Highlights

Waking up and looking at Tuesday’s schedule of international football, I couldn’t help but notice the final score of one match that had already finished out in Chiba, Japan. The Japan national team had put up two touchdowns — a fortnight of scoring — on Mongolia in World Cup qualifying. 

The 14-0 win isn’t the biggest in Japan’s history (15-0 over the Philippines in 1967), nor was it the biggest defeat in 190th-ranked Mongolia’s (15-0 to Uzbekistan in 1998). 

Moments like this are why we love the sport so much. Sudan booked its ticket to Cameroon for the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations after defeating South Africa 2-0 on Sunday in the final day of Group C play.

This was the first time Sudan had qualified for the competition in nearly a decade and the reaction after the full time whistle says it all.

Mabrouk SUDAN!
After 10 years there will be playing an AFCON!

Zlatan Ibrahimović has turned a tearful return to the Swedish national team into a highly productive one. The AC Milan striker set up three of Sweden’s four goals in its two recent World Cup qualifiers. The first Zlatan assist vs Kosovo on Sunday was a stunning flying backheel pass to open the scoring in a 3-0 victory.

TBILISI — Spain striker Dani Olmo snatched a 2-1 win away to Georgia in their World Cup qualifier on Sunday with a stoppage-time strike from outside the area to kick-start his side's efforts to qualify for Qatar 2022 after a sluggish start.

Georgia, ranked 89th in the world, 83 places below Spain, thrilled the 15,000 fans in the Boris Paichadze Dinamo Arena when 20-year-old winger Khvicha Kvaratskhelia fired them ahead two minutes before halftime after they coasted past the defence.

Five straight friendly wins for the U.S. after it beat Northern Ireland 2-1 on Sunday, a rare victory in Europe; nine games without a loss tallying a 33-5 goal margin. The USMNT is playing better than it has in years, and while the competition hasn’t been the best, there’s an undeniable new mood around the team. 

Midfielder Christian Pulisic returned to the United States men's national team after a 17-month absence in a 4-1 win against Jamaica on Thursday in Wiener Neustadt, Austria.

Sergiño Dest scored his first goal in his sixth match in the 34th minute and Brenden Aaronson made it 2-0 in the 52nd before Jamaica's Jamal Lowe halved the deficit in the 70th minute. Sebastian Lletget scored in the 83rd and 90th minutes to seal the win.

This Sergiño Dest goal vs Jamaica deserves to be hung in the Louvre.

The Barcelona defender played out of his mind in the opening 45 minutes of the USMNT’s friendly against Jamaica. Playing in the left back position — as opposed to his typical right back position with Barcelona — didn't faze Dest at all.

After bagging a brace for Barcelona on Sunday against Real Sociedad, Dest kept his shooting boots laced up with this beauty from 25 yards out.

ISTANBUL - Veteran captain Burak Yılmaz netted a hat-trick as Turkey saw off a late rally from the Netherlands to secure a 4-2 home victory on Wednesday at the start of their World Cup qualifying campaign.

Yılmaz opened the scoring in the 14th minute of the Group G match with a deflected shot followed by a penalty 20 minutes later at Istanbul's Atatürk Olympic Stadium to put the Turks 2-0 up at halftime.