FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — France forward Ousmane Dembélé scored a first-half hat trick, including one off an assist from Kylian Mbappé, to give his team a 3-1 lead over Norway at the FIFA World Cup on Friday. Dembélé’s goals came in the seventh, 20th and 32nd minutes. It was the first first-half hat trick at the World Cup since Russia forward Oleg Salenko scored three of his five goals in the…
Former Germany player Bastian Schweinsteiger said Friday he was talking about Ivory Coast’s style and not its players when he spoke last weekend about what his country’s national team could expect from its African opponent during their World Cup group match. Schweinsteiger called it, “A bit African football, a bit unorthodox, a bit wild, a bit perhaps also not so conditioned by tactics” and added it was unpredictable. Ivory Coast…
England striker Ivan Toney has said his “clear the air” talks with Thomas Tuchel were over a misunderstanding of each other’s personalities. Toney’s World Cup dream looked over after he played just two minutes of last summer’s June camp — and then did not feature again until Tuchel surprisingly recalled him for the summer tournament. The German said he was disappointed with “the level of commitment” Toney had shown, but…
Panama’s preparations for their World Cup clash with England on Saturday were overshadowed by a training ground confrontation between two players. The Central Americans are already eliminated from the tournament after losing their first two games. They close their Group L campaign against Thomas Tuchel’s side at the MetLife Stadium, but their pre-match training session saw Cecilio Waterman and José Luis Rodríguez clash. – Who is playing in the 2026…
PHILADELPHIA, PA — Ghana head coach Carlos Queiroz insists his players are refusing to look beyond Saturday’s final Group L game against Croatia, despite the prospect of Thomas Partey again being unavailable in Canada, depending on where the Black Stars finish in the group. The West Africans will play their Round of 32 fixture in Toronto if they finish second in their group, where Partey would again miss out having…
United States men’s national team coach Mauricio Pochettino and U.S. Soccer have had positive talks about a possible contract extension, sources have told ESPN. Pochettino’s contract with U.S. Soccer runs through the end of this World Cup and the former Tottenham, Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea manager has yet to say what his future plans are. Sources told ESPN that U.S. Soccer would like to retain the 54-year-old for another four-year…
Portugal coach Roberto Martinez has said he is only focussing on beating Colombia in their final Group K game and not about their potential first opponent in the round of 32 Colombia won their opening two games to reach the knockouts and lead Group K, two points clear of second-placed Portugal heading into the encounter in Miami Gardens. The winners of Group K will face a third-placed side in the…
PHILADELPHIA, PA — Antoine Semenyo has urged his Ghana teammates to put more pressure on officials after the Black Stars didn’t get a VAR check for at least one incident that went against them in their draw with England on Tuesday. Ghana neutralised the Three Lions to move to four points — and the brink of the knockout stages — after a 0-0 draw in Foxborough, but the Black Stars…
Reece James missed training ahead of England’s final group game against Panama. The 26-year-old played the entirety of the 4-2 win against Croatia last week and Tuesday’s 0-0 draw with Ghana, but per ESPN sources is dealing with a hamstring issue. James was conspicuous by his absence from England training on Friday and is not expected to be risked as Thomas Tuchel’s men attempt to wrap up top spot in…
Erling Haaland will start Norway’s World Cup Group I clash against Kylian Mbappé’s France on the substitutes’ bench with coach Stale Solbakken planning to rest ten players, sources have told ESPN. Haaland’s absence from the starting line-up will dent his chances of winning the Golden Boot with the Manchester City forward tied on four goals with France star Mbappé and one behind Argentina’s Lionel Messi. Norway face France with both…