The Guardian

Christian Pulisic struggled in more attacking role Francisco Trincão opens scoring in first half US next plays Germany and Senegal before World Cup opener The US men’s national team met Portugal at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Tuesday evening having spent the days leading up to the match preaching about intensity . Following a 5-2 drubbing at the hands of Belgium on the weekend, players and coaches a…

Japan’s goal wasn’t Palmer’s fault and Mainoo couldn’t track back, but Tuchel will now see the scale of what faces him To see a world in a grain of meaningless friendly. It has become a habit to say you don’t learn anything from these games. This isn’t strictly true. You just don’t learn anything new. But it’s all still there, ready to be decoded like a set of sporting tea leaves. On a strangely …

Aaround 5% of tickets will cost more than $1,000 Tickets for general public to go on sale on 9 April Tickets for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games will go on sale to the general public on 9 April, organizers said on Monday, as LA28 also moved to reassure fans over ticket security by naming a group of verified resale platforms. A presale for residents in qualifying areas of Los Angeles and Oklaho…

Kangaroos star sanctioned for wiping blood on opponent’s face Xerri admits incident during Essendon game was a ‘brain fade’ North Melbourne star Tristan Xerri would have risked a heftier AFL ban had he not shown remorse for wiping blood on the face of Essendon captain Andrew McGrath. Xerri will miss North’s next three games after he pleaded guilty to his serious misconduct charge. Continue readin…

The story will be of another Italian apocalypse, yet another infamous occasion for a nation that has won four men’s World Cups but is starting to believe it might never go to another after missing out for the third time in a row. After a North Macedonian bolt from the blue in 2022, and a stultifying two-legged defeat to Sweden five years before that they found a new way to come up short in 2026 –…

It was a step too far for Kosovo, but only just. They could hardly have given more in running Turkey to the wire but it is Vincenzo Montella’s team, relieved and jubilant at the end, that will play at the World Cup in a little over two months’ time. Turkey make their return after 24 years away; Kosovo had been seeking the most unlikely of debuts and could have made that prospect real if Fisnik As…

It is not a question that Thomas Tuchel wants to entertain at the World Cup this summer but one he had a run at here in what was supposed to be England’s grand Wembley send-off. Can the team thrive against good opposition without Harry Kane? The answer was played out across an increasingly frustrating 90 minutes. It was no. It was not all about Kane, who missed out because of a sore foot. But it …

The Graham Potter magic knows no bounds. There will be those who wonder what right Sweden had to be in this playoff, but they will be in the World Cup after an extraordinarily dramatic victory secured by Viktor Gyökeres’s 89th-minute winner. A patchy, anxious game in which Poland had twice equalised, its shapelessness an apt reflection of the stakes, had seemed to be drifting towards extra-time w…

The playing of a Scotland fixture on Merseyside provided a significant boost to the area’s ­hospitality sector. Questions remain over whether or not Scotland’s World Cup involvement this summer can deliver on‑field impact. Steve Clarke believes momentum is little more than a buzzword. There is an unavoidable sense, however, that Scotland are desperately in need of precisely that with North Americ…

New Spurs head coach supported Greenwood at Marseille Greenwood had charges including attempted rape dropped in 2023 The Tottenham Hotspur Supporters’ Trust has strongly criticised the appointment of Roberto De Zerbi as the club’s head coach, expressing “serious and far-reaching concerns” over his past support for Mason Greenwood. In a statement released soon after De Zerbi signed a five-year con…

Prop played with Tigers coach under Stuart Lancaster ‘I am honoured to be part of this prestigious club’ The former England prop Mako Vunipola has confirmed he is joining Leicester this summer as the Tigers look to beef up their pack for next season. The 35-year-old Vunipola will be joined in the East Midlands by the Argentinian front-row Joel Sclavi who will also help to fill the gap left by Nic…

An incident at the end of the Duke-UConn game reminded Black people of something we already know: we’re treated differently in America The UConn-Duke game on Sunday night was one for the ages. A last-second game winner from freshman Braylon Mullins took down the top-seeded Blue Devils, who at one point had led by 19 points. It is a moment that will be replayed over and over for years to come. How…

Fifa president made comments at Iran-Costa Rica game Infantino says Iran will play games in the US as scheduled Iran scheduled to open World Cup in LA on 15 June The Fifa president, Gianni Infantino, told AFP on Tuesday that Iran “will be at the World Cup” and will play their group matches in the United States as scheduled, despite the Middle East war . “Iran will be at the World Cup,” Infantino …

Sign up now! Sign up now! Sign up now? Sign up now! According to Keith Allen, lead singer of Fat Les, legendary bassist Guy Pratt made more money from just being the producer of ‘Vindaloo’, the unofficial England World Cup song for the 1998 tournament, than from playing with Pink Floyd. How cruel life is. When any one of four superb letters yesterday could have potentially won letter o’ the day i…

F1 has five weeks before the next race in Miami and they will need every minute to fix a hugely complicated problem Oliver Bearman emerging unhurt from a huge accident at the Japanese Grand Prix was considered a lucky escape. Formula One must think it is catching a break given there is a full month to work out how best to reduce the chance of such an incident happening again. F1 is going to need …