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Ryan O’HanlonDec 9, 2025, 06:33 AM ETCloseRyan O’Hanlon is a staff writer for ESPN.com. He’s also the author of “Net Gains: Inside the Beautiful Game’s Analytics Revolution.”While it was definitely used sometime before 1986, it seems like English-language journalists finally became comfortable with the phrase “group of death” in the lead-up to the Mexico World Cup.The earliest primary source mention in English I could find was in a travel column from the Times of London written on May 12, 1986, by Alan Franks. In the aftermath of the 8.0-magnitude earthquake that hit Mexico City in 1985, Franks tried to give…

If the 4-1 home defeat to PSV in the Champions League was the moment that Arne Slot decided enough was enough and Mohamed Salah had to be dropped, the turning point might have been the much narrower loss to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in October.Marc Cucurella’s on-pitch explanation for Chelsea’s winner that day highlighted the weakness that teams have been trying to exploit against Liverpool. The full-back was allowed to move forward into the box untracked to lay on the goal for Estevao. “We know that Salah is already ready to attack, to play on the counter-attack, so we know,…

Nottingham Forest have formally registered a complaint with PGMOL, claiming that Everton’s James Tarkowski should have been sent off for a shoulder barge from behind on Dan Ndoye that left the Forest winger on the floor.The off-the-ball clash happened in the 11th minute of Saturday’s match at the Hill Dickinson Stadium, and Forest’s bosses believe the result could have been very different had Tarkowski seen red. The score was 1-0 at the time before Forest went on to lose 3-0. The incident was not seen by on-field referee Chris Kavanagh, but the VAR, James Bell, decided not to intervene. Bell…

Valdebebas, SPAIN — Xabi Alonso insisted on Tuesday that he retains the support of his players, and said he’s “calm” about reports his job is under threat, as Real Madrid prepare to host Manchester City in the Champions League.Madrid go into the City game having won just one of their last five matches in LaLiga, including Sunday’s 2-0 home defeat to Celta Vigo at the Bernabéu.ESPN reported on Monday that president Florentino Pérez met with the Madrid board after the Celta loss to discuss Alonso’s future, with concerns over his management and the performances of key players.”Yes,” Alonso said, giving…

NEW DELHI (AP) — Microsoft on Tuesday announced its biggest-ever Asia investment, amounting to $17.5 billion, in India over the next four years to advance the country’s cloud and artificial intelligence infrastructure.CEO Satya Nadella revealed this in an X post after meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi.Nadella said that Microsoft was committing the investments to help India build the “infrastructure, skills and sovereign capabilities” needed for its AI future.The announcement underscores the growing global competition among major technology companies to expand in India, which has become one of the world’s fastest-growing digital markets.In October, Google said…

NEW YORK (AP) — The Justice Department can publicly release investigative materials from a sex trafficking case against Ghislaine Maxwell, the longtime confidant of Jeffrey Epstein, a federal judge said on Tuesday.Judge Paul A. Engelmayer ruled after the Justice Department in November asked two judges in New York to unseal grand jury transcripts and exhibits from Maxwell and Epstein’s cases, along with investigative materials that could amount to hundreds or thousands of previously unreleased documents.The ruling, in the wake of the passage last month of the Epstein Files Transparency Act, means the records could be made public within 10 days.…

In a time of deep Palestinian anguish, the national football team’s successive victories in the Arab Cup, currently taking place in Qatar, have ignited a rare and precious sense of unity. This joy begins in the rain-soaked tents of displaced families in Gaza, stretches to refugee camps in Lebanon, Jordan and Syria, and ripples across Palestinian communities worldwide. From Rafah comes Ihab Abu Jazar, the team’s coach, whose family home was destroyed and whose mother was moved to a tent in the Mawasi area. He becomes, suddenly, a beacon of hope. For a fleeting moment, his squad delivers triumph on…

Team newsDuring his pre-match press conference on Monday afternoon, Chivu said: “Manuel [Akanji] didn’t train today because he wasn’t feeling well. We’ll see how he is tomorrow.”[Francesco] Acerbi is the defender who gets the most minutes, along with [Alessandro] Bastoni and Akanji. [Yann-Aurel] Bisseck showed what we expected. The decisions I make are based on the opponent, the workload and my intuition.”Acerbi has shown in recent years that he can play every three days. He recovers very quickly and he can do it.”Chivu also confirmed both Matteo Darmian and Denzel Dumfries are ruled out of the game due to injury.Previous…

We’re in the thick of the holiday shopping season, and U.S. residents are expected to shatter the spending record again this year. The National Retail Federation forecasts that 2025 will be the first time we collectively spend more than $1 trillion on year-end gifts.A lot of materials, energy, packaging and gasoline have gone into making and moving those gifts. All of those processes release planet-warming gases into the atmosphere.But a lot of that environmental impact is avoidable. Making, baking, thrifting and avoiding traditional wrapping paper are all more planet-friendly ways to give. We’ve got tips on how to do them…

JERUSALEM (AP) — Archaeologists have finished uncovering the longest continuous remains of an ancient wall that encircled Jerusalem, including possible evidence of a 2,100-year-old ceasefire between warring kingdoms.Last week, archaeologists finished excavating the most complete part ever discovered of the foundations of the walls, which surrounded Jerusalem during the time of the Hasmonean Kingdom, when the story of Hanukkah took place. In Hebrew, Hanukkah means “dedication,” and the holiday marks the rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem in the second century B.C., after a small group of Jewish fighters liberated it from occupying foreign forces, and the Hasmonean Kingdom that…