World Cup

Al Michaels has been covering pro sports in America for more than 50 years -- but, the legendary broadcaster admits ... he's never been to a single soccer game!

Michael says he really likes the sport -- and brags that his grandkids play -- but tells TMZ Sports he's never been to a real professional soccer game.

"People say to me, 'Don't you want to do the World Cup?' I'm going, 'Do the World Cup?' I've never been to a single soccer game."

For the record, Michaels has covered just about every OTHER major sport -- including football, baseball, hockey, horse racing ... and even figure skating and road cycling! Just no futbol.

Seems porn superstar Kiara Mia is moving from football to futbol ... because she was hanging out with some world-famous soccer stars Monday night and TMZ Sports has the footage.

Mia was leaving Poppy in West Hollywood -- where a whole bunch of famous soccer players had also been partying.

We're working to identify all of them ... so far, we know Samuel Umtiti (from France, the World Cup champs) and Karim Benzema were there. Unclear if any of them recognized Kiara.

Kiara was chatting up one of the dudes in the crew -- we're still trying to figure out who he is.

Pamela Anderson's BF, Adil Rami, just won the World Cup with France ... so what's next on the agenda for the soccer star? MEET HER MOM!!

TMZ cameras were rolling when Pam and Adil pulled up to The Ivy Sunday in Bev Hills and witnessed the first official introduction between Adil and Pam's mom, Carol. Pam beamed with pride introducing Adil, who looked dapper even in a t-shirt.

Lionel Messi has found a pretty good way to get over Argentina's disastrous World Cup exit ... load up your smokeshow wife on a yacht and float on over to Ibiza.

Messi rounded up his fam -- including Antonella Roccuzzo -- for an expensive and relaxing boat trip.

Of course, Messi's Argentina squad got bounced from the World Cup in late June after a pretty pathetic performance ... though he did score one of the most impressive goals of the tourney.

So, what next?

The France national soccer team wasted no time bringing their new World Cup trophy to their leader ... partying with President Emmanuel Macron in Paris on Monday!!

Just a day after whooping Croatia in the final ... Hugo Lloris, Florian Thauvin and the whole Les Bleus crew made their way to Elysee Palace to celebrate.

The First Lady, Brigitte Macron, got especially touchy with the gold trophy ... taking a sweet handoff from Paul Pogba to show the crowd the goods.

The 'ship is France's first in 20 years ... so, only fitting they party like it's 1998 now.

Vladimir Putin presented Donald Trump with a soccer ball from the World Cup in Russia ... and then dropped the following eye-rolling metaphor ...

"Mr. President, I'll give this ball to you ... and now the ball is in your court."

Ughhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

It all went down at a massive media event in Helsinki, where the two world leaders had a private meeting for several hours where they discussed everything from election interference to NATO.

Trump was fired up about the meeting -- and the soccer ball, throwing it to Melania (who was sitting in the front row) and announcing that he would be giving it to his son, Barron.

Conor McGregor got to sit in on the World Cup final in person this weekend, showing up as a guest of none other than Vladimir Putin.

The UFC star posted a photo of himself Sunday alongside Russia's president, posing like a tough guy with someone he calls "one of the greatest leaders of our time."

Conor's caption read ... "Today I was invited to the World Cup final as a guest of Russian President Vladimir Putin. This man is one of the greatest leaders of our time and I was honored to attend such a landmark event alongside him. Today was an honor for me Mr. Putin. Thank you and congratulations on an amazing World Cup."

He ended with "Go Russia" ... written in Russian. Hopefully they're both aware Russia got knocked out in the quarter finals, but that's beside the point. What's important (and weird) is that Conor is super chummy with Putin ... who's known as kind of a bad dude, depending on who you talk to.

Make like some of the world's best soccer players and dive into these photos of some of the hottest wives and girlfriends of the World Cup Final!

France and Croatia will square off for soccer's highest honor ... and there will be plenty of "keepers" to look at on both sidelines.

In France's corner ... Pamela Anderson headlines the group of WAGS -- but, you gotta see who Samuel Umtiti and Paul Pogba are scoring with off the pitch.

For Croatia ... Mateo Kovačić and Ivan Rakitić have netted some serious talent too.

It's likely your team didn't advance to the final match of the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Moscow ... but it's not a total loss (unless you were rooting for USA, then you totally lost).There were plenty of winners from around the world in the crowds of the soccer stadiums to help you feel like your country still scored!

Give our gallery of hot World Cup fans a try, and see the sexiest soccer supporters who traveled the globe to get in on the epic spectator sport!

The Colombia national soccer team got one helluva homecoming on Thursday -- with thousands of fans lining up in Bogota to show support -- just days after they were eliminated from the World Cup.

Star players like Falcao and Juan Cuadrado got giant ovations alongside teammates Abel Aguilar, David Ospina and Yerry Mina.

Colombia made it to the Round of 16 -- but, they were ultimately eliminated by England on Tuesday after the match went to penalty kicks.

Disappointing end for Colombia -- but, the team showed heart and resilience and the fans clearly appreciated it.

Ya can't REALLY blame soccer stars like Neymar for flopping worse than Vlade Divac in the '90s ... because there's a really smart reason behind the fake pain -- so says Trevor Noah.

The 34-year-old 'Daily Show' host is a massive soccer fan -- and has thought long and hard about the flopping epidemic that's taken over the World Cup ... particularly in regards to the Brazilian superstar.

You gotta watch Noah break it down outside of Mastro's Steakhouse in Beverly Hills ... and how he ultimately explains why guys like Neymar will flop to prevent themselves from suffering a major injury.

"Some people overdo it," Noah admits ... "Don't get me wrong. But, I understand where it came from."

Cristiano Ronaldo could give Kim Kardashian a run for her money ... because the soccer star is reportedly in talks with Facebook for a new reality show.

CR7 is shopping the show to Facebook Watch and could score a $10 MILLION paycheck for 13 episodes ... according to Variety.

And, there's a Tom Brady connection -- the show would be produced by Religion of Sports, the media company that did "Tom vs. Time" for Facebook Watch.

Ronaldo definitely has an interesting life -- he's got 4 kids including newborn twins that were reportedly birthed by a mystery surrogate in the United States.

He's also rumored to be engaged to Georgina Rodriguez -- the mother of his daughter, Alana, who was born just over 7 months ago.

Ronaldo's son, Cristiano Jr., is 8 years old and a soccer prodigy -- could be interesting to see how CR7 is training him to become the next big thing.

The show would be the latest in a strong of Hollywood projects for Ronaldo -- who's launching a superhero series, "Striker Force 7," based on himself, along with a scripted soccer TV drama series.

Now that Germany's out of the World Cup, star defender Jerome Boateng has touched down in Los Angeles to enjoy some time off ... where he's contemplating his professional future.

There are rumblings that the 29-year-old Bayern Munich star could retire from the German national team to make space for younger guys to represent his country in the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

Outside Catch restaurant in West Hollywood ... Boateng told TMZ Sports he hasn't made up his mind yet -- good thing he's got 4 years to figure it out.

As for the 2018 World Cup, we asked Boateng if he has a favorite to win the whole thing -- "I don't know. We'll see ... France, maybe."

Not exactly a dark horse, France and Brazil are the odds on favorites to win out.

Liziane Gutierrez has World Cup fever ... not that she needs an excuse to rock a bikini.

The Brazilian model celebrated the Samba Kings' 2-0 win over Mexico with a trip to Barra Da Tijuca ... a beach neighborhood near Rio de Janeiro. We're told Liziane was there with a friend ... doing what girlfriends do when they turn up together -- lather each other's asses with sunscreen and say thanks ... with a kiss.