Football

The tournament, expanded from 16 teams in 2015 to 24 teams in the United Arab Emirates, is the biggest ever. It remains to be seen if the competition, with venues also in Dubai, Sharjah and Al Ain, is the best.

Following shock defeats by Crystal Palace and Leicester, reigning champions City cut the gap between themselves and Premier League leaders Liverpool to seven points ahead of their meeting with the Merseysiders at the Etihad Stadium on Thursday.

Japan will be among the favourites at the Jan. 5 to Feb. 1 tournament in the United Arab Emirates, where they begin their campaign for a record-extending fifth continental title in Group F alongside Oman, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

Solskjaer's appointment was described as designed to put a smile back on the face of everyone at the club after the confrontational end to Jose Mourinho's two-and-a-half years in charge.

Ozil did not make the substitutes' bench for the League Cup quarter-final defeat to rivals Tottenham in midweek and has been on the fringes of the team in recent weeks.

CSKA Moscow stunned a much-changed Real Madrid with a 3-0 victory at the Santiago Bernabeu on Wednesday, but still finished bottom of Champions League Group G as Viktoria Plzen beat Roma.

Arjen Robben reportedly confirmed on Sunday he will leave Bayern Munich at the end of the season after a decade with the defending Bundesliga champions.

By inflicting Maurizio Sarri's first competitive defeat as Chelsea boss to move above their London rivals into third in the Premier League, Tottenham couldn't have started a big week in a better fashion with a do-or-die Champions League clash with Inter M...

Paris St Germain forward Edinson Cavani struck 12 minutes into his first match of the season while Kylian Mbappe and Neymar also scored in a 3-1 win over lowly Angers in Ligue 1 on Saturday.

Jose Mourinho on Friday denied a rift with executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward despite growing speculation over the power structure at Manchester United.

Liberian President George Weah on Friday gave his country's top honour to Arsene Wenger and Claude LeRoy, the two French coaches who gave his football career an early boost.

Captain Lionel Messi will miss Argentina's next four friendly matches, according to local press reports on Tuesday.

Change is in the air as the new La Liga season begins on Friday without one of its most emblematic players, Cristiano Ronaldo, and with video technology (VAR) being introduced for the first time in Spain’s top flight.

With a week left for Barcelona to begin their La Liga title defense, the club has named Lionel Messi as their new captain after Andres Iniesta left at the end of last season.

Clarence Seedorf has been appointed head coach of the Cameroon national team, with his former Netherlands teammate Patrick Kluivert as his assistant, Cameroonian Minister of Sport Pierre Ismael Bidoung Mkpatt said on Saturday.

Alisson's path to becoming the world's costliest goalkeeper may never have come about had his parents not been persuaded he would slim down and grow enough to succeed, his former goalkeeping coach told The Sun on Tuesday.