Lisbon (AFP) – FIFA's expansion of the World Cup to 48 teams from 2026 will make football's showpiece tournament "more competitive", Portugal coach Fernando Santos said Thursday. "We must avoid being too dramatic," Santos said. "If this expansion meant an increase in the number of games (played during the tournament) things would be more complicated, […]

Berlin (AFP) – Germany international Max Kruse admitted he was lucky to have walked away from a car crash having reported for training hours after wrecking the vehicle he was driving on Thursday. The accident happened at 0400 local time (0300 GMT) in north Germany, but Kruse still reported punctually for training at 1000 with […]

London (AFP) – Graham Taylor, who died aged 72 on Thursday, was Watford's greatest manager and overcame a turbulent period as England boss to become one of English football's most fondly regarded figures. Over 10 years, Taylor guided Watford from the Fourth Division to a second-place finish in England's top tier and an FA Cup […]

London (AFP) – Former England manager Graham Taylor died on Thursday at the age of 72 after suffering a suspected heart attack. Taylor made his name as the mastermind behind Watford's rise to the English top-flight in the 1980s and also enjoyed a successful spell as Aston Villa boss before spending three years as England […]

London (AFP) – The two investigations into the 1989 Hillsborough football stadium disaster on Thursday passed files on 23 suspects to prosecutors who will now consider criminal charges. Fifteen of the suspects relate to the investigation into the causes of the disaster, while eight relate to an alleged police cover-up which followed the tragedy in […]

Berlin (AFP) – Thomas Mueller put a bizarre new spin on an old trick by pretending his passport was a mobile phone to avoid questions when Bayern Munich returned from their winter training camp. Bundesliga leaders Bayern arrived back into Munich on Wednesday after their eight-day camp in Doha with the German league to resume […]

London (AFP) – Zlatan Ibrahimovic has set his sights on leading Manchester United to the Premier League title after boasting he took just three months to establish himself as one of the best players in England. Despite critics claiming Ibrahimovic would struggle to adapt to the Premier League, the Swedish forward has already scored 18 […]

London (AFP) – West Ham United playmaker Dimitri Payet has informed the club of his desire to leave and no longer wishes to play for them, manager Slaven Bilic revealed on Thursday. Payet, 29, joined West Ham from Marseille in a reported £10.7 million ($13.1 million, 12.3 million euros) deal in 2015 and had a […]

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). […]