Casablanca (Morocco) (AFP) – Morocco on Saturday pushed its bid to host the 2026 World Cup in the name of Africa despite tough competition from a joint effort by the United States, Canada and Mexico. Two days after officially submitting Morocco's bid book to FIFA, the head of the bid committee Moulay Hafid Elalamy outlined […]

Panama City (AFP) – FIFA president Gianni Infantino said Saturday that the upcoming World Cup will not be a "war," as Russian authorities and Vladimir Putin are committed to ensuring safety amid fears of fan clashes. "We are not going to war," Infantino said. "You will see that we are going to have a football […]

Johannesburg (AFP) – KCCA of Uganda, Mbabane Swallows of Swaziland, Township Rollers of Botswana and Horoya of Guinea became the first clubs from their countries to reach the CAF Champions League group stage Saturday. Muzamiru Shaban scored two minutes into the second half to give KCCA a 1-0 home victory over Saint George of Ethiopia […]

Liverpool (AFP) – Mohamed Salah scored his first Liverpool hat-trick by hitting four goals as the hosts destroyed Watford 5-0 at Anfield on Saturday. Liverpool bounced back from a bitterly disappointing defeat at Manchester United last weekend as Salah ensured all three points to move the Reds back above Tottenham Hotspur into third in the Premier […]

Berlin (AFP) – Salomon Kalou broke Hamburg hearts as he came off the bench to secure a 2-1 victory for Hertha Berlin on Saturday, while a Robin Knoche own-goal saw Schalke steal a 1-0 victory in Wolfsburg. The win for Schalke denies Bayern Munich the chance to wrap up the Bundesliga title in Leipzig on […]

London (AFP) – Mohamed Salah's stunning debut season with Liverpool hit a new high as the Egypt winger's four-goal spree set a club record in a 5-0 demolition of Watford, while Crystal Palace boosted their bid for Premier League survival with a 2-0 victory at Huddersfield on Saturday. After a 2-1 defeat at arch rivals […]

Bangalore (India) (AFP) – Chennaiyin FC clinched their second Indian Super League title on Saturday after beating debutants Bengaluru FC 3-2 in a mouthwatering final clash. Goals from Brazilians Mailson Alves and Raphael Augusto gave Chennaiyin FC their second ISL trophy after winning in 2015. Bengaluru FC started in spectacular fashion when skipper Sunil Chhetri led […]

Madrid (AFP) – Rodrigo and Simone Zaza scored for Valencia in a 3-1 win over Alaves on Saturday that lifted them above defending champions Real Madrid and into third place in La Liga. Italy international Zaza teed up Rodrigo to open the scoring on 19 minutes at Mestalla as the latter found the net for […]

London (AFP) – Crystal Palace boosted their bid for Premier League survival with a crucial 2-0 win at Huddersfield, but West Bromwich Albion look destined for relegation after an agonising 2-1 defeat at Bournemouth on Saturday. With several of the Premier League's big guns on FA Cup quarter-final duty this weekend, the focus in a […]

Berlin (AFP) – Salomon Kalou broke Hamburg hearts as he came off the bench to secure a 2-1 reverse victory for Hertha Berlin on Saturday. Crisis-stricken Hamburg were trying for a fresh start under new coach Christian Titz, but Kalou’s second-half winner stretched their winless run to 14 games, and they remain on course for […]

Madrid (AFP) – Brazil's World Cup preparations have suffered a blow with serious injury to Atletico Madrid defender Filipe Luis. He had been preferred over Juventus' Alex Sandro in Brazil coach Tite's squad released Thursday for the upcoming friendlies against France and World Cup hosts Russia. But hours later he suffered a broken leg in […]

Barcelona (AFP) – Ernesto Valverde dismissed the idea that he, as Pep Guardiola and Luis Enrique had done before, would win the a league, Cup and Champions League treble in his first season at the helm. Valverde has regalvanized the lacklustre Barcelona of last season taking over the team that had just lost Neymar and […]

Swansea (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Christian Eriksen proved Tottenham can thrive without Harry Kane as the Dane's double sent them into the FA Cup semi-finals with a 3-0 win at Swansea on Saturday. With striker Kane sidelined for several weeks due to ankle ligament damage, Mauricio Pochettino's side received an inspirational performance from Eriksen at […]

Madrid (AFP) – Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane says he would have preferred to avoid Juventus in Friday's Champions League draw because of his attachment to the Italian giant where he spent five happy years. The match, to be played on 3-11 April, is a replay of last season's Champions League final, which brought Zidane […]

Åre (Sweden) (AFP) – Marcel Hirscher took the season closing giant slalom on Saturday to equal the record of 13 wins in a single campaign. The 29-year-old Austrian entered a select club containing only two others members as he matched the number of wins achieved by skiing legends Ingemar Stenmark of Sweden in 1978-79 and […]