Football

Oct 12, 2021 Tor-Kristian Karlsen Florian Wirtz made history as the youngest player to reach 10 Bundesliga goals with his winner for Bayer Leverkusen against Mainz recently, and his performances have gathered plenty of attention across Europe. 2 Related Having been influential at under-21 level for Germany, on Monday in the 4-0 win against North

1:14 PM ET In the U.S. soccer ecosystem, there are no shortage of cities claiming to be the “home” of the sport in this country. Portland dubs itself “Soccer City, U.S.A.,” for starters. Washington, D.C., has held its share of memorable matches at the soon-to-be-demolished RFK Stadium, while fans in Seattle; Kansas City, Missouri; and

3:28 PM ET Alex Kirkland Rodrigo Faez Diego Simeone has admitted that he wanted to bring Lionel Messi to Atletico Madrid this summer, saying he called Luis Suarez to ask if a deal was possible. Messi became a free agent when his Barcelona contract expired on June 30, and planned to stay until the club

11:41 AM ET Bruce Schoenfeld Barcelona are one of many top clubs with academies or developmental relationships in the United States. The goal? Unearthing the next soccer gem. Courtesy of Barcelona residency academy FALLS CHURCH, Va. — Yurem Linares arrived with his father moments before soccer practice. He walked up a steep dirt path to the

3:30 AM ET Oyarzabal’s in the thick of a brilliant year for club and country, leading fans to wonder if he’s the next big thing. David S. Bustamante/Soccrates/Getty Images Though they ended the tournament with a runners-up medal, the UEFA Nations League finals confirmed without a doubt that this is the era of Baby Spain.” Recite

8:18 AM ET Manchester City’s Benjamin Mendy has been denied bail for a third time. Photo by Visionhaus/Getty Images Manchester City defender Benjamin Mendy has been refused bail for a third time as he awaits trial on four charges of rape and sexual assault. The France left-back was charged on Aug. 26 with an alleged attack

5:11 AM ET Inter Miami coach Phil Neville has demanded a “massive investigation” into Major League Soccer referees following his side’s 1-0 defeat at New York Red Bulls on Sunday. Miami suffered its fifth consecutive loss but Neville was furious after Gonzalo Higuain‘s equalizing goal was ruled out by VAR for offside in the second

10:41 PM ET PANAMA CITY, Panama — A team can repeat its mistakes so many times before it gets punished. So it proved for the United States men’s national team in its 1-0 World Cup qualifying defeat to Panama. In its first four games, the U.S. had managed to avoid defeat. But even as it

8:02 PM ET The United States lost its World Cup qualifying match 1-0 to hosts Panama for its first defeat of the campaign to reach the 2022 tournament in Qatar. – ESPN+ viewers’ guide: LaLiga, Bundesliga, MLS, FA Cup, more– Don’t have ESPN? Get instant access A header from a corner kick in th 54th

7:57 AM ET USWNT and Orlando Pride forward Alex Morgan has said women have been pulled away from playing soccer because of “failures” in how the system is set up for them but added that things are changing as players stand up to their employers. Morgan was speaking after the Pride’s 3-2 defeat to NY/NJ

3:38 PM ET In the split second that Panamanian soccer changed forever, Anibal Godoy remembers his instinct to find his family. But as his mind tried to process Roman Torres‘ 88th-minute goal against Costa Rica that put Panama in position to qualify for the 2018 World Cup, he saw his teammate running for the corner

4:00 PM ET PANAMA CITY, Panama — United States men’s national team manager Gregg Berhalter said that Weston McKennie‘s quad injury is “not severe,” but still thought it better to leave him out of Sunday’s World Cup qualifier against Panama. McKennie didn’t make the trip to Panama after playing all 90 minutes in Thursday’s 2-0

Oct 8, 2021 International breaks are fraught with risk as clubs are left praying their players return without injury, but given how Gareth Southgate is shaping his England team, any concern for Tottenham Hotspur over Harry Kane might be more psychological than physical. Spurs did everything possible to prevent Kane from joining Manchester City this

11:00 AM ET Newcastle United are officially under new ownership after their protracted Saudi Arabia-backed takeover was finally approved by the Premier League on Thursday, potentially putting the club on the fast track to football’s top tier. It’s reported that the Public Investment Fund (PIF) consortium has assets totalling around £320 billion, which puts Newcastle

6:00 AM ET Sid LoweSpain writer Luis Enrique was wrong. Just not the way everyone said he was wrong. “It’s ahead of time? Maybe, yeah, I won’t deny that,” Spain‘s coach had said, but it turned out it wasn’t too early at all. Pablo Paez Gavira, “Gavi,” had just turned 17, had played only 374

11:00 AM ET Kevin De Bruyne played with painkilling injections at the Euros. There has to be a better solution to avoid players being worn out due to the grueling club and country schedule. Meng Dingbo/Xinhua via Getty Images Last April, Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola sounded the alarm, complaining that UEFA and FIFA were “killing”

12:43 AM ET AUSTIN, Texas — In the 68th minute of the United States’ 2-0 win against Jamaica Thursday night, striker Ricardo Pepi looked to the sideline and saw his number on the substitution board. With his night over, he calmly trotted toward the bench and as he did the American fans at Q2 Stadium

4:47 PM ET World champions France recovered from two goals down to beat Belgium 3-2 in a thrilling UEFA Nations League semifinal on Thursday with a last minute strike from Theo Hernandez securing a place in Sunday’s showpiece match against Spain. – ESPN+ viewers’ guide: LaLiga, Bundesliga, MLS, FA Cup, more– Don’t have ESPN? Get