6 h. ago America is showing us football in its final dictator form – we can’t afford to look away | Barney Ronay

It has been an ominous week for the sport in the US but talk of a boycott of next year’s World Cup misses the pointShould we give it a miss? Is it best to stay away from next summer’s Trump-Infantino US World Cup? Depending on your politics the answer may be a resounding no or a bemused shrug. Some will see pure drive-by entertainment. Why would anyone want to boycott a month-long end-of-days Grand Soccer Parade staged by two of the world’s most cinematic egomaniacs?But it is a question that has been asked, and will be asked a lot more in the next year. Those who intend to travel will need to answer it by action or omission. Would it be better for dissenting media and discomfited football fans to simply no-platform this event? Continue reading...

Sport

6 h. ago BRIAN READE: 'With the Club World Cup, there's no stopping America destroying English football'

The newly invented competition is not about passion, but about greed, argues Brian Reade, and for the US, the game has only just begun

Politics

3 d. ago Has a striker scored more goals for their country than in club football? | The Knowledge

Plus: goal-difference chasms between league-table neighbours, a rare Welsh feat in defeat, and more• Mail us with your questions and answers“During the Liechtenstein v Scotland game there was a reference to Billy Gilmour scoring more goals for Scotland (2) than his various clubs (0). But has a recognised striker ever finished their career with more goals for their country than their clubs?” asks Stuart McLagan.The structure of women’s football in North America, particularly before the NWSL was founded in 2012, makes it the likeliest source of an answer to this question. There was no league at all in the US between 2003 and 2009, and to this day players sometimes appear more for their country than their club in a calendar year. Continue reading...

Sport

4 d. ago ANDREW NEIL: Iran's dictators have one final suicidal weapon they are now threatening to unleash. It will spell the end for them

A senior commander in Iran's Islamic Revol­utionary Guard Corps has warned that the regime, reeling from Israel's onslaught, might move to close the Strait of Hormuz.

Events

5 d. ago Crystal Palace ownership saga takes fresh twist amid fight to stay in Europa League

Palace majority shareholder John Textor lists Eagle Football company for an IPO in America

Sport

5 d. ago Messi drink launch affirms Spanish as new lingua franca at Club World Cup | Barney Ronay

Argentina superstar steals limelight again at tournament where South America is saying ‘no mas’ to European hegemonyJavier Zanetti looked suitably awed as he read aloud from the label of a Limon Lime Mas by Messi drink, up on stage at the Chase Stadium VIP reception suite, dressed entirely in silky black tailoring, and looking like an elite hired assassin on his way to the opera, albeit one whose speciality is downing his victims in an ice bucket of the Future Of Hydration.To be fair, Zanetti didn’t have many options when it came to striking a tone. A few moments earlier he’d been introduced by a marketing manager who spoke about Lionel Messi’s new energy drink in tones of high-performance evangelism, gazing with doe-eyed wonder at the small plastic bottle in his hand and predicting that the “official hydration partner of the Argentine FA” (water: you’re out) would go on not just to make you less thirsty or become a popular choice in petrol stations, but to “inspire generations”. He...

Politics

2 w. ago Viva Vitinha: how PSG’s deep conductor proved Lionel Messi wrong | Barney Ronay

Midfield fulcrum was not rated by the Argentinian maestro or Wolves but was central to Champions League triumph“Not only are you bad, but you’re hurting me.” The words, there, or so it was claimed, of Lionel Messi; and however you spin it, a fairly tough six-month performance review from the greatest player of all time and your own footballing idol.Back in February 2023 Vitinha was very quick to deny that any such training ground altercation had taken place between himself and Messi, whatever the reports in the French football press at the time (another version of that conversation has Messi saying: “Do you see? This is why you’re shit.”). Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago LAFC stun Club América in extra time to qualify for Club World Cup

A 115th-minute winner from Denis Bouanga sealed itLAFC opens the Club World Cup v Chelsea on 16 JuneDenis Bouanga scored an extra-time winner to lift Los Angeles FC to a 2-1 victory over Club América in a Club World Cup qualifying playoff match at the BMO Stadium in Los Angeles on Saturday.The winger, who had orchestrated much of LAFC’s attacking output in the match, scored the winner in the 115th minute after unleashing a shot that took a wicked deflection on its way into the net. Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago How to watch LAFC vs Club America for FREE: TV channel and live stream for Club World Cup play

The winner will face Chelsea in their opening Club World Cup game on June 16

Society