England will meet Scotland, Argentina and Japan in the group stages of the 2019 Women s World Cup, while holders the United States will face Thailand, Chile and Sweden.
Having topped a group that featured Wales in qualifying, Phil Neville s Lionesses will face another home nation in the finals in Scotland, who England beat 6-0 in their opening game of Euro 2017, while 2011 Women s World Cup champions Japan are also in their pool.
Holders USA, who beat Japan in the final in Canada three years ago, will start the defence of their title against Thailand in Reims.
Germany, semi-finalists in 2015, have been handed a group that includes China, Spain and South Africa, with hosts France drawn alongside South Korea, Norway and Nigeria.
Australia s group features I…
Diego Maradona has laughed off Cristiano Ronaldo s claim of being the greatest footballer ever and believes he would have won more Ballons d Or than the Portugal star.
Ronaldo collected Europe s most coveted individual honour for a fifth time earlier this month, equalling Lionel Messi s record.
The pair are both two clear of Michel Platini, Johan Cruyff and Marco van Basten, having shared the award between them since 2008.
But with non-Europeans only becoming eligible in 1995, Maradona poked fun at Ronaldo s assertion of being the best player in history.
Tell him to stop taking the p***, Maradona joked to Spanish publication AS.
I would have more than Cristiano and Messi.
It is very difficult to give just one Ballon d Or to a player. Be…
Romelu Lukaku s two-goal showing for Inter at Bologna has earned him a place in the FUT Team of the Week, though Timo Werner s inclusion is arguably the most deserved of this week s selection.
Werner lit up the Bundesliga at the weekend with a hat-trick and a treble of assists in RB Leipzig s 8-0 demolition of Mainz, having a hand in all but two of Leipzig s goals in a remarkable win.
The Germany international became only the second player to be involved in six goals in a single Bundesliga match since detailed Opta data collection began in 2004-05 – the first being Claudio Pizarro with four goals and two assists in May 2013.
He is partnered in attack by Lukaku after his goals secured 2-1 comeback win on the road, while a forward-thinking back three includes Ju…
The deadline day of the January transfer window has been a truly hectic one for many clubs, especially those in the Premier League. As we have witnessed, a lot of English clubs have been doing plenty of work on Friday and a few of them were eager to sign players from China. In the end, Tottenham Hotspur failed to sign Odion Ighalo who decided to join Manchester United on a six-month loan, but one other club decided they did not want to sign a player from China.
That was Chelsea, who reportedly rejected a chance to get Dalian Yifang striker Salomon Rondon on deadline day. The Venezuela striker was linked with a move to Stamford Bridge according to the Telegraph, but it was in the end the European champions from 2012 who decided to reject such an opportunity.
The former W…
The world-record transfer fee has been broken for the second year in succession following Neymar s €222million switch from Barcelona to Paris Saint-Germain.
PSG activated the release clause in the Brazilian s contract to take him away from Camp Nou, absolutely smashing the deal that saw Paul Pogba return to Manchester United from Juventus for a fee that could reach €120m just last year.
Neymar s move continues the astonishing upward trend in fees paid for the top talents in the modern era, breaking barriers that previously seemed inconceivable.
Christian Vieri was the world s most expensive player at the turn of the millennium having swapped Lazio for Inter in a €49m deal.
We take a look at how the world-record fee has progressed in the 21st century…
Bayern Munich reached the Champions League semi-finals as they crushed Barcelona 8-2 in Lisbon on Friday evening.
Two goals from Thomas Muller, as well as further strikes from Ivan Perisic, Serge Gnabry, Joshua Kimmich and Robert Lewandowski added to a stunning scoreline, with on-loan Barca man Philippe Coutinho almost embarrassingly getting two himself in the closing stages. There was next to nothing for the Spaniards to cheer, albeit for a David Alaba own goal and a Luis Suarez strike to reduce the huge deficit.
Here are three things we learnt from a frankly unbelievable evening in the Portuguese capital
Ruthless from Hansi Flick s troops
Heading into the tournament, it would probably be fair to say that most clubs would be content with just edging past Barc…
Bernd Leno saved two penalties as Arsenal progressed to the quarter-finals of the EFL Cup with a 5-4 shoot-out victory over Liverpool after a goalless draw at Anfield.
Both sides were much changed from Arsenal s 3-1 defeat at the same venue three days earlier and a different outcome followed in what was a far quieter contest on Thursday.
Takumi Minamino wasted the best opportunity of the game in the first half and there was no change to the scoreline after the interval.
Arsenal beat Liverpool on penalties in August s Community Shield and they held their nerve once again here, with Leno saving efforts from Divock Origi and Harry Wilson after Mohamed Elneny had been denied by Adrian for the visitors.
Joe Willock squeezed the winning spot-kick under Adrian t…
Lucio believes Jupp Heynckes winning history at Bayern Munich will be key as he continues his bid to turn their season around.
Heynckes was appointed for a fourth spell in charge last month after Carlo Ancelotti was dismissed following a stuttering start to the season.
Bayern have won each of their six matches in all competitions since Heynckes took over, usurping Borussia Dortmund at the Bundesliga summit and opening a three-point advantage in the process.
The Bavarians face Dortmund in Der Klassiker on Saturday and Lucio, who played under Heynckes when the 72-year-old took over as caretaker in 2009, is confident in the abilities of a coach who led the club to the treble in 2013.
Yes, I worked with him in a similar situation, at the end of the season …
Marco Asensio was considering leaving Real Madrid on loan before Carlo Ancelotti told the midfielder to stay with the LaLiga leaders.
The Spain international was concerned that his first-team opportunities would be limited this season due to the options at Ancelotti s disposal in his second spell as Madrid boss.
Liverpool were among the clubs linked with Asensio, but the 25-year-old was still with Los Blancos when the transfer window closed at the end of last month.
Asensio, who missed most of the 2019-20 due to a knee injury, marked his first start of the season with a hat-trick in a 6-1 LaLiga hammering of his former club Real Mallorca on Wednesday.
Horacio Gaggioli, Asensio s agent, has revealed it could have been a very different story.
L…
Lautaro Martinez s future continues to dominate headlines.
Martinez was tipped to leave Inter for Barcelona at the start of the season, but a move did not materialise amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Now, Manchester City are emerging as a serious suitor.
TOP STORY – CITY WANT LAUTARO
Manchester City are continuing their pursuit of Inter star Lautaro Martinez, according to the Mirror.
Martinez has been heavily linked with LaLiga giants Barcelona, as well as Real Madrid and City, where Pep Guardiola is eyeing a long-term replacement for Sergio Aguero.
The Argentina international has made his demands clear to Inter, who are hoping to re-sign Martinez.
Initial contract talks had broken down
— Mirror Football (@Mi…