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Morocco vs. Belgium. Belgium is ranked #2 in the world currently and faced a very iffy side, Morocco. Morocco came out with much more passion and just in all played a better game. Final score: 2-0 Morocco.

On Monday we were robbed of a victory against Wales due to an 85th-minute penalty but ended up drawing the game 1-1. Next, we played England Friday, one of the toughest teams in the tournament. We also ended with a 0-0 draw in that game, which from most people’s views was a fantastic result for that match-up. We are in a sticky situation where we need a win in our final game to advance into the knockout rounds. Luckily for us, we play Iran, the weakest link in our group. Let’s win the next game and move on Vamos USA!!!

The World Cup has officially started. With Qatar hosting, this means they have played the first game with the home-field advantage. Qatar took the field vs. Ecuador today at 11 AM Eastern time. Ecuador ended up taking the 2-0 victory putting them at the top of their group a game in. Tomorrow 3 games take place. First is England vs. Iran at 8 am, which I predict England will win there. The next game is Senegal vs. Netherlands at 11 am, which I think Senegal will upset the Netherlands. The last game of the day is United States vs. Wales, where I hope that the US will pull off a victory there but is a sketchy game. In my opinion, I think that Brazil will end up winning the whole tournament but there is a lot of soccer to play in the next month. I am excited about the upcoming tournament and will update you all next week.

It's World Cup time ladies and gentlemen!!!! The biggest international soccer stage is about to begin Today. Although it is bizarre for soccer fans to experience the World Cup during November-December, this does not take away from the fact that our schedules will revolve around waking up early to watch these great games take place. The reason for this is that the World Cup is taking place in Qatar this year, and with a severe time change, people In America will have to watch some of the games earlier than usual. With this being said, club soccer will officially take a break for the next month or so. But this week multiple there were multiple international friendlies between all different countries to prepare teams for the World Cup. In my mind, it is crazy how quick teams are transferring from club to World Cup this year, but furthermore, let the games begin.

Starting in goalkeeper, David De Gea takes the spot after he had 6 amazing saves in Manchester United’s 2-1 victory over Fulham. Next, Andy Roberston starts at left-back after creating 2 beautiful assists in Liverpool’s 3-1 win over Southampton. Ben Davies and Linderlof take the starting center-back positions as they both won their games 4-3 and 2-1. Kevin Trippier is in the right-back position after Newcastle beat Chelsea 1-0. Onto the midfield, we have Bentacur from Tottenham who had 2 goals in their 4-3 victory. Martin Odegard who also scored 2 goals in Arsenal's victory over Wolves, and finally Christian Erikson who scored in Manchester United’s 2-1 victory. Last but not least, Tony is up front after scoring 2 in Brentford’s upset against Manchester City, followed by Darwin Nunez(Liverpool)  and Danny Ings(Aston Villa).  

Manchester City beat Chelsea 2-0

            Let’s take a look at round 15 of the Premier League season. This was definitely my favorite Premier League week of the season so far. Thrilling games, upsets, injuries, red cards, and much more. The first game on Saturday was one of the best games. Leeds United and Bournemouth battled it out till near the end when Crysenico Summerville scored the winning goal (4-3) in the 84th minute for Leeds. Next, Manchester City had a very close game with Fulham that ended 2-1. Jao Cancelo received a red card in the 26th minute which was detrimental to City’s defense. Manchester City ended up pulling through when Kevin De Bruyne won a penalty for them in the 97th minute of the game, Erling Haaland put the penalty in the back of the net to secure Manchester City the win. Lastly, Newcastle United hammered Southampton 4-1 which moved them up in the table to 3rd place. This was a great week in the Premier League and I Love seeing smaller clubs like Newcastle taking over the top 4.

            The next step in the process is waiting for the group stage draw. This is generally done in a ceremony with a Legend of soccer randomly choosing two teams to play against each other. It starts with a round of 16, then a quarter-final, followed by two semifinal games, and then the final.

            Arsenal still sits top of the table with Manchester City behind them, then Tottenham, Newcastle, Manchester United, Chelsea, Fulham, Brighton, and Liverpool. As you can see compared to last week Chelsea has moved below Manchester United. The reason behind this is that Manchester United won 1-0 against West Ham United today with Marcus Rashford scoring a beautiful header in the 38th minute. Sadly, for me, Chelsea has a devastating 4-1 defeat against 8th-place Brighton who seems to be making a name for themselves recently. From these results, Manchester United how now gone 2 points ahead of Chelsea. Once again, we can see Liverpool struggling for their place in the top 10 which is very unheard of. Liverpool has continued in their rough patch by losing 2-1 to Leeds FC this weekend. One of the reasons I believe is behind their failure recently is the loss of their ex-starting Striker/Left wing Sadio Mane who transferred to Bayern Munich over the summer. Lastly, the bottom of the table in the relegation zone also looks very odd. We have Leicester City on the 18th, Wolves on the 19th, and Nottingham Forest on the 20th. Wolves and Leicester have always been known for being solid teams every year, especially Leicester since they won the Premier League title in 2016.

Important Matchups: Chelsea takes on Brighton Hove Albion(9th place team) which should be an easy win for Chelsea seeing Brighton's previous form. Fulham takes on Everton Saturday at 12:30 where Fulham should pull through after also seeing Everton's poor form in the past few weeks. A game I am looking forward to is Liverpool vs. Leeds. Although Liverpool has been playing poorly recently, they still are considered a super team seeing the depth and talent of their squad. I think this game will be very close and could go either way.

With the World Cup approaching in a month and Champions League soccer taking place too it is a very hectic time for players and coaches. Games are being squeezed in on random days of the week to recover from the loss of games they will not be playing during World Cup time.

The English Premier League is one of the world's most challenging and distinct soccer leagues. The EPL was established on May 27th, 1992, and will continue to conquer the soccer world for years to come. The EPL consists of 20 teams; the bottom 3 teams at the end of the season get demoted to the Second division English league. The top 4 finishing teams are given the opportunity to compete in the UEFA Champions League. This is a tournament between the top 4 teams of Europe's top leagues. The reason the EPL is one of the best leagues in the world is because of its extraordinary fan bases, highest-quality players, and underdogs consistently pulling off results against the better teams of the league.