Soccer

Yeah, tensions are high ... but there's one thing Russian and American superstar athletes have in common -- they LOVE expensive jewelry.

Case in point ... Aleksandr Kokorin -- the biggest soccer star in Russia, a 26-year-old striker on the World Cup team.

He's also rich as hell -- and just dropped a cool $100,000 on a custom Rolex watch and diamond necklace combo.

Kokorin hit up Dave Bling and Big Will at DWS Jewelry & Co. in NYC for a "Rainbow Rolly" -- comprised of multicolored VS-1 diamonds on the bezel.

Kokorin issued a statement about the pieces through the jeweler ... saying, "I always want to create something that feels unique to me. This watch reminds me that even though time is expensive and serious, it can also be fun and enjoyable."

The older brother of soccer mega-star Lionel Messi is a wanted man in Argentina after cops discovered a gun in his blood-soaked boat ... according to reports.

Matias Messi allegedly told a security guard at the Fighiera fishing club that he cut his face by colliding with a sandbar ... but after police discovered a .380 handgun inside Matias' motorboat, they tried (and failed) to track him down for questioning.

The Messi family is pissed over all the accusations -- issuing a statement today saying Matias was NOT carrying a gun on the boat ... and has been MIA because he's at the hospital prepping for surgery.

If the gun is found to be Matias' ... he could be in serious trouble. Back in 2008, he was arrested for carrying a loaded firearm without a permit ... and in 2015, he was detained for again failing to provide documentation for his gun.

Alexi Lalas ain't hoppin' on the Tiger Woods comeback bandwagon just yet ... 'cause the U.S. soccer legend says we'll NEVER see Tiger return to his old dominant form.

TMZ Sports spoke with Lalas about Woods' impressive outing in his first tournament in almost a year ... and despite being only 3 strokes back from the lead after one round at the Hero World Challenge, Lalas wants to bring everyone back to Earth.

"He'll be a different type of Tiger Woods. And he'll have moments of brilliance that'll remind us of what he was, but I think his back injury ... that's difficult to come back for anybody."

Shakira and Gerard Piqué are effectively shutting down rumors they've split by taking a very toothy joyride together.

The FC Barcelona fútbol star was behind the wheel with Shakira riding shotgun Tuesday on his home team's turf. The smiles on their faces fly directly in the face of reports that the couple -- who've been together for 6 years -- were on the outs.

From this vantage point, seems the parents of 2 boys are rock solid.

Why so serious!?

Here's the brand new bust of soccer superstar Cristiano Ronaldo that's now on display in Spain ... and while it accurately portrays his rugged good looks, it's wayyyy less fun than the other one.

The artist behind the new statue is Jose Antonio Navarro Arteaga -- who reportedly made the new piece after his son saw the other bust at the Madeira airport and told his dad he could do better.

The kid was right -- the bust is pretty great. It's new home is at the Bernabéu Tour stadium in Spain, the home of Real Madrid.

Whatever. Still like the other one better ...

Is Demi Lovato in the "friend zone" with Neymar?

The singer and the soccer superstar went for a dinner date in London on Tuesday -- after Neymar played for Team Brazil in an international friendly against England.

Oh, there was a 3rd person at the dinner as well ... smokin' hot TV host Layla Anna-Lee.

But despite the fact Neymar and Demi look GREAT together, the soccer stud is preemptively striking against dating rumors ... posting Instagram photos with the caption, "My friends girls."

BOOOOO!!!!

Here's shirtless Cristiano Ronaldo and Cristiano Jr. proving they've got the best genes AND the best jeans -- reppin' dad's designer denim and looking fly as hell doing it.

The soccer mega-star teamed up with his 7-year-old kid for the launch of the CR7 junior collection -- expanding on the line of signature jeans he dropped earlier this year.

There are actual kid sizes, FYI ... the Cristianos were just having some fun letting Jr. twin out with Sr. for the photo shoot.

The real question -- are Ronaldo and son gonna be the next LaVar and Lonzo Ball?!

Hope Solo's adding her name to the mounting list of women alleging sexual assault at the hands of powerful men ... and she points the finger at former FIFA president, Sepp Blatter.

The USWNT star revealed the alleged incident in an interview with the Portuguese newspaper, Expresso, in which she alleges Blatter "grabbed my ass" right before presenting an award to Abby Wambach at the Ballon d'Or awards ceremony in January 2013.

Blatter -- forced to step down and banned by FIFA amid a corruption scandal -- flatly denied the claim, and through his spokesman told Expresso, "This allegation is ridiculous."

Justin Bieber laced up his cleats, popped off his shirt, and got really pumped up while playing soccer with his bros.

The Biebs hit up UCLA's campus Tuesday afternoon for a pickup game on one of the soccer fields, and at one point was standing at full attention calling out a play.

We're told several college students gathered around the field to watch JB in action and get a peek at his new torso tattoo ... and he put on quite a show.

A heated altercation between Jozy Altidore and his ex-USMNT teammate Sacha Kljestan escalated into a full-blown war during halftime of an MLS game this weekend -- with yelling and cussing and police ... and it was all caught on video.

It all went down at halftime during Sunday's match between Jozy's Toronto FC and Sacha's NY Red Bulls, where things were already chippy in the 1st half.

Jozy claims Sacha tried to "pull up on me while my back was turned" -- and TFC coach Greg Vanney says he was "ambushed" by 5 or 6 New York Red Bulls players in total.

Sacha's got a different take -- claiming Jozy's the one who started the fight by shoving him into a wall.

Either way, the video is crazy -- you can see players like Michael Bradley trying to keep the peace as cops and stadium security rush in to maintain order.

Both Jozy and Sacha were ejected from the game. The Red Bulls ultimately won the game 1-0.

Young American soccer players should STEER CLEAR of MLS -- and take their talents to Europe to get World Cup ready ... so says former Team USA star Jermaine Jones.

With Team USA soccer in shambles -- not even qualifying for the World Cup -- we asked Jermaine for answers ... and dude kept it real.

"I think that you have to battle with the best and the best play in Europe."

FYI, Jones currently plays in MLS (LA Galaxy) -- but started his career in Europe, where he grew up. Clearly, he thinks the European leagues are better suited to grow talent because they're more competitive.

David Beckham's beach bod is unlike any dad bod you've ever seen ... you're welcome.

The 42-year-old -- cool dad status in full effect -- hit up Malibu Sunday with a bunch of his kids to cool off after a blistering weekend in Los Angeles. A little boogie boarding did the trick to cool the brood in the ocean.

Perhaps the only disturbing thing we see in this family outing -- using a beach volleyball as a futbol.

Team USA soccer coach Bruce Arena has officially "resigned" -- just days after the team failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup.

People had been calling for Arena's job after the USMNT lost to Trinidad & Tobago -- eliminating them from World Cup contention ... but moments ago, Arena quit before he could be fired.

"It is the greatest privilege for any coach to manage their country’s National Team, and as I leave that role today I am honored and grateful to have had that opportunity twice in my career."

"In the end, we came up short," Arena said ... "No excuses. We didn’t get the job done, and I accept responsibility."

TMZ Sports had spoken with Arena earlier this week -- and he didn't seem too concerned about his job ... even giving a sarcastic response to his critics.

Still, Arena kept it classy in his goodbye statement ... and says he still believes in the U.S. soccer program.

Team USA soccer coach Bruce Arena has a message for people calling for him to be fired -- Thanks for the support!!!

Arena landed at LAX Wednesday -- less than 24 hours after USMNT's loss to Trinidad and Tobago which eliminated them from the 2018 World Cup -- and TMZ Sports asked him straight-up what went wrong. His answer was directly to the point.

Honestly ... Bruce doesn't seem too rattled by the crushing defeat or concerned about his job, and even dishes out some advice on how American soccer can get back on track.

Ex-Team USA soccer player Kyle Martino says the squad's loss to Trinidad and Tobago is the "worst day in U.S. soccer history" ... but tells TMZ Sports the guys need support, not scorn.

Martino -- who played for the USMNT from 2002 to 2006 -- says, "Right now, I'm a fan, and I'm pissed off, and I'm upset."

"I'm pissed that they didn't put in a performance when it mattered most ... I know they're good enough to win that game. I know those guys, they're better than they showed on that day."

NFL Hall of Famer Warren Moon is pretty upset about Team USA getting bounced from the World Cup -- telling TMZ Sports it's "disturbing" considering all of the athletic resources we have.

For the record, Moon is pretty well-versed in the world of international soccer ... and told us what Team USA soccer needs to do if we REALLY want to compete with the top countries in the world.

By the way, Moon also calls BS on the excuse that our top athletes are playing other sports like football and basketball instead of soccer.