USA

As a player whose obsession with football has only increased over the course of a glittering 17-year career, Cesc Fàbregas never grows tired of learning. That’s why, after a career spent entirely in England and Spain, the World Cup winner opted to give France a try by signing for Monaco back in 2019.

After playing 11 full seasons in the Premier League and three in LaLiga, the 33-year-old admits that the differences in Ligue 1 were pronounced. 

On Friday I said I’m done playing FIFA, but that doesn’t mean I’ll stop reminiscing about the series I played for more than two decades. I fondly remember how AC Milan was ridiculously good on FIFA 10 and 11, and it wasn’t just because of Ronaldinho, Zlatan and Alessandro Nesta. It’s because of a Brazilian striker who was one of the best players in the FIFA video games for a couple of years.

It’s been 10 years since Lille OSC captured its last Ligue 1 title, but one look at the table sees the club from northern France setting the pace ahead of last season’s Champions League semifinalist Lyon and, of course, three-time defending champion Paris Saint-Germain. 

If it’s a position that Lille didn’t anticipate being in with just 14 matches remaining, 20-year-old American forward Timothy Weah isn’t letting on to any sense of disbelief. 

Major League Soccer's 26th season will kick off on April 17 following the ratification of a new collective bargaining agreement but it remains to be decided where its Canadian teams will play, Commissioner Don Garber said on Wednesday.

The three Canadian sides — Toronto FC, Vancouver Whitecaps and CF Montreal — finished last season playing in adopted home stadiums in the United States due to strict border crossing rules brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.

An FA Cup last-16 tie between Premier League leaders Manchester City and Championship promotion hopefuls Swansea took on significant importance stateside on Wednesday as USMNT No. 1 Zack Steffen started in goal for City while Seattle Sounders loanee Jordan Morris got his first Swansea start and D.C. United loanee Paul Arriola made his debut off the bench.

Barcelona racked up 79 percent possession and 36 shots (20 on goal) in Wednesday’s Copa del Rey match against Granada, 29 more shots that the host. The end result was a 5-3 victory that was anything but easy, despite the final score and the wildly mismatched statistics. 

Lille maintained its two-point lead at the top of the Ligue 1 standings with a 3-0 win away to mid-table Girondins de Bordeaux thanks to second-half goals by Yusuf Yazici, Timothy Weah and Jonathan David on Wednesday. Weah, 20, and David, 21, were both born in New York City, with the former representing the USMNT and the latter representing Canada internationally.