FIFA.com - News

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.

Hazard keeps Belgium on top

Tue, 26 Mar 2013 22:13:00 GMT

Belgium maintained their slender goal difference-lead over Croatia in Group A after Eden Hazard's solitary goal was enough to beat FYR Macedonia 1-0 in their pursuit of FIFA World Cup™ qualification.

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.

De Bruyne, Hazard down Macedonia

Fri, 22 Mar 2013 22:01:00 GMT

Belgium lead the way in Group A on goal difference after a comfortable win over FYR Macedonia, with Chelsea midfielder Eden Hazard scoring from the spot.

Pacovski: My best is yet to come

Tue, 19 Mar 2013 07:44:00 GMT

FYR Macedonia goalkeeper Tome Pacovski speaks to FIFA.com about facing his adopted country, Belgium, in a FIFA World Cup™ qualifying double header.

England and Germany lay down markers

Wed, 06 Feb 2013 23:39:00 GMT

FIFA.com reviews a massive night of international action highlighted by headline-grabbing wins for England and Germany in glamour match-ups, while Argentina and Spain were amongst others that impressed.

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.

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.

Yugoslavia cause Chilean sensation

Thu, 25 Oct 2012 09:56:00 GMT

FIFA.com recalls how a Yugoslavia team including Boban, Prosinecki, Mijatovic and Suker - one that nobody knew about before Chile 1987 - thrilled spectators and upset a series of giants to become youth champions of the world.

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.

Serbia suffer successive defeats

Tue, 16 Oct 2012 22:06:00 GMT

Serbia trail Belgium and Croatia by six points in Group A following a successive defeat, this time at the hands of FYR Macedonia, with Agim Ibraimi slotting away a penalty after Nenad Tomovic was sent off.

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.

Croats squeak past Macedonia for second win

Fri, 12 Oct 2012 21:51:00 GMT

Croatia came from a goal down to claim the second victory of their 2014 FIFA World Cup™ qualification campaign with a narrow 2-1 result over FYR Macedonia.

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.

Watch out!

Mon, 17 Sep 2012 16:03:00 GMT

Every Monday, FIFA.com delivers you a football-related photo you won’t be able to resist paying a second glance to. This week’s involves a chaotic scene from France 1998!

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.

Stalemate for Scotland again

Tue, 11 Sep 2012 23:06:00 GMT

Scotland's FIFA World Cup campaign stuttered again, with Kenny Miller equalising to save a 1-1 draw at home to FYR Macedonia.

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.

Levein: Macedonia is a must-win game

Sun, 09 Sep 2012 11:01:00 GMT

Following their 0-0 draw with Serbia, Scotland manager Craig Levein believes Tuesday's 2014 FIFA World Cup™ qualifier Macedonia is "probably a must-win match", with a tough schedule ahead of them.

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.

Jelavic header seals Croatia win

Fri, 07 Sep 2012 22:39:00 GMT

Nikica Jelavic's opportunist 68th-minute header got Igor Stimac's reign as Croatia coach off to a winning start against FYR Macedonia in Group A.

Belgium looking for winning start

Thu, 06 Sep 2012 14:17:00 GMT

Belgium will hope to meet the rising expectations of their nation by getting their FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign off to a winning start in Wales.

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.

Macedonia name Janevski as coach

Wed, 22 Aug 2012 16:52:00 GMT

FYR Macedonia have named Cedomir Janevski as their new national coach to replace former Wales and Real Madrid boss John Toshack.

Toshack sacked by Macedonia

Mon, 13 Aug 2012 12:55:00 GMT

John Toshack has been sacked as coach of Macedonia after the former Wales and Real Madrid boss failed to relocate to the nation to provide a more intensive presence.

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.

Pandev's delight at Napoli move

Wed, 06 Jun 2012 11:36:00 GMT

Goran Pandev has said that he is "in seventh heaven" after agreeing a three-year contract to make his loan move to Napoli a permanent arrangement.

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.

Demiri: Thun's late bloomer

Sat, 05 May 2012 08:57:00 GMT

FIFA.com spoke to 26-year-old FYR Macedonia and FC Thun star Muhamed Demiri about his eventual top-level breakthrough and his international ambitions.

And the winners are…

Thu, 12 Jan 2012 19:18:00 GMT

We received over 46,000 entries for our FIFA/FIFPro World XI Predictor game. Congratulations to our winners!

Toshack: A huge challenge

Wed, 11 Jan 2012 08:06:00 GMT

FYR Macedonia coach John Toshack speaks to FIFA.com about facing up to Wales in the Brazil 2014 qualifiers and about the scale of the task facing him in developing his team into a force to be reckoned with.

The special ones

Wed, 28 Dec 2011 14:49:00 GMT

Keepers have long had a reputation for being 'different' from their outfield team-mates but, even at international level, they have not always received the dedicated training support that their position requires – something FIFA is now looking to change.

Pandev keen on permanent Napoli switch

Wed, 30 Nov 2011 13:56:00 GMT

The agent of Goran Pandev, who is fresh from scoring twice for Napoli in their 3-3 draw with Juventus, has revealed his client is keen to make the move to Naples from Inter Milan a permanent one.

Macedonia, Slovakia share the spoils

Tue, 11 Oct 2011 21:09:00 GMT

Macedonia and Slovakia played out a lacklustre 1-1 draw to bring an end to their respective UEFA EURO 2012 qualifying campaigns in Group B, with Juraj Piroska and Nikolce Noveski the two men on target.

Greece, Belgium push for qualification

Fri, 07 Oct 2011 23:36:00 GMT

Greece moved into pole position in UEFA EURO 2012 qualification Group F after beating fellow contenders Croatia 2-0, while Belgium beat Kazakhstan 4-1 to move into second in Group A at Turkey's expense.

Armenia keep hopes alive

Fri, 07 Oct 2011 18:24:00 GMT

Armenia maintained their chances of progressing from UEFA EURO 2012 qualifying Group B with an impressive 4-1 victory at home to ten-man FYR Macedonia.

Russia target finals berth

Thu, 06 Oct 2011 13:17:00 GMT

Group B in the UEFA EURO 2012 qualifiers remains tight as Russia lead the charge for automatic qualification, but the Republic of Ireland, Slovakia and Armenia are all in hot pursuit.

Pandev set for swift return

Thu, 06 Oct 2011 09:35:00 GMT

Goran Pandev has given Napoli a boost after it was revealed the Macedonian forward will only be missing for two weeks, rather than two months, after suffering a hamstring strain at Inter Milan last weekend.

Semshov strike sinks Macedonia

Fri, 02 Sep 2011 19:45:00 GMT

Igor Semshov scored just before half-time to lift Russia 1-0 past FYR Macedonia, clinching top spot in UEFA EURO 2012 qualifying Group B.

Toshack named new Macedonia coach

Sun, 07 Aug 2011 21:02:00 GMT

Former Wales manager John Toshack has accepted a position as the head coach of FYR Macedonia as the squad prepares to face his former charges in FIFA World Cup™ qualifying.

Levein: We have homework to do

Sun, 07 Aug 2011 17:12:00 GMT

"It could have been worse. With a draw like this we’ll have a lot of homework to do in preparation for the matches, and I wouldn’t dare to make any predictions at this early stage. I have faith in my team," Craig Levein, Scotland manager

Atletico dealt Norwegian Europa trip

Fri, 15 Jul 2011 17:11:00 GMT

Atletico Madrid will face Norwegian side Stromsgodset, who last appeared in the UEFA Cup 13 years ago, while Stoke City have been been paired against Hadjuk Split in the UEFA Europa League.

Benfica to face Trabz after UEFA draw

Fri, 15 Jul 2011 15:33:00 GMT

The draw for the UEFA Champions League has taken place, with a number of exciting ties being thrown up, including Benfica taking on Trabzonspor and Rubin Kazan facing national neighbours Dynamo Kiev.

Macedonia sack Jonuz

Sat, 18 Jun 2011 22:15:00 GMT

Macedonia's football federation has dismissed Mirsad Jonuz from his post as head coach of the national team due to lacklustre results in UEFA EURO 2012 qualifying.

Key victories see groups tighten

Sat, 04 Jun 2011 22:58:00 GMT

FIFA.com reviews Saturday's UEFA EURO 2012 qualifying matches, which featured a poor result for England, victory and a landmark for Republic of Ireland, and results which have tightened the top of many groups.

Given: Defeat would ruin my summer

Sat, 04 Jun 2011 09:31:00 GMT

Shay Given has said that should the Republic of Ireland not manage a win against Macedonia in Skopje this evening it could ruin his summer holiday as they look to break clear in UEFA EURO 21012 qualifying Group B.