FIFA.com - News

Worldwide sanctions imposed on players from Estonia, Lebanon

Tue, 14 May 2013 14:18:00 GMT

FIFA can today confirm the worldwide extension of sanctions imposed on eight players by the Estonian Football Association and one player by the Lebanese Football Association relating to match-manipulation and fraud investigations.

Spain triumph, Montenegro hold firm

Wed, 27 Mar 2013 00:04:00 GMT

FIFA.com wraps up another massive evening of European Brazil 2014 qualifying highlighted by a crucial win for world champions Spain on their trip to Paris, while Montenegro and England remain evenly poised after a hard-fought draw.

Anier, Lindpere fire Estonia to victory

Tue, 26 Mar 2013 19:07:00 GMT

Estonia dominated throughout and ultimately beat Group D tailenders Andorra 2-0, with Henri Anier and Joel Lindpere their marksmen.

Crunch time for former champions

Mon, 25 Mar 2013 08:03:00 GMT

Spain's trip to France is among the eye-catching fixtures in Tuesday's European Zone FIFA World Cup qualifiers. FIFA.com previews the action.

Spain stumble, Portugal rescue point

Fri, 22 Mar 2013 23:25:00 GMT

FIFA.com reviews all the action from a massive evening of Brazil 2014 qualifiers in Europe highlighted by a shock draw at home for world champions Spain against Finland, while Portugal narrowly avoided defeat in Israel.

Coasting Dutch record thirteenth win running

Fri, 22 Mar 2013 22:01:00 GMT

The Netherlands recorded their thirteenth back-to-back FIFA World Cup™ qualifying win, beating Estonia 3-0 in Amsterdam, leaving them five points clear at the top of Group D.

North European hopefuls set for action

Sat, 16 Mar 2013 08:27:00 GMT

As many European leagues are rounding into their final straights, those to the north of the continent are just firing up their engines. FIFA.com previews the 2013 campaigns in Norway, Sweden, Estonia and Finland.

Who should your club sign?

Sat, 29 Dec 2012 10:54:00 GMT

FIFA.com wants to know who you reckon your club should sign in January 2013.

UEFA confirm multi-city EURO 2020

Thu, 06 Dec 2012 16:50:00 GMT

UEFA have confirmed that UEFA EURO 2020 will not take place in a single country, instead being staged across multiple cities around the continent.

Northern Europe’s confirmed champions

Thu, 29 Nov 2012 07:12:00 GMT

While some of the more headline-grabbing divisions across Europe are only meeting their mid-point, however in much of Scandinavia and the north of the continent their champions have been crowned. FIFA.com rounds-up these leagues.

What is international football’s biggest rivalry?

Tue, 13 Nov 2012 10:36:00 GMT

FIFA.com wants to know what you feel is the biggest rivalry in the international game.

Sting in the tail for Germany, Spain

Tue, 16 Oct 2012 22:58:00 GMT

Surprise results littered Tuesday's 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil™ qualification, as Germany let slip a four goal lead to draw 4-4 with Sweden, Northern Ireland held Portugal and France stunned Spain to grab a point in the closing seconds.

Estonia scrape win in Andorra

Tue, 16 Oct 2012 20:20:00 GMT

Estonia managed to narrowly seal victory in Andorra as Group D's two winless sides met at the Estadio Comunal de Aixovall, with Andres Oper's second-half goal claiming the points.

Excitement as Euro elite face off

Mon, 15 Oct 2012 07:00:00 GMT

Five games pit table-toppers against close rivals on Matchday 4 of European Zone qualifying for the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil, as FIFA.com explains.

Hungary back on track with win in Tallinn

Fri, 12 Oct 2012 22:23:00 GMT

Hungary returned to winning ways in FIFA World Cup qualifying Group D this evening with a narrow 1-0 triumph over Estonia in Tallinn.

High stakes in Belgrade, Moscow and Piraeus

Thu, 11 Oct 2012 07:08:00 GMT

England, the Netherlands and Sweden may be expected to build up their goal difference on Matchday 3, but in Serbia-Belgium, Russia-Portugal and Greece-Bosnia-Herzegovina, the menu has some fascinating, hard-to-call fixtures.

Powerhouses make steady progress

Wed, 12 Sep 2012 00:23:00 GMT

FIFA.com reviews all the 2014 FIFA World Cup™ qualifying action from Europe on a positive evening for the continent's major nations, although both Germany and Spain were made to work overtime before collecting wins.

Turkey defeat ten-man Estonia

Tue, 11 Sep 2012 22:42:00 GMT

Turkey got their FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign up and running with an emphatic victory over ten-man Estonia in Istanbul.

Heitinga: Dutch cannot dwell

Mon, 10 Sep 2012 18:29:00 GMT

John Heitinga says it is time for the Netherlands to "look ahead" following their miserable UEFA EURO 2012 campaign, while Turkey goalkeeper Tolga Zengin has discussed their clash with Estonia.

World champions join the party

Mon, 10 Sep 2012 09:26:00 GMT

After a dramatic opening weekend of FIFA World Cup qualifying action in the European Zone, Spain begin their campaign tomorrow with a match in Georgia. FIFA.com looks ahead to all the action in the old continent.

Big guns hit ground running

Fri, 07 Sep 2012 23:56:00 GMT

The likes of England, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Portugal made winning starts to European Zone qualifying for Brazil 2014, while Italy were held to a 2-2 draw in Bulgaria.

Romania begin with Estonia win

Fri, 07 Sep 2012 21:08:00 GMT

Second-half goals by Gabriel Torje and Ciprian Marica lifted Romania to a solid 2-0 victory over Estonia in tonight's FIFA World Cup™ qualifier in Tallinn.

Road to Brazil begins in Europe

Thu, 06 Sep 2012 02:41:00 GMT

All 53 European member associations will be involved in the first round of FIFA World Cup preliminaries this Friday and Saturday as the road to Brazil begins in the Old Continent.

First & last touches count, ancient records crash

Wed, 01 Aug 2012 08:41:00 GMT

Ryan Giggs making history and Uruguay’s unbeaten record falling at the Olympics feature in FIFA.com’s latest stats review, along with an Englishman netting a winner with his first touch and a Croatian scoring a tie-changer with his last.

Inter, Liverpool enter latest round

Fri, 20 Jul 2012 15:01:00 GMT

Inter Milan and Liverpool are among the sides to enter the third qualifying round of the UEFA Europa League, for which the draw was announced on Friday.

Third qualifying round draw revealed

Fri, 20 Jul 2012 12:36:00 GMT

The draw for the third qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League was held on Friday, with sides such as Anderlecht, Celtic, Dynamo Kyiv, Feyenoord and Panathinaikos discovering their fate.

Bobrov spurs Soviets to dream comeback

Fri, 20 Jul 2012 03:29:00 GMT

Exactly sixty years ago, Yugoslavia led Soviet Union 5-1 with just 15 minutes remaining in their fight for a place in the Olympic quarter-finals. Thereafter, though, Vsevolod Bobrov inspired one of the greatest fightbacks in football history.

La Rojita retain continental crown

Mon, 16 Jul 2012 14:47:00 GMT

Victory in the UEFA U-19 Championship meant Spain remain the yardstick by which the rest of Europe is measured. FIFA.com rounds up the action from Estonia and looks at who will join the Iberians at the FIFA U-20 World Cup 2013.

Benzema-led French rout Estonia

Tue, 05 Jun 2012 22:13:00 GMT

Karim Benzema scored twice as France completed their preparations for UEFA EURO 2012 with a convincing 4-0 win over Estonia.

Teenagers through to Euro finals

Sat, 02 Jun 2012 08:04:00 GMT

After eight days and 42 games across Europe the final line-up for the UEFA European U-19 Championship has been decided, with the seven sides joining hosts Estonia - six of whom will make the 2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup.

EURO co-hosts Ukraine thrash Estonia

Mon, 28 May 2012 21:11:00 GMT

UEFA EURO 2012 co-hosts Ukraine thrashed Estonia 4-0 in a pre-tournament friendly on Monday.

Mixed results for EURO hopefuls

Sat, 26 May 2012 23:05:00 GMT

Germany and Netherlands both suffered friendly defeats by Switzerland and Bulgaria respectively, while England recorded a hard-fought 1-0 win over Norway, and Spain won 2-0 over Serbia.

More to life than Messi and Ronaldo

Thu, 17 May 2012 10:53:00 GMT

While the remarkable scoring feats of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have dominated attention, plenty of other players have been racking up the goals this season. FIFA.com looks at some of the most prolific.

Who will win the European Golden Shoe?

Tue, 13 Mar 2012 18:00:00 GMT

FIFA.com would like to know who you think will score enough goals during the remainder of the league season to claim the 2011/12 European Golden Shoe.

France friendly tees up Estonia's European record

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 12:48:00 GMT

Estonia are set to make history as the first ever team to have played all other fellow UEFA member nations after arranging a friendly with France, the only one of the 52 they had yet to face.

Chile climb 12th amid minimal movement

Wed, 18 Jan 2012 09:00:00 GMT

With only 11 matches taken into account, there was little change on the latest edition of the FIFA Ranking, though Chile rose to 12th and Bosnia-Herzegovina went into a personal best of 19th.

Spain on top and Wales highest climber

Wed, 21 Dec 2011 09:00:00 GMT

The last edition of the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking for this year brings little change as world champions Spain remain at the top of the table, followed by Netherlands, Germany and Uruguay.

Portugal among final four qualifiers

Tue, 15 Nov 2011 23:05:00 GMT

Portugal overcame stubborn resistance from Bosnia-Herzegovina to join Croatia, Czech Republic and Republic of Ireland as the final four teams to qualify for UEFA EURO 2012. FIFA.com has all the details.

Irish end drought to reach EURO

Tue, 15 Nov 2011 21:54:00 GMT

The Republic of Ireland ended years of frustration by reaching their first major finals since the 2002 FIFA World Cup™ as they qualified for UEFA EURO 2012 today.

Pareiko: We're giving it our best shot

Tue, 15 Nov 2011 07:52:00 GMT

Despite being on the wrong end of a 4-0 scoreline in the first leg of their UEFA EURO 2012 play-off in Tallinn, Estonia keeper Sergei Pareiko says that his team-mates will not give up in Dublin.

Trapattoni stays cautious, Keane hails team-mates

Sat, 12 Nov 2011 11:09:00 GMT

Giovanni Trapattoni has warned his Republic of Ireland side against complacency following their 4-0 win in Estonia, while Robbie Keane has praised fellow scorers Jonathan Walters and Keith Andrews.

Triumphant trio poised to progress

Fri, 11 Nov 2011 22:53:00 GMT

Republic of Ireland, Croatia and the Czech Republic all took giant strides towards qualifying for UEFA EURO 2012, but Portugal were left with plenty of work to do after a stalemate in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Irish eyes smiling after Estonia stroll

Fri, 11 Nov 2011 22:06:00 GMT

Skipper Robbie Keane claimed a double in Tallinn as the Republic of Ireland routed nine-man Estonia to take an iron grip on their UEFA EURO 2012 play-off.

Eight pursue play-off progress

Thu, 10 Nov 2011 00:45:00 GMT

FIFA.com previews the UEFA EURO 2012 play-offs which has served up a handful of intriguing fixtures, including a grudge match between Portugal and Bosnia-Herzegovina, and new faces Montenegro against Czech Republic.

Given: It's our time to qualify

Wed, 09 Nov 2011 22:51:00 GMT

Republic of Ireland goalkeeper Shay Given has said the national squad believes it is their time to qualify for the European championships and are confident they can surpass Estonia for passage to UEFA EURO 2012.

Droughts, deluges and scoring sensations

Wed, 09 Nov 2011 03:28:00 GMT

The defensive shortcomings of Estonia’s Ajax Lasnamae, the goalscoring prowess of Demba Ba, Fernando Cavenaghi and Cristiano Ronaldo, plus a goal drought in Cesena, are the focus of FIFA.com’s latest stats review.

Given positive as Irish name squad

Fri, 28 Oct 2011 16:30:00 GMT

Giovanni Trapattoni has named a provisional 26-man squad for Republic of Ireland's UEFA EURO 2012 play-off against Estonia next month, and goalkeeper Shay Given is full of optimism heading into the tie.

Estonia extend Ruutli contract

Mon, 24 Oct 2011 15:03:00 GMT

Following their success in reaching the UEFA EURO 2012 play-offs, Estonia have extended the contract of coach Tarmo Ruutli until the end of 2013.

Kink: Ireland will be a tough tie

Thu, 13 Oct 2011 17:07:00 GMT

Midfielder Tarmo Kink has said he believes play-off opponents Republic of Ireland will be just as keen on qualifying for the EURO 2012 showpiece as Estonia when they meet in November.

Play-offs pitch Ireland against Estonia

Thu, 13 Oct 2011 13:10:00 GMT

The UEFA EURO 2012 play-offs draw was made today, with Republic of Ireland to face Estonia, Turkey handed a tie with Croatia, Czech Republic paired with Montenegro, and Bosnia-Herzegovina going up against Portugal.