World Cup

For a decade Gareth Bale has been Wales’ best player, a talismanic figure whose rare talent has helped them compete with the elite, yet he heads to the World Cup ...

Poland will need to look beyond leading striker Robert Lewandowski if they are to break their group stage jinx and reach the knockout rounds at the World Cup in Qatar. ...

The Netherlands have legitimate hopes of turning their status as World Cup nearly men into champions as they take a 15-match unbeaten run into the Qatar finals and pin their ...

When Qatar play Ecuador in the World Cup showpiece opener on Nov. 20, an 18-year, billion dollar national project to build a respectable – and possibly competitive – national squad will be put ...

Sadio Mane is the embodiment of the dreams of millions of young Africans, emerging from a small village in Senegal to play at the highest level in Europe and become ...

There have been plenty of ‘nearly men’ in the annals of world football, nations with all the ingredients to deliver on the biggest stage but who ended up with just ...

Lionel Messi has won nearly 40 trophies for club and country in an illustrious career but the Argentine forward’s glittering resume has one major omission — a World Cup winner’s ...

Ecuador may be rank outsiders at the World Cup but their potent young team cannot wait for the world’s eyes to be on them when they face hosts Qatar ...

The pressure is on for “Captain America” Christian Pulisic to put on a superhero performance on his World Cup debut in Qatar, building on years of sky-high expectations from his ...

England’s Ben Chilwell pulled up in stoppage time of Chelsea’s 2-1 Champions League win over Dinamo Zagreb on Wednesday with a hamstring injury, putting his participation in the ...

A group of current and former Iranian sportspeople say they have no choice but to turn on their own country, citing what they called state-sponsored violence and discrimination against ordinary ...

France midfielder Paul Pogba will miss their World Cup title defence after failing to recover from knee surgery in time for next month’s tournament in Qatar, his agent said ...

Inter Milan striker Romelu Lukaku has injured his hamstring again after making a comeback from two months on the sidelines, the Serie A club said on Monday, three weeks before ...

Qatar has emptied apartment blocks housing thousands of foreign workers in the centre of the capital Doha where visiting soccer fans will stay during the World Cup, workers who were ...

Qatar has faced unprecedented criticism since winning the bid to host the 2022 World Cup, some of which amounted to slander, its ruler, Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, said on ...

Chelsea defender Cesar Azpilicueta said the number of games being crammed into the schedule ahead of the World Cup next month is “crazy” and that player welfare is being jeopardised. ...

Argentina’s self-styled “first fan” Marcelo Martinez is so keen to see Lionel Messi and team mates at the World Cup that he arrived in Qatar six months early. The ...

Lionel Messi says Argentina to not fear any team at the World Cup but he urged fans to stay calm with the tournament in Qatar less than a month away. ...

Thirty-six years after Diego Maradona helped Argentina beat Germany to lift the World Cup in Mexico City, the shirt he wore in the game has returned to his homeland. Germany’...

Argentina captain Lionel Messi has said defending champions France and Brazil are the favourites to win the World Cup in Qatar as they have a core group of players who ...

The US ambassador to Doha has urged Qatar’s police and authorities to be patient, tolerant and transparent in managing more than a million soccer fans expected to visit during ...

France international N’Golo Kante has been ruled out of the World Cup finals after undergoing an operation on a hamstring injury, his Premier League club Chelsea said on Tuesday. ...

Portugal have been dealt a blow ahead of the World Cup with forward Diogo Jota ruled out of the tournament in Qatar due to a calf injury, Liverpool manager Juergen ...

Ticket sales for the World Cup are approaching the three million mark ahead of the tournament kicking off in Qatar on Nov. 20, FIFA president Gianni Infantino and event organisers said ...