Soccer, the world’s most popular sport, involves two teams competing to score goals by kicking a ball into the opponent’s net. It’s a thrilling game of skill, strategy, and teamwork.
With the largest World Cup field in the history of the tournament, 32 of the 48 teams will be fighting for a spot in the knockout stage. Spain, Argentina, Brazil, and Germany enter the tournament with the strongest odds to advance from the group stage, supported by recent major-tournament success and talent-rich rosters. The Spaniards…
A year before making coach Mauricio Pochettino’s USA roster for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, Matt Freese had never even played an international game. Now, he heads into the Greatest Show in Sports as the Stars and Stripes’ projected No. 1 goalkeeper. Freese has taken an unusual path to get to this point. The son…
Neymar is not traveling to Cleveland with Brazil’s World Cup team for its exhibition tuneup against Egypt on Saturday, according to the country’s soccer association. The Brazilian Football Confederation said Thursday the 34-year-old forward would remain in New Jersey to undergo treatment. Last week, the team doctor said that Neymar was expected to be sidelined…
There’s just one week to go until the biggest show on earth gets underway, with the 2026 World Cup kicking off on June 11. If you haven’t already caught a serious case of World Cup fever, what better way to get in the mood than by checking out the very best kits that will be…
It’s almost time to put the speculation and debate to rest. We’ve started to see the 48 teams arriving at their training bases across Canada, Mexico, and the U.S. ahead of the greatest show in sports. The squads and the superstars are in their final preparations before things kick off at the 2026 FIFA World…
Guela Doué scored a goal and set up the winning strike as Ivory Coast surprised France — and Doué’s brother in the French dugout — with a 2-1 victory in a World Cup tune-up match Thursday. Amad Diallo fired home Doué’s low cross from the right six minutes from time at Stade de la Beaujoire…
Emerse Faé deserves a lot of credit as he pulled off quite an upset in his hometown. The Ivory Coast manager, born in the French city of Nantes, led the team he once represented as a player to one of the biggest shocks in the run-up to the 2026 World Cup by beating tournament favorite…
Liverpool have a new manager. Just over a year after Arne Slot led the Reds to a record-equalling 20th English championship, the Dutchman has been replaced in the dugout by Andoni Iraola. The change of coach has already lifted spirits around Anfield after a disastrous Premier League title defense that featured 12 defeats, while Liverpool…
Japan’s national team has changed practice venues in Monterrey ahead of the World Cup after players encountered an uneven pitch marred by patches of dirt at their original training ground. The Japanese delegation said it has switched from the facility for Liga MX club UANL Tigres — site of Wednesday’s practice — to El Barrial,…
Liverpool hired Andoni Iraola as manager on Thursday, turning to the former Bournemouth coach whose intense and heavy-pressing playing approach resembles the ideology that brought the team so much success under former Anfield favorite Jürgen Klopp. The 43-year-old Spaniard, who has signed a deal for an undisclosed length, left his job at Bournemouth at the…
