Soccer

The United States are the number one ranked team in the world The United States’ upcoming friendly with England on Friday serves as a “nice distraction” for US players after an inquiry uncovered “systemic” abuse and misconduct in their national league, says winger Megan Rapinoe. The findings, from an independent investigation into America’s National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL), were released …

The Chicago Red Stars announced Wednesday the club has voted to remove Arnim Whisler as chairman of the board amid the findings of an investigation that discovered systemic emotional abuse and sexual misconduct in the National Women’s Soccer League. The Red Stars’ Board of Directors issued a statement confirming that the vote to remove Whisler, the team’s majority owner, from …

Southampton are set to sack manager Ralph Hasenhuttl after the club’s poor start to the season. (Telegraph – subscription required) external-link Nottingham Forest boss Steve Cooper is a potential candidate to replace Hasenhuttl at St Mary’s. (Mail)external-link Forest face competition from Leicester City to land Rafael Benitez as their new manager, if they decide to sack Cooper. (Football Insider)external-link New …

There is in form, and then there is whatever Erling Haaland is at the moment.  Just three days after scoring three goals against rival Manchester United, the Manchester City star recorded two more goals against Copenhagen in Champions League on Wednesday in a 5–0 win.  Haaland fell just short of his fourth hat trick of the season after he was subbed off …

It is the first time Real Madrid have won their first three group games since the 2014-15 campaign Real Madrid made it three wins from three in this season’s Champions League with a narrow win over Shakhtar Donetsk at the Santiago Bernabeu. The holders’ early dominance told as Rodrygo opened the scoring before Vinicius Jr extended the lead. Oleksandr Zubkov …

For Barcelona, suddenly, there is pressure. Tuesday’s 1–0 defeat at Inter Milan means that at the halfway stage of the Champions League group stage it sits third in the group, three points behind Inter and six behind Bayern Munich. If Xavi’s side does not beat Inter at home next week, the likelihood is that it will go out of the …

Sydney United 58 became the first non-A-League team to reach the final of the Australia Cup Football Australia (FA) have issued a lifetime ban to a spectator for making “a fascist salute or similar gesture” during the Australia Cup final. The immediate ban from FA-sanctioned games comes after an FA investigation into the spectator’s conduct. FA is now working to …

Former NWSL commissioner Lisa Baird said in a new interview that she acted in the best possible manner and did not ignore allegations of misconduct by former Portland Thorns and North Carolina Courage manager Paul Riley.  Appearing on the E:60 documentary Truth Be Told: The Fight for Women’s Professional Soccer, Baird made her first public comments since resigning from the position …

Inter Milan beat Barcelona, who finished third in their Champions League group last season, behind Benfica Xavi said his Barcelona side suffered “a real injustice” after a 1-0 loss at Inter Milan left them in danger of a second successive group-stage elimination in the Champions League. Hakan Calhanoglu’s strike in first-half stoppage time gave Inter victory. Barca thought they had …

Good morning, I’m Dan Gartland. I can’t believe some of the things I read in U.S. Soccer’s investigation. In today’s SI:AM: ⚽ The damning NWSL report 🏁 NASCAR’s biggest underdog 💯 The next installment of our NBA Top 100 If you’re reading this on SI.com, you can sign up to get this free newsletter in your inbox each weekday at …