2:58 PM ET FIFA is launching a new service to crack down on hate speech and discrimination online during the World Cup, world soccer’s governing body said on Wednesday. The Social Media Protection Service will stop players seeing abusive messages when they log on to their phones in dressing rooms minutes after matches. FIFA will
Football
12:45 PM ET Argentina warmed up for the World Cup with a 5-0 hammering of the United Arab Emirates in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday, as a brace from Angel Di Maria and goals from Julian Alvarez, Lionel Messi and Joaquin Correa extended their unbeaten run to 36 games. Roared on by the Mohammad Bin Zayed
2:35 PM ET AL-RAYYAN, Qatar — United States men’s national team winger Tim Weah says that the side’s relative youth isn’t a reason to count the Americans out at the 2022 World Cup. “Even though we’re young, we’re not young-minded,” he said following Tuesday’s training session. “It’s not an immature group at all.” When the
4:29 AM ET Alex Kirkland Rodrigo Faez Eden Hazard has apologised to Real Madrid fans for failing to live up to expectations since joining the club, saying he’s “really sorry about what has happened” and would accept a move away next summer. Hazard, 31 — who is currently with Belgium preparing for the World Cup
7:41 AM ET AL-RAYYAN, Qatar — Christian Pulisic has said it is a “dream” to be at a World Cup — one that was cruelly delayed five years ago on a waterlogged field in Trinidad as the U.S. failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup. The 2-1 loss to Trinidad & Tobago on the
7:55 AM ET Sam Marsden Moises Llorens Barcelona striker Robert Lewandowski has been handed an extended three-game ban for his reaction to being sent off in his side’s comeback 2-1 win at Osasuna last Tuesday. Lewandowski, 34, received a red card for two bookable offences in the 31st minute with Barca a goal down and
4:49 AM ET The Qatar 2022 Supreme Committee (SC) has hit back at accusations there are paid, fake football fans at the World Cup, after videos posted online were met with scepticism as to their authenticity. The SC claimed “numerous journalists and commentators on social media” suggested clips of fans celebrating in Qatar were in
5:24 AM ET Rob DawsonCorrespondent Manchester United players do not expect Cristiano Ronaldo to be part of the squad when the Premier League resumes, sources have told ESPN. Club bosses have been discussing the 37-year-old’s future at Old Trafford after his bombshell interview with Piers Morgan. – Stream on ESPN+: LaLiga, Bundesliga, MLS, more (U.S.)
6:24 AM ET Qatar’s Supreme Committee said it has apologised after a Danish film crew were threatened by security staff live on air as they broadcast in the capital Doha ahead of the World Cup. TV2 reporter Rasmus Tantholdt was speaking as part of a live broadcast when he was approached by security staff that
7:00 AM ET The World Cup kicks off next week in Qatar at a time when international soccer is under attack from match-fixing syndicates. Sportradar, a prominent international firm that monitors the betting markets, says it identified approximately 600 potentially manipulated soccer matches in the first nine months of 2022. Most of the suspicious activity