The United States is participating in the South American continental championship as an invited team for the fifth time, and will hope to once again make the semi-final as it has twice before, including in 2016 when it last was played on U.S. soil. While a teenage Christian Pulisic was on that squad, the AC Milan attacker is one of few holdovers from that generation of American soccer.
He’s joined at this tournament by a midfield full of talent, whether it be Juventus’ Weston McKennie, Bournemouth’s Tyler Adams, Pulisic’s Milan teammate Yunus Musah and Real Betis’ Johnny, a relatively new face with the U.S. who is coming off a tremendous six months in Spain.
There may be more concerns about the current generation at the back, where typically secure goalkeeper Matt Turner enters the summer after playing little with Nottingham Forest. Sergiño Dest is missing the Copa América with an injury, though Joe Scally’s performance against Vinicíus Júnior in a friendly against Brazil has U.S. fans hopeful they have the personnel needed to lock down attackers who excel out wide.
Bolivia historically has struggled to win when they’re not the home side, so a date with the hosts will be an intimidating start to the tournament they last won in 1963. A sterling run in the Copa Libertadores by Bolívar has lifted some hopes in Bolivia that this group could be the one to break what is nearly a decade-long winless run in official games played away from the altitude of Bolivia.
They’ll need to find the right attacking mix, with Henry Vaca missing the tournament as he recovers from injury and legendary goalscorer Marcelo Martins Moreno having announced his international retirement after 108 caps and 31 goals for La Verde, both all-time highs.
Matching the highs of the 2015 Copa América in Chile, when Bolivia beat Ecuador and advanced from the group stage would be success at the tournament for Antonio Carlos Zago’s men. Any result against the host nation would go down as an historic result.
The other teams in the group, Panama and Uruguay, meet later Sunday in Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium.
(Cover image from IMAGO)
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Euro 2024 is underway and the games are coming thick and fast. Here are four things you should look out for across day 10 of the competition as the third matchday of the group stages gets underway. Scotland face Hungary, and Switzerland play hosts Germany as Group A comes to a conclusion.
That Scotland have qualified for the finals of a major tournament eleven times before without getting through the group stage of the competition is a number so great that it can only realistically be viewed as a statistical anomaly.
The ways in which they have failed to do so have been many and varied, from goal difference (1974, 1978 & 1982), to just not quite being good enough (1986, 1990, 1992 & 1996), to being just not good enough (1998, 2021). But which way will the pendulum swing this time?
Hungary are beatable. They’ve lost both of their games so far, and by reasonable margins. They’ve shown enough shortcomings to give Scotland hope. Scotland worked hard against Switzerland and deserved their draw, and they know that a win almost certainly will be enough. There’ll be quite a party if they can manage it.
Is Dominik Szoboszlai becoming a cautionary tale?
It’s been less than a year since Liverpool paid £60m to trigger Dominik Szoboszai’s RB Leipzig transfer clause and take him to the Premier League. His season at Anfield wasn’t an especially happy one, with injuries and less frequent appearances as the season wore on.
But the pressure on Merseyside is nothing like what he faces with his national team, because despite being just 23 years old, Szoboszlai seems to carry the expectation of an entire nation upon his shoulders. Much as he has previously claimed to be “motivated” by criticism, this doesn’t seem to be manifesting itself on the pitch.
Football has been here countless times before, layering expectations on a young player whose talent is expected to dig his team out of trouble. It’s fair to say that Szoboszlai hasn’t performed yet. But that won’t change unless the weight of the world can be lifted from his shoulders every time he takes to the pitch.
The Switzerland match does still matter for Germany
There could be a party atmosphere in Frankfurt tonight, with Germany already through to the next round. But this doesn’t mean their match against Switzerland doesn’t matter. A Switzerland win would put Germany second, meaning that they’d play the runners-up from Group B (likely Spain or Italy) in the next round, whereas the group winners play the runners-up from Group C, England’s group. It’s unlikely that Germany would want to play Spain or Italy this early in the competition; to avoid them they need at least a draw.
Xherdan Shaqiri can spoil Germany’s party
If anybody can, Xherdan can. For the last six major tournaments in a row, Xherdan Shaqiri has scored for Switzerland, part of an international career that stretches back 14 years and 124 appearances. Against Scotland there he was again, pinging a loose pass first time into the top corner from twenty yards with the inside of his left foot.
His goal was the jewel in an otherwise tepid Swiss performance, and now it’s on to face the hosts. In an era of increasingly standardised footballers, Shaqiri remains the barrel-chested exception that proves the rule and few could doubt the delight that he would take in making Germany’s progress through this tournament considerably less comfortable.
(Cover image from IMAGO)
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The final round of games in Group A awaits, with the two most vulnerable sides set to go head-to-head. Scotland will face Hungary at the Stuttgart Arena, with the group’s third and fourth-placed sides clinging on to their qualification hopes.
It’s been a disappointing start to the tournament for both Hungary and Scotland, but they will be forced to give it everything on Sunday as one of them will be heading home by the end of the game. It was a night to forget in Munich for the Tartan Army against Germany in the opening fixture of Euro 2024, shipping five goals and shattering the confidence of the supporters before half-time.
Steve Clarke’s side showed signs of improvement in their second match after their heavy defeat to Germany in the opener, but an injury to Kieran Tierney has dented their chances of getting a result.
The Arsenal defender plays a crucial role in Scotland’s five-at-the-back system, slotting in on the left-hand side of the central defenders. Tierney dovetails well with Andy Robertson on the left, with the latter playing in a wing-back role. A tweak of his setup would be in the pipeline from Clarke, especially with Ryan Porteous suspended.
Scott McTominay continues to show his attacking threat from midfield after his deflected strike against Switzerland made it eight goals in 12 Scotland appearances for the Manchester United midfielder this season.
Against Germany, the Hungarians weren’t afraid to try and stamp their authority on the host nation, creating four big chances throughout, but their finishing let them down on the night. Dominik Szoboszlai is the one to watch, achieving an average FotMob match rating of 6.98 so far, including a 7.6 against Switzerland in the opening match.
Throughout the tournament, Hungary have missed six big chances while only finding the back of the net one on occasion, so there’s an argument to suggest they’ve had a slice of misfortune. Getting the ball into advanced areas hasn’t been a problem for Marco Rossi’s men, but putting it into the back of the net has been a struggle.
Hungary are unable to finish in the top two as they trail four points behind Switzerland, so nothing more than a victory will do for The Magyars. It could make for an entertaining clash on Sunday night as the two sides desperately compete for a pivotal three points.
(Cover image from IMAGO)
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Germany face Switzerland in what is likely to be the battle for first and second place in group A. Julian Nagelsmann’s side are guaranteed to advance into the next round after picking up six points since the tournament got under way, but a flawless group stage campaign will be the plan in front of their home crowd.
The mixture of experience and youth in the middle of the park has created a successful cocktail in the tournament so far for the Germans. Toni Kroos and İlkay Gündoğan provide a base in the midfield, with Florian Wirtz and Jamal Musiala given the freedom to make things happen in attack.
The Germans have shown immense control since the start of the tournament and have produced plenty of goals to back up their possession-based style. One of the favourites heading into Euro 2024, Nagelsmann’s men have produced the goods, scoring an average of 3.5 goals per game so far. The toughest game of their group-stage campaign awaits against the Swiss, but they’ll have to beat stronger sides if they want to lift the trophy in July.
With 71.2 per cent possession in their first two games of the tournament, Nagelsmann has been able to implement a controlling style and Germany are now reaping the rewards at Euro 2024.
Although the Swiss stand a good chance of qualifying for the next round of the competition, finishing in first place will be in their sights at the Frankfurt Arena on Sunday. With four points in the bag already, Murat Yakin’s side will be hoping to end the group-stage fixtures on a high.
Granit Xhaka, who has averaged a 7.58 match rating so far, will be crucial for Switzerland if they want to finish on top. His experience and comfortability on the ball have made him a standout star in their first two fixtures, and he’ll have a point to prove in the country where he now plies his trade domestically.
We’re likely to see Switzerland allow the Germans to dominate the ball, hitting them on the break after sitting deep. The Swiss only had 50 per cent of the possession against Hungary, but still managed to create 2.33 expected goals (xG) with 35 touches inside the opposition box.
A draw between the two sides would guarantee they both cement their place in the next round of the competition.
(Cover image from IMAGO)
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One year after their Gold Cup semi-final contest, Mexico and Jamaica meet again, this time opening their Copa América campaigns with a Group B match in Houston’s NRG Stadium.
Mexico took that match 3-0 with Henry Martín scoring an early goal, Luis Chávez adding a second at the half hour mark and Roberto Alvarado finishing things off with a tally in stoppage time. But only two of the players are part of Mexico’s Copa América roster, with América forward Martín left off of Jaime Lozano’s roster as the Mexico manager looks to bring younger players into the fold.
Martín is hardly the only casualty of the push for fresh blood. Mexico’s goalkeeping situation heading into Saturday’s match is uncertain because veteran goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa was left out – as was winger Hirving Lozano. But Ochoa’s replacement Luis Malagon suffered an injury, meaning Lozano now will pick between late addition Carlos Acevedo or two goalkeepers who went into the summer without any international minutes.
Jamaica, too, will be without its stalwart shot-stopper, though not because they don’t wish Andre Blake were there. Blake suffered a knee injury and underwent meniscus surgery in late May. While he’s named in Heimir Hallgrímsson’s 26-man squad, he’s unlikely to be able to play.
Another player present on the squad list but not in person is Aston Villa star Leon Bailey, who Hallgrímsson named to the roster but who continues to decline to play for the Reggae Boyz amidst frustration with the coaching staff and the Jamaica Football Federation.
Still, Jamaica will not be without an attacking threat. West Ham United forward Michail Antonio will lead the line and, after missing out on June’s World Cup qualification matches with an injury, winger Demarai Gray is fit and ready for Copa América.
El Tri’s attacking situation will be closely watched during the tournament, with no Lozano but with several players coming in off red-hot seasons in Liga MX. Uriel Antuna, who led the league in scoring with Cruz Azul, and Julián Quiñoes are options out wide, as is energetic Pumas playmaker Cesar Huerta, while expectations are heavy on Santi Giménez, who has starred with Feyenoord but is yet to find a huge return in international play.
In a Group B that looks like the most open in the competition, points will be at a premium. Both teams will hope to secure all three in the opener before games with Ecuador and Venezuela.
(Cover image from IMAGO)
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Euro 2024 is underway and the games are coming thick and fast. In this daily feature on FotMob, which is going to run for the entirety of the tournament, here are four things you should look out for across day nine of the competition as Georgia take on Czechia, Türkiye come up against Portugal and Belgium will be looking to bounce back from their shock defeat to Slovakia as they face off against Romania.
Georgia, making their first appearance at the Euros, suffered a 3-1 loss to Türkiye on Tuesday. They may have lost the game but their approach and performance certainly won over many neutrals.
They were fearless and this opened up the game completely. As a result, they carved out five big chances, the joint-most of any team across the opening round of fixtures, while also giving up the highest number of Expected Goals (three).
Having lost their first game, Georgia will be determined to get points on the board against the Czechs on Saturday and this could well see them attack with even greater numbers. This early kick-off from Hamburg could be a fun one to watch.
The Ronaldo show for Portugal
Portugal have a ridiculously talented group of players and some questioned whether Cristiano Ronaldo should’ve been included in their starting XI. Was he there on merit or simply in Roberto Martínez’s team because of his reputation?
He answered that question in the 2-1 win over the Czechia. The 39-year-old didn’t score but he was heavily involved in everything good Portugal did on Tuesday evening. Ronaldo had five shots (the joint-most in a single match across matchday one), while landing the most shots on target (three) and creating two chances for teammates.
The former Real Madrid striker was a handful and justified his place in the XI. He’ll want a goal though, so Türkiye should be wary of what is to come.
Turkish delight
Another side tipped as dark horses at this tournament, Türkiye certainly lived up to the billing during their 3-1 win against Georgia. It was pure tournament football with Vincenzo Montella’s side determined to win.
As mentioned above, they carved out five big chances, the most of any team across the opening round of fixtures while finishing with the highest Expected Goals haul (three).
Türkiye could cause Portugal a number of issues when the two sides meet in what is now a top-of-the-table clash. If Montella’s men play with the same freedom they did on Tuesday, Portugal might be in for a bit of a surprise.
A misfiring Belgium attack
Belgium huffed and puffed but could not find a way past Slovakia in what was one of the shock results of matchday one. Domenico Tedesco’s side, ranked third in the world, suffered a 1-0 loss on Monday.
They had two goals ruled out and spurned a number of chances. In fact, they carved out four big chances and missed all four. They racked up an xG total of 1.7 but couldn’t find a way past Martin Dúbravka.
Romelu Lukaku was the leading culprit on the day as he missed three big chances for the Red Devils. Belgium’s leading scorer has given Tedesco a decision to make. Does he stick with him and write it off as one bad game or does he turn to Loïs Openda? The RB Leipzig man looked bright off of the bench against Slovakia.
(Cover image from IMAGO)
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Romania’s magnificent performance against Ukraine earned them admirers, three points and half a foot in the last 16 of Euro 2024, but another step up again will be required against a team who will surely amount a response of some kind, following Belgium’s dismal showing and narrow defeat to Slovakia.
No doubt plenty will point to two disallowed goals for Belgium. Valid, but irrelevant: they created too little, looked ill-suited to the system with the chosen personnel, were too tame and hesitant in their buildup play, didn’t get Kevin De Bruyne into particularly threatening areas often enough and have real concerns over their defensive partnerships.
Wout Faes individually was poor; he was too impetuous, lacked consistency and wasted possession far too often. Faes is six years older than Zeno Debast but played like the rookie: he won just one of three tackles, played eight long balls but found his mark only twice, lost four of his ten ground duels and three of five in the air.
That said, he was far from the only reason for defeat for Belgium, with the likes of Johan Bakayoko and Youri Tielemans perhaps set for inclusion after trying to inject guile and pace from the bench last time out. Improvements are needed all over the park, else they face a second straight humiliation in group stage exits at major tournaments.
Romania must remain wary, all the same. There’s obviously enough technical ability in that Belgium side to simply step up, create a dozen chances and sweep them aside, particularly if any of the effort, off-the-ball running and team unity from that first win over Ukraine is absent in their second game.
Wondergoals made the match and result even more fantastic for their fans, but it was that far greater endeavour and much better gameplan which really saw Romania topple their opponents throughout.
Dennis Man was a standout from the right wing, creating three chances, assisting two goals, very nearly scoring one of his own with a curling shot just wide. But to highlight individuals is to ignore the essence of their success. Man’s partnership with right-back Andrei Ratiu was crucial, in both directions. Radu Drăgușin was astonishingly good at centre-back, celebrating blocks and covering for teammates wherever needed. Denis Drăguș lead the line well in attack, but covered in for his midfielders too when required. This is what they need once more against Belgium, where they’ll likely have less possession, fewer chances to sustain pressure…and more expectation on them now, too.
(Cover image from IMAGO)
You can follow every game from Euro 2024 live with FotMob — featuring deep stats coverage, xG, and player ratings. Download the free app here.
The two top teams in Group F after the first round of games, but Türkiye and Portugal attained their victories in very different manners. The Turks were well-organised, had a good buildup game plan and scored some absolute crackers; Portugal were totally dominant and filled with star names, but needed patience, fortune and one of the deepest benches at the whole of Euro 2024 to come from behind late on.
It’s now quickly become impossible to talk Türkiye without mentioning Arda Güler, though, so we may as well start there. His spectacular, inch-perfect goal was the highlight but he was busy throughout, taking up clever positions, showing that tremendous first touch of his and making sure he was free as an out-ball on counters. Playing both in the channel and more centrally, his crucial impact was seen not just in the number of times he tried to take on his man, but in his willingness to go beyond Türkiye’s roving striker, Barış Alper Yılmaz. Güler had four touches in the box – no teammate managed more – and created three shooting chances for his side.
Between him, Yılmaz and Kenan Yıldız there’s a real functionality and cohesion in the attack, but behind them the midfield showed both faces during that opening game, good and bad. Kaan Ayhan was a ferocious workhorse, almost scored and showed moments of great quality, but Türkiye were also overrun at times, pegged back by Georgia’s system as much as their on-the-ball quality, and Portugal are nominally in a similar shape with their wing-backs.
Roberto Martínez’s side did utilise them very differently, though, which is perhaps to say…oddly. The use of João Cancelo from wide coming inside is by now a norm, but in a back four rather than from wing-back. It gave Nuno Mendes a huge volume of ground to cover and certainly didn’t get the best out of him on the overlap.
The midfield balance wasn’t quite there either, Vitinha and Bruno Fernandes sometimes stuck passing the ball between themselves without really progressing it, and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see João Palhinha or a similar option come into the side to add some balance against a team who will attack them far more than Czechia did.
It’s the inverse of an all-or-nothing game in some respects, with both nations already having claimed a win, but if top spot is the aim and a potentially easier last-16 tie, then this is the game to go all-out in, safe in the knowledge that game three can be the safety net if an attacking nature backfires and a a point or more is still needed.
(Cover image from IMAGO)
You can follow every game from Euro 2024 live with FotMob — featuring deep stats coverage, xG, and player ratings. Download the free app here.
One of the most exhilarating and watchable games from the first round of Euro 2024 matches was that involving Georgia, the debutant nation who gave it everything and came within a whisker of taking a point from Türkiye – before a late breakaway goal left the match going 3-1 against them. It means two things: One, they know they can compete with the teams in their group and two, it probably all rests on this next encounter, as Portugal will naturally be a stronger opponent in attacking terms, if nothing else.
Despite their eventual defeat, Georgia will be hugely heartened by the fact they played to their strengths and created no fewer than five big chances in the game – Georges Mikautadze was a threat throughout, Giorgi Kochorashvili was a non-stop dynamo in midfield, and goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili showed his qualities too. All this, and their top player Khvicha Kvaratskhelia not having his best day at the office suggests there’s more to come. They’ll need to sharpen up in terms of passing through midfield perhaps, unless they plan to make it another basketball, end-to-end, whoever shoots best wins type of encounter.
The Czechs have reason for hope themselves too, though, after very nearly keeping Portugal at bay for a positive result. They were a little reductive and spent large spells of the match in a defensive shape behind the ball, but perhaps needs-must was the thinking after they took the lead in that game.
Their goal was a spectacular one, but it underlines their lack of creativity and attacking intent otherwise: just 0.43 xG from their opening game, no corners, no big chances created. Ultimately that was costly and there’s no margin for error of the type they made against Portugal, an own goal which was really the goalkeeper, Jindřich Staněk’s, fault, before another error in the final seconds.
Despite a backs-to-the-wall showing the Czechs couldn’t even argue they came out on top defensively, with only David Douděra (71%) winning more than half his ground duels and right-back Vladimír Coufal dribbled past twice. Given that’s the flank Kvaratskhelia is likely to start from, he’ll need to improve in particular.
All this combines to make this fixture a definite must-win for both nations, if they hope to reach the last 16, which should make for a fascinating encounter – and it’s Georgia, at their first-ever major tournament, who probably enter the match in better confidence and with a gameplan which looks capable of working.
(Cover image from IMAGO)
You can follow every game from Euro 2024 live with FotMob — featuring deep stats coverage, xG, and player ratings. Download the free app here.
Major League Soccer expert James Nalton picks out five of the best players from the latest round of action and explains his two votes for the North American Soccer Reporters (NASR) MLS Player of the Matchday.
This is the kind of performance Colorado Rapids would have been expecting from the man they signed from AZ Alkmaar as a Designated Player ahead of this season.
Mihailović has MLS pedigree from previous stints with Chicago Fire and Montreal Impact, and his DP status reflects his quality and perhaps some surprise he didn’t succeed in Europe.
The Rapids needed to inject some ingenuity into their franchise and this is what the 25-year-old brings.
His hat trick in a 3-0 win against last season’s Western Conference leaders St. Louis City was a statement, as Colorado won back-to-back games for the first time since April.
It was also a perfect hat trick, consisting of goals scored via a header, a left-footer and a right-footer. He also created six chances for good measure.
9.5 FotMob rating: Luciano Acosta, FC Cincinnati
While Lionel Messi is away, another Argentine No. 10 has come out to play.
As was the case when he made three second-half assists last weekend against San Jose Earthquakes, Acosta showed why he is the reigning MLS MVP in this 4-3 win against Philadelphia Union.
His assist for the first goal for Kevin Kelsy was classic Acosta, picking up the ball in what didn’t look like a dangerous area, but then producing a perfect long pass to the forward who headed in at the far post.
Acosta comes alive in key moments, and did so again for his second goal, having already scored a penalty, to win the game in the 10th minute of added time.
He now has the most game-winning goals in MLS with six.
If Messi was doing this, it would be hailed as magical play, so we should give the same plaudits to Acosta.
Inter Miami are still picking up the wins without Messi, recording an impressive 2-1 win against Columbus, but with Acosta on the field, Cincinnati remain contenders, and their own Argentine may challenge Messi for MVP honours.
Three more standout performers
9.6 FotMob rating: Petar Musa, FC Dallas
FC Dallas look revived under interim head coach Peter Luccin following the sacking of Nico Estevez earlier this month.
This 5-3 victory against a Minnesota United side that have impressed for much of the season was another sign that the Texas team are starting to enjoy their football again.
This was the first multi-goal game for Croatian forward Musa since he arrived at the club for a club-record fee of over $10m.
The 26-year-old displayed some instinctive finishing to complete his hat-trick, giving him three goals from three shots, two of which were first-time finishes.
“This is what we want from Petar, to be closer to the box, and to have that energy, to be happy,” said Luccin.
“It’s just for him to read the moments and to understand what we are looking for from him. He has been fantastic today.”
Despite a poor start to the season, FC Dallas may now even have one eye on making the playoffs, especially if Musa can continue scoring as expected.
9.1 FotMob rating: Andrés Gómez, Real Salt Lake
Much of the focus at Real Salt Lake this season has fallen, understandably, on forward Cristian Arango who leads the league’s goalscoring charts with 16 goals.
But supporting him in this side has been the 21-year-old Colombian winger Gómez, who is himself enjoying a standout season.
The pair have played a big role in RSL’s rise to the top of the Western Conference this season, and they are now just four points behind Supporters’ Shield leaders Inter Miami in the overall table, with a game in hand.
With Arango starting on the bench against Sporting Kansas City this week, it was left to Gómez, who opened the scoring early on from one of a couple of great assists from Diego Luna.
For his second he sprinted behind the Sporting KC defence and finished as Arango himself might.
Arango came off the bench late on to register an assist for the fourth goal in this 4-3 win, but this game showed RSL’s strength as a team, and in Luna and Gómez they have players who can step up and be the stars of the show when required.
9.2 FotMob rating: Sam Surridge, Nashville SC
Two great finishes from the English striker saw Nashville come back to win from a goal down in Toronto.
The first, set up by Hany Mukhtar, was a coolly taken first-time shot curled low into the far corner of the goal past Luka Gavran who had no chance of saving it.
The second was flicked in following a great near-post run, untracked by the Toronto defence, from Tyler Boyd’s cross.
It was quality centre-forward play from Surridge on both occasions and gave his team a much-needed, perhaps unexpected, 2-1 win on the road in Canada.
(Cover Image from IMAGO)
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