and earning his first cap for the USMNT, put his country ahead against the world’s third-ranked side, Portugal.
Argentina showed it can do goals without Lionel Messi on Tuesday in Russia. That defense though could use some work after Nigeria’s Alex Iwobi destroyed the rearguard of La Albiceleste, Javier Mascherano in particular.
Argentina took a two-goal lead in the opening 36 minutes in a friendly against Nigeria, but Iwobi scored twice to spearhead a 4-2 victory for the Super Eagles at Krasnodar Stadium. His second goal absolutely eviscerated Mascherano as the Arsenal attacker nutmegged the Barcelona man on his way to the final goal of the match.
Radamel Falcao is back to his brilliant best for both club and country, and he’ll surely lead the line for Colombia in Russia. Accordingly, Los Cafeteros could very well match or better their 2014 run to the quarterfinals — the country’s best-ever World Cup finish — which Falcao missed because of a knee injury.
Some 40,000 Poles showed up at the Stadion Energa Gdansk to celebrate Poland’s qualification for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia with a friendly match against Mexico on Monday, but the feel-good energy enveloping the arena was quickly ruined by El Tri striker Raul Jimenez.
The Benfica forward looked hungry early on, sending a battling header straight at Poland goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny in the game’s opening minutes, but he made no mistake with his second effort only 13 minutes in.
Footy fans don't agree on much, but one thing most fans can agree on is soccer's extra time rules are generally awful. For most leagues, the general "30 minutes of extra time followed by a penalty shootout" format prevails, and that format is butt.
You know what format is better? Golden goal. That is, if a team scores in extra time, that's it. Game over. If the ball goes in the net, that's the last kick of the game, and everyone watching can pivot to doing something else. This format is also known as "sudden death" which is cool and spooky-sounding.
The USWNT finished off 2017 with a commanding 3-1 victory over Canada in front of 17,690 at the Avaya Stadium in San Jose, California, with Julie Ertz, Alex Morgan and Carli Lloyd scoring the goals for the States. Janine Beckie scored the lone goal for the Canadians.
Overall, the USWNT posted a record of 12 wins, three losses and one draw in 2017. Although they weren’t victorious at either the SheBelieves Cup or the Tournament of Nations, the U.S. finished the year on an eight-match unbeaten streak dating back to July 30.
While the rest of the world watched the playoff between Denmark and Ireland, the tail end of qualifying in Africa or one of Saturday’s more glamorous friendlies, Macedonia (the world’s 85th ranked side) defeated Norway (58) 2-0 in a friendly with goals coming from Goran Pandev and Kire Markoski.
The first, finished by Genoa forward Pandev, was made possible following a wonderful assist from Ezgjan Alioski, a 25-year-old winger who plays for Leeds United.