A month after Russia thrashed Saudi Arabia to open the World Cup, France took advantage of its chances and was crowned world champions for the second time. Those high-scoring matches bookended a tournament in which there were 169 World Cup goals. With 12 of those resulting from own goals, there were 157 goals where the celebration wasn't marred by an untimely mistake.
When Argentina manager Jorge Sampaoli announced his final 23-man roster for the World Cup, he didn't call on one of the hottest strikers on the planet. Inter Milan's Mauro Icardi tied Lazio's Ciro Immobile for golden boot honors in Serie A, scoring 29 goals in 34 games during the 2017-18 season. Instead of being rewarded for a stellar season, Icardi joined the unenviable list of World Cup snubs.
If you think you know who will win the World Cup, then put your money where your mouth is. World Cup futures odds are widely available, and the top value bets feature the World Cup favorites with a few surprising teams sprinkled in.
We looked at the most recent odds published by Bovada, and 17 of the World Cup's 32 teams are listed at 100 to 1 or better. We assigned a value rating of bad, fair, good or great to each of those teams.
Germany +450: Good Value
In order to advance to the Champions League final, Bayern Munich will have to make history at the Bernabeu. The advantage of hosting the second leg is made most apparent by looking at the record of teams who have needed a comeback after dropping the first leg at home.
Since the 2003-04 season, 18 teams have trailed heading into a Champions League quarterfinal or semifinal second leg on the road. None of those teams have advanced.
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp is Pep Guardiola's kryptonite.
The charismatic German has beaten Guardiola more than any other manager — a total of seven victories for Klopp dating back to meetings between the two in the Bundesliga.
This is a remarkable achievement, especially if one considers how dominating Guardiola's teams (be it Barcelona, Bayern Munich or Manchester City) normally are.
Lost in all the hullabaloo surrounding Cristiano Ronaldo’s iconic bicycle kick against Juventus yesterday was a flawless 75-minute performance from Real Madrid attacking midfielder Isco.
A few weeks ago, Lionel Messi reached the landmark of 100 goals in the UEFA Champions League, joining Cristiano Ronaldo as the only footballer to achieve the feat. The following comparisons between the two were inevitable, because for the last 10 years, it’s just been Ronaldo and Messi at the top of the world’s premier club competition.
In fact, you’d have to go back to the 2006-07 season and AC Milan’s Kaká to find the last Champions League top scorer by season not named Ronaldo or Messi.