LONDON (AP) — All roads now lead to Qatar.
With the conclusion of the group stage of the Nations League, Europe's top soccer countries have played their final competitive games ahead of the World Cup.
HARRISON, N,J. (AP) — Lionel Scaloni will remain as Argentina's national team coach through the 2026 World Cup.
Chiqui Tapia, president of the Argentine Football Association, made the announcement after Tuesday night's 3-0 win over Jamaica in the Albiceleste's next-to-last tuneup match for this year's World Cup.
Right back Reggie Cannon will miss the United States' last World Cup warmup against Saudi Arabia on Tuesday because of a strained left groin strain, the latest in the Americans' long injured list.
With the World Cup approaching and final roster decisions looming, U.S. soccer players gave a dismal performance in a 2-0 exhibition loss to Japan on Friday in Düsseldorf, Germany.
Daichi Kamada scored following Weston McKennie’s giveaway in the 24th minute and Kaoru Mitoma added a goal in the 88th.
DÜSSELDORF, Germany (AP) — Christian Pulisic did not dress for the United States' match against Japan on Friday in Germany because of an unspecified injury and missed the Americans' next-to-last warmup before the World Cup.
PARIS (AP) — A police investigation into allegations that France soccer star Paul Pogba was targeted by extortionists took a bizarre new twist Friday with the release by one of the suspects, his elder brother Mathias, of a long string of videos taking aim at the 2018 World Cup winner, his entourage and wealthy lifestyle.
Here's some great news for Brazil: Neymar is winning everyone over this season with his goals and attitude for Paris Saint-Germain.
GENEVA (AP) — FIFA came under pressure Wednesday from several European soccer federations who want their captains to wear an armband with a rainbow heart design during World Cup games in Qatar to campaign against discrimination.
MADRID (AP) — Koke Resurrección and his Atlético Madrid teammates feel right at home in the Spain setup.
Koke, Marcos Llorente and Álvaro Morata are used to not thinking too far ahead, as Atlético coach Diego Simeone is an avid proponent of the match-by-match attitude.
BRUSSELS (AP) — Will Eden Hazard's lack of playing time at Real Madrid drag down Belgium at the World Cup?
This is the question all Belgium fans are asking, and they will get an idea of the answer when their team take on Wales and the Netherlands in the Nations League this week.
MILAN (AP) — Still in shock from failing to qualify for the World Cup again, Italy has another pressing problem: Where to find goals?
Italy was lauded on the way to winning the European Championship last year for its free-flowing attack.
CHICAGO (AP) — Defenders Cameron Carter-Vickers and Chris Richards will miss the United States' last two World Cup warmup matches because of injuries.
The pair were replaced Sunday by Mark McKenzie and Erik Palmer-Brown, who join Walker Zimmerman and Aaron Long as central defenders for exhibitions against Japan on Friday in Düsseldorf, Germany, and Saudi Arabia four days later in Murcia, Spain.
DORTMUND, Germany (AP) — Borussia Dortmund captain Marco Reus’ injury is not as bad as initially feared, meaning he should still feature at the World Cup for Germany.
Dortmund sporting director Sebastian Kehl said Sunday the player “will be out for three to four weeks and will then hopefully be available for us again.”
DORTMUND, Germany (AP) — Borussia Dortmund captain Marco Reus is again in danger of missing a major tournament for Germany.
The 33-year-old Reus was taken off on a stretcher in the first half of Dortmund’s Ruhr derby against Schalke on Saturday with what looked like a serious ankle injury.
GENEVA (AP) — Chile has lost its appeal to replace Ecuador at the World Cup in Qatar, but Friday's verdict by FIFA will lead the case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
CHICAGO (AP) — Yunus Musah will miss the United States' last two World Cup warmup matches because of a left groin injury, depriving the Americans of a chance for their preferred midfield trio to play together ahead of the tournament in November.
A last chance for Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. Kylian Mbappé back on the biggest stage of all.
NEW YORK (AP) — Nike released the United States' World Cup jerseys Thursday, including a mostly white design for home matches that was criticized in advance by a pair of American players and some fans.
NEW YORK (AP) — Josh Sargent, Ricardo Pepi and Jesús Ferreira are in at forward, while Jordan Pefok, Haji Wright and Brandon Vazquez are out.
U.S. coach Gregg Berhalter announced his 26-man roster Wednesday for the Americans' final two World Cup warmups, and he emphasized time remains for players to move on and off before he reveals his final Cup roster on Nov.
PARIS (AP) — French officials said Wednesday that soccer star Paul Pogba’s brother was in police custody along with four other people as part of an investigation into alleged efforts to extort millions of euros from the World Cup winner and Juventus midfielder.
PARIS (AP) — The brother of French soccer star Paul Pogba denied Friday that he took part in extortion attempts against the Juventus midfielder.
Mathias Pogba's lawyer Richard Arbib said in a statement that his client wants “to state emphatically that he is a complete stranger to any extortion attempt against his brother, Paul Pogba."
PARIS (AP) — Kylian Mbappé has spoken to Paul Pogba after being implicated in lurid claims involving a witch doctor and said on Monday he wants to believe his France teammate who is the subject of alleged blackmail.
PARIS (AP) — World Cup winner Paul Pogba paid 100,000 euros ($100,000) to an organized group including his brother that was trying to extort him for millions, French officials said on Tuesday.
French prosecutors are investigating allegations that Pogba was the target of extortion by his brother Mathias Pogba and childhood friends.
PARIS (AP) — Was that really Neymar?
You had to blink and look again but, yes, it was him, sprinting down the left touchline deep into stoppage time desperately trying to keep the ball in play last weekend during the 1-1 home draw with Monaco at Parc des Princes.
PARIS (AP) — French prosecutors are investigating allegations that World Cup winner Paul Pogba was targeted by extortion attempts by his brother and childhood friends.
The Paris prosecutor’s office said Monday it opened an investigation earlier this month into attempted organized extortion, which is being handled by anti-corruption police.
BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — World Cup-winning France defender Samuel Umtiti will prepare for this year’s tournament in Italy instead of Barcelona after moving on loan to Lecce.
Barcelona said Thursday the newly promoted Serie A club had taken Umtiti for one season with no option to buy.
A last chance for Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. Kylian Mbappé back on the biggest stage of all.
RABAT, Morocco (AP) — The coach who helped Morocco qualify for the World Cup was fired Thursday, barely three months before the start of the tournament in Qatar.
GENEVA (AP) — In the 134 years since league soccer started in England, the European game has never scheduled such a disrupted season.
FIFA's decision to move the World Cup in Qatar from the normal offseason months to November and December in order to avoid the desert heat will slice into the European domestic season in a way not seen outside of international traumas like war or pandemic.
GENEVA (AP) — FIFA will introduce new technology to improve offside calls at the World Cup in Qatar this year, using a limb-tracking camera system.
FIFA said Friday it is ready to launch semi-automated offside technology (SAOT) that uses multiple cameras to track player movements plus a sensor in the ball — and will quickly show 3D images on stadium screens at the tournament to help fans understand the referee’s call.
CHICAGO (AP) — The United States will play Japan and Saudia Arabia in its last two World Cup warmups.
The 15th-ranked Americans will play No. 23 Japan in an exhibition on Sept. 23 at a European site that's yet to be announced, the U.S.
WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland won't consider defender Maciej Rybus in its plans for the World Cup in Qatar after he signed a new contract with a Russian club.
The Polish soccer federation said on Monday coach Czesław Michniewicz told Rybus that he would be left out of the squad for Nations League games in September and out of Poland's plans for the World Cup because of his “current club situation.”
NEW YORK (AP) — The 16 cities of the first World Cup spread across three nations were revealed, and FIFA President Gianni Infantino made a bold statement summing up the goal of the 2026 tournament, to be played largely in the United States.
NEW YORK (AP) — As FIFA prepares to announce the 2026 World Cup sites on Thursday — and make high-profile cuts — Alan Rothenberg thought back to when stadiums were picked for the 1994 tournament he headed in the United States.
This time, it’ll be one or the other. Australia and Peru, which both qualified for the last World Cup via intercontinental playoffs, are ready to play off for a spot in Qatar when soccer’s marquee tournament kicks off in November.
GENEVA (AP) — Ecuador kept its place at the World Cup on Friday when a FIFA legal ruling rejected a complaint by Chile about an alleged ineligible player.
FIFA said its disciplinary committee closed the proceedings in the claim that Ecuador defender Byron Castillo, who played in eight qualifying games, was ineligible.
AL RAYYAN, Qatar (AP) — A late deflected goal from Ajdin Hrustic secured Australia's 2-1 win over United Arab Emirates in an Asian playoff Tuesday and set up an intercontinental showdown with Peru for a spot at the World Cup in Qatar.
A look at what’s happening in European soccer on Monday:
NATIONS LEAGUE
France travels to Croatia, the team it beat in the 2018 World Cup final, in the second round of games in top-tier League A.
TOKYO (AP) — Brazil coach Tite has had the full four-year cycle to prepare for this year's World Cup in Qatar, unlike 2018 in Russia when he took over in the middle of the cycle after Dunga was fired.
MADRID (AP) — The third edition of the Nations League begins this week with many participants already thinking about the World Cup.
National teams will get a rare opportunity to play several matches in a row — practically serving as a preseason — as the international dates were moved to June because of the World Cup beginning in November.
GENEVA (AP) — Female referees will make World Cup history this year by working games at a major men’s tournament for the first time in Qatar.
NEW YORK (AP) — Clint Demspey says he thinks American goalkeepers Zack Steffen and Matt Turner should consider going on loans for the start of next season to get sharp ahead of the World Cup if they are not going to be playing regularly for their Premier League clubs.
ZURICH (AP) — A World Cup legal dispute flared Thursday with Chile challenging Ecuador’s place at the finals tournament over an alleged ineligible player.
The Chilean soccer federation asked FIFA to investigate its claim that Ecuador player Byron Castillo is actually Colombian and not entitled to have played in qualifying games.