5 h. ago Ruben Amorim ‘angry and frustrated’ after West Ham’s Magassa denies Manchester United

Until Soungoutou Magassa’s 83rd-minute equaliser Manchester United seemed to be flowering in the cold of winter on the way to a win that would have been their fifth in eight games.Instead Jarrod Bowen’s flick-on from Andy Irving’s corner from the right had to be cleared off the line by Noussair Mazraoui, only for the ball to go straight to Magassa, who drove home a first goal for the Hammers. Continue reading...

Politics

5 h. ago Amorim ‘angry and frustrated’ after West Ham’s Magassa denies Manchester United

Until Soungoutou Magassa’s 83rd-minute equaliser Manchester United seemed to be flowering in the cold of winter on the way to a win that would have been their fifth in eight games.Instead Jarrod Bowen’s flick-on from Andy Irving’s corner from the right had to be cleared off the line by Noussair Mazraoui, only for the ball to go straight to Magassa, who drove home a first goal for the Hammers. Continue reading...

Politics

6 h. ago Magassa earns West Ham a vital point as Manchester United waste chance to go fifth

Until Soungoutou Magassa’s 83rd-minute equaliser Manchester United seemed to be flowering in the cold of winter on the way to a win that would have been their fifth in eight games.Instead Jarrod Bowen’s flick-on from Andy Irving’s corner from the right had to be cleared off the line by Noussair Mazraoui, only for the ball to go straight to Magassa, who drove home his first goal for the Hammers. Continue reading...

Politics

7 h. ago World Cup ‘94 chief Alan Rothenberg on growth of US soccer, the 2026 finals and dynamic pricing

A foundational figure in the business of soccer and sports in the US is adamant that fans will find a way to attend big events, regardless of political issuesWhenever the modern era of American soccer began (the 1994 World Cup? Or the 1990 appearance by the US men? Or the 1991 World Cup win by the US women?), Alan Rothenberg was a key player.Rothenberg came up as a lawyer under Jack Kent Cooke, owner of Washington’s NFL team, the Los Angeles Lakers of the NBA, the LA Kings of the NHL, and – crucially, the Los Angeles Wolves of the North American Soccer League (NASL), a team that started life fielding mostly players from Wolverhampton Wanderers. Continue reading...

Sport

8 h. ago Emma Coates leaves England U23 role to become head coach at NSWL’s Bay FC

Coates ‘ready and excited’ to replace Albertin MontoyaU23 assistant Gemma Davies to join Coates in San JoseEmma Coates has left her position as the leader of England Women’s Under-23 national team to become the new head coach of the NWSL side Bay FC.Coates replaces Albertin Montoya, who was the coach of the expansion team when it entered the National Women’s Soccer League two years ago. Montoya announced in September that he would resign at the end of the 2025 season, with the San Jose side finishing 13th in the 14-team table. Continue reading...

Politics

8 h. ago Emma Coates leaves England U23 role to become head coach at NWSL’s Bay FC

Coates ‘ready and excited’ to replace Albertin MontoyaU23 assistant Gemma Davies to join Coates in San JoseEmma Coates has left her position as the leader of England Women’s Under-23 national team to become the new head coach of the NWSL side Bay FC.Coates replaces Albertin Montoya, who was the coach of the expansion team when it entered the National Women’s Soccer League two years ago. Montoya announced in September that he would resign at the end of the 2025 season, with the San Jose side finishing 13th in the 14-team table. Continue reading...

Politics

10 h. ago Collina in favour of VAR rulings on corners at World Cup as long as there is ‘no delay’

Chair of Fifa’s referees committee offers his supportCollina wants to ensure changes do not slow down gamePierluigi Collina has said he would be in favour of the use of VAR to determine whether corners have been correctly awarded at the World Cup next summer. The chair of Fifa’s referees committee, speaking at a media briefing in Washington, made clear he supported the advance of technology.Collina said conversations were taking place over whether VAR could adjudicate on second yellow cards. They will continue at the next meeting of the International Football Association Board, the law-making body, in Wales next March, meaning there would be time for the ruling to come into effect for the World Cup. Collina also said discussions were ongoing over how best to combat time-wasting, including when goalkeepers go to ground, seemingly feigning injury to allow managers to hold team meetings. He added that Fifa wanted to explore AI-based innovations to help match officials and improve the g...

Politics

11 h. ago Former Newcastle goalkeeper Hislop reveals treatment for prostate cancer

Hislop had surgery for ‘fairly aggressive prostate cancer’Cancer has spread to pelvic bone of 56-year-oldThe former Newcastle, West Ham and Portsmouth goalkeeper Shaka Hislop has revealed he has prostate cancer, which has spread to his pelvic bone. Hislop said he had been diagnosed with “a fairly aggressive prostate cancer” about 18 months ago, which required surgery. Further tests showed the cancer had spread.“Roughly 18 months ago, I went for my annual physical and insisted on a PSA test, as I always do,” Hislop, 56, said in a video on Instagram. “This time around though my PSA was elevated. An MRI and biopsy quickly determined that I had a fairly aggressive prostate cancer. Continue reading...

Politics

11 h. ago Noise around Donald Trump an unwanted distraction to World Cup draw of dreams

Amid all the hoopla circling its Washington backdrop, Friday’s event must be all about firing the starting gun on football’s biggest showWhen the sculptor Joel Shapiro created Blue, the piece that stands around the back of the John F Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, looking out over the Potomac River in Washington, he wanted to tap into a number of elements. The giant matchstick figure denotes movement and energy, risk and possibility. As Shapiro himself has said, it is supposed to “reconfigure depending on how you look at it”.It has the perfect home at the Kennedy Center, the vast cultural hub for ballet and opera, stage productions and concerts. And it resonates on a new level now as the venue prepares to host Friday’s World Cup draw, at which the competing nations at next summer’s extravaganza in the United States, Canada and Mexico will discover their group opponents and knockout round pathways. Because from one angle it is plain that Blue is executing a raking pass. From...

Politics

12 h. ago A year on, divine Mbappé returns to the Cathedral where everything changed | Sid Lowe

Frenchman’s epiphany after a missed penalty at San Mamés in 2024 has led to a sensational 2025. Real Madrid are purring againKylian Mbappé returned to the Cathedral where he experienced his epiphany in 2024, his resurrection born after hitting rock bottom, and delivered something like salvation. Exactly a year since he missed a penalty there, a bad moment he later said was a good one, the Frenchman was back at San Mamés on Wednesday night.Last time, he missed a second penalty in a week, an awakening accompanying failure; this time, he scored two goals in an hour and set up another, light let in through the dark again. As the Frenchman headed off the pitch early, Madrid 3-0 up against Athletic Bilbao with 15 minutes left, he embraced Xabi Alonso, who is still his manager. Continue reading...

Politics

13 h. ago No ‘fire drill’ at TNT after painful loss of Champions League and England rugby | Matt Hughes

Broadcaster ‘absolutely gutted’ to be gazumped by Paramount but walked away from international rugby as it seeks to balance the booksIt has been a tough couple of weeks for TNT Sports, with the loss of three days of Ashes cricket due to England’s two-day defeat in Perth following on from some bruising rights negotiations.On the eve of the first Test, the Guardian revealed TNT had lost UK rights to the Champions League to Paramount+, with Sky Sports picking up the decent consolation prize of Europa League rights, while this week it emerged that TNT has also lost the rights to international rugby union with ITV having paid £80m for the inaugural Nations Championship. Continue reading...

Sport

15 h. ago ‘We need to win the Champions League’: how OL Lyonnes plan to reconquer Europe

Unbeaten in Europe and with eight wins in eight games domestically, the club are aiming high after name changeWhen the Olympique Lyonnais women’s team officially became OL Lyonnes on 19 May, they came with a new mantra: “New story, same legend”. The eight-time European champions, now owned by Michele Kang and part of Kynisca – a multi-club ownership group dedicated to women’s sports that also already includes the Washington Spirit – are a “new project” with the aim of “developing as a women’s club with our own model”. As Kang put it: “The women’s team cannot just be a little sister to the men’s section.”The OL Lyonnes era kicked off on 7 September, coinciding with the Lyon’s 1,000th match in the French women’s top division, against Marseille. Kang was present, alongside Mikel Zubizarreta, Kynisca’s global sporting director, who was poached from Barcelona Femení last year. On the pitch, new recruits snatched from other European clubs this summer – Jule Brand, Lily Yohannes, Ashley La...

Sport

16 h. ago Van Dijk urges Wirtz to ignore ‘numbers game’ after German denied first Liverpool goal

Reds goal ruled Sunderland own goal in blow to WirtzMohamed Salah ‘still important’ after being droppedFlorian Wirtz should ignore his Premier League numbers and not lose confidence in his world-class ability at Liverpool, believes Virgil van Dijk.Liverpool’s £116m summer signing thought he had scored his first goal for the club against Sunderland on Wednesday only for the 81st-minute equaliser to be deemed an own goal by defender Nordi Mukiele. The decision means the 22-year-old is still without a goal or an assist in 13 league appearances for the champions. Van Dijk, however, is convinced Wirtz is on the right path at Liverpool and will prove he is an elite level player. Continue reading...

Politics

17 h. ago Newcastle United’s new chief executive says team can be world’s best by 2030

David Hopkinson says revenue growth is core focusTeam are Saudi PIF’s ‘favourite investment’, CEO addsNewcastle United’s chief executive regards the club as a rocket ship and believes that, by 2030, it could house the world’s best team. David Hopkinson has hit the ground running since succeeding Darren Eales at St James’ Park in September and the Canadian’s five-year plan is nothing if not ambitious.“By 2030, I see this club being in the debate about being the top club in the world,” he said. “That kind of progress doesn’t take as long as you might think. What it takes is clarity of conviction. Continue reading...

Politics

18 h. ago Wilfried Nancy’s move to Celtic means as much for MLS as it does for him

New Celtic manager may not be a big name but he won over the US league with leadership style and attractive footballOther managers won more in Major League Soccer than Wilfried Nancy. Bruce Arena, say, certainly has a fuller trophy cabinet. Nancy, however, lifted more than just trophies. He lifted standards. At Columbus Crew, he set a benchmark for the rest, showing what was possible even with limited resources. Columbus didn’t have Lionel Messi or Son Heung-min, but they had Nancy as head coach, and that was often enough.For the past three seasons, the Crew have been the most dynamic, boundary-pushing team in MLS. Nancy’s CF Montreal team weren’t bad either, establishing the style of play that would come to be known as Nancyball. He changed MLS’s managerial landscape for ever. It was only a matter of time until a call came from Europe. Continue reading...

Politics

18 h. ago See how every judge voted in the 100 best female footballers for 2025

We publish the full breakdown of the 104,140 votes cast this year plus a chance to search for any player who has ever received a pointAitana Bonmatí has been voted the best female footballer in the world 2025 by the Guardian’s panel of experts. We asked 127 people in total, including players, coaches and journalists from all over the globe to create our definitive list for the year.We asked the judges to choose 40 names each and rank their selection in order from 1-40, No 1 being their choice of the best player. The No 1 choice of each judge was awarded 40 points, No 2 given 39pts, down to 1pt for their No 40 choice. All the votes were added together to give a raw score. To minimise the influence of outliers in the list, the highest score awarded to a player was then deducted to give a final score. Continue reading...

Politics

20 h. ago We must look beyond the brute numbers to really appreciate Haaland’s legend | Jonathan Liew

Perhaps the data-soaked discourse of modern football actually does this Premier League centurion something of a disserviceStack them up. Pile them high. Sort them and arrange them, parse them and categorise them, order them to your table like items in a Chinese restaurant. Personal favourites? Give me the No 33 against Arsenal, the one with the flowing hair. I’ll also take a No 81 against Chelsea, when he spots a hapless Robert Sánchez out of goal, and lobs him deliciously from the edge of the area.Give me a No 98 against Bournemouth, in which he deliberately slants his run around the keeper, slots it in from a tight angle, tries to clamber atop the advertising hoardings in triumph, loses his balance, collapses in peals of giggles. And maybe chuck in a No 53 against Brentford, in which Kristoffer Ajer somehow manages to fall over without being touched, spooked into incoherence by his very presence. Continue reading...

Politics

23 h. ago Revealed: Myanmar junta ‘crony’ given key role behind Fifa peace prize

Inaugural prize expected to be handed to Donald Trump but ‘process’ for choosing future winners to be proposed by controversial tycoon’s committeeIt was the timing that set off the first alarm bells. With Donald Trump brooding over missing out on the Nobel peace prize, and shortly before Gianni Infantino, the president of world football’s governing body, Fifa, was due to meet the US president in Miami, an announcement was made.In a press release and a post on his personal Instagram account last month, Infantino said Fifa would launch its very own peace prize, to be awarded each year to “individuals who help unite people in peace through unwavering commitment and special actions”. Continue reading...

Politics

29 h. ago ‘You expect better’: Maresca says Chelsea must reset after Leeds defeat

Chelsea beaten 3-1 by Leeds after meek first-half displayMaresca: ‘I think they were better than us in all aspects’Enzo Maresca conceded that Chelsea were second best “in all aspects” and the head coach offered no excuses after a disappointing defeat at Leeds as his side’s hopes of a Premier League title challenge took a significant hit.Maresca’s side are now down to fourth place and nine points adrift of the leaders, Arsenal, after stumbling in West Yorkshire, with Leeds worthy 3-1 winners on a night when Daniel Farke’s side moved out of the relegation zone. Continue reading...

Politics

30 h. ago Wirtz delivers but lacklustre Liverpool are held by Sunderland

Liverpool’s big name, big money summer signings owed Arne Slot following poor starts to life at Anfield and, right on cue, Florian Wirtz delivered. A deflected shot from the potential £116m recruit spared the Premier League champions the ignominy of a 10th defeat in 14 games with a late equaliser against Sunderland, who will count this as an opportunity missed.Chemsdine Talbi had set the in-form visitors on course for a first win at Anfield since 1983 before Wirtz’s shot flew in off Nordi Mukiele in the 81st minute. Sunderland substitute Wilson Isidor was close to restoring his side’s lead when rounding Alisson in stoppage time but a superb goalline clearance from striker Federico Chiesa salvaged a point for Liverpool. Continue reading...

Politics