MANCHESTER, England - FIFA says it has fan backing for the much-criticized plan to shift to a biennial World Cup after releasing a summary of the results of an opinion survey of supporters.
The proposals, which have been outlined by FIFA's head of Global Football Development, former Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger, have been met with widespread opposition from within the game.
Futsal’s importance to developing great footballers has never been a secret.
Brazil is the standard-bearer of the hard court game that favors ball control, passing in tight spaces and creativity over any sort of physical advantage. Ronaldinho, Ronaldo, Neymar, Pelé and Philipe Coutinho all played extensively in their youth, and what they learned and practiced on the court translated beautifully onto the pitch.
By scoring Argentina’s opener against Bolivia in World Cup qualifying on Thursday night and then adding a second and third, Lionel Messi moved ahead of Pelé in terms of most international goals amongst South American footballers with 79.
The Panama World Cup qualifying campaign is smooth sailing after the first three games. This is the exact opposite of what we predicted here at The18.
In our Concacaf World Cup qualifying predictions, six out of seven people predicted the Panamanians to finish dead last in the group of eight teams. Only one person had Panama finishing higher than eighth. That individual had the Central American country finishing seventh.
MANCHESTER, England - FIFA's proposals for the World Cup to be held every two years, rather than the traditional four-year gap, have been met with strong opposition from European soccer body UEFA and major leagues, the following is a Q&A on the issues:
WHAT IS FIFA DOING?
The USMNT played one of its worst opening 45 minutes in the modern era on Wednesday night in Honduras, and then followed that up with one of the greatest second halfs we've ever seen. Both were largely down to the choices of Gregg Berhalter, and while we should ultimately value and treasure the second 45, we shouldn't immediately forget about the first half.
Panic meters were reaching Cuova levels on Wednesday night in San Pedro Sula. The U.S. trailed Honduras at halftime and it looked like the Americans were headed toward a dismal two points from their first three World Cup qualifiers. Gregg Berhalter made three halftime changes, somewhat surprisingly leaving on qualifying novices Ricardo Pepi and James Sands.
Ricardo Pepi repaid the faith.
Whisper it — anything more than a whisper and it might vanish — but Canada is on course for the 2022 World Cup (after three games).
The 1-1 draw with the United States in Nashville must’ve stirred something in the Canucks’ plums, because they came out like a side possessed on Wednesday night at BMO Field. Frankly, some of Canada’s play against El Salvador in the opening 30 minutes was disturbingly good, and 38-year-old captain Atiba Hutchinson was at the heart of it all.
How much must this all mean to the man who collected his 88th cap tonight?
No nation plays the spoiler quite like Greece.
The pinnacle was reached at Euro 2004, but it should be remembered that the Ethniki dumped out Andriy Shevchenko’s Ukraine in qualifying for the 2010 World Cup and then ended the Ivory Coast’s golden generation of Didier Drogba, Yaya Touré and company at the 2014 finals.
After failing to qualify for its last three major international tournaments, Greece again assumed the role of gate crasher in UEFA Group B for 2022 World Cup qualifying alongside the favorites Spain and Sweden.
Premier League clubs could face sanctions from FIFA if they play South American players who were not released for international duty in this weekend's games.
Liverpool, Manchester United, Chelsea and Manchester City are among clubs who did not release Brazilian players for the current international break due to them having to travel to "red list" countries and face a choice of not selecting those players this weekend or running the risk of sanctions.
