West Ham midfielder Lucas Paquetá has revealed he expressed his desire to return to Flamengo last summer, adding that he will return to the club one day. The Brazil international admitted his former club had already approached him in May 2024 after the English Football Association had charged him with four counts of spot-fixing after a 10-month investigation. Flamengo tried to sign Paquetá again this summer after he was cleared…
It’s mid-November, and qualification for the 2026 World Cup — to be hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada next summer — is in its final dramatic stages, with many automatic spots to be filled over the next week and several other nations vying for a spot in March’s intercontinental playoffs. Before we get there, though — and before we get to the World Cup draw, which will be…
Turkish football temporarily banned 102 top-tier club players on Thursday over a widening betting scandal. The Turkish Football Federation suspended 25 players from the Super Lig and 77 from the second-tier first division for terms ranging from 45 days to one year. Galatasaray and Turkey defender Eren Elmali was suspended for 45 days. Club teammate and Turkey Under-21 center back Metehan Baltaci was suspended for nine months. Elmali posted on…
The Premier League’s summer of strikers is threatening to turn into a winter of woe. English clubs spent big on some of the most exciting forwards in Europe ahead of the 2025-26 season, yet most have struggled to live up to the hype so far. Liverpool broke the British transfer record to sign Alexander Isak from Newcastle United for £125 million, about as much as the combined fees paid by…
England will play their first match of Euro 2028 at Manchester’s Etihad Stadium if they qualify directly, with fellow co-hosts the Republic of Ireland, Scotland and Wales set to play all their group games at home. The tournament was officially launched at an event in central London on Wednesday, which included an unveiling of the match schedule. A small but noisy pro-Palestine protest took place directly outside the event, with…
Two Portsmouth fans who posed as stewards to watch the South Coast derby against Southampton in September have been banned from football matches for three years, Hampshire Police have confirmed. The two brothers Kane Green, 29, and Dale Green, 31, carried “high-vis vests and radio equipment” to complete the steward look and were able to access “restricted areas” for the sold-out derby. They both pleaded guilty to fraud by false…
Barcelona manager Hansi Flick didn’t come out for his postmatch news conference at Celta Vigo on Sunday sword in hand, dressed in the gladiator Maximus Decimus Meridius’ leather tunic, roaring, “Are you not entertained?” But he should have. Chin jutted out, hostile stare, arms akimbo, challenging everyone present with Russell Crowe’s “Gladiator” follow-up line: “Is this not why you are here?” Flick’s LaLiga champions had just completed their fourth match…
More than 1,000 players were suspended by the Turkish Football Federation in a widening betting scandal, including national team defender Eren Elmali, who has been a Champions League regular for Galatasaray this season. Elmali published a statement late Monday to explain his involvement in the case after he was pulled from the Turkey squad preparing to play World Cup qualifying games against Spain and Bulgaria. The 25-year-old Elmali posted on…
Brighton & Hove Albion winger Yankuba Minteh could replace Mohamed Salah at Liverpool, while Dominik Szoboszlai’s Liverpool contract situation is being monitored by Manchester City and Real Madrid. Join us for the latest transfer news and rumors from around the globe. Transfers home page | Men’s grades | Women’s grades – Messi hints at Barça return? ‘I hope one day’ – Angry Neymar storms off, Santos near relegation – Atlético…
We’re heading into the final international break of 2025, in which several more nations will punch their tickets to the 2026 World Cup, but before we get there, Europe’s top leagues gave us plenty to talk about. In the big game of the weekend, Manchester City deepened Liverpool’s seasonlong malaise with a comprehensive 3-0 win at the Etihad that showed the best of Jérémy Doku and capped Pep Guardiola’s 1000th…