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Canada survived a first-half red card and penalty to defeat Nicaragua 4-1 Saturday and remain unbeaten at the CONCACAF Women’s U-20 Championship. Despite being a player down for 80-plus minutes, Canada outshot Nicaragua 30-7 (4-4 in shots on target), had 67.7 per cent possession and a 14-0 edge in corners. Teegan Melenhorst, Anabelle Chukwu and Liana Tarasco scored for Canada (2-0-0), which also profited from a Nicaragua own goal. Chukwu, who scored twice in Canada’s opening 7-1 Group B win over Panama, added to her Canadian youth international scoring record, previously held by Christine Sinclair. Chukwu now has 37 goals in 39 games from the under-15 to under-20 level. The 18-year-old from Ottawa, who plays collegiate soccer at Notre Dame, has been called into camp by the Canadian senior side but has yet to win a cap. Captain Jenifer Sarantes scored for Nicaragua (0-2-0). The eight-team CONCACAF tournament, which runs through June 8 at Alejandro Morera Soto Stadium, will send fo...

WINNIPEG — Adriana Leon scored twice in a 4-1 win over Haiti in a friendly on Saturday, sending longtime Canadian midfielder Desiree Scott off in victorious, celebratory fashion. The 37-year-old Scott took to the international pitch for the last time — her 188th cap — in her hometown. Scott entered the field at Princess Auto Stadium after the rest of her team had taken their position to a rousing, standing ovation. In a pre-game ceremony, the Winnipeg native was presented with a bouquet of flowers and custom-framed jersey with her No. 11. A message on the scoreboard read: “FROM THE HEART OF WINNIPEG TO THE WORLD STAGE.” A video of Scott’s highlights and her words of appreciation was then shown. It finished with her saying, “We just wanted to make our people proud.” Known as ‘The Destroyer,’ Scott won gold at the 2020 Olympics, after Olympic bronze in 2016 and 2012 — one of only three players, including Christine Sinclair and Sophie Schmidt, to win three straight Olympic medals. T...

The Vancouver Whitecaps have slayed some pretty big dragons to reach Sunday’s Concacaf Champions Cup final (9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT), including Inter Miami and Lionel Messi.  But they face an even bigger task in order to win the tournament, which is the Concacaf equivalent of the UEFA Champions League. Not only do the Whitecaps have to beat Cruz Azul, but they have to do it at the Mexican club’s home stadium, Estadio Olímpico Universitario in Mexico City.  The rewards are great for Vancouver if it pulls it off, as it would become only the third MLS team to win this competition, joining D.C. United (1998) and the Seattle Sounders (2022). They’d also go one better than Canadian rivals CF Montreal (finalists in 2015) and Toronto FC (finalists in 2018).  Here’s what you need to know about this year’s final.  The format         Sunday’s game is a straight knockout final. If the score is tied after 90 minutes of regulation time, it will go to extra ...

A pair of familiar faces could make their return Saturday when Toronto FC hosts Charlotte FC in MLS play. Toronto fullback Richie Laryea, out since March 1 with a hamstring injury, is available to see some minutes. Toronto coach Robin Fraser says the 30-year-old Canadian international has impressed since joining the team for training. “He hasn’t even looked like he’s been hurt,” Fraser marvelled. It’s the second year in a row a hamstring injury has cut into Laryea’s playing time — he was limited to 12 league appearances last season after undergoing surgery. Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty, on loan to Charlotte from CF Montreal, is bringing a crowd in his first trip back to BMO Field since Toronto traded him to Montreal in August 2024 for up to US$1.4 million in general allocation money. The Canadian international fullback/winger, who joined the Toronto academy in February 2015, will have plenty of friends and family in attendance. “I have 14 siblings,” he explained. “I don’t think all 14...

MADRID — Real Madrid confirmed the signing of defender Trent Alexander-Arnold on Friday in time for the Club World Cup after paying a reported fee of 10 million euros ($11 million US) to Liverpool. The 26-year-old England right back has agreed to a six-year deal through June 2031, the Spanish club said. Madrid said Alexander-Arnold will play for Xabi Alonso’s team at the Club World Cup to be held in the United States starting in mid-June. Alexander-Arnold had been criticized by some Liverpool fans for having let his contract run down — meaning he could leave as a free agent. But since Alexander-Arnold was still under contract with the Premier League champions until the end of June, Liverpool was able to extract a fee for letting him go early. Madrid and the other 31 teams playing in the Club World Cup can make early signings under FIFA-approved special trading windows from June 1-10 and again June 27-July 3. Liverpool confirmed it ...

Anabelle Chukwu scored twice as Canada opened play at the CONCACAF Women’s U-20 Championship on Thursday with a comfortable 7-1 win over Panama. The 18-year-old from Ottawa added to her Canadian youth international scoring record, previously held by Christine Sinclair. Chukwu now has 36 goals in 38 games from the under-15 to under-20 level. Jadea Collin, Jeneva Hernandez Gray, Lea Larouche, Stephanie Schoeley and Liana Tarasco also scored for Canada, which led 5-1 at the half. Chukwu and Hernandez Gray were substituted at halftime with the game well in hand. Canada continues Group B play on Saturday against Nicaragua before facing defending champion Mexico on Monday.  The eight-team CONCACAF tournament, which runs through June 8 at Alejandro Morera Soto Stadium in Alajuela, will send four CONCACAF sides to the 24-team FIFA U-20 World Cup, scheduled for September 2026, in Poland. Group A features host Costa Rica, the United States, Puerto Rico and Guyana, The top tw...

Kai Wagner set up the tying goal and scored the winner as the Philadelphia Union rallied late to down Toronto FC 2-1 in MLS play Wednesday, extending its unbeaten run to 10 games in all competitions. After Nathan Harriel rose high to head home a Wagner corner in the 87th minute, Wagner broke TFC fans’ hearts with a 92nd-minute shot that deflected in off Toronto midfielder Matty Longstaff. Ola Brynhildsen had given Toronto the lead, roofing a shot in the 75th minute. It was an emphatic finish with the Norwegian forward, who had been taking a beating from Philadelphia all evening, outpacing two defenders to get to a long ball from Deybi Flores for his second goal of the season. It was a scrappy stop-and-start game with a lot of whistles from referee Guido Gonzales Jr. The visitors spent much of the first half in Toronto’s end, on a cool, damp evening with plenty of empty seats at BMO Field.  Attendance was announced at 14,490, only slightly higher than the season low of 14,019 fo...

WROCLAW, Poland — Chelsea rallied to beat Real Betis 4-1 in the Conference League final on Wednesday and become the first team to have all four of UEFA’s club competitions in its trophy collection. All of Chelsea’s goals came in the second half, with Enzo Fernandez and Nicolas Jackson converting pinpoint crosses from Cole Palmer in the space of five minutes before Jadon Sancho and Moises Caicedo added more goals to complete the English team’s stirring fightback in Wroclaw, Poland. Playing in its first European final, Betis went ahead through Abdessamad Ezzalzouli’s goal in the ninth minute but faded in the second half. Chelsea added the Conference League — a third-tier competition only founded in 2021 — to its Champions League titles in 2012 and 2021, its titles in the Europa League — the successor to the UEFA Cup — in 2013 and 2019, and the now-defunct Cup Winners’ Cup in 1971 and 1998. The match was preceded by fan disorder in the Polish city that led to ...

LIVERPOOL, England — Liverpool manager Arne Slot opted against attending a ceremony in London where he was due to receive an award, saying he withdrew “out of solidarity” with those affected in the team’s city-centre parade tragedy. Slot was named both the Premier League’s Manager of the Season and League Managers Association’s Manager of the Year after guiding Liverpool to its record-tying 20th league title in his first season at the club. Hundreds of thousands of fans lined the streets of Liverpool on Monday to celebrate with the players as they paraded the trophy on open-top buses, only for joy to turn to anguish when a man rammed his car into a crowd of people. Sixty-five people were injured and 11 remained hospitalized Tuesday in stable condition. A 53-year-old British man has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder, police said, and was also being held on suspicion of dangerous driving and driving on drugs. On turning down the invitation to attend the LMA’s award c...

BARCELONA, Spain — Teenage star Lamine Yamal has signed a contract extension to stay at Barcelona until 2031, the club announced Tuesday. The 17-year-old Yamal helped the Catalan club clinch a domestic treble — La Liga, the Copa del Rey and the Spanish Super Cup — with his goals, dribbling and playmaking. He scored the decisive goal to clinch Barcelona’s 28th Spanish league title in a 2-0 victory at crosstown rival Espanyol nearly two weeks ago. Barcelona also reached the Champions League semifinals this campaign. His big season — he scored 18 goals overall and led La Liga with 13 assists — came after he helped Spain win the European Championship last summer. Yamal, who turns 18 in July, made his debut in April 2023 at Camp Nou and has already made 106 appearances for Barcelona. “In 2031, Lamine Yamal is only gonna be 23,” the club said in a post on X as a reminder of how young their global star is. Yamal joined Barcelona’s famous La Masia...

Ryan Gauld didn’t expect to be the Vancouver Whitecaps’ biggest cheerleader this season. The Scottish attacking midfielder has been the team’s top playmaker since he arrived in Vancouver in 2021, and put up 10 goals and 15 assists in Major League Soccer play last season. He’s been limited to just three league games this year, though, after going down with a knee injury on March 8 — and when he’ll rejoin the team remains unclear. His absence hasn’t slowed the ‘Caps. Vancouver (9-1-4) heads into Wednesday’s matchup with Minnesota United (7-3-5) riding a 14-game unbeaten streak (7-0-7) across all competitions. The game will be a tune-up for a Whitecaps side that’s set to play one of the biggest games of the club’s history on Sunday when Vancouver meets LIGA MX club Cruz Azul in the CONCACAF Champions Cup final in Mexico City. Missing big games — including a pair of Champions Cup clashes against Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami — hasn’t been easy, Gauld admitted. “I think at any point it’...

SPIESEN-ELVERSBERG, Germany — Heidenheim will play in the Bundesliga again next year after overcoming Elversberg 2-1 with a dramatic stoppage time goal in the German league’s most lucrative playoff on Monday. The teams drew 2-2 in Heidenheim last Thursday and Heidenheim secured its place in the top tier with a 4-3 aggregate triumph after Leo Scienza completed a superbly worked goal in the fifth minute of injury time. The playoff, known in Germany as the ‘Relegation,’ is between the teams that finish third-to-last in the Bundesliga and second in Bundesliga 2. Heidenheim’s victory meant the top tier club has won all six playoffs. It ended Elversberg’s fairy tale rise for at least one more year and broke the hearts of a capacity crowd at Elversberg’s tiny home ground. The club from the Saarland was aiming to become the smallest ever club to play in the Bundesliga based on population size. Elversberg is in Spiesen-Elversberg, a town of around 13,000. It has been in the Bundesliga 2 f...

Cristiano Ronaldo’s time in Saudi Arabia appears to be over. The 40-year-old shared a cryptic message suggesting as much on Monday after his club team, Al Nassr FC, lost its final game of the season 3-2 to Al Fateh. “This chapter is over. The story? Still being written. Grateful to all,” Ronaldo wrote on social media. The 40-year-old Portuguese national team star will be without a contract once his two-and-a-half-year contract with Al Nassr, valued at more than $312 million USD, expires next month. He joined Al-Nassr in 2023 after his second stint with Manchester United ended with an ugly split. In 30 appearances this season, Ronaldo scored 25 goals. During his time in the Saudi Pro League, Ronaldo finished as the top goalscorer but his team never captured a league title. FIFA president Gianni Infantino indicated that Ronaldo might play in the Club World Cup despite Al Nassr not qualifying for the tournament because of a unique transfer window. “Cristiano Ronaldo might ...

SAN DIEGO — Adriana Leon scored two goals, Kristen McNabb added her first goal of the season and the San Diego Wave beat the North Carolina Courage 5-2 on Sunday night. San Diego (6-2-2) is unbeaten with five wins in its last six games. McNabb tapped in from point-blank range off a crossing header played by Trinity Armstrong to give San Diego the lead for good in the 54th minute. North Carolina’s four-game unbeaten streak, which included three wins, was snapped. Feli Rauch opened the scoring for North Carolina (3-4-3) in the 12th minute. Manaka Matsukubo played an arcing cross to the back post where Rauch bounced a header off the front post and into the net to give the Courage a 1-0 lead. Perle Morroni, on the counterattack, put away a one-touch finish from the centre of the area off a cross played by Delphine Cascarino that slipped through three defenders to get to Morroni. Leon gave the Wave a 2-1 lead in the 40th minute. Gia Corley took the ball from North Ca...

MADRID — Barcelona capped its title-winning campaign with a 3-0 victory at Athletic Bilbao on Sunday, with Robert Lewandowski scoring twice but falling short of catching Kylian Mbappé as the Spanish league’s top scorer for the season. Lewandowski found the net in the 14th and 17th minutes in Bilbao to finish the league season with 27 goals, four fewer than Mbappé, who scored twice in Madrid’s 2-0 win against Real Sociedad on Saturday. Lewandowski, who was out injured in some recent matches, hadn’t scored since April 9 in a Champions League match against Borussia Dortmund. His last league goal had been in March against Girona. Lewandowski had led the scoring race during most of the season, but Mbappé finished with a red-hot run that included 10 goals in his last six matches. Barcelona finished with a goal difference of plus 63 after scoring 102 times and conceding 39. It won 28 matches, drew four and lost six. It ended with 88 points, four points more than second-placed Madrid and ...

ROME — Igor Tudor was hired in March to make sure that Juventus qualified for the Champions League. He fulfilled the goal — albeit barely — when the Bianconeri won 3-2 at Venezia in the final round of Serie A on Sunday to finish fourth. Juventus finished one point ahead of Roma, which won 2-0 at Torino to secure a Europa League spot. Venezia, which was relegated along with Empoli, surprised Juventus with an early goal from Daniel Fila in the second minute. Kenan Yildiz and Randal Kolo Muani struck back to put Juventus in control after 31 minutes. Ridgeciano Haps equalized after the break for Venezia before Manuel Locatelli restored Juve’s lead with a penalty. Tudor replaced the fired Thiago Motta and was given a contract through the end of the season. There was speculation that his contract included an automatic renewal in case of Champions League qualification but Juventus now appears interested in rehiring Antonio Conte, who just led Napoli to the t...

Delaney Baie Pridham scored two minutes into stoppage time to pull even as Ottawa Rapid FC drew 1-1 against Montreal Roses FC on Sunday in the Northern Super League. Pridham fired in a penalty kick near the top left corner with Montreal goalkeeper Gabrielle Lambert going the opposite way to knot the score up as the final whistle neared. The penalty was a result of a foul called on Montreal defender Stephanie Hill. After a scoreless opening half, Hill put the Roses on the board in the 53rd minute.  Hill managed a one-touch effort with her knee off a corner kick from Mégane Sauvé to score. Ottawa next visits AFC Toronto on June 7, while Montreal will host Vancouver Rise FC on June 7 at Stade Boréale. More from Sportsnet Okoronkwo, Regan lead AFC Toronto past Montreal Roses in NSL Early goal lifts AFC Toronto past Halifax Tides in NSL action

MONTREAL — Los Angeles FC overcame a two-goal deficit in the first half and salvaged a 2-2 Major League Soccer draw against CF Montreal on Saturday night at Stade Saputo. Mark Delgado and Olivier Giroud accounted for Los Angeles’ (6-4-5) goals on the night, helping the visiting side run their unbeaten streak to eight games in the process. They also remain undefeated against Montreal in three career outings against their Eastern Conference opponent. Forwards Giacomo Vrioni and Prince Owusu scored opening half tallies for Montreal (1-9-5), which saw its winless streak extend to seven games on home turf. Montreal’s woes continued on this rain-soaked night. The club was coming off a 6-1 shellacking at the hands of rival Toronto FC last Saturday and a 1-0 defeat in Hamilton to Forge FC of the Canadian Premier League in the Canadian Championship on Tuesday. The team’s season-long struggles even resulted in the team’s supporters, known as the Ultras, leaving the bottom half of its habitua...

MILAN (AP) — Thousands of AC Milan supporters protested outside the club headquarters on Saturday as the Rossoneri wrapped up a season in which they failed to qualify for Europe and lost to Bologna in the Italian Cup final. “Singer, Cardinale, Furlani, Ibra, Moncada: everyone leave, free Milan from this agony,” read a banner held by fans. They named the team’s key management members and owners. Inside the San Siro later for Milan’s final Serie A match against last-placed Monza, there were more protests. Fans on the upper level at one end positioned themselves to form the words, “Go home.” Milan began the season as a potential title contender but was in ninth place, 22 points behind champion Napoli. The seven-time European champion was eliminated by Feyenoord in the Champions League playoffs in February. Meanwhile, city rival Inter Milan will play Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League final next Saturday.

GENEVA — FIFA president Gianni Infantino says Cristiano Ronaldo might play in the Club World Cup because of a unique transfer window. Ronaldo’s Saudi Arabian club Al Nassr did not qualify for the tournament, but Infantino suggested that the Portugal star could switch to one of the 32 teams playing in the competition in the United States starting next month. “Cristiano Ronaldo might play in the Club World Cup,” Infantino told online streamer IShowSpeed, whose YouTube channel has more than 39 million subscribers. “There are discussions with some clubs, so if any club is watching and is interested in hiring Ronaldo for the Club World Cup, who knows. Still a few weeks time, will be fun.” FIFA confirmed Wednesday that last-minute transfer signings are open to all teams going to tournament, which fueled more speculation that one of them will try to sign the 40-year-old Ronaldo on a short-term deal, potentially a loan. Such a move would be unprecedented in modern soccer though co...

ROME — The two players who Antonio Conte wanted more than any others secured Napoli its second Serie A title in three years on Friday. Scott McTominay scored with an acrobatic bicycle kick before halftime, and Romelu Lukaku doubled the lead with a solo goal after the break in the decisive 2-0 home win over Cagliari. Conte became the first coach to win the Italian championship with three different teams. “Everyone contributed to this — but the coach most of all,” Napoli captain Giovanni Di Lorenzo said. “Napoli needed him to get back on top. He’s phenomenal.” Comparing it to his three Serie A titles won at Juventus and one at Inter — not to mention a Premier League title at Chelsea — Conte said it was “the most unexpected, the most difficult, and the most stimulating in terms of the challenge.” Conte also noted how he had to try and convince players to stay when he arrived last June. Napoli needed only to do the same or better...

MADRID — Real Madrid made it official on Friday that Carlo Ancelotti is leaving the club after its final Spanish league game this weekend, when the coach is expecting an emotional farewell. Ancelotti had already been announced as the next Brazil coach but the Spanish club had yet to make any announcement about his departure. Ancelotti had another year left on his contract. Madrid will pay tribute to Ancelotti on Saturday during the team’s final match of the league season against Real Sociedad in the Spanish league at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium. Also bidding farewell on Saturday will be veteran midfielder Luka Modric. “I’m an emotional guy, just like my father and grandfather were. I have no problem in shedding a tear, I won’t hide that,” the 65-year-old Ancelotti said. “It’s going to be a special day and I’ll be sharing it with Modric, who has been a wonderful support for me in this period. He’s a fantastic player and a legend. I think it’s beautiful to say goodbye along...

MONTREAL — Esther Okoronkwo and Emma Regan scored goals to lead AFC Toronto past Montreal Roses FC 2-0 on Thursday night in the Northern Super League. Okoronkwo opened the scoring in the 35th minute at Stade Boréale, curling a beautiful shot from outside the box for her third of the season. Regan made it 2-0 in the 73rd with a shot off the crossbar and in for Toronto (3-2-1), which is unbeaten in four games. Montreal (3-2-1) has lost two straight after falling 1-0 to Calgary Wild FC last time out. Montreal defeated Toronto 1-0 at BMO Field in the inaugural match for both clubs on April 19. Next up, Montreal will quickly regroup and travel to play Ottawa Rapid FC on Sunday. Toronto hosts Ottawa on June 7.

BARCELONA, Spain — Barcelona forward Raphinha signed a contract extension Thursday to stay at the Catalan club until 2028. The Brazil international has scored 34 goals and provided 25 assists in 56 appearances this season in a breakthrough campaign. He was the most used player by coach Hansi Flick. Only Robert Lewandowski, who has 40 goals, has scored more this season for Barcelona. The 28-year-old Raphinha led the team with 13 goals in the Champions League before it was eliminated by Inter Milan in the semifinals. He netted five of the 16 goals scored by Barcelona in the four “clasico” matches that it won against rival Real Madrid this season. Raphinha helped Barcelona lift three trophies this season: the Spanish league, the Copa del Rey and the Spanish Super Cup. Raphinha joined Barcelona from Leeds in 2022. In his first season, he had 10 goals and 12 assists. In 2023-24, he had 10 goals and 13 assists. More from Sportsnet Modric to leave Real Madrid following Club World...

HEIDENHEIM, Germany — Two overachieving clubs clashed for a place in the Bundesliga, and neither could strike a decisive blow. Top-tier Heidenheim and second-division Elversberg drew 2-2 in the first leg of their relegation/promotion playoff on Thursday, leaving the contest finely poised before the second leg in Elversberg on Monday. “Everything open,” Heidenheim coach Frank Schmidt said. Heidenheim, which was only promoted to the top division in 2023 after an unlikely ascent through the lower leagues, finished third from bottom in the Bundesliga this season when it also had to contend with European competition after its eighth-place finish last year. Elversberg, which was still playing at fourth-tier level three years ago, finished third in the second division to earn its shot in the playoff. It was a duel between modest clubs with the longest-serving coaches in German professional soccer. Schmidt took over in Heidenheim on Sept. 17, 2007, while his Elversberg counterpar...