Sports

Didier Deschamps and his players celebrate France's qualification for the 2026 World Cup finals after the match against Ukraine at the Parc des Princes in Paris, on November 13, 2025. STEPHANE MAHE / REUTERS Didier Deschamps will not be putting his reputation on the line at the 2026 World Cup, which will conclude his 14th and final season at the helm of the French men's national football team. The closing of this long chapter will certainly weigh in the balance, but when the definitive assessment is made, he will be able to point to his longevity and achievements – beyond his record of trophies, whether or not it includes another World Cup title. After the 1998 victory, Aimé Jacquet took the exit ramp to lasting glory. Following the 2018 triumph, Deschamps ...

Allianz Riviera stadium, Nice, March 18, 2025. VALENTIN VIE/MAXPPP The controversy had been simmering beneath the surface, but at the start of November, it was brought to the boil by Frédéric Maillot, rapporteur for the 2026 sports budget. The Communist MP, who represents La Réunion, went before the Assemblée Nationale's Committee on Cultural and Educational Affairs on November 3 to discuss plans for the 2030 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Maillot notably criticized the expected cost of building a permanent ice rink in Nice, and of temporarily converting the Allianz Riviera stadium into two ice hockey arenas. The first facility, the only new sports structure to be built for the Winter Olympics in the French Alps, is estimated at €138 million, according to th...

Bayern Munich's players celebrate their victory at the end of the UEFA Champions League, league phase day 4, football match between Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) and FC Bayern Munich at the Parc des Princes in Paris, on November 4, 2025. THOMAS SAMSON / AFP Luis Diaz scored twice and was later sent off as Bayern Munich beat title-holders Paris Saint-Germain 2-1 away in a heavyweight Champions League clash on Tuesday, November 4. João Neves pulled one back for PSG but Bayern held on with 10 men to maintain their perfect record in all competitions this season and sit top of the Champions League standings. Ousmane Dembélé came off midway through the first half. Moments after having a goal ruled out for offside following a video check, the Ballon d'Or...

Novak Djokovic of Serbia raises the trophy of the ATP 250 tennis tournament after winning the final match against Lorenzo Musetti of Italy, in Athens, Greece, on November 8, 2025. YORGOS KARAHALIS / AP Novak Djokovic has pulled out of the ATP Finals with a shoulder injury, shortly after winning his 101st career title, the 24-time Grand Slam champion confirmed on Saturday, November 8. The 38-year-old will be replaced in the Jimmy Connors Group by Lorenzo Musetti, who was beaten by Djokovic in the final of an ATP event in Athens. "I was really looking forward to competing in Turin and giving my best but after today's final in Athens, I'm sad to share that I need to withdraw due to an ongoing injury," Djokovic said on social media. "I'm truly sor...

South Africa underlined their status as the world's leading side as they beat France 32-17 on Saturday in Paris despite lock Lood de Jager's first-half red card. The Springboks played 40 minutes down a man after De Jager's shoulder charge on Bleus full-back Thomas Ramos but secured victory thanks to second-half tries from replacements Andre Esterhuizen and Grant Williams and starting fly-half Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu. "The guys who started softened up the opposition and the bench finished it off," South Africa head coach Rassie Erasmus said after his team won a re-match of the 2023 Rugby World Cup quarter-final won by the Boks on their way to a fourth Webb Ellis trophy. "I think everyone had a good impact," he added. Home winger Damian Penaud had s...

Olympique Lyonnais v Paris Saint-Germain, João Neves celebrates after a third goal at Groupama Stadium, Lyon, France on November 9, 2025. MANON CRUZ / REUTERS João Neves' late winner returned Paris Saint-Germain to the top of Ligue 1 as they beat Lyon 3-2 on Sunday, November 9, while Emanuel Emegha netted a brace as Strasbourg beat Lille. PSG had gone into the weekend's action in top spot, but were knocked off by archrivals Marseille who beat Brest 3-0 on Saturday to edge ahead by a point. The chance to restore their lead seemed to have slipped by Luis Enrique's side until Neves' 95th-minute header at the Groupama Stadium. Reigning champions PSG now sit two points clear of second-placed Marseille. Late defeat condemned Lyon to seventh spot, se...

Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker, left, and San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama center, battle for the ball on Sunday, Nov 2, 2025, in Phoenix. MIKE CHRISTY / AP Victor Wembanyama looked like an MVP candidate and his San Antonio Spurs appeared unstoppable through the first five games of the season. Then came Sunday's reality check. The 7-foot-4 Wembanyama had a rare off night in San Antonio's 130-118 loss to the Phoenix Suns, on Sunday, November 2, finishing with nine points on 4-of-14 shooting. He also had nine rebounds and six turnovers. It was the first time he was held to fewer than 10 points since October 30, 2024, when he had six against Oklahoma City. "They were expecting everything that we did," Wembanyama said. "That makes every...

Basketball from Macao at the Wilson booth in the NBA House, ahead of the NBA preseason game between the Phoenix Suns and the Brooklyn Nets, at the Venetian Arena in Macao, October 12, 2025. EDUARDO LEAL / AFP With wacky filters and comical dance routines, the antics of American basketball players Chet Holmgren, Tyrese Haliburton and Jared McCain – crafted by marketing agencies – have recently spread across Chinese social media. This is yet another sign that the National Basketball Association (NBA) has regained its footing with Chinese fans since preseason games returned to Macao on October 10 and 12, after a six-year break. By welcoming back the NBA, China is signaling a return to normalcy at a time of trade and tech war between the world's two largest eco...

Charles Coste at his home in Bois-Colombes, France, on January 30, 2024. JOEL SAGET/AFP Charles Coste said he experienced "one of the most beautiful moments of his long life" when, on July 26, 2024, in the Jardin des Tuileries, he passed the Olympic torch to Teddy Riner and Marie-José Pérec and watched the Olympic flame rise into the rainy Paris sky. "I never thought I would receive such an honor," remarked the centenarian, after Tony Estanguet, the head of the organizing committee, had quietly called him a month before the ceremony to inform him he would be one of the last torchbearers. Perhaps Coste thought back 76 years, to when he and his teammates from the France team pursuit squad became Olympic champions in London,...

Members of the JOP 2030 citizens' collective, protesting to demand the withdrawal of France's bid for the 2030 Winter Olympics, in front of the International Olympic Committee headquarters, in Lausanne, Switzerland, on July 19, 2024. FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP This marks a world first: A group of citizens will be heard by a United Nations oversight body on the subject of the Olympic Games. On Monday, October 20, the JOP 2030 citizens' collective learned that it would be heard in Geneva, at the UN's Palace of Nations, by the compliance committee tasked with the Aarhus Convention on "environmental democracy," in a preliminary admissibility hearing scheduled for November 18. This is only the fourth time in history that a case involving France has been examined in depth. ...