Football

8:54 AM ET Sam Marsden Moises Llorens Lionel Messi and Barcelona have reached an agreement for the forward to sign a new five-year deal with the Catalan club, sources have confirmed to ESPN. Sources added Messi has accepted a significant wage reduction to prolong his stay. Messi was a free agent after his contract at

4:00 AM ET Gianluca Vialli made me choke up. And to think, this wasn’t my first rodeo. Between World Cup finals, Champions League finals and Europa League finals, playoff finals, domestic cup finals, European Championship and Copa America finals … I’m well north of 60 in a professional capacity. When you have the privilege of

3:54 AM ET Ian DarkeESPN.com writer Close Darke, who called games for the network during the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, is ESPN lead soccer voice in the United States. He has covered the Barclays Premier League and the Champions League since 1982, and has one of the world’s most recognizable soccer voices.

3:23 AM ET Tor-Kristian Karlsen Major international tournaments usually see some players emerge who go on to earn themselves a big move with their performances. But basing your summer transfer business on a few good games can be dangerous — as Manchester United‘s move for Czech star Karel Poborsky after Euro ’96 or Real Madrid‘s

4:00 AM ET The Copa America ended on Saturday night with glory for Lionel Messi and Argentina, after the legendary forward finally won his first major title at the senior level after nine losing efforts. What will we take away from South America’s flagship tournament after so much turmoil and uncertainty around who would host?

2:43 AM ET Expectations for the United States men’s national team are high in the Gold Cup, regardless of who actually suits up. Not only is the U.S. expected to win every game in the tournament’s group stage, but by clear margins as well. Fail to reach such a level, and the tendency to look

7:30 AM ET Euro 2020 ended on Sunday with Italy lifting the trophy at Wembley after beating England 3-2 on penalties after a 1-1 draw after extra time. The last month has been full of highs and lows, triumph and despair; our writers look back at the tournament. News, features | Results | Stats |

8:19 PM ET LONDON — Roberto Mancini had promised a change when he took over following the Italy national team’s lowest point, after they failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup. And he delivered. While history will record him as the coach who led Italy to the 2020 European Championship (on June 11, 2021,

6:09 PM ET It didn’t come home after all. England may have scored just two minutes into the Euro 2020 final against Italy, but the Azzurri. would equalise in the second half before sealing their continental crown on penalties. Throughout the contest, fans around the world reacted to all the drama in real time. To

2:03 PM ET BURTON UPON TRENT, England — It was in the months after England‘s run to the 2018 World Cup semifinals when manager Gareth Southgate began to realise the impact he had made on the country. “What hit me coming back from Russia was families coming up to me on the street, people coming

11:00 PM ET In the end Brazil‘s dependence on Neymar was greater than Argentina‘s on Lionel Messi. Argentina’s 12th goal of the tournament was the first and the only one not to involve Messi — and it was enough to bring Messi the first senior title of his international career, and Argentina’s first since 1993.

10:21 AM ET The Euro 2020 final is here at last, albeit a year later than scheduled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and London will stage a heavyweight clash between England and Italy at Wembley Stadium on Sunday. Roberto Mancini’s Italy are seeking the Azzurri’s first European title since 1968, while England are attempting to

6:00 AM ET For Roberto Mancini, the road to redemption is promising to end where it all began. If Italy beat England in the Euro 2020 final on Sunday, the Azzurri coach will experience the highlight of his managerial career on the same touchline as he endured his nadir. In May 2013, Mancini was sacked

11:03 AM ET Not all Gold Cups are created equal. The edition of the biennial CONCACAF tournament taking place immediately after a World Cup year usually takes on greater importance. This was especially true when a spot in the now-defunct FIFA Confederations Cup was at stake. Even in 2019, with no such prize on the

8:21 PM ET FIFA president Gianni Infantino’s weekend will be full as he’ll be in Rio de Janeiro for Saturday’s Copa America final between Argentina and Brazil before charging across the Atlantic to London for Sunday’s decider of Euro 2020 between England and Italy (watch the Euro final at 3 p.m. ET Sunday on ESPN

8:18 AM ET This is it. This is our reward for 16 months that saw the world turned inside out. Sixteen months that saw that most reliable of metronomes dictating our weekly routine stop entirely for three months, before returning in a weird fashion: no fans, masked coaches on the benches and echoes in what

12:04 PM ET Copa America and Euro 2020 will draw to a close this weekend, but fret not, dear soccer fans: the Gold Cup kicks off on Saturday night when El Salvador takes on Curacao. So with the cream rising to the top in South America and Europe, ESPN asked its North American-based writers to

4:17 PM ET Major international soccer tournaments are funny beasts. After a grueling, nine-month club season, we shuffle all the rosters, have these new teams play between three and seven games together, and then draw far-reaching conclusions and referendums — Player A is clearly overrated, Coach B’s tactics are a shambles, Country C’s time has