Asia

Syria’s 3-1 victory over Qatar in World Cup qualifying on Thursday was remarkable for two reasons: 1.) Syria are now in third place in Group A heading into the final matchday, a finish that would see them improbably qualify for the fourth round playoff. 2.) Defeat for Qatar means that they’ve been mathematically eliminated from the 2018 World Cup, so they’ll be the first nation since Italy in 1934 to host the tournament without having ever taken part.

The fourth season of the Indian Super League doesn’t begin until November 17th, but the quasi-big-name signings are starting to create a real buzz here within The18 office. 

Back in August, Atletico de Kolkata (ATK) announced that they’d come to terms former LA Galaxy striker Robbie Keane. The 37-year-old Irishman will take the pitch for his new club after a year off.

It never ceases to amaze me that with a 23-year-old Lionel Messi entering the height of his powers as a footballer, the Argentine Football Association decided to put Diego Maradona in charge of the national team for the 2010 World Cup. In his previous managerial experience, Maradona had collected three wins, eight draws and 12 losses, good for a win percentage of 13%.

The U.S. women faced off against Japan on Thursday in their last game of the Tournament of Nations. Japan-U.S. has become a particularly heated affair in recent years with the two meeting in three of the last four major finals. USWNT fans will not easily forget the heartbreaking loss to the Japanese at the 2011 FIFA World Cup nor Carli Lloyd’s rampage to win the trophy four years later.

If you're looking for a sleeper team at the 2018 World Cup, Iran is a good candidate.

They were recently the third team to qualify for Russia 2018, having gone undefeated in both the second and third rounds of AFC qualifying to this point (12-4-0).