London (AFP) – Damian Collins, co-founder of the campaign group for FIFA reform, New FIFA Now, criticised Tuesday's decision to expand the World Cup to 48 teams, telling AFP it was taken for financial and not sporting reasons. The 42-year-old — who is also a lawmaker for the ruling British Conservative Party — said football's […]

Zurich (AFP) – FIFA's decision Tuesday to expand the World Cup to 48 teams in 2026 will allow more countries to "dream" of qualifying for the globe's top sporting event, FIFA president Gianni Infantino said. "We have to shape the World Cup of the 21st Century... football is more than Europe and South America," Infantino […]

Doha (AFP) – Bayern Munich will not sell centre-back Holger Badstuber in the summer but he can leave on loan in January, club coach Carlo Ancelotti said on Tuesday. Bundesliga rivals Schalke 04 are thought to be competing with Manchester City and Swansea to sign the international defender in January's transfer window. But, speaking from […]

Zurich (AFP) – Following FIFA's ruling council's unanimous approval Tuesday of an expansion of the World Cup to 48 teams in 2026, AFP Sport looks at the evolution of the tournament since the inaugural edition in 1930. – 1930: The first World Cup final kicked off with 13 teams in Uruguay, including four European nations […]

Zurich (AFP) – FIFA's governing council is set to decide on Tuesday whether to expand the World Cup, a controversial idea that has created deep divisions among global football's most powerful camps. Making the tournament bigger for 2026 is a top priority of FIFA president Gianni Infantino, who took over the scandal-tainted body last […]

Libreville (AFP) – Guinea-Bissau captain Bocundji Ca insists there is no secret recipe behind the sudden success of the one-time African football whipping boys, just outstanding teamwork. "We attack and defend together," he told a radio station in the tiny, impoverished former Portuguese colony on the west African coast. "I realise that sounds very basic, […]

Libreville (AFP) – Benjamin Moukandjo insists he feels no pressure taking over the Cameroon captaincy as the forward prepares to lead a diminished squad into the Africa Cup of Nations this weekend. The 28-year-old striker with French Ligue 1 strugglers Lorient was handed the armband by the Indomitable Lions' coach Hugo Broos and has since […]

Libreville (AFP) – Kalidou Koulibaly admits he waited and waited for the call to come from France before choosing to play for Senegal, and does not regret his decision for one second. The powerful 25-year-old centre-back was born in France and represented the country of his birth at under-20 level, but he accepted the call […]

Libreville (AFP) – Debutants Guinea-Bissau achieved one of the most remarkable qualifications in the 60-year-old Africa Cup of Nations by reaching the 2017 finals, and are plotting more shocks. The Djurtus (wild dogs) topped a group, ahead of former champions Congo Brazzaville and Zambia and Kenya, that they were considered certainties to prop up. Like […]

London (AFP) – Manchester United and Liverpool have each lost an important player, but in the Premier League it is Leicester City for whom the Africa Cup of Nations is the biggest inconvenience. While United centre-back Eric Bailly has been called up by the Ivory Coast and Liverpool have lost Senegalese flier Sadio Mane, Leicester […]

Southampton (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Jurgen Klopp has urged Liverpool to make amends for their FA Cup flop by delivering a dominant display in Wednesday's League Cup semi-final first leg against Southampton. Klopp fielded Liverpool's youngest ever line-up against Plymouth in the FA Cup third round on Sunday and the raw rookies failed to impress […]

London (AFP) – Holders Manchester United and Premier League leaders Chelsea were both handed favourable home draws on Monday against second-tier opposition in the fourth round of the FA Cup. United host nearby Wigan Athletic, the 2012-13 FA Cup winners, at Old Trafford while Chelsea will also be strong favourites to go through when they […]

Zurich (AFP) – Cristiano Ronaldo claimed FIFA's inaugural best player of the year award on Monday, the latest prize for the Real Madrid and Portugal star after a glittering 2016 for club and country. Leicester City's Claudio Ranieri received the best men's coach award following his side's fairytale Premier League triumph. But the night again […]

Zurich (AFP) – Claudio Ranieri was named FIFA's best men's coach of 2016 on Monday, after leading Leicester City to a fairytale Premier League title triumph. The Italian beat out France's Zinedine Zidane, who steered Real Madrid to the Champions League title in his first year as manager and Fernando Santos, Portugal's manager for the […]

London (AFP) – Southampton's unsettled Portuguese centre-back Jose Fonte will not be selected for Wednesday's League Cup semi-final first leg at home to Liverpool, manager Claude Puel said on Monday. Fonte, the Southampton captain, is reported to have tabled a transfer request and with his future uncertain, Puel has decided to leave him out of […]