GENEVA (AP) — Political issues are swirling around the Iran men’s soccer team amid turmoil on the streets at home just weeks before the World Cup where it will play the United States, Wales and England.
Christian Pulisic and Ricardo Pepi will join the U.S. starting lineup for the Americans' last World Cup warmup against Saudi Arabia on Tuesday night after coach Gregg Berhalter admitted “we got our butts kicked” by Japan last week.
LONDON (AP) — The number of field invasions in soccer matches in England and Wales last season soared by 127% compared to the last full campaign before the coronavirus pandemic, according to government statistics released Thursday.
LONDON (AP) — Domestic cricket in England could see a major shake-up if county sides vote through proposals that would create a six-team top division and reduce the amount of games played across formats.
A women's cricket test match will be played over five days for the first time since 1992 in the multi-format Ashes series next year.
Women’s test matches have traditionally been played over four days, as opposed to five in the men’s game.
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.
LONDON (AP) — Several sporting events in Britain were called off as a mark of respect following the death of Queen Elizabeth II at the age of 96 on Thursday.
Organizers of the BMW PGA Championship golf event reacted to the announcement of the queen’s death by immediately suspending play, with many players still out on the course at Wentworth.
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Carlos Queiroz was rehired as Iran coach on Wednesday to take the national soccer team to its third straight World Cup, where the squad will face the United States, England and Wales.
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Carlos Queiroz could be set for a dramatic return to take charge of Iran’s national team less than three months before the World Cup and Group B games with the United States, England and Wales.
LONDON (AP) — In February 2021, actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney took over Wrexham Association Football Club, a small team from the north of Wales, and now they’re releasing a documentary about their journey.
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Southern Hemisphere rugby will be put on show and possibly on trial in the Rugby Championship which begins Saturday with a match between the World Cup-winning Springboks and defending champions New Zealand.
Human-caused climate change made last week’s deadly heat wave in England and Wales at least 10 times more likely and added a few degrees to how brutally hot it got, a study said.
CARDIFF, Wales (AP) — South Africa took its Twenty20 international series with England to a decider after easing to a 58-run win in the second match on Thursday.
Rilee Rossouw hit 10 fours and five sixes in a 55-ball 96 not out to steer the Proteas to 207-3 in Cardiff after being put into bat.
CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — South Africa held off Wales 30-14 in the third test to clinch their series 2-1 and end a run of success for the northern hemisphere on Saturday.
Wales was hoping to match Ireland's historic series win in New Zealand earlier in the day, and England's victory in Australia, but didn't have enough in Cape Town.
JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Wales prop Tomas Francis will miss the rest of the rugby test series in South Africa after he was concussed on Saturday.
Francis took an inadvertent knee to the head within a minute of replacing Dillon Lewis in the first test in Pretoria.
LONDON (AP) — Jos Buttler was promoted to England's new white-ball captain on Thursday and took immediate charge of the Twenty20 and one-day international cricket teams.
Vice-captain since 2015, the 31-year-old Buttler has deputized for Eoin Morgan on 14 occasions, including in the Netherlands last week after Morgan sat out with a groin injury.
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.
Phil Bennett, the Wales flyhalf “with stardust in his boots” who started the move which led to one of rugby's greatest tries, has died. He was 73.
His death was confirmed Sunday by his former club Scarlets, which did not specify a cause.
LONDON (AP) — It was a night of stalemates for the big teams in the Nations League on Saturday, including a drab scoreless draw in the rematch of last year's European Championship final.
England was held 0-0 by Italy to leave Gareth Southgate's side without a win in three matches in the top-tier Group 3 this month as it prepares for the World Cup.
CARDIFF, Wales (AP) — Gareth Bale said Wales' qualification for the World Cup in Qatar will influence the next stage in his career as he weighs up which team to join after leaving Real Madrid.
KANSAS CITY, Kan, (AP) — Two months after the World Cup draw, the United States learned it will open the tournament against Wales on Nov 21.
“It's full steam ahead, concentrating on Wales," U.S.
CARDIFF, Wales (AP) — Weeks of back spasms were not going to stop Gareth Bale's mission to lead Wales back to the World Cup.
Try stopping the captain taking to the field when there is a 64-year drought to end.
CARDIFF, Wales (AP) — Ukraine's players wept in the rain while applauding their dejected supporters after missing out on qualifying for the World Cup by losing 1-0 to Wales in Europe's last playoff for the FIFA soccer showpiece on Sunday.
CARDIFF, Wales (AP) — Ukraine plans to resume competitive football in the country in August despite being under attack by Russia after President Volodymyr Zelenskyy gave approval.
A look at what’s happening in European soccer on Sunday:
WORLD CUP PLAYOFF
The final European spot at the World Cup will be determined in Cardiff where Wales hosts a Ukraine side trying to deliver an uplifting sporting success amid the ongoing Russian invasion.
CARDIFF, Wales (AP) — Far from battlefields and Russian invaders, the Ukrainian footballers exempted from military service are trying to complete the mission to lead their country to the World Cup.
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.
GLASGOW, Scotland (AP) — Ukrainian soccer star Oleksandr Zinchenko couldn't hold back the tears as he tried to explain what it means to represent his country's national team at this moment, with a spot at the World Cup within reach.
A look at what’s happening in European soccer on Wednesday:
WORLD CUP PLAYOFF
Scotland hosts Ukraine in Glasgow for the right to play Wales on Sunday for a place at this year's World Cup in Qatar.
LONDON (AP) — Jofra Archer will miss the entire summer of international cricket for England after being diagnosed with a stress fracture to the lower back, prolonging the fast bowler's injury woe that has seen him sidelined for the past year.
LONDON (AP) — A turbulent period for English cricket saw another high-profile departure among its leadership on Tuesday when chief executive Tom Harrison announced he will be stepping down.
Since the turn of the year, the men's test captain, head coach, director of cricket and now the CEO have all left their roles as the England and Wales Cricket Board launches a so-called “red-ball reset” amid troubling times for the test team.
Canada will prepare for its first World Cup since 1986 with an exhibition against Iran on June 5 at B.C. Place Stadium in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Canada plays Curaçao at Vancouver on June 9 and is at Honduras on June 13, both in the CONCACAF Nations League.