Soccer (FIFA)

Soccer (FIFA)

Germany were met with a lot of criticism for their gesture in Qatar, but Jurgen Mittag, a professor of sports politics at the German Sport University Cologne, believes had they made the quarterfinals things might have been different. "But as it was, they were met with a great deal of ridicule because they were symbolically strong but sportingly weak," Mittag told DW.

Jacquet, a France under-21 international, is open to a move to the Premier League but Rennes are demanding more than €60 million (£69.72m) and are in a strong position to negotiate with the 20-year-old's existing contract set to expire in 2029. However, personal terms are not expected to be an issue and Chelsea are aiming to progress talks with Rennes in the coming days. Jacquet is a Rennes academy graduate and made his debut in January 2024. He has made 16 appearances this season and was sent off in a 5-0 defeat at Paris Saint-Germain last month.

Image source, Getty Images In a controversy-filled Africa Cup of Nations final, Brahim Diaz's attempt to bring some calm only added to the chaos. Around 17 minutes passed between Morocco being awarded a penalty, deep into stoppage time, and Diaz beginning his run-up. The Real Madrid forward slowed as he approached the ball and dinked the ball down the middle but goalkeeper Edouard Mendy didn't move, comfortably caught it and the game went to extra-time with Senegal emerging victorious.

Hopefully, you answered yes, as it's time for another fiendishly difficult FourFourTwo quiz and for this latest offering, it's not just football knowledge that you'll need. That's because we're testing your geography skills by asking you to put every Premier League club in order, from the most northernly to the most southernly. The north has earned bragging rights in recent years, with Manchester City and Liverpool taking home the last eight titles between them, although Arsenal are currently in pole position

West Ham are close to signing the Venezuela winger Keiber Lamadrid and plan to keep Callum Wilson, who has been in talks to leave five months after joining. Wilson scored West Ham's winner at Tottenham on Saturday after coming on as a late substitute. The 33-year-old was understood to have grown dissatisfied with life under Nuno Espirito Santo and had been seeking a new challenge but the club, five points adrift of safety, intend to hold on to him.

Tottenham defender Ben Davies will have an operation on a broken ankle which could rule him out of Wales' World Cup play-off. The 32-year-old was given oxygen before being carried off on a stretcher after 19 minutes of Saturday's 2-1 Premier League defeat by West Ham. "We can confirm that Ben Davies will undergo surgery today for a fracture of his left ankle," read a Spurs statement. Tottenham did not give a timeframe on how long Wales captain Davies would be out for.

His decision to step down was prompted by what he described as the political and media frenzy surrounding the ban on Israeli fans of Maccabi Tel Aviv from their team's match with Aston Villa in Birmingham. Days earlier, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood publicly stated that she had lost confidence in Guildford's leadership after sustained political and media pressure; it was the first time in two decades a home secretary has done so.

A 35-year-old man has been released on conditional bail following an alleged attack during a North Wales amateur football match. The man was arrested on suspicion of assault following an incident during the Ardal North West League game between Trearddur Bay and Porthmadog on 17 January. Footage of the incident at Y Traeth (The Beach) stadium in Gwynedd has circulated widely on social media.

Liam Rosenior is eager to sign a defender and Chelsea have their eye on Jeremy Jacquet of Rennes. The Ligue 1 club want around 44m for the 20-year-old centre-back, a fee Chelsea may be willing to pay with Levi Colwill and Tosin Adarabioyo injured. The Blues could also consider selling skipper Enzo Fernandez, who is a target for Real Madrid. There may be a shortage of centre-backs at Internazionale soon.

Bayern kicked off the tournament in a rather rusty fashion, as they found themselves trailing 3-1 to Juventus in their opening game. However, because Bayern have made a habit of comebacks nowadays, they came back in style to win 4-3. Ribéry, Sebastian Rudy (remember him?), Mandžukić, and Mark van Bommel scored the goals. The second and last group game pitted the hosts against Eintracht Frankfurt.

"Actions of this manner simply do not belong in our society, let alone the sport we all love. "Unfortunately, as a football club, we can't change the way people think. "However, we can use our status and platform to continue to fight for those who are subject to such vile and cowardly abuse."

Don't count on me for soap operas. There are many good soap operas, but they take too long. Then you miss an episode or two and you lose track. Don't count on me, I don't watch soap operas.

It's always a bit tougher at a certain age. I'm 28, I've already experienced a fair bit. I've already played quite a few games and, yes, time always seems to pass so quickly. I actually still feel very young. You do notice that you're a bit older, but it's fun. I feel great and I feel I have many, many years left in me.

The study by the Fraser of Allander Institute found that the professional men's and women's game, alongside the national teams, generated 820m during the 2023/24 season when fan spending was included. Without spectator-related expenditure, the sport's direct economic contribution stood at 545m, supporting the equivalent of 9,245 full-time jobs rising to14,315 with matchday spending added. Attendances at professional matches involving Scottish teams topped 6.8 million during the 2023/24 campaign.

Image source, Getty Images Football's lawmakers will consider widening the remit for red cards when a goalscoring opportunity is denied at a meeting on Tuesday. However, Arsene Wenger's "daylight" offside proposal is set to be kicked into touch in favour of a different idea which is fairer for defences. Goalkeeper tactical timeouts, time-wasting and video assistant referee (VAR) tweaks are among other items on the agenda.

Said El Mala has burst onto the scene at FC Köln and he's quickly become a transfer target for several top clubs across Europe including Bayern Munich. His profile has been compared to that of Lennart Karl and Jamal Musiala with his pace, dribbling abilities, and finishing, but he's his own player and, by the looks of things, has quite a high ceiling ahead of him.

The latest is Xabi Alonso, who was yesterday given his marching orders by Real Madrid, despite a decent record of 24 wins from 34 games this season, an overall win percentage of 70.59.

Arsenal Women topped the revenue list for the first time, generating €25.6 million ($29.6m, £22.5m) as top ranked women's football clubs generated over €150m ($173.7m, £130m), according to Deloitte Football Money League. Deloitte's top 15 revenue-generating women's clubs worldwide recorded a cumulative revenue increase of 35%. The composition of this year's top tier remains largely unchanged from the 2025 edition, with Women's Super League (WSL) clubs continuing to dominate the rankings.