Italy

BELFAST, Northern Ireland — Italy missed out on automatic qualification for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar four months on from their Euro 2020 triumph after they were held to a 0-0 draw by Northern Ireland on Monday.

The Azzurri went into their final Group C qualification clash knowing they needed to win by enough goals to stay ahead of Switzerland to claim a place at next year's finals in Qatar.

VENICE - AS Roma’s slump continued with a 3-2 Serie A defeat by lowly Venezia on Sunday, as the hosts recovered from surrendering the lead before halftime to launch a sensational second half fightback.

José Mourinho’s side have one win in their last seven games in all competitions and have dropped out of the top four after picking up four points from their last five league games.

“This is not the year to dream big, but it is up to me to raise the ambition and motivation. Our goal is fourth place, but for some reason we have slid to sixth," Mourinho told DAZN.

Europe’s favorite Moldovan/Transnistrian soccer club received a brutal reality check in the Champions League on Wednesday in the form of a second straight 3-1 defeat to Inter Milan.

After starting the Champions League group stage with victories against Shakhtar Donetsk and Real Madrid, Sheriff has suffered two straight defeats at the hands of Inter Milan.

Inter was pulling out all the stops, including Nicoló Barella throwing himself on the grass to avoid blocking Marcelo Brozovic’s opening goal in the 54th minute. 

It looked like the writing was on the wall for Ole Gunnar Solskjær on Tuesday in Bergamo. As we entered second half stoppage time, Atalanta held a 2-1 lead. Manchester United’s attack had been disjointed, so much so that Paul Pogba was hooked in the 69th minute and Donny van de Beek was allowed to escape from his cave. 

I’ve been watching a lot of Juventus matches lately. With Weston McKennie in fine goal-scoring form, it’s hard not to watch my fellow Texan do things no American has done before while converting soaring headers and powerful strikes. But one facet of his game has made him totally unique at Juventus: the long Weston McKennie throw-in.

ROME — Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored his 150th Serie A goal as AC Milan inflicted Jose Mourinho's first home defeat in the Italian top flight with a 2-1 win over AS Roma at the Stadio Olimpico on Sunday to keep pace with Serie A leaders Napoli.

The 40-year-old striker rifled a low free kick into the bottom corner in the 25th minute to put the visitors ahead after a lively start, his 400th total goal in domestic leagues.

ZLATAN IBRAHIMOVIC

Weston McKennie scored for a second straight match, but a man who is in even finer goal scoring form struck twice as Juventus lost yet again, this time 2-1 to Hellas Verona on Saturday.

Giovanni Simeone — son of Atlético Madrid manager Diego — followed up his four-goal performance against Lazio on Sunday by scoring twice against Juve in the first 15 minutes on Saturday. The first was a simple tap-in; his second was an absolute worldie that proved to be the match winner.

Christian Eriksen is not permitted to play in Italy this season as a result of the cardiac arrest he suffered at Euro 2020, his club Inter Milan said in a statement, with the Serie A champions open to letting the Danish midfielder leave.

Eriksen suffered the on-field cardiac arrest during his country's opening game of the tournament in June against Finland and received life-saving treatment on the pitch.

MANCHESTER, England — Host England was drawn alongside Norway, Austria and Northern Ireland for the group stage of the Women's Euro 2022 tournament, while holder the Netherlands was paired with Olympic silver medallists Sweden following Thursday's draw.

The tournament, originally scheduled for 2021, was pushed back a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic and will run from July 6-31, with London's Wembley Stadium set to stage the final.

⚠️ The groups for next summer's Women's EURO have been drawn!