With just five points from their last seven World Cup matches, Croatia will be hoping for a turn of form in Russia.
Ian Darke leads the ESPN panel in predicting the 2018 World Cup winner with names of Germany, Brazil, France and England…
Pinned as the dark horses of Brazil 2014, Belgium weren’t quite ready, but can Eden Hazard and co mount a real challenge in Russia?
Belgium coach Roberto Martinez is worried by Vincent Kompany having to go off in their draw with Portugal.
Despite Belgium’s plethora of talent, ESPN FC’s Stevie Nicol is at a loss as to why they continue to struggle.
Vincent Kompany’s World Cup dreams could be in doubt after he was forced to withdraw from Belgium’s goalless draw with Portugal in the 55th minute.
Ian Darke likens Belgium to a band who can never get a number one. The ESPN panel question if Roberto Martinez can get it right for Belgium’s golden generation.
The 2018 World Cup is just over a month away, and all 32 teams are preparing in earnest for their shot at the trophy in Russia. ESPN FC is previewing every team ahead of the opening game on June 14. Find all 32 teams here.
Who they are
Captain: Eden Hazard
Manager: Roberto Martinez
Nickname: The Red Devils
FIFA rank (as of April 12, 2018): 3
How they qualified
Belgium had a very easy campaign in UEFA’s qualifying Group H, which seemed relatively straightforward in the first…
For the third season in a row the richest club in Russia, Zenit St Petersburg, won’t take part in the Champions League. Once again they failed to qualify after a 1-0 defeat to champions Lokomotiv Moscow at the weekend left them trailing in fifth place — five points off third with one game to go.
It is an enormous surprise in the country as Zenit were considered clear favourites to claim the title after hiring Roberto Mancini and making heavy investments in the summer.
This was supposed to be Zenit’s…
Giovanni Simeone has shone in his first seasons in Serie A, but could he make Argentina’s squad for this summer’s World Cup?
Helping Juventus become champions is not a new experience for the Simeone family. On the last day of the 2001-02 season, Inter famously needed to beat Lazio at the Stadio Olimpico to win Serie A, and took the lead twice in the first half. But Lazio’s Diego Simeone headed in the crucial third goal against his former club as they won 4-2, Inter were heartbroken and Juve celebrated winning the Scudetto.
On Sunday, 16 years on, it happened again, even though the situation is not exactly identical….
ESPN’s Mark Ogden believes Liverpool would be foolish to write off AS Roma, who he feels are capable of beating any team at the Stadio Olimpico.
ESPN’s Alison Bender previews the Champions League semi-final matches where Liverpool take on AS Roma and Real Madrid face Bayern Munich.
Look back at the tapes of Kostas Manolas’ sensational goal against Barcelona (which gave Roma a crucial 3-0 lead in the return leg and sent them into the Champions League semifinals) and you’ll notice it’s almost exactly how Traianos Dellas scored the dramatic extra-time “silver goal” in the Euro 2004 semifinals, knocking heavy favourites Czech Republic out and putting Greece on the path to the most unlikely triumph.
It is symbolic that Dellas was a hugely popular Roma player at the time. “The Colossus,”…
Naldo as played in every minute in the Bundesliga this season at the age of 35.
It was an unstoppable thunderbolt. Naldo’s magnificent long-range free kick — powerful but swerving at the same time — left Borussia Dortmund goalkeeper Roman Burki little chance on Sunday. The Brazilian defender made it 2-0 for Schalke in the Ruhr derby, ensuring the points and almost certainly a Champions League spot for next season. That was Naldo’s seventh goal of the season, as he equaled his personal record.
Dortmund don’t like facing Naldo. He’s scored six goals against them already throughout…
Amadou Diawara is attracting attention from Premier League sides such as Tottenham and Liverpool.
Amadou Diawara’s first Serie A goal could not have come at a better time. Napoli were on the verge of losing crucial points at home against Chievo on Sunday — Dries Mertens missed a penalty before Mariusz Stepinski put the away side 1-0 up, only for substitute Arkadiusz Milik to head an equaliser with one minute left — when the ball fell to the 20-year-old midfielder in the dying seconds.
Diawara took a magnificent first touch, then sent an even better curling shot into the far corner to make…
Pontus Wernbloom’s energy on the pitch is boundless, and fans and teammates adore him.
CSKA Moscow were winless in Rostov since 2006 but needed to take all three points on Sunday in order to stay in the title race. With the score at 1-1 after 75 minutes on a disastrous pitch, things didn’t look promising, but Pontus Wernbloom had other plans. The Swede was in the right place at the right time again, and the curse was broken.
“I can always count on you, my friend,” CSKA midfielder Bibars Natcho wrote on Instagram after the 2-1 win. Supporters have known that ever since Wernbloom…
A sneak peak of episode 2 of Martin Ainstein’s Russian odyssey takes him to World Cup host city Nizhny Novgorod, famous for its Matryoshka dolls.
Join Martin Ainstein on his trip to St. Petersburg in an extract from episode 1 of Last Train to Russia, airing on ESPN networks throughout this week ahead of the World Cup.
Join Martin Ainstein on a 12-episode series exploring Russia through the 2018 World Cup host cities, starting this week across ESPN networks.
“We are starting everything from scratch again,” Russia coach Stanislav Cherchesov said of his defence after the World Cup hosts were thrashed 3-0 by Brazil in Moscow on Friday. Little more than 11 weeks before the opening game of the most important tournament in the country’s history, Russia don’t have a single decent centre-back to rely on.
Russia were announced as the World Cup hosts in December 2010, meanining that they had more than seven years to prepare. Apart from wasting outrageous amounts…
Substitute Wissam Ben Yedder scored two goals in four minutes in the second half to shock Manchester United and send Jose Mourinho’s men crashing out of the round of 16.
BT Sport pundits Steven Gerrard, Paul Scholes and Rio Ferdinand say Manchester United played under par against Sevilla on Tuesday.
Wissam Ben Yedder is used to waiting and taking his chances when they come. Sevilla coach Vincenzo Montella didn’t fancy the idea of playing the Frenchman against Manchester United: he kept him on the bench in the first leg of the round-of-16 Champions League clash in Spain and started with Luis Muriel again at Old Trafford last week.
Ben Yedder was unleashed with only 18 minutes remaining on the clock, but that was enough. The striker scored twice, very nearly got a hat trick, knocked Jose Mourinho’s…