News about Soccer
The Spanish national team became the second semifinalist in the 2026 World Cup, defeating Belgium 2–1 in Los Angeles. The winning goal in the 86th minute was scored by substitute Mikel Merino, who has now been the hero for the Spanish team in the playoffs for the second consecutive match.
This week, Moldovan soccer clubs kicked off their 2026–27 season on the European stage. Three teams representing our country played their first matches in the opening qualifying rounds of the Champions League, the Europa League, and the Conference League.
The French national team became the first semifinalist in the 2026 FIFA World Cup after defeating Morocco 2–0 in a quarterfinal match held on July 9 at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, U.S.
The reigning world champions, the Argentine national team, advanced to the quarterfinals of the 2026 World Cup with a hard-fought 3–2 victory over Egypt. Lionel Scaloni’s team was down 0–2 with ten minutes remaining in regulation, but managed to turn the game around, with Lionel Messi scoring one of the key goals.
An initiative raising questions about the independence of FIFA’s decision-making process is gaining support in the European Parliament. A group of lawmakers circulated a letter among their colleagues calling for an investigation into the circumstances under which the automatic suspension of U.S. national team forward Folarin Balogun was lifted after he was sent off during the World Cup.
On the penultimate day of the World Cup Round of 16, one of the most anticipated matches of this stage of the tournament took place — Spain, one of the top contenders for the title, faced off against an equally ambitious Portugal led by Cristiano Ronaldo.
The Brazilian national team suffered a shocking exit from the 2026 FIFA World Cup, losing 1–2 to Norway in the round of 16. Erling Haaland was once again the star of the match, helping his team advance to the quarterfinals of the tournament.
On July 5, FIFA made an unprecedented decision to suspend the suspension of U.S. national team player Folarin Balogun for a red card.
The round of 16 has concluded at the 2026 World Cup. The last three playoff matches produced several standout moments—Egypt’s historic victory, a hard-fought win by defending world champions Argentina, and a narrow victory for Colombia. All eight Round of 16 matchups have now been determined.
The playoff stage of the 2026 World Cup has added a dramatic twist to the tournament from the very start, infusing it with new excitement and emotion. Yesterday (or rather, the night of June 29–30, Moldovan time) brought several upsets all at once.
The group stage of the World Cup, being held in stadiums across the United States, Canada, and Mexico, has come to an end. As a result, all the matchups for the Round of 16 have been determined.
On the evening of June 23, Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo scored two goals against the Uzbekistan national team and made his mark in World Cup history.
The 2026 FIFA World Cup has become not only the world’s largest sporting event, but also a major competitive arena for sports equipment manufacturers. While brands compete for fans’ attention through advertising campaigns, brand ambassadors, and collaborations, an equally intense battle is unfolding right on the field—for the tournament players’ uniforms.
Lionel Messi, the Argentine national team forward and eight-time winner of the Ballon d’Or as the world’s best soccer player, has set yet another historic record.
Paraguay national team midfielder Matías Galarza was one of the standout players in the 2026 FIFA World Cup match against Turkey. He opened the scoring just 65 seconds into the match, scoring the fastest goal of the tournament and securing a narrow 1-0 victory for his team. This result kept Paraguay’s hopes alive for advancing to the next round of the competition.
According to forecasts, the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) is expected to earn $11 billion from the World Cup, which is being held from June 11 to July 19 at stadiums in the United States, Canada, and Mexico.
The group stage matches are underway at the World Cup, but so far there have been few real upsets or exciting soccer. Fortunately, there have been virtually no major scandals involving refereeing—the intensity of the matches hasn’t yet reached the point where every refereeing mistake is seen as a “death blow” to one team or another.
The draw for the first qualifying rounds of the Champions League, Europa League, and Conference League took place on June 16 in Nyon, Switzerland.
The 2026 World Cup final will take place on July 19. Meanwhile, researchers at the University of Liverpool have already used a supercomputer and machine learning to predict the most likely outcome of the tournament.
The World Cup in the United States, Mexico, and Canada is already in full swing, but experts and fans aren’t content with just the match results and soccer-related news from the stadiums themselves.
