Soccer

Rob Dawson, CorrespondentNov 27, 2024, 05:08 AM ET Open Extended Reactions It was late February 2014 in the Karaiskakis Stadium when former Manchester United chief executive Ed Woodward lent forward from his seat in the directors’ box to take a picture of the scoreboard. With Olympiacos leading the Champions League tie 2-0, Woodward decided that

Rob Dawson, CorrespondentNov 26, 2024, 07:02 PM ET Open Extended Reactions MANCHESTER, England — For 75 minutes on Tuesday night, Manchester City were cruising against Feyenoord and heading to Liverpool on Sunday with a much-needed injection of confidence after a bruising run of five straight defeats. By the time manager Pep Guardiola walked back down

Open Extended Reactions Arteta and Arsenal needed to produce a moment of brilliance after some tough results, but thanks to Odegaard & Co., they did just that in Portugal on Tuesday night. Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images LISBON, Portugal — Just when Arsenal were starting to wobble, Martin Odegaard produced a match-defining moment of quality.

Alex Kirkland, ESPN FCNov 26, 2024, 08:00 AM ET Open Extended Reactions 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1: Those are Kylian Mbappé‘s last eight Real Madrid games, and the goals he’s scored in that time. It’s his worst goal-scoring run at club level since 2021, and it’s a streak that has some impatient

Jeff Carlisle, U.S. soccer correspondentNov 25, 2024, 03:54 PM ET Close Jeff Carlisle covers MLS and the U.S. national team for ESPN FC. Open Extended Reactions United States goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher announced her international retirement on Monday, calling the past 15 years “the greatest honor.” Naeher, 36, will take part in a pair of upcoming

Nov 25, 2024, 12:19 PM ET Open Extended Reactions The MLS Cup playoffs are down to their final four. After No. 1 seed Inter Miami‘s ouster in Round One, Western Conference champions LAFC were eliminated in the semifinals by the Seattle Sounders. On the other side of Los Angeles, though, the stars seem to be

Open Extended Reactions Video Assistant Referee causes controversy every week in the Premier League, but how are decisions made, and are they correct? After each weekend we take a look at the major incidents, to examine and explain the process both in terms of VAR protocol and the Laws of the Game. In this week’s

Nov 24, 2024, 04:05 PM ET Open Extended Reactions While Manchester City were slumping to their fifth straight defeat across all competitions, Liverpool extended their lead atop the Premier League table with a come-from-behind win over Southampton. The Reds now sit eight points ahead of the four-time defending English champions. In Spain, Valencia returned to

Open Extended Reactions IPSWICH, England — For 81 seconds, it all seemed so easy for Ruben Amorim. In his first game as Manchester United head coach, Marcus Rashford, the player who has embodied the club’s troubled recent past, had scored inside two minutes to make a dream start against Ipswich Town. Then reality bit, and

Jeff Kassouf Nov 23, 2024, 10:19 PM ET Open Extended Reactions KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Barbra Banda‘s goal stood up as the game-winner to lift the Orlando Pride to their first NWSL championship in a 1-0 victory over the Washington Spirit on Saturday at CPKC Stadium. With the win, the Pride became the first team

Jeff Kassouf Nov 23, 2024, 10:46 PM ET Open Extended Reactions KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Orlando Pride won the 2024 NWSL Championship on Saturday, defeating the Washington Spirit 1-0 thanks to a first-half goal from forward Barbra Banda. The victory capped off a historic season for a Pride franchise that was once the doormat

Rob Dawson, CorrespondentNov 23, 2024, 04:27 PM ET Open Extended Reactions MANCHESTER, England — When does a blip become a crisis? Manchester City‘s losing run went from four games to five against Tottenham Hotspur, who won 4-0 at the Etihad Stadium in a blistering display of counter-attacking football. With players back from injury and doubts

Goals from Nicolas Jackson and Enzo Fernandez helped Chelsea to a 2-1 Premier League win at Leicester City on Saturday to climb into third-place in the table. Jackson punished Leicester for not clearing their lines in the 15th minute, taking a touch and flicking the ball past Foxes keeper Mads Hermansen with the outside of

Jeff Kassouf Nov 22, 2024, 06:09 PM ET Open Extended Reactions KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Orlando Pride forward Marta held her right index finger in the air inside the swanky stadium club of CPKC Stadium to indicate the No. 1. This is where the six-time world player of the year ranks Saturday’s NWSL Championship among

Lizzy Becherano Nov 22, 2024, 04:13 PM ET Open Extended Reactions FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Inter Miami co-owner Jorge Mas said Friday that he expects Lionel Messi will continue to form part of the team through the 2026 Major League Soccer season. Messi joined Inter Miami in July 2023 on a contract that runs through

Rob Dawson, CorrespondentNov 22, 2024, 09:31 AM ET Open Extended Reactions MANCHESTER, England — Rúben Amorim believes he is the right man at the right time to re-establish Manchester United as the dominant force in English football. Amorim is the sixth permanent manager since Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement in 2013 to take the job following

Jeff Kassouf Nov 21, 2024, 09:59 AM ET Open Extended Reactions KANSAS CITY, Mo. — For years, the global debate around the NWSL’s on-field product has centered around whether it is the best women’s soccer league in the world. Recently, however, NWSL commissioner Jessica Berman and an ever-expanding league office have mulled a more provocative

Ian Darke, ESPN.com writerNov 21, 2024, 09:47 AM ET 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