Sibling Rivalry

Sometimes More is Better: Defending FIFA’s 48-team World Cup

Hal Phillips — Thu, 09 Jul 2026 13:04:08 +0000

Few folks would dare express public admiration for FIFA. Only newly beholden soccer association officials carrying suitcases full cash do that. In fact, open disdain for the Fédération Internationale de Football Association may be the only thing that unites proper fans in all 211 member nations. However, in its unquenchable lust for revenue, FIFA has [...]

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Belgium traps USMNT in Waffle House of Horrors

Hal Phillips — Wed, 08 Jul 2026 15:05:26 +0000

Monday night’s USMNT exit was gutting, but we shouldn’t be too surprised. We knew Tim Ream, for all his qualities, was playing on borrowed time. We knew there a howler coming from such an inexperienced keeper. And we knew there would be massive karmic fallout from Dear Leader’s vainglorious meddling. But I wasn’t expecting the [...]

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US-Belgium Preview: A Single Goal Could Win It — Where will it come from?

Hal Phillips — Sat, 04 Jul 2026 21:17:25 +0000

We’ve barely noticed how well the U.S. back line has played in this tournament, what with distractions like Pulisic’s injury watch, Balogun’s B.S. red card, and a blizzard of American goals. Yet Pochettino’s back three has been superb because it works specifically in context of our midfield five. We may have to shut out the [...]

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A New World Guide to Sensible World Cup Expectations

Hal Phillips — Wed, 03 Jun 2026 18:25:46 +0000

I was rereading and search-engine optimizing some older essays last week, when I came across a column from early October 2017. To be precise, the piece was written two frantic days after the USMNT failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup in Russia. That remains, you may recall, a dire moment in what I [...]

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USMNT Final Roster Observations & Idle Gossip

Hal Phillips — Wed, 27 May 2026 19:26:45 +0000

It's getting real, folks. The World Cup is but two weeks away. Mauricio Pochettino has issued his final, 26-man U.S. Men’s National Team roster. Here’s what it tells us: Other than Tanner Tessman staying home, no roster surprises — only alignment questions and a couple puzzlers. It seems El Mister is committed to a back [...]

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Women’s Soccer Sheds Entirely New Light on US vs. Mexico

Hal Phillips — Mon, 25 May 2026 15:21:39 +0000

[See here an excerpt from Chapter 10 of “Sibling Rivalry.” It appears in the Summer/June issue of Soccer Journal magazine, available here.] The North American Derby does fascinating things to the footballing attachments of young Latinas. Meet Alexandra, whom Professor Erick Calderon interviewed in May of 2024. The date is relevant. El Tri femenil had [...]

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Two Bitter Rivalries Take Flight, Right Before Our Eyes

Hal Phillips — Fri, 03 Apr 2026 21:49:51 +0000

In the pages of Sibling Rivalry, I examine not just U.S. vs. Mexico, but also rivalry itself as a sporting phenomenon. Because we humans tend to tribalize so enthusiastically, rivalry is a consistent, almost inevitable outgrowth of these identity politics. Rivalries don’t typically evolve in symmetric fashion, however. It took the U.S. nearly 50 years [...]

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Excerpt: Mexican admiration for Argentinian Futbol Culture runs Deep

Hal Phillips — Tue, 31 Mar 2026 19:06:01 +0000

Walking through the tailgate scene outside Estadio Akron, I stopped a few times to chat up the locals—hoping to find English speakers to discuss the match and our multigenerational family feud. This search proved largely fruitless. Google Translate can only do so much. But those limited conversations, taken together, did accentuate one thing: Mexican [...]

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He’s Not Wrong: U.S. Tends to Hog Regional Branding

Hal Phillips — Mon, 09 Mar 2026 22:50:24 +0000

Neil Young first introduced me to appellative “American” chauvinism. Someone (probably a Lynyrd Skynyrd fan) had accused the Canadian guitar god of not being American — as part of the flack Young took for writing and recording the song, “Southern Man”. Neil’s response was quick, pointed and apt: “I’m plenty American: North American.” It’s been [...]

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Bloomsbury issues Sibling Rivalry: The ESSENTIAL Soccer Book for 2026

Hal Phillips — Thu, 05 Mar 2026 19:21:00 +0000

NEW YORK, N.Y. (5 March 2026) — Bloomsbury has published the latest release from best-selling author Hal Phillips. Sibling Rivalry: How Mexico and the US Built the Most Contentious, Co-Dependent Feud in World Soccer arrives 89 years after their first meeting, 35 years after Bora Milutinovic recast the North American Derby as a battle of [...]

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