While Sunday is a day for finals, Saturday was a day for third-place matches.

England does not like the VAR. The English FA, apparently full of Luddites, has been one of the last countries to begin to implement video replay, slow to accept that getting calls right is more important than anything else. 

Ellen White, England to her core, does not like the VAR either. She’d probably have the Golden Boot wrapped up by now were it not for video replay.

Anyone who has been to or even just watched on TV one of Mexico’s 2019 Gold Cup matches this summer knows it to be true: El Tri fans are still using the anti-gay chant during opposition goal kicks. Fans don’t seem to care that it is indisputably anti-gay and continue to use it despite tame, failed attempts from the Mexican Football Federation (FMF) to stop them.

It was, with all due respect to Alyssa Naeher, the most iconic moment of the USWNT’s 2-1 victory over England in the Women’s World Cup semifinals. Alex Morgan scored what proved to be the match winner, ran toward the sideline and pantomimed drinking a cup of tea. 

There may have been some doubt the last time the USMNT played competitive matches 20 months ago, but there is none now during the 2019 Gold Cup. Christian Pulisic is the USMNT’s best player, without question. He may just be the best player in all of Concacaf.

Pulisic, as he’s done all Gold Cup, played with fire, passion and purpose to help the U.S. defeat Jamaica 3-1 in the semifinals late Wednesday night and into Thursday morning in Nashville, Tennessee, after a 90-minute rain delay in the first half.

The 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup final date and time has been decided: On Sunday, July 7, the USWNT will take on the Netherlands at 11:00 a.m. ET on Fox, while Spanish-language coverage will be provided by Telemundo. The venue will be the 59,186-seat Parc Olympique Lyonnais in Lyon, the site of both semifinals. 

Megan Rapinoe’s absence from the starting lineup was the major talking point in the hour before the USWNT’s Women’s World Cup semifinal against England on Tuesday. Was it a tactical decision? Was there some unknown Megan Rapinoe injury? Was it because of what she said about the president?

Last night in Belo Horizonte, Brazil defeated Argentina 2-0 to advance to the final of the 2019 Copa América, thus prolonging Lionel Messi’s wait for a crowning glory in international play. 

The match was a real humdinger, featuring a Seleção side frightening in both defense and attack and an Albiceleste unit that didn’t make playing cohesive football look like an impossible task. This was probably the best Argentina’s looked since 2016.

Brazil secured passage to the 2019 Copa América Final in Rio de Janeiro with a 2-0 victory over Argentina on Tuesday, marking another low point in the calamitous international career of Lionel Messi.

To be fair to Messi and his compatriots, Brazil was the massive favorite in this one, and the squad features a defense that’s now gone 450 minutes without conceding a goal. In attack, the likes of Roberto Firmino, Gabriel Jesus and the ageless Dani Alves put on a show, mastering a La Albiceleste side that played its best game of the tournament.