Thursday night’s 0-0 draw between the U.S. and Mexico was probably a fair result, one both teams will contentedly take as another point on the path toward World Cup qualification. Though both teams will lament missed chances — the Americans and Jordan Pefok perhaps a bit more so — the truth is neither team did enough to find the back of the net.

Uruguay and Ecuador secured the last two CONMEBOL direct tickets to the 2022 World Cup on Tuesday, joining already qualified Brazil and Argentina. The only thing left up for grabs now on the continent is the slot in the inter-confederation playoff against AFC (Asia). Those in contention are Perú, Colombia and Chile.

The United States earned a massive point at the Azteca on Thursday night to make its path to the 2022 World Cup that much clearer, but there's a lingering feeling that the team could've returned home with all three had it been more clinical in the final third.

No es por andar presumiendo, pero de algún modo sospechaba que el partido entre México y Estados Unidos terminaría empatado 0-0.

Canada could have clinched an outright berth in the World Cup for the first time since 1986 with a draw or win against Costa Rica on Thursday (and in the process helped give the USMNT a little breathing room in its quest to return to soccer’s showcase event). Instead, the Canucks got a little lesson in Concacafy-ness, with a controversial Mark-Anthony Kaye red card vs. Costa Rica resulting in a 1-0 defeat to Los Ticos on Thursday.

Italy broke English hearts last July as they won the European Championship final but after failing to qualify for the World Cup for the second straight tournament they have left fans thinking their Wembley triumph was a flash in the pan.

For a country who have won the World Cup four times, Italy's recent record is a national embarrassment.

Sorpresa e incredulidad son los sentimientos que mejor resumen lo vivido hoy en el Estadio Renzo Barbera. Porque Italia, actual campeón europeo, cayó inesperada y agónicamente ante Macedonia del Norte y con ello se perderá su segundo mundial consecutivo.

Sometimes, the ball knows more than the referee and video replay.

With Portugal nursing a one-goal lead late in its UEFA World Cup qualifying playoff, Turkey was awarded a Charmin-soft penalty. Burak Yılmaz stepped up to the spot, but the ball knew what had to happen.

Yılmaz skied his penalty over the crossbar, Portugal scored a late insurance goal and Cristiano Ronaldo’s side advanced to the qualifying final with a 3-1 victory on Thursday. 

Gareth Bale's 2021-22 Real Madrid season was summed up by last Sunday's Clásico, when rumors of a surprise start in replace of the injured Karim Benzema led to nothing more than the Welshman missing out on the matchday squad entirely.

Bale's played a total of just 270 minutes in five appearances across all competitions, including only 77 minutes this calendar year, and his only goal of the campaign came way back in August.

But as we all know, Bale's an entirely different animal when representing his national team: Wales. Golf. Madrid. In that order.