LaLiga and the Premier League proved to be the dominant forces in the Ballon d Or nominees list, providing 21 of the 30 players put forward for football s most coveted annual individual award.
Spain s top flight leads the way with 13 players – six of those coming from European champions Real Madrid, with LaLiga and Copa del Rey double winners Barcelona and Atletico Madrid forced to settle for four and three respectively.
Record man Ronaldo
Cristiano Ronaldo is favourite to win the award for a fourth time, having helped Portugal to Euro 2016 glory – dual joy also enjoyed by Madrid defender Pepe, with Gareth Bale, Toni Kroos, Luka Modric, Pepe and Sergio Ramos concluding the Bernabeu contingent.
Ronaldo has now been shortlisted for the Ballon d Or for …
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In a repeat of last summer s European Championships final, England will welcome Italy to Wolves Molineux Stadium on Saturday night.
England
Starting with the hosts, while England might have eventually snatched a last-gasp point away at Germany earlier in the week, it doesn t cover what has been a downbeat start for Gareth Southgate s squad. Managing to salvage a 1-1 draw in Munich, their first point since opening this year s Nations League campaign, the Three Lions are really seeking some stability. Watching their extended nine-match unbeaten run come to an abrupt end after a shock 1-0 loss away at Hungary last weekend, the one-time Aston Villa defender does find some growing pressure on his shoulders. Although England might have crui…
France head coach Didier Deschamps suggested talking about the death of a World Cup migrant worker during the tournament is disrespectful to the deceased s family.
A report in The Athletic on Wednesday claimed a Filipino man thought to be in his early 40s died while working at the base of the Saudi Arabia team during the group stage.
Qatar 2022 CEO Nasser Al Khater extraordinarily responded to the news a day later by saying death is a natural part of life as he was left irritated by the topic being brought up during a successful World Cup .
It was seen as particularly noteworthy in the media due to the broader context of worker deaths in the lead up to the World Cup.
Amnesty International in 2021 published a report citing official Qatari data in which the…
Manchester United saw a five-match winning run in the Premier League come to a halt as they had to settle for a 0-0 draw at Leeds United on Sunday.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer s side had been far too hot for their trans-Pennine rivals to handle in the December meeting at Old Trafford, Scott McTominay scoring twice inside the opening three minutes in a stunning 6-2 triumph.
However, a first league trip to Elland Road since October 2003 failed to provide anywhere near the same level of drama and excitement.
The Red Devils do extend their unbeaten away run in the Premier League to 24 games – Arsenal s domestic top-flight record of 27 is well within their sights – but the draw leaves them 10 points behind leaders Manchester City, who could now clinch the title as soo…
France head coach Didier Deschamps believes Real Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane will lead the 2018 World Cup winners sooner or later.
Zidane is in his second spell in charge of Madrid, having returned in March after stepping down in May 2018 following three consecutive Champions League triumphs and a LaLiga title among other trophies.
The Frenchman and former Les Bleus captain, who won the 1998 World Cup, has long been touted as Deschamps replacement.
While Deschamps will stay on as coach for France s World Cup defence in 2022 following success at Russia 2018, the 51-year-old backed Zidane to eventually take over.
The next coach could be Zizou, Deschamps, who has been in charge of France since 2012, told Le Monde.
At one point or another, it ll be…
Napoli suffered their first defeat of the 2022-23 Serie A campaign on Wednesday evening when they went down to former Italian champions Inter Milan away from home at Stadio Giuseppe Meazza (San Siro).
Luciano Spalletti’s side have been the best and most entertaining team in the Italian top flight so far this season and had not lost a single game in the league until this week.
Prior to the loss to Inter, who won the Serie A title in 2020-21 under then head coach Antonio Conte (who is now in charge of Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur), the Naples-based outfit had drawn two Serie A games and won the rest.
Napoli headed into the match against Inter on the back of a 3-2 win against Udinese at Stadio Diego Armando Maradona back in November before the 2022 Qa…
Australia moved five points clear at the top of their World Cup qualifying group with a 3-0 victory over Kuwait.
Matthew Leckie scored his third goal in three Socceroos appearances to put them ahead after just a minute had been played, the striker nodding home Martin Boyle s cross.
Boyle had the chance to double the lead after Bandar Al Salama brought down James Holland in the box, and although his penalty was saved, Jackson Irvine was on hand to convert the rebound.
Boyle sent a shot narrowly wide and Aziz Behich fizzed an effort inches past the right-hand post as Australia ended the half with 15 shots to Kuwait s three.
Mat Ryan had to be alert to keep out Shabaib Al-Khaldi s strike at the near post just past the hour mark, but Australia made the three …
According to a recent report from The Athletic, Jadon Sancho is not intending on pushing for an exit from Borussia Dortmund during the upcoming January transfer window. The belief was that after he was substituted earlier on this month against Bayern Munich, it was being viewed as the final straw. However, it doesn’t appear as if that’s the case after all.
Sancho was able to grab a goal and an assist at the weekend to get himself right back on track, putting to rest the idea that he could be leaving. The talk of his departure stems from the interest that we’ve seen from Barcelona, Liverpool, Manchester United and Real Madrid, all of whom have made it crystal clear that they’d be open to making some kind of deal happen.
Sancho is the definition of hot propert…
Nottingham Forest are interested in signing Tanguy Ndombele from Tottenham Hotspur in the summer transfer window, . The French news outlet has reported that Forest are among a number of clubs, including Marseille, who are keen on securing the services of the France international midfielder.
Ndombele has been on the books of Tottenham since 2019, but the Frenchman has not always had the best of times. Spurs head coach Antonio Conte sent the 25-year-old on loan back to his former club Lyon in January 2022 for the second half of last season.
Forest are playing in the Premier League this season after winning promotion from the Championship. While they are a big club who have won the European Cup twice in their history, a move to a team who could be fighting for survival ma…
Xavi made LaLiga history as Barcelona extended their unbeaten away record during his reign to 18 games, but the coach saw room for improvement in a 1-0 win at Real Mallorca.
The victory moved Xavi past Zinedine Zidane for the best unbeaten start away from home by a coach in the Spanish top flight, with the Frenchman having reached 17 games (W13 D4) in the competition without a defeat on the road in 2016 at Real Madrid.
Xavi s streak includes 13 wins and five draws, but Mallorca pushed Barcelona hard, and goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen had to be sharp to preserve another clean sheet.
That is five consecutive shut-outs for Barcelona in LaLiga, and Saturday s victory took them to the top of LaLiga with 19 points from seven games.
Real Madrid, due to play O…