Jude Bellingham said he was already “10-times better” than he was last season at Borussia Dortmund after he continued his fine start to life at Real Madrid with two goals and an assist in their 3-1 LaLiga win at Almeria on Saturday. Bellingham has adapted quickly to life at Madrid since his €103 million ($112.2m) move from the Bundesliga club, scoring in their 2-0 win at Athletic Club last weekend…
Thierry Henry is set to become the new France under-21 head coach after he was chosen by the French Football Federation (FFF), sources have told ESPN. Henry, who left his role as Belgium assistant after the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, will take over Sylvain Rippoll following France’s disappointing display in the Euros this summer where they were eliminated by Ukraine at the quarterfinal stage. – Stream on ESPN+: LaLiga,…
The English Football Association has spoken to the Argentine Football Association about taking one of football’s biggest international rivalries out of cold storage for the first time in almost 20 years. And despite Argentina reportedly charging an appearance fee of $5 million (£3.9m) to play friendly fixtures since winning the World Cup for a third time at Qatar 2022, FA chief executive Mark Bullingham said that financing the Lionel Messi’s…
SYDNEY — FIFA president Gianni Infantino hit back at critics and took a victory lap at the FIFA Women’s Football Convention Friday, saying that expanding the Women’s World Cup has turned out to be a success and “FIFA was right” to do so. The tournament had 24 teams competing in its previous edition in 2019 in France, but this edition in Australia and New Zealand expanded to 32 teams. Two…
You won the treble. You scored the winning goal in the Champions League final. You’ve been hailed as the world’s best all-round midfielder. And you won the UEFA Nations League over the summer, cementing your status as your country’s most important player. Where do you go from there? With any other player, you might worry about all that success going to their head or causing some degree of complacency. But…
SYDNEY — Sarina Wiegman and Jorge Vilda are preparing for the biggest game of their coaching careers — the Women’s World Cup final between England and Spain here in Sydney. As the clock ticks down to kick-off, they must both make a huge decision that could shape their professional legacies. It is about high stakes and making the right call; balancing cold, calculated judgment against emotion and the gut feeling…
On Saturday night at the Parc des Princes, Kylian Mbappé was in a good mood. Not because his team, Paris Saint-Germain, were struggling to score without him against Lorient in their Ligue 1 opening game of the 2023-24 season. Not because one of his best friends in football, Ousmane Dembélé, was sat next to him in his box. No: most of all, Mbappé was happy because he knew that his…
The 2022-23 Bundesliga season saw Bayern Munich win their 11th consecutive title, but it obscures the fact that it was secured on the final day of the season, in a dramatic twist, snatched from the grasp of Borussia Dortmund. It was a result that did little to combat allegations that Germany’s top flight is predictable, but the circuitous journey the Bavarians took to lifting the Meisterschale ensured plenty of intrigue…
SYDNEY — It was sheer pragmatic, controlled aggression from England that ended Australia’s fairy tale. Not even Sam Kerr scoring one of the greatest goals in Women’s World Cup history could keep the music playing for the team that has led Australian football to new heights. The Lionesses had no interest in playing their role in the miracle of the Matildas; that’s just not how they do things under coach…
SYDNEY, Australia — Some will tell you that the Women’s World Cup branding around the host cities in Australia and New Zealand is scant, but in all nine, it’s there. You’ll see the touch of the tournament across billboards, countless lampposts and trams. There are always the ones that tell you where you are, fabric declaring “Sydney/Gadigal” waving in the breeze across the bay from the Opera House — basically,…