England must beat Sweden to reach their first World Cup semi-final in 28 years, but their record against Scandinavian sides is not encouraging.
Gareth Southgate s men shifted one considerable monkey from their backs against Colombia on Tuesday with a penalty shoot-out victory their first in World Cup history.
But another hoodoo looms large in Samara on Saturday as Sweden who defeated Switzerland 1-0 stand between them and a place in the last four against Croatia or hosts Russia.
Sweden are a team I respect hugely, Southgate said after the physical and emotional rollercoaster against Colombia. We ve not got a good record against them, I think we ve always underestimated them.
They have good plans, they have a clear way of playing and it s bloody diff…
A late Ashley Barnes strike gained Burnley a surprise 2-2 draw at Manchester City on Sunday to end the champions nine-match winning run.
City were on course for a club-record 10th consecutive victory in all competitions that would have seen them move to within a point of Premier League leaders Chelsea, who drew with Southampton earlier in the day.
However, after George Boyd pulled one back, Barnes completed a memorable comeback for Sean Dyche s side, who were 2-0 down at half-time thanks to strikes from David Silva and Fernandinho at the Etihad Stadium.
Burnley had offered signs of promise in the opening exchanges, but City s dominance in possession came to fruition when Silva opened the scoring 23 minutes in.
The Spaniard s fifth goal in as ma…
A dominant Rangers were forced to settle for a 1-0 home win over Ufa on Thursday that left their Europa League play-off tie finely poised.
Connor Goldson s close-range finish in the 41st minute put Steven Gerrard s side within touch of group stage qualification, but they may feel as though the two-legged affair should already be over.
The match-winner himself headed over a good opportunity prior to his goal while Alfredo Morelos was repeatedly frustrated in his attempts to increase the margin.
Rangers will, however, be confident of protecting their lead after encountering few threats at Ibrox.
TFW you score on a European night at Ibrox Stadium
Connor Goldson
— UEFA Europa League (@EuropaLeague)
They were dominant from the o…
Cristian Tello will leave Barcelona to join Real Betis in a €5million transfer after agreeing a five-year deal in Andalusia.
Barca and Betis have both confirmed the deal is done, with only a medical and formal signing of the contract left to complete before the 25-year-old is presented at his new club.
The Camp Nou club confirmed they have sold Tello for an initial fee of €4m, with a further €1m payable in add-ons, while they will financially benefit if the winger later moves on elsewhere.
Tello joined Barca from city rivals Espanyol in 2010, making his debut for the first-team in November 2011.
He established himself as a role player for Barca, playing 44 LaLiga games in two seasons between 2012 and 2014, although the second of those campaigns saw …
Wolfsburg coach Dieter Hecking conceded his side s hopes of UEFA Europa League progression are slim on Thursday, but reflected on a positive campaign for his men.
Hecking led the Volkswagen Arena outfit to the last eight of a European competition for the first time since 2009-10, but they are on the brink of a swift exit after a 4-1 home loss to Napoli in the first leg of their quarter-final tie.
Ahead of the second leg at Napoli s Stadio San Paolo on Thursday, Hecking was realistic about Wolfsburg s chances but could not help but believe in the dream turnaround.
Unfortunately, last week we had a game with a bad referee, an unlucky early deficit and where Napoli then controlled the game because we lost our cool, Hecking said.
Those are very important…
Former A-League player Andy Brennan has become the first Australian male footballer to come out publicly as gay.
Brennan played for Newcastle Jets in the top flight between 2015 and 2017 and now lines up for Victorian National Premier Leagues side Green Gully.
While the 26-year-old says his decision to go public has been a big weight off his shoulders, he does not want to pressure others to do the same if they are not ready.
You ve got to realise that s who you are and you ve just got to be who you are – whether you re gay or whatever, whoever you are, he told the Herald Sun.
There will be people out there thinking, Why has he got to voice his own personal whatever to the world? . The reason I wanted to do this in the first place was to make me feel …
Paris Saint-Germain have stressed their condemnation of all forms of discrimination and racism after confirming forms with illegal contents were used by a recruitment section of the club s academy.
A report by Mediapart and television programme Envoye Special alleged, following an investigation on the back of recently released Football Leaks documents, that PSG s scouts have been required to document the ethnicity of potential academy signings.
The report also claimed a promising French player was not signed by PSG because of the colour of his skin and that the club signed only one black player for their academy between 2013 and 2018.
Responding to the claims, PSG said in a statement: Paris Saint-Germain reaffirms its firm condemnation of all forms of…
Mohamed Salah wants silverware more than any personal accolades as Liverpool seek success on multiple fronts.
The Egypt international was imperious in a 44-goal 2017-18 season that nonetheless ended without any trophies for Jurgen Klopp s side.
Liverpool – beaten Champions League finalists and fourth-placed finishers in the Premier League last season – host Merseyside rivals Everton on Sunday, where Salah can reach a personal milestone.
He needs a double to break Liverpool s record for most goals scored in a player s first 50 league games for the club, but such landmarks are secondary to his desire to add titles to his CV.
My target last season was not only to break the [goalscoring] record but also to win something with the club, Salah told Sky Spor…
Prediction: Germany to win 3-0
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Germany and Hungary will face each other in their final Euro 2020 Group F game this week. The match is scheduled to kick off at 8pm UK time on Wednesday and will take place at the Alianz Arena in Munich.
Germany
Germany are second in Euro 2020 Group F with three points from two matches. The former world champions are a point behind leaders France and level on points with third-placed Portugal.
Joachim Low’s side kicked off their European Championship campaign with a 1-0 defeat to France. In their second game, the Germans actually fell behind to a Cristiano Ronaldo goal to Portugal, but they came back strongly to win 4-2.
Team News:
Serge Gnabry and Kai Havertz all should start fo…
Jose Mourinho accused Pep Guardiola of lying about David Silva being injured this week and, frankly, all power to the Manchester United manager.
Relations between the tempestuous Portuguese and his feisty Catalan sparring partner have been almost nauseatingly cordial since they arrived in Manchester last year.
But with their teams heading the Premier League pack, will we see a return to the fractious mood that saw Guardiola turn the air blue in the Santiago Bernabeu press room before his Barcelona faced Mourinho s Real Madrid in the 2011 Champions League semi-final?
Even if the two managers keep their powder dry this weekend, we ve thrown together Jamie Smith and Dom Farrell to state the respective cases of the red and blue halves of Manchester. After all, what i…