Kuala Lumpur (AFP) – South Korea will host North Korea for a series of World Cup and Asian Cup qualifiers later this year, the Asian Football Confederation said on Friday. South Korea, who reached the 2002 World Cup semi-finals on home soil, are one of eight countries hosting their respective Asian qualifying groups, in a […]

London (AFP) – Jose Mourinho expects Harry Kane to be fit to face Arsenal on Sunday after he had ice applied to his knee following a knock in Tottenham's 2-0 Europa League win over Dinamo Zagreb. The 27-year-old England captain scored both Spurs goals in the first leg of the last-16 tie in London on […]

Paris (AFP) – Jorge Sampaoli eyes a second win in four days to begin his Marseille tenure, while Atletico Madrid, Inter Milan and RB Leipzig face key games in their respective title pursuits ahead of a Seville derby intensified by the battle for Champions League football. AFP Sport selects some of the standout action in […]

London (AFP) – Manchester City are closing in on a third Premier League title in four years, but behind the runaway leaders there are tense battles to qualify for next season's Champions League and to avoid relegation. Manchester United, Leicester and Chelsea are in pole position to finish in the top four, but West Ham, […]

Tokyo (AFP) – Japan midfielder Yuki Kobayashi has apologised to Qatar officials for a "misunderstanding", after he accused a referee of threatening to kill him. Kobayashi, who plays for Qatar Stars League side Al-Khor, said after his team's 3-1 defeat to Al-Gharafa on Monday that the referee had told him "I'm gonna kill you" when […]

Shanghai (AFP) – Jiangsu FC captain Wu Xi said he had "thousands of emotions" as he left the collapsed champions to join Chinese Super League rivals Shanghai Shenhua. The 32-year-old Chinese international returns to his former club having led Jiangsu to their first domestic league title in November. However, Jiangsu have since "ceased operations" after […]

Madrid (AFP) – A year since Marcos Llorente launched his career at Anfield, he might be launching Atletico Madrid towards the title. Two goals against Liverpool in the Champions League was as many as Llorente had managed in the previous four seasons of his career, with an assist for Alvaro Morata confirming Atletico Madrid's pulsating […]

Paris (AFP) – Paris Saint-Germain have won seven of the last eight Ligue 1 titles but there is a real chance this season that the Qatar-owned club could miss out on a prize that usually seems destined for them even before a ball has been kicked. A year ago this weekend the 2019/20 season was […]

Berlin (AFP) – Robert Lewandowski can reach another milestone Saturday in his quest to better Gerd Mueller's all-time record of 40 goals in a Bundesliga season. The Bayern Munich striker bagged a hat-trick in last weekend's 4-2 win over Dortmund in Germany's 'Klassiker' to leave him on 31 league goals this campaign. The result keeps […]

Paris (AFP) – Simon Kjaer's last-gasp equaliser gave AC Milan a dramatic 1-1 draw at Manchester United on Thursday, handing the Italians a great chance of reaching the Europa League quarter-finals while Roma, Tottenham and Arsenal cruised closer to the last-eight. Kjaer netted with a bullet header in the final seconds of stoppage time of […]

Paris (AFP) – Simon Kjaer's last-gasp equaliser gave AC Milan a dramatic 1-1 draw at Manchester United on Thursday, handing the Italian giants a great chance of reaching the Europa League quarter-finals. Kjaer netted with a bullet header in the final seconds of stoppage time of the last 16, first leg encounter at Old Trafford, […]

Paris (AFP) – Simon Kjaer's last-gasp equaliser gave AC Milan a dramatic 1-1 draw at Manchester United on Thursday, handing the Italian giants a great chance of reaching the Europa League quarter-finals. Kjaer netted with a bullet header in the final seconds of stoppage time of the last 16, first leg encounter at Old Trafford, […]

Washington (AFP) – Sebastian Soto of England's Norwich City and teen striker Ulysses Llanez of Dutch side Heerenveen were among 20 players named Thursday to the US men's Olympic qualifying squad. The under-23 lineup of US coach Jason Kreis, a mostly Major League Soccer squad trimmed from 28 hopefuls who began camp on March 1, […]

Manchester (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Simon Kjaer scored a last-gasp equaliser to give AC Milan a dramatic 1-1 draw at Manchester United after Amad Diallo scored his first goal for the hosts in the Europa League last 16 first leg on Thursday. Kjaer netted with a bullet header in the final seconds of stoppage time […]

Berlin (AFP) – The German FA said Thursday it will not rush into naming Joachim Loew's replacement as head coach, while Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has put forward former RB Leipzig boss Ralf Rangnick. Loew, 61, confirmed Tuesday he will step down as Germany coach after the European Championship, which is due to finish on […]