Month: March 2023

4:00 AM ET Tor-Kristian Karlsen Welcome to the ESPN FC hotlist, which each month highlights some of the most in-form talent aged 23 or under across Europe. Generally, young but established stars like Manchester City‘s Erling Haaland, Borussia Dortmund‘s Jude Bellingham or Barcelona‘s Gavi aren’t included — otherwise they’d be on the list every month

4:55 PM ET FIFA’S president Gianni Infantino (L) presents CONMEBOL president Alejandro Dominguez with a commemorative pennant on Friday. NORBERTO DUARTE/AFP via Getty Images The South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL) believes FIFA would be making a mistake to not award the 2030 World Cup to a joint bid from Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and Chile, the regional

2:07 PM ET Tottenham Hotspur‘s managing director of football Fabio Paratici will take a leave of absence pending the outcome of an appeal filed after FIFA extended his ban over Juventus‘s dealings to apply worldwide, the Premier League club said on Friday. In January, Serie A side Juve were deducted 15 points for the season

8:56 AM ET Former France captain Wendie Renard and all-time leading goal scorer Eugenie Le Sommer have been recalled to the national team for international friendlies in the build-up to this year’s World Cup. Renard said last month she would step back from the national team and would not play at the World Cup to

8:25 AM ET Adriana Garcia Spain coach Jorge Vilda defended his decision to leave out the rebel players for their upcoming matches. Photo by Brad Smith/ISI Photos/Getty Images Spain’s national team has once again left out the 15 rebel players for their last two warm-up games ahead of the Women’s World Cup this summer. Spain take

9:41 AM ET Rob DawsonCorrespondent Erling Haaland is top scorer in the Premier League this season with 28 goals. Alex Livesey – Danehouse/Getty Images Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has hinted he is willing to risk Erling Haaland‘s fitness against Liverpool. Haaland withdrew from the Norway squad during the international break because of a groin injury

11:18 AM ET Tottenham acting head coach Cristian Stellini has admitted the club has endured a “chaotic” fortnight but denied Spurs are in crisis after Antonio Conte’s departure. Conte’s exit was confirmed on Sunday night following an explosive news conference on March 18 in which the 53-year-old criticised Spurs’ owners and the players’ attitude after

9:48 AM ET Jurgen Klopp has said Liverpool face a “Champions League week” as they prepare to take on Premier League title contenders Manchester City and Arsenal. Liverpool play Pep Guardiola’s side at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday, travel to Chelsea on Tuesday before hosting league leaders Arsenal next week. – Stream on ESPN+: LaLiga,

9:08 AM ET Rob DawsonCorrespondent Luke Shaw joined Manchester United from Southampton in 2014. Michael Regan/Getty Images Luke Shaw is close to agreeing a new contract with Manchester United, sources have told ESPN. Shaw extended his deal by a year in December but the club have moved to tie the left-back down to a longer contract.

8:17 AM ET Sam Marsden Moises Llorens Barcelona have acknowledged they are in contact with Lionel Messi about bringing him back to the club when his contract with Paris Saint-Germain expires in June. Vice president Rafa Yuste confirmed Friday the club are looking into the possibility of re-signing Messi, who left for PSG in 2021,

5:00 AM ET Ian DarkeESPN.com writer 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 recognizable soccer voices.

6:13 AM ET The Premier League announced new rules that could see club owners removed for human rights abuses. Photo by Visionhaus/Getty Images Human rights groups have challenged the Premier League to robustly enforce new rules aimed at tightening club ownership by ensuring abusers and nation states are banned from controlling teams in England. At a

6:08 PM ET Former Canada Soccer president Nick Bontis does not remember using insulting language towards Christine Sinclair when she brought the women’s soccer team’s concerns to him but has apologised for the incident, he said on Thursday. Sinclair, the world’s all-time leading international goal scorer, appeared before a parliamentary committee three weeks ago to

6:23 PM ET Sophie Lawson Chelsea knocked out holders Lyon in a penalty shootout to reach the semifinals of the Women’s Champions League after a thrilling second leg at Stamford Bridge on Thursday. Maren Mjelde’s VAR-awarded penalty with the final kick of extra time cancelled out goals from Lyon’s Vanessa Gilles’ and Sara Däbritz’ to

3:18 PM ET Associated Press The latest ruling in a sexual abuse scandal in Haitian soccer saw a FIFA life ban for a senior official upheld Thursday by the Court of Arbitration for Sport just weeks after his longtime boss had a life ban lifted by a different panel of judges. The court said “evidence

3:13 PM ET Tottenham forward Richarlison has denied he played a role in the departure of former manager Antonio Conte, insisting he had a lot of respect for the Italian coach. Conte left Tottenham by mutual consent on Sunday after relations between him and the club deteriorated at all levels in recent weeks. The former

3:16 PM ET Bayern Munich‘s reign in the Bundesliga is threatened. They just panic-fired their manager with two months left in the season. They’re facing more uncertainty than they have in quite a while. They remain as Bayern as ever, though: still prolific, still the betting favorite (and the No. 2 favorite in the Champions