👋 Welcome…
…to The Tap-Inn. Where you can tap in to the world of soccer with me, your first-gen Irish Tap-Inn bartender, Joe.
It’s the second Friday of 2026 already, apparently. Here’s what’s cookin:
✨ The “magic” of the cup
🌍 AFCON quarter-finals preview
✍️ A simple guide to making the USMNT World Cup squad
Sláinte 🍻
🥃 Top Shelf
Arsenal are competing in four different competitions this season.
Some healthy competition (for competitions)
If you’re new to soccer, it can feel like every time you turn on the TV, your team is playing in a different competition.
One day they’re up against a quality team from the same country, the next they’re battling it out with 11 cowboys from Czechia.
“Joe, tell me. What gives?”
Unlike American sports, where a team plays in one competition that ends with playoffs, soccer teams juggle multiple competitions at once — kind of like how some of my bartenders work shifts at three different pubs.
Here’s the 3 main types of competition teams play in:
The League 🏡 The bread and butter. Every country has a top league with the country’s very best teams where everyone plays everyone else twice (home and away), and whoever tops the table at the end of the season wins the title.
Domestic Cups 🏆 These are knockout-style tournaments open to teams from the same country from all levels. Clubs with 60,000-seater stadiums can wind up playing away to minnows who perform in front of only a few hundred people every week — and sometimes even lose. That’s the true “magic of the cup”.
European Competitions 🌍 Where the best teams from across Europe go head to head. First comes the group stage and then it’s do-or-die knockout rounds until one team lifts the trophy. You only get here by smashing it in your domestic league or cups. Games are played only on Tuesdays, Wednesdays or Thursdays.
Let’s take a look at Arsenal’s next four fixtures for example 👇
Jan 11: Portsmouth vs Arsenal — FA Cup 3rd Round (Domestic cup)
Jan 14: Chelsea vs Arsenal — EFL Cup Semi-final (Domestic cup)
Jan 17: Nottingham Forest vs Arsenal — Premier League (Domestic league)
Jan 20: Inter vs Arsenal — Champions League Group Stage (European competition)
TL;DR
Soccer teams don’t play just one season-long competition. They juggle multiple tournaments at the same time: a domestic league (week-in, week-out table race), domestic cups (knockout soccer where giants can lose to minnows) and continental competitions (Europe’s best battling midweek).
Consider yourself tapped-in.
📺 This week in soccer
Pictured: the organs in my body seeing me eating the slice of fruit on my apple martini
Premier League Roundup
Timed at 101 minutes and 48 seconds, Harvey Barnes' winning goal for Newcastle in their dramatic 4-3 win against Leeds is the latest winner in a Premier League match on record since 2006/07. Better late than never, Harvey.
Elsewhere, Arsenal toiled 0-0 with Liverpool, Man City were held 1-1 at home to Brighton, and neither Chelsea or Man United could restore a sense of calm after recent managerial sackings as they dropped points away to Fulham (2-1) and Burnley (2-2) respectively.
AFCON Roundup
Quarter-finals are kicking off today. Here’s what you need to know:
Mali vs Senegal: Senegal’s Sadio Mané leads the attack against Mali’s disciplined defense. Expect a tight game.
Cameroon vs Morocco: Tournament hosts Morocco have conceded just one goal so far and should edge Cameroon here.
Algeria vs Nigeria: The tournament’s highest-scoring team with 12 goals go head to head with unbeaten Algeria.
Egypt vs Côte d’Ivoire: 2021 finalists vs 2023 winners. Mohamed Salah and Amad Diallo set to write the scripts for this one.
📝 Trivia on Tap
What is the highest number of goals ever scored in a single Premier League game?
Keep scrolling for the answer. 👇
🏆 World Cup Tracker: 153 Days to Go
The man with a plan: USMNT head coach Mauricio Pochettino.
With just over 5 months to go until the big thing, I’ve put together a handy little guide for USMNT players looking to be included in Mr Pochettino’s plans:
DO’S
- play well
- be named Christian Pulisic
DON’TS
- play bad
- get injured*
*If any of our star-spangled soccer stars are planning a stint on the operating table anytime soon however, they’d better hope it’s not for anything as serious as an ACL, complex knee/ankle fracture or multi-ligament injury.
Recovery from surgeries like these typically runs around six months — enough to rule players out of World Cup contention altogether.
Forget investing in gold in times of uncertainty — player bubble wrap and cotton wool stocks before a World Cup is the real play 📈📈📈.
🧠 Quickfire
Sound like a pro 📝
Stoke City’s Britannia Stadium.
Phrase: But can they do it on a cold, wet night in Stoke?
Origin: Stoke City was a notoriously difficult (and wet) place to go in the English midlands in the late noughties.
Definition: The ultimate test of character. If you can do it there, you can do it anywhere.
Usage: “Did you see that Lamine Yamal kid’s goal last week? He looks like the real deal”, “Hmm, I’m not convinced. I don’t think he could pull it off on a cold, wet night in Stoke.”
Last call 🥃
Pour one out for AFCON’s fan of the tournament, Michel Nkuka Mboladinga.
Honouring his nation’s heroic former president Patrice Lumumba, Mboladinga stood out among the thousands of fans in his bright-coloured suits by standing still with his right arm raised for the full 90 mins of each DR Congo game.
Next one’s on me, Michel.
📝 Trivia Answer:
Legendary English soccer reporter Chris “Kammy” Kamara.
11 goals.
Portsmouth 7–4 Reading on September 29th, 2007 stands as the highest-scoring game in Premier League history. A great day for neutrals everywhere.
👋 Until Next Time…
Thanks for stopping by The Tap-Inn.
If you enjoyed this, forward it to that friend who knows nothing about soccer and help spread the good word.
I’ll be behind the bar every week, Monday and Friday, serving up soccer. Sláinte.
— Joe