Pep Guardiola signed a new two-year contract to extend his stay as Manchester City boss, the club announced Thursday. Guardiola, 53, agreed to a deal that will keep him at the Etihad Stadium until 2027. His contract was due to expire at the end of the current campaign. The extension means Guardiola will celebrate 10 years at City in the summer of 2026, having arrived from Bayern Munich in 2016.…
Ipswich Town have revealed that pop star and minor shareholder Ed Sheeran was called to help them sign a player moments before he joined Taylor Swift on stage at Wembley Stadium. Sheeran, the British pop star and lifelong Ipswich fan bought a small stake in the club in August, ahead of their return to the Premier League for the first time since 2002. “In the summer, we were trying to…
Professional football is failing to apply required safety standards and so is violating legal frameworks at both European and global level, a report published on Wednesday said. The report by Belgian University Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (KU Leuven) was commissioned by global football players’ union FIFPRO. It will be submitted as evidence to the joint complaint filed to European antitrust regulators against FIFA by FIFPRO Europe, European Leagues and LaLiga. Elite…
Qualification for the 2026 World Cup in South America kicked off with six rounds last year, less than nine months after Lionel Messi and Argentina won the 2022 final in Qatar. Since September, another six have been played, leaving the campaign two thirds complete. From now on, things are a little more spaced out with double-headers in late March, early June and mid-September. So, after the latest frantic burst of…
Gerardo “Tata” Martino has left his post as head coach of Inter Miami CF, sources tell ESPN, leaving the club for personal reasons despite having a year remaining on his contract. The former Barcelona and Mexico coach will address the media in a final news conference on Friday, Nov. 22, alongside co-owner Jorge Mas and president of football operations Raúl Sanllehi. Martino is set to depart just weeks after Lionel…
The Honduras Football Federation have been given a one-match ban and fine by Concacaf following a Nov. 15 incident in which Mexico coach Javier Aguirre was struck by a beer can after earning a 2-0 away loss in the first leg of a Nations League quarterfinal. Concacaf also added that a separate investigation has been opened regarding Aguirre’s conduct during the match at San Pedro Sula’s Francisco Morazan Stadium. “The…
Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur has been handed a seven-game ban and a £100,000 fine by the English Football Association (FA) for using abusive language and bringing the game into disrepute during a Spanish-language interview on Uruguayan television in June. The ban applies only to English club football and not European competition, meaning he can still compete against Roma and Rangers in the Europa League. He will miss Premier League…
A statue of Harry Kane was unveiled in London on Monday as the England captain revealed he hopes to play for his country until the 2030 World Cup. Waltham Forest, a council in north London, spent £7,200 on the likeness between 2019 and 2020, but had not been able to find a permanent home for it due to local regulations. The statue, which depicts the country’s all-time top goal scorer…
France manager Didier Deschamps has expressed concern over the growing mental stresses his players face with the congested football calendar and accentuated exposure via social media. Deschamps has faced regular questions about the mental health of Kylian Mbappé in particular, with the Real Madrid forward having missed the last two international camps amid what the manager described as partly “psychological” worries. “He is in a complicated situation, yes, but that…
LONDON — Thomas Tuchel starts work as England manager on Jan. 1, and his mission could not be clearer: win the 2026 World Cup. England’s 5-0 win over Republic of Ireland on Sunday ensured promotion back to UEFA Nations League A and, significantly, it means Tuchel can begin his England tenure with World Cup qualifiers in March rather than a messy play-off in a different competition. Tuchel’s short 18-month contract…