Soccer

11:37 AM ET Alex Kirkland Rodrigo Faez Zinedine Zidane’s decision to step down as Real Madrid manager surprised nobody. After all, he’d done it before. Twice. As a player in 2006 and as manager in 2018, he walked away from the club, with no fuss and with no interest in negotiating a payoff. So when

4:00 AM ET When N’Golo Kante walked into the France national team camp in Nice on Tuesday alongside Olivier Giroud and Kurt Zouma, his Chelsea teammates, he was greeted by huge cheers and applause. On Saturday evening, the French squad and manager Didier Deschamps and his staff watched the Champions League final together, once again

7:56 PM ET Fresh of his triumph in the UEFA Champions League with club side Chelsea, United States men’s national team attacker Christian Pulisic said it’s a case of getting “right back to work” in the CONCACAF Nations League. It was on Saturday that the Blues overcame Manchester City to claim their second UCL triumph.

5:21 PM ET After a year-long postponement due to the coronavirus pandemic, the CONCACAF Nations League finals kick off this week, and there are plenty of storylines to keep track of ahead of Thursday’s semifinals and Sunday’s final in Denver. The United States — featuring Christian Pulisic, Sergino Dest, and Giovanni Reyna — will have

4:00 AM ET Mark Ogden Rob Dawson Manchester City have regained their position at the top of English football, winning the Premier League and Carabao Cup, but the wait to be crowned champions of Europe goes on after Champions League final defeat against Chelsea. With manager Pep Guardiola extending his contract at the Etihad Stadium

3:07 PM ET The 2020-21 European soccer season was a compact grind that produced some surprising results and offered all of us an opportunity to become experts in the field of soft-tissue injuries. It ended with Chelsea‘s Champions League final win over Manchester City, and while a lot of players have — or soon will

1:20 PM ET In the aftermath of Chelsea‘s 1-0 win against Manchester City in the Champions League final on Saturday, American star Christian Pulisic was joined on the field by his parents. He was passed the trophy for a photo, and as he gripped it with both hands, his father, Mark, rotated the winners’ medal

4:00 AM ET Tor-Kristian Karlsen So far there’s been little to indicate that a summer of big spending among the elite clubs in Europe will happen. If the failed European Super League breakaway attempt was proof of anything, it was that the football economy is not in a good place. Over a year on, the

11:36 AM ET The 2020-21 Premier League season was unlike any other. With the coronavirus pandemic forcing the 2019-20 season to conclude in late July, teams had a little over six weeks to reboot, reset and regroup. From there, the grueling calendar took hold, with a compressed league schedule and cup competitions squeezed around international

9:26 AM ET Jeff Carlisle Close U.S. soccer correspondent Jeff Carlisle covers MLS and the U.S. national team for ESPN FC. Kyle Bonagura Close ESPN Staff Writer Covers the Pac-12. Joined ESPN in 2014. Attended Washington State University. We have a new No. 1! The New England Revolution continue to quietly collect points in the

4:00 AM ET Ian DarkeESPN.com writer Close Darke, who called games for the network during the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, is ESPN lead soccer voice in the United States. He has covered the Barclays Premier League and the Champions League since 1982, and has one of the world’s most recognizable soccer voices.

6:13 PM ET Heading into this week’s CONCACAF Nations League Finals in Denver and, more importantly, World Cup qualifying in the fall, what the United States men’s national team needed more than anything was a step up in competition. Its nine-match unbeaten streak over the last 18 months was at least partially a product of

9:30 AM ET PORTO, Portugal — Nothing quite underlines the unusual dynamic between owner and head coach at Chelsea as the first meeting between Roman Abramovich and Thomas Tuchel taking place on the field after they had just won the Champions League. Almost an hour beyond the final whistle of the 1-0 victory over Manchester

Chelsea have been crowned Champions League champions for the first time in almost a decade after beating Man City 1-0 in the 2020-21 final. Thomas Tuchel’s side found success repeatedly hit Man City on the break in Porto to claim their first Champions League since Didier Drogba’s heroics proved pivotal in Munich, against Bayern Munich,

6:47 PM ET PORTO, Portugal — As Thomas Tuchel and Chelsea celebrated, Pep Guardiola walked straight past the Champions League trophy without giving it a single glance, Manchester City were outplayed in a 1-0 Champions League final defeat and this was the closest Guardiola would get to touching the European Cup since he last won

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6:54 AM ET Noel Gallagher, a Manchester City fan who has also done some recording and touring, laughed and told me a story about his kids. His daughter is 21, and until she was 16, he said she believed all Manchester United fans had six toes. When she told him this, he said he looked

1:55 PM ET The final game of the 2020-21 season is upon us as the UEFA Champions League will be decided this Saturday in Portugal. Will it be the all-conquering super-team that is Manchester City, as they finally win the one trophy they’ve never held? (It would also break a 10-year drought for Pep Guardiola,