England manager Roy Hodgson didn’t want to go to Manaus, but he will in the first group game against Italy (Saturday, June 14, 9pm ET). The Azzurri under Cesare Prandelli have to be considered a strong contender to advance deep into this World Cup. Uruguay’s uneven qualifying campaign notwithstanding, getting by them will be difficult […]

The draw is done and dusted and it seems to have done no harm to 2014 World Cup betting odds, at least where the favourites are concerned. Here are the final group stage line-ups for the Brazil 2014 World Cup:

FOX Sports has emerged as the likely winner of the US media rights to the 2015-18 UEFA Champions League, according to a report Sports Business Daily. Sources have revealed to SBJ that FOX will be revealed as the winner as early as today, beating NBC Sports, beIN SPORT and Univision for the rights. ESPN did […]

Now that the draw has been made for the 2014 FIFA World Cup, we finally know what teams will be playing on the different dates for the first round of the competition, with plenty of mouthwatering matches scheduled. Plus we know what the kick-off times are for each match. For viewers in the United States, […]

For World Cup 2014, the draw was concluded in December to decide which groups the 32 teams would play in. Groups A-H are as follows: Group A Brazil (A1) Croatia (A2) Mexico (A3) Cameroon (A4) Group B Spain (B1) Netherlands (B2) Chile (B3) Australia (B4) Group C Colombia (C1) Greece (C2) Ivory Coast (C3) Japan […]

Yesterday, the World Soccer Talk team was assembled in Bristol CT as guests of ESPN. During pre-production for Thursday’s ESPN FC show previewing the World Cup Draw, an ESPN staffer shouted “Nelson Mandela died.” Suddenly everyone on the set led by host Dan Thomas began reminiscing about Mandela’s life and legacy. When the ESPN FC […]

Brazil are the record World Cup winners, they’re playing at home and they’re the bookmakers’ favorites. Never mind Nostradamus, even Mystic Sally can probably envisage Thiago Silva hoisting aloft the Jules Rimet trophy next July. Despite lacking the panache of Brazilian sides of yesteryear, Luis Felipe Scolari’s men have enough quality, know-how and functionality to […]

Walking out of the 2006 World Cup Draw in Germany, Bruce Arena knew that the United States’ tournament was over before it even started. Despite boasting a strong side that would climb into the top ten of the FIFA World Rankings, Arena knew that the draw had spit out an impossible task for the USA. […]

Sunderland and US international striker Jozy Altidore finally scored his first Premier League goal for Sunderland today. Altidore scored for the Black Cats in the first half of the match against Chelsea at the Stadium of Light. Altidore, with his back to goal, did well to hold up the ball, and then twist and turn […]

While Manchester United were recently protecting a precious one goal lead against Southampton, manager David Moyes made the most negative change in his short United career thus far. He took off the energetic Wayne Rooney, and replaced him with Chris Smalling. Two minutes later, a defensive lapse in concentration saw Southampton level, and the game […]

Paolo Rossi stars in a creative new World Cup TV commercial. After getting a shave in a barber shop in Brazil, Rossi tries to pay with a credit card. It's only then that the Brazilian barber realizes that it's the Paolo Rossi, and he has flashbacks to that famous game between Italy and Brazil in […]

Following the launch of the official World Cup ball for FIFA World Cup 2014, adidas has released a video featuring the brazuca ball. The video includes plenty of stars from Argentina, Brazil, and Germany, backed by the brilliant song by The Kinks entitled All Day And All Of The Night. I particularly love the camera […]

There’s been a lot said lately about MLS expansion, but on a recent edition of ESPNFC, analysts Taylor Twellman and Steve Nicol had a fiery exchange that distilled the MLS expansion debate right down to its essence. Lincoln v. Douglas-esque in its gravity, the showdown also evoked Kennedy v. Nixon in its stark visual contrast […]

In the last couple of weeks, referees have been under a substantial amount of media pressure after Andre Marriner's penalty decision at Stamford Bridge and Wes Brown's red card at Stoke. It was therefore important that the referees had a good weekend, to rebuild some confidence heading into the busy christmas period. Starting at White […]

adidas has officially launched the 2014 FIFA World Cup match ball. The ball, named brazuca, was named back in September 2012 following a public vote in Brazil involving 1 million football fans; the name “brazuca” is an informal local term which means “Brazilian”, or to describe the Brazilian way of life. The colors and ribbon […]