World Cup (Soccer)

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      Referee Stéphanie Frappart Will Lead First All-Woman Team at World Cup

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      Some 92 years after the first World Cup game was held in Uruguay, Stéphanie Frappart is set to become the first woman to be the lead referee during a men’s match at the tournament. Frappart, a French referee, has been appointed to a refereeing crew of all women during a decisive group stage game between Costa Rica and Germany on Thursday.Frappart, 38, will lead alongside Neuza Back of Brazil and Mexico’s Karen Diaz Medina. It is a barrier-breaking moment which both coaches welcomed and suggested was overdue.“I trust her 100 percent,” Germany’s manager, Hansi Flick, said of Frappart’s appointment. “I think she deserves to be here due to her performance and achievements.”Costa Rica’s manager, Luis Fernando Suárez, said the same during his prematch news conference.“I am a great admirer of everything women have conquered,” he said. “And I like that they want to keep conquering things. And this is another step forward, especially in this sport, which is a very macho.”Frappart told French reporters she considered her selection as lead referee “a surprise.” Still, she has had a stellar career for nearly two decades. A native of Le Plessis-Bouchard, a remote town in the far north of the Paris region, she officiated her first game in 2003 at age 19 — a women’s match between the Henin-Beaumont F.C. and La Roche-sur-Yon. Within two decades, she was overseeing a Women’s World Cup final.Since then, she climbed the ladder like no woman before her, racking up accolades. In 2014, she became the first woman to be lead referee during a men’s Ligue 2 game, in France’s second division. She then refereed games in men’s Ligue 1, during international friendlies and in the Champions League.On Aug. 14, 2019, Frappart also became the first woman to referee the UEFA Super Cup between Chelsea and Liverpool. After the game, Jürgen Klopp, the Liverpool coach, praised her performance.“If we would have played like they whistled, then we would have won, 6-0,” he said.Frappart’s also refereed the Women’s World Cup final in 2019, when the United States beat the Netherlands to cap a tournament that was a major public forum for the U.S. team’s fight for equal pay and treatment from its national federation.Pierluigi Collina, the chairman of the FIFA referee committee who is known for being tough on colleagues, has high praise for Frappart. “I hope that there will be more Frapparts in the future and that this will no longer constitute an oddity or news story,” Collina told the Italian press in 2021. At the Globe Soccer Awards in 2019, Frappart won an award as best referee and Collina handed her the trophy.Frappart told French reporters that she was “aware” that her presence in the tournament is “going to inspire.” But she would prefer to let her whistle do the talking.“I don’t want to be judged differently because of my gender but because of my refereeing skills,” she said.In Qatar, Stephanie Frappart has already officiated as fourth referee for two matches during the group phase, when Mexico faced Poland and Portugal played Ghana. More

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      It’s the World Cup’s Hot Accessory. But Should Fans Wear It?

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      Head scarves in the colors of the participating teams have become fan favorites in Qatar. Rather than object, locals say they like the twist on a traditional look.DOHA, Qatar — Jean Marc Berger left his home in Geneva to follow Switzerland’s adventures in the World Cup with perhaps the most neutral piece of headgear in existence. His protection against the blazing Gulf sun would extend no further than a red cap emblazoned with a white cross, a homage to the Swiss flag.By the time he arrived at Stadium 974 for his country’s second game, though, the cap was long gone. In its place, Berger, 52, had adopted a ghutra, the traditional head scarf worn by men across the Arabian Peninsula. His was red and white, a nod to his homeland. Holding it in place was an agal, the tightly bound black band around which the scarf is carefully folded.It had never occurred to Berger, before arriving in Qatar, that he would wear one. He had worried that doing so might be seen as offensive by his hosts, assumed that it might be seen as making light of Qatari culture, feared that it would transgress local sensitivities. “I did not think it would be possible,” he said.He did not, as it turns out, have any cause for concern. Ghutras in the distinctive colors of the 32 teams in the tournament have emerged as this World Cup’s must-have accessory among the hundreds of thousands of visitors who have arrived in Qatar to follow their teams. They are for sale in stalls in Souq Waqif, the rebuilt market in downtown Doha, and in immaculate stores in upscale malls. They are even stocked in some supermarkets.Mexico fans and others have embraced Arabian headgear.Tasneem Alsultan of The New York TimesThe truly dedicated can even go one step further, pairing the head scarf with a colored thobe, the flowing tunic that Arabian men mostly wear in white but which, it turns out, also comes in a lurid yellow and green (Brazil), fetching sky blue stripes (Argentina) and even the red, white and blue of the United States.“They are selling well,” said Ali, one of five founders of a pop-up store selling colored ghutras and thobes at locations in the city. “We are a little bit surprised by how well. All of the American countries — the United States, Canada, Brazil, Argentina — have showed up spectacularly.”A Brief Guide to the 2022 World CupCard 1 of 9What is the World Cup? More

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      Messi and Argentina Advance as Mexico Is Eliminated

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      DOHA, Qatar — It was an odd and unprecedented scene.After a 2-0 victory over Poland at Stadium 974 in Doha on Wednesday, Argentina and its top star, Lionel Messi, celebrated having won Group C and advanced to the knockout stage. But Poland was also exalting following its loss. Many of its players huddled on the field around a cellphone, and then cheered and hugged as well, a strange reaction following a defeat.A 30-minute drive away at Lusail Stadium, in the night’s other Group C game, Mexico had been leading Saudi Arabia, 2-0, with a handful of minutes still remaining in extra time. If that score held, Mexico would finish with 4 points, the same as Poland. But Mexico’s streak of advancing to the knockout stage in seven straight World Cups would end by virtue of losing the sixth — yes, the sixth — tiebreaker between it and Poland: each team’s number of yellow and red cards.But when Salem al-Dawsari scored in the fifth minute of added time — and with three minutes remaining in the game — the difference in yellows cards between Mexico and Poland became moot. Suddenly, Mexico had a worse goal differential than Poland and thus was losing the first tiebreaker. Watching on the screen, Poland’s players rejoiced. Then moments later, after the final whistle in Mexico’s 2-1 win, they celebrated their country’s first trip to the knockout stage since 1986.“Sometimes defeats are bittersweet, or sweet and bitter,” Poland Coach Czeslaw Michniewicz said through an interpreter. “But we went through, after many many years.”The drama of the knockout stage awaits — it begins on Saturday — but Wednesday provided a tension-filled teaser. Entering the day, the mission was clear for Argentina and Poland: win and advance. But both teams knew — as did Mexico — of the scenarios in which Mexico could catch one of the other teams in the standings. If Argentina beat Poland, Mexico needed to win — and score a lot of goals.A Brief Guide to the 2022 World CupCard 1 of 9What is the World Cup? More

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      The U.S. Cleared a Big World Cup Hurdle. The Knockout Round Poses Another.

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      The U.S. victory over Iran sent it to the round of 16, with a match against the Netherlands on Saturday. But the team already has much to be proud of.DOHA, Qatar — Those last few minutes, the ones in which everything the United States has worked for was close enough to touch, seemed to stretch on and on into the night. The clock refused to tick. There was always another attack to repel, another ball to clear, another scare to survive.Eight years since it last played a knockout game at the World Cup, four years since it was forced to endure the stinging humiliation of watching the tournament from home, the country’s men’s team was on the brink of laying the ghosts to rest. It held a slender, single-goal lead against Iran, thanks to the self-sacrificing courage of Christian Pulisic. That was enough. All it had to do was hold on.Ever since that night five years ago in Couva, Trinidad, when it had all gone wrong, the question has been whether the United States has sufficiently gifted players to compete with the game’s superpowers. The relative ability of Pulisic, Tyler Adams and Weston McKennie is pored over, their every flaw prized open, their every strength judged and weighed.Those last few minutes, though, were not about talent. They were, instead, the most thorough examination imaginable of Gregg Berhalter’s team’s poise, and composure, and grit. They were a test of nerve. It is to their immense credit that they passed and now have a meeting with the Netherlands on Saturday in the next round.Victory was not comfortable, not at all. There were moments when their hearts rose up into their mouths, moments when their legs seemed heavy and their minds weary, moments when they had to fight off the siren call of blind panic. But then, it could not be any other way. It would not be a test if it were easy.The U.S. held a slender, single-goal lead against Iran, thanks to the self-sacrificing courage of Christian Pulisic.Odd Andersen/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesThis remains an intensely young team, one that has been designed at least in part with the next World Cup, four years away and (mostly) on home soil, in mind. That they weathered what is most likely the most stressful situation any of them have experienced is to their enormous credit.A Brief Guide to the 2022 World CupCard 1 of 9What is the World Cup? More

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      The World Cup Continues for the US Will Christian Pulisic be Part of It?

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      DOHA, Qatar — The job for the United States soccer team was simple, really: Win.The stakes and the stage and the politics all made things harder going into their game against Iran on Tuesday night at the World Cup. The own goal by their federation’s social media team, the Iranians’ great umbrage at the perceived insult to their flag, the chatter and the threats and the intrigue all added to the spice of the matchup. But the task, at its heart, left no room for nuance at all: If United States wanted to keep playing in this tournament, it had to beat Iran. And so it did.NOTHING WAS STOPPING PULISIC FROM SCORING 😤Take another look at his first-ever FIFA World Cup goal for the @USMNT 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/s6tKehRLg2— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) November 29, 2022
      The price of victory may be a high one: Christian Pulisic, perhaps the Americans’ brightest star and the scorer of its only goal in a 1-0 victory, was forced from the game at halftime with an abdominal injury sustained when he crashed hard into Iran’s goalkeeper finishing his goal. He was taken to the hospital for scans, team officials said, and Coach Gregg Berhalter said he had appeared “in good spirits” in a celebratory video call with his teammates after the game.Pulisic’s status for the next round, a date with the Netherlands on Saturday, was unclear as the game ended. But that will be a question for tomorrow. The United States, thanks to its victory, now has one.It will be joined in the knockouts by England, a 3-0 winner over Wales on Tuesday in a different sort of political matchup in a taut group that wasn’t decided until the final whistle blew, and sent the Americans on, and the Iranians out.A Brief Guide to the 2022 World CupCard 1 of 9What is the World Cup? More

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      That Awkward Moment When the Prince of Wales Says He’s Backing England

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      It seemed so nice when Prince William, the heir to the British throne, met with England’s national team to express his support for their World Cup campaign before they left for Qatar. A video released by England’s Football Association (president: Prince William) showed him doling out shirts to the players and declaring that “we’re all rooting for you.”Who the “we” is in that sentence became a matter of some controversy. As many residents of Wales speedily pointed out, Prince William is the Prince of Wales — and Wales was also competing in the tournament. In fact, the team is playing England today, the first time the two nations have ever met in a World Cup. (Wales hasn’t been to the World Cup since 1958.)“Not a shred of embarrassment?” the Welsh actor Michael Sheen, whose nationalist fervor has resulted in some Shakespearean-style inspirational orations to the Welsh team, tweeted at Prince William. “Or sensitivity to the problem here?”Prince William quickly did a bit of diplomatic maneuvering, saying that though he generally supports England in soccer and Wales in rugby, he was excited about both their prospects for the World Cup. He also said he planned to wear a Welsh bucket hat for the team’s match against Iran. (Wales lost, 2-0.) It is unclear what he intends to wear for the England-Wales game on Tuesday, but there is no doubt which team Sheen will be supporting. More

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      Why World Cup Games Will be Played at the Same Time for the Next Four Days

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      For eight straight days, the soccer smorgasbord that is the World Cup has unspooled at regular intervals, each match staggered to bestow it maximum importance, a full 90 minutes of splendor — plus an eon of stoppage time — on the global stage without intrusion from other games.Even if upsets abounded, a certain tidiness to the proceedings still reigned: On most of those eight days, there were four games, scheduled three hours apart, one after another after another. It was glorious, satisfying and, for those of us who crave order, rather life-affirming.Now, as of Tuesday, structure is on a brief hiatus. Dear reader, prepare for chaos.Starting with the Group A games at 10 a.m. Eastern time, each of the eight clusters across the next four days will stage its final round of matches simultaneously.Qatar will kick off against the Netherlands on Tuesday at the same time that Ecuador does the same against Senegal. After a break, the United States’ clash with Iran in Group B is scheduled to start at 2 p.m., precisely when England’s matchup with Wales begins.The change in schedule creates the closest conditions to competitive balance and fair play, assuring that teams do not know the result required to reach the knockout stage before they take the field. It discourages teams from improving pathways in the bracket by influencing results with such tactics as manipulating goal differential or not playing to win. It also inhibits match fixing.A Brief Guide to the 2022 World CupCard 1 of 9What is the World Cup? More

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      U.S. vs. Iran at the World Cup: How to Stream

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      The Americans will play Iran on Tuesday in their final match in the group stage. Here’s how to watch, and what to watch for.After a tournament-opening 1-1 draw with Wales and a scoreless draw with England, the United States has one more group-stage game at the World Cup in Qatar. The Americans can advance to the knockout stage with a victory against Iran.When will the United States play Iran?Tuesday at 2 p.m. Eastern time. That’s 10 p.m. in Qatar.How can I watch in the United States?The game will be broadcast on Fox (in English) and on Telemundo (in Spanish).To stream the English-language broadcast, you’ll need a subscription to a streaming package that includes Fox, like YouTube TV, Hulu, SlingTV or Fubo. (Some offer free trials.) Tubi will stream the game for free, but only as a replay, after the game is over.Peacock will stream the Spanish-language broadcast. (Peacock Premium is $4.99 a month.)What do the Americans need to do to advance?The situation is simple: If the United States defeats Iran, it will advance to the round of 16. If it ties or loses, it will be eliminated.With a victory, the United States will most likely go through as the second-place team from its group. But if Wales upsets England, the Americans will win Group B.Should the United States advance, it would play a game in the round of 16 on Saturday or Sunday, quite possibly against the Netherlands, although Ecuador or Senegal are also potential opponents. A quarterfinal opponent might be Argentina, Poland, Australia or Denmark. And it would only get tougher from there.A Brief Guide to the 2022 World CupCard 1 of 9What is the World Cup? More