As we near the end of 2017, few American soccer fans will look back on the year with any sort of fondness after the USMNT failed to qualify for the World Cup. Same for Dutch, Italian and Chilean fans, plus anyone who as ever rooted for Sunderland. So instead of focusing on 2017, let’s turn our attention to how much 2018 will suck. Here are 18 horrible 2018 soccer predictions.
Mexican international Hugo Sánchez held records only Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have surpassed in recent years. One of Real Madrid’s best strikers of all-time, Sánchez was also key for Los Blancos when it came to playing El Clásico.
With El Clásico looming on the horizon, it's time to remember one of the most successful players to ever take part in Spain’s — and arguably the world’s — biggest clash.
Mexico did not receive the easiest group in Friday’s World Cup draw and some would argue (perhaps unsuccessfully) that El Tri’s Group F is the Group of Death. But one thing Mexico fans can be happy about: Their team won’t be playing in the World Cup opener.
The World Cup draw was completed this morning at the State Kremlin Palace in Moscow with the 32 finalist nations placed into eight groups of four. The 2018 FIFA World Cup will kick off on June 14 at Luzhniki Stadium with a match featuring host-side Russia and Saudi Arabia. We now know the makeup of the entire field for the competition as well as the group stage matches that'll captivate the planet next summer. Here are the full results from the 2018 FIFA World Cup draw.
CONCACAF officially approved the CONCACAF League of Nations on Thursday, setting up a cool new competition for the 41 national teams in North America, Central America and the Caribbean. The League of Nations, which follows the lead of UEFA, is designed to provide quality, meaningful competition for all teams across the spectrum. Schedule and structural details will be announced in early 2018.
And so it’s settled. On November 15, Peru claimed the final spot in the 32-team field for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, bringing us to the final event before the June 14 kick off at Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow: the draw to determine the eight groups of four for the finals.
We know — as evidenced by their march through CONCACAF World Cup qualifying and a solid showing at the 2017 Confederations Cup — that this Mexico side is capable of making a splash at next summer’s World Cup, but just what should we expect from the world’s 16th-ranked side? Based on the evidence of their November friendlies on European soil, a lot.
Some 40,000 Poles showed up at the Stadion Energa Gdansk to celebrate Poland’s qualification for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia with a friendly match against Mexico on Monday, but the feel-good energy enveloping the arena was quickly ruined by El Tri striker Raul Jimenez.
The Benfica forward looked hungry early on, sending a battling header straight at Poland goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny in the game’s opening minutes, but he made no mistake with his second effort only 13 minutes in.
Ladies and gentlemen, Hirving Lozano is legit. We can say that without qualifiers. Against one of the best national teams in the world, Belgium, Lozano looked like a star, bagging a brace.
Both goals were good, too!
And Hiving Lozano ties it right back up #BELMEX pic.twitter.com/bzTCxqWOVK