AP National Sports

By DOUG FEINBERG AP Basketball Writer South Carolina and Stanford are still 1-2 in The Associated Press women’s basketball poll after their game over the weekend. The Gamecocks won in overtime and got all 29 first-place votes in the AP Top 25. It was a chaotic week that saw half of the top 10 teams

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid has a sprained left foot and will miss at least the next two games. Embiid joins teammates James Harden and Tyrese Maxey as Philly stars sidelined by injuries. The trio will miss the expected return of former Sixer Ben Simmons when Brooklyn plays Tuesday night in Philadelphia.

By DAN GELSTON AP Sports Writer PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Brookly Nets guard Ben Simmons is ready for his hostile homecoming in Philadelphia. Simmons was an All-Star guard in Philadelphia before back injuries and what he said were mental health issues prompted him to demand a trade. Simmons was traded earlier this year to the Nets

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Portland will host a women’s Final Four for the first time after the NCAA women’s basketball committee chose the Oregon city for the 2030 national semifinals. The other four cities selected for the Final Four from 2027 through 2031 all have hosted in the past. Columbus, Ohio, will hold it in 2027,

By JENNA FRYER AP National Writer DOHA, Qatar (AP) — Lionel Messi returns to the World Cup for a fifth attempt at finally winning soccer’s biggest prize. He’ll also be hoping to make history with Argentina. The Argentines are among the favorites to win in Qatar and victory would fill the one gaping hole in

By The Associated Press Victor Wembanyama’s season for Metropolitans 92 in the French league keeps getting better. He’s scored at least 30 points in his last two games, and his team has now won seven consecutive contests. That’s helped them pull into a first-place tie with Cholet with a 7-1 record. He also averaged 19.5

By DAN GELSTON AP Sports Writer PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The Philadelphia Eagles are 9-1 for the sixth time in franchise history. They joined the 9-1 starts of the 1949, 1960, 1980, 2004 and 2017 seasons. If some of those years sound familiar to Eagles fans, it’s with good reason. Each of those teams reached a

NEW YORK (AP) — Carlos Beltrán, John Lackey and Jered Weaver are among 14 newcomers on the Baseball Writers’ Association of America’s Hall of Fame ballot in what could turn into an evaluation of the Houston Astros’ cheating scandal. R.A. Dickey, Huston Street, Francisco Rodríguez, Bronson Arroyo and Matt Cain also are new to the

By ISABEL DEBRE Associated Press DOHA, Qatar (AP) — Iran’s players didn’t sing their national anthem and didn’t celebrate their goals. In the stands, many Iranian fans showed solidarity with the protest movement that has roiled the country for months. Iran’s World Cup opener Monday against England was not just about soccer, but the political

By JOHN MARSHALL AP Basketball Writer Virginia climbed 11 spots to No. 5 in this week’s AP Top 25 following a difficult week. The Cavaliers canceled their game against Northern Iowa after three football players were fatally shot. Virginia opted to play in Las Vegas, beating No. 7 Baylor and No. 16 Illinois to win

By JEROME PUGMIRE AP Sports Writer DOHA, Qatar (AP) — The daunting prospect of having to face defending World Cup champion France in his team’s opening match certainly hasn’t affected Australia coach Graham Arnold’s sense of humor. France defender Ibrahima Konaté said he didn’t know any of the names in Australia’s squad so Arnold questioned

TOWSON, Md. (AP) — Towson football coach Rob Ambrose will not return next season, the athletic department announced Monday. Special teams coordinator Lyndon Johnson will serve as interim coach, while a search for a new coach will begin immediately. Ambrose went 76-76 in 13 seasons as head coach. Towson reached the FCS title game in

By ANNE M. PETERSON AP Sports Writer DOHA, Qatar (AP) — Guillermo Ochoa is among four players in Qatar who will join an exclusive circle of players who have been to five World Cups. He joins Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo, Argentina’s Lionel Messi and Mexico teammate Andres Guardado. Before Qatar there were only four players in

By JAMES ROBSON AP Soccer Writer DOHA, Qatar (AP) — Bukayo Saka and Marcus Rashford put the last year’s European Championship loss behind them in England’s 6-2 rout of Iran at the World Cup. Both players missed penalties in the shootout loss to Italy in the Euro 2020 final and were then subjected to racist

By JEROME PUGMIRE AP Sports Writer DOHA, Qatar (AP) — With defending champion France missing so many big names through injury at the World Cup there is even more of an onus on Kylian Mbappé to become the team’s leader in Qatar. He was 19 years old when he took the last World Cup by

DOHA, Qatar (AP) — Iran goalkeeper Ali Beiranvand was injured and carried off the field early in his team’s opening World Cup match against England after clashing heads with a teammate. Beiranvand initially tried to continue playing despite the game being paused for several minutes as he received treatment following the collision with Majid Hosseini

By STEPHEN WADE AP Sports Writer DOHA, Qatar (AP) — Problems with FIFA’s mobile application for World Cup tickets caused hundreds of fans to miss the start of England’s match against Iran on Monday. Fans said their tickets had disappeared from their phone apps and lines began to form outside the Khalifa International Stadium about