Harrison (United States) (AFP) – Ousmane Dembele and Memphis Depay lifted Barcelona to a 2-0 victory over the New York Red Bulls on Saturday as the Spanish giants finished their four-match friendly tour of the United States unbeaten. French winger Dembele fired Barcelona ahead after 40 minutes before a sellout crowd of 25,252 at Red […]

London (AFP) – Norwich made a losing start on their return to English football's Championship on Saturday as they were beaten 1-0 away to Cardiff in a match where both sides had a player sent off. The Canaries were relegated from the Premier League last season after finishing bottom of the table, but with many […]

Berlin (AFP) – Sadio Mane opened his competitive goal-scoring account for Bayern Munich as the Bundesliga champions defeated Leipzig 5-3 to capture the German Super Cup for a 10th time on Saturday. The African Player of the Year, who ended a six-year stint at Liverpool to move to Bavaria in the summer, also had two […]

London (AFP) – England women's captain Leah Williamson called on the Lionesses to seize a "day of opportunity" by winning a major tournament for the first time in the Euro 2022 final on Sunday. A record crowd for a European Championship match in either the men's or women's game of 87,000 is expected at Wembley […]

Leicester (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Liverpool struck first blood against Manchester City ahead of the new Premier League season as Darwin Nunez made an instant impact for Jurgen Klopp's men to win the Community Shield 3-1. In a tale of two big summer signings, Nunez came off the bench to win a penalty and score […]

London (AFP) – Germany women's manager Martina Voss-Tecklenburg said the pressure is all on England for Sunday's Euro 2022 final with an expectant home crowd of 87,000 at Wembley hoping to roar the Lionesses on to victory. England have never won a major tournament in the women's game, in stark contrast to Germany's record of […]

Liverpool (AFP) – An Everton fan who drove to Poland to help Ukrainian refugees was given a moment to remember as he was brought on to take a penalty during the Toffees pre-season friendly win over Dynamo Kiev. Paul Stratton used his time off from working for Liverpool Council to travel to Poland and hand […]

Glasgow (AFP) – Rangers needed two goals in the final 16 minutes from Scott Arfield and James Tavernier to start their Scottish Premiership season with a hard-fought 2-1 win at Livingston on Saturday. The Europa League finalists trailed just five minutes into the new campaign when Joel Nouble lofted the ball over Jon McLaughlin. Rangers […]

Tel Aviv (AFP) – Christophe Galtier takes charge of his first competitive match Sunday as Paris Saint-Germain play Nantes in the Champions Trophy in Tel Aviv, the curtain-raiser to the French football season. PSG completed a successful pre-season tour of Japan with a 6-2 thrashing of Gamba Osaka — their third win in as many […]

London (AFP) – England manager Sarina Wiegman has fulfilled her goal of using Euro 2022 to fuel the nation's passion for women's football and victory in Sunday's final against Germany would consummate the burgeoning love affair. A tournament that has smashed attendance records will get a fitting finale with a crowd of 87,000 expected at […]

London (AFP) – Vincent Kompany's first competitive match as manager of Burnley ended in a 1-0 Championship win away to Huddersfield Town on Friday. The former Manchester City captain was appointed as the permanent successor to the long-serving Sean Dyche last month following Burnley's relegation from the Premier League. On-loan Chelsea winger Ian Maatsen marked […]

London (AFP) – Cristiano Ronaldo has indicated he will be feature in Manchester United's friendly with Rayo Vallecano at Old Trafford on Sunday amid ongoing speculation over his future with the English giants. The 37-year-old Portugal forward, who missed the club's pre-season tour to Thailand and Australia for personal reasons, reportedly wants to leave the […]

London (AFP) – Aymeric Laporte will miss the start of Manchester City's Premier League title defence after the Spain defender had surgery on a knee injury. City manager Pep Guardiola revealed on Friday that Laporte needed the operation after struggling with the injury in the closing stages of last season. The 28-year-old centre-back played through […]

Berlin (AFP) – Bayern Munich face RB Leizpig in the German Super Cup on Saturday in their first competitive match since the departure of Robert Lewandowski and with Sadio Mane in their ranks. Julian Nagelsmann's men, who were powered to a 10th straight Bundesliga title last season by Lewandowski's 35 league goals, have been busy […]

Madrid (AFP) – Barcelona president Joan Laporta has said that he hopes Lionel Messi will end his career "in a Barca shirt". Messi left the Camp Nou for Paris Saint-Germain last summer, after 17 years in the Barcelona first team, as the Catalan giants struggled with financial problems. But Laporta is hopeful that the 35-year-old […]