The final FIFA rankings before the 2022 World Cup were released Thursday, revealing a top five that's largely in line with what the odds makers have for the tournament in Qatar.
Brazil rightfully holds the top spot and is seen as the favorite after turning its qualifying campaign into a program on Joga TV, while the Seleção's eternal rivals, Argentina, sit third riding a 35-match unbeaten streak.
MALANG, Indonesia - Andi Hariyanto says he will never watch a football match again after his wife, two teenage daughters and a cousin were crushed to death in a stampede at an Indonesian stadium last week.
Watching local team Arema FC play on Saturday was a special outing for soccer fan Andi's family, including his two-year-old son.
Saturday night's soccer stadium disaster in Indonesia was one of the world's worst such incidents. Here is a look at some of the worst soccer stadium disasters over the last 40 years:
MALANG — Dozens of Indonesian police were placed under investigation on Monday over a stampede at a soccer match that killed 125 people, as authorities sought to determine what caused one of the world's deadliest stadium disasters and who was to blame.
Panicked spectators were crushed on Saturday as they tried to flee the overcrowded stadium in Malang, East Java, after police fired tear gas to disperse fans of Arema FC, who had poured onto the pitch after a 3-2 home defeat to Persebaya Surabaya.
MALANG — At least 174 people were killed and 180 injured in a stampede and riot at a soccer match in Indonesia, officials said on Sunday, in one of the world's worst stadium disasters.
When frustrated supporters of the losing home team invaded the pitch in Malang in the province of East Java late on Saturday, officers fired tear gas in an attempt to control the situation, triggering the stampede and cases of suffocation, East Java police chief Nico Afinta told reporters.
Gregg Berhalter and his United States men’s national team are on a one-way collision course with a nasty ass kicking in Qatar at the World Cup. On Tuesday the USMNT played its final friendly before the World Cup and pathetically tied lowly Saudi Arabia 0-0.
There are few words that can accurately describe how poor the U.S. has looked in the last two friendly games vs. Japan and Saudi Arabia. With no words to summarize these poor performances let’s just let one stat in particular speak.
DOHA — Qatar has called up hundreds of civilians, including diplomats summoned back from overseas, for mandatory military service operating security checkpoints at World Cup stadiums, according to a source and documents seen by Reuters.
The deployment of conscripts, some of whom would normally defer national service because their work is considered vital, highlights the logistical challenge faced by the tiny Gulf Arab state hosting one of the world's biggest sports tournaments.
This USMNT team is very young; they'll be the youngest at Qatar. Sometimes they look like serious 2026 World Cup contenders, sometimes they look lucky to have qualified for the 2022 tournament. Friday's 2-0 loss to Japan was a look at, as we outlined in our match preview, many of the worst-case scenarios for this team.
The world works in mysterious ways. That was the case for Indonesian forward and captain Zulham Zamrun as he made one of the most remarkable recoveries in sports history during a Liga 2 match in Indonesia.
The 34-year-old captain had given it all for his team Persela. With his team leading 2-1 and just seconds left in the game... disaster struck. Zamrun had picked up a horrific injury. We’re not sure what was hurt, all we know is that he had to be taken off via stretcher.
In the final international break before the World Cup, the USMNT faces an interesting set of matches against some infrequent opponents as Gregg Berhalter looks to formulate his final roster.
The international period begins on Sep. 22 with a friendly match against Japan at 8:25 a.m. ET in Düsseldorf, Germany. This is followed by a friendly against Saudi Arabia on Sep. 27 in Murcia, Spain.