The Guardian

Countries due to play on Valentine’s Day in Italy amid Trump threats to seize Danish territory of Greenland Their rendezvous may be on Valentine’s Day, but its nature looks likely to be anything but romantic: Denmark and the US, their relations frostier than they have been for decades, are due to face each other in ice hockey next month. A week into the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics in Italy , t…

Misjudged penalty after Senegal’s walk-off chaos leaves forward facing a lifetime of criticism After Portugal had beaten England in the World Cup quarter-final in 2006, Cristiano Ronaldo was asked how he had looked so calm taking his penalty in the shootout when England’s players appeared crushed by the occasion. For a moment he seemed baffled by the question, then he explained that those moments…

Dramatic tournament left food for thought for the 2027 edition, from the weather to the warm welcome in Morocco At the 2024 Africa Cup of Nations in Côte d’Ivoire, officiating was at its finest, with the Confederation of African Football’s video assistant referee operation setting standards that were the envy of the Premier League and several other European leagues. Sadly, refereeing standards to…

Lamadrid plays in homeland and won first cap last year Wilson, scorer of winner at Spurs, was in talks to leave West Ham are close to signing the Venezuela winger Keiber Lamadrid and plan to keep Callum Wilson, who has been in talks to leave five months after joining. Wilson scored West Ham’s winner at Tottenham on Saturday after coming on as a late substitute. The 33-year-old was understood to h…

Just when it seemed another match would be dominated by the dreariness of a debatable video assistant referee decision, a moment of majesty from Charalampos Kostoulas provided a pertinent reminder of the beauty that football can provide. With his side staring at what would have been a controversial defeat, the Greek substitute found himself facing away from the Bournemouth goal in the first minut…

United get shot at revenge after losing last season’s final Everton will travel to Liverpool to contest Cup derby Chelsea, the holders, will host Manchester United in the Women’s FA Cup fifth round, in a repeat of last season’s final. Sonia Bompastor’s side were 3-0 winners against United at Wembley last May and they will meet again in the headline-grabbing tie of an intriguing-looking fifth roun…

World team will play US teams in mini-tournament James could still make team as a reserve The first-ever World team for the NBA All-Star Game already looks loaded. And the fate of LeBron James’ record streak of All-Star selections will now be decided by coaches, or perhaps even Commissioner Adam Silver. Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo, Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Denver’s Nikola Jo…

Manager has ‘been feeling the trust’ from club hierarchy Spurs hampered by injury crisis before visit of Dortmund Thomas Frank has insisted the ­Tottenham hierarchy are standing with him in the face of the storm gripping the club . The manager’s job is in the ­balance, his situation precarious after Saturday’s 2-1 home defeat against West Ham . The Spurs support were so incensed by the result and…

Brazilian striker yet to hold talks over new deal Arteta keen to keep up Champions League form at Inter Gabriel Jesus wants to fulfil his ambition of winning trophies with Arsenal and believes they are “getting closer” after three successive runners-up finishes in the Premier League. Mikel Arteta’s side head into Tuesday night’s meeting with Inter in Milan top of the Champions League table after …

Bills lost dramatic overtime game to Broncos Buffalo missed Super Bowl under coach’s leadership The Buffalo Bills have fired Sean McDermott after the team yet again fell short in the NFL playoffs. The Bills lost a dramatic divisional round game in overtime to the Denver Broncos on Saturday. Buffalo have reached the playoffs in all but one of the seasons since McDermott took over in 2017, when he …

Serb showed off astounding movement in 100th win in Melbourne to begin his 22nd grand slam season in style The very first point of Novak Djokovic’s 2026 season offered an instant reminder of his enduring greatness. Djokovic started his first match of his Australian Open campaign, also his opening match of the season, by working his way through a breathless 17-stroke rally and then punctuating the…

The next three weekends of relentless action will put us within touching distance of a definitive answer Cheltenham opens its doors for the final time before the festival meeting for an eight-race Trials Day card on Saturday, marking the start of a frenetic 15-day period of action during which, according to recent figures as least, trainers will apply the finishing touches to at least half of the…

Pool stages could revert to an October start ‘The format is delivering,’ insists European rugby chief The organisers of the Champions Cup are looking to shift the start of the tournament back to October to add extra impetus to the pool stages. This year’s competition kicked off in December but there is collective support from coaches and clubs to commence their campaigns prior to the packed Novem…

Spending on support staff to be trebled Franchise received £145m for sale of 49% stake The new-look London Spirit are hugely increasing salaries paid to off-field cricket staff in a bid to boost the calibre of recruits when the turbocharged Hundred launches in August. With the competition’s salary cap including only the playing squad, Spirit hope the backroom staff attracted will help the team fl…

Carnival drums provided the backdrop to surprise victory over league leaders that was not just down to luck “There was a little magic in the atmosphere,” Pellegrino Matarazzo said. Real Sociedad’s new coach could feel it; he could hear it too, the sound of drums beating on every street of the city he has embraced and into the stadium that has embraced him back already. When he and his players arr…