When USMNT manager Gregg Berhalter was making his media rounds this summer, every single news outlet hit him with the same question: Can center back John Brooks make the World Cup roster after being frozen out for a year?
This holiday season, for a 28-day period beginning Nov. 20 and ending with the final on Dec. 18, the FIFA World Cup is going to captivate the United States to a degree never before seen in the tournament’s 92-year history.
Instead of the usual talk of politics at the Thanksgiving table, get ready to listen to grandma wax lyrical about the strength of the Spanish midfield and the overlooked quality of Serbia’s attack as the national conversation turns global while the world's greatest sporting event unfolds in Qatar.
Another week, another opportunity to explore the depths to which I will exploit recency bias. Is Leadership Council member Christian Pulisic really being left off the plane or is that just a crutch for article formatting? Is Jesse Marsch a traitor to his nation for taking off Brenden Aaronson before full-time? Is Joe Scally the defensive infiltrator we've been having sleepless nights about?
It's only 25 days until the USMNT plays a friendly against Japan in Germany, and Gregg Berhalter has to answer these questions.
This here is Week 3 of our keeping track of Americans abroad in these power rankings that aren't really power rankings, and I declare this edition a collector's issue. That's right, fire up the printer, make sure you've got the necessary ink levels and print this whole webpage out for posterity.
This was the week the USMNT made a strong claim to be retroactively awarded the 2021 FIFA Club World Cup after beating Chelsea 3-0 at Elland Road.
The Major Leeds Soccer (MLS) experiment stunned the football community Sunday by recording its first win over Chelsea in almost 20 years, a 3-0 clinic at Elland Road, with USMNT attacker Brenden Aaronson scoring his first goal for the club and compatriot Tyler Adams putting Mason Mount in his back pocket for 77 minutes.
A blood and thunder start to the match was followed by a period of Chelsea superiority where it looked like the Blues would ultimately punish Leeds' wild ways, but Jesse Marsch's team seems to gather its strength from periods of distress.
With nine successive Serie A titles followed by two campaigns where Champions League qualification seemed a shallow silver lining, Juventus’ fall from grace has been clear to see in recent years. This summer has seen several big names depart Turin, and the Bianconeri will be hard-pressed to find adequate replacements in order to once again fight for the Scudetto.
Organizers have sold 2.45 million tickets for this year's World Cup in Qatar, world soccer governing body FIFA said on Thursday, with more than half a million of them sold in the last sales period from July 5-16.
FIFA said the biggest number of allocated tickets were for group stage matches like Cameroon vs. Brazil, Brazil vs. Serbia, Portugal vs. Uruguay, Costa Rica vs. Germany and Australia vs. Denmark.
Ninety-five days to go now. There's still so much to prove but so little time for our boys in r̶e̶d̶, white and blue ahead of the World Cup.
The past week in Europe saw the emergence of a young star, strong performances from guys on the fence and two locked-in starters enter transfer purgatory.
After two games played in the Premier League season, Christian Pulisic has managed to play 33 minutes. There has been speculation Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel doesn’t trust the young American, and with a World Cup just months away, game time will be important. Many clubs have been linked with Pulisic, but finding the right fit is easier said than done.