Paris (AFP) – Republic of Ireland stunned Austria 1-0 in Vienna to climb top of their World Cup qualifying group but Iceland failed to replicate their Euro 2016 heroics in a 2-0 defeat in Croatia on Saturday. The Irish provisionally leapfrogged Serbia in Group D thanks to a James McClean strike three minutes after half-time, […]

Johannesburg (AFP) – South Africa converted a penalty that should not have been awarded as they beat Senegal 2-1 Saturday to boost their chances of reaching the 2018 World Cup in Russia. It was a must-win matchday 2 qualifier for the hosts in northern city Polokwane and they survived a late onslaught from the visitors […]

Dos A Cero is a thing of the past. For the first time in fifteen years, the United States lost a World Cup qualifier on home soil – falling on Friday night against Mexico by a score of two goals to one. In this most meaningful Hexagonal opener, the mystique of Columbus fell apart for […]

Columbus (AFP) – Mexico skipper Rafael Marquez scored an 89th-minute winner as the United States crashed to their first World Cup qualifying defeat on home soil in 15 years with a 2-1 loss. Marquez, 37, headed home a Miguel Layun corner in the dying minutes of a pulsating battle to end the USA's long record […]

FOX Sports has acquired the English-language TV rights to the 2017 and 2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup tournaments, the network announced today. The 2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup, which will be played in the United States in July 2017, will feature the United States and Mexico as the two automatically qualified nations. It's expected that an additional […]

London (AFP) – England's interim manager Gareth Southgate and his Scotland counterpart Gordon Strachan refused to be drawn on their respective futures following the World Cup qualifier between their teams. England won 3-0 at Wembley on Friday to boost Southgate's chances of being given the job full-time, having won two and drawn one of the […]

London (AFP) – England and Scotland face an uncertain wait to discover if they will face sanctions after proceeding with a contentious poppy tribute to Britain's war dead in their World Cup qualifier. The two teams, led by England captain Wayne Rooney and his Scotland counterpart Darren Fletcher, wore black armbands with red poppy motifs […]

Paris (AFP) – France coach Didier Deschamps insists there is an awful lot more to Paul Pogba's game after the Manchester United star found the net again in his country's 2-1 win over Sweden on Friday. The world's most expensive player headed in France's equaliser before Dimitri Payet got the winning goal in the World […]

Belfast (AFP) – Chris Brunt put behind him the disappointment of missing Euro 2016 as he scored one and made another in Northern Ireland's 4-0 whipping of Azerbaijan in their 2018 World Cup qualifier. Brunt, who missed Euro 2016 because of a serious knee injury, also played most of Friday's match with his head bandaged […]

Paris (AFP) – England shrugged aside the potential ramifications of sanctions over poppy emblems Friday with a 3-0 Wembley win over Scotland to bring a 2018 World Cup berth a step closer. A trio of headers from Liverpool pair Daniel Sturridge and Adam Lallana and Chelsea's Gary Cahill saw interim coach Gareth Southgate's side cruise […]

Serravalle (San Marino) (AFP) – Ex-Arsenal winger Serge Gnabry scored a hat-trick on his senior Germany debut in Friday's 8-0 World Cup victory at San Marino as coach Joachim Loew set a new winning record. Gnabry, 21, who left the Gunners before the start of the season, is the first German to score a hat-trick […]

London (AFP) – Gareth Southgate enhanced his chances of keeping his job and shortened the odds on Gordon Strachan losing his as England sank Scotland 3-0 in World Cup qualifying on Friday. In the third game of Southgate's four-match stint as interim England manager, headers by Daniel Sturridge, Adam Lallana and Gary Cahill secured a […]

Columbus (AFP) – The election of Donald Trump as President of the United States would not impact any decision the country may make to bid for the 2026 World Cup, US Soccer Federation president Sunil Gulati said on Friday. The US is considered favourite to host the tournament with the bidding process expected to get […]

London (AFP) – England captain Wayne Rooney and Scotland counterpart Darren Fletcher led out teams sporting black armbands with red poppy motifs for Friday's World Cup qualifier, paying a commemorative war dead tribute at Wembley that leaves both nations at risk of FIFA sanctions. Football's world governing body has warned the move could contravene rules […]

Zurich (AFP) – FIFA's ethics commission on Friday called for a life ban from football for the former head of the CONCACAF federation and former Honduras federation president Alfredo Hawit on corruption charges. Hawit was extradited from Switzerland last January to the United States to face charges a month after his arrest in Zurich on […]