12:41 PM ET Timing is everything in sports. Success requires both quality and well-timed opportunity. One might not figure that a year would make that much of a difference, but a few of the teams on display at Euro 2020 look quite a bit different than they would have had the tournament gone on as
Soccer
7:00 AM ET With the Euro 2020 group stage done and dusted, we asked our writers for their views on some big questions based on what we have seen. Which teams can do better, which players have made their mark and who will contest the final? Euro 2020: News and features | Fixtures and bracket
7:19 PM ET It was one of those nights. The kind of night that Cristiano Ronaldo owns and has owned throughout his career: the big occasion, the floodlights, the star-studded field, the high stakes, the obligation to deliver, the pressure and the tension. It was Portugal vs. France, in the heat of Budapest, with Portugal
8:48 AM ET A familiar cast of characters will make up the 18-player roster the United States women’s national soccer team will send to the delayed Tokyo Olympic Games next month. Carli Lloyd, who at 39 years old will become the U.S.’s oldest-ever women’s soccer Olympian, and Tobin Heath are headed to the competition for
4:33 PM ET “Messi or no Messi, I don’t give a f—. I am not going home tonight.” Picture the scene: France are about to play Argentina in the last 16 of the 2018 World Cup in Russia. It’s June 30, and Paul Pogba decided to speak up louder than he’d even done before. In
6:51 PM ET LONDON — Gareth Southgate found a way for England to win Group D at Euro 2020. Now he needs to mastermind a way to win the entire tournament. There has perhaps been an unexpectedly high level of pragmatism in England’s performances at Euro 2020, which continued with Tuesday’s 1-0 win over the
10:15 AM ET Several Bundesliga clubs have announced they will light up their stadiums with rainbow colours during the Euro 2020 clash between Germany and Hungary after UEFA denied a request from the Munich mayor to light up the Allianz Arena. Barcelona‘s Antoine Griezmann and Gerard Pique as well as Arsenal‘s Katie McCabe have also
2:27 PM ET Last week, Harry Kane was asked whether he had a special goal celebration planned in tribute to former Tottenham Hotspur teammate Christian Eriksen following the Denmark midfielder’s recovery from cardiac arrest. “I’d have to score a goal first before I think of anything like that,” he replied in what felt like an
7:55 PM ET The Danish players huddled in a tight circle, shoulder to shoulder, eyes to eyes, heart to heart. Around them, embracing them and joining them in an outer ring of affection, belonging and hope was the crowd at Copenhagen’s Denmark Stadium. We’d seen this before. Nine days earlier, just a few feet away
11:37 AM ET Manchester City are readying a £100 million ($139 million) offer for Tottenham Hotspur striker Harry Kane, sources have told ESPN. Kane, 27, has informed Spurs of his desire to leave this summer, with City leading Manchester United and Chelsea in the race for his signature. – Stream ESPN FC Daily on ESPN+
5:29 PM ET The Euro 2020 group stage is almost halfway through, with 16 of the 24 nations going through to the knockout rounds. Euro 2020: News and features | Live on ESPN | VAR watch The top two teams in each group qualify, along with the best four of the six third-placed teams. At
10:00 AM ET It has been a frustrating Euro 2020 for Bruno Fernandes so far. On the evidence of his performances against Hungary and Germany, and with a Group F decider against France on Wednesday (LIVE on ESPN and ESPN+ at 3 p.m. ET in the U.S.), the Portugal version of the midfielder is a
3:30 PM ET Rob DawsonCorrespondent The ball looped over Italy manager Roberto Mancini on the touchline, and with hands still in the pockets of his smart suit, he brought it down with a flick of his designer shoes. Azzurri-legend-turned-assistant Gianluca Vialli, watching from the substitutes bench behind, rocked with laughter. Italy are having a great
7:00 AM ET Italy have been aggressive and attack-minded at the Euros so far, and it’s paying off with a flurry of goals. Matteo Ciambelli/DeFodi Images via Getty Images In any given European club season, it can take weeks or even months to get an accurate read on a given team, its strengths and its weaknesses.
6:53 PM ET For all their neat and intricate passing, if Spain are to be judged as real Euro 2020 contenders, they must solve their problem up front. They have had 28 attempts through their opening two matches and have just two points and one goal to show for their efforts. On Saturday evening in
3:32 PM ET Germany are back. In the most rambunctious, direct way, putting four past defending champion Portugal in a 4-2 win at Euro 2020. Overcoming their own new-found insecurities, square-pegs-in-round-holes and a one-goal deficit summoned up by a lung-busting Cristiano Ronaldo effort. It’s too early to crown them even as legitimate contenders, but it’s
8:05 AM ET Associated Press Christian Eriksen surprised the Denmark team with a visit in the middle of a training session and then gave them all a hug, his teammates said on Saturday. Eriksen was discharged from a Copenhagen hospital on Friday and immediately went to see his teammates at their European Championship base camp
6:42 PM ET LONDON — England reached the 2018 World Cup semifinals by scoring just three goals from open play. Gareth Southgate and his coaching staff offset this issue by developing a sustained and inventive threat from set pieces, chiefly through mastering the adaptation to VAR quicker than most other countries. The rich array of