Football

LONDON - Former champions Germany, England and Italy got off to winning starts in their World Cup qualifying campaigns on Thursday but Spain were held to a 1-1 home draw by Greece. Four-times winners Germany enjoyed a 3-0 win over Group J rivals Iceland in Duisburg thanks to goals from Leon Goretzka, Kai Havertz and Ilkay Gundogan. The German team followed the example of Norway on Wednesday in making a protest before the start of the game, lining up in Tee-shirts spelling out

DUISBURG, Germany - Germany displayed their support for migrant workers building 2022 World Cup stadiums in Qatar ahead of their 3-0 home win over Iceland in their opening Group J qualifier on Thursday. The players lined up before kickoff wearing shirts displaying the message “HUMAN RIGHTS” and midfielder Leon Goretzka, who scored Germany’s opening goal, elaborated on the protest. “We have the World Cup coming up and there will be discussions about it. We wanted to show we are not ignoring that,” he

MUNICH: Bayern Munich defender Alphonso Davies said he hopes to boost support for refugees around the world after becoming the first footballer to be appointed a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations Refugee Agency. Davies was born to Liberian parents in a refugee camp in Ghana, where he spent five years before moving to Canada. The 20-year-old joined Bayern in 2018 and played a key role in the side that won the Champions League and Bundesliga titles last season. "My own experiences make

FUKUSHIMA: The Tokyo 2020 Olympics torch relay set off from Fukushima on Thursday (Mar 25), beginning a four-month countdown to the Summer Games, delayed from 2020 and the first ever organised during a global pandemic. Organisers hope that the relay will sweep away persistent doubts about the event. The nationwide relay, like the Olympics themselves, will be vastly different from previous editions, with spectators banned from cheering and kept away from the launch ceremony and first leg over COVID-19 concerns. Fans will be

ISTANBUL: Veteran captain Burak Yilmaz netted a hat-trick as Turkey saw off a late rally from the Netherlands to secure a 4-2 home victory on Wednesday (Mar 24) at the start of their World Cup qualifying campaign. Yilmaz opened the scoring in the 14th minute of the Group G match with a deflected shot followed by a penalty 20 minutes later at Istanbul's Ataturk Olympic Stadium to put the Turks 2-0 up at halftime. The game looked to be effectively over when Hakan

PARIS: France kicked off their World Cup qualifying campaign in unconvincing fashion as they were held to a 1-1 home draw by Ukraine on Wednesday (Mar 24). Antoine Griezmann put the world champions in front in the first half with a brilliant strike, only for defender Presnel Kimpembe to hand the visitors a point with an own goal after the break. The result left Didier Deschamps's side and Ukraine level with Finland and Bosnia in Group D after they drew 2-2 in the

LEUVEN, Belgium: Belgium shrugged off an early scare to see off Wales 3-1 and make a winning start to their World Cup qualifying campaign on Wednesday. Harry Wilson gave Wales a surprise 10th-minute lead in their opening Group E match at Den Dreef in Leuven but the top-ranked Belgium came from behind to win the game with goals from Kevin De Bruyne, Thorgan Hazard and Romelu Lukaku. It continued the dominant performances in qualifying competition for Belgium, who won all 10 group games

In the last decade, Lyon's dominance in women's football has been nigh on complete. Since 2011, the French club has been involved in nine Champions League finals, winning the competition seven times. Anita Asante, who currently plays for Aston Villa in the Women's Super League (WSL) and works as a pundit for the UEFA Women's Champions League (UWCL), explains how Lyon's ability to continually bring in new talent has been key to success. "I think they've always had that consistency and that continuity,"

Zlatan Ibrahimovic was reduced to tears in his first media conference since returning to Sweden international football squad while explaining his son's reaction to his call-up. The normally stoic 39-year-old, who is making a return to international football after first retiring in 2016, became emotional as he described how his 12-year-old son Vincent became tearful when he left home to rejoin the squad after a five-year absence. "Vincent cried when I left him," Ibrahimovic said in the press conference, sitting alongside Sweden coach

The Netherlands team hope that this week's start of the World Cup qualifiers in Europe will highlight the plight of migrant workers in Qatar and help to improve their working conditions. "A lot of attention is now focused on whether we should go there if we qualify," coach Frank de Boer told news conference on the eve of his team's opening Group G match against Turkey in Istanbul, amid growing controversy at home over Qatar's hosting of the 2022 finals. "It is right

LONDON: Bayern Munich's Alphonso Davies is the stand-out talent in a Canada squad that takes its first steps on the long road to the 2022 Qatar World Cup this week with CONCACAF region qualifying games against Bermuda and Cayman Islands. Assembling a team during the COVID-19 pandemic may have proven a bigger challenge than the one 73rd-ranked Canada will face on the pitch on Thursday when they play 169th-ranked Bermuda and on Sunday against 193rd-ranked Cayman Islands. Both matches will be played in

Manchester City will install over 5,000 rail seats at the Etihad Stadium, the Premier League club said, a move that will allow spectators to stand safely during matches next season. The seats, which are designed to lock into a folded position and give fans space to stand, would be installed over the summer in the lower tier of the South Stand, City said. Standing at grounds in the top two tiers is banned but clubs have looked to find a middle ground, with

On the sidelines of this week’s Milipol Qatar summit, the President of Huawei Middle East reaffirmed the company’s commitment to supporting the realization of the Qatar National Vision 2030 through its contribution to the country’s growing digital economy and major events like the upcoming 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. The executive praised the country’s strong progress on digital transformation under the Qatar Smart Program (TASMU) whilst empowering cross-sector collaboration, data sharing, and encouraging innovation across the country’s digital ecosystem. When it comes

Sevilla grabbed a dramatic last-second equalizer in Saturday's La Liga clash against Valladolid -- and the goal came from the unlikeliest of sources. Losing 1-0 and desperate to try and salvage at least a point from the match, Sevilla goalkeeper Yassine 'Bono' Bounou ran the length of the pitch to join the attack for his team's final corner of the game. After a mix up in the Valladolid defense, the ball found its way to Bono eight yards from goal and the Moroccan

Jose Mourinho said Tottenham's dressing room is divided by "selfish" players and agents who have their own relationships with the press. Mourinho was speaking after a vital win in the chase for a top-four Premier League finish. Spurs responded to an embarrassing Europa League exit at the hands of Dinamo Zagreb with a 2-0 victory at Aston Villa on Sunday, courtesy of goals from Carlos Vinicius and Harry Kane. Captain Hugo Lloris had criticised the underlying culture at the club in a stinging

Steven Gerrard said he was surprised by England coach Gareth Southgate's decision to drop Trent Alexander-Arnold from the squad for their World Cup qualifiers and described the Liverpool defender as the "best English right back in the country". Steven Gerrard said he was surprised by England coach Gareth Southgate's decision to drop Trent Alexander-Arnold from the squad for their World Cup qualifiers and described the Liverpool defender as the "best English right back in the country". Alexander-Arnold was left out of Southgate's 26-man

Liverpool's Premier League title defence has fizzled out in 2021 but they are still in the Champions League and face Real Madrid in the quarter-final with a potential semi-final match-up with Chelsea to follow Mohamed Salah is confident Liverpool's season is going to get better after a disastrous run between January and March derailed their Premier League title defence. Jurgen Klopp's side were top of the table at Christmas but a run of just three wins and eight defeats in 14 league matches

Marcus Rashford has travelled to England HQ despite foot injury; he missed training on Monday and will be assessed by FA doctors; Borussia Dortmund's Jude Bellingham also arrived on Monday after German authorities reviewed their coronavirus risk regulations Marcus Rashford joined up with the England squad on Monday despite missing Manchester United's FA Cup quarter-final defeat at Leicester due to a foot injury. United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said after Sunday's game that the club's medics were in discussion with their counterparts at

Lionel Messi broke the club's appearance record on Sunday as the Argentine featured in his 768th game for the Catalan giants. Messi celebrated in style, working his now famous magic in Barcelona's 6-1 victory over Real Sociedad, as he superseded the landmark set by former teammate and club legend Xavi Hernandez, who appeared 767 times for the club. Barcelonaa's official Twitter account dubbed the Argentine an "otherworldly player" and called his record-breaking appearance figure a "stratospheric number." Messi's eighth assist of the season

Cristiano Ronaldo will stay at Juventus beyond this season, the club's managing director Fabio Paratici said after a 1-0 defeat to Benevento. Ronaldo, who joined the Italian side on a four-year deal for a reported $117 million transfer fee in 2018, is the top scorer in Serie A so far this season with 23 goals. He also recently scored the 770th goal of his career to move ahead of Pele's tally of goals scored in official matches. "He's the best in the world