Soccer

9:49 AM ET Associated Press Shannon Boxx, a three-time Olympic gold medalist with the United States and member of their 2015 World Cup team, has been appointed vice chair of the U.S. Soccer Federation’s participant safety task force. Maryland State Youth Soccer Association executive director Greg Smith was also picked as a vice chair. –

11:30 AM ET LOS ANGELES — It’s been 19 years since the No. 1 seeds in the Eastern and Western Conferences met in an MLS Cup, which LAFC and the Philadelphia Union will do on Saturday. MLS has changed an awful lot in that time. In 2003, there were only 10 teams in the league.

7:44 AM ET Associated Press FIFA president Gianni Infantino has urged the 32 nations preparing for the most political World Cup in the modern era to focus on the game in Qatar and avoid handing out lessons in morality. A letter imploring teams to “let football take center stage” was sent by Infantino and FIFA

4:52 PM ET United States men’s national team coach Gregg Berhalter said he’ll analyze the status of his injured players on a “case-by-case basis” ahead of naming his roster for the World Cup that starts later this month. The 26-player roster for Qatar will be named on Wednesday, and Berhalter told ESPN that his pool

5:00 AM ET The battle for Jude Bellingham is hotting up, with Liverpool in pole position — ESPN’s Insider Notebook has the latest. Jump to: Real Madrid ready for battle | Barcelona plan more spending | Shakhtar set for MLS fundraising drive | Alonso’s new deal | Prem clubs to help financially struggling fans Liverpool

2:00 PM ET Barcelona defender Gerard Pique has announced that he will retire from football when the Spanish league breaks for the World Cup this month. Pique, 35, says Saturday’s match against Almeria in LaLiga will be his last at Camp Nou for the Catalan club after 14 years in the first team following his

1:18 PM ET The next time the Champions League becomes the dominant topic in soccer, we will be approaching Valentine’s Day. An entire World Cup will have come and gone. We’ll have spent many thousands of words talking about player wear and tear, particularly for players on the four teams that will have played seven

5:00 AM ET The 2022-23 Champions League group stage is all wrapped up, and there was no shortage of drama, goals and chaos. Bayern Munich achieved a perfect record, Tottenham Hotspur narrowly clinched qualification into the knockouts and Club Brugge made it out of the group stage for the first time in their history. Meanwhile,

5:32 PM ET Shakhtar were no match for a rampant Leipzig side who avenged a 4-1 defeat in matchday one to win 4-0 and advance to the Champions League last 16 at the Ukrainian side’s expense. EPA/Leszek Szymanski WARSAW, Poland — “We wanted to hit the jackpot, but it was not to be,” Shakhtar Donetsk coach

5:20 PM ET Tottenham Hotspur and South Korea star Son Heung-Min will undergo surgery to stabilise a fracture around his left eye, making him a major doubt for the World Cup that starts later this month. Tottenham confirmed that Son will need surgery after he suffered a blow to his face that forced him off

9:36 PM ET Ange Postecoglou has come a long way since he served as a ball boy on the sidelines at Middle Park in Melbourne. A long, long way. The stage he inhabits now is significantly grander, but the early experiences and lessons in a place that allowed him to familiarise himself with a new

7:21 PM ET Tottenham Hotspur survived a scare in Marseille before fighting back to win 2-1 at the Stade Velodrome on Tuesday and clinch a place in the Champions League last 16 as group winners. Spurs, with coach Antonio Conte serving a one-game suspension from the touchline, went behind the French side in stoppage time

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3:52 AM ET Associated Press Mana Shim, a former National Women’s Soccer League and the U.S. under-23 national team player, will chair the U.S. Soccer Federation’s taskforce to prevent the abuse and harassment of women that was found to be systemic in the sport. The USSF created a participant safety taskforce following a report issued

9:00 AM ET Adam Snavely Braden Mann’s attempted onside kick was a familiar one to all those with an interest in soccer. ESPN New York Jets punter Braden Mann attempted a kick in an NFL game on Sunday that would have made former Tottenham Hotspur star Erik Lamela proud. Adam Snavely compares Mann’s “rabona” attempt to

2:11 PM ET Well, Europe’s big leagues gave us another big batch of talking points lot to enjoy, dissect and digest this weekend! From Chelsea‘s and Liverpool‘s chastening defeats — though for different reasons — to Napoli‘s latest big win and Barcelona‘s great escape against Valencia, and from Real Madrid‘s shocking 1-1 draw with lowly

6:30 AM ET The bedrock of every great team is the midfield, which is why Jurgen Klopp’s outstanding Liverpool side of the past five years are beginning to lose pace with their rivals both in the Premier League and the Champions League. Klopp’s midfield no longer has the legs or fitness to protect Liverpool’s defence

10:29 PM ET The Philadelphia Union will take on host LAFC in the MLS Cup final after coming from behind to score three quickfire second-half goals and beat defending champions New York City FC 3-1 at Subaru Park in Sunday’s Eastern Conference Final. After NYC took a 57th-minute lead through Maxi Moralez, Philadelphia responded swiftly