With a 2-1 victory over Chile on Wednesday in Auckland, Haiti made history by securing qualification for their first-ever Women's World Cup finals. It's a remarkable achievement that highlights the growth of the team after not even reaching the final stage of Concacaf qualifying during the previous cycle, although there's one clear star of the show: 19-year-old phenom Melchie Dumornay.
Karim Adeyemi has been playing his best football at Borussia Dortmund since returning from the World Cup with Germany, and against Chelsea at Signal Iduna Park in Wednesday night's Champions League Round of 16 first leg the 21-year-old truly announced himself with a match-winning solo goal.
The game was very reminiscent of Diego Maradona vs. England in the 1986 World Cup quarterfinals.
First, Thiago Silva tried to do his best "Hand of God" impression. The center back had the ball in the back of the net but the ref spotted the infringement and booked the Brazilian. Booo.
Zlatan Ibrahimović is one of the world's most brazenly outspoken footballers, and as a result of that he's also one of the most widely publicized. However, the 41-year-old maintains a largely anonymous private life, spending much of his offseason time in Malmö with longtime partner Helena Seger and their two sons Maximilian (age 16) and Vincent (age 14).
The World Cup is just 160 days away, so the 2023 SheBelieves Cup takes on added significance with teams looking to lockdown tactics and players battling to make an impression ahead of the final roster announcements for Australia and New Zealand.
Lionel Messi was on the scoresheet as PSG beat Montpellier 3-1 away on Wednesday to open up a five-point lead at the top of Ligue 1. However, it wasn't all good for the Parisians with Kylian Mbappé going off injured in the 21st minute while Sergio Ramos joined him in the 32nd.
PSG's all-important Champions League Round of 16 first leg against Bayern Munich at the Parc des Princes is just 13 days away, and the team was already playing without Neymar because of "muscle fatigue" although the Brazilian should be back this weekend.
After two incredible years at Notre Dame, Korbin Albert is taking the next step in her meteoric career: the 19-year-old midfielder just put pen to paper on a deal with Paris Saint-Germain Féminine through 2025.
During her 2021 season, Albert was named to the ACC All-Freshman Team and Top-Drawer Soccer Freshman Best XI Team with 12 goals in 22 games. Her performances earned her a spot on the USWNT's 2022 FIFA U-20 World Cup roster, where Albert started two matches in midfield alongside Portland Thorns phenom Olivia Moultrie.
Barcelona Femení made football history on Wednesday by becoming the first team (men's or women's) to win 50 straight league matches after hammering Levante Las Planas 7-0 on Wednesday. Club history was also made as 16-year-old phenom Vicky López became Barça Femení's youngest-ever goalscorer in Liga F.
Barça's run in the league stretches back to a 4-3 defeat to Atlético Madrid on June 1, 2021, but they finished the 2020-21 campaign with five wins, won all 30 games in 2021-22 and have reached the halfway point of 2022-23 with 15 victories.
Borussia Dortmund returned to competitive action in the Bundesliga on Sunday following a 73-day World Cup layoff, although Giovanni Reyna's quest for a first start was denied with manager Edin Terzić preferring Julian Brandt at attacking mid, Donyell Malen on the left and Karim Adeyemi on the right against Augsburg.
As Mary J. Blige once said, "No drama, no more in my life (no more drama in my life, no one's gonna make me hurt again)." I'm so tired of the USMNT manager discussion, so this is the only time I'm going to mention that or the fact that Anthony Hudson is serving as interim head coach for January camp. Let's get back to the only things that matter, the game and the players who play it.
We have discovered the next Alisson Becker — it's 18-year-old Braga prospect João Carvalho, who makes Alisson look about as talented as Loris Karius in comparison.
On Tuesday, in Portugal's Liga Revelação U-23 division, Carvalho took possession in the 89th minute with his Braga side holding a slender 2-1 advantage over Rio Ave. In this situation you're supposed to "GET RID!" by smashing the ball 30 yards out of play, but Carvalho is built different.