Historically speaking, the Champions League final is that time of year when the Real Madrid players wives, girlfriends and families come out on the field to celebrate another European title for Los Blancos. Real is the most glamorous club in the game with its rich collection of history, success, resources and star power, so everyone involved with the club becomes an instant celebrity.
By Championship standards, the end of the 2021-22 regular season was rather anticlimactic. There were no relegation deciders as in 20-21, and no dramatic fights for automatic promotion like the year before. This season, on the final day, four teams were fighting to secure two playoff spots, but in the end, there were no changes to the final table.
One of the most important things Gregg Berhalter and the USMNT established over the course of qualifying was the trusted centerback pairing of Miles Robinson and Walker Zimmerman. On Monday, however, Atlanta United confirmed that Robinson had suffered a ruptured left Achilles tendon during Saturday's win over the Chicago Fire.
New to the world of soccer and the biggest international tournament? The18 has you covered with our Fan Guide to the World Cup. First up is World Cup terms you need to know. Watch this and learn everything you need to sound like an expert at your watch party this November/December!
Group Play: Preliminary round-robin games (3 total) to qualify for knockout rounds
Knockout Rounds: The round following group play. Sudden Death. Winner moves on. Loser goes home.
Cap: A game appearance made by a player, no matter the length of time in the game.
The cycle of an underdog team capturing an unbelievable title and then providing one of the worst title defenses ever seen is a tale as old as time. After all, winning back-to-back championships is classified as one of the most difficult exercises across sports, even when you're strapped to the teeth with finances, resources and world-class depth like Manchester City.
Since the Süper Lig's inception in 1959, only two clubs outside Istanbul have ever won the title. Galatasaray, Fenerbahçe, Beşiktaş and İstanbul Başakşehir have combined for 58.
It makes sense when you consider Istanbul's standing as the most populated of Turkey's 81 provinces, and the most populous European city, at 15,519,267 — almost three times more than Turkey's capital city and second-most populated Ankara.
The list of soccer free agents 2022 is full of players we've spent an ungodly amount of time speculating over the last few years — Kylian Mbappé, Paul Pogba, Paulo Dybala, Ousmane Dembélé — so it's somewhat strange to see them all leaving their respective clubs on free transfers as out of contract footballers.
What is a Xogg? Alternatively, what is a Zigg? The Xoggz and the Ziggx were the men's and women's semi-pro soccer clubs based out of Columbus, Ohio, in the mid-1990s.
According to fossilized internet forums (because there is no other discussion of the topic), these were made-up names that were going to be assigned meaning through a fan contest. Unfortunately, neither club survived long enough for that to happen.
While these clubs were short lived, their rise and fall illustrates the state of American soccer in the 1990s.
Since the Columbus Crew opened the first soccer-specific stadium in the U.S. in 1999, Major League Soccer teams have waged an arms race for the best soccer stadium in the country. The new Nashville soccer stadium debuting on Sunday, May 1, 2022 — named GEODIS Park — will become the largest soccer stadium in the U.S.
When it comes to international soccer, appearances, goals scored and trophies won are usually the biggest indicators of a successful career, and rightly so. But perhaps the most elusive achievement for an international footballer is appearing at five World Cups.
First, it requires an international career of at least 16 years. Around 30 or so active international players made their debut for their country before the 2006 World Cup. A player must also be on a team that qualifies for five successive World Cups — something only 13 countries have achieved.