world-cup Page 39 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

South Africa's World Cup Debutantes Are Already Legends
No matter what happens in France this summer, the players that make up the South Africa women’s national team are already legends....

China Have One Star Attacker And A Whole Lot Of Question Marks
When you think of the most famous image in Women’s World Cup history, you don’t often remember the opponent. Brandi Chastain’s celebration after slotting home the winning penalty in the 1999 tournament has inspired the spillage of plenty of digital ink, but maybe the least remembered aspect of that ...

This Isn't The Best Germany Ever, But They Can Still Beat Anyone
For a normal national team, Germany’s recent run of relative success would be cause for celebration: quarterfinalists at both the 2017 Euros and 2011 World Cup, with a semifinals appearance at the 2015 World Cup and a 2013 Euro title. Oh, plus Olympic gold in 2016. For Die Nationalelf, though, this ...

Norway Might Have Won The Whole Thing, If Only They Hadn't Alienated The Best Player In The World
The situation with Norway’s women’s soccer team is like something out of the Iliad. In this analogy, the World Cup is the Trojan War, the Norwegian team is the heavily armed but nonetheless overmatched Greek army, and Ada Hegerberg is Achilles, the Grecian hero of otherworldly abilities who very wel...

Nigeria Have The Star Power To Go Down In A Blaze Of Glory
The question before Nigeria heading into this World Cup is the same one they’ve faced going into every other World Cup: Will this be the tournament the Super Falcons finally put it all together and make a real run? Unfortunately, the answer is probably the same as it has been in years past: No, this...

South Korea Are No Minnows, But They're Still Food For The World Cup's Sharks
The best thing you can say about South Korea coming into this World Cup is that they are fine....

France's Women Are On A Mission To Establish Worldwide Soccer Dominance
If the 100 percent non-existent aliens that purportedly flit about Earth’s skies were in fact real, and if they somehow mustered enough gumption in their lily liver-equivalent alien organs to descend upon the far superior human race and challenge us to a pair of soccer matches—one men’s, one women’s...

England's Ben Stokes Makes An Absurd Catch In Cricket World Cup Opener
This year’s Cricket World Cup opened in London on Thursday, with hosts England facing off against South Africa. That’s where England all-rounder Ben Stokes made this spectacular backwards catch while running toward the boundary to dismiss batsman Andile Phehlukwayo, which the commentator described a...

Large Norwegian Teen Scores Nine Goals In One Game In U-20 World Cup
This is Erling Braut Håland. The 6-foot-3 Norwegian is 18 years old, and he looks like a lock to be cast as Thor in the certainly forthcoming Teen Avengers movie. He also scored nine times in today’s game against Honduras in the U-20 World Cup as Norway romped to a record-breaking 12-0 win....

Daniele De Rossi Was Roma, Until The Very End
Daniele De Rossi’s Roma career ended with a fittingly meaningless win in front of his adoring fans. More than any other player in this current era of the Giallorossi, De Rossi symbolized the duality of the team’s good-but-not-quite-good-enough nature. In his 17 seasons at the Italian capital, De Ros...

FIFA Screws Up Ticket Sales For Women's World Cup, Does Terrible Job At Apologizing
Soccer fans who purchased tickets to attend the Women’s World Cup in France this summer were finally able to download their pre-ordered tickets on Monday. Many who had bought groups of tickets were understandably pissed off at discovering that not all of their seats would be together....

The USWNT Has Two Big Question Marks In Morgan Brian And Ali Krieger
It’s a good time to be a fan of the U.S. Women’s National Team. We’re in the last stages of pre-World Cup prep, the team has a few key stars peaking at the right time, and there is finally a roster to discuss and, naturally, argue about....

What Is Lionel Messi Worth To Argentina?
There is a simple, financial answer to the question posed in the headline of this article: Lionel Messi is reportedly worth €450,000 per contractually-arranged international friendly. That is how much the Argentinian Football Federation (AFA) lost out on after Messi’s recent groin injury kept him ou...

Ryoyu Kobayashi Becomes First Non-European Man To Win Overall World Cup Ski Jump Title
This weekend, Japanese ski jumper Ryoyu Kobayashi broke Europe’s decades-long domination of the ski jump World Cup by becoming the first non-European man to win the overall title....

Entire U.S. Women's National Team Sues U.S. Soccer For Equal Pay
Three months before they begin their World Cup defense in France, 28 members of the United States Women’s National Team have filed a gender discrimination lawsuit against U.S. Soccer, the sport’s governing body, for paying the men’s team more than the women’s team. This suit, first reported on by th...

Qatar Tuned Up For The 2022 World Cup By Winning The Asian Cup For The First Time
On Friday, the Qatari national soccer team did what it had never done before, beating Japan 3-1 in the final of the Asian Cup to claim its first continental trophy ever....

FIFA Does One Good Thing, Continues To Do Hundreds Of Awful Things
FIFA would like you to know that it is not full of bad people. On Wednesday, the world soccer governing body put out a statement in support of Hakeem al-Araibi, an Australia-based soccer player who was detained in Thailand in November....

Literal Baby-Name Police Won't Let French Couple Name Their Kid "Griezmann Mbappé"
International tournament success in sports famously breeds joy, babies, and joyfully birthed babies named after the sporting heroes who achieved said success. It’s no surprise, then, that one French couple wanted to name their newborn son after two stars from France’s World Cup victory this summer. ...

Jamaica Earns Country's First-Ever Women's World Cup Berth
Jamaica’s women’s national team will be going to the World Cup for the first time in the team’s history after beating Panama on penalties in the third-place game at the CONCACAF qualifying tournament. With this win, the team also becomes the first Caribbean nation ever to qualify for the Women’s Wor...

The USWNT Looks As Good As Ever And Is Rolling Toward The World Cup
CARY, N.C. — How are we not talking about this team all the time? Sustained dominance is easy to take for granted, sure. And as far as it has come in recent decades soccer still isn’t close to leading the sports conversation in the USA. These are answers, and they aren’t wrong, but they mostly evade...