USA 2 Costa Rica 2 (USA win 4-3 on pens)
June 29 – You’d hate to use the word ‘sterile’ to describe a Concacaf Gold Cup quarter-final, but following the drama and passion of Guatemala versus Canada, it all felt a little flat as the United States Men’s National Team (USMNT) and Costa Rica kicked off for the right to face Guatemala in St. Louis. After 90 minutes and the drama of penalty kicks,
By Paul Nicholson
June 29 – Asian federations are making preparations to tune up their national teams for the final rounds of World Cup 2018 qualifiers which will see the remaining 12 teams split into two groups of six competing for four automatic slots at the Russia tournament, and one play off opportunity.
By Andrew Warshaw
June 29 – Lionel Messi has been urged to reconsider his surprise decision to quit international football by Diego Maradona, Argentina’s president Mauricio Macri and, it seems, virtually the whole of his country.
June 29 – Iceland’s fairytale progress to the quarterfinals of the European Championship proves it was a good idea to expand the tournament to 24 teams and has provided just the boost required, according to UEFA’s interim secretary general Theodore Theodoridis.
June 29 – Tickets for the Euro 2016 quarter finals between Germany vs Italy and France vs Iceland sold out within two hours of being placed on sale yesterday. But UEFA warned fans of buying forged tickets from unknown sources.
June 29 – CONCACAF has set the dates for the group stages of the Scotiabank Champions League, its blue riband event for clubs.
By Paul Nicholson
June 28 – A ruling last week in the Supreme Court in the US could well send shivers down the spines of football marketing executives and rights holders who haven’t been caught up in the US football corruption investigations, yet.
June 28 – England were not the only team to incur the wrath of their national press after exiting Euro 2016. Spanish media blasted their own side and called on coach Vicente del Bosque to resign after the defending champions were knocked out by Italy.
By Andrew Warshaw
June 28 – Embarrassing, disbelieving, shameful. And that’s just for starters after the most woeful performance in a major finals for half a century by an England team.
By Andrew Warshaw
June 28 – England are looking for a new manager yet again after Roy Hodgson quit within minutes of the stunning 2-1 defeat by Iceland, the lowest-ranked team left in the competition, in the first knockout round at Euro 2016.
June 28 – Laurent Blanc and Paris Saint-Germain have parted ways as the Parisian club seeks a new direction. Blanc has agreed to a €22 million (£17 million) severance deal. The club have moved quickly to appoint Unai Emery, who left serial Europa League winners Sevilla earlier this summer, as the new manager.
By David Owen
June 28 – Just when it looked like Euro 2016’s Battle of the Brands was about to come down to a straight shoot-out between Nike and Adidas, along came the tournament’s Manic Monday to make sure that four kit suppliers are still in with a chance of glory at the quarter-final stage.
By Paul Nicholson
June 27 – Lionel Messi has hung up his international boots, his last act for Argentina being missing a penalty in the final shoot out last night that saw Chile win the Copa America Centenario in the US.
By Andrew Warshaw
June 27 – The issue of Gianni Infantino’s salary and when he might put pen to paper is back in the spotlight after another independent member of the compensation committee that set the FIFA president’s pay resigned.
By Paul Nicholson
June 27 – One of the major legacies of the France 2016 European Championships will be the new and renovated stadia that the French clubs are left to play in. But with 19 of Ligue 1’s club stadia owned by municipalities, will the clubs really benefit from the increased revenue opportunities?
By Samindra Kunti
June 27 – Olympique de Marseille (OM), struggling financially under president Vincent Labrune, look poised to announce new money into the club with Iranian investors reported to be ready to splash the cash to rejuvenate the French giant.