Wednesday's soccer news starts with Costa Rica beating New Zealand 1-0 in Doha to advance to the 2022 World Cup. Joel Campbell scored the game's only goal in the 3rd minute with Keylor Nevas making four saves to keep the clean sheet. Costa Rica becomes the fourth Concacaf team to advance and will play Spain, Japan, and Germany in group E. Concacaf last won a playoff in 2015 when Mexico knocked out . . .
USMNT World Cup opponent Wales loses late to the Netherlands
USMNT World Cup opponent Wales got a late equalizer against the Netherlands but lost 2-1 at home in the UEFA Nations League. Teun Koopmeiners put the Netherlands up in the 50th minute with Rhys Norrington-Davies equalizing two minutes into stoppage time. Wout Weghorst scored the Netherlands' winner two minutes later. Wales hosts Belgium on Saturday. “Rhys was exceptional tonight," Wales manager . . .
Two games into Concacaf Nations League A group B
Wednesday's soccer news starts in the Concacaf Nations League. Grenada and El Salvador drew 2-2 in league A group D at Grenada's Kirani James Athletics Stadium. Jacob Berkeley-Agyepong opened the scoring for Grenada in the 29th minute. A 35th minute penalty converted by El Salvador's Alexander Larin leveled the score. Jamal Ray Charles returned the Grenada lead in the 54th with Cristian Gil . . .
The difference in the Nations Leagues for World Cup group B
Tuesday's soccer news starts with a comparison between the Concacaf and UEFA Nations Leagues, focusing on the teams in World Cup group B. While the USMNT prepares for Grenada and El Salvador, England and Wales face a different level in Europe. England is in action later today in the UEFA Nations League at Germany and hosting Italy on Saturday. They opened Nations League play at Hungary on . . .
The UEFA Nations League concludes with a VAR issue and a message
By J Hutcherson (Oct 12, 2021) US Soccer Players - As big moments go, Sunday's UEFA Nations League final produced a major one. With the score tied 1-1 at the San Siro, France's Kylian Mbappe put on a display of skill to slot the ball past Spain goalkeeper Unai Simon. It was the kind of goal made for the big stage, starting with Theo Hernandez finding Mbappe with a pass that took multiple defenders . . .
England and the point of the Nations League
The soccer news starts with the UEFA Nations League. The Netherlands knocked out England 3-1 in extra time. The Dutch advance to play Portugal in Sunday's final while England meets Switzerland in the 3rd-place game. England took the lead through a Marcus Rashford penalty in the 32nd minute with Matthijs de Ligt equalizing in the 73rd. That 1-1 score held through regulation. A 97th minute own-goal . . .
The return of the UEFA Nations League
We start the soccer news with the final four of the first ever UEFA Nations League set for Porto and Guimaraes. Portugal plays Switzerland on Wednesday and the Netherlands vs England is on Thursday with the final set for Sunday at the Estadio do Dragao. The competition might feel like an after thought just days following the Champions League final, with the quick switch from club to country. That . . .
FIFA, the World Cup, and changes to world soccer
Over the weekend, reports linked CONMEBOL with the latest proposal for FIFA holding the World Cup every other year. How seriously FIFA decides to take that proposal is an open question, but it does raise a simple issue. If FIFA wants a global Nations League in the even years between World Cups, how is that different from a World Cup? It's CONMEBOL asking. “The proposal we have made to FIFA is to . . .
The end of the November window
We start the soccer news with the end of the November international window and the return to the club schedule. For the USMNT, the losses to England and Italy is the latest prelude to an announcement of the new coach. For the players, it's once again assuming that club performance will predict national team opportunity. In Europe, that puts the pressure on players who aren't getting time with . . .
Making the Nations League matter
The soccer news starts with an obvious point about the Nations League. It's going to take more than UEFA adding it to the schedule to make the games count. Everybody involved has to buy in. That's the challenge for any new competition, something that the Nations League is already struggling with at some levels. For all the upside when two big teams meet in League A, there's leagues B through D to . . .
