Paris (AFP) – The delayed Euro 2020 kicks off this Friday, June 11 with Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal aiming to defend the title they won in France in 2016. AFP Sport selects six of the hottest strikers to look out for over the next month: – Romelu Lukaku – Belgium are the world's top-ranked team and […]

Paris (AFP) – Belgium and the Netherlands completed their Euro 2020 preparations on Sunday with respective wins over Croatia and Georgia. Belgium, the world's top-ranked side, beat the 2018 World Cup runners up 1-0 thanks to a first half goal from in-form Romelu Lukaku, fresh from winning the Serie A title with Inter Milan. Roberto […]

Ljubljana (AFP) – Germany won the Under-21 European Championship for the third time as Lukas Nmecha's second-half goal secured a 1-0 victory over Portugal in Sunday's final in Ljubljana. The goal arrived just four minutes into the second half in the Slovenian capital, with Ridle Baku setting up Nmecha and the striker's first touch taking […]

Moscow (AFP) – Ukraine provoked Moscow's ire Sunday as its football federation unveiled Euro 2020 kits that feature Russian-annexed Crimea and popular nationalist slogans. Postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic, Euro 2020 will be played from June 11 to July 11 across 11 cities including Saint Petersburg. Russia's second city will host seven matches, including […]

Madrid (AFP) – Sergio Busquets has left Spain's pre-Euro 2020 training camp after testing positive for Covid-19, the country's football federation (RFEF) announced on Sunday. In a statement, the RFEF said Spain captain Busquets, 32, tested positive earlier on Sunday, with the rest of the squad all testing negative. The RFEF added that those who […]

Buenos Aires (AFP) – Argentina on Sunday confirmed they would participate in the Copa America in neighboring Brazil despite concerns surrounding the coronavirus pandemic. The country was originally due to host the continental showpiece alongside Colombia but a week ago South American football's governing body CONMEBOL moved the tournament to Brazil. Argentina "confirms its participation […]

London (AFP) – Kevin De Bruyne became just the third player to win the English Professional Footballers' Association's (PFA) player of the year for a second consecutive season on Sunday. The Belgium midfielder follows in the footsteps of Thierry Henry and Cristiano Ronaldo as the only other players to win the award in back-to-back years. […]

Middlesbrough (United Kingdom) (AFP) – England manager Gareth Southgate admitted the boos that met his side taking the knee ahead of Sunday's 1-0 friendly win over Romania in Middlesbrough sadly came as no surprise. There was a similar reaction to the Three Lions performing the gesture against racial injustice before Wednesday's clash against Austria, which […]

Luxembourg (AFP) – Scotland head into their first major international tournament for 23 years on the back of a win as Che Adams' goal saw off 10-man Luxembourg 1-0 on Sunday. The Southampton striker swept home his second international goal since switching his allegiance to Scotland in March on 28 minutes from Lydon Dykes' layoff. […]

Enschede (Netherlands) (AFP) – The Netherlands completed their Euro 2020 preparations on Sunday with a 3-0 over Georgia which showed why they are tipped to go deep in this summer's delayed tournament. Frank de Boer's Dutch team will be aiming to make a big impression at their first major tournament since the 2014 World Cup […]

Middlesbrough (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Marcus Rashford's penalty earned England an unconvincing 1-0 win over Romania in their final warm-up friendly ahead of Euro 2020 in Middlesbrough on Sunday. However, victory for Gareth Southgate's men was again overshadowed by booing from supporters as the players took the knee before kick-off. Southgate's selection will also be […]

Solna (Sweden) (AFP) – Sweden will head into Euro 2020 on a positive note after Saturday's 3-1 win over Armenia which came despite the absence of injured Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Janne Andersson's side kick off their European Championship campaign against Spain in Seville on June 14 and also face Slovakia and Robert Lewandowski-led Poland in Group […]

London (AFP) – Wales failed to get a winning send-off to Euro 2020 as Albania held them to a 0-0 draw in front of 6,500 fans in Cardiff on Saturday. The Dragons start their European Championship campaign in a week's time against Switzerland and will need a much-improved display when the tournament begins in Baku. […]

Doha (AFP) – Hwang Ui-jo scored a brace as South Korea thumped Turkmenistan 5-0 on Saturday to regain first place in Group H in the second phase of Asian World Cup qualifying. It was South Korea's third win in four matches, the only blip being a goalless draw against Lebanon in November 2019 before COVID-19 […]

Johannesburg (AFP) – Orlando Pirates finished third in the South African Premiership on Saturday and qualified for the 2022 CAF Confederation Cup despite being held 0-0 at home by lowly TTM. The famed Soweto club took a three-point advantage over sole rivals for third, Golden Arrows, into the final round of the season as they […]