PARIS - Hervé Renard has been named France women's coach until 2024 and will lead the team at this year's World Cup, the French federation (FFF) said on Thursday.
The 54-year-old Frenchman resigned as coach of the Saudi Arabia men's team this week after leading them to last year's World Cup in Qatar where they pulled off a shock group-stage win over eventual champions Argentina.
NEW YORK - With a blockbuster 2023 that shows no sign of slowing down, United States forward Mallory Swanson has shed her early "wunderkind" image and unveiled what she calls a "Mal 3.0" version of herself ahead of this year's Women's World Cup.
The 24-year-old flicked her seventh goal of the year into the net at the SheBelieves Cup last month in an astonishing run that underlined her claim to a spot in the squad when the U.S. seek an unprecedented third straight World Cup title.
Pepis rule.
Last Friday, Ricardo Pepi (age 20) made his triumphant return to the USMNT by scoring a brace against Grenada — his first international goals dating back to October 2021, a drought that ultimately cost him a place on the World Cup roster.
Goalscoring has been an awfully bleak exercise for the Republic of Ireland since all-time leading scorer Robbie Keane announced his international retirement in 2016. The team only scored seven goals in nine matches during a failed qualifying cycle for Euro 2020, and things didn't get much better on the road to Qatar where Ireland only scored 11 in eight games (the majority coming against Luxembourg and Azerbaijan).
With a 2-1 victory over Chile on Wednesday in Auckland, Haiti made history by securing qualification for their first-ever Women's World Cup finals. It's a remarkable achievement that highlights the growth of the team after not even reaching the final stage of Concacaf qualifying during the previous cycle, although there's one clear star of the show: 19-year-old phenom Melchie Dumornay.
The World Cup is just 160 days away, so the 2023 SheBelieves Cup takes on added significance with teams looking to lockdown tactics and players battling to make an impression ahead of the final roster announcements for Australia and New Zealand.
France defender Raphaël Varane is retiring from international football, ending a 10-year career with Les Bleus in which he won the World Cup in 2018 and was a runner-up four years later.
The 29-year-old, who has 93 caps after making his debut in 2013, and also helped Didier Deschamps's side win the UEFA Nations League in the 2020-21 season.
After two incredible years at Notre Dame, Korbin Albert is taking the next step in her meteoric career: the 19-year-old midfielder just put pen to paper on a deal with Paris Saint-Germain Féminine through 2025.
During her 2021 season, Albert was named to the ACC All-Freshman Team and Top-Drawer Soccer Freshman Best XI Team with 12 goals in 22 games. Her performances earned her a spot on the USWNT's 2022 FIFA U-20 World Cup roster, where Albert started two matches in midfield alongside Portland Thorns phenom Olivia Moultrie.
Barcelona Femení made football history on Wednesday by becoming the first team (men's or women's) to win 50 straight league matches after hammering Levante Las Planas 7-0 on Wednesday. Club history was also made as 16-year-old phenom Vicky López became Barça Femení's youngest-ever goalscorer in Liga F.
Barça's run in the league stretches back to a 4-3 defeat to Atlético Madrid on June 1, 2021, but they finished the 2020-21 campaign with five wins, won all 30 games in 2021-22 and have reached the halfway point of 2022-23 with 15 victories.
A statement from Charlotte Football Club has confirmed the tragic death of 25-year-old defender Anton Walkes. Walkes was injured Wednesday after two boats collided near the Miami Marine Stadium, and after being found unconscious and receiving CPR, he was hospitalized in critical condition.
Walkes passed away early Thursday morning.