Cameroon Wiretap
The African Cup of Nations will be moving back to a January-February calendar in 2021.
Cameroon's Football Association announced that they will be hosting the upcoming tournament.
The move is likely to be unpopular with European sides. Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Naby Keita, Wilfred Ndidi, Riyad Mahrez, Serge Aurier and Wilfried Zaha could be affected from the Premier League.
Samuel Eto'o has retired from soccer at the age of 38.
Eto'o last played for Qatar SC in 2018.
Eto'o retires as Cameroon's leading goal scorer. He won two African Cup of Nations trophies with Cameroon, while also getting voted Africa Player of the Year four times.
The Confederation of African Football stripped Cameroon from hosting the 2019 African Cup of Nations due to security concerns.
Morocco is now the favorite to host the competition, which begins in June.
Cameroon won the 2017 African Cup of Nations, defeating Egypt 2-1 in the final.
Cambridge University Press has completed a study to find the three words most frequently used during the World Cup to describe all 32 teams.
The team at Cambridge scoured over 15,000 football-specific online sources to produce the following chart.
Lionel Messi headlines the WhoScored Best XI leading up to the World Cup Final with a rating of 8.77.
Arjen Robben ranks second, followed by James Rodriguez, Neymar and Miralem Pjanic.
Tim Howard is in goal behind a back line of Ron Vlaar, Stefan de Vrij, Serge Aurier and Ricardo Rodriguez.
Thomas Müller, who has scored five goals with three assists, is also on the team.
Brazil and Mexico have advanced to the Round of 16, taking seven points apiece from their three Group A matches. Brazil won the group and will face Chile in the knockout stage, while Mexico will draw the Netherlands.
Croatia finished with three points, while Cameroon goes home empty handed.
Neymar and Oscar had the highest WhoScored ratings over the three matches.
Below is their statistical XI:
Luka Modric played a full 90 minutes in Croatia's 3-1 loss to Brazil on Thursday, but he suffered a foot injury in the match. Modric's status for Wednesday's match against Cameroon is uncertain.
“Luka is in Salvador and our doctors are with him in the hospital," said Niko Kovac.
“He has to go though some exams and then we will see how serious it is.
“God forbid that something serious happens to him. That would be a huge blow for us.”
ESPN completed its #WorldCupRank with Lionel Messi ranking first ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo and Andres Iniesta.
1. Lionel Messi
2. Cristiano Ronaldo
3. Andres Iniesta
4. Luis Suarez
5. Franck Ribery (out of competition w/injury)
6. Neymar
7. Yaya Toure
8. Xavi
9. Arjen Robben
10. Eden Hazard
11. Sergio Aguero
12. Thiago Silva
13. Robin van Persie
14. Wayne Rooney
15. Andrea Pirlo
16. Bastian Schweinsteiger
17. Arturo Vidal
18. Edinson Cavani
19. Radamel Falcao (out of competition w/injury)
20. Mario Balotelli
21. Diego Costa
22. Phillipp Lahm
23. Angel Di Maria
24. Karim Benzema
25. Oscar
26. David Silva
27. Manuel Neuer
28. Thomas Mueller
29. Mesut Ozil
30. Paul Pogba
31. Vincent Kompany
32. Luka Modric
33. Marco Reus (out of competition w/injury)
34. Toni Kroos
35. Alexis Sanchez
36. Thibaut Courtois
37. Steven Gerrard
38. Mario Goetze
39. Gianluigi Buffon
40. Sergio Busquets
41. Gonzalo Higuain
42. Cesc Fabregas
43. Didier Drogba
44. Dani Alves
45. Daniele De Rossi
46. Daniel Sturridge
47. Gerrard Pique
48. Samuel Eto'0
49. Iker Casillas
50. David Luiz
Spain: Iniesta, Xavi, Costa, Silva, Busquets, Fabregas, Pique, Casillas
Germany: Schweinsteiger, Lahm, Neuer, Mueller, Ozil, Reus, Kroos, Goetze
Brazil: Neymar, Silva, Oscar, Alves, Luiz
Argentina: Messi, Aguero, Di Maria, Higuain
Italy: Pirlo, Balotelli, Buffon, De Rossi
France: Ribery, Benzema, Pogba
England: Rooney, Gerrard, Sturridge
Belgium: Hazard, Kompany, Courtois
Uruguay: Suarez, Cavani
Netherlands: Robben, van Persie
Ivory Coast: Toure, Drogba
Chile: Vidal, Sanchez
Colombia: Falcao
Portugal: Ronaldo
Croatia: Modric
Cameroon: Eto'o
Spain enters the World Cup with the top spot in the final FIFA rankings ahead of the tournament.
Germany, Brazil, Portugal and Argentina round out the top-five.
Here's the breakdown of the FIFA rankings by group:
Group A - Brazil (3), Cameroon (56), Croatia (18), Mexico (20). Total 97.
Group B - Australia (62), Chile (14), Netherlands (15), Spain (1). Total 92.
Group C - Colombia (8), Greece (12), Ivory Coast (23), Japan (46). Total 89.
Group D - Costa Rica (28), England (10), Italy (9), Uruguay (7). Total 54.
Group E - Ecuador (26), France (17), Honduras (33), Switzerland (6). Total 82.
Group F - Argentina (5), Bosnia-Herzegovina (21), Iran (43), Nigeria (44). Total 113.
Group G - Germany (2), Ghana (37), Portugal (4), USA (13). Total 56.
Group H - Algeria (22), Belgium (11), Russia (19), South Korea (57). Total 109.
There are four Germans managing World Cup teams, the most of any other country.
Argentina, Colombia, Italy and Portugal each have three managers, while Bosnia and France have two apiece.
Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Bosnia, Brazil, Croatia, Holland, England, France, Germany, Ghana, Italy, Mexico, Nigeria, Portugal, South Korea, Spain and Uruguay are managed by their own countrymen.
Chile, Colombia, Algeria, Honduras, Ecuador, Costa Rica, Ivory Coast, Switzerland, United States, Cameroon, Russia, Japan, Iran and Greece are managed by foreigners.
