United States women’s national team and Portland Thorns defender Becky Sauerbrunn is hanging up her boots after 16 incredible years with the national team. The 39-year-old announced her retirement via social media on Tuesday.
Becky Sauerbrunn retirement
Saudi Arabia will host the men's soccer World Cup in 2034 while the 2030 edition will be held in Spain, Portugal and Morocco, with one-off matches in three South American countries, world soccer's governing body FIFA confirmed on Wednesday.
The decision was announced by FIFA President Gianni Infantino following a virtual extraordinary Congress. The 2030 and 2034 World Cups each had only a single bid and both were confirmed by acclamation.
The Norwegian Football Federation (NFF) on Tuesday said it will vote against FIFA's awarding of hosting rights for the 2030 and 2034 World Cups by acclamation, adding that it had formally criticized the process in a letter to the world governing body.
Votes are due to be held at FIFA's virtual extraordinary Congress on Wednesday to approve the 2030 and 2034 World Cups, though each has only a single bid, which are both expected to be confirmed by acclamation.
Christian Pulisic’s red-hot form with both AC Milan and the U.S. men’s national team has the American placed amongst the best players in the world right now — though, it's not exactly exempting him from criticism. The reason? His latest celebration.
Pulisic scored two of the four goals in the USMNT's 4-2 victory over Jamaica (5-2 score aggregate) to seal their spot in the Concacaf Nations League semifinals, further cementing his status as the United States’ target man and main attacking threat.
BERLIN — German Bundesliga club St Pauli said on Thursday it was withdrawing from X because the social media platform had become an 'amplifier of hate' that could influence German politics.
Announcing its reasons for withdrawing, the club said in a statement that X's billionaire owner Elon Musk had turned a space for debate into "an amplifier of hate that was capable of influencing the German parliamentary election campaign."
St Pauli X controversy
FIFA is investigating a video circulating on social media that showed some members of the Argentina national team singing about France's players that the French Football Federation decried as "racist and discriminatory".
The FFF said on Monday that it would file a complaint to the global soccer governing body over the video, in which Argentina players were celebrating winning the Copa America.
FIFA investigating Argentina bus video
The 18-player United States women’s national team roster was revealed on Wednesday and has caused controversy. Korbin Albert’s inclusion on the squad drew criticism from fans and was called out on a podcast with USWNT legend Sam Mewis.
Italian giants Juventus released a statement in support of United States men’s national team star Weston McKennie after he was the victim of racial abuse from Lazio fans on Tuesday.
A video circulating online shows McKennie walking on the sideline after being substituted in the 89th minute. In the video fans can clearly be heard making monkey sounds and chants toward the American midfielder.
Weston McKennie racial abuse vs. Lazio
The United States women’s national team held a press conference on Wednesday which saw leaders Alex Morgan and Lindsey Horan address the controversial situation involving midfielder Korbin Albert.
The 20-year-old received waves of backlash after fans discovered she’d reposted anti-LGBTQ+ videos on TikTok and was caught liking a post making fun of Megan Rapinoe’s career ending injury.
Megan Rapinoe has stepped into the Korbin Albert controversy with a clear shot at the 20-year-old United States women’s national team midfielder.
Albert has been facing a tidal wave of backlash after fans discovered reposts on her TikTok that featured anti-LGBTQ+ posts.
Albert also was caught liking a post that was celebrating and making fun of Rapinoe’s Achilles injury that ended her career in last year’s NWSL Championship game.