Eddie Howe is set to be awarded the freedom of Newcastle after becoming the first manager of the city’s football team to win a major domestic honour for 70 years. Howe’s nomination is expected to be rubber-stamped at the next full meeting of the city council after he led Newcastle United to their Carabao Cup … Read more
The road to the 2026 World Cup, an unprecedented 48-team event, is under way. The final tournament, hosted by Canada, Mexico and the United States, expands to 104 matches across 16 cities. Here is all you need to know about the diverse qualification paths for each confederation, key matches and emerging contenders. AFC (Asia) Number … Read more
Imane Khelif has said she is looking forward to defending her Olympic title in Los Angeles, and will not be intimidated by the United States president, Donald Trump. The 25-year-old Algerian boxer, who won gold amid controversy and huge media attention at the Paris Olympics last year, has signalled her intention to repeat the feat … Read more
Chelsea are unbeaten in 28 games under Sonia Bompastor – with 26 wins – and arrive in Manchester for the first leg of their European quarter-final as strong favourites to progress to the semi-finals, and harbour realistic ambitions of winning their first Women’s Champions League title in Lisbon in May. The task of trying to … Read more
With Thomas Tuchel, the devil is in the detail and it can often seem like an obsessive, controlling force. The new England head coach sees the minutiae like few others. “In training, he will check if you control the ball with the correct foot,” says Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who played under him at Borussia Dortmund and, … Read more
Sir Gareth Southgate has expressed his concern that “callous, manipulative and toxic influencers” are taking the place of traditional father figures in society and contributing to mental health issues among young men. The former England manager also questioned whether “winning a trophy is the only marker of success” after losing in successive European Championship finals, … Read more
A Bulgarian footballer who was honoured with a minute’s silence by his former club, despite not being dead, has shared his side of the story and admitted “being buried alive is quite stressful, really”. The life of Petko Ganchev was commemorated by the top-division side Arda Kardzhali last Sunday, after they were wrongly informed of … Read more
The Arsenal manager, Renée Slegers, said that improving pitch conditions is “the next step for women’s football” after the state of the playing surface at the Estadio Alfredo di Stéfano drew strong criticism during Arsenal’s 2-0 defeat against Real Madrid in the first leg of their Women’s Champions League quarter-final. A combination of heavy rain … Read more
Thomas Tuchel ushered in a fresh dawn with England by spelling out to the players that it was purely about winning the 2026 World Cup. The head coach delivered an inspirational address at St George’s Park on Monday, according to Dan Burn, who is a part of the squad for the first time, stressing that … Read more
Inothewayurthinkin, the six-length winner of Friday’s Cheltenham Gold Cup, will not attempt to become the second horse to win the Gold Cup and Grand National in the same season. He has been taken out of next month’s race at the latest forfeit stage. Inothewayurthinkin was handicapped for the Grand National on the basis of his … Read more