Men's World Cup

Oprah’s World Cup Advice To Lionel Messi: Find The Strength Inside Yourself

Imagine this: it’s July 15, 2018. It’s the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow. 81,000 spectators are collectively holding their breath while more than one billion are tuned in across the planet. After 120 minutes of action in the 2018 FIFA World Cup Final, we’re all square between Argentina and Germany. It's penalties.

Argentina now has a chance to lift the trophy with their fifth and final spot kick. It’s Lionel Messi — the perennial international runner-up — approaching the spot with German No. 1 Manuel Neuer staring him down. 

15 GIFs That Sum Up Zinedine Zidane’s Flawless 2006 World Cup Performance

Without reviewing the entire 2006 World Cup — or at least just France’s quarterfinal victory over Brazil — it’s difficult to get a sense of just how deserved a Golden Ball winner Zinedine Zidane was. 

Having announced his retirement from Real Madrid at the end of the 2005-06 season, the summer’s World Cup served as Zidane’s swan song on the pitch. He turned it into his personal testimonial, particularly when the knockout stages began. 

See The Newly-Released Mexico World Cup Away Kit

Adidas has finally released the away kits for the World Cup squads it sponsors, inluding the Mexico World Cup away kit. Let's take a look!

Germany:

Brazil’s 2018 World Cup Jerseys Are A Fear-Inducing Shade Of Canary-Yellow

Brazil will approach the World Cup in the shadow of its catastrophic 7-1 semifinal defeat to Germany from 2014, but the Seleção has gradually let the light back in with its gold medal at the 2016 Olympic Games and remarkable run through CONMEBOL qualifying. 

After losing its opening match against Chile, Brazil went undefeated over the following 17 games, recording 12 wins and five draws while scoring 41 goals and allowing only nine. Accordingly, Brazil is worthy of its FIFA ranking of No. 2 and Elo ranking of No. 1. 

It’s Official: England Will Lose The World Cup Because Of VAR

FIFA officially approved the use of video assistant referees at this summer’s World Cup during a FIFA Council meeting on Friday in Bogota, Colombia. After testing the system out at last year’s Confederations Cup, World Cup VAR is sure to annoy all the England fans who like to complain about not having anything to complain about. 

12 Star Footballers Who’ve Suffered The Dreaded World Cup Injury Curse

This past week, supporters of both England and Iceland were left to fear for their World Cup futures after injuries to one-man strike force Harry Kane and talismanic playmaker Gylfi Sigurdsson, respectively. 

Kane will return in four weeks while Sigurdsson will be out for six to eight, meaning they should both be available in Russia, but it just goes to show how terrifying these last two months of the club season are in a World Cup year.  

England Institutes Partial Boycott Of World Cup; Could Other Countries Follow?

United Kingdom Prime Minister Theresa May announced a sort of England World Cup boycott on Wednesday, confirming no British royal family or government ministers will be in Russia for the 2018 World Cup this summer. 

The partial England World Cup boycott comes after the attempted murder of former spy Sergei Skripal, who was poisoned recently in England. British authorities have said the attack was “highly likely” to have been committed by Russia. U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, before Donald Trump fired him via tweet, concurred. 

Villa And Fabregas Vow To Fight For World Cup Places, But Even That Might Not Be Enough

Between Spain’s run of back-to-back European Championships with the 2010 World Cup sandwiched in between, Cesc Fabregas and David Villa put La Furia in La Furia Roja. 

Fabregas was the top assist provider at Euro 2008; Villa won the Golden Boot. Fabregas assisted on Andres Iniesta’s match winner in the 2010 World Cup final; Villa won the Silver Boot. Fabregas was named to the Euro 2012 Team of the Tournament; Villa tragically missed the tournament with a broken tibia (although he finished top scorer in UEFA qualifying Group I with seven goals). 

The Most Anticipated Match Of The 2018 World Cup? It’s Argentina-Iceland

With FIFA set to begin the general sales phase of tickets for the 2018 World Cup in Russia today, two previous phases have resulted in an allocation of 1,303,616 tickets for the 64 matches — knocking two matches entirely off the docket: the final at Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow and June 16’s Group D opener between Argentina and Iceland at Otkritie Arena in Moscow. 

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