The four members of Pussy Riot who ran onto the pitch during the World Cup final have been sentenced to 15 days in Russian jail. They’ve also been banned from sporting events for three years. [The Guardian]

As a rule, small countries do not play in the World Cup final. Only 13 countries on earth have ever even made the final, and aside from one of Sunday’s participants, only big countries have played for the cup in the modern era. It’s been over 50 years since there was a final that didn’t feature one of Brazil, Germany,…

Kylian Mbappé’s rifle-shot goal that put the World Cup final firmly in France’s grasp was a fitting flourish on what had been a tremendous tournament for the 19-year-old prodigy. If France’s run to glory was paced by one player, it was Mbappé, whose reality bending runs and lethal finishing elevated his team to a…

I can’t quite describe why I find this image so funny, but here it is: Vladimir Putin, grinning in the handshake line at the World Cup medal ceremony, with like the one umbrella anywhere in sight being held over his head dutifully by an attendant, while all around him are drenched in pouring rain:

A hilariously wild and ragged World Cup final concluded with a 4-2 victory for France, after a chaotic first half marked by a pair of dumb goals for France, and a second half marked by a Pussy Riot field invasion and maybe the dumbest goal you will ever see in a World Cup Final, from Croatia.

If you were worried the World Cup final would present a couple of cagey teams hoping to avoid mistakes and get lucky on one decisive set piece or counterattack, that fear was dashed in just the 18th minute, when a pretty shameless dive gave France a dangerous free kick that converted to an own goal on the very…

Belgium topped England in a loose and entertaining third-place game Saturday, behind a couple terrifying quick-strike counterattack moves, and some delightfully screwy defending from the lads of England.

During yesterday’s World Cup semifinal game between England and Croatia, a sideline photographer for Agence France-Press, Yuri Cortez, found himself at the bottom of a Croatian team dog pile after the got knocked over during Croatia’s celebrations for Mario Mandzukic’s extra-time, game-winning goal. The extremely…

Mighty, valiant Croatia have had a dream World Cup, and this weekend, they will take the field for the World Cup final only 26 years after joining FIFA as an official national team. It will obviously be the biggest moment in Croatian soccer history, and as such, they had better not overthink it and do anything…

Immediately after England scored in the fifth minute of today’s World Cup semifinal, it seemed like they’d cruise to a comfortable win over a clearly exhausted Croatia side that was running on fumes.

There are no more frauds left, but there’ll always be an England.

The bracket was on their side, the memes were on their side, and even the sport, a creation of their very own, appeared to be in favor of the Brits. Unfortunately for them, football won’t be coming home, because Croatia beat England in their World Cup semifinal today by a score of 2-1.

Because it’s the most popular sport in the world and because the entire world is currently losing its collective shit about it, there is something forbidding about approaching soccer from the outside. There are many millions of people around the world who are so passionate about club teams that they are never more…

Is it coming home or what? It only took five minutes for Kieran Trippier to do his thing and put England up 1-0 with a gorgeous curling free kick from just outside the box.

Yes, this video is officially Old News given that Croatia are taking on England right now. But the Zagreb Fire Department just today released this video of some firefighters watching penalties against Russia in the quarterfinals on Saturday, and the exact moment they had to drop what they were doing and head out on a…

Losing sucks! Losing the way the Belgians did, after tearing through five straight wins at the World Cup, some against really excellent teams, before getting blanked 1-0 by France in the semis, really sucks. Getting used to winning via pace and pressure and a series of unorthodox tactical decisions completely…

Among the 22 players on the pitch during today’s World Cup semifinal that pit France against Belgium, there were a solid half dozen capable of explosive, awe-inspiring feats of greatness. Unfortunately, none of them were able to do anything terribly explosive or awe-inspiring, so France’s 1-0 win to send them to the…

John Strong was eating at Jake’s Famous Crawfish, a Portland, Oregon institution since 1892, when Portland Timbers President of Business Mike Golub offered him his dream job. Strong, who was 25 years old at the time, jumped at the chance to become the voice of his hometown soccer team as it moved up into Major League…

England are in the World Cup semifinals, and all the lads know one thing to be true: It’s coming home.

This deep into the World Cup, there are very few frauds left. But FraudWatch never sleeps.