Soccer

11:45 AM ET Agents in football are nothing like Jerry Maguire. It’s not that they don’t develop heartfelt bonds with their representatives: Mino Raiola, who represents Paul Pogba, Erling Haaland and Zlatan Ibrahimovic, famously has no written contracts tying him to his clients but relies on handshakes instead. No, the difference is that in Maguire’s

2:52 PM ET Didier Deschamps’ weekends have become really tricky in 2020. The France head coach wants to watch as many of his players featuring for their clubs every Saturday or Sunday, but the problem is that there are too many contenders now to make the squad that he and his assistants are struggling to

4:36 AM ET Liverpool’s troubles at the hands of VAR headlines this week’s ESPN’s Insider Notebook. PLUS: Lionel Messi is set for a huge Barcelona payday. Jump to: Messi’s bonus after trying to leave Barca | Man United track rising star defender | Spurs, Eriksen cool on reunion | FA staff reeling from Clarke chaos

4:07 PM ET As we find ourselves immersed in international break No. 17 of the young European soccer season (OK, it’s No. 3), it’s a pretty good time to step back and absorb the chaos that we’ve witnessed one-fifth of the way through. The funkiness resulting from a blink-and-you-miss-it offseason, along with a loaded schedule

6:36 PM ET In the 285 days since the U.S. men’s national team last played, it seemed like there was a sea change for the Americans. The U.S. now has a player at Juventus in Weston McKennie, while Sergino Dest and Konrad de la Fuente are on the first-team roster at Barcelona. That’s to go

4:50 AM ET The climax of the UEFA Nations League is here — stream LIVE on ESPN+ (U.S. only) — with some of the continent’s biggest teams fighting for a place in the finals in October 2021, as well as preferable seeding ahead of the World Cup 2022 qualifying draw. This year, preparations have been

4:00 AM ET Rob DawsonCorrespondent Louis van Gaal still says he should have seen his dismissal coming at Manchester United six months before it happened, and while Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is not there yet, the similarities are striking. Two managers wrestling with the suspicion they were not backed by the club when it mattered, an

2:31 PM ET United States midfielder Christian Pulisic will not play in Thursday’s friendly against Wales, and will leave camp on Wednesday night as he recuperates from a hamstring injury, the U.S. Soccer Federation announced. The Chelsea midfielder had always been unlikely to play in the match after sustaining the injury while warming up prior

8:30 AM ET Ronaldo, Pele, Zidane and Messi are all legends, but are they the greatest from their own countries? ESPN Illustration Lionel Messi or Diego Maradona? Is Pele the undisputed best from Brazil? Clint Dempsey or Landon Donovan? What about the No. 1 from England? After asking our writers to nominate the most iconic players

4:57 PM ET United States men’s national team goalkeeper Zack Steffen feels he’s already grown on the field with club side Manchester City, even though he’s only been with the first team for a little over two months. Steffen, 25, signed with Man City back in July of 2019, but spent the 2019-20 season on

12:36 PM ET England Football Association chairperson Greg Clarke has resigned from his role following the use of a racist term during a press briefing. When asked why there isn’t an openly gay men’s footballer at the elite level in England, Clarke said, “The answer is I don’t know, right, because I’ve spent a lot

11:05 AM ET Sergino Dest flew into Barcelona on a Tuesday and finally signed for the Catalan club that Thursday. Between landing at El Prat airport and penning a five-year deal at Camp Nou, Bayern Munich were on the phone trying to resurrect a deal they had been working on since January. The German giants

10:55 AM ET As their most recent squad announcement for this month’s matches against Wales and Panama showed, the United States men’s national team has some exciting individual talents coming through. With an average age of 21 years, 10 months, the likes of Christian Pulisic and Giovanni Reyna will take the headlines, but a team

11:27 AM ET Decision Day produced its share of drama. The Philadelphia Union clinched the Supporters’ Shield, the first trophy in their history, by beating the New England Revolution 2-0. At the other end of the playoff race in the Eastern Conference, the Montreal Impact and Inter Miami each produced wins to earn their way

10:42 AM ET Liverpool and Man City showed their weaknesses, Arsenal were beaten by Aston Villa, Bayern Munich beat Borussia Dortmund but have an unwelcome injury to contend with, while Barcelona were saved by super-sub Lionel Messi. It’s Monday, and Gab Marcotti reacts to the biggest moments in the sport of football from the past

5:36 PM ET Arsenal were crying out for the structure and stability Mikel Arteta has brought to the team, but nights like Sunday with a crushing 3-0 defeat to Aston Villaunderline why they will need more to succeed in the long run. It is just a week since the Spaniard was widely praised for facilitating

5:57 PM ET Sergio Santos and Cory Burke each scored one goal to lift the host Philadelphia Union to their first-ever Supporters’ Shield following a 2-0 victory over the New England Revolution on Sunday. The Union improved to 9-0-0 at home and earned the first trophy since the franchise’s expansion season in 2010. Standout goalkeeper

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