Sports

It's difficult to overstate the impact of the Williams sisters on tennis. Now in their forties, both are back playing at the top level, after Serena (44) joined 46-year-old Venus in appearances at the Queens tournament in London and the Berlin Open over the last week. The pair have also been offered a wilcard doubles entry for Wimbledon a decade after they won the last of their six doubles titles at that particular Grand Slam. They have also won two US Open doubles titles, two in the French Open and four in the Australian Open. Between them they also have 30 Grand Slam singles titles, Serena has 23 of those. But her motivation for this comeback after four years out came a little closer to home.  "My daughter Olympia told me I should play with Venus. She's always right, so I was like 'dam...

"I too would have been interested in it had it not worked out [for me]," Joshua Kimmich said. "It's interesting to learn new things in a different culture and country. They all have a scholarship, which is a cool thing. I had the feeling they were happy with the path they had taken. I think it's a really interesting option." The words of the Germany captain were in reference to three young German footballers playing just five minutes from the fields of Wake Forest University where the likes of Manuel Neuer, Kai Havertz and Jamal Musiala are training to realize Germany's World Cup ambitions. Linus Musielak (22), Noah Vasilev and Flynn Meves (both 23) changed their summer plans for the chance to be closer to their football heroes. "This is a once in a lifetime opportunity," Vasilev told D...

From obscure, veteran goalkeeper to global fame and an extra 6 million social media followers in 90 minutes, Vozinha's story is the sort that has made the World Cup so special across the globe. The Cape Verde stopper excelled as his side drew 0-0 with European champions Spain on Monday. But the tears he shed after the game were not only joyful. "I cried because I grew up with my grandparents and unfortunately they were not here; they died a few years ago," he told reporters. "They were everything for me, for my life. I also cried because my mum didn't manage to be here because of the visa. Because of the money we had to pay for the visa, we didn't manage to [complete it] on time. I would like her to be here, but I'm also very happy." Visa issues have been a running theme of the World C...

Unbeatable football stars, historic goals and legendary goalkeepers: The FIFA World Cup has begun in the US, Mexico and Canada, but the frantic search for tickets remains. Many fraudsters are trying to scam football fans online. In May, the US domestic intelligence service, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) warned against scams and said it was issuing a public service announcement "to warn the public that cyber threat actors are conducting spoofing attacks against the Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) website in advance of the 2026 FIFA World Cup." It went on to explain that "a spoofed website is designed to pose as a legitimate website, with branding, product listings, etc., and malicious actors use them to further illegal activity like personal informatio...

Now that the 2026 World Cup has started, the show element of this tournament is hard to escape. Big stadiums, big screens, big food — this is America and there was no doubt about it in Houston. And Germany did their part by delivering a big scoreline. The 7-1 win over Curacao was a little short of their highest World Cup win (8-0 against Saudi Arabia in 2002), but matching the famous scoreline of that famous 2014 World Cup semifinal is a boost to a side that has endured rather than enjoyed recent editions of this tournament. After weeks of talk about the health of Manuel Neuer's calf, the woes of Qatar and Russia, and Julian Nagelsmann's communication, it was finally time for football. In the cooled, closed stadium in Houston, Germany cut through the lines faster, found that extra touch...

There are few records left for Manuel Neuer to break in his career, but his surprise return to the Germany team for the 2026 World Cup has seen him reach new milestones. By playing in goal during Germany's 7-1 win over Curacao, Neuer has now played at five World Cups, equaling Lothar Matthäus' German record. His appearance also made him the oldest ever German international, aged 40 years and 79 days, breaking a record previously held by Matthäus (39 years and 91 days). The game was also his 20th World Cup appearance, drawing him level with former French goalkeeper Hugo Lloris as the goalkeeper with the most tournament appearances. "Either you love football or you don't and that's why it's really special for me to start this tournament together with the team," Neuer said afterwards. "I re...

Julian Nagelsmann enters this World Cup in a completely different environment to Germany's home Euros two years ago. The shine around the 38-year-old head coach has faded somewhat as his communication skills have been called into question. Most of the concern is focused on his dramatic recalling of retired goalkeeper Manuel Neuer to the Germany squad just weeks before the start of the tournament despite having spent a year reinforcing Oliver Baumann as the number one. In March, he also delivered very public criticism of striker Deniz Undav, saying the player had played poorly after a game in which Undav had scored the winner. He later, after revealing he had spoken to his wife on the matter, apologized for his comments, saying he had got it wrong.  For a coach whose early rise was buil...