International Soccer

One of the worst open-goal misses of the year reminds us of awful Cristiano Ronaldo howler at Manchester United

Indonesia routed Brunei 7-0 at the 2022 AFF Championship, a traditional tournament among South Asian nations. After the game, players from Tim Garuda celebrated the victory, except for crestfallen defender Hansamu Yama, who experienced an embarrassing moment during the game. 

Yama could have added another goal for Indonesia on the scoreboard but ended up submitting a strong entry for the howler of the year award, missing a shot so close to the goal line that it's almost impossible to understand how he was able to miss the chance. 

Ines Rau? Rose Bertram? Who is Kylian Mbappé's girlfriend?

Random morning weekday, The18 headquarters:

"Who is Kylian Mbappé's new girlfriend? We should write a story. Any volunteers?"

Well, here is your volunteer.

I know those who see the world in 4-3-3, 3-5-2 or 4-2-2 formations and spend the day analyzing the tactical wrinkles of Pep Guardiola in Manchester City or Jürgen Klopp in Liverpool don't give a cent about who is Kylian Mbappé's girlfriend.

But guess what? The world is not only yours. Some people may also want to know more about the glamorous life of soccer stars and this is for them.

World Cup final referee exposes hypocritical French press by pulling out his phone and showing one photo

The World Cup final ended nearly a week ago but the drama around it continued as the match referee showed a photo on his phone during a news conference to respond to claims that Lionel Messi's extra-time goal should not have stood.

Argentina won the final in Lusail, Qatar, 4-2 on penalties after the match ended 3-3 following 120 minutes of action, with Messi scoring twice and Kylian Mbappe bagging a hat trick for France.

Aston Villa manager Unai Emery says he’ll speak with Emi Martínez about his World Cup celebrations

Aston Villa coach Unai Emery praised Argentina goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez's performance at the World Cup, but said he will have a discussion with him about his attitude during the celebrations ahead of the resumption of Premier League action.

After Argentina won the World Cup by defeating France in a penalty shootout, keeper "Dibu" Martinez was in the spotlight for his Golden Glove-winning celebration and later during the victory festivities in Buenos Aires, where he carried a toy baby with Kylian Mbappe's face on it during an open-top bus parade.

FIFA investigating how Salt Bae was able to crash Argentina's celebrations and touch the World Cup trophy

FIFA has launched an investigation to determine how in the hell restaurant owner and famous chef Salt Bae got access to the field during Argentina's World Cup celebrations in Qatar. 

"Following a review, FIFA has been establishing how individuals gained undue access to the pitch after the closing ceremony at Lusail Stadium on Dec. 18," the world soccer body said in a press release.

Salt Bae World Cup acts anger fans 

Although FIFA didn't name Salt Bae, whose real name is Nusret Gökçe, you don't need to be a genius to know what's going on here. 

Vuelve la campaña por el regreso de Chicharito Hernández a la selección mexicana

Tras el fracaso en Catar 2022, México comienza – más lentamente de lo que uno quisiera – a dar los primeros pasos camino al Mundial de 2026, un proceso que debería estar marcado por la renovación y las inclusión de nuevos talentos.

Sin embargo, no faltan las voces que creen que el nuevo proyecto debe iniciarse mirando al pasado. Dicho de otro modo, el coro que busca el retorno de Javier Hernández a la selección nacional está de regreso.

Death, taxes and FIFA’s rankings making no sense — USA ranked above Germany in latest edition

The almighty FIFA overlords who control the rankings that decide which countries are the best at soccer have spoken. The latest FIFA rankings released on Thursday say that the USA is better than Germany, Brazil is still the best in the world and a whole bunch of other nonsense.

The USA is officially the 13th best nation in the world according to FIFA.

Latest FIFA Rankings

Brazil soccer star Pelé to spend Christmas in hospital

Brazilian soccer legend Pele's cancer has advanced and he requires care related to renal and cardiac dysfunction, according to a medical report, and his family said he would remain in a Sao Paulo hospital over Christmas.

Widely considered one of the greatest footballers of all time, the 82-year-old has been hospitalized in the Albert Einstein hospital since late November as doctors reevaluate his treatment and tend to a respiratory infection.

Pele has received regular medical treatment since a tumor was removed from his colon in September last year.

Watch all 172 goals scored at the 2022 World Cup

Do you miss the World Cup? Well, you are not the only one.

In terms of spectacle, Qatar 2022 was fun and set an all-time goal-scoring record for the tournament. The 32 teams participating in the event bagged a combined 172 goals, one more than the 171 we saw in France 1998 and Brazil 2014.

That's an average of 2.68 goals per game. Not bad, right?

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