WORLD CUP

Lionel Messi was supposed to be training alongside his Paris Saint-Germain teammates at the start of the week with his club embroiled in a tight French league title race.

A Brazilian dictionary has added “Pelé” as an adjective to use when describing someone who is “exceptional, incomparable, unique.”.

Dani Alves has testified in court and told the judge investigating a sexual assault accusation against him that he had consensual sex with the alleged victim.

When Lionel Messi was jeered by Paris Saint-Germain fans during last Sunday’s home defeat to Lyon, their relationship looked like it had reached breaking point.

A group of former players — including Aly Wagner and Brandi Chastain — has joined with global investment firm Sixth Street to bring a National Women’s Soccer League team to the San Francisco Bay Area.

Indonesia has been stripped of hosting rights for the Under-20 World Cup amid political turmoil regarding Israel’s participation.

New faces have dominated European Championship qualifying as Spain coach Luis de la Fuente swept aside Norway in his first game in charge and a Wales forward rescued a dramatic draw in his first international game.

Gio Reyna started in his first match with the U.S. after his parents disparaged then-coach Gregg Berhalter for his lack of playing time at the World Cup, a 7-1 rout of 173rd-ranked Grenada in the CONCACAF Nationals League at St. George’s.

Qatar says it has sent 4,000 cabins built to house fans at last year’s World Cup to earthquake survivors in Turkey and Syria.

Mikaela Shiffrin won her 21st career giant slalom at the World Cup Finals as the American standout ended the season with yet another record.

Swiss skier Marco Odermatt broke the 23-year-old men’s record for most World Cup points in a single season after dominating the giant slalom at the World Cup Finals.

Gio Reyna has been elected by interim coach Anthony Hudson for the United States' CONCACAF Nations League matches against Grenada and El Salvador.

The expanded World Cup in North America has gotten even more supersized.

The U.S. Soccer Federation says Gregg Berhalter remains a candidate to stay on as men’s national team coach after a report by a law firm concluded he did not improperly withhold information about a 1992 domestic violence allegation involving the woman who later became his wife.

Mikaela Shiffrin has marked her 28th birthday with the appointment of a new personal head coach, just two days after she became the most successful World Cup skier in history.

A Swiss newspaper says a spying operation on behalf of World Cup host Qatar bugged a 2017 hotel meeting between FIFA president Gianni Infantino and Switzerland’s then-attorney general.

American skier Mikaela Shiffrin has surpassed Swedish great Ingemar Stenmark with a record 87th World Cup win.

American skier Mikaela Shiffrin has set the outright World Cup record for most career victories with 87 by winning a slalom.

Ingemar Stenmark says all this fuss over Mikaela Shiffrin as she approached his record of 86 World Cup skiing victories was beside the point.

American skier Mikaela Shiffrin has won her record-tying 86th World Cup race with victory in a giant slalom.

Less than three months after Argentina won its third soccer World Cup trophy in Qatar, there is growing excitement about the possibility that the country could take home another major prize – an Academy Award.

Mikaela Shiffrin finished seventh at a World Cup super-G affected by changing weather conditions as the American skier missed out on a record-tying 86th career victory.

Federal jurors in New York are preparing to start deliberations on the fates of two former Fox executives accused of paying millions of dollars in bribes to gain broadcasting rights to soccer’s biggest matches, including the World Cup.

American skier Mikaela Shiffrin dominated downhill training ahead of what could become another record-breaking weekend.

World Cup winner Lionel Messi has won FIFA’s Best Men’s Player award for 2022.

Former Germany great Jurgen Klinsmann has been hired to coach South Korea’s national soccer team.

Georgia lost, and then celebrated.

Sofia Goggia has raced toward another World Cup downhill title with a fifth win in her dominating season.

USA Basketball put together different rosters for all six World Cup qualifying windows, and coach Jim Boylen noticed the same two things with each of those groups.

Major League Soccer hopes to pick a 30th team by the end of the year.

A Spanish court has denied Dani Alves’ appeal to be freed on bail while the investigation of a sexual assault accusation against the Brazilian soccer player continues.

Major League Soccer is embarking on its 28th season with a new team in St. Louis City and a new media deal with Apple TV.

One gold.

Qatar plans to send 10,000 cabins and caravans from last year’s World Cup to provide shelter for survivors of the Turkish earthquakes.

Mother Nature and global warming are having just as much to say about when and where to hold ski races these days as the International Ski and Snowboard Federation.

World Cup winner Lionel Messi says in a radio interview aired on Monday that he regrets his testy exchanges with the Netherlands coach and players during their controversial quarterfinal in Qatar.

Mikaela Shiffrin will have to wait for at least five more weeks before tying the World Cup record for most career wins with 86.

American skier Mikaela Shiffrin has dominated a slalom for her 85th career victory to move within one of the World Cup record set by Swedish great Ingemar Stenmark in the 1980s.

Brandon Vazquez scored to lead a U.S. lineup with seven starters making their international debuts, but the Americans lost 2-1 to Serbia in their first match since the World Cup.

Mikaela Shiffrin has done quite a lot in only 12 years.

American skier Mikaela Shiffrin has won a record 83rd World Cup race.

Cristiano Ronaldo has failed to score in his Saudi Pro League debut for Al Nassr.

The El País newspaper says the woman who accused Dani Alves of sexual assault at a nightclub last year will not seek financial compensation from the Brazil soccer player.

American skier Mikaela Shiffrin’s pursuit of a record-breaking 83rd World Cup victory is still on hold.

American skier Mikaela Shiffrin’s pursuit of a record-breaking 83rd World Cup victory will go on for at least another day.

Former United States coach Jurgen Klinsmann says the fallout from the public dispute between coach Gregg Berhalter and the family of young star Gio Reyna is “obviously not looking good” for U.S. soccer.

Mikaela Shiffrin is set to continue her quest for a record-setting 83rd women’s Alpine skiing World Cup win next week.

American skier Mikaela Shiffrin has finished second to Olympic champion Petra Vlhova in a night slalom race, meaning she will have to wait for another chance to break the record for most wins on the women’s World Cup circuit.

Mikaela Shiffrin has matched Lindsey Vonn’s women’s World Cup skiing record with her 82nd win.

Take a look at Mikaela Shiffrin's statistical accomplishments as she chases history.

Saudi Arabian soccer club Al Nassr has announced the signing of Cristiano Ronaldo, ending speculation about the five-time Ballon d’Or winner’s future.

Without question, 2022 will forever go down as a memorable one in the sports world with all that was achieved by athletes and teams around the world.

The world population is projected to be 7.9 billion people on New Year’s Day 2023, with nearly 74 million people added since New Year’s Day 2022.

Mikaela Shiffrin led Paula Moltzan for an American 1-2 finish in a night slalom to become the first ski racer with 50 World Cup wins in a single discipline.

A parade in Buenos Aires to celebrate the return of Argentina’s World Cup champion team was abruptly cut short as millions of people poured onto streets, highways and overpasses in a chaotic attempt to catch a glimpse of team members.

Alex Ovechkin is one of the happiest athletes around about Lionel Messi winning the World Cup with Argentina.

While there is still much to be sorted out logistically for the event, here is what we know at the moment about World Cup 2026.

Lucas Braathen won the Alta Badia giant slalom for his second win in as many races.

Morocco’s fans in the Arab world are taking the North African team’s 2-1 loss to Croatia in the World Cup third-place playoff philosophically.

Fans from across the globe are being exposed to Islam, sometimes for the first time in their lives, during the first World Cup in the Middle East.

Yassine Bounou stretched out his arm with everything he had trying to get something in the way of the ball.

Over 1,000 soccer fans gathered in Dearborn to watch the World Cup on Wednesday.

A big watch party is being held in Dearborn for the World Cup semifinal match between France and Morocco.

Crowds in Paris and other French cities erupted in shouts of joy as France advanced to the World Cup final.

The streets of Argentina have turned into a party as the national team beat Croatia by a comfortable 3-0 and earned this soccer-crazed South American country a spot in the World Cup final.

The European Union's parliament is reeling and its credibility is at stake as a corruption and bribery scandal has toppled a senior member.

Exuberant Moroccans have poured into the streets of their capital and in cities across Europe to celebrate their national soccer team’s historic win against Spain at the World Cup.

Iran's national soccer team has received a subdued welcome home with a few dozen fans greeting them at the capital Tehran's airport and waving flags following their World Cup defeat by the U.S. team.

Soccer fans in Iran's Kurdish majority region have cheered the U.S. win over Iran in a politically charged World Cup, amid ongoing anti-government protests.

The Biden administration has approved a $1 billion arms sale to Qatar in a transaction unveiled during halftime of the key World Cup 2022 match in Doha between Iran and the United States.

Smiling U.S. and Iranian fans were mingling and posing for photos ahead of a politically charged World Cup match in Qatar.

The U.S. team’s victory over Iran at the World Cup was closely watched across the Middle East.

A top Qatari official involved in preparing his country’s hosting of the World Cup has put the number of worker deaths for the tournament “between 400 and 500” for the first time.

Wendy Holdener’s lengthy wait for a slalom victory has come to an end although the Swiss skier had to share top spot with Anna Swenn Larsson.

The U.S. soccer federation briefly displayed Iran’s national flag on social media without the emblem of the Islamic Republic.

World champion Lara Gut-Behrami of Switzerland has won her first World Cup giant slalom in more than six years with a triumphant second run.

As dawn broke on another day at the World Cup in Qatar, laborers who built this energy-rich country’s stadiums, roads and subway filled empty stretches of asphalt and sandlots to play cricket.

Iran’s political turmoil has cast a shadow over Iran’s second match at the World Cup.

World Cup fans who found hotels in central Doha booked up or far beyond their budget have settled for vast fan villages some hour away from the city.

Summer Britcher and Emily Sweeney have been USA Luge teammates for years.

The 2022 FIFA World Cup is off and running from Qatar, with a big slate of games coming your way on Tuesday, featuring some of the top teams in the tournament.

It was a pretty good World Cup debut for Jude Bellingham.

Iran goalkeeper Ali Beiranvand was injured and carried off the field early in his team’s opening World Cup match against England after clashing heads with a teammate.

Some Iran fans at the team's World Cup opener against England showed their support for protests against the Islamic Republic's regime.

The question of where to get a drink, a fixture at sporting events around the world, in the conservative country has been top of mind for many fans since Qatar banned the sale of beer in stadiums in a stunning about-face.

Overall World Cup champion Mikaela Shiffrin of the United States claimed a slalom event for a sweep of the two season-opening races.

Qatar has opened the Middle East’s first World Cup with its ruler sitting next to the leaders of two countries that only a year and a half earlier were part of a boycott trying to bring the energy-rich nation to its knees.

Authorities have turned away thousands of fans from a concert celebrating the World Cup beginning the next day in Qatar.

World Cup champion champion Mikaela Shiffrin of the United States has claimed the season-opening women’s World Cup race for her 48th slalom victory.

There are many reasons to criticize FIFA for the way they’ve handled the Men’s World Cup that is about to begin in Qatar, and at the top of that list is that they chose to have it in a nation with egregious human rights violations.

Fans are pouring into Qatar to watch and be part of the first World Cup in the Middle East.

Some are older and familiar names who might be in their last World Cup, while others will be names to get used to for future World Cups.

While the key contributors aren’t limited to these five, going into the USMNT’s first game against Wales on Monday, here are the players most likely to carry the American side.

For the first time since 2014, the U.S. Men’s National Team is back in the World Cup, and will have its first game on Monday against Wales.

Qatar is a tiny nation that is smaller than Connecticut in square miles, so Qatar would be No. 49 on the list of largest states if it was a part of the U.S.

Manchester United co-owner Joel Glazer will make the final decision about Cristiano Ronaldo’s future at the club after the forward’s incendiary TV interview.

Iranian shops in Tehran’s historic Grand Bazaar and elsewhere across the country have closed their doors amid protests gripping the nation.

For the first time, the World Cup will be held in November and December instead of its customary time slot of June and July.

Since its launch in 2020, NBCUniversal has had its share of big events to showcase its Peacock Streaming Service.

USA Basketball is on the brink of clinching a berth in the 2023 Basketball World Cup.