cup Page 20 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

The best soccer players of all time to never win a World Cup
It’s the pinnacle of soccer. The World Cup is a spectacle unlike any other in sport. And to truly be considered the greatest to ever lace up your cleats, you need to have lifted the trophy. Why can’t Dan Marino be in the discussion for the greatest quarterback of all time? He never won a Super Bowl....

Taking a moment for Messi
It seems like something of a missed opportunity that my favorite Lionel Messi moment came 11 years ago. There’s been so much since. It just happened to be on my 30th birthday, on a day where pretty much everything went wrong (a fine introduction to one’s 30s, it could be easily argued). Barcelona th...

Lotta goals in the desert - World Cup Daily Diary: The Final
How do you chuck the trophy away twice and still walk away with it?...

Exploring how a 1-0 advantage in soccer compares to leads in other sports
The World Cup comes to a conclusion this weekend with the third-place game wrapping up earlier today — Croatia defeated tournament Cinderella Morocco 2-1 — and the finals between Argentina and France taking place tomorrow. Lionel Messi’s legacy is on the line, meanwhile, Kylian Mbappé is attempting ...

Leo's legacy is on the line
After Argentina easily dispatched Croatia in the World Cup semifinals, the prophecy of Lionel Messi lifting the one piece of hardware that’d separate him from many of soccer’s other all-time greats is one win away. He’ll have that chance in what’s likely his final game on the sports’ biggest stage. ...

Alexander Ovechkin, the 'GR8 One'
Alexander Ovechkin is the best pure goal-scorer in NHL history. That’s not up for debate. The longtime Washington Capital hasn’t been hockey’s best player for years, but his ability to put the puck in the back of the net is nearly as good as it was 15 years ago when he scored 65 goals during the 200...

Thank the lord FIFA is going back into its hole Sunday
The people who scream that sports should be an escape are usually the ones most in need of a reminder about empathy, equality, a natural disaster, or an ongoing war. Sports can be a great distraction for those who actually need it. ...

Iranian soccer player facing possible execution after demonstrating for women’s rights
In surreal sporting news, Iranian soccer player Amir Nasr-Azadani is apparently facing possible execution for taking part in a protest for basic women’s rights in Isfahan, Iran. The government deemed the Sept. 16 protest an armed riot as three security agents were killed in the fracas....

The NWSL wants transparency, as long as no one’s looking at that moment
You would think that there wouldn’t be much of anywhere to hide for the NWSL after not only the Yates Report came out in the fall but the NWSL’s and NWSLPA’s joint report followed it yesterday, both detailing the rampant mistreatment, abuse, and ass-covering that followed that various coaches, front...

World Cup 2022 Diary: Day 25 - Morocco's historic run comes to an end
What if you just Morocco’d Morocco?...

It was a great day for the best to ever do it
If part of the reason you watch sports is to see things that will live forever, then Tuesday was a day for you....

Lotta goals in the desert - World Cup Daily Diary: Day Argentina
Sometimes those who cover the game have to fistfuck a narrative into fitting. And then sometimes Lionel Messi does that. ...

Is it time to say hello to the Kraken?
It was wholly unfair to the Seattle Kraken that they had to be the expansion team to follow the Vegas Golden Knights. The Knights warped everyone’s view of what an expansion team should be, reaching the Stanley Cup Final in their very first year. The Knights took advantage of a swath of moronic NHL ...

So that’s why Gio Reyna didn’t play
Perhaps it’s a sign that the USMNT is moving into the big time that they hold their big controversies until after the tournament than before. We’ve been through Jürgen Klinsmann keeping Landon Donovan at home in 2014 simply to show everyone what a brain genius he was. Or John Harkes way back when. T...

Maybe Neymar is just unlucky
While this World Cup has had its share of great stories, the overarching one that started well before the tournament was Lionel Messi. This is his tournament, whatever Argentina does. Either it’s the last great failure of him (it’s never by him when it comes to Argentina). It’s always that the rest ...

SEE 'EM: Reactions to Harry Kane's PK miss don't disappoint
Here are some of the best reactions and tweets to Harry Kane’s devastating penalty kick miss that leads to England’s dismissal from the World Cup....

World Cup 2022 Diary: Day 21 - It's no Kane do for England again and Ronaldo walks off a loser... again
First things first: As the sport of soccer mourns, take a moment to remember Grant Wahl, a journalist of the highest order....