Football

ESPN News Services Oct 7, 2023, 06:51 PM ET Lionel Messi has returned to Inter Miami‘s matchday squad for the first time in five matches, after being named as a substitute for Saturday’s key MLS matchup at home to FC Cincinnati. The 36-year-old has missed five of Inter Miami’s last six matches, plus another for

Rob Dawson, CorrespondentOct 7, 2023, 01:42 PM ET MANCHESTER, England — Scott McTominay found an answer for Manchester United against Brentford on Saturday, but the questions are mounting for manager Erik ten Hag. McTominay came on after 87 minutes with United 1-0 down and scored in the 93rd and 97th-minute to secure a 2-1 win

Tottenham Hotspur went top of the Premier League table with a 1-0 win at Luton Town on Saturday, despite playing the whole of the second half with 10 men. Dutch defender Micky van de Ven scored the only goal of the game in the 52nd minute when he poked home a first-time shot after a

Associated Press Oct 6, 2023, 11:05 PM ET Retiring star Megan Rapinoe was honored by club team OL Reign on Friday night in front of a National Women’s Soccer League record crowd of 34,130 fans, many of whom wore pink wigs in her honor. With her family and fiancé Sue Bird looking on, Rapinoe started

Ian Darke, ESPN.com writerOct 6, 2023, 04:12 AM ET Close Darke, who called games for the network during the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, is ESPN lead soccer voice in the United States. He has covered the Barclays Premier League and the Champions League since 1982, and has one of the world’s most

Oct 6, 2023, 08:35 AM ET Zlatan Ibrahimovic has taken aim at players who joined the Saudi Pro League last summer, questioning the motivations behind their moves to the Gulf state. Cristiano Ronaldo‘s move to Al Nassr last January was the catalyst for a number of the game’s biggest stars to join the league on

Jeff Carlisle, U.S. soccer correspondentOct 5, 2023, 03:07 PM ET Close Jeff Carlisle covers MLS and the U.S. national team for ESPN FC. Gregg Berhalter and Giovanni Reyna, seen here in March 2022, had a falling-out after the World Cup and will reunite for the first time since at a USMNT camp next week. Robin Alam/ISI

At the risk of piling on to the laundry list of Manchester United concerns — back-to-back Champions League defeats, four defeats in seven games to open the Premier League season, no sign of the football Erik Ten Hag played at Ajax, Antony being questioned by police in two countries for assaulting women, Jadon Sancho exiled

Oct 5, 2023, 03:00 AM ET The 2023-24 Champions League group stage is underway, and matchday two is in the books with Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Manchester City and Barcelona the only teams to maintain a 100% record. After a thrilling round of games, we asked our writers Gab Marcotti, Rob Dawson and Sam Marsden

NEWCASTLE-UPON-TYNE, England — Kylian Mbappé headed straight down the tunnel at the end of Paris Saint-Germain‘s 4-1 Champions League humiliation against Newcastle United. As he disappeared with a face like thunder, St. James’ Park rocked to a party it had waited 20 years to host. These are early days in the 2023-24 Champions League season

Rob Dawson, CorrespondentOct 4, 2023, 06:23 PM ET LEIPZIG, Germany — Crisis? What crisis? Manchester City have lost consecutive games only five times during Pep Guardiola’s reign as manager and only once did it turn into three in a row. RB Leipzig could have doubled that statistic on Wednesday in the Champions League, which came

Oct 4, 2023, 05:19 AM ET VAR, or video assistant referee: how do you feel about it? Do you think it’s a technological boost to the game that reduces the impact of human errors by reviewing and “fixing” bad calls? Or do you think they remain as imperfect as the pre-VAR days because they are,

Liam Wheeler Oct 3, 2023, 05:17 PM ET Onana, left, and Hojlund, right, were the worst and best performers on a chastening Champions League night for Man United. Michael Regan/Getty Images Manchester United‘s woes continued as the Red Devils were beaten 3-2 by Galatasaray in the Champions League, on a miserable night in the Manchester rain

Oct 2, 2023, 04:17 PM ET Champions League soccer is back for matchday two! Europe’s premier club competition returns for 2023-24 with eight matches on Tuesday across the continent, providing exciting matchups, top talent and drama. Enjoy the play-by-play from all the matches as Manchester United kick off against Galatasaray, Arsenal face Lens and Real

Adriana Garcia Oct 3, 2023, 07:50 AM ET Inter Miami managing owner Jorge Mas has said he is open to his team playing a game at Barcelona to allow Lionel Messi to bid farewell to his fans. Since Messi left Barca for Paris Saint-Germain free agent in August 2021, there has been talk of a

Connor O’Halloran Oct 2, 2023, 07:01 PM ET LONDON — There was a point on Monday, as a Dominos pizza truck parked up next to Craven Cottage in the build-up to the game, when it became clear Chelsea‘s woeful form in front of goal was beginning to transform from a persistent narrative to a point

Mudryk nets 1st Chelsea goal in win vs. Fulham Chelsea finally found the net as they won 2-0 at neighbours Fulham in the Premier League on Monday with Mykhailo Mudryk scoring his first goal for the Blues and Armando Broja also on target as he celebrated his full return from injury. Oct 2, 2023, 05:11

Video Assistant Referee causes controversy every week in the Premier League, but how are decisions made, and are they correct? After each weekend we take a look at the major incidents, to examine and explain the process both in terms of VAR protocol and the Laws of the Game. – How VAR decisions have affected