Football

Jeff Kassouf Mar 13, 2024, 11:37 AM ET Open Extended Reactions Vlatko Andonovski feels like he is home again — not just in obvious geographical terms, but in the spiritual sense of belonging. Saturday’s NWSL season opener against the Portland Thorns will be Andonovski’s first as head coach of the Kansas City Current, his hometown

Sam Marsden, Barcelona correspondentMar 12, 2024, 07:08 PM ET Open Extended Reactions BARCELONA — The last time Barcelona reached a Champions League quarterfinal, Lionel Messi still played for the club and the world was in lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic. During the four years since, there has been just one appearance in the round-of-16,

Open Extended Reactions LONDON — Arsenal‘s round-of-16 curse in the Champions League is finally broken. It required a penalty shootout at the end of a gruelling 120 minutes — in which FC Porto tested the Gunners’ patience in almost every conceivable way — but they’ve reached the quarterfinals for the first time since 2010. As

Mar 12, 2024, 11:11 AM ET Open Extended Reactions NJ/NY Gotham FC won the 2023 NWSL Championship, and it has spent this offseason signing a slew of notable players from the United States women’s national soccer team. Will it again be the team to beat when the NWSL season kicks off on Saturday? Amber Searls/USA TODAY

Mar 11, 2024, 02:08 PM ET Open Extended Reactions Manchester City defender Kyle Walker has praised the “character” of referee Michael Oliver for not awarding Liverpool a late penalty during Sunday’s 1-1 draw between the title rivals. City winger Jérémy Doku kicked Alexis Mac Allister in the chest while clearing the ball in the 99th

Open Extended Reactions Cole Palmer of Chelsea (R) celebrates with teammate Enzo Fernandez after scoring their second goal during the Premier League match against Newcastle United on March 11. (Photo by Alex Pantling/Getty Images) LONDON — It’s that time of year when the conversation turns to assessing the Premier League‘s signing of the season and it

Cesar Hernandez Mar 11, 2024, 07:32 AM ET Open Extended Reactions SAN DIEGO, Calif. — With the glimmer of a well-deserved Concacaf W Gold Cup trophy in the hands of the U.S. women’s national team, it’s easy to forget that just weeks ago, the journey into the inaugural tournament began with a statement of regret

Cesar Hernandez Mar 11, 2024, 12:53 AM ET Open Extended Reactions United States interim coach Twila Kilgore said the women’s national team is “just getting started” after winning the inaugural Concacaf W Gold Cup through a 1-0 victory over Brazil in Sunday’s final. “This is a group that’s moving forward together, that still wants more

Open Extended Reactions Jurgen Klopp has said Liverpool were denied a “100% penalty” and questioned what VAR official Stuart Attwell “had for lunch” after Alexis Mac Allister was subjected to a 99th minute chest-high challenge by Manchester City’s Jérémy Doku in Sunday’s 1-1 draw at Anfield. Mac Allister’s second-half penalty, following a foul by City

A Christian Pulisic goal was enough to give AC Milan a 1-0 home win over struggling Empoli on Sunday, and move provisionally into second place in Serie A. Milan are on 59 points, two ahead of Juventus who host Atalanta later on Sunday, with Inter Milan top on 75 points. Empoli are 16th on 25

Mar 9, 2024, 04:42 PM ET Open Extended Reactions On a Saturday in which Arsenal looked like they might lose pace with the Premier League‘s title protagonists, they dug deep to steal a vital result. Barcelona, too, kept their title hopes alive — if only just. Inter Milan already have one hand and four fingers

Rob Dawson, CorrespondentMar 9, 2024, 11:00 AM ET Open Extended Reactions MANCHESTER, England — As the Manchester United players walked off at half-time, 2-0 up against Everton, they disappeared down the Old Trafford tunnel to a chorus of “Viva Garnacho” coming from the fans in the Stretford End. Manager Erik ten Hag followed wearing his

Harry Kane scored a hat trick in Bayern Munich‘s 8-1 demolition of Mainz on Saturday to set a Bundesliga record as the champions cut the gap on leaders Bayer Leverkusen to seven points. Kane, who joined this season for a league record €100 million ($109m) from Tottenham, became the first player to score at least twice

Open Extended Reactions Jurgen Klopp has said his decade-long battle with Pep Guardiola is a “not a rivalry” and that the Spanish coach is the “outstanding manager” of his lifetime as he prepares to face the Manchester City man for the final time in a Premier League game as Liverpool boss. Klopp announced he will

Jeff Carlisle, U.S. soccer correspondentMar 8, 2024, 10:00 AM ET Close Jeff Carlisle covers MLS and the U.S. national team for ESPN FC. Open Extended Reactions Two weeks into the MLS regular season, and one of the biggest stories has nothing to do with Lionel Messi‘s star-studded Inter Miami CF, the seemingly revived LA Galaxy

Rob Dawson, CorrespondentMar 8, 2024, 11:07 AM ET Open Extended Reactions Pep Guardiola said he believes Jurgen Klopp “will be back” despite his decision to step down as Liverpool manager at the end of the season. Klopp is calling time on his nine-year stint at Anfield, citing exhaustion as the reason behind his decision, and

Luis Suarez struck in stoppage time and Lionel Messi scored shortly after half-time to help Inter Miami tie Nashville 2-2 Thursday night in the Concadaf Champions Cup. The teams will meet Wednesday night in Miami for the second leg of the home-and-home portion of the round of 16, with Miami holding a decisive edge thanks to the

Cesar Hernandez Mar 7, 2024, 08:30 AM ET Open Extended Reactions SAN DIEGO — Closer to water polo than a game of soccer, Wednesday’s Concacaf W Gold Cup semifinal win for the United States women’s national team over Canada played out as a bizarre rainy spectacle at Snapdragon Stadium. With stormy weather impacting a waterlogged