Let’s be honest: no matter which team raises the trophy at the end of the 2018 FIFA World Cup, it’s the viewers who will walk away from the sports extravaganza as winners. Why? Because they get to watch 32 squads of the hottest sports stars in the world get hot, sweaty and (often) shirtless during the heat of competition. While he’s never won a World Cup, Cristiano Ronaldo, 33, is often considered the hottest man out on the pitch. It doesn’t hurt that Ronaldo seems very, very comfortable when posing in nothing but his underwear. Just imagine the photoshoot with the Cup if Portugal manages to win this year!
Ronaldo’s rival, Lionel Messi, 30, is also quite a stunner, so here’s hoping he, Paulo Dybala, 24, Sergio Aguero, 30, and the rest of Argentina can pull off some magic this time around. Speaking of magic – abracadabra! – suddenly Germany’s Mesut Ozil’s pants have disappeared. The 29-year-old star is no stranger to flashing some skin while on the ‘Gram, but sorry – he’s taken! The Arsenal star went public with his life for former Miss Turkey Amine Gulse in December 2017 and the two have been going strong ever since. Speaking of going strong, Brazil — and their hottest player, Neymar, 26, — are heavy favorites to win this year, so maybe the Paris Saint-Germain F.C. star will leave Russia with the cup?
Soccer stars don’t have to go shirtless to crank up the heat. Take a look at the Iranian squad. The players – including “the Iranian Messi” Sardar Azmoun, 23, Morteza Pouraliganji, 26, Alireza Jahanbakhsh, 24, Saeed Ezatolahi, 21, Ramin Rezaeian, 28, Karim Ansarifard, 28, and Mehdi Taremi, 25 – all posed for a picture ahead of the World Cup and the Internet went wild over it. “They look more like models than players!” one tweeted, according to Sport Bible.
“Suddenly very invested in the World Cup!” another one added. Nazanin Boniadi, a human rights activist, reminded everyone while that while supporting these dapper gents is all well in good, “women in Iran are still banned from stadiums & can’t cheer their national team.” You know what’s really sexy? Equality. Iranian women should get a chance to gush over their favorite stars as well as anyone else! Here’s hoping they’re watching at home and rooting on their favorites.
Since the United States failed to qualify for the World Cup, there aren’t any sexy Americans to cheer for in the tournament. Thankfully, the gallery above will help any sad American find a new fave to fawn over as the footballs fly.