Brazil

A former referee has admitted to have spared Lionel Messi from a second yellow card in return for his match-worn shirt.

Chilean refereee, Carlos Chandía, has confessed to having purposefully avoided giving Messi a booking. And all in the plan to receive the Argentine’s jersey at the end of a match.

Chandía was in charge of the 2007 Copa America semifinal match between Argentina and Mexico, with the Albiceleste blowing past El Tri with a 3-0 scoreline. 20-year-old Messi scored a beautiful lob to seal his country’s spot in the final.

The race for the upcoming Ballon d’Or is going to be close.

As anticipation builds for the 2024 Ballon d'Or, the battle for soccer’s most coveted individual award is shaping up to be thrilling. 

After a long 2023-24 campaign, paired with a summer full of international play with the Euros and Copa América, the number of contenders for the award has only increased.

LOS ANGELES — Brazil missed a string of chances and were left to rue a lack of quality in the final third after they were held 0-0 by Costa Rica in their Copa America Group D opener in Los Angeles on Monday.

Brazil, who came into the Copa America on the back of a run of poor results in recent months, dominated possession but lacked precision in front of goal with just three of their 19 shots on target.

Matt Turner had an incredible performance in the USMNT’s last preparation friendly ahead of the Copa América.

Following the U.S. men’s national team’s embarrassing 5-1 loss against Colombia last Saturday, the expectations and hopes of containing the star-studded Brazilian attack were zero to none, with many American fans anticipating yet another defeat.

Turner had other plans, of course.

Gregg Berhalter’s seat got a little cooler as his United States men’s national team earned a respectable 1-1 draw vs. Brazil on Wednesday in a friendly ahead of this summer’s Copa América.

The USMNT licked their wounds from the Colombia battering that saw them lose 5-1 on Saturday in Berhalter’s worst loss in charge of the national team.

The United States will not change course in Wednesday's friendly against Brazil, head coach Gregg Berhalter said, despite a 5-1 mauling by Colombia in their Copa America warm-up last weekend.

Colombia scored three times in 11 second-half minutes to hand the U.S. team a thrashing on Saturday in Landover, Maryland, prompting alarm among the home fans.