Montevideo (AFP) – Peru booked a World Cup play-off spot against either Australia or the United Arab Emirates with a 2-0 victory over Paraguay on Tuesday, thus dashing the hopes of Colombia and Chile to reach the Qatar extravaganza. With Brazil, Argentina, Ecuador and Uruguay already qualified, all that was to play for in the […]

London (AFP) – England manager Gareth Southgate described Wembley boos for defender Harry Maguire as an "absolute joke" after his side eased to a 3-0 win against Ivory Coast in a friendly on Tuesday. Some sections of the crowd booed the Manchester United defender as he made his first international appearance of the year, days […]

Diamniadio (Senegal) (AFP) – Liverpool star Sadio Mane converted a shoot-out penalty on Tuesday to take African champions Senegal to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar at the expense of Egypt. Ghana, Morocco and Tunisia also booked their places in the finals on a frantic night of play-off action. Senegal won the second leg of […]

Paris (AFP) – Portugal beat North Macedonia 2-0 and Poland saw off Sweden by the same score in play-off finals on Tuesday to book their places in the 2022 World Cup finals in Qatar. Bruno Fernandes scored both goals for Portugal to overcome the Balkan nation that had knocked out European champions Italy in a […]

Amsterdam (AFP) – Tottenham forward Steven Bergwijn came off the bench to equalise for the Netherlands in a 1-1 friendly draw against Germany in Amsterdam on Tuesday. After Thomas Mueller had put the Germans ahead just before the break, Bergwijn crashed in the equaliser as the Dutch dominated the second-half. Eight months before the World […]

Chorzow (Poland) (AFP) – Robert Lewandowski slotted home a second-half penalty as Poland booked their berth at the World Cup finals with a 2-0 win over Sweden in Tuesday's play-off. After the Poland captain converted a spot kick, Piotr Zielinski put the game beyond doubt with a superb second goal for the hosts in Chorzow. […]

Porto (Portugal) (AFP) – Bruno Fernandes fired Portugal to the 2022 World Cup by scoring twice in a 2-0 victory over Italy’s conquerors North Macedonia on Tuesday. Italy’s shock exit had North Macedonia dreaming of their first ever appearance at a World Cup finals but Portugal and Fernandes proved a step too far in Porto. […]

Milan (AFP) – Italy won their first match after failing to qualify for a second straight World Cup by beating Turkey 3-2 in Konya on Tuesday. Bryan Cristante's 35th minute header and a Giacomo Raspadori brace gave the European champions the win after Cengiz Under had given the hosts a fourth-minute lead. Serdar Dursun pulled […]

London (AFP) – Ollie Watkins scored on his first start for England on Tuesday as Gareth Southgate's rejigged side beat 10-man Ivory Coast 3-0 at Wembley. The new-look home team took time to settle on a cool spring evening in London but first-half strikes from Watkins and captain Raheem Sterling either side of a red […]

Berlin (AFP) – The Social Democratic Party (SPD) of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has put pressure on the German FA (DFB) to make clear their position on human rights in World Cup host-nation Qatar. "The World Cup will take place and I also believe that Germany should be involved," Lars Klingbeil, joint party leader of […]

London (AFP) – Premier League strugglers Everton recorded losses of £120.9 million ($157 million) in the last financial year, but are set to avoid being held in breach of profit and sustainability rules. Figures released for the year ending June 2021 showed Everton were badly hit by another season impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. Everton's […]

Saitama (Japan) (AFP) – Japan drew 1-1 with Vietnam on Tuesday to end their World Cup qualifying campaign on a flat note days after booking their place in Qatar. The four-time Asian champions fell behind to a 19th-minute goal by Vietnam's Nguyen Thanh Binh, leaving them trailing at half-time to a team that had taken […]

London (AFP) – Gareth Southgate has told his England stars to place extra focus on penalty practice as he sets his sights on winning the World Cup. Southgate's side were beaten on penalties by Italy in the European Championship final last year. Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka all missed from the spot in […]

London (AFP) – Ivory Coast manager Patrice Beaumelle hopes England defender Marc Guehi could still choose to represent the African side. Crystal Palace centre-back Guehi, who was born in Ivory Coast, impressed on his England debut in Saturday's friendly victory against Switzerland. The 21-year-old could win his second cap against the country of his birth […]

London (AFP) – England defender John Stones will miss Tuesday's friendly against Ivory Coast after leaving the squad due to injury. Stones was due to start England's 2-1 friendly win against Switzerland on Saturday, but the Manchester City centre-back pulled out after suffering an injury in the pre-match warm-up at Wembley. England boss Gareth Southgate […]