8 h. ago Inter Miami's Club World Cup controversy as David Beckham and Lionel Messi prepare for bow

David Beckham's Inter Miami are set to star at the FIFA Club World Cup with Lionel Messi in tow, but their qualification for the revamped tournament was somewhat controversial

Politics

11 h. ago Will Man City be in the 2029 Club World Cup? Details, confirmed teams and qualification process

Manchester City could be back at the Club World Cup in 2029.

Politics

12 h. ago Why aren't Liverpool playing in the Club World Cup? How all 32 teams qualified for competition

They may be Premier League kings and six-time champions of Europe, but Liverpool won't be at the FIFA Club World Cup, with Manchester City and Chelsea taking UEFA's two places

Society

29 h. ago Football Daily | ‘Suited and booted’? Club World Cup lands in a furnace of political tension

Sign up now! Sign up now! Sign up now? Sign up now!After years of existing only as a fever dream inside the shiny, spacious cranium of Fifa’s greatest showman, Gianni Infantino, the first edition of an expanded, summertime Club World Cup that nobody asked for is finally here. Infantino’s most ambitious vanity project to date is about to collide with reality, and as students of the Swiss school of football farce, we’re excited. It’s not so much a question of what will go wrong over the next 30 sun-baked days in an increasingly dystopian USA USA USA, but what might actually go right. Saturday’s opener pitches Egyptian giants Al-Ahly (who qualified by winning the 2021 African Big Cup) against MLS middleweights Inter Miami (who qualified by having Lionel Messi in their team) at the 65,000-capacity Hard Rock Stadium. Fifa has denied reports that fewer than 20,000 tickets have been sold for the game in Miami, but the tournament’s dynamic pricing model is trending in one direction: from $3...

Politics

3 d. ago Asia benefits from World Cup expansion as AFC qualification delivers thrills | John Duerden

There are concerns that quality at the 2026 tournament will be diluted but giving Asia more places has brought a new dimension to qualificationJeddah is more relaxed and laid-back than Riyadh. Tony Popovic should know. On Tuesday, for the second time in his coaching career, he left Saudi Arabia with a big prize, though back in 2014, it had been a far more fierce fight. Then, Western Sydney Wanderers went to the capital to defend their 1-0 first leg lead in the Asian Champions League final and, despite the best that Al Hilal could throw at them, held firm amid the storm for the most unlikely of trophy wins. This week, however, there was a five-goal cushion by the Red Sea, meaning there was only ever going to be one outcome: a seventh World Cup appearance. After successive playoff qualifications, to advance directly to North America is a welcome change and to do so with wins against Japan and Saudi Arabia is especially pleasing.It may have ended calmly, but this campaign has been a re...

Politics

3 d. ago Jordan’s long road to World Cup qualification took a strange diversion | John Duerden

Improvement of side has been slow and steady since Harry Redknapp and Ray Wilkins had short spells in chargeWould Harry Redknapp have taken Jordan to the World Cup had the 2018 tournament featured 48 teams instead of 32 and Asia had eight spots instead of four? It is an interesting question but the former West Ham manager’s short time in charge in 2016, not long after Ray Wilkins had the job, is not a subject anyone in the capital, Amman, is much focused on at the moment.“Redknapp and Wilkins? Now is not the time to talk about that,” said a smiling Jordan Football Association official on Monday. The reaction given the country has just qualified for a first World Cup and is in serious party mode is understandable. Continue reading...

Politics

3 d. ago Jordan’s long road to World Cup qualification took a strange diversion

Improvement of side has been slow and steady since Harry Redknapp and Ray Wilkins had short spells in chargeWould Harry Redknapp have taken Jordan to the World Cup had the 2018 tournament featured 48 teams instead of 32 and Asia had eight spots instead of four? It is an interesting question but the former West Ham manager’s short time in charge in 2016, not long after Ray Wilkins had the job, is not a subject anyone in the capital, Amman, is much focused on at the moment.“Redknapp and Wilkins? Now is not the time to talk about that,” said a smiling Jordan Football Association official on Monday. The reaction given the country has just qualified for a first World Cup and is in serious party mode is understandable. Continue reading...

Politics

3 d. ago Hibs duo heading to 2026 World Cup as qualification secured with help of returning Celtic star

Current and former SPFL players qualify for tournament in USA, Canada and Mexico

Politics

3 d. ago Michael O’Neill: Northern Ireland feeling positive ahead of World Cup qualifiers

O’Neill saw his side beat Iceland with 10 men in their final friendly.

Politics

3 d. ago Nathan Collins happy to see Ireland carry momentum into World Cup qualifying

Ireland launch their campaign against Hungary in September.

Politics

4 d. ago Wales fan suffered broken back bone in stadium fall as TV star rushed to help

The 29-year-old fell from the upper tier of the Stade Roi Baudouin into the lower tier during Monday night's World Cup qualifier

Politics

4 d. ago World Cup qualifiers: Spalletti exits with flat Italy victory, Haaland gives Norway boost

Departing Italy coach downbeat despite 2-0 win over MoldovaNorway defeat Estonia 1-0; Croatia thrash Czech RepublicLuciano Spalletti took charge of Italy one last time on Monday, and while his side sent him off with a win, the sacked manager accepted that he is not leaving the team in a good place for his replacement.Spalletti paid the price for a 3-0 drubbing in Norway on Friday as Italy’s World Cup qualifying campaign in Europe’s Group I was compromised in their opening game, and an uninspired 2-0 home win over Moldova was not how he wished to bow out. Italy broke the deadlock five minutes before half-time through Giacomo Raspadori’s strike from the edge of the penalty area, with Andrea Cambiaso adding another soon after the restart. Continue reading...

Politics

4 d. ago Craig Bellamy asks Wales players 'to understand' as Belgium accused of 'lack of respect'

Wales fought back from three goals down to level the scores in their World Cup qualifier in Belgium. only for Kevin De Bruyne, the former Manchester City star, to score a winner in a seven-goal thriller

Sport

5 d. ago Belgium v Wales Live: Score updates as Doku makes it three in early rout

Craig Bellamy's Wales face Belgium in an important World Cup 2026 qualifier tonight

Politics

5 d. ago Liechtenstein vs Scotland LIVE as Ross Doohan and Lennon Miller handed starts in Vaduz

Steve Clarke's side need a morale boosting win in their final outing before the serious business of World Cup qualification

Politics

5 d. ago Liechtenstein vs Scotland LIVE as Che Adams bags a brace to put Scots two up in Vaduz

Steve Clarke's side need a morale boosting win in their final outing before the serious business of World Cup qualification

Politics

5 d. ago Liechtenstein vs Scotland LIVE as George Hirst finishes from close range for his debut international goal

Steve Clarke's side need a morale boosting win in their final outing before the serious business of World Cup qualification

Society

5 d. ago Football Daily | Dilly ding, dilly dong! Italy press the big World Cup panic button again

Sign up now! Sign up now! Sign up now? Sign up now!When Italy were humbled by Norway in their opening World Cup qualifier on Friday night, the response from Gazzetta dello Sport was as measured as you would expect. “ENOUGH!” screamed the pink paper’s front-page headline the next day, while the lengthy howl of anguish over which it appeared declared that the country’s “World Cup is already at risk”. While Luciano Spalletti had been bullish in the immediate aftermath of his knack-ravaged side’s 3-0 defeat in Oslo, on Sunday he cut a far more forlorn figure as he appeared alone before a bloodthirsty press-pack to preview the qualifier against Moldova, unaccompanied by any of his players or even a simpering national team media handler.Taking into account the circumstances and a loss of trust in the coach [Michal Probierz], I have decided to resign from playing for the Poland national team for as long as he remains in charge. I hope I will still have another chance to play again for the ...

Politics

5 d. ago Thomas Tuchel shares England players' dressing room talk post 'failure' Andorra win

England laboured to a 1-0 win in their World Cup qualifier against Andorra on Saturday evening

Sport

5 d. ago Jordan Henderson showed the attitude his England teammates were lacking | Jonathan Wilson

It was after the substitution of the former Liverpool captain that Thomas Tuchel’s side slipped in to individualismThe tendency is always to gloom. How could it not be? Nobody could have sat through England’s 1-0 win over Andorra on Saturday and not felt a profound sense of frustration. Six million years of human evolution has culminated in this? When the England manager shrugs and says he can’t blame the fans for booing, you know it was bad.Thomas Tuchel was a short-term appointment. He’s not in the post for pathways or development or creating a culture. He’s here to win the World Cup next summer. In the boozy, drowsy somnolence of the RCDE Stadium, that felt a preposterous ambition. Look at England’s rivals. Continue reading...

Politics