MARSEILLE, France — Torchbearers are carrying the Olympic flame Thursday through the streets of France’s southern port city of Marseille, a day after it arrived on a majestic three-mast ship for the welcoming ceremony. The torch begins its 11-week journey across the country with about 10,000 bearers passing through more than 450 towns until the … Read more
LIVERPOOL, England — Mohamed Salah quickly put last week’s sideline spat with Jurgen Klopp behind him by scoring first in Liverpool’s 4-2 win against Tottenham in the Premier League on Sunday. The sight of Salah arguing with his departing manager late on in Liverpool’s 2-2 draw at West Ham last week dominated debate in the … Read more
ROME — The message was clear from Italy coach Luciano Spalletti: Put your PlayStation away and start focusing more on scoring goals. The results have been wondrous for Gianluca Scamacca, who has scored nine goals in 11 matches for Atalanta since Spalletti dropped him from the Azzurri squad in March for his video game obsession. … Read more
Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney have given an insight into their long-term ambitions for Welsh soccer team Wrexham, which they hope could eventually see the capacity of its Racecourse Ground stadium increase massively to 55,000. The Hollywood pair have already transformed the fortunes of the historic but down-on-its-luck club through their $2.5 million takeover in … Read more
The projected costs for Vancouver to host the 2026 FIFA World Cup have essentially doubled, the B.C. government revealed on Tuesday. The new projection for core costs are now estimated at between $483 million and $581 million, Tourism, Arts, Culture and Sport Minister Lana Popham told media at a briefing at BC Place. The province’s … Read more
It’s shaping up to be quite the few weeks for German soccer. The country is preparing to stage the European Championship over June and July, with Germany’s national team taking a nicely timed upturn in form. Before that, Germany might yet be celebrating having a European champion once again, with Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund … Read more
GENEVA — There could be a surprising team from each of Europe’s “big five” leagues when the new-look Champions League debuts next season. Aston Villa, Bologna, Brest, Girona and Stuttgart are all, remarkably, on course to qualify for Europe’s elite competition going into the final few rounds of their national league. Bologna, Stuttgart and Girona … Read more
LONDON — Arsenal earned its biggest win ever over Chelsea as Kai Havertz scored twice against his former team in a 5-0 rout on Tuesday that solidified the Gunners’ place atop the Premier League standings. Ben White also got a second-half double against a dismal Chelsea team that collapsed after the break and saw most … Read more
RAMAT GAN, Israel — When Ben Binyamin was left for dead, his right leg blown off during the Hamas attack on the Tribe of Nova music festival, the Israeli professional soccer player thought he would never again play the game he loved. “When I woke up,” the 29-year-old said, “I felt I was going to … Read more
LEVERKUSEN, Germany — It’s “Neverkusen” no longer. Coached by Xabi Alonso, Bayer Leverkusen won the Bundesliga title for the first time Sunday to end Bayern Munich’s 11-year reign as champion. In the end, it wasn’t even close — Leverkusen leads second-place Bayern by 16 points. Florian Wirtz scored a hat trick as Xabi Alonso’s Leverkusen … Read more
