Paris (AFP) – Reigning European champions Italy will miss a second straight World Cup after losing to a dramatic stoppage-time goal against North Macedonia on Thursday, but Portugal, Wales and Sweden all made it through to qualifying play-off deciders. Four-time World Cup winners Italy were stunned in Palermo as Aleksandar Trajkovski — who used to […]

Cardiff (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Gareth Bale said he will run into the ground for Wales as he dismissed criticism from Spain of his club form as a "waste of my time." Bale was at his brilliant best by scoring twice to take Wales into a World Cup playoff final with a 2-1 win over […]

Palermo (Italy) (AFP) – Italy will miss their second World Cup in a row after slumping to a shock 1-0 play-off semi-final defeat to North Macedonia on Thursday. Aleksandar Trajkovski's low drive in the second minute of stoppage time stunned the European champions in Palermo and set-up a qualifying final with Portugal in Porto on Tuesday […]

Porto (Portugal) (AFP) – Portugal are through to a decisive World Cup qualifying play-off final next week after beating Turkey 3-1 in Porto on Thursday, but only after Burak Yilmaz missed a crucial late penalty for the visitors. The home side were cruising at the Estadio do Dragao thanks to first-half goals by Brazilian-born midfielder […]

Cardiff (United Kingdom) (AFP) – A brilliant double from Gareth Bale took Wales to the brink of a first World Cup since 1958 thanks to a 2-1 win over Austria in Cardiff on Thursday. Robert Page's men will face Scotland or Ukraine for a place in Qatar later this year after Bale rolled back the […]

London (AFP) – Bukayo Saka will miss England's friendlies against Switzerland and Ivory Coast after the Arsenal forward tested positive for the coronavirus. Saka was forced to pull out on Thursday following his Covid test as the number of withdrawals from Gareth Southgate's squad continues to rise. The 20-year-old trained with England on Tuesday but […]

Sharjah (United Arab Emirates) (AFP) – Saudi Arabia were held to a 1-1 draw by China on Thursday as they celebrated reaching the World Cup finals for the sixth time. Herve Renard's side went into the Asian third round qualifying game in Sharjah knowing that their ticket was booked when Japan beat Australia 2-0 earlier […]

London (AFP) – The Saudi Media Group bid to buy Chelsea has failed to make the final shortlist, according to British media reports on Thursday. The Saudi consortium were one of a host of bidders attempting to buy the troubled Premier League club from Russia owner Roman Abramovich. The Raine Group, handling the sale after […]

Marbella (Spain) (AFP) – Christian Eriksen said Thursday he was "very pleased" to join up with the Denmark team, just nine months after suffering a cardiac arrest. Eriksen has linked up once again with the national side ahead of friendlies against the Netherlands in Amsterdam on Saturday and Serbia in Copenhagen on Tuesday. "I'm very […]

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 […]