10:37 AM ET Associated Press Russia is launching a bid to host the 2028 European Championship in a challenge to the British Isles entry or against Italy for the 2032 edition, despite its teams being suspended from international competitions over the war in Ukraine. A meeting of the Russian Football Union (RFU) executive committee decided
Football
9:03 AM ET United States women’s international Megan Rapinoe said so few male footballers have come out because the environment is not “safe.” Rapinoe was speaking to Chelsea pair Pernille Harder and Magda Eriksson, who are a couple, on their Sky Sports show The HangOUT. – ESPN+ viewers’ guide: LaLiga, Bundesliga, MLS, FA Cup, more–
9:01 AM ET The family that owns the Chicago Cubs, who are bidding for Premier League club Chelsea and facing social media criticism in England due to past anti-Islamic comments made by the family’s patriarch, released a statement condemning racism on Wednesday. The Ricketts family has agreed to meet Chelsea fans amid a social media
12:59 PM ET England striker Harry Kane has said he plans to speak with other national team captains to organise a unified approach to highlighting human rights issues ahead of the World Cup in Qatar. England manager Gareth Southgate held a 30-minute meeting with his squad on Tuesday to discuss a variety of controversies surrounding
6:07 AM ET Manchester United midfielder Paul Pogba has said he experienced depression during Jose Mourinho’s time at the club. Pogba re-signed for United during Mourinho’s first season at Old Trafford in 2016 for a then-world record fee of £89.3 million from Juventus. – ESPN+ viewers’ guide: LaLiga, Bundesliga, MLS, FA Cup, more– Don’t have
9:56 AM ET Cook Islands and Vanuatu have withdrawn from World Cup qualification due to COVID-19. Matthew Ashton – AMA via Getty Images FIFA have changed the format of the World Cup qualification tournament for the Oceania region after the Cook Islands and Vanuatu withdrew due to cases of COVID-19 that affected their national teams, world
10:51 AM ET The U.S. men’s national team have had a interesting relationship with the World Cup. After appearing in three of the first four competitions (1930, 1950, 1954), the Yanks missed the next nine before returning, in 1990, thanks to a pivotal qualifying goal by Paul Caligiuri in Trinidad & Tobago. (You can see
11:52 AM ET Castellanos has been one of the outstanding performers in MLS over the past couple of seasons. Will that continue in 2022? Ira L. Black – Corbis/Getty Images The 27th Major League Soccer season got underway in late-February and, with each passing year, the league becomes an increasingly interesting mashup of veterans (name-brand and
4:00 AM ET Tor-Kristian Karlsen With Manchester United a long way from recapturing the Premier League trophy they once almost took for granted, the club’s struggles to even secure a top-four finish this season suggest that it’s going to take more than just a few transfers to catch up to the likes of Liverpool and
5:06 AM ET Manchester United plan to speak to “multiple candidates” for the role of manager at Old Trafford, sources have told ESPN, after interviewing Ajax head coach Erik ten Hag earlier this week. Paris Saint-Germain‘s Mauricio Pochettino, Spain coach Luis Enrique and Sevilla‘s Julen Lopetegui are also on the club’s shortlist to replace Ole