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Kerfalla Toure gave up hockey to focus on soccer, a move that has paid off handsomely for Florida Atlantic University. The 24-year-old centre back from Dorval, Que., has helped the Owls reach the 48-team NCAA Division I Men’s Soccer Championship for the first time, with a first-round date Thursday at the University of Central Florida in Orlando. The winner will face No. 7 Georgetown on Sunday in Washington, D.C. Florida Atlantic (12-3-2) earned its first NCAA championship appearance by winning the American Conference tournament, defeating rival Florida International University 3-2 in Saturday’s final in Charlotte, N.C. “We’re all proud of how it’s gone so far but we also know that it isn’t over,” said Toure. “And that we can really make a special run here.” A win Thursday will tie the 1996 FAU team for most wins in a season (13).   UCF (10-6-3) earned its 10th trip to the NCAA tournament by winning the Sun Belt Conference Tournament championship, downing No. 12 Marshall 3-1 in...

A win, a couple of goals scored and there we have it — the end of the 2025 calendar year for Canada’s men’s national team. Although Tuesday’s win over Venezuela in front of basically no one at Chase Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., was hardly a feast for the eyes, it did signify an element of importance: the first goals scored in four matches and another clean sheet — that is three straight and an impressive three goals against in the last 11 matches.  Overall, 2025 was a year of general progress under Jesse Marsch, despite some disappointment. Don’t forget this was the year Canada was supposed to lift some silverware for the first time in a quarter century. A third-place finish at the Nations League did come courtesy of a win over the United States, which certainly brought with it some bragging rights. However, a frustrating Gold Cup quarterfinal ouster at the hands of Guatemala on penalties brought with it an air of suspicion from the fan base.   Thankfully, af...

European qualifying for the 2026 World Cup finished Tuesday with Spain, Belgium, Switzerland, Scotland and Austria securing the region’s remaining automatic spots. Spain was held to a 2-2 home draw at Turkey but guaranteed first place in Group E and matched Italy’s 31-match unbeaten streak in competitive matches. Italy’s record came between 2018 and 2021. Scotland beat 10-man Denmark 4-2 in Group C, with Scott McTominay scoring a superb bicycle kick goal three minutes into the match. A 1-1 home draw against Bosnia and Herzegovina was enough for Austria in Group H, while Belgium routed Liechtenstein 7-0. Switzerland qualified after a 1-1 draw at Kosovo. The 12 group winners qualified directly, while the runners-up will participate in playoffs along with the four best-ranked group winners of the 2024-25 Nations League that did not finish first or second in their groups. The playoffs will be played on March 26 and March 31. The World Cup will be played in the United States, Mexico an...

GLASGOW, Scotland — Scott McTominay scored a superb bicycle kick goal three minutes into Scotland’s match against Denmark in European qualifying for the 2026 World Cup on Tuesday. Ben Gannon-Doak sent a high cross from the right side and McTominay went for the ball with his back to the goal. He hit a perfect scissor-kick strike from near the penalty spot. Scottish tennis great Andy Murray wrote on X: “What on earth was that. McTominay you wee dancer!” The winner of the match will secure the Group C automatic World Cup spot. More from Sportsnet Germany, Netherlands qualify for 2026 World Cup Pochettino faces off against mentor Bielsa when U.S. meets Uruguay

The Czech Republic soccer association stripped Tomáš Souček of his captaincy Tuesday and denied financial bonuses to national team players as punishment for ignoring their fans after their final World Cup qualifier against Gibraltar. The Czechs, who had been assured of second place in Group L, won the home game 6-0 in Olomouc on Monday, but the players didn’t go thank the diehard fans who were critical of their performance in the qualifying campaign. The team will be seeded in Thursday’s draw for the 16-team playoffs next March for four remaining European spots at next summer’s World Cup. The association apologized to fans and said the players won’t receive the financial bonuses for the game. Instead, the money will go to charities. Souček will lose his captaincy for the team’s next match. “The fans have a full right to express their disagreement with the unsatisfactory performance in the recent games,” the association said in a statement. “The reaction of the pl...

Neither Kylian Mbappé nor his former club Paris Saint-Germain are ready to back down as their legal dispute reaches a new climax — with gigantic sums at stake. Lawyers for both sides argued on Monday before an industrial court in Paris, each demanding hundreds of millions of euros from the other as they sought to settle a score over the end of the player’s contract before his move to Real Madrid in the summer of 2024. Amid accusations of bullying, betrayal and harassment surrounding the breakdown of their relationship, here’s what you need to know about this $800 million (C$1.1 billion) case. The origins of the dispute Once a love story, the relationship between the 2018 World Cup winner and the reigning European champion turned bitter when Mbappé decided in 2023 not to extend his contract, which was set to expire in summer 2024. PSG says this deprived the club of a juicy transfer fee despite having offered him the most lucrative contract in club ...

There was good news Monday for Canada coach Jesse Marsch, at camp in Florida and far away in Germany. English-born centre back Alfie Jones has taken his citizenship oath and will make his debut for 28th-ranked Canada on Tuesday against No. 50 Venezuela in a friendly at Chase Stadium. Marsch said Jones, who plays his club football for Middlesbrough in England’s second tier, will start — as will goalkeeper Maxime Crepeau. Some 8,000 kilometres away, captain Alphonso Davies returned to training with Bayern Munich for the first time since injuring his knee in March. Bayern reported that Davies spent some 30 minutes on the pitch, taking part in some of the drills. The 28-year-old Jones, who is eligible to play for Canada through his Alberta-born grandmother, had hoped to take the oath last week in Toronto so he could take part in Thursday’s game with No. 23 Ecuador. But it didn’t happen, and he had to watch the scoreless draw as a spectator at BMO Field. Jones played for EFL Championshi...