Off the Pitch

USWNT stars feature in FOX’s new Women’s World Cup commercial ‘USA vs The World’

The 2023 Women’s World Cup in Australia/New Zealand is right around the corner kicking off on July 20. The United States women’s national team’s opener vs. Vietnam is on Friday, July 21 at 10 p.m. ET.

FOX will be broadcasting the tournament and released a one minute and 25 second ad on Friday that features several USWNT players and their biggest opponents trying to stop them.

The humorous video shows fans from other top countries at the World Cup like England, Brazil, Germany and more devising comedic plans to end the U.S. Women's dominant run in the World Cup.

Saudi Pro League land their next massive signing: Chelsea's N’Golo Kanté

Chelsea midfielder N'Golo Kante will sign for Saudi Arabia champions Al-Ittihad on a two-year deal, Al Ekhbariya TV said on Wednesday.

Al Ekhbariya added the contract with the 32-year-old, who won the 2018 World Cup with France, has an option to be extended for another year.

If the deal is completed as expected, Kante will line up alongside compatriot Karim Benzema who signed a three-year contract with the Saudi side on Tuesday.

Real Madrid drop $110 million on Borussia Dortmund star midfielder Jude Bellingham

Borussia Dortmund have agreed to sell England midfielder Jude Bellingham to Real Madrid for an initial fee of $110.4 million, the Bundesliga club said on Wednesday.

Bellingham will become the third player to be signed by Real Madrid for a fee worth at least 100 million euros after Gareth Bale (2013) and Eden Hazard (2019).

"With realization of this transfer, Real Madrid will pay BVB a fixed transfer compensation in the amount of 103 million euros," Dortmund said in a statement.

Old friends and new foes — Meet the three promoted teams in the Premier League for 2023-24 season

England’s Championship division is one of the most intense seasons in Europe. The 46 games played, just in the league itself, give players more opportunities to perform well but also for a team’s season to come crashing down. While there are additional games, every match means just as much in the Championship, if not more, as the teams compete for the right to move up to the ludicrously lucrative Premier League.

Benzema officially bids farewell to Real Madrid in private ceremony with players, family and friends

MADRID — Ballon d'Or winner Karim Benzema said farewell to Real Madrid in a small, private ceremony closed to fans and media on Tuesday following a trophy-laden 14-year stay with the LaLiga club.

The French striker, 35, will leave as a free agent and is set to move to Saudi Arabian side Al Ittihad, signing a two-year deal estimated by media reports to be worth more than $106 million.

Heung-min Son makes surprise cameo in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

Heung-min Son is one of the world’s most beloved soccer players, and the love for the South Korean has gone as far as surpassing the Premier League and going across the Marvel multiverse.

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, the second installment of the animated Miles Morales story as Spider-Man, hit the big screen last Friday, June 2, as one of the most anticipated films of the year. It's an extraordinary sequel that's already regarded as one of the best superhero movies of all time.

Zlatan Ibrahimović hangs up his boots at 41

AC Milan's Sweden striker Zlatan Ibrahimović said on Sunday he had decided to end his playing career at the age of 41 after a trophy-laden career at some of Europe's top clubs.

The extrovert Swede's Milan contract expires at the end of June and will not be renewed following a season plagued by injuries, prompting him to end a remarkable career.

Ibrahimović arrived in Milan for his second spell with the club in early 2020, having won the Scudetto with them in 2011, and helped the club win the title again last season.

PSG lost more than a million followers on Instagram after Lionel Messi's exit

The unhappy marriage between Lionel Messi and PSG is over. After the 3-2 defeat vs. Clermont Foot on Saturday, the Argentine superstar went home, packed his suitcase and said au revoir to the French capital. 

The thing is that when Messi exited, thousands of his fans also abandoned the club in a stampede. 

PSG Instagram followers plummet after Messi's exit

When PSG posted its goodbye message to the world champion, their Instagram base was over 71.4 million followers.

One day after, the number was 69 million.

It’s been 10 years since the video that started Ted Lasso — let’s watch one more time

The hit show “Ted Lasso” concluded its third and final season and has left fans with a gaping hole where Ted’s humor once sat. Without spoiling anything, most fans of the show were pleased with the happy ending but will find themselves longing for more.

Ted Lasso’s character isn’t new to American fans of the Premier League. The character played by Jason Sudeikis debuted on our screens all the way back in 2013 for a promotional Premier League on NBC video. Sudeikis played the familiar character of an American coach in London.

Referee for UCL final apologizes for partaking in extreme-right movement event in Poland

Szymon Marciniak will fulfill his role as the referee for the Champions League final after the Pole apologized for participating in an event associated with an extreme-right movement, Europe's soccer governing body UEFA said on Friday.

UEFA were investigating his presence at an event organized in Katowice on Monday, saying they "abhor the values that are promoted by the group", but kept him on as the referee after an apology and clarification from an anti-discrimination body.

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