England lead the group on 13 points with Ukraine on seven. Italy and North Macedonia both have four points.

Japan, who also contributed to Germany's group stage exit at the World Cup with a 2-1 win in Qatar last year, scored twice in each half

Bangladesh were eliminated from the qualification race for the AFC U-23 Asian Cup following a 3-0 defeat against Thailand in Chonburi today.

Ronaldo was lacklustre in his 201st Portugal appearance at the age of 38.

Luciano Spalletti leads Italy into a symbolic debut on Saturday as the Azzurri travel to North Macedonia in Euro 2024 qualifying, a chance to exorcise the ghosts of World Cup disaster.

Lamine Yamal brightened the gloom that has descended over Spanish football by becoming the country's youngest ever player and goalscorer as La Roja thrashed Georgia 7-1 on Friday to get their Euro 2024 qualifying campaign back on track.

Brazil lived up to expectations by smashing Bolivia 5-1 at home in their 2026 World Cup qualifiers opener on Friday, with Neymar surpassing the late great Pele as the country's top scorer.

Neymar became Brazil's all-time top scorer with his goal against Bolivia on Friday taking him to 78 goals and surpassing Pele's record.

Saudi Pro League (SPL) clubs have splurged $957 million on players in the close season transfer window, according to analysis from Deloitte published on Friday.

Two-time champions Bangladesh moved into the final of the SAFF U-16 Championship after five years with a come-from-behind 2-1 win over Pakistan in the second semifinal at the Changlimithang Stadium in Thimphu today.

Barcelona midfielder Ilkay Gundogan will captain Germany, manager Hansi Flick confirmed on Friday, nine months before the country hosts Euro 2024.

Young forward Sheikh Morsalin unleashed the CR7 celebration after scoring a crucial equalising goal against Afghanistan in a FIFA Friendly at the Kings Arena on Thursday.

The vibe is very different from the start of its past five South American World Cup qualifying campaigns, though, because the Selecao are rebuilding with an interim coach, their star player not based in Europe and promising young players are either struggling for form or injured.

France took a huge step towards qualifying for Euro 2024 with a 2-0 victory over Ireland on Thursday, while the Netherlands and Denmark claimed big wins as they eye places at next year's finals in Germany.

"We were the better side in terms of creating chances in the two matches. Unfortunately, we could not utilise those and we have to learn from these two matches. We have to get better and improve ourselves," said Jamal at the post-match conference, for which the Afghan officials were a no-show.

Thanks to a brilliant late free-kick from Lionel Messi, defending world champions Argentina were able to begin their 2026 World Cup qualifiers with a 1-0 win over Ecuador at the Mas Monumental stadium in Buenos Aires today.

The current minimum wage is  16,000 euros a year for Liga F players.

Sheikh Morsalin tapped in to provide the equaliser for the home side.

Castro had been sceptical last month when it was reported that Ramos was keen to return to his boyhood club.

"If you love Cristiano Ronaldo, you don’t have to hate (Lionel) Messi. We have both changed the history of world football,” Ronaldo said during an interview during with Record, a Portuguese newspaper.