For Messi, who embraced close friend De Paul and Suárez after the winner, the emotional celebration reflected his enduring joy for the game—even at 38.

The Brazilians have also secured qualification for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

In all, 12 groups of four nations will be drawn.

Representatives of North Korea, Iran, Japan and the Philippines were also absent in the draw ceremony, held in Sydney.

"There were a lot of tears at full-time especially when I saw my family because those are the people who got me through those dark moments," Kelly said on Sunday.

Before their quarter-final defeat by Spain, Swiss fans held up a banner saying "Time to move mountains", but by then the hosts already had, making the knockout stage for the first time as a fever for women’s football swept the country -- and the continent.

Despite having spent over a quarter of a billion pounds, Liverpool are still reportedly in the hunt for Sweden and Newcastle striker Alexander Isak, who could command a staggering £150m fee.

Newcastle manager Eddie Howe insisted Saturday that Alexander Isak is still a Newcastle player despite speculation around a move to either Premier League champions Liverpool or Al Hilal in Saudi Arabia.

Barcelona goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen is set to undergo back surgery on a long-term problem and will miss three months as a result, the Germany international said on Thursday.

Spain set up Euro final against England on Sunday.

The images reflect not just a victory, but a proud continuation of a legacy in the making.

Returning to AC Milan for his second spell as manager, Massimiliano Allegri vowed Monday to rekindle the faltering Italian giants to their former glory with the addition of a "proven champion" like Luka Modric.

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta was reluctant to talk Monday about transfer target Viktor Gyokeres, but said there was "a lot of time left in the window" to strengthen his squad.

"The bigger the game gets, the bigger the noise becomes, the more fans there are, but the more critics there are," Bronze said.

Manchester United have plenty to improve on and need more pace in their midfield, manager Ruben Amorim said after the Premier League side began their pre-season preparations with a goalless draw against Leeds United.

Newcastle United manager Eddie Howe said he is confident that striker Alexander Isak will be at the Premier League club at the start of the 2025-26 season, after leaving the Swede out of their 4-0 friendly loss to Celtic due to transfer talk.

Iran has booked the final ticket to the women's Asian Cup, beating Jordan 2-1, with the cast now set for the 2026 tournament in Australia.

Messi increased his total goals in MLS games to 18 this season and has contributed on 27 scores.

Serie A champions Napoli must be humble and learn from the mistakes they made during their disastrous title defence in the 2023-24 campaign, manager Antonio Conte has warned.

In the long gap between two triumphs, one thing echoes consistently: the cry for long-term planning, and the lingering question of whether we can truly capitalise on success and momentum.