Central & South America

Barcelona forward Luis Suárez is due to sit a language test on Monday in a bid to obtain Italian citizenship that would enable him to move to Serie A champions Juventus, Italian and Uruguayan media said Sunday.

There have been widespread reports that Juventus are chasing the 33-year-old Uruguayan who, if the moves go through, would line up alongside defender Giorgio Chiellini, the Italy defender he famously bit in a World Cup match in 2014.

In 2019, Concacaf held the largest-ever Gold Cup, with 16 teams creating an event that was actually pretty exciting. For the 2021 Gold Cup format, Concacaf is doubling down on the 16-team field but adding some weird new spice to the tournament — and for some reason an odd choice for its first guest participant in over a decade.

Own goals are the most cringeworthy moments in football. A player inadvertently turns the ball into his or her own net and gifts the opposing team a goal. Sometimes they’re down to the attacking team putting too much pressure on the defense; sometimes they’re down to horrible back-passes or lapses in concentration. Rarely do we see an own goal from the halfway line, which is exactly what happened on Saturday in Uruguay. Was it the worst own goal ever?

Former World Cup winner Ronaldinho moved a step closer to ending his Paraguayan ordeal on Friday when prosecutors said they would not oppose a "conditional suspension" of the case that would allow him to return to Brazil.

The twice World Player of the Year was arrested on March 6 along with his brother and business manager Roberto Assis after they tried to enter Paraguay with adulterated Paraguayan passports.

Players who deliberately cough at opponents or referees can be shown red or yellow cards under new guidelines issued by England's Football Association (FA) amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The instructions to referees taking charge of games when COVID-19 restrictions are in place will come into force immediately and be applied at all levels of the game.

CONCACAF has unveiled a new qualification format for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar after COVID-19 forced a rejig of the usual system, the governing body for soccer in North and Central America and the Caribbean said on Monday.

The new format, which will feature all 35 of the region's members, has been split into three rounds with the first being played in October and November with teams ranked from No. 6 to No. 35 in CONCACAF as of July 16 drawn into six groups of five.