TEHRAN, Iran — Iranians reported Saturday that the state broadcaster had muted stadium noise during the previous evening’s soccer match in Tehran, in an apparent attempt to drown out anti-government chants.
A German football star of Turkish heritage has quit the national team and blamed “racism and disrespect” after he was criticized for posing for photos with the increasingly authoritarian president Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro declared on Tuesday that the continent of Africa was the real winner of the FIFA World Cup after France won the competition with a team comprising many players of African heritage.
American progressives use the World Cup soccer tournament for multiculturalist virtue-signaling, as an opportunity for them to sneer at the lowbrow Middle America who ignore an international sport that drives the rest of the world bonkers.
Martin Selmayr, the head of the EU bureaucracy once described as the ‘Rasputin of Brussels’, mocked England after they were knocked out of the World Cup by Croatia on social media.
Israel Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu will join Russia President Vladimir Putin tonight in Moscow as they both watch England take on Croatia in the football World Cup. A pair of football-loving Israeli children fighting cancer will join them.
BEERSHEBA — The desert city of Beersheba in southern Israel may seem to have little in common with the gleaming capitals of Europe, but for the third year running its soccer club is to play in the UEFA Champions League.
Finally, after days of intense rescue efforts, all 12 of the trapped teenaged Thai soccer players and their coach have been rescued.
President Donald Trump said on Sunday morning that the United States is “working very closely” with Thailand’s government to rescue 12 boys and their soccer coach who have been trapped in a cave.
A newspaper in Burkina Faso has hailed the French national squad an “African team” due to the high proportion of diverse players.
“Rabiot” may have predicted Japan’s World Cup soccer results, but he failed to foresee his own ignoble demise.
Criticism from disappointed fans has forced Iranian player Sardar Azmoun to retire from international football aged just 23 and enable him to spend more time with his mother.
President Donald Trump commented on the World Cup soccer tournament on Wednesday, revealing that one of his sons was a fan of the sport.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has taken to Twitter and delivered a message directly to the Iranian people who have taken to Tehran’s streets in the past 48-hours demanding change.
Iran’s hardline Prosecutor-General Mohammad Jafar Montazeri said Sunday he was “ashamed” to speak of the fact that women were permitted to watch a televised match of their soccer team competing at the 2018 World Cup in Tehran’s Azadi Stadium.
Migrants are using the soccer World Cup ticketing system to illegally enter the European Union (EU) without a visa.
Egypt’s devout Muslim goalkeeper Mohamed El-Shenawy declined to receive a player of the match trophy at the FIFA World Cup for religious reasons.
TEL AVIV – Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman on Saturday mocked soccer player Lionel Messi for missing a crucial World Cup penalty, saying it was the result of Argentina’s last minute withdrawal from a warm-up game in Israel.
With spirits high as their national team opened the World Cup in Russia Thursday, Saudi Arabian soccer fans said they would be open to the prospect of playing against Israel in the future, as Israel’s Foreign Ministry spokesman wished the gulf kingdom luck in the international soccer tournament.
“The U.S. has put together a STRONG bid w/ Canada & Mexico for the 2026 World Cup,” Trump wrote in April on Twitter. “It would be a shame if countries that we always support were to lobby against the U.S. bid.”
TEL AVIV – Amid calls from Israel demanding soccer’s governing body FIFA to investigate threats against Argentinian players, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed concern that the South American country’s “disappointing” decision to cancel its friendly soccer match against Israel would not set a precedent.
A brewery is removing the Saudi Arabian flag from football World Cup bunting in hundreds of pubs because people were offended that Islamic symbols were displayed in a place serving alcohol.
TEL AVIV – Israeli sports minister said the cancellation of the Argentina’s decision to cancel its friendly game with Israel scheduled for Saturday amid pressure from pro-Palestinian groups was “terror, not BDS.”
JERUSALEM — The sports-crazed nation of Israel was in uproar Wednesday over Argentina’s abrupt cancellation of a World Cup warmup match following pro-Palestinian protests, with some of the country’s leaders accusing Lionel Messi and his teammates of caving to terrorism.
The head of the Palestinian football federation is calling on Arab and Muslim sports fans to burn photos and T-shirts of Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi if he attends a friendly match between Argentina and Israel next weekend.
British Police have told English football fans going to the World Cup in Russia to not wave or display the St George flag, claiming it could be seen as “imperialistic” and “antagonistic”.
Jerusalem’s largest soccer club announced Sunday that it has changed its name to “Beitar Trump Jerusalem,” in honor of the US president’s recognition of Israel’s capital and moving his country’s embassy from Tel Aviv.
Female football fans donned fake beards, mustaches and wigs to sneak into a major soccer match in Iran in defiance of the country’s strict Islamic codes of conduct.
TEHRAN – A conservative lawmaker in Iran slammed the sports federation on Sunday for allowing star footballer Masoud Shojaei to return to the international squad despite appearing against an Israeli team last year.
An Israeli soccer player and the captain of the Iranian national team took to the Internet to show that the people of Iran and the people of Israel do not harbor hate.
Israel will host Argentina for a friendly match on June 9, days before the start of the World Cup in Russia, Israel’s football federation said on Thursday.
LIVERPOOL, England (AP) — A former English youth soccer coach was convicted of 43 charges of sex abuse against 11 young players in a trial that detailed how he shattered the trust of boys who dreamed of becoming professionals.
Thousands of Saudi women are now enjoying the right to attend football matches among other basic improvements in women’s rights under the Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman’s modernization program.
Chelsea Football Club is launching a campaign to fight anti-Semitism in football, targeting fans as well as players and the club’s support staff.
Video surfacing on social media reportedly shows an Iranian soccer stadium chanting “death to the dictator” in unison, a sign protests that the Islamic regime has failed to quell protests against its oppression.
