CNN – Sports

By Ben Church, CNN Traveling to watch their team play at the World Cup took a little longer than usual for two French fans. Mehdi Balamissa and Gabriel Martin decided the best way to travel from France to Qatar was on two wheels. The friends spent three months traveling 7,000 kilometers (roughly 4,350 miles) by

By Matias Grez, CNN If Germany is to avoid the ignominy of consecutive World Cup group stage exits, it will need to earn a positive result against a Spain side that looked like the tournament’s most dangerous team after the opening round of fixtures. Finishing bottom of the group at Russia 2018, a tournament Germany

By Ben Church, CNN The World Cup is well underway in Qatar, but issues surrounding LGBTQ+ rights for the Gulf state, world soccer governing body FIFA, teams and fans just won’t go away. On Saturday, two German soccer fans told CNN that they were asked by security officials at Qatar 2022 to remove the rainbow-colored

By Kevin Dotson, CNN Rugby great Doddie Weir has died at age 52, according to a statement from the Weir family that was released through the Scottish Rugby Union. Weir died six years after being diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease (MND). “Doddie was an inspirational force of nature,” the Weir family wrote. “His unending energy

By Allison Rosen, for CNN “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” William Shakespeare had no idea that those same words would apply to one of today’s ongoing terminology rivalries stretching across the Atlantic — the debate of association football versus soccer. Or as the Men in Blazers podcast once put it,

By Issy Ronald, CNN Defending champion France became the first side at the 2022 World Cup to reach the knockout stages with a 2-1 victory over Denmark, sealed by a late goal from star forward Kylian Mbappé. Les Bleus enjoyed the majority of possession in the opening 45 minutes, but Denmark’s defense held firm as

By George Ramsay and Amy Woodyatt, CNN FIFA President Gianni Infantino pleaded with countries to let football take center stage ahead of the World Cup in Qatar, but it hasn’t quite worked out like that. Soccer’s global governing body has found itself at loggerheads with seven European nations over the threat of sanctions for any

By Alasdair Howorth, CNN All eyes will be on Lionel Messi and his Argentina side on Saturday as they look turn around a dreadful start to the World Cup. La Albiceleste were humiliated when they threw away the lead to lose 2-1 to Saudi Arabia in their opening Group G match at the World Cup.

By Issy Ronald and Matias Grez, CNN Five-time World Cup champion Brazil will be without stars Neymar and Danilo for their next match due to injury, the team announced on Friday. Brazilian team doctor Rodrigo Lasmar confirmed both players will miss the team’s next match against Switzerland on Monday, but remained hopeful they would play

Chris Eldergill and Zayn Nabbi, CNN Ahead of England’s World Cup clash with the United States on Friday, world soccer’s governing body FIFA said that Crusader costumes worn by England fans are “offensive.” Some England fans attend sports events dressed as the English patron Saint George, equipped with helmets, crosses and plastic swords. FIFA told

By Aimee Lewis, CNN Two late goals secured Iran a sensational 2-0 win against Wales to maintain its hopes of qualifying for the World Cup knockout stages. Rouzbeh Cheshmi struck from distance to brilliantly give Iran the lead in the 98th minute, while Ramin Rezaeian sealed the win in the 101st minute, securing Iran its

By George Ramsay, CNN After a frustrating 1-1 draw against Wales, this World Cup isn’t about to get any easier for the United States Men’s National Team (USMNT). A promising first-half performance and a well-taken goal from Timothy Weah was canceled out by Gareth Bale’s late penalty on Monday as the youthful USMNT team was

By Ben Morse, CNN On one side of the pitch was a team made up some of the biggest names in world soccer. On the other was a grave digger, a dishwasher and a postman. The result seemed a formality. However, in front of approximately 10,000 fans — and one intrepid US reporter — in

By George Ramsay, CNN Two days after his turbulent departure from Manchester United, Cristiano Ronaldo will begin his World Cup campaign with Portugal and look to put events from the last week-and-a-half behind him. Portugal faces Ghana at Stadium 974 on Thursday, kicking off what will likely be the 37-year-old Ronaldo’s final World Cup —