Shocking

Croatia players and manager Zlatko Dalic were gracious in defeat yesterday, admitting that France deserved the victory following second half goals from Paul Pogba and Kylian Mbappe. However, the likes of Luka Modric and Ivan Rakitic still left traces of disgust and defiance in their words when discussing the final’s turning points, particularly the VAR-assisted handball call against Ivan Perisic that sent Antoine Griezmann to the spot in the 38th minute. 

A Luka Modric trial is perhaps not the first thing that comes to your mind when thinking about the Real Madrid and Croatia star.

Croatia will face France in the World Cup final this Sunday. However, it is not only France that worries captain Luka Modric at the moment.

Modric has led his team to an historic achievement, managing to qualify for its first-ever World Cup final.

Sweden was sent packing by England after a 2-0 defeat in the quarterfinals of the World Cup. The Swedes showed the world that they were there to really have a go at the tournament, making it out of a group that barely anyone gave them a chance in. 

However, while Sweden’s players will no doubt be proud of their achievement, there was one little bit of negativity that arose from it — a piece of negativity to the tune of $66,000. More specifically, Andreas Granqvist’s socks are going to cost him $66,000. Clear enough for you? 

Four of the players from the Wild Boar soccer team in Thailand have been successfully rescued from the Tham Luang caves in Chiang Rai province, but eight boys, ages 11 to 16, and their 25-year-old coach remain underground with the operation set to resume in 10 to 20 hours.

For the entirety of 38 games at the 2018 FIFA World Cup, you could do whatever the hell you pleased at corner kicks. Use Pepe as a battering ram to create some space for Ronaldo? Sure. Tackle Harry Kane to the ground with two players? Why not. Shove Miranda in the back to snatch a Swiss equalizer? That sounds wild, but we’ll definitely allow it.

Group B went batshit crazy on Monday, but when the dust settled and the VAR screen had been flicked off, nothing had changed over the course of 90 overly dramatic minutes in Russia: Spain finish top and will play Russia, Portugal finish runners-up and take on Uruguay. One major talking point is that the European champions could’ve been preparing for that game without Cristiano Ronaldo, who was given a VAR-inspired yellow card for an off-the-ball elbow.

With less than 24 hours until the start of the World Cup and just two days before Spain takes on Portugal in one of the marquee group stage matches of the tournament, the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) has announced its decision to fire manager Julen Lopetegui. 

Former Manchester City midfielder Yaya Toure has dropped some serious allegations against Pep Guardiola, who managed the Ivorian at both City and Barcelona, in a recent interview with France Football.

Germany’s “Snubbed XI” just added one of the most electric talents in all of world football. A few weeks ago, the “Snubbed XI” began assembling itself with a preposterously strong attacking core spearheaded by the dropped Borussia Dortmund duo of Mario Gotze and Andre Schurrle (the two players who expertly combined to sink Argentina in extra time back in 2014).