Club vs Country

Ronaldo for Portugal (above)
and Real Madrid (below)

Last weekend Real Madrid beat Liverpool 3 -1 to win the Champions League.  This is the most important trophy in  Club Football, but it is very different from the World Cup.  Real Madrid is obviously from Spain and Liverpool is from England, but the players on their squads come from all over the globe.  Cristiano Ronaldo, perhaps the world's most famous footballer, plays for Real Madrid but is Portuguese.  Gareth Bale, who scored a stunning bicycle kick goal in the final, won't be at the World Cup because his Welsh team didn't qualify.  Liverpool's amazing attacking trio of Salah (Egypt), Firmino (Brazil) and Mane (Senegal) are all looking to score even more goals in the World Cup this summer, but none of them will represent England where they are based.  Thankfully for Germany, they won't need Loris Karius to play goalkeeper for them after he made two of the biggest mistakes in Champions League finals history last Saturday.

Since the world's richest and most famous soccer clubs are all based in Europe, the best players in the world all tend to earn their huge paychecks in Europe no matter what their nationality.  That makes for some interesting matchups in the World Cup, when club teammates who know each other very well line up on different sides of the pitch.  The Champions League was won after an injury caused by a dirty foul by Sergio Ramos forced Mohamed Salah to leave after just 30 minutes.  Ramos may think twice about using the same tactics for Spain when he faces his Real teammate and Portuguese captain Cristiano Ronaldo on June 15th.  Look for other interesting match ups between famous club teammates during the tournament.  But not every player in the World Cup is based in Europe.  This tournament is often an opportunity for exciting young players to shine and catch the attention of big European clubs.  Many African, Latin American and Asian stars were discovered in the World Cup.  James Rodriguez electrified the 2014 edition with six goals for Colombia and quickly found himself playing for Real Madrid.  Look for the next global superstar to step into the spotlight in Russia this summer.