Soccer

1:14 PM ET In the U.S. soccer ecosystem, there are no shortage of cities claiming to be the “home” of the sport in this country. Portland dubs itself “Soccer City, U.S.A.,” for starters. Washington, D.C., has held its share of memorable matches at the soon-to-be-demolished RFK Stadium, while fans in Seattle; Kansas City, Missouri; and

3:28 PM ET Alex Kirkland Rodrigo Faez Diego Simeone has admitted that he wanted to bring Lionel Messi to Atletico Madrid this summer, saying he called Luis Suarez to ask if a deal was possible. Messi became a free agent when his Barcelona contract expired on June 30, and planned to stay until the club

11:41 AM ET Bruce Schoenfeld Barcelona are one of many top clubs with academies or developmental relationships in the United States. The goal? Unearthing the next soccer gem. Courtesy of Barcelona residency academy FALLS CHURCH, Va. — Yurem Linares arrived with his father moments before soccer practice. He walked up a steep dirt path to the

3:30 AM ET Oyarzabal’s in the thick of a brilliant year for club and country, leading fans to wonder if he’s the next big thing. David S. Bustamante/Soccrates/Getty Images Though they ended the tournament with a runners-up medal, the UEFA Nations League finals confirmed without a doubt that this is the era of Baby Spain.” Recite

11:00 AM ET Kevin De Bruyne played with painkilling injections at the Euros. There has to be a better solution to avoid players being worn out due to the grueling club and country schedule. Meng Dingbo/Xinhua via Getty Images Last April, Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola sounded the alarm, complaining that UEFA and FIFA were “killing”

5:11 AM ET Inter Miami coach Phil Neville has demanded a “massive investigation” into Major League Soccer referees following his side’s 1-0 defeat at New York Red Bulls on Sunday. Miami suffered its fifth consecutive loss but Neville was furious after Gonzalo Higuain‘s equalizing goal was ruled out by VAR for offside in the second

10:41 PM ET PANAMA CITY, Panama — A team can repeat its mistakes so many times before it gets punished. So it proved for the United States men’s national team in its 1-0 World Cup qualifying defeat to Panama. In its first four games, the U.S. had managed to avoid defeat. But even as it

Saves 0 Shots 0 0 Shots on Target Fouls Committed 0 0 Fouls Against Assists 0 Discipline 0 Yellow 0 Red Goals 0 Shots 0 0 Shots on Target Fouls Committed 0 0 Fouls Against Assists 0 Offsides 0 Discipline 0 Yellow 0 Red Goals 0 Shots 0 0 Shots on Target Fouls Committed 0

7:57 AM ET USWNT and Orlando Pride forward Alex Morgan has said women have been pulled away from playing soccer because of “failures” in how the system is set up for them but added that things are changing as players stand up to their employers. Morgan was speaking after the Pride’s 3-2 defeat to NY/NJ

3:38 PM ET In the split second that Panamanian soccer changed forever, Anibal Godoy remembers his instinct to find his family. But as his mind tried to process Roman Torres‘ 88th-minute goal against Costa Rica that put Panama in position to qualify for the 2018 World Cup, he saw his teammate running for the corner

4:00 PM ET PANAMA CITY, Panama — United States men’s national team manager Gregg Berhalter said that Weston McKennie‘s quad injury is “not severe,” but still thought it better to leave him out of Sunday’s World Cup qualifier against Panama. McKennie didn’t make the trip to Panama after playing all 90 minutes in Thursday’s 2-0

Oct 8, 2021 International breaks are fraught with risk as clubs are left praying their players return without injury, but given how Gareth Southgate is shaping his England team, any concern for Tottenham Hotspur over Harry Kane might be more psychological than physical. Spurs did everything possible to prevent Kane from joining Manchester City this

11:51 AM ET Lionel Messi is bidding for a record-extending seventh men’s Ballon d’Or title and will have to beat competition from Cristiano Ronaldo after the pair were named among the 30 nominees for the 2021 award. Sam Mewis is the only United States women’s national team player to be nominated for the Ballon d’Or

6:00 AM ET Sid LoweSpain writer Luis Enrique was wrong. Just not the way everyone said he was wrong. “It’s ahead of time? Maybe, yeah, I won’t deny that,” Spain‘s coach had said, but it turned out it wasn’t too early at all. Pablo Paez Gavira, “Gavi,” had just turned 17, had played only 374

9:39 PM ET Ricardo Pepi netted two second-half goals to lead the United States to a 2-0 win over Jamaica in CONCACAF World Cup qualifying in Austin, Texas on Thursday night. – ESPN+ viewers’ guide: LaLiga, Bundesliga, MLS, FA Cup, more– Don’t have ESPN? Get instant access Walker Zimmerman, Yunus Musah and Paul Arriola were

12:43 AM ET AUSTIN, Texas — In the 68th minute of the United States’ 2-0 win against Jamaica Thursday night, striker Ricardo Pepi looked to the sideline and saw his number on the substitution board. With his night over, he calmly trotted toward the bench and as he did the American fans at Q2 Stadium

4:02 PM ET Associated Press A U.S. federal magistrate judge in Nevada is siding with Cristiano Ronaldo‘s lawyers against a woman who sued for more than the $375,000 in hush money she received in 2010 after saying the international football star raped her in Las Vegas. In a scathing recommendation to the judge hearing the

5:46 AM ET Newcastle United are set to be bought by Public Investment Fund. Photo by MB Media/Getty Images A Saudi Arabia-led takeover of Newcastle United is expected to be completed within the next 48 hours, sources have told ESPN. The Premier League are expected to announce Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) will complete a