Soccer

12:48 PM ET LAS VEGAS — When the U.S. men’s national team and Mexico meet in Sunday’s 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup final, it will be the second time in 56 days that the longtime rivals have faced each other with a continental title on the line. And yet the two matches could not be more

6:36 AM ET Rob DawsonCorrespondent Trophies aren’t handed out in July, but Manchester United have at least used the summer to show they remain interested in winning some. Toward the end of his time as manager at Old Trafford, Jose Mourinho came to believe the club were happy simply to compete in the big competitions

12:29 PM ET Caitlin Murray The U.S. women’s national team is in the semifinals of the 2020 Olympic Games after beating the Netherlands in a thrilling back-and-forth affair that eventually went to penalty kicks. – Report: USWNT reach Olympic semifinals with shootout win– Lavelle: Naeher has saved us so many times Whether the win feels

11:47 PM ET Gyasi Zardes‘ international career has been harder to kill off than one of those horror movie heroes. No matter how many times The Next Big Striker comes around, ready to supplant him, the Columbus Crew forward keeps coming back to score goals for the United States. Thursday’s Gold Cup semifinal against Qatar

9:26 PM ET Gyasi Zardes scored a late goal to lead the United States men’s team into the Gold Cup final with a hard-fought 1-0 win over Qatar in Austin, Texas, on Thursday night. – Gold Cup fixtures, results, schedule and more Both sides traded chances in the opening 20 minutes, but it was Qatar

5:02 PM ET Caitlin Murray If the U.S. women’s national team wants to win their fifth gold medal in an Olympic women’s football tournament, they need to get through Friday’s quarterfinal (7 a.m. ET) against a team that has looked like an early favorite: The Netherlands. While the U.S. is limping out of Group G

9:00 AM ET Tor-Kristian Karlsen When it comes to the transfer market, Premier League clubs have all embraced the analytics approach over recent years to find new talent, while scouting habits and finances have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. But clubs still differ in the various strategies that can be used to find success.

6:26 PM ET Danny Lewis Euro 2020 and the Copa America are over and the summer transfer window is open, leaving Europe’s biggest clubs clear to make a splash in the market. Check out the latest gossip below, and see all official deals here. TOP STORY: Arsenal eye Maddison, keep Odegaard on radar Arsenal may

2:12 PM ET Caitlin Murray Crystal Dunn wants you to know her face and hear her voice. If you follow soccer, you probably should pay attention to her anyway. She’s the attacker-turned-defender who has been playing out of position at left-back for the U.S. women’s national team in recent years — and doing it well

3:30 AM ET Steven Gerrard is a winner again, and he is determined to make up for lost time by winning over and over as Rangers manager. And he wants the pressure and expectancy that comes with it, too. Having ended the Glasgow club’s 10-year wait for the Scottish title last season by delivering a

6:45 PM ET Danny Lewis Euro 2020 and the Copa America are over and the summer transfer window is open, leaving Europe’s biggest clubs clear to make a splash in the market. Check out the latest gossip below, and see all official deals here. TOP STORY: Man City, Villa at odds over Grealish move Manchester

11:00 AM ET Sid LoweSpain writer When the board went up, so did Carlo Ancelotti. They were coming towards the end of Real Madrid‘s first proper preseason game at Ibrox, just not quite quick enough. Their new coach, who is also one of their old coaches, had seen enough so he approached the referee and

7:55 AM ET Caitlian Murray With one minute left in the final match of Group G in the Olympic women’s football tournament between the United States women’s national team and Australia, the Tokyo Games broadcast feed cut to Alex Morgan on the bench. She was staring out on to the field and she just shook

5:13 AM ET Adriana Garcia Raphael Varane trained with some of his Real Madrid teammates on Monday morning amid speculation his transfer to Manchester United could be completed this week. Reports in Spain claim that United have started negotiating with Madrid regarding Varane’s transfer to Old Trafford. – Don’t have ESPN? Get instant access Varane,

1:44 PM ET … And then there were four. The CONCACAF Gold Cup hits the business end this week with a mouth-watering pair of semifinals — Qatar vs. the United States and Mexico vs. Canada — on Thursday night before Sunday’s final in Las Vegas. – Gold Cup fixtures, results, schedule and more– Stream ESPN

6:00 AM ET Manchester United signed Paul Pogba from Juventus for £89.3 million to turn them into Premier League contenders in 2016 but, five years on, offloading the France midfielder now holds the key to their title prospects. Raising £50m or more by allowing Pogba to leave the club before his contract expires in June

1:44 AM ET Matthew Hoppe rose up, got his head on a deflected cross and, by the time his feet hit the ground, the United States had a 1-0 lead against Jamaica in the Gold Cup quarterfinals. The decisive 83rd-minute goal was Hoppe’s final involvement in the game, capping his first breakthrough international performance. At

12:50 PM ET Christian Pulisic has said featuring in his first full preseason at Chelsea is a “big positive” ahead of the new campaign. The 22-year-old joined Chelsea from Borussia Dortmund in 2019 but missed the start of the preseason training and only met up with his teammates later that summer. – Stream ESPN FC