Football

Sep 5, 2024, 03:30 PM ET Open Extended Reactions Cristiano Ronaldo became the first men’s player in history to score 900 goals in official matches, reaching his latest milestone in Portugal‘s UEFA Nations League match against Croatia in Lisbon on Thursday. Ronaldo secured the historic goal with a volley from six yards off a cross

Jeff Kassouf Sep 5, 2024, 02:48 PM ET There is no weight like the expectation of being the next star of the U.S. women’s national team. Alex Morgan shouldered that as a 20-year-old in 2009, when she joined her first senior training camp with the team. She hadn’t yet debuted for the U.S., and already

Sep 5, 2024, 11:13 AM ET Open Extended Reactions Alex Morgan has announced she is retiring from soccer. Carmen Mandato/USSF/Getty Images for USSF United States women’s national team stalwart Alex Morgan has announced that she is to retire from soccer after this weekend in a video shared on social media. Morgan, 35, made 223 appearances for

Associated Press Sep 4, 2024, 11:13 PM ET Open Extended Reactions Washington Spirit rookie midfielder Croix Bethune will miss the rest of the NWSL season after apparently suffering a knee injury while throwing the ceremonial first pitch at a Washington Nationals game last week. The Spirit said Wednesday that Bethune, who was part of the

ESPN News Services Sep 4, 2024, 04:08 PM ET Open Extended Reactions Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo were both left off the list of nominees for this year’s Ballon d’Or award, marking the first time neither star was nominated since 2003. Record eight-time winner Messi, and his longtime rival Ronaldo, who has five Ballon d’Ors

Open Extended Reactions Additional reporting by Gabriele Marcotti and Tor-Kristian Karlsen. Twenty-two minutes into Chelsea‘s new Premier League season, the fans at Stamford Bridge roused themselves into a chant after their team fell 1-0 down to Manchester City. “Conor Gallagher,” they sang. Not the team’s name. Not their new manager. Not even one of the

Lizzy Becherano Sep 3, 2024, 05:02 PM ET Open Extended Reactions United States defender Tim Ream said players have not been made aware of the impending appointment of Mauricio Pochettino as the team’s new head coach. “We know as much as everybody else,” Ream said, speaking at a news conference on Tuesday. “We were updated

The summer 2024 transfer window closed on Friday, and one thing is evident in the Premier League. Spending — as in net spending, which is the amount taken in when transferring players out, minus the amount shelled out to acquire new players — is down. Way down. Like, Mariana Trench down. According to Transfermarkt, Premier

Rob Dawson, CorrespondentSep 3, 2024, 09:56 AM ET Open Extended Reactions Manchester United CEO Omar Berrada has said the club will not be held to ransom in their future transfer dealings because a bad deal can “set you back.” In the past, United have been accused of over-paying for players, both in terms of transfer

Lizzy Becherano Sep 2, 2024, 07:12 PM ET Open Extended Reactions Luis Suárez announced his retirement from the Uruguay national team in a news conference on Monday, saying he will step away from international duty after his team’s World Cup qualifier against Paraguay on Friday. The former Liverpool and Barcelona star, who is now playing

ESPN News Services Sep 2, 2024, 05:24 PM ET Open Extended Reactions Portugal forward Cristiano Ronaldo dismissed suggestions he had considered ending his international career in the near future, adding that post-Euro criticism did not worry him. Portugal host Croatia in their Nations League opener on Thursday before welcoming Scotland in League A Group One

Gabriele Marcotti, Senior Writer, ESPN FCSep 2, 2024, 10:08 AM ET Open Extended Reactions The final weekend of European club action before the international break didn’t disappoint, with talking points galore across the top leagues. In the Premier League, Liverpool humbled Man United at Old Trafford in front of United’s new midfielder. In LaLiga, Barcelona

Sep 1, 2024, 06:55 PM ET Open Extended Reactions Manchester United have grown accustomed to disappointment, but so lopsided was their 3-0 defeat to Liverpool at Old Trafford on Sunday that the question must now be asked whether their fiercest rivals are, in fact, the closest competition to that seemingly unbeatable outfit across town: Manchester

Jeff Carlisle, U.S. soccer correspondentSep 1, 2024, 03:36 PM ET Close Jeff Carlisle covers MLS and the U.S. national team for ESPN FC. Open Extended Reactions AC Milan forward Christian Pulisic, AS Monaco forward Folarin Balogun and Borussia Dortmund midfielder Giovanni Reyna headline the 24-player United States roster that will play a pair of upcoming

ESPN News Services Aug 31, 2024, 04:43 PM ET Open Extended Reactions Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola labelled Erling Haaland “unstoppable” after the striker scored a second straight hat trick to set a new record for most goals through three games of a Premier League season. After a treble in a 4-1 win over Ipswich

ESPN News Services Aug 31, 2024, 05:27 PM ET Open Extended Reactions Bayer Leverkusen coach Xabi Alonso said he had a “bitter” feeling after the German champions saw their impressive unbeaten run in the Bundesliga end with a 3-2 defeat by RB Leipzig on Saturday. Under Alonso, Leverkusen have made crucial late goals a speciality.

Open Extended Reactions The fretting over Arsenal‘s squad depth was supposed to end when the Premier League‘s summer transfer window closed on Friday. Raheem Sterling‘s last-gasp arrival on loan from Chelsea had many Gunners supporters pitching up at Emirates Stadium on Saturday enthused by the options manager Mikel Arteta has at his disposal. Yet they

Brighton ended Arsenal‘s winning start to the new Premier League season with a 1-1 draw at the Emirates on Saturday, with the home side holding on for a point after Declan Rice‘s controversial second-half sending off. Arsenal dominated the first half and deservedly lead at the interval after Kai Havertz finished brilliantly in the 38th