London (AFP) – Arsenal's French trio Olivier Giroud, Laurent Koscielny and Francis Coquelin have all agreed contract extensions, the Premier League club announced on Thursday. The club said the three players had signed "long-term" contracts, but did not disclose the duration of their deals. "We are very pleased that three important members of our team […]

Sarcelles (France) (AFP) – "Riyad Mahrez? He's an example!" goes the mantra in Sarcelles, a north Parisian housing project where strings of high-rise blocks were built in the 1950s and 1960s primarily to accommodate French settlers from Algeria. It was in this town 16km (10 miles) north of Paris that the Algerian international was born and […]

Abuja (AFP) – The Black Stars of Ghana will again be one of the favourites for the Africa Cup of Nations as they aim to clinch a fifth title after their last triumph 35 years ago. Ghana are one of the most successful teams in the continent's football showpiece having won it in 1963, 1965, […]

Kampala (AFP) – In an era when dictator Idi Amin would interrupt football training to offer advice and bundles of cash, Uganda made it all the way to the 1978 Africa Cup of Nations' final. However in the nearly 40 years that followed that surprise success, the "Cranes" — named after the national bird — […]

Southampton (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp admitted he may have bamboozled his players by jotting down a change of tactics on a scrap of paper during his team's 1-0 defeat to Southampton in the League Cup semi-final first leg. Striker Daniel Sturridge appeared nonplussed when passed the details on the note in […]

Barcelona (AFP) – Barcelona striker Luis Suarez has hit back at comments by the club's CEO that the Catalan giants won't "go crazy" when negotiating a new contract for five-time World Player of the Year Lionel Messi. Barca CEO Oscar Grau said on Wednesday that a new deal for Messi, who has 18 months left […]

London (AFP) – Chelsea have been given the green light for a multi-million pound redevelopment of their Stamford Bridge stadium, the Premier League leaders revealed on Wednesday. Hammersmith and Fulham Council's planning committee voted unanimously to approve the proposal for a 60,000-seat stadium, which would reportedly cost around £500 million ($610 million, 576 million euros). […]

Barcelona (AFP) – Lionel Messi's third goal from a free-kick in as many games this year secured Barcelona's place in the quarter-finals of the Copa del Rey as the holders beat Athletic Bilbao 3-1 to edge through 4-3 on aggregate on Wednesday. Luis Suarez's 100th Barca goal and Neymar's penalty cancelled out Athletic's 2-1 first […]

Paris (AFP) – Captain Thiago Silva showed the wasteful Edinson Cavani how to do it with two crashing headers as holders Paris Saint-Germain surged into the semi-finals of the French League Cup with a 2-0 win over Metz on Wednesday. Also into the last four are Nancy, Monaco and Bordeaux, who won their quarter-final 3-2 […]

Milan (AFP) – A late penalty from Miralem Pjanic saw holders Juventus scrape through to an Italian Cup quarter-final clash with either AC Milan or Torino after a nervous 3-2 win over high-flying Atalanta. Atalanta travelled to Turin looking to cause an upset as they enjoy their best season in years under Gianpiero Gasperini, who […]

Barcelona (AFP) – Luis Suarez became the third-fastest player to score 100 goals for Barcelona after reaching his century in just 120 games on Wednesday — trumping even Lionel Messi. The Uruguayan volleyed home Neymar's cross in acrobatic fashion at the Camp Nou to put Barca 1-0 up on Athletic Bilbao in the second leg […]

Paris (AFP) – FIFA's decision to expand the World Cup to 48 teams starting with the 2026 tournament prompted one major question: who can host the global showpiece in its revamped format? North America is the favourite and in pole position with other former candidates relegated to outsiders. Several harbour ambitions of organising the 2026 World […]

Chicago (AFP) – France, Germany and England will face the United States in March in the second edition of the SheBelieves Cup women's tournament, the US Soccer Federation confirmed on Wednesday. The four-way event will be played at three venues in the northeast between March 1 and 7 as a round-robin tournament. Women's World Cup […]

FOX Sports has hired Kate Abdo as studio presenter for its soccer coverage, a source has revealed to World Soccer Talk. Abdo, who previously worked for FOX Sports as a guest host during the network's coverage of the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup, will join the network's coverage of soccer and is expected to play […]

Milan (AFP) – Federico Bernardeschi netted an injury-time penalty to fire Fiorentina into the quarter-finals of the Italian Cup with a 1-0 win over Chievo on Wednesday. Chievo looked to have held on for extra time at the Artemio Franchi stadium until the referee pointed to the spot after Bernardeschi was felled from behind by […]