Berlin (AFP) – Bayern Munich's star striker Robert Lewandowski wants to leave the Bundesliga club this summer to seek "a new challenge", his agent told Sport Bild on Wednesday. "Robert feels that he needs a change and a new challenge in his career," Pini Zahavi told the weekly. "The managers of Bayern know about it." […]

San Polo di Torrile (Italy) (AFP) – Iceland will bring a little bit of missing team Italy to the World Cup in Russia as they compete in their first finals wearing a kit supplied by Italian sportswear firm Errea. The family-run textile company based in Parma has been propelled for the first time into a […]

Modrici (Croatia) (AFP) – The burned-out shell of a remote cottage bears testimony to the trauma that Luka Modric lived through long before he became a Croatian national hero and Real Madrid star. Hidden in the folds of Velebit mountain, with the nearest neighbours several kilometres away, trees now grow inside the roofless ruin where […]

Lima (AFP) – From the peaks of the Andes to the jungles of the Amazon, Peru is alive with anticipation for the World Cup, despite the absence of star player Paolo Guerrero. Even without their captain, who is serving a controversial doping suspension, coach and former Argentine international Ricardo Gareca is confident they can make […]

Rosario (Argentina) (AFP) – Twenty years ago Enrique Dominguez was coaching 10-year-olds at Newell's Old Boys in Argentina when he saw Lionel Messi for the first time. He remembers it still: "He was a gift of life!" Sitting in the empty stands of the Rosario club now as a 67-year-old, Dominguez gets emotional at the […]

London (AFP) – Johann Berg Gudmundsson insists Iceland's daunting World Cup group holds no fears for his giant-killing country as they aim to make a dream debut in the tournament. Burnley winger Gudmundsson will be part of Iceland's squad in Russia next month when his country take part in their first World Cup. Heimir Hallgrimsson's […]

Paris (AFP) – The threat of terrorist attacks in France has put paid to fans' hopes of watching the World Cup on big screens in public spaces, France's ministry for the interior announced Tuesday. "I remind all publicly-elected officials of the fact that 'big screen' zones are completely forbidden in public spaces," said a statement […]

Guadeloupe (Antigua and Barbuda) (AFP) – When Thomas Lemar tried out for a place on one of the teams at his club Solidarite Scolaire, coach Christian Zeby remembers that he "thought it was a joke". "You had to see him," said Zeby. "He was a little chap of 10 years old, very skinny, who did not […]

London (AFP) – Football Association chief executive Martin Glenn is adamant his plan to sell Wembley is not a betrayal of English football. American tycoon Shahid Khan has offered a reported £600 million (£790 million) to buy the iconic national stadium, but the FA's decision to consider the bid provoked outrage last month. Wembley is […]

Madrid (AFP) – Mohamed Salah faces a fight to play in any of Egypt's World Cup group games, according to one of Liverpool's physiotherapists. Club physio Ruben Pons has estimated Salah would normally need "three to four weeks" to recover from the left shoulder injury he sustained during Saturday's Champions League final against Real Madrid. […]

Moscow (AFP) – Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich has the right to Israeli citizenship, the Kremlin said Tuesday, after the Chelsea football club-owner reportedly travelled to Israel and became a citizen after delays to his British visa application. "The Kremlin doesn't think anything about this," presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists in response to a question on […]

Berlin (AFP) – Germany's coaching staff sent a message of support to Liverpool goalkeeper Loris Karius after his costly errors in the Champions League final defeat by Real Madrid, goalkeeping coach Andreas Koepke said Tuesday. "We have tried to help him pick himself him up and we wrote to him telling him to keep his […]

New York (AFP) – Teenager Tim Weah scored a goal on his first start as a youthful United States team defeated Bolivia 3-0 in a friendly international match on Monday. Weah, the 18-year-old son of Liberia legend George Weah, tucked away a deft side-footed finish in the 59th minute of a comfortable win for the […]

Berlin (AFP) – Germany's captain and goalkeeper Manuel Neuer will return to international action in Saturday's World Cup warm-up match against Austria after more than eight months on the sidelines because of a fractured foot. "Manuel will play, there's nothing against that," said goalkeeping coach Andreas Koepke from Germany's training base in Eppan, Italy. "These […]

Yokohama (Japan) (AFP) – Japan coach Akira Nishino admitted Tuesday that he would spend the next two days agonising over the squad he will take to the World Cup next month. The 63-year-old, who took charge last month after predecessor Vahid Halilhodzic was abruptly fired, attempted to take the pressure off his players on the […]