Tuesday's soccer news starts with FIFA and UEFA suspending Russia from their tournaments. In a joint statement, the two governing bodies announced that "all Russian teams, whether national representative teams or club teams, shall be suspended from participation in both FIFA and UEFA competitions until further notice." Russia was scheduled for World Cup qualifiers during the March window and . . .
UEFA’s interesting approach to World Cup qualifying
Wednesday's soccer news starts with World Cup qualifying getting underway in Europe and Concacaf. Those two confederations are the last to join the party, with AFC and CAF starting the long road to 2022 in 2019 and CONMEBOL last October. Unlike Concacaf, UEFA starts with all 55 of its countries involved, divided into groups of five or six teams. March is a three-game window in Europe, meaning . . .
Martino’s Mexico in 2020
By Clemente Lisi – NEW YORK, NY (Jan 27, 2020) US Soccer Players – It's an interesting 2020 in Concacaf, especially for old rivals the United States and Mexico. Both have the Nations League on the schedule in June and the start of World Cup qualifying in the September international window. Between now and then, there are friendlies on the schedule to provide options and tighten things up before . . .
Canada’s deadline
By Clemente Lisi – NEW YORK, NY (Sep 30, 2019) US Soccer Players – Canada's National Team is at a crossroads. It's been here many times before over the past two decades. Wins is what this team needs as it embarks on a pair of high-stakes games against the United States. The Nations Cup, which resumes in October, has made all games meaningful. It represents another chance for Canada to gain . . .
FIFA opts against 2022 World Cup expansion
We start the soccer news with FIFA not bringing their proposed World Cup expansion for 2022 to a vote. Amid several questions about how expansion would work with the limited number of stadiums in Qatar and their relationship with other Gulf countries, FIFA had expansion on the agenda for the June 5 Congress in Paris. That is now off, with FIFA opting against trying to start expansion a cycle . . .
Concacaf and World Cup expansion
Whether or not FIFA goes ahead with an expanded World Cup in 2022, we already know it will happen for 2026. 48 teams, resetting what we know about the tournament. For Concacaf, the early issue is number of qualifying spots and how World Cup qualifying will work in the era of expansion. It's worth the reminder that Concacaf would've already changed World Cup qualifying had they gotten four . . .
