Page 7 - Football

Chris Wood wants automatic World Cup qualifying for Oceania minnows

New Zealand captain Chris Wood says it's "only fair" that FIFA's smallest confederation, Oceania, has been given direct qualification to the 2026 World Cup. New Zealand will play Fiji and Tahiti will play New Caledonia in Wellington, New Zealand on Friday in the semifinals of the Oceania qualifying tournament. The final will be played in Auckland next Monday and the winner will be among the first teams to join hosts Canada, the United States and Mexico at next year's expanded 48-team World Cup. It's the first time a team from Oceania has directly qualified for the World Cup finals rather than having to go through an intercontinental playoff. The loser of the Oceania final still will have a chance to qualify through a playoff series involving teams from the Asian, African, South American and CONCACAF confederations. New Zealand, at 89 in the FIFA rankings, is favored to qualify as the largest Oceania nation and after also qualifying through a more rigorous process for the finals in

FIFA World Cup 2026 Qualifiers full schedule, live time, streaming in India

This is the first-ever FIFA World Cup which will see 48 teams feature in the competition and three host countries (Canada, Mexico and USA) co-hosting the event.

We need longer leagues to improve quality of Indian football: Terry Phelan

Former Man City defender and the sporting director for the South United football club, Terry Phelan talked about the importance of grassroots development in Indian football.

Chhetri scores 95th international goal in comeback match after retirement

Chhetri scored his 95th goal for India against Maldives. Check full list of international goals scored by Chhetri.

India vs Maldives HIGHLIGHTS: Sunil Chhetri scores as India beat Maldives 3-0 in Shillong

Sunil Chhetri scores his 95th career international goal on his return to the national side as India got themselves a long awaited win under Manaolo Marquez.

Inter beat Atlanta 2-0 to boost their chances of Serie A title defence

Inter Milan took a significant step to keeping its Serie A crown with a 2-0 win at title rival Atalanta. Carlos Augusto and Lautaro Martinez scored in the second half to lift the league leader three points above second-placed Napoli and six points above third-placed Atalanta. Napoli had earlier been held 0-0 at relegation-threatened Venezia. The fight for the final Champions League spot is also tight, with just six points separating six teams in the race for fourth place after more misery for Juventus, which lost 3-0 at Fiorentina. TOP SPOT It was a head-to-head clash for top spot in Bergamo, with Atalanta knowing that victory would move it level on points with Inter and Napoli. Both sides had great chances in an entertaining first half, with Inter going closest with less than seven minutes on the clock. Marcus Thuram was on the verge of wheeling away in celebration as he swept a finish past Atalanta goalkeeper Marco Carnesecchi and toward the far corner, following good play wit

Leverkusen regain form with late goal to secure 4-3 win over Stuttgart

Bayer Leverkusen rediscovered some of the late-goal magic from its title-winning season as Patrik Schick's added-time header sealed a 4-3 comeback win over Stuttgart in the Bundesliga. Trailing 3-2 on Sunday, Leverkusen was heading for a fourth successive loss in all competitions before Victor Boniface's pass deflected in off Angelo Stiller for an own-goal in the 88th minute. Jeremie Frimpong then crossed for Schick to head in the winning goal in the fourth minute of added time. "Perhaps sometimes you need wins like this to show the spirit is still there," Leverkusen defender Jonathan Tah told broadcaster DAZN. The win brought back memories of Leverkusen's tendency to turn games round in the last minute when it won the Bundesliga title last season. It also cut Bayern Munich's lead at the top of the standings over second-placed Leverkusen to six points after Bayern drew 1-1 at Union Berlin on Saturday. "We just want to get on (Bayern's) nerves until the end," Leverkusen midfielder .

Messi-Picault stars as Inter Miami beat Atlanta United 2-1 in MLS 2025

Lionel Messi scored early and Faf Picault scored the winner after subbing in late to rally Inter Miami to a 2-1 victory over Atlanta United at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Picault's first goal this season came in his second appearance with an assist from defender Jordi Alba his second in the 89th minute on Sunday night. Messi scored the equaliser in the 20th minute. It was his first goal in two starts this season. Brooks Lennon made his 200th career start and first this season and immediately had an impact in the 11th minute when he sent a crossing pass to Emmanuel Latte Lath, who sent a header past former Atlanta United goalkeeper Rocco Ros Novo. It was Latte Lath's third goal in his fourth career start. Miguel Almirn also had an assist his second this season and 30th of his career. The goal ended a 195-minute scoring drought. It was a club-record-tying 39th career assist for Lennon equaling the mark of Julian Gressel. Lennon saw action for the first time since injuring his shoulder

Carabao Cup final, Liverpool vs Newcastle Highlights: NEW lift maiden title, beat LIV 2-1 in final

FanCode will live stream the Carabao Cup 2025 final match between Liverpool vs Newcastle United live in India on their app and website.

Carabao Cup Winners, runner-ups list: EFL history - all you need to know

Liverpool hold the record for the most EFL Cup titles, having won the competition 10 times.

Liverpool vs Newcastle United Carabao Cup final live match time, streaming

The live streaming of the Carabao Cup final between Liverpool and Newcastle United will be available on the FanCode app.

Real Madrid refuses to play without a 72-hour rest between matches

Real Madrid won't agree to play another game without 72 hours of rest between matches. The club made the announcement, which was confirmed by coach Carlo Ancelotti, after its 2-1 win at Villarreal on Saturday. Madrid's game at Villarreal game kicked off at 6:30 p.m. local time (1730 GMT) on Saturday. Madrid had played a Champions League game against Atletico Madrid on Wednesday that started at 9:00 p.m. and lasted 120 minutes plus a penalty shootout. This is the last time we will play within 72 hours, Ancelotti said, before adding that the club had asked La Liga to push its game back to Sunday. The club said it will consult with FIFA about the scheduling of this week's games.

Mbappe nets twice to surpass Ronaldo's debut season tally at Madrid

After a slow start to his Real Madrid career, Kylian Mbappe has already surpassed one of the club greats. Mbappe scored twice in Madrid's 2-1 comeback win over Villarreal on Saturday to take his tally to 31 goals in all competitions this season one more than Brazil striker Ronaldo managed in his first campaign at the club. It also helped Madrid open up a three-point lead atop the Spanish league over Barcelona, which has played two games less. Long gone are the scoring troubles Mbapp endured in his first months at Madrid. Having surpassed Ronaldo's tally from 2002-03, the former Paris Saint-Germain player is now closing in on the 33 goals that Cristiano Ronaldo scored in his first season with Madrid in 2009-10. They are legends who marked eras with the club, Mbapp said about the two Ronaldos. If I score more goals than Ronaldo and Cristiano it doesn't mean that I am better, just that my first season is better. Scoring goals is important, but it is even more so if we win La Liga, th

Bundesliga: Bayern held to 1-1 draw at Union Berlin, Dortmund slip to 11th

A mistake by young goalkeeper Jonas Urbig meant Bayern Munich dropped points for the second Bundesliga game in a row with a 1-1 draw at Union Berlin. Bayern seemed on course for victory when Leroy San scored in the 75th minute after Bayern had struggled to break through Union's deep defensive line, but Urbig's error eight minutes later proved costly. Urbig came off his line to deal with a deflected cross which looped high into the air, but he could only palm it to Union striker Benedict Hollerbach, who hit it in low to level the score. Bayern's lead in the Bundesliga over Bayer Leverkusen increased to nine points, but Leverkusen could cut the gap to six with a win Sunday over Stuttgart. Union is 13th. We're not happy with the result but it wasn't a bad performance, Bayern coach Vincent Kompany said. While Bayern has been strong in the Champions League, beating Leverkusen 5-0 over two legs to reach the quarterfinals, its Bundesliga form has dipped. The draw with Union follows a 3-2

Forest edge closer to Champions League as City stumble against Brighton

Champions League qualification is getting tantalizingly close for Nottingham Forest. For Manchester City, there's still plenty of work to do. Forest, a team many might have thought would be battling relegation this season in the Premier League, moved just a point behind second-place Arsenal by beating Ipswich 4-2 on Saturday. More importantly perhaps for Forest, the gap to City grew to six points after the soon-to-be-deposed champions drew 2-2 at home to Brighton. City is hanging onto fifth place, which is likely to be the final Champions League qualification position from the Premier League for next season. Certainly any ambitions for a record-extending fifth straight league title are long gone for City, which is 22 points behind first-place Liverpool with nine games left. Own-goal costs Man CityCity twice took the lead in the first half, through Erling Haaland's penalty and Omar Marmoush's fierce outside-of-the-area shot, but was pegged back each time by an opponent also in ...

Injured Neymar to miss WC qualifier vs Argentina; Replacement confirmed

Neymar was ruled out by Brazil for the World Cup qualifiers against Colombia and Argentina this month. Neymar, goalkeeper Ederson and defender Danilo were not fit to play for unspecified reasons, coach Dorival Jnior said in a video published by the Brazil Football Confederation. The 33-year-old striker, who rejoined Santos in January, played his latest match on March 2 and was substituted for an apparent left thigh injury. He sat out the Sao Paulo state championship semifinal against Corinthians a few days later. Real Madrid striker Endrick replaced Neymar in the squad. Ederson's substitute was Lyon's Lucas Perri, while Flamengo defender Danilo was replaced by his club teammate Alex Sandro, also a Brazil veteran. Former captain Neymar was recalled by Brazil this month after an absence of almost 1 1/2 years. He injured an ACL in October 2023 while playing for Brazil against Uruguay and only recently returned to action. Brazil, fifth in South American qualifying, will host Colombia

ISL 2024-25 playoffs: Full schedule, teams, format and live streaming

The Indian Super League (ISL) on Saturday announced the dates for the 2024-25 playoffs with two-legged semifinals scheduled between April 2-6 and the final to be played on April 12. The league stage concluded on March 12. The Knockouts will be played on March 29 and 30, and the semifinals will be held on April 2, 3, 6 and 7. Mohun Bagan SG created history by clinching the League Shield for the second season in a row, becoming the first team in the competition to do so. Along with Mohun Bagan SG, FC Goa (2nd), Bengaluru FC (3rd), NorthEast United FC (4th), Jamshedpur FC (5th) and Mumbai City FC (6th) all confirmed their spots in the playoffs. In the playoffs, the teams ranked third to sixth will battle it out in two single-legged knockout matches to determine the opponents for Mohun Bagan SG and FC Goa, who made it directly to the semi-finals. The semi-finals will be played in a home and away format with the winners over the two legs playing the final on April 12 at the home of th

Europa League 2025: Manchester United vs Real Sociedad live time, streaming

The live telecast of the UEL round of 16 match between Manchester United and Real Sociedad will be available on the Sony Sports network.

AFC Challenge League: East Bengal crashes out after losing 1-2 to Arkadag

A 10-man East Bengal conceded two late goals to go down 1-2 to FC Arkadag of Turkmenistan and crash out of the quarterfinals in the AFC Challenge League here on Wednesday. Messi Bouli put East Bengal in the lead in the first minute of the second leg quarterfinal match, but the Indian Super League side were reduced to 10 men in the 33rd minute when Lalchungnunga was sent off by the referee for his second yellow card offence. Altymyrat Annadurdyyez then struck two late goals (89th and 90+8th) to seal the semifinal spot with 3-1 on aggregate. They had won 1-0 in the first leg match in Kolkata on March 5. East Bengal had qualified for the third tier of men's AFC club competition by virtue of winning the 2024 Super Cup. They had topped Group A with seven points to make it to the quarterfinals. The Red and Gold brigade got off to a dream start as Arkadag goalkeeper Rausl Charyyev could only parry Dimitiros Diamantakos' strike into the path of Bouli, who gleefully tucked home the ...

UEFA Champions League Quarter-final full schedule, live time and streaming

The live streaming of the UCL quarter-finals will be available on the SonyLIV app and website in India.