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Earlier this morning, the draw was held to determine the groups for the 2018 World Cup. Obviously the United States won't be participating , so instead of focusing on how they would have done, let's take a look at the tournament as a whole.  --- Group stage --- The lack of a true group of death means Cinderellas will be less likely and big time, big money favorites will go deep, ensuring FIFA's pockets get deeper. Group A: Russia, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Uruguay I dunno if we’re talking Human Rights Group A is the Group of Death tbqh — Ryan Keefer (@reefa_k) December 1, 2017 Somehow not even a top-three contender for the most controversial host of this millenium, the Russians drew a fairly easy group to contend with. I'm sure that sits well with Russian football authorities who will be hoping the national team can advance to the knockout stage for the first time since the breakup of the Soviet Union.  Arguably the strongest contender in the group is...

The U.S. men’s soccer team lost 2-1 last night at the hands of Trinidad and Tobago, missing out on a chance to play at the 2018 World Cup in Russia. Seething experts and fans immediately called it the national team’s most humiliating loss ever. I can’t go into the technical aspect of it all, because frankly I don’t know a lot. But let me just try to give you a sense of what I make of this mess. The program seems adrift at sea with no help in sight. The women’s side – perennial powerhouses with a wealth of young talent constantly bettering the system – delivers on the pitch, so their shuffling of coaches a few years ago was more dismissible, especially since it produced a World Cup win in 2015 under Jill Ellis. Meanwhile, the men have been failing to build sustainable growth, alternating waves of impressive play with wholly pitiful performances. On the pitch, the Jurgen Klinsmann tenure was riddled with bad losses, including a disastrous appearance at the 2015 Gold Cup and a slo...

Organized soccer in the United States is broken down into various levels. The lone league to be given Division I status by the U.S. Soccer Federation is Major League Soccer, with their billions of dollars and questionably-allocated Clint Dempseys and whatnot. Although the USSF only sanctions divisions I through III, more leagues are considered an unofficial part of the system. As such, the organizational structure looks something like this: It's a pyramid It should be noted that there is no “break” between levels two and four. Although Division III looks as empty as the 19th floor at Wayside School, two proposed leagues will be filling that void starting in 2018. Meanwhile in England, the Premier League represents the upper echelon of club competition. The English Football League operates the three leagues below that, while the Football Association operates down through level 11. Other leagues operate on unofficial tiers below level 11, all the way down to the M...