South America

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.

Messi's family has informed Goal that the Argentinian star will not play in the next round of World Cup qualifiers for La Albiceleste after he retired from international duty following the 2016 Copa America Centenario.

Neymar loves to party. He might even love it more than J.R. Smith does. There’s nothing wrong with that, the guy’s 24 years old. 

The Barcelona superstar has been living it up during his time off. He was not playing during the Copa America because the Brazilian Football Confederation preferred that he played in the Rio Olympics, but that didn’t stop him from watching a Brazil Copa match with Justin Bieber, Lewis Hamilton, and Jamie Foxx.

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.

Marta is approaching the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics like a woman possessed. She sees the chance to win gold in her home country as the culmination of her life’s work, and she credits her “stubbornness” with putting her in this position.

Marta took to social networking service LinkedIn to explain her emotions heading into the Olympic games.

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. 

Barcelona just make it all look so easy. When Lionel Messi elected to pass when taking a penalty shot last February, Luis Suarez easily capped off the audacious ploy as Barcelona destroyed Celta Vigo. It looked so simple, and everyone around the world wondered why that’s not done more often.

The 1962 FIFA World Cup was the seventh edition of the international competition, and it will long be remembered as the most brutally violent.

An injury to Pele, a match between Chile and Italy that became known as the Battle of Santiago and the inspiration for the use of yellow and red cards to clearly define offenses are some of the lasting legacies of the '62 World Cup in Chile.

The Parable of the Prodigal Son who abandoned his roots and wasted his inheritance only to later return is one of the oldest tropes used in books, movies, and television. Guess what, soccer has had more than its fair share of prodigal sons, and here are two of the best examples in the world’s game. 

#1: Fernando Torres | Atletico Madrid

The surreal run of Ecuadorian club Independiente del Valle almost came to an end in Quito on Wednesday. There’s still another leg to play in Medellin, but a loss at home would’ve almost certainly doomed del Valle. That wasn’t in the cards — the fairy tale added another chapter when Arturo Mina Meza snatched an 87th minute equalizer against Colombia’s Atletico Nacional. 

The first leg draw means that del Valle need a win in regular time, extra time or penalties in Colombia to be crowned Copa Libertadores champions.