3 h. ago The World Cup is out of reach for many. The hope lies outside the stadiums | Leander Schaerlaeckens

The opportunity for this tournament’s legacy is in the fan fests, camps and tune-ups accessible to more than the lucky fewIn Germany, fans watched the games on screens in crowded town squares, their roars careening off ancient buildings, or from the banks of rivers, peering at floating, double-sided big screens on barges. At the next World Cup, in South Africa in 2010, people gathered in parks and open-air markets and hotel lobbies and unlicensed, makeshift bars in people’s garages. In Brazil, four years later, fans spilled from the bars on the Copacabana or watched in restaurants or in streets closed for the occasion – not as if anybody was driving during the Seleção’s games anyway.During the 2018 World Cup, Russia surprised visitors – and its own citizens – with its friendliness as spontaneous parties broke out all over the country. The reason the 2022 World Cup in Qatar didn’t entirely feel like a real World Cup is that those sorts of spontaneous soccer gatherings just didn’t see...

Politics

59 h. ago Motherwell goalkeeper eyes Hampden return as he reveals how Airdrie and East Kilbride loan spells have helped him

The Fir Park shot-stopper was also praised by Well boss Jens Berthel Askou after helping the club reach the last 16 of the Scottish Cup

Politics

1 week ago Leeds come from behind to beat Derby and reach FA Cup fourth round

The Championship side led through Ben Brereton Diaz’s goal.

Politics

1 week ago Coco Gauff beats Iga Swiatek but Poland best US to reach United Cup final

Gaudff beats Swiatek 6-4, 6-2 but loses in doublesSabalenka into Brisbane final; Alcaraz beats Sinner in exhibitionA statement victory for Coco Gauff over her great rival Iga Swiatek proved to be insufficient to the American’s hopes of leading her team into the final of the United Cup as Poland showed their depth in an excellent team performance to close out a 2-1 win over the United States.The Polish team, who finished runners-up to the US last year, exacted their revenge courtesy of the doubles specialists Jan Zielinski and Katarzyna Kawa, who maintained their unbeaten run in the competition by defeating Christian Harrison and Gauff 7-6 (5), 7-6 (3) in the decisive third rubber. Poland face Switzerland in the final on Sunday after the Swiss defeated Belgium 2-1. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago Africa’s superpowers assemble for Cup of Nations knockout stages

Cameroon and hosts Morocco could soon be joined by Nigeria and Egypt at the business end of the tournamentFor a decade or more, a familiar theme of Cups of Nations has been how the pyramid of African football has been growing little taller but much broader. African sides came no closer to really challenging at a World Cup, but the range of teams capable of beating the continent’s elite, of getting to the knockout stage of the Cup of Nations, was becoming more diverse. Perhaps, though, a new phase is beginning.It’s dangerous always to read too much into the performance of one side at one tournament, but in Qatar in 2022 Morocco at last broke through the quarter-final barrier and became the first African side to reach a World Cup semi-final. And now, in the Cup of Nations Morocco are hosting, the traditional powers are reasserting themselves. There is yet to be a real surprise in the tournament and, halfway through the round of 16, the prospect is of the highest-powered list of quarte...

Politics

2 w. ago South Africa vs Cameroon LIVE: AFCON result, latest updates and reaction

Bafana Bafana were looking to reach Africa Cup of Nations last eight

Politics

2 w. ago South Africa vs Cameroon LIVE: AFCON latest score, match stream and goal updates

Bafana Bafana looking to reach Africa Cup of Nations last eight

Sport

2 w. ago South Africa vs Cameroon LIVE: AFCON 2025 match stream, latest team news, lineups, TV, prediction

Bafana Bafana looking to reach Africa Cup of Nations last eight

Politics

4 w. ago Ukraine’s best hope may lie elsewhere as Russia inches forward on the battlefield

While it struggles to hold up land advance, Kyiv eyes economic and political fronts to turn around fortunesA depleted – but far from defeated Ukraine – looks to 2026 with few good military options, even though a critical €90bn (£79bn) loan from the EU has been agreed. The financing will help Kyiv to continue defending at its current intensity until late 2027, but it will not lead to a transformation of its battlefield prospects.On land, the pattern of the last two years should, in the first instance, continue. Russia has held the initiative since 2024, but only gaining territory incrementally, largely because it constantly throws people into the “meat grinder” of the frontline. During 2025, Russian advances amounted to 176 sq miles a month to the end of November, but at an estimated cost of 382,000 killed and wounded. Continue reading...

Events

4 w. ago Arsenal outlast Crystal Palace in marathon shootout to reach Carabao Cup semi

Arsenal 1-1 Crystal Palace (Arsenal win 8-7 on penalties): Kepa Arrizabalaga saved Maxence Lacroix’s penalty to seal a semi-final spot for the Gunners

Sport

4 w. ago Arsenal player ratings vs Crystal Palace as six players earn 8/10 in shootout win

Arsenal beat Crystal Palace on penalties to reach the Carabao Cup semi-finals, with Kepa Arrizabalaga saving the decisive spot-kick after Marc Guehi had scored a late equaliser

Sport

4 w. ago Arsenal player ratings vs Crystal Palace: 8/10 the rock in Gunners' win

Arsenal beat Crystal Palace 4-2 on penalties after a 1-1 draw to reach the League Cup semi-finals, with Kepa saving the crucial spot-kick in the shoot-out

Sport

4 w. ago Arsenal vs Crystal Palace free live stream, TV channel and how to watch online

Arsenal will be looking to reach the League Cup semi-finals for the second consecutive season as they take on Crystal Palace in the last eight on Tuesday evening

Sport