Robert Lewandowski broke his World Cup duck on Saturday and explained his emotional celebration was due to the possibility of this being his last finals.

This is only Lewandowski s second World Cup with Poland, but he is now 34 years old and did not score a single goal at Russia 2018.

That barren run continued in the opening match against Mexico, in which the Barcelona forward saw a penalty saved.

But Lewandowski assisted Piotr Zielinski s strike against Saudi Arabia and grabbed the second himself in a vital 2-0 win to move Poland top of Group C.

The former Bayern Munich man was clearly overcome with emotion as he embraced his team-mates.

The older I get, the more emotional I get, Lewandowski said. I m aware when it comes to the World Cup, it mig…

Philippe Clement’s first Old Firm game ended in his first defeat as Rangers boss as goals from Paulo Bernardo and Kyogo Furuhashi gave Celtic a 2-1 win at Parkhead.

The Belgian had gone 16 games unbeaten since taking over from Michael Beale in October but with no away fans inside the ground due to an allocation dispute between the two clubs it was always going to be the acid test for the injury-hit visitors.

The Ibrox side started the game positively before Hoops midfielder Bernardo scored after 25 minutes, with the Gers missing at least a couple of good chances to level.

— Celtic Football Club (@CelticFC)

Celtic’s prolific striker Furuhashi curled in a second from 20 yards less than two minutes after the restart and there was more woe fo…

Gareth Southgate has pushed the England squad ahead of their World Cup quarter-final against France, challenging his side to create history in Qatar.

The Three Lions progressed past Senegal in the first knockout round to clinch a tie against the defending champions, presenting England s biggest test so far at the tournament.

Defeat against Didier Deschamps side would mark England s earliest exit from a major tournament under Southgate, who led the side to the semi-finals of the World Cup in Russia and finished as runners-up to Italy at Euro 2020.

While those improvements are significant, England have fallen at a crucial hurdle against tough opponents in each of those tournaments – losing 2-1 to Croatia in 2018 before a heartbreaking penalty shoot-out defeat at …

Fulham defender Joe Bryan is one of 10 out-of-contract players set to leave the Premier League club at the end of the month after they announced their retained list on Thursday.

The west-London club published their released and retained list ahead of the 2023/24 season which will see Bryan, Shane Duffy, Paulo Gazzaniga, Steven Sessegnon, Thorsteinn Antonsson, Sonny Hilton, Ziyad Larkeche, Jonathon Page, Murphy Parker and Jean-Pierre Tiehi leave Craven Cottage.

Bryan – who spent the last campaign on loan at Ligue 1 Nice – will leave the club after making 117 appearances which included two promotion campaigns.

Meanwhile, Gazzaniga, who began 2021/22 as Marco Silva’s first-choice goalkeeper, has since impressed following a loan spell at Girona and made the mov…

There is perhaps no sporting debate that captures the imagination like that concerning the identity of football s greatest ever player.

The incredible goalscoring feats of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo put them at the centre of the discussion, but what about the greats of yesteryear?

Does the cunning of Diego Maradona or the ingenuity of Johan Cruyff make one of them the best to have played the world s most popular sport?

The ultimate reference for all those iconic players, however, is Pele. The only player to have won three World Cups, the ultimate personification of o jogo bonito .

With tributes flooding in after the Brazil icon passed away at the age of 82, Stats Perform delves into the Selecao star s incredible career, asking how it compares to …

Aston Villa have completed the signing of defender Pau Torres from Villarreal.

The 26-year-old, who has been capped 23 times for Spain, moves to Villa Park for an undisclosed fee after agreeing a five-year deal.

He links up again with Villa boss Unai Emery who he played under for the Yellow Submarine.

Torres won the Europa League in 2021 – under Emery – and helped Villarreal reach the semi-finals of the Champions League a year later.

He becomes Villa’s second summer signing after the arrival of former Leicester midfielder Youri Tielemans on a free transfer.

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Barcelona will not face any sporting sanctions for payments allegedly made to a company part-owned by former referee Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira, LaLiga president Javier Tebas has confirmed.

The Catalan giants have been alleged to have paid €1.4million between 2016 and 2018 to Negreira s company DASNIL 95 SL, with the claims first revealed by broadcaster SER Catalunya earlier this week.

Newspaper El Pais alleged that in return for payments, Barcelona received a written report and DVD assessment of referees prior to games.

Barcelona have strenuously denied wrongdoing, stating they previously hired an external consultant who provided video of youth players from other teams, together with technical reports related to professional refereeing , which it said was a …

Former Manchester United captain Roy Keane compared Erling Haaland to a League Two player following Manchester City s draw with Arsenal.

City failed to score at home for the first time in 58 matches in all competitions, but it was Haaland s general play which failed to impress Keane.

The Norway international had four shots in total the most of any player on the field but none of those tested David Raya in the Arsenal goal.

The level of his general play is so poor and not just today, Keane said on Sky Sports.

I think laying his stuff off, headers, whatever it might be…. In terms of in front of goal, he s the best in the world.

But his general play for such a player it is so poor. Not just today, he has to improve.

He s almost like a L…

Matt Doherty marked his second Wolves debut with two goals and Nathan Fraser scored on his first senior appearance as they brushed aside League One Blackpool 5-0 to reach the third round of the Carabao Cup.

Sasa Kalajdzic doubled his Wolves tally days after getting off the mark at Everton and Fabio Silva capped a fine display with his first goal for the club since May 2021 before the popular Doherty, back at the ground where he spent a decade before leaving in 2020, scored two in seven minutes.

Substitute Fraser had set up the second of Doherty’s goals and the 18-year-old then got in on the scoring himself, beating goalkeeper Richard O’Donnell with a deflected effort late on.

With Matheus Nunes trying to force through a move to Manchester City, Goncalo Guedes…

When the Premier League fixtures for 2020-21 were announced on August 20 last year, Leeds United fans will have had one thing at the front of their minds: playing against Manchester United.

Having confirmed their promotion back to the top flight for the first time since their 2004 relegation, Leeds were preparing for a momentous season and that would mean the resuming of hostilities with their great rivals.

The Premier League had been without one of English football s fiercest rivalries for more than 16 years, and when they finally met on December 20, Leeds fans – regardless of there being no crowd at Old Trafford – were going to relish every minute, confident that Marcelo Bielsa had put together a team capable of leaving with a historic win.

They were back a…