The Guardian

MLS stakeholders want to turn the interest in this summer’s North American World Cup into ‘rocket fuel’ for the league. Are those realistic expectations? In 1998, a full eight years before Major League Soccer debuted, it got its first “World Cup bump”. Fifa had just awarded the 1994 World Cup to the United States, but there was a stipulation. The US could host the tournament, but only if there wa…

£125m summer signing broke a leg in December He should rejoin team training late March or early April Arne Slot is expecting Alexander Isak to be available for a Liverpool return in April. The striker fractured his left leg and sustained an ankle injury against Tottenham in December and required surgery but is back in light training. Isak started running this week as part of his rehabilitation an…

Medal table | Live scores and schedule | Results | Briefing Follow us over on Bluesky | And you can email Daniel We’re back under way in the men’s curling. If Switzerland and Norway win, the former will meet GB in the semis, the latter Canada again. The men’s ski mountaineering is soon to get going, the extent of the things human will invent to compete and entertain themselves never failing to am…

League leaders squander 2-0 lead at bottom side Arteta: ‘We didn’t perform at the level required’ Mikel Arteta admitted Arsenal “have to blame ourselves” after they surrendered a two-goal lead to draw at Wolves . A 94th-minute equaliser cost the Premier League leaders two points as they allowed their rock-bottom opponents back into the game, further calling into question their title credentials. …

After eight years of personal highs and lows, the American dominated the women’s slalom to put her greatness beyond question High above the jagged peaks of the Italian Alps, Mikaela Shiffrin stood at the top of the podium once again. After eight long years without an Olympic medal, the American produced two sublime runs to win the women’s slalom by a commanding 1.50sec – the third-largest margin …

Updates from the T20I cricket at Manuka Oval Start time in Canberra is 7.15pm local/1.45pm IST Any thoughts? Get in touch with an email 3rd over: Australia 20-0 (Voll 13, Mooney 7) Renuka resumes and immediately Voll finds the first boundary of the night, opening the face of the bat and working it to the boundary for four. A single next ball that she doesn’t quite middle, but it goes over the fie…

Ireland’s pack was rocked by Italy in their Six Nations meeting and England have taken note Two snapshots will be nagging away in Irish minds before Saturday’s visit to south-west London. The first is the sobering sight of Tadhg Furlong and Dan Sheehan, both distinguished British & Irish Lions, being rocketed skywards by Italy’s power in the set scrums last Saturday. The second dates back 14 year…

Move is a temporary measure as J.League transitions to European schedule but could benefit national team in US, Canada and Merxico this summer Cynics may say it is no coincidence the J.League has introduced penalty shootouts to replace draws just before the World Cup. Japan have identified the quarter-finals as the target this summer after failing to progress past the last 16 on three of the past…

Plus: high-scoring symmetrical scorelines, Scottish two-club title winners and an almost-one-club manager Mail us with your questions and answers “Has a footballer ever been sent off but still won player of the match?” asked Jimmy Clark. The short answer is yes, quite a few. We’ll kick off with a couple of recent examples. “In 2024 Anthony Gordon was shown a second yellow card for Newcastle again…

British sides keep hopes alive with vital wins Team GB women need to beat Italy on Friday These are strained days at the curling arena, where the chances of the two British teams are teetering like a bus full of bullion that’s backed over the lip of a cliff. Both the men and women ended up in a position where they need to win every game they play and hope other results go their way to have any ch…

Woman says she was pregnant during alleged assaults Lawsuit seeks monetary damages of more than $1m Rice was suspended to start 2025 for role in car crash A former girlfriend of Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Rashee Rice filed a civil lawsuit this week in Texas alleging he assaulted her during a span from December 2023 to July 2025. Dacoda Jones, with whom Rice has two children, said she was pr…

A hard-fought 3-1 victory over OH Leuven at Meadow Park sent Arsenal through to the quarter-finals of the Champions League. The visitors tested Renée Slegers’ side when Sara Pusztai cancelled out Alessia Russo’s goal but a penalty from Mariona Caldentey and second from Russo secured the win, earning them a comfortable 7-1 aggregate score. Confidence is flying high around Arsenal, they are almost …

The greatest American skier of all time won her first Olympic medal in 2014. The 12 years in between have been marked by brutal ups and downs A lot can happen in 12 years. If you’re Mikaela Shiffrin, as a teenager you can become the youngest ever person to win the Olympic slalom , stack a couple more medals at the next Olympics, become the most successful World Cup skier of all time with a record…

When, on the eve of kick-off, Qarabag’s manager, Gurban Gurbanov, said Newcastle had “a style of play that does not suit us”, there were suggestions he was playing mind games. Long before half-time it was fully apparent that, if anything, Gurbanov had rather understated things. Had this been a boxing match it would surely have been stopped after a matter of minutes. Qarabag were utterly overwhelm…

Mitch Marner scores in overtime to seal 4-3 win Canadians lose star Sidney Crosby to injury Nick Suzuki tied the game on a deflection with 3:27 left, Mitch Marner scored in overtime, and Canada avoided what would have been a stunning quarter-final exit at the Olympics by rallying to beat the Czech Republic 4-3 on Wednesday. Canada fell behind with 7:42 remaining when Ondrej Palat scored off a pas…