Mexico City (AFP) – With the help of two priestesses and a rain stick shaped like an ancient Mesoamerican god, Mexico’s “Grand Warlock” cast a spell Wednesday to help the nation at the World Cup.
A Russian politician has warned Russian women not to have sex with foreign men during the World Cup. Instead, if a Russian woman feels as though she must have sex, she should have it with a member of “her own race.”
With days to go before the World Cup, bustling markets in Syria’s capital are blanketed in the flags of competing countries — but host and government ally Russia is taking centre stage.
Only a week out from the beginning of the World Cup, sportswear giant Nike announced that it would not supply the Iranian team with cleats due to the U.S. government’s announcement of new sanctions on the terror-exporting nation.
A brewery is removing the Saudi Arabian flag from football World Cup bunting in hundreds of pubs because people were offended that Islamic symbols were displayed in a place serving alcohol.
The French government has banned ‘big screen zones’ for football fans to watch World Cup 2018 matches due to the ongoing terror threat — casting further doubt over Western governments’ claims that they are not allowing radical Islam to “change our way of life”.
The head of the Palestinian football federation is calling on Arab and Muslim sports fans to burn photos and T-shirts of Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi if he attends a friendly match between Argentina and Israel next weekend.
English soccer star Raheem Sterling is standing firm amid backlash over the tattoo of a M-16 on the side of his right calf. Sterling is a midfielder for Manchester City.
A report suggests that President Trump’s “sh*thole countries” remark and proposed travel bans, has made FIFA officials resistant to the idea of granting the United States the right to host the World Cup in 2026.
Moscow (Russia) (AFP) – Russia will reportedly deploy jamming devices used in Syria and the war in Ukraine to defend World Cup stadiums against a drone attack.
Egyptian fans traveling to watch their soccer team play at the World Cup should lower their expectations about meeting the kind of beautiful Russian women men rave about at home, according to an article published in a Cairo daily that reads like an informal travel advisory.
Fox jumped into a bidding war with ESPN to win the English-language broadcast rights for the 2018 World Cup, but now that the U.S. team was knocked out in the early stages of the tournament, the $400 million price tag now looks like a disastrous decision.
President Donald Trump is the most powerful man in the world. How powerful, exactly? Apparently, he’s so powerful that he’s the only man who can prevent the United States from hosting the World Cup in 2026.
The Iranian Football Federation has excluded captain Masoud Shojaei for the soccer World Cup qualifiers against South Korea and Syria but denies it is punishment for playing against an Israeli club.
United States soccer team goalkeeper Brad Guzan was taunted with gay slurs yelled by Mexican fans as the World Cup qualifier game started in Mexico City on Sunday night, reports say.
MEXICO CITY (AP) — Michael Bradley scored a stunning early goal from about 40 yards and the U.S. hung on for a 1-1 tie against Mexico in a World Cup qualifier on Sunday night, gaining only its third point at Azteca Stadium as coach Bruce Arena changed seven starters and used a five-man defense to overcome the thin air and short recovery time.
“Stick to sports!” has become the rallying cry of many in America who want to watch sports without the infusion of politics. Though, listening to Mexican fans talk about today’s World Cup qualifier versus the United States, you would think the game more resembled the infusion of sports into politics.
Speaking of the United States’ bid to co-host the 2026 World Cup with Mexico and Canada, U.S. Soccer President Sunil Gulati noted that President Donald Trump is “fully supportive” of the effort.
JERUSALEM – An Israel-Spain World Cup qualifying match will be played in the northern Spanish city of Gijon, prompting outrage among Israeli officials because of city’s blanket boycott of Israel.
TEL AVIV – As Qatar gears up to host the World Cup 2022, the Egyptian Al-Watan daily has accused the Gulf country of hatching a “wicked plot” together with the Muslim Brotherhood to destroy Egypt’s soccer teams.
Statistics recently released by the government of Qatar indicate 58 percent of people in the country live in government-designated “labor camps,” highly-monitored neighborhoods designed to control the movement of migrant workers.
Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed the disgraced and alleged corrupt FIFA President Joseph “Sepp” Blatter deserves a Nobel Peace Prize.
The Swiss government announced that two FIFA officials were detained in Zurich Thursday, confirming reports of new arrests in the broadening FIFA scandal, and said the pair were suspected of taking millions of dollars in bribes. “The high-ranking FIFA officials
New allegations surfaced on Friday that bribes paid to FIFA executive committee members by German soccer officials helped secure their bid for the 2006 World cup.
Mexican broadcaster Azteca decided to taunt Americans and the U.S. men’s soccer team with a new promotional video using footage of Donald Trump.
Russian President Vladimir Putin casually offered disgraced FIFA President Sepp Blatter as a candidate for the Nobel Prize, in public talks, saying that “if there is anyone who deserves” the honor, Blatter and sports officials like him do.
“England are out of the World Cup”; the unfortunate and familiar phrase that was uttered once again last Wednesday signalling the exit of the Lionesses from the Women’s World Cup taking place in Canada. Ordinarily one might be inconsolable for a
Ben Affleck is set to bring the biggest corruption scandal in professional sports history to the big screen.
FIFA halted the process for 2026 bids as the organization undergoes a leadership overhaul.
For decades, our global betters have been urging Americans to take more of an interest in soccer. And we have–though not the interest the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) had in mind. This week, the U.S. Department of Justice revealed that 14 FIFA officials had been indicted for corruption. In somewhat related news, FIFA is to vote this weekend on suspending Israel from international soccer because of security-related travel restrictions on some Palestinian players.
FIFA President Sepp Blatter allegedly will not enter the United States due to an FBI investigation over rewarding the 2018 World Cup to Russia and the 2022 World Cup to Qatar.
FIFA President Sepp Blatter told the world via Twitter that he just met with Russian President Vladimir Putin about the 2018 FIFA World Cup. He claims the tournament will “build bridges.”
Brazil spent $3.6 million on new stadiums and $3 million on infrastructure for the 2014 World Cup, which made it the most expensive World Cup in history. This is mainly due to Brazil’s choice to host matches in 12 cities instead of the usual 8. But now it appears to be a waste of money as stadiums are left in the dust.
The NFL looks south—as in the Southern Hemisphere—to move ratings north for the Pro Bowl.
FIFA announced that the 2022 World Cup in Qatar will take place in November and December instead of the summer. The final is scheduled for December 18, only a week before Christmas.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko called for a boycott of the 2018 World Cup in Russia if Moscow does not remove troops from east Ukraine.
FIFA, the organization that governs the World Cup, has decided not to revisit the awarding of the 2018 and 2022 World Cup to Russia and Qatar respectively. The group also announced that the extensive report prepared by an investigator into accusations
