Japan opens World Cup qualifying with 2-0 away win against Myanmar
Shoya Nakajima's and Takumi Minamino's first-half goals led Japan to a 2-0 win away over Myanmar as the Samurai Blue opened their 2022 World Cup qualifying campaign with a victory. Japan picked apart the Myanmar defense early and often, slowed nearly as much by Thuwanna ...
Kazuyoshi Miura: Flashy 'King Kazu' steered soccer's rise
It could be said that no team sport in Japan has outpaced soccer's growth through the Heisei Era, and 52-year-old Kazuyoshi Miura is the only player who can claim to have been a part of that growth throughout.
Traffickers used Russia's World Cup to enslave us, say Nigerian women
Blessing Obuson thought Russia's soccer World Cup would be an opportunity to find a job and flew into Moscow from Nigeria last June on a fan ID. Instead, she found herself forced to work as a prostitute. Fan IDs allowed visa-free entry to World Cup ...
Kobayashi leaps into rarefied air with 11th World Cup win of season
Ryoyu Kobayashi won his 11th event on the 2018-2019 World Cup circuit on Sunday, the third day of competition in Willingen, becoming the sixth ski jumper in history, and the first Japanese, to post 11 wins in a single season. Kobayashi, who had the longest ...
Former Japan international soccer defender Yuji Nakazawa, 40, to retire
Durable Yokohama F Marinos defender Yuji Nakazawa, who played in two World Cups for Japan, has decided to retire, an official source said Monday. Last Aug. 19, the 40-year-old sat out a game due to pain in his left knee, ending his string of 178 ...
Many of the teams that did well in the tournament were multiethnic and multiracial, but success in sports does not produce tolerance.
Soccer makes its fans unhappy in the long run
The results are in: The pain of defeat may outweigh the joy of victory.
Thailand's rescued cave boys won't see World Cup final live, hospital says
Twelve boys and their soccer coach rescued from a flooded Thai cave will watch a recording of the World Cup final which takes place Sunday, not the live broadcast, a hospital official said. "Given that the final will be broadcast quite late our time, and ...
Belgium has best World Cup showing, beats England by 2-0 to secure third-place finish
Belgium beat England 2-0 in the World Cup third-place playoff on Saturday to secure its best-ever finish at a World Cup and send Gareth Southgate's side home with a second straight loss. France will face Croatia in Sunday's final at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow. A ...
A week after returning to Japan following Samurai Blue's round-of-16 defeat to Belgium at the World Cup, Takashi Inui said Thursday the next step is contributing to his new team, Real Betis, in Spain's La Liga. "I want to enjoy playing soccer, and contribute to ...
Russians love being victorious underdogs
Why the anti-Putin opposition is mad about the national soccer team, too.
