CNN – Sports

By Ben Morse, CNN Some of soccer’s biggest names — notably Croatia’s Luka Modrić and Kevin De Bruyne of Belgium — will begin their World Cup campaigns on Wednesday, while the decades-long wait is nearly over for Canada fans as their team makes its tournament bow for the first time in 36 years. We’ve already

By George Ramsay, CNN Cristiano Ronaldo is leaving Manchester United with immediate effect, the English Premier League club announced on Tuesday. In a brief statement, United said the decision, which comes a week after Ronaldo gave an explosive TV interview about his frustrations at the club, was made by mutual agreement. “The club thanks him

By Amy Woodyatt, CNN After years of anticipation — and controversy — since Qatar was awarded the World Cup, the tournament finally got underway on Sunday in Doha. Even before a ball was kicked, some sore spots arose. Despite years of planning, just two days before the tournament kicked off, Qatar announced a ban of

By Ben Church, CNN Saudi Arabia produced one of the biggest upsets in World Cup history Tuesday, beating Lionel Messi’s Argentina 2-1 in an astonishing Group C match. Many had expected the South American team, ranked third in the world, unbeaten for three years and among the favorites to win the tournament, to sweep aside

By Amy Woodyatt, CNN Despite a seven-game win streak under their belt, the high-flying Minnesota Vikings had a rude awakening at home on Sunday, taking a 40-3 battering from the Dallas Cowboys. The Vikings started Week 11 looking strong, but instead came away with their second-largest home loss in franchise history. Cowboys running back Tony

By Zayn Nabbi, CNN British comedian Joe Lycett did not shred £10,000 ($11,800) as he claimed to have done on Sunday when the World Cup kicked off, saying Monday the money had in fact been “donated to LGBTQ+ charities before I even pressed send on the initial tweet last week.” Lycett had called on English

By Ben Church, CNN Before a ball was even kicked in Iran’s World Cup opener against England on Monday, Iran’s players made a powerful statement. In what seemed to be a show of solidarity with those protesting back home, the players stood silent as the Iranian national anthem played out around the Khalifa International Stadium

By Zayn Nabbi and Sammy Mngqosini, CNN Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo has defended the timing of his interview with Piers Morgan, telling reporters on Monday it “won’t shake the changing room’s concentration and focus” ahead of the World Cup. “In my life, the best timing is always my timing,” Ronaldo said at press conference. “I