By scoring Argentina’s opener against Bolivia in World Cup qualifying on Thursday night and then adding a second and third, Lionel Messi moved ahead of Pelé in terms of most international goals amongst South American footballers with 79.
Whew. That was a close one. Facing the prospect of two points from its opening three World Cup qualifiers, the USMNT rallied for a big 4-1 win on Wednesday night in Honduras, salvaging a decent showing over the September international window. It wasn’t great, but the Americans avoided disaster, which makes our USMNT player ratings (and coach rating) all the spicier.
The Panama World Cup qualifying campaign is smooth sailing after the first three games. This is the exact opposite of what we predicted here at The18.
In our Concacaf World Cup qualifying predictions, six out of seven people predicted the Panamanians to finish dead last in the group of eight teams. Only one person had Panama finishing higher than eighth. That individual had the Central American country finishing seventh.
MANCHESTER, England - FIFA's proposals for the World Cup to be held every two years, rather than the traditional four-year gap, have been met with strong opposition from European soccer body UEFA and major leagues, the following is a Q&A on the issues:
WHAT IS FIFA DOING?
The USMNT played one of its worst opening 45 minutes in the modern era on Wednesday night in Honduras, and then followed that up with one of the greatest second halfs we've ever seen. Both were largely down to the choices of Gregg Berhalter, and while we should ultimately value and treasure the second 45, we shouldn't immediately forget about the first half.
Panic meters were reaching Cuova levels on Wednesday night in San Pedro Sula. The U.S. trailed Honduras at halftime and it looked like the Americans were headed toward a dismal two points from their first three World Cup qualifiers. Gregg Berhalter made three halftime changes, somewhat surprisingly leaving on qualifying novices Ricardo Pepi and James Sands.
Ricardo Pepi repaid the faith.
México nunca perdió un partido de eliminatorias ante Panamá. El récord, eso sí, casi se mancha este miércoles en la visita del Tri al Estadio Rommel Fernández. Los canaleros tuvieron a la selección mexicana entre las cuerdas y casi se queda con una victoria histórica, sino hubiera sido por el gran trabajo de Jesús Corona.
El partido presentaba una oportunidad única para el Tri: conseguir por primera vez tres victorias consecutivas en el arranque de un proceso mundialista. Panamá, sin embargo, luchó para no convertirse en un hito estadístico.
Whisper it — anything more than a whisper and it might vanish — but Canada is on course for the 2022 World Cup (after three games).
The 1-1 draw with the United States in Nashville must’ve stirred something in the Canucks’ plums, because they came out like a side possessed on Wednesday night at BMO Field. Frankly, some of Canada’s play against El Salvador in the opening 30 minutes was disturbingly good, and 38-year-old captain Atiba Hutchinson was at the heart of it all.
How much must this all mean to the man who collected his 88th cap tonight?
No nation plays the spoiler quite like Greece.
The pinnacle was reached at Euro 2004, but it should be remembered that the Ethniki dumped out Andriy Shevchenko’s Ukraine in qualifying for the 2010 World Cup and then ended the Ivory Coast’s golden generation of Didier Drogba, Yaya Touré and company at the 2014 finals.
After failing to qualify for its last three major international tournaments, Greece again assumed the role of gate crasher in UEFA Group B for 2022 World Cup qualifying alongside the favorites Spain and Sweden.
México enfrenta esta noche a Panamá con la posibilidad de lograr una marca histórica: comenzar una eliminatoria mundialista con tres triunfos consecutivos. Nueve puntos de nueve posibles.
Los aficionados y los expertos deberían estar bailando en las nubes y visualizando las arenas y palmeras de Catar. Sin embargo, las victorias sobre Jamaica y Costa Rica no alcanzan para satisfacer el exigente paladar del medio.