National Teams

I can see it now, the invitation letter fluttering down the chimney a la Hogwarts and gently nestling at the feet of former Canadian player turned China national beach soccer coach Ross Ongaro. 

Dear Mr. Ongaro,

We are pleased to inform you that you have a place at the 2016 Beach Soccer Worldwide Mundialito. You’ll play Portugal, Brazil, and the United States of America. This is not a joke. Best of luck, lads!

Sepp Blatter

Argentina’s opening match of the 1986 FIFA World Cup in Mexico was against a South Korean side that was participating in the tournament for the first time since 1954. Argentina’s 1982 World Cup campaign, after having won the 1978 edition on home turf, had been a disaster. 

It had been Maradona’s first World Cup and defeats against Italy and Brazil had offered a glimpse of how to disrupt the Argentinian star: aggressively man-mark and foul the Argentine No. 10.

The Olympics haven't started yet, so Brazilian striker Neymar has nothing to do except sit around and learn to play golf. Try to learn to play golf, that is.

The Selecao captain received a golfing lesson from 16-year-old Spanish golfer Agueda Cortilla Mas, a Barcelona native. She was very good at showing Neymar how to golf. He was very bad at golfing.

Jordan Larsson, a 19-year-old forward for the Sweden National Team and Helsingborgs IF, will not be suiting up for Sweden in the Olympics because his father and manager at Helsingborgs, legendary Swedish striker Henrik Larsson, won't let him.

The reason is an injury crisis at the club, which needs all hands on deck, including those of the younger Larsson, who scored eight goals in 17 appearances last season.

FIFA president Gianni Infantino looks set to continue the work of his predecessor, Sepp Blatter, and disgraced UEFA president Michel Platini in expanding the World Cup to 40 teams.

The 2018 World Cup in Russia and the 2022 World Cup in Qatar will each feature the current format of 32 teams, which came into use for the 1998 edition of the tournament, but Infantino believes the 2026 World Cup will feature 40 national sides. 

It's never easy being the son of a legendary footballer, but Giovanni Simeone, son of Diego Simeone, is showing all the signs that he can follow in his father's footsteps. Need convincing? Just take a look at this goal he scored for the Argentina U-23 team against Haiti. 

To say that Marc Wilmots underperformed as Belgium manager at Euro 2016 is akin to saying the USA men’s basketball team was off the pace at the 2006 Olympics or that the Republican Party hasn’t put their best foot forward for the 2016 presidential election. Wilmots screwed the pooch.

The stage is set for the final of UEFA Euro 2016, and it’s France vs. Portugal at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis. Here's how to watch on TV, online and streaming the UEFA Euro 2016 Final between France and Portugal.

Over 80,000 spectators will watch Paul Pogba, Dimitri Payet and Antoine Griezmann take on Cristiano Ronaldo, Nani and Renato Sanches. The match kicks off on Sunday, July 10 at 3 p.m. ET.

Six years ago, the France national team was on strike at the World Cup. Two years ago, the German national team was celebrating their World Cup triumph. Earlier today, the Germans were bossing the French around like the varsity scrimmaging the JV in practice. How things can change in a hurry.

The first half, as mentioned, was a lecture in everything this German generation has become known for. For stretches, they barely let one of the best teams in the world out of their own half. Then it became a lecture in everything they've become known for not doing.

Jonas Hector scored the decisive penalty in the ninth round of penalty kicks after Leonardo Bonucci had canceled out Mesut Ozil’s strike in regular time to send Germany into the Euro 2016 semi-finals.

Germany altered their lineup to effectively null any Italian attacking strength, and a fascinating tactical battle between two of Europe’s greatest footballing nations struggled to match the pregame hype.