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Jeff CarlisleNov 19, 2025, 05:21 AM ETCloseJeff Carlisle covers MLS and the U.S. national team for ESPN FC.TAMPA — Sixteen months ago, the U.S. men’s national team hit rock bottom, losing 1-0 to Uruguay to seal its group-stage elimination from the 2024 Copa America. In that match, the U.S. was outfought and out-thought by La Celeste and crumbled under an onslaught of physical play.The Copa America performance cost then-U.S. manager Gregg Berhalter his job, and brought on the arrival of Mauricio Pochettino as manager.Now? The U.S. is unrecognizable — in the best possible way — as it obliterated Uruguay 5-1…
Serie A champion with Napoli. Ballon d’Or nominee. Scott McTominay has overseen a pretty sensational last 12 months. But sending his country to a first World Cup in over a quarter of a century must surely top the lot.Such was the drama in the final ten minutes of the Hampden Park classic that McTominay’s stunning bicycle kick was nearly forgotten. It may not even go down as the best goal of the night. But it was one that set the tone for a night of mayhem – and glory. We’ve seen bicycle kicks like that before. It is comparable to…
This marks PayPal’s first-ever collaboration with a Premier League club, further positioning the company as the smarter way to pay for football fans globally.A global leader in digital payments, PayPal has more than 400 million active accounts across 200 markets, supporting transactions in 25 currencies.With decades of expertise in secure, fast and flexible payment solutions, PayPal is set to enhance the way Liverpool FC fans engage with the club, both online and in-person.One of the ways this will happen is via PayPal+, the company’s brand-new, first-ever loyalty programme, where fans can earn reward points when using PayPal for matchday purchases,…
Nov 19, 2025, 04:40 AM ETBarcelona said on Wednesday they will play their Champions League match against Eintracht Frankfurt at the Spotify Camp Nou.The Catalan giants are finally returning to their home ground this Saturday for a LaLiga clash with Athletic Bilbao after more than two years away.And the club said on Wednesday that European football can resume at the famous ground when they face Frankfurt on Dec. 9 after UEFA accepted the team’s request to return to the Camp Nou, “considering that all necessary requirements have been met.”Renovations on Camp Nou began in the summer of 2023. GettyThe match against…
In football, as in life, a person’s early 20s are a time for learning.Nathan Lowe has been doing a lot of that since the start of last season – not least due to the fact the 20-year-old is in his second year of a Business Management degree, with the help of the PFA’s Business School. More on that later. Though he made his debut for Stoke at 17 and started to make inroads to the first team under Alex Neil and Steven Schumacher in 2023/24, last term he went on loan to Walsall and, in 30 appearances in all competitions,…
The United Nations Security Council has formally endorsed a US-backed plan for Gaza’s future, based on President Donald Trump’s 20-point strategy to end the war. Thirteen member states voted in favour of the plan on Monday, while China and Russia abstained. UN Resolution 2803 endorses the creation of an international stabilisation force and a transitional “board of peace” to oversee reconstruction efforts in Gaza. The temporary stabilisation force is expected to consist of around 20,000 troops tasked with disarming resistance groups, ensuring security, and supporting humanitarian aid and border control. The board, a transitional administration chaired by Trump, will oversee…
Nov 19, 2025, 03:30 AM ETHaiti sealed their place at next summer’s World Cup with a 2-0 win over Nicaragua on Tuesday, although their French coach Sebastien Migne has yet to visit the island due to continued unrest.Haiti, who are forced to play their games 500 miles away in Curacao, put the finishing touches to a surprising qualifying campaign that saw them win Group C over favourites Honduras and Costa Rica.It will be Haiti’s first World Cup appearance in 52 years, with their previous participation coming at the 1974 World Cup in West Germany.Travellers are warned against visiting Haiti, where…
TOKYO — By taking a hard line on China, Japan’s Sanae Takaichi thinks she’s establishing her right-wing bona fides. In reality, she may be ensuring her premiership will be a brief one. Takaichi wasn’t chosen by the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) to stir a geopolitical hornet’s nest with China. She was picked to raise Japan’s economic game and to tame surging inflation. Unfortunately, Takaichi has yet to explain how she will lower living costs. It’s still early days, of course. But 29 days should be enough time to begin articulating even the vaguest contours of a strategy to halt the…
FRANCONIA, N.H. (AP) — For more than two decades, residents in this tiny tourist town in the shadow of the White Mountains knew they could just drive a few minutes down the road to their community health center for a physical, a Vitamin B-12 shot or to get checked out for a case of the sniffles or high blood pressure.But that changed last month, when this site of the Ammonoosuc Community Health Services in Franconia closed. Employees at Ammonoosuc Community Health Services pack up the reception office as the clinic closes for good, Thursday, Oct. 23, 2025, in Franconia, N.H.…
VILNIUS, Lithuania (AP) — The Lithuanian government decided Wednesday to reopen the country’s two border crossings with Belarus, weeks after they were closed following disruptions at the capital’s airport caused by balloons used to smuggle cigarettes across the frontier.The government in Vilnius said in late October it would keep the crossings closed for a month, with some exemptions. Officials in Lithuania view the balloon disruption as a deliberate act by Russia-allied Belarus.Lithuania’s Cabinet decided to reopen the crossings at Medininkai and Šalčininkai on Thursday. Neighboring Poland this week reopened two crossings with Belarus.The decision is expected to ease the return…