National Teams

Japan Stunned At Home By 79th-Ranked Oman In World Cup Qualifying

HONG KONG - Issam Al Sabhi's goal two minutes from time gave Oman a 1-0 shock win over Japan in their opening clash in the final round of Asia's World Cup preliminaries for Qatar 2022 as South Korea and Iraq played out a scoreless draw in Seoul.

Al Sabhi swept home Salah Al Yahyaei's cross from the right to stun the home side to take all three points in the nations' Group B meeting and heap the pressure on Japan head coach Hajime Moriyasu.

Drone Delays Kickoff In Austria’s World Cup Qualifier

Concacaf may be home to the most unusual of shenanigans in World Cup qualifying, but it definitely doesn’t have a monopoly. On Wednesday, the kickoff of a UEFA World Cup qualifier was delayed because of a drone buzzing around above the pitch.

Austria’s visit to Moldova began about 15 minutes late because of the drone, but it didn’t stop the Austrians from securing a 2-0 victory over one of two Group F minnows. 

Ronaldo Breaks Men’s International Goals Record With 2 Impossibly Clutch Headers

It’s been a particularly hellish period for supporters of Ireland. The search for a more progressive style of football yielded one goal in eight matches throughout 2020, and then Luxembourg recorded a famous 1-0 World Cup qualifying win in Dublin back in March.

I Know What You Did This Summer: Tata Martino Needs Wins To Avoid Slash

After a summer spent playing the role of bridesmaid, Tata Martino’s Mexico begins World Cup qualifying by putting on a brave face and getting back out there, but September’s trifecta of matches each pose their own particular challenges for El Tri.

A couple big names miss out entirely through injury — Chucky Lozano, Héctor Herrera, Diego Lainez and Héctor Moreno — although Andrés Guardado returns after recovering from his own ailments. Meanwhile Covid continues to change, disrupt and alter plans by the minute, so don't be surprised if this preview is already entirely worthless.

Predicting USMNT’s Starting XI For Upcoming World Cup Qualifiers

After two Gold Cups and one Nations League, now is when the USMNT finally gets to show where it’s at and how it’s grown over the last four years. Now is when World Cup qualifying begins. Now is when the matches really count. Now is when we try to figure out what in the heck Gregg Berhalter is going to do with this team, and for us to predict a USMNT potential starting 11 for World Cup qualifiers. 

Canada’s Olympic Champion Christine Sinclair Will Be Getting Her Own Documentary

The Burnaby’s soccer icon continues to be one of the best to play the game. Christine Sinclair captains her Canada squad and helped bring home the gold at the Tokyo Olympics this summer. Canada made history by defeating Sweden in penalty kicks to be named Olympic champions for the first time. As this squad went home to celebrations and supportive greetings from their home towns, Sinclair is still receiving praise for her accomplishment.

Ireland Announces Equal Pay For Its Men's And Women's Teams

As the fight for equal pay continues, more and more countries are pledging to give their female footballers the wages they deserve. And on Monday, the Republic of Ireland became the latest footballing association to implement equal pay for its men's and women's senior national sides.

Win At Home And Draw Away: First 3 WCQ Opponents Will Push USMNT To Edge

As the holder of the Nations League, Gold Cup and a new world ranking of 10th, the USMNT approaches World Cup qualifying at its highest level of confidence in five years — since John Brooks destroyed the house that Ecuador built at the Copa América.

But the formula for success in CONCACAF never changes: try to win at home, try to draw away. Get that done and you’re going to Qatar; experiment with the formula like Jürgen Klinsmann and you’ll kill Taylor Twellman.

Why USMNT Fans Are So Excited About Ricardo Pepi Picking U.S. Over Mexico

When Gregg Berhalter announced his 26-man roster for the upcoming 2022 World Cup qualifiers in September, there were a lot of people wondering where strikers like Matthew Hoppe and Daryl Dike were. A few were also wondering: Who is Ricardo Pepi, the teenager who was one of three strikers chosen to the squad. 

FIFA Negotiating Evacuation Of Footballers From Afghanistan

Soccer's world governing body FIFA said it is negotiating the "extremely challenging" evacuation of soccer players and other athletes from Afghanistan after the Taliban's takeover of power.

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