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Nico O’Reilly has said that Erling Haaland is playing mind games by saying England are “clear favourites” to win their World Cup quarterfinal with Norway. O’Reilly will come up against his Manchester City teammate in Saturday’s match in Miami — a clash Haaland says England should expect to win. Keeping Haaland quiet will be key to that, but O’Reilly knows there is more to the Scandinavians, who are in the…

Promising midfielder Paul Okon-Engstler is headed to Germany, the first of an emerging batch of Socceroos to move to bigger leagues. The 21-year-old, who impressed in Australia‘s World Cup campaign, is joining Bundesliga club FC Koln from Sydney FC. Okon-Engstler’s transfer is reportedly set at one million Euros ($A1.6m) for the Sky Blues, who signed him on a three-year deal in July last year. – Lewis: Football in Australia doesn’t…

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Morocco wonderkid Ayyoub Bouaddi has no regrets about choosing to represent the Atlas Lions at senior level ahead of France, despite Les Bleus’ 2-0 victory in Thursday’s World Cup quarterfinal between the pair in Boston. Goals from Kylian Mbappé and Ousmane Dembélé took France past the North Africans in a rematch of the 2022 semifinal, and while they will now advance to a Final Four showdown with…

INGLEWOOD, Calif. – Belgium forward Romelu Lukaku said the Red Devils will need to “play the perfect game” to get past Spain in Friday’s World Cup quarterfinal. A win for Belgium would see them equal the mark of both the 1986 side that reached the semifinals in Mexico, as well as the 2018 team that did the same in Russia, where Lukaku played in a 1-0 loss to eventual champions…

The Football Association will review an incident that took place at England’s Kansas City media centre on Thursday when a man walked in carrying a wrench, resulting in a call to the local authorities. Thomas Tuchel’s side are preparing for Saturday’s World Cup quarterfinal against Norway ahead of flying from the Midwest to Miami, Florida, on the eve of the game. England trained on Thursday around lunchtime at Swope Soccer…

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — France coach Didier Deschamps has questioned why Kylian Mbappé was made to wait to take his penalty against Morocco and said the delay contributed to the striker’s miss. Mbappé saw his first-half spot kick saved by Yassine Bounou after being made to wait more than three minutes before being allowed to shoot. The Real Madrid forward appeared to remonstrate with the Argentinian officials shortly afterwards and during…

Kylian Mbappé has played down concerns over what he described as a “knock on his ankle” during France‘s 2-0 World Cup quarterfinal win over Morocco on Thursday, saying “I’m all good.” Mbappe received treatment on the pitch from the France physio before being substituted in the 77th minute and replaced by Jean-Philippe Mateta. The 27-year-old walked off the pitch, applauding the crowd as he did so and did not appear…

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Morocco coach Mohamed Ouahbi said his team will aim to “eliminate France in four years’ time” after Les Bleus inflicted a second-successive World Cup defeat on the Atlas Lions to seal a semifinal clash against Spain or Belgium. Second-half goals from Kylian Mbappé and Ousmane Dembélé ensured a 2-0 victory for France on Thursday — a repeat of the scoreline in the semifinal win at Al Bayt…

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Kylian Mbappé recovered from a missed penalty to score his 20th World Cup goal and help send France through to the semifinals with a 2-0 win over Morocco. Didier Deschamps’ team took control of their quarterfinal tie in Boston early in the second half with two goals in six minutes to set up a meeting with either Spain or Belgium in the last four. Mbappé had his…

KANSAS CITY, Missouri — Bukayo Saka has said Jarell Quansah‘s two-game ban is “very frustrating” but refused to be drawn on comparisons with FIFA’s decision to suspend Folarin Balogun‘s punishment earlier in the tournament. Quansah was sent off on VAR review following a high challenge on Jesús Gallardo as England secured a famous 3-2 victory over Mexico at Azteca Stadium. FIFA deemed the challenge to have breached article 14 of…