London (AFP) – Former Tottenham and England striker Jermain Defoe on Thursday announced his retirement from professional football at the age of 39. Defoe is the ninth-highest scorer in Premier League history, with 162 goals in 496 appearances. His career ended with a second spell at Sunderland, with his final appearance for the League One […]

Sydney (AFP) – Substitute Kaoru Mitoma scored twice in the dying minutes as Japan beat Australia 2-0 on Thursday to book their place at a seventh straight World Cup and in doing so also helped Saudi Arabia qualify. It was a crushing blow for an understrength Socceroos who now face a perilous play-off to keep […]

Oslo (AFP) – Former women's world footballer of the year Ada Hegerberg said Thursday she was returning to the Norway squad after refusing to play for the national team for nearly five years. Hegerberg, 26, has not played international football since the 2017 European Championship. She fell out with the Norwegian federation because the women's […]

Johannesburg (AFP) – Egypt captain Mohamed Salah has vowed to avenge an Africa Cup of Nations final loss last month to Sadio Mane-inspired Senegal when they clash again on Friday in a 2022 World Cup play-off. Failure in the continental final was particularly bitter for prolific Liverpool scorer Salah as he was also part of […]

The ghost of the failure to qualify for the 2018 World Cup continues to lurk in the shadows for the US Men's National Team (USMNT). Indeed, despite being in second place in the Octagonal with three games to play, many fans are a nervous wreck. The players seem to be hyper-aware of it as well, […]

Mexico City (AFP) – United States coach Gregg Berhalter believes the odds are against his team getting a positive result against Mexico in their crunch 2022 World Cup qualifying clash at the Azteca Stadium on Thursday. The USA and Mexico are level on 21 points heading into the final round of qualifiers for the CONCACAF […]

Johannesburg (AFP) – Gambia, the outsiders who took Africa by storm this year when reaching the Cup of Nations quarter-finals, edged Chad 1-0 on Wednesday in their first step toward reaching the 2023 finals. The Scorpions left it late in Yaounde with United Arab Emirates-based forward Steve Trawally scoring in the 89th minute to win […]

London (AFP) – Chelsea fans will be able to attend Champions League and FA Cup matches for the rest of the season under the terms of a new licence granted to the club by the UK government. The European champions have been hit by a series of restrictions since owner Roman Abramovich was sanctioned by […]

Paris (AFP) – Substitute Agnese Bonfantini fired Juventus to the greatest win of their short existence on Wednesday as the Italians came from behind to beat Lyon 2-1 in the first leg of their Women's Champions League quarter-final. Seven-time champions Lyon took an early lead through Brazilian forward Catarina Macario and were huge favourites as […]

Lausanne (AFP) – Russia is among the candidates to host the European Championship in either 2028 or 2032 despite being banned from international sport following the invasion of Ukraine, UEFA announced after Wednesday's deadline to declare an interest passed. Russia and Turkey will go up against a joint bid by the United Kingdom and the […]

Palermo (Italy) (AFP) – Giorgio Chiellini said on Wednesday that he wants to close his Italy career by taking the Azzurri to the World Cup and scrubbing out his bad experiences in football's biggest competition. Captain Chiellini was part of the Italy side which missed out on the 2018 tournament in Russia. But after shaking […]

London (AFP) – Gareth Bale has set his sights on leading Wales to the World Cup for the first time in 64 years after declaring himself fit for the play-off semi-final against Austria. Bale missed Real Madrid's defeat against Barcelona on Sunday with a minor niggle, but the Wales captain is ready to face Austria […]

Burton-on-Trent (United Kingdom) (AFP) – England captain Harry Kane said the Three Lions will use their platform to raise awareness of human rights issues at the World Cup in Qatar later this year. Under the leadership of England manager Gareth Southgate, Kane and his international team-mates have consistently made a stand against racism. Despite initially […]

London (AFP) – Everton winger Andros Townsend will miss the rest of the season with a serious knee injury, the relegation-threatened Premier League club announced on Wednesday. The 30-year-old was forced off in the early stages of Everton's 4-0 FA Cup defeat at his former team Crystal Palace on Sunday. A scan revealed former England […]

London (AFP) – The Ricketts family has insisted it rejects all forms of hate after Chelsea fans and an ex-player voiced concerns over the bid by the Chicago Cubs owners to buy the Premier League club. The family is one of a number of parties who have expressed an interest in taking over from Russian […]