Asia

Cristiano Ronaldo scored a spectacular double as Al-Nassr stayed perfect in the Asian Champions League on Tuesday, the Saudi Pro League outfit getting a 4-3 win in Riyadh over Al Duhail from Qatar to move on to nine points from three games in Group E.

The former Manchester United and Real Madrid forward set up Anderson Talisca to score his side's opener in the 25th minute and Sadio Mane netted the second, with Ronaldo scoring from distance in the 61st minute to give Al-Nassr a three-goal lead.

RIYADH – Saudi Arabia said on Monday it was launching an annual Esports World Cup, which will include the most popular games in the world and have the largest prize pool in esports history.

The competition will be held annually in Riyadh starting summer 2024, a statement from Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said.

Clubs will compete across games from various genres to become the ultimate Esports World Cup champion, the statement said. 

Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah on Wednesday called for an end to what he described as "massacres" in Gaza, saying humanitarian aid must immediately be allowed into the besieged Palestinian enclave.

Salah released a video message on his social media accounts, making his first comments on the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict after coming in for some fierce criticism in his native Egypt for staying silent on the issue for over a week.

Neymar will undergo surgery after rupturing the anterior cruciate ligament and meniscus in his left knee during a World Cup qualifier against Uruguay, Brazil's FA said, an injury that is expected to sideline the forward for several months.

The 31-year-old went down after tussling for the ball with Uruguay's Nicolas de la Cruz in the 44th minute of Brazil's 2-0 defeat on Tuesday, holding his left leg in pain and calling for medical attention as his teammates looked on anxiously.

Forbes’ latest report of the highest paid soccer players 2023 reveals that Cristiano Ronaldo has skyrocketed to reclaim No. 1 on the list. Forbes accounts for players’ salaries and off-field income.

Football Australia chief executive James Johnson said on Thursday they are still exploring a bid to host the 2034 World Cup, despite the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) having declared support for Saudi Arabia.

After naming Morocco, Spain and Portugal as 2030 World Cup hosts on Wednesday, with Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay hosting the opening matches to mark the tournament's centenary, FIFA then invited countries from the Asia and Oceania regions to submit bids for 2034.

WOLVERHAMPTON — Hwang Hee-chan scored the winner as Wolverhampton Wanderers ended champions Manchester City's perfect start to the Premier League season with a shock 2-1 home win on Saturday.

Hwang restored the home side's lead on the counter-attack and against the run of play in the 66th by firing into the net from close rangeafter a Matheus Cunha pass found him unmarked.

In Gregg Berhalter’s grand return to the U.S. men’s national team we got to see his side struggle to get a victory against lowly Uzbekistan in front of a non-filled MLS stadium in St. Louis.

Despite the attractive 3-0 score line, this was one of the most awful USMNT games fans have seen in recent memory. 

Saudi Pro League (SPL) clubs splashed out almost one billion dollars in the transfer window in a bid to boost the domestic competition by attracting some of the world's leading players, according to analysis from Deloitte published on Friday.

How much did Saudi Pro League spend in 2023 summer transfer window?

The outlay of $957 million in the Saudi window, which closed on Sept. 7, exceeded the spending of four of Europe's 'big five' leagues with only England's Premier League clubs splurging more on transfers than those in the Middle Eastern nation.