In the summer of 1964, England took part in the Little World Cup in Brazil. It was a simple four-team league involving Portugal, Argentina and the hosts. England finished joint-bottom with Portugal. In their first match they were plugged 5-1 by Brazil in Rio. They commiserated with a night on the town, and were staggering around Copacabana beach the following morning when they were challenged to a game by some local kids.…

Gareth Southgate will have his full squad available for only one pre‑World Cup friendly, against Costa Rica in Leeds on 7 June, with the England manager determined his players should have a week off after the domestic season



Southgate submitted a 35-man provisional squad to Fifa on Monday and will make public his 23-man party for the finals on Wednesday. No major surprises are…

Manchester United must know that it is a possibility that they will spend another season in the shadow of their formidable neighbours. The most famous club in England are 19 points behind Manchester City with one game remaining and while this forgettable draw secured second place for José Mourinho’s spluttering team, that will not be cause for celebration when they consider the ease with which Pep Guardiola’s record-breaking champions have cantered into the distance.…

The word you’re looking for is ‘girlfriend’.” These few words by a Twitter user who was following the coverage of the 2017 AFLW Brownlow medal kicked off a social media storm. They accompanied a screenshot: a Fox Sports website journalist had captioned a photo of Collingwood full-forward Moana Hope on the red carpet with “her friend” Isabella Carlstrom.



The incredulity flew thick and…

Barcelona fans wanted more and could have got it but rarely has a draw felt so good to this grand stadium. Their side are Womens Sterling Moore Jersey three games from becoming the first Spanish club to complete an unbeaten campaign in 86 years after they resisted Real Madrid with 10 men for 45 minutes. They have been close to defeat earlier this season but perhaps not as close as this and no loss could…

For Arsène Wenger, there will be no happy ending. “Rumbo hacia Lyon,” (road to Lyon) read the huge banner unfurled by the most boisterous section of Atlético Madrid supporters before this victory. Diego Simeone’s team are, as promised, on their way to the Europa League final and whatever tributes come for Wenger over the next 10 days – the promise of a statue, perhaps, or even a stand named in his honour at the Emirates – it will not be how he wanted the story to finish.…

Real Madrid always find a way, they say, and somehow they did – all the way to a third consecutive European Cup final. For so long, they had the Bavarians at the gates, the Bernabéu gripped by fear, but when a long, wild, tense and often inexplicable match was over and the siege subsided at last, there they were, still standing. A goal down after three minutes, Real were not safe until the very end but it is they, not Bayern Munich, who made it to Kiev. The world’s biggest club, 12 times…

Overcoming a team condemned to playing in League One next season was supposed to be the easy part for Fulham but nothing felt straightforward on a night of tension at Craven Cottage and, if Neil Warnock was watching this game on television, he will no doubt have taken note of some generous refereeing decisions. It was only when the marginally offside Aleksandar Mitrovic scored the decisive goal that Fulham could be confident of hauling themselves back into the Championship’s top two with one…