Soccer

Jeff Carlisle, U.S. soccer correspondentDec 13, 2024, 05:28 PM ET Close Jeff Carlisle covers MLS and the U.S. national team for ESPN FC. Open Extended Reactions FIFA isn’t requiring clubs participating in the 2025 Club World Cup to release players to their national teams while the competition is taking place, according to official competition documents

Tom Chambers Dec 13, 2024, 07:59 AM ET Open Extended Reactions Tottenham Hotspur head coach Ange Postecoglou has said that he has no interest in how Timo Werner received his “assessment” of his performance in Thursday’s 1-1 Europa League draw with Rangers in which he said the forward’s display “wasn’t acceptable.” Werner was replaced by

Bill Connelly, ESPN Staff WriterDec 12, 2024, 12:17 PM ET Close Bill Connelly is a staff writer for ESPN.com. Open Extended Reactions The first few matchdays of the 2024-25 Champions League campaign were a bit strange from a general vibes perspective. We saw plenty of interesting matches and great performances, but with the freshly expanded

Open Extended Reactions Liverpool‘s Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk, and Manchester City‘s Kevin De Bruyne are three of the biggest stars of the Premier League era. They have each helped their team to win all of the biggest club honours and are certain future Premier League Hall of Famers. Yet they are all 30-somethings

Open Extended Reactions As Darwin Núñez traipsed toward the touchline at the Estadi Montilivi on Tuesday, the Liverpool striker struggled to keep the frustration from his face and cut a forlorn figure as he was replaced by Cody Gakpo. His 71-minute contribution to his team’s 1-0 UEFA Champions League win in Girona was another night

Open Extended Reactions TURIN, Italy — Manchester City are facing elimination and Pep Guardiola now looks as vulnerable and troubled as any other manager who has suffered a seventh defeat in 10 games. Both statements would have seemed unthinkable just a month ago, but after Tuesday’s 2-0 Champions League loss against Juventus, the old certainties

Dec 11, 2024, 07:44 PM ET Open Extended Reactions Matchday six of the 2024-25 UEFA Champions League is in the books as we enter the business end of the league phase and the 36-team table continues to take shape. Manchester City‘s loss to Juventus leaves Pep Guardiola’s chances of staying in the competition on a

Rob Dawson, CorrespondentDec 11, 2024, 04:00 AM ET Open Extended Reactions It was unseasonably bright for November when Ruben Amorim arrived at Carrington for the first time. As he stepped out of the black Mercedes van that took him straight to the training ground from Manchester Airport’s private terminal, he was met by Manchester United

Gabriele Marcotti, Senior Writer, ESPN FCDec 10, 2024, 08:09 PM ET Open Extended Reactions BERGAMO, Italy — After the 3-0 win over Girona on Saturday, Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti announced: “We’re back.” Yeah, they’re not. At least not in terms of being a proper team, greater than the sum of its parts. And the

ESPN Dec 10, 2024, 09:33 AM ET Email Print Open Extended Reactions Welcome to matchday six of the 2024-25 UEFA Champions League season! Europe’s premier club competition returns in its new format with nine matches across the continent on Tuesday, providing exciting matchups, top talent and drama. Enjoy the play-by-play from all the games such

Graham Hunter, Spain writerDec 10, 2024, 04:00 AM ET Close Graham Hunter is a Barcelona-based freelance writer for ESPN.com who specializes in La Liga and the Spanish national team. Open Extended Reactions If Ernesto Valverde can finally put one over on one of the most vilified coaches in modern European football on Wednesday, then this

Video Assistant Referee causes controversy every week in the Premier League, but how are decisions made, and are they correct? After each weekend we take a look at the major incidents, to examine and explain the process both in terms of VAR protocol and the Laws of the Game. In this week’s VAR Review: Dejan

Premier League referee David Coote has been sacked, PGMOL announced on Monday, citing a “serious breach” of his contract. Coote had been under investigation after a leaked video which showed him in a expletive-laden rant about Liverpool and their former manager Jürgen Klopp. He is also under investigation from UEFA after a video published by

Gabriele Marcotti, Senior Writer, ESPN FCDec 9, 2024, 09:49 AM ET Open Extended Reactions We’re inching closer to Christmas, and that makes sense, as the European soccer weekend gave us plenty this weekend. We got another Manchester United home defeat — this time to Nottingham Forest — and the exit of sporting director Dan Ashworth

Dec 8, 2024, 04:32 PM ET Open Extended Reactions For the fourth time in five LaLiga matches, Barcelona have dropped points. All the while, Real Madrid are racking up wins to close up the title race in Spain. In the Premier League, it was another defeat for Manchester United, and another defeat for Tottenham Hotspur,

Alex Kirkland Rodrigo Faez Dec 8, 2024, 04:15 PM ET Open Extended Reactions Kylian Mbappé blamed his early season struggles at Real Madrid on being “too hungry” and “impatient” on Sunday, in his first sit-down interview since joining the club. Mbappé has scored 11 goals in 21 appearances for Madrid in all competitions so far,

Open Extended Reactions Every top head coach is only as good as the sporting director charged with building the squad from which they select their team. So Manchester United‘s decision to part company with Dan Ashworth, just five months after hiring him from Newcastle United in the first place, highlights how much of a hurry

Jeff Carlisle, U.S. soccer correspondentDec 7, 2024, 10:21 PM ET Close Jeff Carlisle covers MLS and the U.S. national team for ESPN FC. Open Extended Reactions CARSON, Calif. — As the LA Galaxy players waited to hoist their sixth MLS Cup trophy, midfielders Gastón Brugman, Edwin Cerrillo and Mark Delgado met on the field and