Outrageous

Lionel Messi gets the ball near midfield, BURNS Joško Gvardiol and provides a perfect assist

Lionel Messi showed the world once again that he’s in arguably the best form of his career. Aging like a fine wine, Messi got a goal and an assist vs. Croatia in Argentina’s 3-0 World Cup semifinal victory on Tuesday.

His goal came from the penalty spot in the 34th minute, but the assist. Oh, that glorious assist. That one came in the 69th minute.

Messi assist vs Croatia

Leading 2-0, Messi and Julián Álvarez put the nail in the coffin with about 20 minutes to go. The 35-year-old maestro looked like he was a young 20-something again with a dazzling run.

Berhalter isn't acting like U.S. manager by throwing a 20-year-old under the bus

The rumored tension between USMNT manager Gregg Berhalter and precocious talent Giovanni Reyna was confirmed with the final call, as the old horror movie cliché goes, coming from inside the house: Berhalter provided all the saucy details and headline leading quotes during a *checks notes* HOW Institute for Society's Summit on Moral Leadership.

England out of the World Cup after Harry Kane boots penalty kick to Mars

Football won’t be coming home in 2022 for England as France defeated the Three Lions 2-1 on Saturday in the World Cup quarterfinals.

England will be regretting not taking advantage of a so-so French performance. The biggest moment came in the 84th minute when Harry Kane failed epically on a penalty kick by blasting the ball over the bar to the 10th row.

5 pieces of s**thousery that took Argentina-Netherlands to a glorious level

Argentina and the Netherlands delighted the globe with one of the greatest World Cup quarterfinals of all time on Friday. Argentina took a 2-0 lead with Lionel Messi providing an outrageous assist before converting from the penalty spot and that advantage remained until the 83rd minute.

Virgil van Dijk just landed himself a job as an NFL linebacker after hit sticking the hell out of Paredes

Virgil van Dijk might have to get a tear drop tattoo after he obliterated Argentina’s Leandro Paredes on Friday during the Netherlands 4-3 penalty defeat against the South American giants.

Friday’s quarterfinal was an intense and feisty affair as there were several skirmishes and shoving matches throughout the night.

Messi provides one of the greatest assists of his career in World Cup quarterfinals

When the Netherlands ceded possession to the United States in the World Cup Round of 16, it was a departure from football history but a masterstroke from the Dutch: they knew the U.S. wouldn't have the quality to find that final pass in the attacking third and that they'd slice the Americans apart going the other direction.

A similar approach could be seen by the Netherlands at the start of its quarterfinal match against Argentina. Playing in a 3-4-1-2, the Dutch packed the middle of the park and said there's no way you're finding joy centrally.

10 players whose reputation tanked during the World Cup

The lasting memories of World Cups should be the celebrations of football — the glorious goals, the mesmerizing skills, the feel-good stories. But we also know that there's no joy without suffering and no winners without losers, and sometimes, it's those dramatic failures that really resonate because life's a snitch and then you die. 

Some of this is completely unfair to players who've given us so much over the years and to young guys who've got a lot of ball left to play, but these are the 10 individuals who really let me down in Qatar.  

Hazard and Courtois make surprise media appearance to deny rumors of chaos in Belgium squad

DOHA - Belgium captain Eden Hazard has denied there is a rift in the squad but admits frank words were exchanged between the players following their surprise 2-0 World Cup Group F loss to Morocco on Sunday.

Hazard was speaking to the media along with experienced goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois on Tuesday after they replaced the players originally scheduled to talk, Yannick Carrasco and Arthur Theate.

The 'big hat' is in, and yes, you can support the U.S. at the World Cup with one

After the Washington Commanders beat the Atlanta Falcons in NFL action Sunday, all the talk centered around Commanders running back Brian Robinson Jr. All that chatter wasn't because the 23-year-old went over 100 yards on only 18 carries, it was because Robinson delivered his postgame interviews while wearing an incredibly large hat.

Robinson was promoting his friend's NogginBoss company, which was on the TV show "Shark Tank" and has its own online shop.

Iran calls Klinsmann's remarks a ‘disgrace to football’ and demands he quits FIFA role

DOHA - Iran coach Carlos Queiroz lambasted German soccer icon Jürgen Klinsmann for criticizing his team's World Cup conduct, calling his remarks a "disgrace to football" and urging him to quit his FIFA post, as Iran's soccer federation demanded an apology.

In comments as an analyst with broadcaster BBC, 1990 World Cup winner Klinsmann accused Iran of systematic gamesmanship during their stunning 2-0 stoppage-time win over Wales on Friday and said Queiroz's record with other national teams made him the right match for Iran.

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