Argentina
Jorge Messi, the father of soccer star Lionel Messi, died on Friday night at the age of 68 at a medical clinic in the Argentine city of Rosario after a long illness, the Argentine footballer's family confirmed to Reuters.
World Cup-winning Spain coach Luis de la Fuente was appalled by the conduct of Argentina's players after their 1-0 loss in Sunday's final, which led to a brawl between the two teams and triggered an investigation by FIFA.
Spain climbed again to the summit of world football on Sunday when substitute Ferran Torres struck in the 106th minute to prise the World Cup from holders Argentina with a 1-0 victory that crowned a new era but brought precious little beauty.
Former Spain manager Vicente del Bosque has warned the national team not to underestimate Argentina ahead of the World Cup final, describing their opponents as a "real nuisance" and urging Spain to remain cautious.
England manager Thomas Tuchel said he had no regrets over the decisions he made in the second half of Wednesday's World Cup semi-final against Argentina, when his team took a 1-0 lead but lost 2-1.
Spain swept aside France, Argentina scrambled past England and the World Cup final has been handed a scriptwriter's dream: European champions against world and South American champions, with a teacher and his old pupil in opposite technical areas.
The dream died on a summer night, as it has so many times before, not with a bang but with the familiar aching silence that settles over England after the final whistle of a World Cup defeat.
UN General Assembly President Annalena Baerbock and Egyptian Minister of Planning and Economic Development Ahmed Rostom engaged in a highly symbolic, football-inspired debate during high-level UN Development Programme (UNDP) meetings, subtly invoking Egypt's controversial World Cup exit to frame discussions on global cooperation and fairness.
England's reward for another display of resilience at the World Cup is a semi-final against old rivals Argentina, a fixture laden with history and one that offers Thomas Tuchel's side the chance to move within one game of ending a 60-year wait.
Egypt’s Minister of Social Solidarity and Supply, Maya Morsy, addressed the international community with a poignant message regarding the "double standards" and failure to uphold rules broken by the very institutions that created them.
Egypt appeared on the brink of one of the tournament’s greatest upsets, leading 2-0 with just 11 minutes remaining against the defending champions before conceding three late goals to suffer a heartbreaking elimination.
Reigning champions Argentina were pushed to the brink by a Cape Verde side with incredible levels of resilience and needed an extra-time own goal to clinch a dramatic 3-2 victory on Friday and a place in the last 16 at the World Cup.
Argentina returned to training with Lionel Scaloni facing fresh selection dilemmas, after the holders opened their World Cup campaign with a 3-0 win over Algeria, as competition for the striker role again pits Lautaro Martinez against Julian Alvarez.
Argentina named their 26-man squad for the World Cup on Thursday, with Lionel Messi set to lead the defending champions at the tournament in the United States, Mexico and Canada.
The decision places the groups on Argentina’s Public Registry of Persons and Entities Linked to Acts of Terrorism and Its Financing (RePET).
Inter Miami superstar Lionel Messi and teammate Rodrigo De Paul, whose club is in the first round of the MLS playoffs, have been selected for their home country Argentina's friendly match against Angola next week.
Lionel Messi signed off in style by scoring twice in his final World Cup qualifier on home soil as Argentina beat Venezuela 3-0 on Thursday, while Paraguay and Colombia also secured berths at the 2026 tournament in North America.
Brazil have sacked head coach Dorival Jr, the country's football confederation (CBF) said on Friday, after the five-times world champions were thrashed 4-1 away to fierce rivals Argentina in a humiliating qualifying loss in Buenos Aires.The 62-year-old was appointed in January 2024 after the team spent a year under two caretaker coaches as the Brazilian FA were unable to lure Italian Carlo Ancelotti from Real Madrid.
Argentina were held to a 1-1 draw against Venezuela on Thursday in Lionel Messi's return to international duty in the South America's World Cup qualifiers.
Hosts France reached the Olympic men's football semi-finals for the first time in 40 years with a 1-0 win over Argentina thanks to Jean-Philippe Mateta's first-half goal in a grudge match in Bordeaux on Friday.
