Month: November 2024

Spain won their first Women’s World Cup as England came up just short in Sunday’s final in Sydney.

Here, the PA news agency looks at the key tournament statistics.

Goals

Olga Carmona’s winner in the final was the 164th goal of the tournament, meaning an average of 2.56 in each of the 64 matches.

That is significantly lower than last summer’s European Championship, won by the Lionesses on home soil, when there was an average of just over three goals per game – 95 in 31.

While that was higher than the last men’s Euros – averaging 2.78 goals per game (142 in 51) – this summer has seen fewer goals than at the most recent men’s World Cups. The 2022 event in Qatar saw 172 goals in 64 games (2.69 per game), three more than in 2018 (169, 2.64 p…

Prediction: Girona to win 4-0

Best Odds:

Bookmaker:

Girona and Granada will lock horns with each other in La Liga this week. The match between Michel Sanchez’s side and Jose Ramon Sandoval’s team will be held at Estadio Municipal de Montilivi and is scheduled to kick off at 8 pm UK time on Friday.

Girona

Girona have been the surprise package of the season in La Liga and have been superb. Blanquivermells finished as low as 10th in the La Liga table last season, and in the next campaign, they will be playing in the UEFA Champions League.

Míchel Sánchez’s side are third in the La Liga table at the moment with 78 points from 37 matches. They are assured of finishing the campaign in third spot and will feature in the UEFA Champions League n…

Best Odds: 3/5

Bookmaker:

Looking to open their World Cup qualifying campaign with an early statement of intent in the early hours of Friday, Argentina will welcome Ecuador to Buenos Aires.

Argentina

Starting with the hosts, making real history out in the Middle East last winter as they got their hands on a first World Cup crown since 1986, Argentina are in the midst of what has been a record-breaking flurry. Only continuing to gain a string of plaudits under Lionel Scaloni, La Albiceleste will simply have their sights set on making an early qualifying statement here. Continuing on their remarkable purple patch since opening 2023, the South American giants certainly find the mood in their camp at a red-hot high. Signing off their pre-qualifying run with a routi…

Scotland and Wales have abandoned a planned joint bid to host the 2016 European Championships due to the economic downturn, Welsh football chiefs said Sunday.

The Football Association of Wales said UEFA s decision to expand the tournament to 24 teams was also a factor.

After careful consideration, the FAW and the Scottish Football Association (SFA) have decided not to make a joint bid to host the Euro 2016 Football Championships, the governing body said on its website.

FAW secretary general David Collins added: The current economic downturn and the very considerable implications for infrastructure provision following UEFA s decision to expand the European Championship finals to 24 teams are key considerations.

While the ambition to host a future tourna…

Borussia Dortmund will be without Karim Adeyemi and Julien Duranville for several weeks after they were injured in Tuesday s 7-1 Champions League victory over Celtic, coach Nuri Sahin has revealed.

The Ruhr valley club earned their biggest-ever European win in midweek, crushing the Scottish champions with Germany international Adeyemi scoring a hat-trick before being taken off with a muscle injury and replaced by 18-year-old Belgium international Duranville.

Duranville later sustained an injury of his own and both players will be absent until late November, missing Saturday s trip to Union Berlin as well as seven further games.

We will be without Karim and Julien for some time. They are expected to be back after the international break in mid-November, Sahin sai…

Vinicius Junior has described himself as a tormentor of racists after three Valencia supporters were given prison sentences for abusing him in May 2023.

Three people were sentenced to eight months in prison and given two-year stadium bans on Monday after being found guilty of hurling racist abuse at Vinicius at the Mestalla last year.

Vinicius was sent off following a scuffle in second-half stoppage time as Los Blancos were beaten 1-0 in a game that was paused for several minutes due to racist chanting.

The convictions – the first issued in Spain for racist abuse inside a football stadium – were welcomed as great news for the fight against racism by LaLiga president Javier Tebas.

Vinicius also welcomed the judgement on Monday, thanking Madrid for thei…

Neymar described the injury that has put his World Cup on ice as one of the hardest moments of my career after the Brazil star was sidelined by an ankle problem.

He has been ruled out of the Selecao s second Group G game against Switzerland on Monday and could also miss the tussle with Cameroon four days later.

The Paris Saint-Germain forward suffered a heavy knock to his right ankle after a challenge from Nikola Milenkovic in Thursday s 2-0 win against Serbia, needing to be substituted in the 80th minute.

He was fouled nine times in the game, more than any other player in a World Cup matchday one group game in Qatar. The next highest number was the five sustained by Spain s Gavi against Costa Rica.

Neymar is looking to crown his fine career with a World …

Brazil begin their Qatar 2022 campaign against Serbia as tournament favourites and with high hopes, but head coach Tite accepts lessons must be learned from recent failures.

The Selecao have won a record five World Cups, though not since 2002 – when beating Germany 2-0 in the final – have they lifted the most famous trophy of them all.

Since then, Brazil have reached the semi-final only once and have suffered three quarter-final exits, including four years ago at the hands of Belgium.

But as Tite becomes the first manager to lead Brazil into successive World Cups since Tele Santana in the 1980s, the experienced coach is hopeful of a better outcome this time.

I know more how to focus my attention now, he told The Guardian, reflecting specifically on h…

Memphis Depay was named in the Netherlands starting XI for the first time at the 2022 World Cup ahead of their final Group A match against Qatar.

The Barcelona forward was battling a hamstring injury heading into the tournament and was initially ruled out of the opener against Senegal, only to appear from the bench in a 2-0 win.

Depay was a substitute again as Louis van Gaal s side drew with Ecuador, and the coach insisted ahead of the meeting with hosts Qatar he would be taking no risks.

However, he said: We re going to do anything and everything to progress to the next match.

That has led to a recall for talisman Depay – a member of Van Gaal s 2014 World Cup squad in Brazil – who lines up alongside breakout star Cody Gakpo in attack.

…

Jurgen Klopp said he couldn t care less about rumours linking Sadio Mane to Bayern Munich ahead of Liverpool s Champions League final against Real Madrid.

The Liverpool manager could be poised to lose one of the most significant players in his squad at the end of the season.

Mane said earlier in the week that he would give  special news regarding his future after the European showpiece game in Paris.

That and his suggestion it would be the best answer sparked speculation he would agree to stay at Liverpool, but it may not be quite so clear-cut, with Klopp having palmed away questions on Friday rather than offered any assurance that the 30-year-old will remain at Anfield.

This is the wrong moment to speak about that. Wherever Sadio plays next season, he …