Page 17 - Football

Prosecutors close rape investigation in connection with Kylian Mbappe

Swedish prosecutors say they have dropped a rape investigation that was launched in connection with soccer star Kylian Mbappe's visit to Stockholm in October. In a statement, lead investigator Marina Chirakova said there was not enough evidence to continue the investigation, which centred on an incident at a hotel in the Swedish capital. Prosecutors never publicly named the suspect in the investigation, but some Swedish media reported that it was Real Madrid striker Mbappe, who visited Stockholm in October during a break in the Spanish league. At the time Mbappe's legal team dismissed those reports as false.

UEFA Europa League: Viktoria Plzen vs Manchester United live streaming

Man Utd are missing three players, all of whom are defenders: Victor Lindelof, Jonny Evans, and Luke Shaw. However, they could be back in action in upcoming games.

Saudi Arabia officially announced as host for Fifa World Cup 2034

Saudi Arabia is eight years into a multi-trillion dollar transformation agenda aimed at freeing the economy from its reliance on petrodollars. The plan includes creating dozens of new industries

UEFA Champions League: Dortmund vs Barcelona live time, streaming

The race for the top 8 spots that will earn automatic qualification into the knockouts has intensified and each point will count from here on.

India all set to debut in Fifae World Cup 2024 featuring eFootball

The World Cup, which will be held as part of the FIFAe Finals 2024 in Riyadh, will feature competitions on both console and mobile platforms

Manchester United's boredom broken by Ruben Amorim's tactical brilliance

Goals from an out-of-form Marcus Rashford and Joshua Zirkzee gave more reasons to rejoice at the Theatre of Dreams as they jumped up to 9th on the Premier League points table.

Barcelona lose at home for 1st time this season, falling 2-1 to Las Palmas

Barcelona lost at home for the first time this season when the Spanish league leader was stunned 2-1 by Las Palmas on Saturday. Barcelona had played superbly in the first three months under new coach Hansi Flick and was flying high after convincing victories over Real Madrid in the domestic competition and Bayern Munich in the Champions League. It had won all eight home games overall. But it has now gone three rounds of La Liga without a win. Prior to the loss to Las Palmas, it fell 1-0 at Real Sociedad and drew 2-2 at Celta Vigo. Madrid, despite its own troubles especially in the Champions League, can now move ahead of Barcelona in the Spanish league. It trails Barcelona by four points with two games more to play. Sandro Ramirez and Fbio Silva scored for the Canary Islands club on either side of Raphinha's equalizer. I don't care about scoring, I care about winning," Raphinha said about his good performance that was unable to end his team's slump. We have to take a hard look at

Mexico soccer coach Aguirre hit in head by an object thrown from the stands

Mexican national team coach Javier Aguirre sustained a head injury after being hit by an object at the end of a Nations League quarterfinal match against Honduras. At the end of the game that Mexico lost 0-2 in San Pedro Sula, Honduras on Friday, Aguirre walked up to greet Colombian coach Reinaldo Rueda when he was struck by an object, apparently a beer can that cut him and caused his head to bleed. "Nothing it is just soccer, the game was hard fought, and they played better," Aguirre said at a media conference at the end of the match. "Regarding the other (the incident), there's no need to mention it, I'm not one who complains, it is just soccer, nothing happened." The 65-year-old Aguirre is in this third stint at the helm of the Mexican national team. He took over last August, replacing Jaime Lozano, who was fired after a first-round elimination in Copa America. "I'm sad for what happened at the end of the match, because he is a human being," said Rueda. "I want to apologize to

Ruben Amorim reveals his mission after joining Manchester United

Ruben Amorim has told Manchester United fans he will do everything to bring the good times back to the 20-time English champion. United's new coach has been charged with ending more than a decade of decline at Old Trafford since former manager Alex Ferguson retired in 2013 and its Premier League dominance fizzled out. Amorim hired from Sporting Lisbon this month is embracing the challenge and said on Friday, I will try to do everything to put this club in the place that it belongs. And I believe a lot that we are going to succeed. The 39-year-old Portuguese is the sixth permanent manager/coach since Ferguson retired after winning his 13th league title. David Moyes, Louis van Gaal, Jose Mourinho, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Erik ten Hag all failed to return United to the summit of English and European soccer in a period when Pep Guardiola's Manchester City has dominated domestically. It is unlikely Amorim will change that this year after coming in partway through a season in which .

Pogba and Juventus end contract mutually ahead of return after doping ban

Paul Pogba will no longer be a Juventus player from next month. Juventus announced on Friday it came to a mutual agreement with Pogba to cancel his contract despite the France World Cup winner having a ban for doping slashed last month. The Serie A club never seemed overly enthusiastic about welcoming Pogba back after his four-year ban for doping was reduced to 18 months following an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. The 31-year-old Pogba, who will be free to resume his career in March 2025, had said he was ready to give up money to play for Juventus again. Juventus Football Club and Paul Pogba announce that they have reached a mutual agreement for the termination of their contract as of 30 November, 2024, the Bianconeri said in a brief statement. The club wishes Paul the very best for his professional future. Pogba tested positive for testosterone in August last year and the Juventus midfielder was handed the maximum punishment by Italy's anti-doping court. But CAS j

Ghana fails to qualify for Africa Cup for the first time since 2004

Ghana failed to reach the Africa Cup of Nations for the first time since 2004 after drawing with Angola 1-1 in qualifying on Friday. The Black Stars needed a win in their penultimate group game to keep alive their slim hopes of qualifying for the tournament in Morocco next year. Ghana, a four-time Africa Cup champion, has played in 24 editions of the tournament. Only seven-time champion Egypt (26) and defending champion Ivory Coast (25) have appeared in more. Already-qualified Angola made the better start in front of the home fans in Talatona, but Ghana veteran Jordan Ayew opened the scoring for the visitors with a brilliant free kick from distance in the 18th minute. M'Bala Nzola had a chance to equalize with a penalty only for Ghana 'keeper Abdul Manaf Nurudeen to save his spot kick. The home team kept pushing however, and Felicio Milson set up Zini to equalize in the 64th. Ghana remained bottom of qualifying Group F with just three points from five games. It needed two wins fr

UEFA Nations League: Portugal vs Poland live match timings and streaming

Portugal is aiming for their second appearance in the Nations League knockout stage, which will feature quarter-finals for the first time, after their triumph in the inaugural 2018/19 edition.

UEFA Nations League: Denmark vs Spain live match timings and streaming

The midfield battle is expected to be crucial, with Denmark's Pierre-Emile Højbjerg likely to clash with Ruiz, potentially setting the pace of the match.

Europa League: Besiktas vs Maccabi Tel Aviv to be played at neutral venue

The Europa League match between Turkey's Besiktas and Israel's Maccabi Tel Aviv, scheduled for Nov. 28, has been moved to a a neutral venue in Hungary, UEFA announced. The match, originally a home game for Besiktas, will now be played at the Nagyerdei Stadium in Debrecen, Hungary after the Turkish government opted not to host the tie. The decision follows unrest after Maccabi's recent Europa League game in Amsterdam, where at least five fans were injured in violent street attacks, after their team's 5-0 loss to Ajax. Besiktas said on social media that Hungary was the only country willing to host the match but, due to a decision by Hungarian authorities, the game will be held behind closed doors".

Garnacho's unusual goal reaction explained by Man United captain Bruno

Alejandro Garnacho's low-key goal celebration against Leicester on Sunday was because he believes some Manchester United fans have lost faith in him, captain Bruno Fernandes said. Garnacho curled a long-range shot into the top corner to seal a 3-0 win for United at Old Trafford, but instead of celebrating with the crowd, he looked frustrated as he made his way back to the halfway line for the restart. Garnacho scored a banger but didn't celebrate like he should because he thinks he has lost faith from some fans," Fernandes told the BBC. "I told him people will always moan, but lots of people like you and enjoy what you do. I told him to celebrate, it was something special. He is a special player, we have difference-makers. They are the ones who win us games." Garnacho came on as a 57th-minute substitute and scored his seventh goal of the season. The 20-year-old Argentina international is considered one of United's brightest young players and scored in last season's FA Cup final wi

PL: Arsenal held 1-1 at Stamford Bridge; Man United beat Leicester 3-0

Arsenal's Premier League title challenge took another hit after a 1-1 draw with Chelsea. It's now four games without a win in the league for Mikel Arteta's team, which is nine points behind leader Liverpool. While a point saw Arsenal climb up to fourth in the standings, its winless run has seen a gap open up at the top. Chelsea is third, ahead of Arsenal on goal difference. Gabriel Martinelli had fired Arsenal in front in the 60th minute at Stamford Bridge, but Pedro Neto equalized 10 minutes later. It's about transforming these performances into victories, Arteta said afterward. Arsenal was runner-up to Manchester City in each of the last two seasons and expected to be the closest rival to the defending champion again. Instead it is Liverpool, under new manager Arne Slot, that has powered ahead at the start of the campaign and taken advantage of the faltering form of both City and Arsenal. City is five points back in second after two-straight losses in the league. It is a long

Premier League, Man City vs Brighton live match time, streaming in India

The live streaming of the match between Brighton and Man City will be available on Disney+ Hotstar. Brighton vs Man City live match to begin at 11 PM IST today

VIDEO: Israeli fans attacked in Amsterdam after football match; 10 injured

Amsterdam police detained several individuals for rioting. However, officials did not confirm whether those arrested were football fans or associated with pro-Palestinian protests

Nations League: Captain Mbappe once again left out of France squad

Struggling to make an impact at Real Madrid, Kylian Mbapp has again been left out of the France squad. The captain was not included on Thursday in coach Didier Deschamps' list of players for Nations League matches against Israel and Italy. Mbapp was also absent from the previous gathering because of a minor thigh injury. But this time Mbapp is not injured and wanted to be selected, Deschamps said. "It's my responsibility to make decisions. I think it's better that way," he said. He would not elaborate on his choice to do without the striker but said it was not related to recent reports in Swedish media that the former Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) star was the subject of a rape investigation I'm not going to argue, Descamps said. What I can tell you are these two things. One, that Kylian wanted to come. "And two, it's not the extra sporting problems that come into play since the presumption of innocence exists and must exist. It's a one-off choice for this gathering. Mbapp's performa

Europa League: Manchester United ends winless run in Europe, beats PAOK

Manchester United secured its first win in Europe for more than a year by beating PAOK 2-0 in the Europa League. Two second-half goals from Amad Diallo sealed the victory at Old Trafford on Thursday and boosted United's hopes of progressing in the competition, while Tottenham's 100% start was ended by a 3-2 loss at Galatasaray. United's last win in Europe was against Copenhagen in the Champions League on Oct. 24 last year. We addressed that in the dressing room and it was time to change that, so we did, United interim head coach Ruud van Nistelrooy said. Diallo's looping header beat PAOK goalkeeper Dominik Kotarski in the 50th minute and he followed that up with a deflected shot from outside the area that nestled into the bottom corner in the 77th. It's two wins from three games for United under Van Nistelrooy, who has one more match against Leicester on Sunday before handing over to Ruben Amorim. It is not clear if there will be a role for the Dutchman after his temporary reig