Although he is only 27 years old, Kylian Mbappé is already one of the greatest players in World Cup history. After winning the 2018 edition, he has become a regular presence for France. In addition, he has remained one of the top scorers in all three World Cups he has played. Despite this, the French striker faces a major challenge against Spain, as he is chasing a feat he has yet to achieve.

Kylian Mbappé looks to score in a World Cup semifinal for the first time against Spain. While he is the tournament’s second all-time leading scorer, he failed to find the net against Morocco at Qatar 2022 and against Belgium at Russia 2018. Therefore, the 27-year-old striker will be aiming to score for the first time at this stage of the tournament and lead France to a third consecutive World Cup final.

Mbappé has yet to score in a World Cup semifinal, but he has found the net in both finals he has played. In the Russia 2018 final, he scored against Croatia in the 4-2 victory. In addition, he scored a hat trick against Argentina in the Qatar 2022 final, proving to be a truly decisive player. Because of his goalscoring prowess, he will be looking to make his mark for the first time in every stage of the tournament.

Kylian Mbappé’s record vs Spain ahead of World Cup clash

Throughout his professional career with France, Kylian Mbappé has played 104 matches, scoring 64 goals. Even though he is the national team’s all-time leading scorer, he has faced Spain only four times, recording just one victory and producing a relatively modest goalscoring record against them.

Mbappé has scored only two goals for France against Spain. The first goal came in the 2021 UEFA Nations League final, giving his national team the title. His most recent goal came from the penalty spot in the semifinals of the same tournament, in the 2025 edition. With his last victory coming in 2021, he is looking to end his drought in World Cup semifinals, but also to beat Luis de la Fuente’s team again.

Mbappé has another motivation vs Spain: World Cup scoring record

Kylian Mbappé is having his best performance at the 2026 World Cup, recording a goal contribution in every match he has played. With that, he arrives fully motivated for the match against Spain. Not only is he looking to end his drought in the tournament’s semifinals, but he is also chasing the all-time World Cup scoring record.

The 27-year-old striker has scored 20 goals in 20 World Cup matches with France, surpassing Miroslav Klose in the all-time World Cup scoring rankings and moving into second place on the list. As a result, he is competing directly with Lionel Messi, who has 21 goals and leads the standings. With both teams reaching the tournament’s semifinals, Mbappé appears highly motivated to shine against Spain.

Lamine Yamal enters the 2026 World Cup semifinal between Spain and France as one of the most dangerous players in the world, but France midfielder Adrien Rabiot has made clear that Les Bleus will not be building their defensive gameplan around stopping him.

Yamal has already made France suffer on multiple occasions, scoring the equalizer in the Euro 2024 semifinal and netting twice in the Nations League semifinal. Now 19, he faces Les Bleus once again at the semifinal stage, this time at a World Cup, with the head-to-head record firmly in his favor.

Yet when asked about how France plans to handle the Barcelona star, Rabiot was straightforward. “There is no anti-Yamal plan. We’re focused on the Spanish team. No, we’re not focusing on one player, we know they are dangerous in every aspect, whether it’s him or the forwards in possession of the ball, attacking the tight spaces near the box, the combination play,” he said at Monday’s press conference.

Spain rank sixth in the tournament in goals scored with 11, but have conceded just once, and sit second among the four semifinalists in shots on target behind only France, reflecting a team that wins through collective effort rather than individual brilliance. “So we need to stay focused on that, not necessarily on one individual,” the AC Milan midfielder added.

Yamal had already turned up the heat after Spain’s win over Belgium, declaring: “I think that if France has to fear anyone, it’s us, as we’re the ones who have knocked them out before.” Those words appear to have landed with the French camp, who will now be looking to eliminate Spain for the first time in three years after falling short in both the Euro and the Nations League.

Yamal’s 2026 World Cup so far

Yamal has been one of Spain’s most important players in both the Euro and the Nations League, but his first World Cup has not yet seen him reach those same heights. Despite featuring in all six of Spain’s matches, with limited involvement against Cape Verde, he has managed just one goal against Saudi Arabia and has yet to register an assist.

By comparison, he contributed one goal and four assists across seven games at Euro 2024, and three goals and one assist in seven games during the 2024-25 Nations League. The serious injury he suffered at Barcelona before the tournament may still be a factor, and despite being nearly a month removed from his return to the pitch, his sharpest form has remained elusive.

Currently, Mikel Oyarzabal leads Spain’s scoring chart with four goals, while Marc Cucurella tops the assists list with two. The semifinal against France represents Yamal’s best opportunity yet to announce himself on the World Cup stage.

Sarı-lacivertli camiada transfer hareketliliği tam gaz devam ediyor! Fenerbahçe yönetimi, dünya futbolunun gündemindeki isimlerden Mason Greenwood transferinde nihayet mutlu sona ulaştı. Ünlü gazetecinin taraftarlara verdiği bu müjde, camiada şimdiden şampiyonluk meşalelerini yaktırdı.

Fenerbahçe transfer dünyasını sallamaya devam ediyor! Sarı-lacivertliler, uzun süredir peşinde koştuğu İngiliz süperstar Mason Greenwood transferini bitirdi. Dünyaca ünlü transfer gurusu Fabrizio Romano'nun "bitti" dediği dev operasyonun mali detayları ise dudak uçuklatıyor.

Sarı-lacivertlilerin Greenwood transferi için Marsilya'ya 40+2 milyon Euro bonservis bedeli ödeyeceği ve Manchester United'ın da satıştan 10 milyon Euro'dan fazla bir ücret alacağı belirtildi.

2030 yılına kadar sözleşmeye imza atacak Mason Greenwood'un yıllık 10 milyon Euro maaş alacağı kaydedildi.

Beşiktaş transfer döneminde Alexander Nübel, Kassoum Ouattara ve Salih Özcan gibi 11 için transferler yaparak gövde gösterisi yaptı. Sırada dünyaca ünlü sol kanat Leandro Trossard ismi de taraftarı heyecanlandırmaya yetti. Ancak kağıt üzerinde elit duran bu kadronun kusursuz hale gelmesi ve şampiyonluk ipini göğüslemesi için eksikler hala can sıkıyor. Yönetim ve teknik heyet, eksik parçaları tamamlamak adına operasyona devam ediyor.

Beşiktaş; Alexander Nübel, Kassoum Ouattara ve Salih Özcan gibi doğrudan ilk 11'e yönelik hamleleriyle transfer dönemine damga vurdu. Dünyaca ünlü sol kanat Leandro Trossard ismi bile taraftarı heyecanlandırmaya yeterken, kağıt üzerinde elit duran bu kadronun şampiyonluk için hâlâ çözülmesi gereken eksikleri bulunuyor. Kusursuz bir yapı kurmak isteyen yönetim ve teknik heyet, eksik parçaları tamamlamak için transfer operasyonuna devam ediyor.

Savunma hattında sağ stoper pozisyonu fizik kalitesi yüksek Agbadou var. Emirhan Topçu ve Yasin Özcan sol stoperde yerli alternatifler. Buna rağmen savunma merkezinin liderliğini üstlenecek sol ayaklı bir stoper takviyesi "olmazsa olmaz" konumunda. Çünkü Felix Uduokhai ile devam edilmeyecek gibi. Sol stoper için henüz bir aday ismi öne çıkmadı.

Orta sahada durum daha esnek. Ndidi ve Salih Özcan’ın kesiciliği ve büyük şef Orkun Kökçü, merkez yapısını sağlam tutuyor. Salih ve Ndidi sayesinde Orkun’un önderliğinde 10 numara transferi şu aşamada acil bir şart değil, ancak taktiksel esneklik sağlayacak lüks bir hamle olarak masada. 10 numara için adı en fazla öne çıkan isim Dortmund'dan Salih'le beraber boşa çıkan Julian Brandt.

Hyeon-gyu Oh, yırtıcı ve çalışkan yapısıyla öne çıksa da Beşiktaş’ın tek başına gol yükünü sırtlaması büyük bir risk barındırıyor. Vaclav Cerny ve saatler sayılan Leandro Trossard gibi elit kanatların üreteceği pozisyonları tabelaya yansıtacak A sınıf, bitirici bir pivot santrfor şart. Trossard geldikten sonra bile sol stoper, elit santrfor ve taktiksel esneklik sağlayacak 10 numara transferi kaçınılmaz olacak.

İsmail Kartal yönetimindeki Fenerbahçe, yeni sezonda hızı ve fiziksel gücü harmanlayan "ölümcül" bir geçiş takımına dönüşecek. Kerem Aktürkoğlu ve Mason Greenwood'un saf süratiyle rakipleri cezalandırmayı planlayan sarı-lacivertlilerde, sistemin kör dövüşüne dönmesini engelleyecek ve hıza yön verecek isim ise İrfan Can Kahveci'nin yaratıcı aklı olacak.

İsmail Kartal yönetimindeki Fenerbahçe, 2026-27 sezonunda tam bir "Yüksek Şiddetli Baskı ve Hızlı Akın" takımı vaadediyor. Deneyimli teknik adamın set oyununa, bek katılımına ve şok prese dayalı felsefesi, mevcut kadronun yırtıcı karakteriyle birleşerek çok daha direkt bir çehreye bürünecek.

SIDIKI BEKLENENİN ÜZERİNE ÇIKACAK

Sarı-lacivertliler, özellikle kanatlardaki saf hız ile merkezdeki fiziksel gücü harmanlayarak rakipler için durdurulamaz bir geçiş canavarına dönüşmeyi hedefleyecek.

Hücumun merkezinde, stoperleri yıpratan ve kanatlara alan açan "duvar" rolünü Vedat Muriqi üstleniyor. Hava hakimiyeti ve sırtı dönük oyunuyla tam bir taktik asker olan Muriqi'in arkasında, genç ve atletik Sidiki Cherif dinamik bir alternatif olarak bekleyecek.

OĞUZ AYDIN EN ÇALIŞKAN İSİM

Kanatlarda ise Süper Lig standartlarının çok üzerinde bir hız koridoru kuruluyor. Sol kanatta kaotik ve yırtıcı stiliyle Kerem Aktürkoğlu, sağda ise her iki ayağıyla ölümcül bitiriciliğe sahip Mason Greenwood savunma arkası koşularıyla geçiş oyununun ana silahları oluyor. Geniş alan performansıyla Oğuz Aydın ise bu hattın en çalışkan rotasyon parçası olarak öne çıkacak.

LİGİN ÇOK ÜZERİNDE HIZLI

İsmail Kartal'ın sisteminde ana plan ve oyunun karakterini belirleyecek olan unsur kanatların saf hızı. Kartal, kariyeri boyunca dikine ve hızlı hücumları, topu kapar kapmaz en direkt yoldan kaleye gitmeyi felsefe edinmiş bir teknik adam. Kerem ve Greenwood gibi ligin çok üzerinde iki hız dehası elindeyken, ana plan ister istemez rakipleri bu yırtıcı süratle cezalandırmak üzerine kurulacak.

DURAVA TOSLAMA DURUMUNDA

Ancak bu "hız makinesinin" duvara toslamaması ve bir beyne sahip olması için İrfan Can Kahveci'nin yaratıcı aklı, sistemi çalıştıran ana anahtar konumunda. İrfan Can, özellikle kapanan savunmalara karşı temposu düşen oyunu açacak, Kerem ve Greenwood’un koşu yollarını kilit paslarla besleyecek orkestra şefi olacak.

İRFAN CAN HAYATİ ÖNEMDE

Özetle; Fenerbahçe'nin sahaya koyacağı ana karakter saf hız ve yüksek şiddetli geçiş oyunu olacak... İrfan Can'ın yaratıcılığı ise bu hızın ne zaman ve nasıl kullanılacağını belirleyen, takımı kör dövüşünden kurtaran en kritik tamamlayıcı güç.

Fenerbahçe'de yabancı şişkinliğini eritmek için düğmeye basan teknik direktör İsmail Kartal, çözümü hücum hattını "yerli kalkanı" ile kurmakta buldu. Yeni sezonda sol kanadı Kerem Aktürkoğlu'na emanet ederek elini rahatlatmayı planlayan deneyimli çalıştırıcı; İrfan Can ve Oğuz Aydın'ı rotasyon jokerleri olarak belirlerken, kontenjan kurbanı olan yüksek maliyetli 3 isimle de yolları ayırma kararı aldı.

Fenerbahçe'de yabancı sınırlandırmaları ve kadrodaki yabancı şişkinliği, teknik direktör İsmail Kartal’ı radikal ve stratejik bir hamleye zorluyor.

Deneyimli teknik adam, ilk 11 dengesini kurmak ve eldeki yabancı oyuncu yükünü azaltmak adına yerli kuralı formülünü hücum hattında çözmeyi hedefliyor.

KEREM, KARTAL'IN DEĞİŞMEZİ OLACAK

Ön üçlüyü yerli ağırlıklı kurarak elini rahatlatmak isteyen Kartal, savunma ve orta sahada yabancı hakkını çok daha esnek kullanabileceği bir kadro mühendisliği üzerinde çalışıyor.

Bu stratejinin merkezinde ise Kerem Aktürkoğlu yer alıyor. Sol forvet ve kanat pozisyonunun yerli pasaportlu en elit oyuncusu konumundaki Kerem, yeni sezonda İsmail Kartal'ın ilk 11'inin değişmez lideri olacak.

MURIQI İYİLEŞTİĞİNDE DEĞİŞMEZ!

Hücumun diğer kanadında ise ana yaratıcı ve bitirici güç olarak Mason Greenwood yer alacak. Santrfor rotasyonunda fiziksel gücüyle stoperleri yıpratacak olan Vedat Muriqi duvar görevi görürken, Sidiki Chérif ise Kerem'in sağladığı yerli avantajı sayesinde sahada kendine çok daha rahat yer bulacak.

OĞUZ VE İRFAN CAN ROTASYONDA

İsmail Kartal’ın kulübe gücünü ve rotasyon hamlelerini ise İrfan Can Kahveci ile Oğuz Aydın belirleyecek. Oğuz Aydın, sol kanatta Kerem’in ana yedeği olurken, sağ kanatta da oynayabilme jokerliğiyle öne çıkıyor. Set oyunlarında ve kapalı savunmaları açmada oyun zekasıyla devreye girecek olan İrfan Can Kahveci ise Greenwood’un en güçlü alternatifi olarak sağ kanadın gizli liderliğine soyunacak.

MUSABA, NENE VE CENGİZ YOLCU

Hücumda yerli kalkanının devreye girmesi, takımdaki birçok yüksek maliyetli yabancı ismin de kaderini çizdi ve ayrılık haritasını netleştirdi. İrfan Can'ın yükselişiyle kulübede yabancı kontenjanı harcaması istenmeyen Kartal, Dorgeles Nene ve Anthony Musaba ile Cengiz Ünder'i satış listesine yazdı.

Erken bir golün tüm dengeleri altüst edeceği dev randevu öncesi rakamlar net bir strateji savaşına işaret ediyor. Turnuvanın 16 gollü en üretken hücum gücü İspanya, kalesinde sadece tek gol gören savunma devi Fransa'ya karşı! Topa hükmeden Matadorlar mı, pusuda bekleyen Horozlar mı? İşte dev yarı finalin saha içi geometrisi ve kaderi belirleyecek istatistikler...

Dünya Kupası yarı finalinde bu gece tam anlamıyla bir ekol çarpışması yaşanacak. Turnuvanın 6 maçta attığı 16 golle en üretken takımı olan İspanya ile kalesinde sadece tek gol gören savunma devi Fransa, finale yükselmek için kozlarını paylaşacak.

İstatistiğe dayalı taktik analizler, yeşil sahada topa hükmeden bir hücum gücü ile ceza sahasına adeta duvar ören bir defans kurgusunun epik mücadelesini işaret ediyor.

Saha içi geometrisini belirleyecek en net faktör topa sahip olma oranları olacak. %65.8 topla oynama ve maç başına yaklaşık 600 isabetli pas istatistiği bulunan İspanya, %90.4’lük elit pas isabetiyle oyunu yönlendiren taraf konumunda.

Buna karşın %58.5 topla oynayan Fransa, %88.4 pas kalitesi ve maç başına yaptığı 8.5 pas arasıyla, kaptığı toplarla dikine ve çok hızlı reaksiyon gösterebilen tehlikeli bir geçiş takımı profili çiziyor.

İspanya'nın ön alan baskısını kırmak için %67.1 isabet oranına sahip uzun topları da bir silah olarak kullanması bekleniyor.

Hücum hattında turnuvanın en çok büyük şans üreten (maç başına 4.5) takımı olan İspanya, bu fırsatların 3.2'sini cömertçe harcamasıyla dikkat çekiyor. Ancak bu gece karşılarında 6 maçın 5’inde kalesini gole kapatmış ve maç başına sadece 0.2 gol yiyen kusursuz bir Fransa defansı var. Maç başına 2.8 büyük şans üreten Fransa'nın az ama öz yakaladığı fırsatları daha verimli kullanması gerekirken, İspanya'nın bu seviyede bitiricilik zaafı yaşama lüksü bulunmuyor.

Maçın kilitlenme noktası orta saha sertliği ve ceza sahası içi yerleşimleri olacak. Fransa, %53.2'lik ikili mücadele kazanma oranıyla sahada fiziksel bir üstünlüğe sahip ve maç başına 18.7 tehlike engelleme verisiyle baskıyı kabullenip hatasız savunma yapabiliyor. İspanya ise pas oyununun yanı sıra maç başına 14.7 top çalma ile merkezde direnç göstermeye çalışacak. Erken gelecek bir golün tüm bu taktiksel dengeleri altüst edeceği dev randevu, futbolseverlere unutulmaz bir strateji savaşı vaat ediyor.

Barış Alper, Sané ve Yunus'un yanına eklenebilirse "Sihirbaz" Enciso ile genç "Tank" Ponomarenko, Galatasaray'ı Avrupa'nın en öngörülemez hücum gücüne dönüştürecek. Okan Buruk'un yoğun baskı felsefesini kusursuz bir geçiş canavarına çevirecek bu rüya rotasyon; Akışkan Kaos'tan Çift Forvetli Kuşatma'ya kadar rakibe göre şekillenen 3 ölümcül planla hem Süper Lig'de hem de Avrupa arenasındaki devlere diz çöktürmeye gelecek.

Galatasaray, Teknik Direktör Okan Buruk’un "yoğun baskı ve hızlı geçiş" felsefesini kusursuz bir canavara dönüştürecek rüya gibi bir hücum rotasyonuna kavuşuyor.

Barış Alper Yılmaz, Leroy Sané ve Yunus Akgün gibi elit kanat güçlerinin yanına, Güney Amerikalı sihirbaz Julio Enciso ile Ukraynalı genç tank Matviy Ponomarenko ekleniyor.

Bu beşli, sarı-kırmızılılara hem inanılmaz bir taktiksel esneklik hem de Avrupa arenasında elit takımlara diz çöktürecek bir kadro derinliği sunuyor.

BURUK'UN YENİ MERTENS'İ

Dries Mertens sonrası dönem için üçüncü bölge şefi olarak planlanan Julio Enciso, patlayıcı dripling yeteneği ve mesafe tanımayan şut tehdidiyle tam bir "Sihirbaz" rolü üstlenecek.

Dikine top taşıma becerisiyle savunma arkasına kaçacak Sané ve Barış Alper'i besleyecek olan Enciso, merkezdeki geçiş oyununun anahtarı olacak.

TANK GİBİ BİR FORVET

Dinamo Kiev çıkışlı 2006 doğumlu dev pivot santrfor Matviy Ponomarenko ise Osimhen'in arkasında adeta yeni nesil bir "Tank" görevi görecek; fiziksel gücüyle stoperleri yıpratarak ikinci topları arkadaşlarına indirecek. Bu muazzam beşli sayesinde Okan Buruk, elinde rakibe göre şekillenecek 3 ölümcül taktiksel senaryo bulunduracak:

Akışkan Kaos (4-2-3-1):

Ön alan baskısının tavan yaptığı bu düzende Enciso merkezde şef olurken, Sané ve Barış Alper çizgileri yırtacak; dar alan ustası Yunus Akgün ise en güçlü alternatif olarak oyunu değiştirecek.

Saf Hız ve Geçiş (Avrupa Modu 4-3-3 / 3-4-2-1):

Şampiyonlar Ligi ve Avrupa Ligi deplasmanlarında Torreira, Sara ve Enciso ile kapılan toplar, iki saf hız treni Sané ve Barış Alper ile buluşturularak savunma arkası cezalandırılacak.

Çift Forvetli Kuşatma (4-4-2 / 3-5-2):

Kapanan savunmaları açmak için Ponomarenko stoperleri üzerine çekip alan boşaltırken, Icardi veya Osimhen bitirici darbeyi vuracak; Yunus ve Sané ise yaratıcı paslarla kutuyu besleyecek.

AVRUPA DEVLERİNE CEVAP

Galatasaray; Barış Alper'in atletizmi, Sané'nin dünya klası bire bir becerisi, Yunus'un taktiksel zekası, Enciso'nun öngörülemez patlayıcılığı ve Ponomarenko'nun Doğu Avrupa ekolü fizikselliği ile "Hız, Güç ve Yaratıcılık" üçgenini tamamlayacak. Bu hücum cephaneliği, sarı-kırmızılıları sadece Süper Lig'de durdurulamaz kılmakla kalmayacak, Avrupa'da da her türlü taktiksel senaryoya cevap verebilen bir dev haline getirecek.

Icardi ve Lemina gibi tecrübeli ikonların yerine, 30 milyon Euro'luk Ugochukwu ve genç dev Ponomarenko geliyor! Galatasaray, saha içindeki yaşlı liderlerini elit genç atletlerle değiştirerek milyarlık bir "deprem" operasyonuna imza atmaya hazırlanıyor. Kısa vadede bir geçiş dönemi kriziyle "çağ kebap" mı olunacak, yoksa modern futbolun temposunu yakalayıp "çağ mı atlanacak"? İşte sarı-kırmızılıların geleceğini kumar masasına yatıran o dev felsefe değişimi!

Galatasaray, kadrosunda köklü bir felsefe değişimine giderek tecrübeli yıldızların yerine genç yetenekleri monte etmeye hazırlanıyor. 32 yaşındaki Mario Lemina yerine, Premier Lig sertliğinden gelen 22 yaşındaki dinamik ön libero Lesley Ugochukwu için yaklaşık 30 milyon Euro'luk dev bir yatırım gündemde.

Fizik kalitesi ve temposu yüksek olan Ugochukwu'nun, sarı-kırmızılı orta sahanın yıllardır aradığı elit dinamizm sorununu çözerek takıma çağ atlatması bekleniyor.

Forvet hattında ise tam bir "deprem" senaryosu hakim. Galatasaray tarihinin en ikonik, lider ve bitirici golcülerinden 33 yaşındaki Mauro Icardi’nin yerini, Dinamo Kiev kökenli 20 yaşındaki Ukraynalı pivot santrafor Matvii Ponomarenko'nun alması planlanıyor.

Güçlü fiziği ve gol serisiyle geleceğin büyük yıldız adayı olan Ponomarenko, uzun vadede müthiş bir yatırım vaat etse de, Icardi'nin baskı altındaki büyülü etkisini ve liderliğini kısa vadede aratabilir.

Bu radikal operasyon, Galatasaray'ı kısa vadede saha sonuçları ve liderlik eksikliği açısından hafif bir geçiş dönemi sarsıntısına uğratabilir... yani ilk etapta işler "cağ kebap" dedirtecek bir krize dönüşebilir. Ancak orta ve uzun vadede Lemina ve Icardi gibi 30 yaş üstü isimlerden, Ugochukwu ve Ponomarenko gibi elit genç atletlere geçilmesi meyvelerini vermesi hayal ediliyor.

Takım modern, çok koşan, pres gücü yüksek bir Avrupa ekibine dönüşürken, bu isimlerin yüksek satış potansiyeli kulübün finansal geleceğini kurtaracaktır.

Galatasaray skorer liderlerini kaybedip kısa vadede zayıflamış gibi görünse de; takım dinamizmi, atletizm, fizik kalitesi ve ekonomik değer olarak kesinlikle "çağ atlayacak" ve çok daha güçlü bir yapıya kavuşacaktır.

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At press time, XRP was trading at $1.06, down 3.53% in the last 24 hours and 7.54% in the past week. This made it the second-biggest loser among the top ten cryptocurrencies during that period, trailing only Hyperliquid (HYPE), which is down 6.55% in the past day. Key factors that influenced the XRP price today …

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The AI space is back in focus as it begins to gain momentum across the crypto market, with investors shifting their focus from other tokens.  As the capital rotates back into the AI space, the cryptos like Internet Computer (ICP) and Chainlink (LINK) have gained the centre stage. Both the tokens have remained active behind …

The post ALLO Price Jumps 40% While BILL Surges 45% as AI Crypto Narrative Accelerates appeared first on Coinpedia Fintech News

The ALLO price has rallied 40% over the past 24 hours, while BILL posted an even stronger 45% intraday gain. At first glance, it looks like another speculative AI token frenzy. Dig a little deeper, though, and both rallies appear to be tied to a string of ecosystem announcements made over the past two weeks …

The post Odds of CLARITY Act Passing in 2026 Crash Despite Trump’s Support appeared first on Coinpedia Fintech News

US President Donald Trump has urged the nation’s Senate to pass the Digital Asset Market CLARITY Act in honor of the late Senator Lindsey Graham. Trump to Senate: pass the CLARITY Act In a Truth post dated today, Trump insisted that America should get ahead of China and “many other countries” in the race towards …

The post CLARITY Act Urgent Update: Trump Invokes Lindsey Graham to Push Senate Vote appeared first on Coinpedia Fintech News

President Trump is tying the fate of the CLARITY Act to the memory of Senator Lindsey Graham, who died Saturday at 71 after a sudden illness, as the crypto market structure bill faces a narrowing window to pass the Senate. A tribute tied to legislation In a Truth Social post, Trump called on the Senate …

The post Decred Price Eyes $23 as Growing On-Chain Activity Meets Key Technical Barrier appeared first on Coinpedia Fintech News

Decred price is starting to show signs of life after spending months under pressure, but the real test hasn’t arrived just yet. While the broader market continues hunting for stronger narratives, Decred’s improving on-chain activity is quietly building a case that something may be changing beneath the surface. The network is recording healthier blockchain usage, …

The post Stock Market Today: SK Hynix’s Post IPO Crash Deepens as Oil Shock Hits Wall Street appeared first on Coinpedia Fintech News

President Trump didn’t just reimpose a blockade on the Strait of Hormuz Monday. He turned the world’s most critical oil chokepoint into a toll booth, and markets spent the day pricing in what that actually means. Trump announced the US military would retake control of the strait, positioning the country as what he called the …

The post Ethereum Bullish Signals Strengthen as Whale Accumulation, Lean Ethereum Roadmap Fuel Optimism appeared first on Coinpedia Fintech News

Ethereum is quietly rebuilding its bullish case, and this time it’s not just another social media hype cycle. A combination of improving market sentiment, undervalued on-chain metrics, accelerating development, and aggressive whale accumulation is painting a much stronger picture than the price alone suggests. Sentiment Recovery Gains Real Momentum Investor confidence has improved notably over …

The post Why Is Bitcoin Price Going Down Today? appeared first on Coinpedia Fintech News

Bitcoin now trades near $62,500, down about 2.2% to 2.4% over the past 24 hours. The drop is slightly steeper than the broader crypto market, which fell around 2%. Escalations between the US and Iran over the weekend pushed oil prices sharply higher, with Brent crude rising more than 3%. Higher oil prices raise fears …

The post Mark Yusko Says If Elon Musk Sold One DOGE, Dogecoin Would Go to Zero appeared first on Coinpedia Fintech News

Investor Mark Yusko says Dogecoin’s entire value depends on one thing, Elon Musk never selling. Yusko made the comparison while explaining why he views SpaceX’s recent IPO the same way he views the meme coin, as an asset propped up almost entirely by belief in its most famous backer. Comparing SpaceX to Dogecoin Yusko says …

“Neftçi”nin ukraynalı baş məşqçisi Yuri Vernidub yeni mövsüm öncəsi Sloveniyada həyata keçirdikləri təlim-məşq toplanışını dəyərləndirib.

Arena.az xəbər verir ki, o, klubun mətbuat xidmətinə açıqlamasında iyulun 13-də başa vurduqları toplanışla bağlı bunları söyləyib:

“Təlim-məşq toplanışı yaxşı keçdi. Uşaqlar kifayət qədər yaxşı fiziki yüklənmə aldılar. “Osiyek”lə keçirdiyimiz oyun mənə hər şeydən çox xoş təsir bağışladı. Çünki bu matçda həm intensivlik, həm də sürət var idi. Görünürdü ki, futbolçular tədricən lazımi səviyyəyə çatırlar. Məğlub olmağımız psixoloji baxımdan müəyyən çətinlik yarada bilər. Bununla belə, hesab edirəm ki, ən vacib məsələ bu deyil. Əsas odur ki, təlim-məşq toplanışını, demək olar, zədəsiz başa vurduq. Hamı sağ-salamatdır. Artıq Bakıya qayıdırıq. Futbolçulara istirahət verəcəyik. Daha sonra isə ayın 23-də keçiriləcək oyuna hazırlaşacağıq. Rəqibimizin kim olacağını ayın 16-da öyrənəcəyik. Düşünürəm ki, hər şey plan üzrə gedir”.

Vernidub yeni transferlər haqda təəssüratlarını bölüşüb:

“Yeni transferlərin komandaya necə uyğunlaşması mənim xoşuma gəlir. Onlar yaxşı anlaşırlar. Fikrimcə, yenilərin sayəsində güclənmişik. Bu mənada, heyətdə qalan futbolçuları da qeyd etməliyəm. Komandanın özəyi var. Bununla belə, düşünürəm ki, heyətimizi komplektləşdirməyə ehtiyac var. Çünki elə mövqelər var ki, Allah eləməsin, kimsə zədələnsə, dərhal problemlər yarana bilər. Buna görə də bu istiqamətdə işləyirik. Əlimizdən gələni edəcəyik ki, komandamıza daha gənc və onu gücləndirə biləcək oyunçular cəlb edək”.

Yuri Vernidub komandasının Avropa Konfrans Liqasına hazır olduğunu deyib:

“Hesab edirəm ki, tam hazırıq. Çünki yaxşı təlim-məşq toplanışı oldu. Bakıda keçirdiyimiz 8 gün ərzində hazırlığımızın təməlini qoyduq. 4 yoxlama oyunu keçirdik – 1-də qalib gəlib, 3-də məğlub olduq. Deyə bilərəm ki, rəqiblərimiz kifayət qədər güclü komandalar idi. “Partizan” və ÇFR (Kluj) də Konfrans Liqasında çıxış edəcəklər. “Osiyek” isə Xorvatiya çempionatında, adətən üst sıralarda yer alan klubdur. Hazırda onların müəyyən maliyyə problemləri var və buna görə ötən mövsümü istədikləri kimi keçirə bilməyiblər. Buna baxmayaraq, çox möhkəm komanda olduğu görünür. Xorvatiyada futbol məktəbi həmişə yüksək səviyyədə olub. Buna görə də düşünürəm ki, hər şey qaydasındadır. Ən əsası odur ki, hamımız evə sağ-salamat qayıdırıq. Mənim üçün ən vacib olan da budur”.

“Sabah”ın baş məşqçisi Valdas Dambrauskas UEFA Çempionlar Liqasının 1-ci təsnifat mərhələsində TNS-ə qarşı keçirəcəkləri cavab matçından danışıb.

Arena.az xəbər verir ki, Azərbaycan və Uels təmsilçiləri arasındakı cavab görüşü sabah İngiltərədə baş tutacaq.

Dambrauskas matçdan öncə təşkil eidlmiş mətbuat konfransında bunları söyləyib:

“Burada olduğumuz üçün çox xoşbəxtik. Həm futbolçular, həm də məşqçilər heyəti sabahkı oyunu böyük həyəcanla gözləyir.

Düzdür, cavab qarşılaşmasını səfərdə, İngiltərədə keçirəcəyik. İlk oyundan fərqli olaraq sabah daha yüksək konsentrasiya ilə çıxış etməliyik. Bilirik ki, rəqib doğma meydanda oynayacaq və burada yaradılacaq atmosferin fərqindəyik. Hamıya məlumdur ki, ev sahibi komandalar öz meydanında adətən 20-25 faiz daha yaxşı çıxış edirlər. Buna görə də arxayınlaşa bilmərik. İlk oyunda üstünlük qazanmağımıza baxmayaraq, artıq hər şeyin həll olunduğunu düşünməməliyik. Əksinə, sabah da əlimizdən gələni etməli, meydandan qələbə ilə ayrılmağa çalışmalı və daha güclü komanda olduğumuzu bir daha sübut etməliyik.

Sevindirici haldır ki, komandamız səfərə heç bir zədə problemi olmadan gəlib. Çox rahat və uğurlu səfər etdik, hətta uyğunlaşmaq üçün adət etdiyimizdən bir gün əvvəl bura gəldik. Komandada əhval-ruhiyyə yüksəkdir, hər kəs özünü yaxşı hiss edir. Sadəcə Stiv Solvet düşərgəmizdə deyil. Sabah meydanda ən yaxşı oyunumuzu göstərməli və keyfiyyətimizi bir daha nümayiş etdirməliyik”.

Marco Palestra’s agent hit back angrily at Inter President Beppe Marotta and reveals when Chelsea got involved. ‘Over 45 days, Inter never reached an agreement with Atalanta.’

The Italy international had been on the verge of joining Inter last month in a deal believed to be worth €40m plus €5m add-ons.

However, before they could shake hands, Chelsea dived in with a proposal worth a good €10m more to Atalanta, and with double the salary on offer at San Siro.

Inter President Marotta bitterly criticised Palestra today during a press conference and mentioned agent Alessandro Lucci too.

“Take the case of Palestra, for example. It was the result of a decision made by the player, who backed out of a verbal agreement,” said Marotta.

“His agent could have steered him in a different direction, but chose this path instead, and we had to accept seeing another Italian player move to a league that is not in direct competition with ours.”

Palestra agent replies to Inter attack

Lucci did not take that lying down and has now given a statement to news agency ANSA.

“I listened with great sadness and at the same time enormous shock at the words of Inter President Marotta, who I’ve had a professional rapport with for over 25 years, doing many deals together,” said Palestra’s agent.

“The Inter directors, represented by Piero Ausilio, carried on constant and constructive talks with us on the opportunity to complete this transfer.

“However, the element that decided the outcome was not described accurately in today’s press conference. Over 45 days the two clubs, who were in daily contact, were never able to reach a definitive agreement.

“This allowed Chelsea, with whom contact began only two weeks earlier, as I had quickly informed the two clubs, burst in during the final days and sealed a deal with Atalanta, the player and with us to close the move rapidly.

“At this point, I hope that we can all turn the page and look to the future with calm, without more attacks as a pretext against a player who deserves respect.”

It was no secret that several months ago Palestra was approached by Inter and told them he would be more than happy to wait it out for a move to San Siro.

However, the failure to work out a deal with Atalanta stalled the process, and ultimately Chelsea came in with an equally strong project.

It is not the first time that Inter have struggled to agree terms with Atalanta, as they also came close with no progress for Ademola Lookman and Ederson.

Cagliari have officially signed Jacopo Fazzini from Fiorentina, on loan with an option to buy for a total €8m, with Harry Winks set to follow from Leicester City.

The Sardinians are very active on the transfer market this summer after securing their coach Fabio Pisacane to a new and improved contract.

Both Fazzini and Winks landed at the airport today, where they were greeted by media and supporters, then went to complete their medical tests.

Fazzini and Winks to Cagliari

The club released a statement this evening confirming that Fazzini has signed on loan with an option to buy at the end of the season from Fiorentina.

It is widely reported that the total cost of the transfer will be around €8m.

The Italian midfielder started out in the Empoli youth academy, then was sold to Fiorentina in the summer of 2025 for €9.3m.

However, he dropped down the pecking order once Paolo Vanoli replaced Stefano Pioli and was not wanted by new coach Fabio Grosso either.

As for Winks, he was eager to leave Leicester City following their latest relegation to the English equivalent of Serie C.

Tottenham Hotspur defender Pedro Porro has been linked with clubs like Barcelona in recent months.

The 26-year-old right back has recently signed a long-term contract with the North London club, and he has now revealed that he is very happy at the Premier League club. He has thanked the club for backing him and rewarding him for his performances.

“Right now, as I said before, I’m very happy at Spurs because they’ve supported me,” he said (h/t SportWitness).

“They’ve given me a renewal that I think I’ve earned. So, in that respect, I’m very happy there.”

“Right now, I’m focused on the national team, my club, and the renewal. I’m very happy, as I said before. They’ve given me everything, and I’m grateful for that.”

The Spanish international has been outstanding in the Premier League, and he is undoubtedly one of the best right backs in Europe right now. He has been very impressive in the World Cup with Spain.

It is no surprise that he has been linked with Barcelona. The Spanish champions need more quality in wide areas, and the Tottenham defender could be an exceptional acquisition for them. But he has a contract with the London club until 2031, making it extremely difficult for Barcelona to sign him anytime soon. They would have to pay an absurd amount of money in order to convince Tottenham.

Meanwhile, the defender has maintained that a footballer’s future can be uncertain and that he does not know where he will end up.

“Regarding what you said about Barca and all that, people talk and want the best for their clubs.

“I’m focused right now on the national team and Tottenham. We’ll see what happens tomorrow, because you never know what can happen in football.”

It is evident that the 26-year-old is not ruling out a potential exit in the near future. However, Tottenham certainly hope to keep a player of his quality at the club for as long as possible.

The post “We’ll see what happens”: Tottenham ace refuses to shut the door on blockbuster transfer appeared first on CaughtOffside.

The World Cup held its breath Monday on the eve of the first semi-final that pitches France's fearsome attack against a technically gifted Spain team.

France have reached the past two World Cup finals, winning in 2018 in Russia and losing to Argentina four years ago in Qatar in an epic final despite a hat-trick from Kylian Mbappe.

They are aiming to win the World Cup for a third time while Spain -- despite their rich footballing tradition -- have lifted the famous trophy just once, in South Africa in 2010.

Many observers believe this year's Spain squad has the quality to win the tournament -- but first they need to find a way to stop France's star-studded frontline, led by Mbappe.

The Real Madrid forward has scored eight goals to lead the Golden Boot race alongside Lionel Messi and will give Spain's defenders a different challenge in Arlington, Texas.

France's roster of forwards also includes Ballon D'Or winner Ousmane Dembele and Michael Olise, the English-born forward whose pace and dribbling pull defences out of shape, allowing Mbappe the space to work his magic.

Behind them, whether they start the game or come on as substitutes, France can call on Paris Saint-Germain pair Bradley Barcola and Desire Doue.

Defeat to Messi's Argentina in the final in Doha four years ago was a bitter experience for France, and the desire for a rematch is strong -- if Messi can lead his team past England in their semi-final in Atlanta on Wednesday.

Adding to France's motivation, France coach Didier Deschamps is leaving after this tournament following 14 years in charge.

Already part of the elite club to have won the World Cup as a player and a coach, Deschamps would dearly love to collect a third title.

"It is a human adventure and even though I chose the players, to be with this squad every day is very important," he said after France comfortably beat Morocco in the quarter-finals.

"I am very happy on a personal level and also happy to see them enjoying themselves so much."

- Upper hand -

In Lamine Yamal, who turned 19 on Monday, Spain have the player who will likely succeed Messi and the far younger Mbappe as football's next superstar.

Yamal inspired Spain to glory at Euro 2024 but came into his first World Cup still recovering from a hamstring injury.

The Barcelona player initially looked less than his normal sparkling best, but he has improved steadily and won the player-of-the-match award in the 2-1 semi-final win against Belgium.

The teenager pointed out that Spain have the upper hand on France, having beaten them 2-1 in the semi-final of Euro 2024 and in a high-scoring Nations League semi-final in 2025 that finished 5-4.

"There are two possibilities -- either they reach three consecutive World Cup finals, or we beat them three times in a row. We'll see what happens," Yamal said.

Spain's run to the final has been built on a solid defence -- Belgium's goal at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles was the first they have conceded in the entire tournament.

Coach Luis de la Fuente has restored the possession-based style that was a trademark of earlier Spain teams, meaning France will have to win the ball from them before they can launch their attacks.

gj/jw

Klay Thompson, a five-time NBA All-Star and a four-time NBA champion with the Golden State Warriors, appears to be drawing trade interest. Thompson, a current member of the Mavericks, could potentially be moved as Dallas begins a youth movement headlined by recent No. 1 overall pick Cooper Flagg.

According to the Miami Herald, Thompson has emerged as "a strong player of interest" to the Heat front office. Miami's interest in Thompson is not dependent on landing LeBron James either, as the team needs more shooting to surround Giannis Antetokounmpo.

A career 40.9% 3-point shooter, Thompson would certainly fill that need if he were to move on to his third team in the last four years.

This article originally appeared on Warriors Wire: Klay Thompson drawing trade interest from championship-hopeful team

Even though they’re only five-years-old, the Sexton twins already know what they want to be when they grow up.

“All my kids love watching it. One of my daughters keeps saying, ‘Mom, can I go to the World Cup?’ I’m like, yeah! Of course you can,” Allison Sexton, their mother, told Channel 2’s Berndt Petersen.

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The Sexton twins were among 20 five-year-olds gathered at the Georgia Impact soccer camp in Canton on Monday, continuing a 50-year tradition in Cherokee County.

Director John Murnan says World Cup matches in Atlanta today, lead to crowded soccer camps tomorrow.

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“The fall season. We’ll get increased interest and registration. That happened in 2015 when the women won the cup. It happened again in ’19,” Murnan said.

Back when the camp’s coaches were little girls.

“That World Cup thing made me kick of my start in soccer,” Sarah Courchene said.

“You too?” Petersen asked.

“Yes. Very similar to Sarah. I was already playing by then, but it made me want to play more,” Sophie Naliwajka said.

Soccer is not new to Cherokee County, but it is new to these kindergarteners, and the World Cup has them hooked.

Petersen asked if they liked soccer and, naturally, the answer was yes.

“Yes! I’m a soccer star!” “I am too!” Harper and Emmy Sexton, the twins, said.

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Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across the MLB. Throughout the year we ask questions of the most plugged-in Pirates fans and fans across the country. Sign up here to participate in the weekly emailed surveys.

This week’s Pittsburgh Pirates question was who was the biggest All star game snub between Brandon Lowe and Bryan Reynolds. Paul Skenes was originally the only Pirate to make the all star game then Braxton Ashcraft got named as a replacement to participate in the mid summer classic. Here is who you said is the biggest All star game snub. 

64% of Pirates fans believe Brandon Lowe is the bigger All star game snub over Bryan Reynolds. Lowe leads the team in home runs with 21, he also leads all second basemen with homers as well. The 32 year old also has 64 RBIs which is tied for 10th in the league.  Those stats show that Lowe is a big snub for the game and it also shows he has been on elf the best second basemen this season.

Thank you for voting and check out https://sportsbook.fanduel.com/navigation/mlb for new updated betting odds on the Pittsburgh Pirates. 

With less than a month before training camp begins, former Washington Huskies star defensive tackle Greg Gaines is still searching for an NFL team.

Over the last three years, Gaines has played 1,237 snaps over 49 games for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and compiled 64 tackles, 5 for loss, with 4 sacks and a fumble recovery while playing next to his college teammate, Vita Vea. He also filled a key role in 2025 in place of former first-round pick Calijah Kancey, who missed 14 games with a torn pectoral muscle.

However, after playing on one-year deals for the entirety of his time in the NFC South, it appears that there won't be a reunion between the 30-year-old and Tampa Bay, which inked defensive tackles A'Shawn Robinson and Rakeem Nunez-Roches to similar deals, while Vea continues to hold out of offseason workouts in search of a new contract.

🚨 BREAKING: @PewterReport is reporting that the Bucs are signing DT Rakeem Nunez-Roches to a 1-year deal.

Nacho is back in Tampa Bay.

Bucs have now added 2 DTs this offseason - A'Shawn Robinson and Nacho to replace Logan Hall and Greg Gaines. pic.twitter.com/RYjqMc6LDD

— PewterReport 🏴‍☠️ (@PewterReport) April 3, 2026

Gaines, who was originally selected in the fourth round of the 2019 NFL draft by the Los Angeles Rams and won Super Bowl LVI with the organization while being a key piece of the defensive front next to three-time Defensive Player of the Year Aaron Donald, would be a strong veteran addition for any team looking for depth in the middle.

In his career, Gaines has tallied 186 tackles, 16 for loss, with 14.5 sacks, and has been a sturdy presence up front for his seven NFL seasons. He's played in 108 games in his career, 117 when including the playoffs, and at a position where injuries can pile up quickly due to its physicality, it feels like only a matter of time before a team offers the veteran a deal.

One team that could be looming as a potential option for Gaines is the New York Giants. Over the offseason, the team traded All-Pro Dexter Lawrence, while veteran Roy Robertson-Harris suffered a torn Achilles in early June, and Gaines could be a strong high-floor option to eat up space and defend the run.

This article originally appeared on Huskies Wire: Former Washington star still searching for an NFL home

Home Run Derby live updates, results, highlights from 2026 MLB HR contest on Netflix originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

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PHILADELPHIA, P.A. —Prepare for blasts, bombs and big flies at the Bank.

On Monday night, Citizens Bank Park will play host to the 2026 Home Run Derby, MLB's crown jewel event of All-Star weekend. This year's event, featuring eight top sluggers, stands out for multiple reasons — including some changes.

Not only will Netflix be the exclusive home of the Home Run Derby for the first time, but new rules are also being implemented. While a similar bracket style remains, instead of a running timer for each hitter, they'll have a finite number of swings available to maximize their homer total.

This year's Derby field is also loaded with star power. Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber will both be attempting to win the trophy in front of their home fans, while White Sox rookie sensation Munetaka Murakami, mighty Rays third baseman Junior Caminero and breakout Yankees slugger Ben Rice pose some of the top threats. Jordan Walker, Willson Contreras and Jac Caglianone round out the field, which will aim to put some dents in Citizens Bank Park's bleachers.

The Sporting News is tracking live updates, highlights and more from the 2026 MLB Home Run Derby. Follow along below for the latest from Philadelphia.

Home Run Derby results

Total home runs

Round 1 results

Round 2 results

TBD vs. TBD

TBD vs. TBD

Final results

TBD vs. TBD

Home Run Derby live updates, results, highlights from 2026 MLB HR contest

All times ET. This section will be updated.

MORE 2026 MLB HOME RUN DERBY:

• Full list of participants for 2026 Home Run Derby
• MLB Home Run Derby odds, predictions
• New rule changes to 2026 Home Run Derby
• Pitcher pairings for every competitor
• How much money will Home Run Derby winner make?

Where to watch 2026 MLB Home Run Derby

Home Run Derby start time

• Date: Monday, July 13
• Kickoff: 8 p.m. ET

MLB's 2026 Home Run Derby will begin at 8 p.m. ET on Monday night. 

The event is being held at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia.

What channel is the Home Run Derby on today?

• TV channel: N/A
• Live stream: Netflix

For the first time ever, the Home Run Derby will be available exclusively as a streaming event. Netflix will be streaming MLB's event on Monday night, with no TV broadcasts available.

Matt Vasgersian, Barry Bonds, CC Sabathia, Anthony Rizzo, Hunter Pence, Elle Duncan and Lauren Shehadi are among the names who will appear on Netflix's coverage.

MLB All-Star schedule

Monday, July 13

Tuesday, July 14

No one is better at indirectly calling Stephen A. Smith out for something he said than Jalen Rose, and he appears to be at it again.

Smith might be on summer vacation from First Take, but that hasn’t stopped him from picking fights. Last week, Smith ignited a feud with Draymond Green and Jemele Hill after they questioned whether he should still be able to call himself an active journalist even though he no longer appears in locker rooms regularly. Smith went off on a rant where he mocked Hill’s laugh and accused her of implying that she spent more time in locker rooms than he did, even though she never made that implication.

During his rebuttal, Smith threw out that he’d be willing to debate the topic with Hill or Green on one of their various podcast platforms. And shortly after the proposal, Jalen Rose went on social media to post a vague gripe about media members sparking feuds and then offering to hash it out on a podcast.

The most phony thing amongst “media” members is “beefing” then saying I’ll go on your show or vice versa to discuss it. (see chasing clicks). LAME.

— Dr. Jalen Anthony Rose (@JalenRose) July 9, 2026

“The most phony thing amongst ‘media’ members is ‘beefing’ then saying I’ll go on your show or vice versa to discuss it. (see chasing clicks). LAME,” Rose wrote on X.

To be clear, Rose never named Stephen A. Smith, Jemele Hill, or any other media member in the post, but the timing was more than curious. And even if Rose wasn’t talking about Smith, the feud with Hill and Green must have prompted him to call it out as “phony.”

This also wasn’t the first time Rose appeared to take an indirect shot at Smith. Two years ago, Rose ripped the media for trashing athletes on the heels of Stephen A. Smith fat shaming Zion Williamson. And one year before that, Rose notably posted, “So glad I didn’t make a career of content pretending to fake troll the Cowboys.” The post came after Smith spent the morning on First Take drinking from a mug that read, “Cowboys fan tears.”

Rose later claimed he was referring to Skip Bayless, not Smith. The defense was strange considering Bayless is a Cowboys fan, while Smith relishes every opportunity to troll the franchise and its fanbase. Maybe Rose wasn’t talking about Smith this time either. But even if media beefs that lead to podcast invites are just “phony” attempts at chasing clicks, at least Smith leaves no doubt when he calls someone out.

The post Jalen Rose takes apparent shot at Stephen A. Smith: ‘Most phony thing’ appeared first on Awful Announcing.

Cory Sandhagen is set to undergo an MRI this week to reveal the extent of the damage done from a submission attempt by Mario Bautista that left him limping for the final two rounds of their fight at UFC 329.

The veteran bantamweight contender took to Instagram on Monday to show off a gruesome injury to the back of his leg that developed after Bautista went for a Suloev stretch before transitioning to a kneebar just as the first round was coming to an end. As soon as Sandhagen returned to his feet, he was noticeably limping to his corner between rounds.

In the end, Bautista scored a unanimous decision win, which was cemented when he dropped Sandhagen in the third and final round with all three judges giving him the same 29-28 scores.

“Frickin bummer man. Losing in fighting is the most embarrassing thing ever. Sucks,” Sandhagen wrote on Instagram. “Pretty sure the knee bar tore my hamstring in the first (getting MRI this week). It kept locking out weird if I did certain things. So that kind of messed up my game plan.

“Congrats to Mario. He was well prepared. 1st was close but he won it with that knee bar. 2nd, I won (surprisingly cause leg was jacked). 3rd, I wanted to have the same round as before but got dropped. Gotta fight near perfect to win at the top. Something I need to get better at.”

The fight served as a chance at revenge for Bautista, who fell in his UFC debut when he met Sandhagen on short notice back in 2019. This time around, Bautista showed off massive improvements both on the feet and on the ground as he was able to get the job done against Sandhagen in the rematch.

A constant threat to anybody at 135 pounds, Sandhagen fell to 1-3 in his past four fights with the loss at UFC 329 after previously dropping decisions to Merab Dvalishvili and Umar Nurmagomedov. Now Sandhagen awaits final word on the severity of his injuries to determine when he’ll be able to compete again.

“Sandman” is bummed.

Former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Bantamweight title challenger Cory Sandhagen suffered a unanimous decision loss in his rematch against Mario Bautista in the “Featured Fight” on the UFC 329 main card this past weekend (Sat., July 11, 2026) inside T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Two days after the loss, Sandhagen took to social media to address the defeat and reveal that he may have suffered a serious injury during the fight.

“Frickin bummer man,” Sandhagen wrote. “Losing in fighting is the most embarrassing thing ever. Sucks.

“Pretty sure the knee bar tore my hamstring in the first — getting MRI this week,” Sandhagen continued. “It kept locking out weird if I did certain things. So that kind of messed up my game plan.

“Congrats to Mario. He was well prepared. First was close but he won it with that knee bar. Second, I won — surprisingly cause leg was jacked. Third, I wanted to have the same round as before but got dropped. Gotta fight near perfect to win at the top. Something I need to get better at.

“Appreciate the love from you guys. Enjoy your week. Love you. Peace.”

Sandhagen (18-7) is now riding a two-fight losing streak for the second time in his UFC career. Prior to his UFC 329 loss, “Sandman” dropped a unanimous decision title fight to Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 320 last year.

The 34-year-old is now 4-3 across his last seven fights and, at least for the time being, is nowhere near another Bantamweight title shot.

He also may have lost his chance to finally collide with Sean O’Malley, which has long been one of the most fun fantasy matchups in the division.

And the potential injury only makes things worse.

If Sandhagen did tear his hamstring (like this), the severity of the tear will determine how long he is sidelined. But if it is significant, a six-to-12-month layoff is not out of the question.

In other words, Sandhagen’s rough night at UFC 329 may follow him well into 2027.

Bummer, indeed.

For more UFC 329 results, coverage and highlights click HERE.

Cristiano Ronaldo, football’s greatest ever goalscorer, stood and accepted the end of his final FIFA World Cup journey with Portugal after a 1-0 loss to Spain in the Round of 16 last week.

It wasn’t an end befitting of the player in question, but that is rarely the case in sports. Very few go out on top, and even fewer still look themselves when they do so.

While not a widely accepted fact among his fans, it has been some time since Ronaldo looked himself at the highest level. His goalscoring aged as gracefully as anyone in football, but he no longer has the same movement, dribbling and orchestration in attack that made him one of the best to ever play the game.

The former Manchester United man reached his peak at Real Madrid, and spent nine years on the left wing for Los Blancos as they racked up four UEFA Champions League titles. He is the storied club’s top scorer by nearly 100 goals with a tally of 450 in 438 games.

Ronaldo scored wherever he played. His lowest goals-to-games ratios were early in his career as he developed from a young, tricky winger into an attacking force. He plays in a league where he can still dominate each week on the scoresheet and remained the captain and first name on the team sheet for Portugal despite his career seemingly winding down. He also remained in top physical shape, no doubt a big reason as to why he is still playing into his 40s.

Even with the obvious that he isn’t the same, there is still the flash every now and then of the player he once was.

At this World Cup it came against Uzbekistan. Admittedly not the flashiest World Cup matchup, but a match that demanded someone step up for Portugal.

It took six minutes.

A move down the right wing to create space by João Cancelo was mirrored by the famous No. 7 in the box. He began the play behind a teammate and charged towards the ball to make himself available at the near post. The decision was one of an experienced poacher, someone who knew an opportunity before anyone else could sniff it out.

As he arrived, Ronaldo had to meet the ball in an awkward position, but connected on a half-volley with the pass slightly behind him to shoot for and find the bottom right corner of the goal. It was the first of two on the day, with the second a bit more straightforward. It was reminiscent of the sort of counter-attacking goals he would score at Old Trafford, only this time assisted by Bruno Fernandes rather than Wayne Rooney.

Even for that brief moment and single performance, we were watching Ronaldo again.

Portugal reached the knockout rounds and won its Round of 32 tie against Croatia with a dramatic second-half comeback. Ronaldo and his fellow old-guard member Luka Modric faced off in a memorable match, which saw CR7 convert from the penalty spot for what was, shockingly, his first-ever knockout-round goal at the World Cup.

The match featured an interesting twist in Portugal’s fortunes, as Vitinha and Bruno Fernandes were subbed off after only an hour. Ronaldo remained and converted the penalty, but was subbed off himself before the final 10 minutes. Rafael Leão played the hero with a late winner, and some VAR drama prevented a last-gasp equalizer from Croatia.

Manager Roberto Martinez had played Ronaldo for every minute of the group stage, and though his gamble in taking off his stars paid off against Croatia, he made no such move in the next round against Spain. A lifeless attack was held silent in a 1-0 defeat, its second shutout of the tournament, in a quiet end to Ronaldo’s lengthy national team career.

CR7’s overall legacy will not be damaged by the last two World Cups, in part for the same reasons his place in the team was not challenged by many in Portugal. He is synonymous with the sport in the country and beyond. He is a national symbol of the country’s sporting greatness.

Like Eusebio before him, Ronaldo’s dominance did not lift the national team to the greatest heights. The Euro 2016 triumph was memorable, and injury prevented him from playing his part in the final, but the team struggled to reach beyond the Round of 16 in most tournaments. A young Ronaldo helped Portugal reach the semi-finals in 2006, and the team made a quarter-final appearance in 2022 after he was benched in the Round of 16.

The Portugal national team will not be left in a poor state, though a new manager is set to come in after Roberto Martinez stepped down. The squad has an impressive group of young players coming up and the midfield is arguably as strong as it has been since Ronaldo’s first World Cup with the team. Bruno Fernandes will be in his mid-30s at the next World Cup, but the squad has the likes of Vitinha, Nuno Mendes and João Neves on the rise as young stars as well in Mateus Fernandes, Geovany Quenda and Antonio Silva.

It’s a strong squad, even without a superstar up front. But the truth is, Ronaldo hasn’t been that superstar to elevate the team since the 2018 World Cup. It was a truth that was never accepted by the association, the manager, the squad, the fans, or Ronaldo himself, but it’s time now to accept the end and what should be one of the final chapters in his playing career.

Verizon fuels soccer culture and community impact year-round – uniting fans, supporting local businesses and creating unforgettable moments that celebrate the global game.

SAN DIEGO – Former NFL wide receiver Alshon Jeffery has reached a deal with prosecutors in San Diego to have two felony insurance fraud charges against him dismissed if he meets certain conditions within 60 days, including 50 hours of volunteer work service and a $2,500 payment to the driver whose car he rear-ended in September.

Jeffery, who won a Super Bowl with the Philadelphia Eagles in 2018, was arrested in April after failing to appear in court for his arraignment on these charges in March. He allegedly had no insurance when his 2021 Mercedes-Benz crashed into another car from behind on northbound Interstate 5 in San Diego Sept. 21. But he filed an insurance claim stating the accident occurred Sept. 28, not Sept. 21, after obtaining a new insurance policy Sept. 24, three days after the crash actually happened, according to court records obtained by USA TODAY Sports.

The insurance company denied the claim after obtaining evidence from the other driver that documented the actual date of the accident.

What are the conditions to dismiss the charges for Alshon Jeffery?

The conditions for dismissal were signed July 10 by Jeffery, his attorney Brian Watwins and San Diego Deputy District Attorney H. Meliana Johnson, according to a copy of the document obtained by USA TODAY Sports. Those conditions are:

∎ $840.46 paid to Kemper Insurance.

∎ $2,500 to the Lyft driver of the car he rear-ended for that driver’s insurance deductible.

∎ $500 to the California Department of Insurance Anti-Fraud Fund.

∎ 50 hours of volunteer service work.

The district attorney’s office advised the court July 10 that Jeffery already has paid restitution to satisfy those financial requirements.

"If, after 60 days, Alshon Jemell Jeffery has satisfied all the above conditions and has remained law abiding with no new criminal cases, this matter will be dismissed in the interest of justice," the conditions document states.

Jeffery pleaded not guilty in April, when Watkins, his attorney, noted the insurance company did not pay out any money.

Jeffery recently has lived in San Diego County after earning more than $63 million during his NFL career from 2012 to 2020, according to Spotrac. He played college football at South Carolina and was selected by the Chicago Bears in the second round of the 2012 NFL draft.

He signed with the Eagles in 2017 and caught three passes for 73 yards and a touchdown in the 2018 Super Bowl, when the Eagles beat the New England Patriots 41-33.

Follow reporter Brent Schrotenboer @Schrotenboer. Email: bschrotenb@usatoday.com

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Ex-NFL receiver Alshon Jeffery reaches deal to have fraud charges dismissed

Major League Baseball’s annual celebration of dingers has arrived with the 2026 Home Run Derby at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia.

Eight of the game’s top sluggers will swing for the fences on Monday night, all hoping to be crowned the 2026 champion.

The Phillies’ Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper are the headliners in this year’s derby at their home ballpark. Schwarber has never won the derby but Harper did back in 2018, his last year in Washington, at Nationals Park. This is the two-time MVP’s first appearance since.

The other hitters in the field are Ben Rice (Yankees), Junior Caminero (Rays), Jordan Walker (Cardinals), Wilson Contreras (Red Sox), Munetaka Murakami (White Sox) and Jac Caglianone (Royals).

Stay tuned for live updates:

How to watch 2026 MLB Home Run Derby

This year's Home Run Derby is not available on broadcast or cable TV, only via streaming on Netflix.

• Date: Monday, July 13
• Time: 8 p.m. ET
• Location: Citizens Bank Park (Philadelphia)
• Streaming: Netflix

Who is in the Home Run Derby?

(Home run totals at the All-Star break in parenthesis)

• Kyle Schwarber, Phillies: 32
• Ben Rice, Yankees: 28
• Junior Caminero, Rays: 27
• Jordan Walker, Cardinals: 22
• Willson Contreras, Red Sox: 20
• Bryce Harper, Phillies: 20
• Munetaka Murakami, White Sox: 20
• Jac Caglianone, Royals: 14

Home Run Derby odds

Odds via BetMGM as of Monday, July 13 at noon ET

• Kyle Schwarber: +280
• Junior Caminero: +350
• Munetaka Murakami: +600
• Jac Caglianine: +700
• Jordan Walker: +800
• Bryce Harper: +900
• Ben Rice: +900
• Willson Contreras: +1400

Home Run Derby rules, new format

This year's Home Run Derby will feature several format changes, most notably the removal of the timer. Instead, each of the eight participants will be allotted a set number of swings, with every swing counting. Hitters will get 20 swings in the first round and 15 swings in both the semifinals and finals. If a player homers on the final swing of any round, they can continue hitting until a swing does not result in a home run. — John Leuzzi

Who won last year's Home Run Derby?

After putting together a record-setting first half, Cal Raleigh won Major League Baseball’s 2025 Home Run Derby at Truist Park, earning himself the title of baseball’s top slugger.

The Seattle Mariners slugger who hit 38 home runs before the All-Star break – the second-most in MLB history – dispatched the Tampa Bay Rays’ 22-year-old Junior Caminero in the final, and is the first catcher to win the Home Run Derby.

With his dad pitching and younger brother catching, Raleigh became the second Mariner to be crowned Derby champion, joining Hall of Famer Ken Griffey Jr., who won it three times. — Jesse Yomtov

MLB Home Run Derby winners year by year

• 1985: Dave Parker, Reds
• 1986: Wally Joyner, Angels & Darryl Strawberry, Mets
• 1987: Andre Dawson, Cubs
• 1988: Not held
• 1989: Eric Davis, Reds & Ruben Sierra, Rangers
• 1990: Ryne Sandberg, Cubs
• 1991: Cal Ripken Jr., Orioles
• 1992: Mark McGwire, Athletics
• 1993: Juan Gonzalez, Rangers
• 1994: Ken Griffey Jr., Mariners
• 1995: Frank Thomas, White Sox
• 1996: Barry Bonds, Giants
• 1997: Tino Martinez, Yankees
• 1998: Ken Griffey Jr., Mariners
• 1999: Ken Griffey Jr., Mariners
• 2000: Sammy Sosa, Cubs
• 2001: Luis Gonzalez, Diamondbacks
• 2002: Jason Giambi, Yankees
• 2003: Garret Anderson, Angels
• 2004: Miguel Tejada, Orioles
• 2005: Bobby Abreu, Phillies
• 2006: Ryan Howard, Phillies
• 2007: Vladimir Guerrero, Angels
• 2008: Justin Morneau, Twins
• 2009: Prince Fielder, Brewers
• 2010: David Ortiz, Red Sox
• 2011: Robinson Cano, Yankees
• 2012: Prince Fielder, Tigers
• 2013: Yoenis Cespedes, Athletics
• 2014: Yoenis Cespedes, Athletics
• 2015: Todd Frazier, Reds
• 2016: Giancarlo Stanton, Marlins
• 2017: Aaron Judge, Yankees
• 2018: Bryce Harper, Nationals
• 2019: Pete Alonso, Mets
• 2020: Not held (COVID)
• 2021: Pete Alonso, Mets
• 2022: Juan Soto, Nationals
• 2023: Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Blue Jays
• 2024: Teoscar Hernandez, Dodgers
• 2025: Cal Raleigh, Mariners

Home Run Derby payouts

• Champion: $1 million
• Runner-up: $500,000
• Other participants: $150,000
• Longest home run: $100,000

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: MLB Home Run Derby LIVE updates: Start time, new rules, bracket and where to watch

Shams Charania: Free agent forward Ziaire Williams has agreed on a one-year, $3 million deal to sign with the Los Angeles Lakers, sources tell ESPN.

Twitter

This article originally appeared on Hoops Hype: Ziaire Williams signs one-year deal with Lakers

Khobi Price: Sandro Mamukelashvili on becoming teammates with Luka Doncic: "Luka and me, born the same year, so like being in Europe, I used to see a lot about Luka and grew up kind of like seeing how good he was and how big he was at that early age. So, it’s cool to just be his teammate now, cause I remember there was rankings in Europe and like I would always see he was always No. 1. So, I was like just trying to get there, get there. Now just being his teammate, it’s amazing and I really do think like he’s going make my life a lot easier.”

Twitter

This article originally appeared on Hoops Hype: Sandro Mamukelashvili on becoming teammates with Luka …

Brad Rowland: Kingston Flemings, Zuby Ejiofor, and Asa Newell are all OUT today for the Hawks. No injuries for those 3 players. Just will be listed as inactive. Other players out: Keshon Gilbert — Left Adductor, RayJ Dennis — Right Achilles, Jacob Toppin — Left Adductor/Quad

bsky.app

This article originally appeared on Hoops Hype: Kingston Flemings, Zuby Ejiofor, and Asa Newell are …

John Wall revealed that his role as Howard’s President of Basketball Operations is serving as a crash course in the business of basketball, with his long-term goal of becoming an NBA general manager. “I want to learn the front office side,” Wall explained during a recent interview with 247 Sports. “One day I want to be a GM.” For Wall, the position isn’t ceremonial. Instead, he has immersed himself in nearly every aspect of building a modern college basketball program, gaining experience in player evaluation, roster construction and the financial realities of the NIL era.

HBCU Gameday

This article originally appeared on Hoops Hype: John Wall sets long-term goal of becoming NBA general manager

While several current and former NBA stars have accepted ambassador-type positions with college basketball programs, Wall said he wants to be involved in the hands on work. “Whenever I’m here and I have a day free, I like to pop in and say what’s up, talk to coach. I have a lot more time on my hands than guys who are still playing in the league that has this role. We’re constantly in group texts and group threads all day, getting the schedule of what they have playing and what they got, and every day I touch back in DC I want to come around and watch them practice, watch them play pick up, and talk to some of these young guys and just try and give them guidance,” Wall said.

HBCU Gameday

This article originally appeared on Hoops Hype: “Whenever I’m here and I have a day free, I like to …

Simone Biles revealed she was recently mistaken for two different Black athletes multiple times in a single day.

In a now-deleted July 12 Instagram Stories post, the Olympian offered up a few more details about her experience, saying that she'd been misidentified as fellow Olympic athletes Dominique Dawes, a retired artistic gymnast, and track star Sha'Carri Richardson.

"It’s not even 6am and I’ve already gotten called Dominique Dawes 2x and Sha’Carri once," she wrote for the post's caption, as reported by People and Us Weekly.

The 29-year-old appeared to have taken the confusion in stride, adding a couple of laughing emojis to the end of her caption. A photograph that appears to have been taken from a balcony at sunrise served as the backdrop for Biles' post.

Biles has been publicly misidentified before. She called out the Wall Street Journal in an October 2023 X post after the newspaper published an article about her featuring a photo of Shilese Jones, another prominent Black gymnast.

"This picture isn’t even me…….. try again," Biles wrote in response to the publication's original X post, which has since been deleted. The outlet said it corrected the photo in the story and on social media.

Simone Biles: 'I didn’t really notice racism until 2013'

In previous conversations, Biles has opened up about her first encounters with racism in her sport.

"I didn't really experience it whenever I was younger, obviously, I went to a predominantly white school. But I didn't really notice racism until 2013," Biles told then-"Today" co-anchor Hoda Kotb in 2020. "I was on a world scene, and what made the news was another gymnast saying that if we painted our skin black, maybe we would all win because I had beaten her out of the beam medal, and she got upset."

Biles made history when she competed at the 2013 World Championships, becoming the first Black woman to win the all-around title. Italian gymnast Carlotta Ferlito made the comment referenced by Biles after failing to medal at the event.

"And that (was) really the news, rather than me winning worlds. So, other than that, it happens every day and I feel like every Black athlete or colored athlete could say that they've experienced it through their career," she said to "Today" in 2020.

Biles added: "But you just have to keep going for those little ones looking up to us. It doesn’t matter what you look like. You can strive for greatness, and you can be great."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Simone Biles says she was confused for these 2 Black athletes

Another big-time program has entered the mix for a new Spartans recruiting target.

Michigan State basketball extended an offer to high-end four-star point guard Antonio Pemberton of Hanover, Mass. on Sunday, and on Monday he picked up an offer from another major program. Pemberton announced on Monday that he has received an offer from Kansas.

Pemberton is a high-end four-star prospect in the 2027 class, with a recruiting rating of 98.47 in 247Sports' composite system. He ranks as the No. 9 point guard and No. 35 overall prospect in the class. He is also listed as the top overall player from Massachusetts in the class.

Michigan State and Kansas are now part of a list of 20 schools that have offered Pemberton, according to 247Sports. Of that list, though, it's clear that the Spartans and Jayhawks are two of the biggest programs to join his recruitment. So from this point forward, I would anticipate both of those teams will be heavily in the mix for his commitment.

Blessed and Honored to receive an offer from Kansas University!! #AGTGpic.twitter.com/jgdN5Oy3Rb

— Antonio Pemberton (@AJPemberton_19) July 13, 2026

Contact/Follow us @The SpartansWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Michigan State news, notes and opinion. You can also follow Robert Bondy on X @RobertBondy5.

This article originally appeared on Spartans Wire: MSU basketball recruiting target picks up offer from blue blood program

A featherweight banger has been added to the UFC's return to Paris.

Fan-favorite Trevor Peek returns from a nearly two-year layoff as he battles promotional sophomore Kurtis Campbell on the Sept. 19 event at Accor Arena.

Two people with knowledge of the matchup recently informed MMA Junkie of the booking but asked to remain anonymous as the promotion has yet to make an official announcement.

Peek (9-3 MMA, 2-3 UFC) has been out of action due to injury since he broke his leg in preparation for a May 2025 bout vs. Jeong Yeong Lee. Known for his exciting fighting style, Peek aims to bring the violence each and every time out. This time, he'll likely be further motivated as he makes his featherweight debut, coming off back-to-back losses.

Campbell (8-1 MMA, 0-1 UFC) attracted eyeballs during his rise on the U.K. regional scene. Known for his signature "Pink Panther" shorts (something he's been able to carry over into the UFC), Campbell was the Full Contact Contender champion when he secured a UFC contract on Dana White's Contender Series in September with an 80-second knockout of Demba Seck. However, his debut did not go as he planned after he was finished by Danny Silva by second-round TKO stoppage.

The UFC Fight Night 287 fight card includes:

• Kurtis Campbell vs. Trevor Peek
• Matthieu Duclos vs. Luis Felipe Dos Santos

This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: UFC Paris adds featherweight banger to fight card

The transfer window is heating up. Leeds United are pushing hard to wrap up their first major defensive signing of the summer, with Elland Road chiefs launching a formal verbal contract proposal to a highly rated Serie A star.

Leeds United close in on major defensive target this summer

According to transfer expert Fabrizio Romano on X, the West Yorkshire club have jumped into pole position for the Bosnian international centre-back Tarik Muharemović. It is a bold move. They want the deal finalised next week. Two rival top-flight teams are still breathing down their necks, but Leeds United are confident they can cross the finishing line before anyone else has a chance to hijack the transfer.

Direct club-to-club talks with Italian side Sassuolo are already on the calendar to thrash out the financial structure. Crucially, the player wants the move to England. That gives Leeds a massive advantage in these negotiations.

Why do the club need this defensive reinforcement?

SANTA CLARA, CALIFORNIA – JULY 01: Folarin Balogun #20 of the United States fouls Tarik Muharemovic #4 of Bosnia and Herzegovina which is later reviewed by VAR and awarded as a red card foul a during the FIFA World Cup 2026 Round of 32 match between USA and Bosnia and Herzegovina at San Francisco Bay Area Stadium on July 01, 2026 in Santa Clara, California. (Photo by Michael Steele/Getty Images)

The 23-year-old defender had a brilliant breakthrough year in Italy. He clocked up 32 league appearances during the recent 2025/26 Serie A campaign, even chipping in with two vital goals. He is a proper unit. He is 1.92 metres tall. The towering centre-half commands his penalty box with real authority and handles physical forwards without breaking a sweat.

He offers a rare combination of brute strength and composure on the ball. Muharemović can pick a pass from deep, making him the perfect fit for the current tactical system. Then there is his recent international form. He put in some excellent displays at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, proving he can cope with elite attackers on the biggest stage.

This looks like a brilliant piece of business. The current squad desperately lacks a tall, progressive defender who can dominate aerial duels and instantly launch quick counter-attacks.

The European media are hinting at a price tag close to £40m. That is steep. A fee of around £30 million feels like the absolute limit for where he is in his development. Going over £35 million carries too much financial risk, and the recruitment team must stay disciplined. If Sassuolo demand an unrealistic fee, Leeds United should look elsewhere. The board have a clear shortlist of backup options ready. Getting this signature secured before pre-season ends gives the manager a massive asset for a tough Premier League campaign. Decisive action is needed now.

We’ve officially reached the MLB All-Star Break, and that means it’s time for fans to tune into this year’s Home Run Derby.

The premise is pretty self-explanatory; during the event, several stars from teams across the league come together to try and hit the most home runs. Usually, they have to do the most within a certain time limit, but things are a bit different this year — more on that momentarily.

The Derby first happened back in 1985 as part of MLB’s All-Star festivities and has seen several memorable performances from legends over the years. Below, you’ll find all the info you need on the 2026 T-Mobile Home Run Derby.

When is the 2026 Home Run Derby?

The T-Mobile Home Run Derby will be held at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia on Monday, July 13 at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT. But, you can start watching coverage of the event beginning at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT.

Will the 2026 Home Run Derby be available to stream?

It will indeed. In fact, this year marks the first time ever that the event will exclusively be streaming. You can watch it on Netflix.

Do I need a special kind of Netflix account to stream it?

Nope. Whether you pay for no ads or not, according to Netflix’s own site Tudum, “you’ll just need an active Netflix subscription” to watch the Home Run Derby.

How does the Home Run Derby work, exactly?

Good question, because the format of the event is changing this year. Now, instead of having a timer, players will be allowed to hit as many homers as they can, with their allotted swings per round. That means that they can take their time between swings, and loosen up their bodies.

Eight players will step up to the plate, and the top four from that group will advance to the semifinals. From there, the top two players go to the finals to duke it out for the championship.

Who’s competing this year?

This year, the T-Mobile Home Run Derby roster will be comprised of:

• Ben Rice (New York Yankees)
• Bryce Harper (Philadelphia Phillies)
• Kyle Schwarber (Philadelphia Phillies)
• Jac Caglianone (Kansas City Royals)
• Jordan Walker (St. Louis Cardinals)
• Junior Caminero (Tampa Bay Rays)
• Munetaka Murakami (Chicago White Sox)
• Willson Contreras (Boston Red Sox slugger)

Three of those batters are in the top home run hitters in the MLB this season.

The post Where to Watch the 2026 Home Run Derby: Start Time, Streaming Options and More appeared first on TheWrap.

England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford is confident his team will keep their cool in the heat of Wednesday's World Cup semi-final against Argentina.

The rivalry between the two teams is one of the spiciest in world football, influenced by events on and off the pitch.

Pickford said England had largely avoided flashpoints during the 2026 tournament and can cope with the pressure.

"I think you've seen throughout the tournament our desire to win tackles. We've not got into any scuffles or anything," he said Monday at England's training base in Kansas City.

"We've been very well respected within the game. Decisions go our way, they don't go our way, we just reset, we go again and we let the football do the talking.

"I think that's what we've done throughout the tournament. Apart from Jarell (Quansah's red card in Mexico), we've not had any suspensions, no second yellow cards or anything like that."

Lionel Messi will be the focus in the build-up to the semi-final in Atlanta but Everton goalkeeper Pickford talked up England's own stars.

"Everyone will talk about Messi because he's one of the GOATs (greatest of all time) of the game," he said.

"But you can't look past the ability and the talent we've got in the squad –- going forward, defensively, togetherness. We've got it all there and that's what we need to put on a show on Wednesday."

The history of matches between England and Argentina is peppered with incidents, set against a lingering sovereignty dispute over the Falkland Islands, known in Spanish as the Malvinas, in the South Atlantic Ocean.

The most famous encounter between the teams was a 2-1 victory for Argentina at the 1986 World Cup in Mexico featuring two goals from Diego Maradona -- one the infamous "Hand of God" goal and the other a dazzling solo effort considered one of the best ever.

But the historical background is of little relevance to Pickford as England seek to get over the line in a major tournament for the first time since 1966.

"It's us against them to get a place in the final, and it's a game of football. 90 minutes, 120, penalties," he said.

"We're ready for anything, and it's us against them and it's about who comes out on top. We're fully prepared for that."

jw/gj

Former Atlanta Falcons vice president for football communications David Bassity has been hired as the new senior vice president of communications for the Big Ten Conference. Bassity joined the Falcons prior to the 2019 NFL season and spent nearly seven years in Atlanta.

Big Ten Conference Commissioner Tony Petitti put out the following statement after Bassity was hired:

"We are excited to welcome David to the Big Ten Conference. David is a highly respected communications leader who has successfully guided organizations through moments of growth, change, and opportunity while building strong relationships across the media landscape. As college athletics continues to evolve, David's strategic expertise and proven ability to shape and amplify compelling stories will be invaluable to Big Ten institutions, student-athletes, and communities." - Tony Petitti

The Falcons made major changes to the front office over the offseason. Bassity was let go along with former general manager Terry Fontenot and head coach Raheem Morris.

The team hired Matt Ryan as its new "president of football" to lead the franchise back to prominence. Ryan then went on to hire head coach Kevin Stefanski and named Ian Cunningham as the team's new general manager.

Former Atlanta Falcons executive: https://t.co/3UvsRKUnkX

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) July 13, 2026

Bassity won't officially take over in the Big Ten until July 20.

This article originally appeared on Falcons Wire: Former Falcons executive takes job in Big Ten Conference

One of Tennessee's top 2027 football targets received an updated recruiting ranking on Monday.

Running back David Gabriel Georges received a five-star rating in the updated Rivals 300 rankings. He now ranks as the No. 23 overall prospect in the class of 2027.

The 6-foot, 205-pound prospect is an in-state target from Baylor School in Chattanooga, Tennessee. He will make his college commitment decision between the Vols, Ohio State and Ole Miss on July 22.

Tennessee offered Gabriel Georges a scholarship on July 31, 2024. He has visited Tennessee seven times in his recruitment, most recently for an official visit on June 5.

Oregon was the first school to offer Gabriel Georges a scholarship on Feb. 27, 2024. Other Power Four schools to offer him scholarships include Syracuse, Auburn, Virginia Tech, South Carolina, Georgia, Oklahoma, Michigan, Georgia Tech, Colorado, Michigan State, Vanderbilt, USC, Alabama, Texas, Penn State, Florida State, Louisville, Stanford, Wake Forest, Mississippi State, Missouri, Cincinnati, Maryland, Notre Dame, Wisconsin and North Carolina.

Tennessee has 16 commitments in its 2027 football recruiting class: linebacker JP Peace, offensive tackle Princeton Uwaifo, quarterback Derrick Baker, athlete Jaden Butler, wide receiver KeSean Bowman, defensive back Carter Jamison and defensive back Brandon Leavell, tight end Malik Howard, defensive lineman Christian Mays, cornerback Dylan Haley, linebacker Kenneth Simon II, kicker Ford Fehling, long snapper Sam McKeown, offensive tackle Q’Mari Hudson, athlete Dayon Cooper, and safety Marcus Jones.

This article originally appeared on Vols Wire: David Gabriel Georges receives updated recruiting ranking

NEED TO KNOW

• Betnijah Laney-Hamilton was ejected from the July 12 game between the New York Liberty and the Toronto Tempo after she hit one of her rivals with a shoe
• “I would never intentionally try to hit someone with a shoe, especially while they’re not looking,” she said, claiming that it was an accident
• Liberty coach Chris DeMarco said the officials’ call was “atrocious,” claiming that the athlete was simply trying to throw the shoe back to her teammate

Betnijah Laney-Hamilton was ejected from a WNBA game after she threw a shoe that hit one of her rivals. 

During the Sunday, July 12, game between the New York Liberty and the Toronto Tempo, Liberty center Jonquel Jones lost her shoe with under two minutes left in the game. 

In videos shared to social media, Jones’ teammate, Laney-Hamilton, 32, appears to pick the shoe up and throw it at Toronto Tempo guard Marina Mabrey.

While Liberty coach Chris DeMarco later claimed that Laney-Hamilton was simply trying to throw the shoe back to Jones, per ESPN, the Liberty forward and guard received her second technical foul and was ejected from the game. 

“I would never intentionally try to hit someone with a shoe, especially while they’re not looking. Teammate was without a shoe, so I did my best to try and get it to her. Unfortunately, it did hit someone,” Laney-Hamilton said after the game, per CBS Sports. “I know just by the way that things were going throughout the game that it can look a certain way but that’s just not something that I would personally do... especially in a moment like that where game is on the line.”

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After Laney-Hamilton received the foul, Mabrey’s technical free throw put Toronto back up to 91-89. 

“I had to take a couple breaths,” Mabrey, 29, said of the moment she realized the shoe hit her in the back, per ESPN. “But I think she was really just trying to get the shoe back to JJ. But I’ll take the free throw.”

Following the incident, official Kevin Fahy explained to reporters that Laney-Hamilton “picked up a shoe and threw it at Marina Mabrey, and it hit Marina in the back, so she received her second technical foul and subsequently was ejected from the basketball game,” per ESPN. 

While Liberty forward Breanna Stewart tied the game after Mabrey’s free throw, Nyara Sabally later made a layup that earned Toronto the victory with a score of 93-91. 

“It was a little scary there in the fourth,” Toronto coach Sandy Brondello, who also coached the Liberty from 2022 to 2025, said after the game, per ESPN. “This team’s resilient. I thought our defense was pretty solid for the most part until we got a little tight and the refs decided to call every foul for New York near the end.”

“But we hung in there and found a way to win,” she continued. “So proud of the group. We deserve it. We’ve been in so many games, so it’s nice for us to get a win.”

DeMarco, on the other hand, claimed that the officials made an “atrocious” call that ultimately led to the team’s third consecutive defeat. 

“I’ve never seen anything like that,” he said, per CBS Sports. “We had all the momentum in the world. Shoe hit somebody, ejected, free throws.”

“She’s trying to get the shoe back to JJ. It hit somebody. I think we’re just making stuff up. I have no idea,” he added. “You’re asking the wrong person. I just know it was just an atrocious, atrocious end of that game from the officials.” 

Read the original article on People

Last week, Philadelphia Phillies ace Zack Wheeler made a big stink about not being chosen for the MLB All-Star Game, and rightfully so. He absolutely deserves a spot based on his numbers and reputation, and his snub was nothing short of historic.

MLB tried to rectify the situation by inviting him to join the National League roster as an injury replacement last Friday. However, Wheeler shockingly declined the invitation, as his pride had already been damaged.

"They disrespected me, so I'm just not going to participate in that thing," Wheeler said Saturday via NBC Sports Philadelphia, not wanting to be "the fifth option."

"Maybe I didn't earn it from the get-go, but maybe just second choice," Wheeler added. "Once I feel like they kind of messed that up, I'm out."

Do you have a take to get off your chest? Do you want to engage in a growing Philies community? Comment on our content alongside staff and fans alike!

The 36-year-old right-hander has been one of the best pitchers in baseball this season, going 10-1 with a 2.13 ERA, a 0.89 WHIP and 108 strikeouts in 93 innings. However, the three-time All-Star was inexplicably passed over for the Midsummer Classic.

Accordingly, he will not participate in Tuesday's game, which is being hosted by the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park.

More MLB: Dodgers Manager Reveals Concern With MLB All-Star Game Crowd

Summer is here, and it is everyone’s favorite time of the year, scouting time. Every year, we do Summer Scouting to preview college football for Bucs fans, but also give them an idea of names to follow and watch in the fall as needs pop up for Tampa Bay. 

Are we going to write about quarterbacks? Offensive tackles? Edge rushers? You know it, but why? Because other NFL teams will draft them, just as they will draft every other position. It all matters whether these players end up on the Bucs, the Bears, or the Steelers. We write these so Bucs fans can be the most informed fans. 

So if you are still with us, enjoy our latest Summer Scouting report as we prepare you for the Fall.

Film

• Michigan
• Alabama

Background Info

• Listed at 6-1/224 lbs. 
• 3-Star prospect according to 247 Sports
• Transferred from Washington State to Oklahoma
• District 5-6A Offensive Player of the Year in high school 
• Earned unanimous first-team all-district honors in high school

Notable career stats heading into 2026

• 24 Starts
• 763 Pass attempts
• 6,291 Passing yards
• 8.2 Yards per attempt

Notable numbers from PFF heading into 2026

• 32 Big-time throws

• 3.8 Turnover worthy play rate
• Average depth of target is 9.2 yards
• 72.5% Adjusted completion percentage

Strengths

• Excellent zip on his passes
• Arm strength to make passes to all levels of the field 
• Good mobility in and out of the pocket
• Tough as nails as he showed playing through the thumb injury 
• Shows poise under pressure

Player Summary

John Mateer has the makings of an NFL quarterback and looked like he was on his way to being a top pick before injuring his thumb. He showcased strong arm talent led by ability was led by his velocity and overall ability to reach all levels of the field. On top of all of that, he showed the poise and awareness you want from someone who has to deal with NFL defenses. Mateer has a lot of work to do with his vision and accuracy, but the base is there for him to really become an interesting prospect by next April. 

This article originally appeared on Bucs Wire: 2027 NFL Draft Summer Scouting Report: John Mateer, QB, Oklahoma

The New York Yankees have gotten very little offensive production out of the catcher position this season. 

Austin Wells is batting .155 at the All-Star break in 66 games played. The Yankees need better and are making it "no secret" that they reportedly want Hunter Goodman of the Colorado Rockies or Minnesota Twins catcher Ryan Jeffers, per USA Today's Bob Nightengale.

"The Yankees are making it no secret that they want to acquire catcher Hunter Goodman of the Rockies or Minnesota Twins catcher Ryan Jeffers. Yet, the Rockies plan to keep Goodman, who has the second-most homers in the NL behind Kyle Schwarber, and the Twins have no interest in trading Jeffers unless they fall out of the mediocre AL Central race, hanging just 2 games back," Nightengale wrote.

Do you have a take to get off your chest? Do you want to engage in a growing Yankees community? Comment on our content alongside staff and fans alike!

Of the two, Hunter Goodman would be the better fit. He has 27 homers this season to go along with 51 RBIs in 90 games played. He's been an All-Star in back-to-back years and is 26 years old.

Either him or Jeffers would be good additions and the Yankees need to make a move in general. The Yankees' offense has been brutal over the last few weeks, to say the least. It's unknown when Aaron Judge is going to be back. They need some sort of bat to help make up for him.

More MLB: Mariners 'Prized' All-Star Is Available, For The Right Price

Former Golden State Warriors guard Lester Quinones turned in a dominant performance Sunday as he hopes to return to the NBA for the first time since the 2024-25 season.

Quinones is currently playing in the NBA Summer League for the Orlando Magic, where he tallied 28 points to lead all scorers against the Portland Trail Blazers. He also posted eight rebounds, three assists and three steals. In three games for the Magic thus far, Quinones is averaging 17.6 points.

Quinones only has 54 games of NBA experience, 41 of which came with Golden State from 2022 to 2024. In those games, the New York native averaged 4.2 points, 1.8 rebounds and 0.9 assists in 10 minutes per game.

This article originally appeared on Warriors Wire: Former Warriors guard scores 28 points in NBA Summer League

England left-back Nico O'Reilly is relishing the "once-in-a-lifetime opportunity" to face Lionel Messi in Wednesday's World Cup semi-final against Argentina.

Thomas Tuchel's secured a place in the final four with a draining 2-1 win against Norway in the Miami heat on Saturday, and now face a match in Atlanta against the defending world champions, who saw off Switzerland 3-1.

It will be the first time Messi has faced England, and at 39, it could be the last. Manchester City defender O'Reilly has never faced him at club level either.

"I can't wait," O'Reilly, who will probably have to defend against Messi one-on-one if he starts at left-back, told BBC Radio 5 Live.

"It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. He's coming towards the end of his career. For me personally, he's the best player to ever touch a football pitch. And yeah, I can't wait for the challenge."

Messi began the tournament with a hat-trick in a 3-0 win against Algeria as he became the all-time leading goalscorer in World Cup history, equalling Miroslav Klose's record of 16, which had stood since 2014.

The Argentina captain has since scored five more to take that record - his total of eight goals putting him joint-first with France's Kylian Mbappe in the Golden Boot race, and taking his career World Cup tally to 21.

While the eight-time Ballon d'Or winner is Argentina's main threat, England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford warned against ignoring the other talents in Lionel Scaloni's side.

"He has scored so many goals and contributed to so many over his career. It's great to finally come up against him after so long, and watching him as a kid," Pickford told media at England's training base in Kansas on Monday.

"We all know how good Messi is but we also know how good Argentina are. We can't solely rely on [stopping] Messi. We've got to focus on their other strengths and the weaknesses we can take advantage of."

The winner of the semi-final will face either France or Spain - who play each other on Tuesday (20:00 BST) - in the World Cup final at the New York New Jersey Stadium on Sunday, 19 July (20:00 BST).

• When the World Cup finishes, the football continues on BBC Sport
• World Cup 2026 knockout path
• How to watch the World Cup on the BBC and ITV

The Norwegians became the fans’ favorites at the World Cup. Wherever you looked, people were rowing. In the stadium, at the fan festivals, at the supermarket checkout, even in the Norwegian parliament.

Although the World Cup fairytale remained unfinished after the quarter-final defeat against England, the national team still received a sensational welcome back home. Thousands of Norwegians gathered for the arrival of their World Cup heroes. And of course, they all rowed together once again. 

One question still remains: Why was Erling Haaland carrying a stuffed raccoon with a schnapps bottle between its paws?

Well, Bayern have their cockatoo, and now Haaland has a raccoon. No need to overthink it. 

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇩🇪 here.

2 reasons why Rams' breakout candidate is 231-yard second-round TE originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

The Los Angeles Rams didn't make a lot of changes on the offensive side of the ball, but they made three huge moves on defense, adding Myles Garrett, Trent McDuffie, and Jaylen Watson.

While the excitement might be on defense when it comes to big impacts from new players, the Rams' offense might have a new key player who has already been on the roster.

The Athletic's Nate Atkins named the Rams' breakout candidate as second-round tight end Terrance Ferguson. After his 231-yard rookie season, Atkins revealed two reasons why Ferguson is the breakout candidate to watch for the Rams i2n 026.

2 reasons why Terrance Ferguson is Rams' breakout candidate

1. Volume increase from year one to year two

"The Rams spent their top draft pick a year ago on a tight end they were mostly planning to stash for a breakout this season," Atkins writes. "... His 21 yards per catch would have ranked second in the NFL last season on large volume, and though it'll likely come down with a boost in volume this season."

The Rams' second-year tight end wasn't meant to be a heavily involved player during his rookie season, according to Atkins.

With the plan to "stash" Ferguson for a breakout season in 2026, the Rams are now potentially ready to open the way for the second-round tight end to breakout in 2026.

MORE: Rams predicted to sign ex-49ers, Commanders WR Deebo Samuel

He caught 11 passes for 231 yards and three touchdowns during his rookie season and added one catch for 19 yards on six targets in the playoffs.

While it's not an overly impressive rookie year by any means, the 21-yards per reception is incredible. With his volume likely to increase, that figure should diminish a bit.

But Ferguson should still be in line to receive a lot more volume in year two. His 25 targets should increase a bit in 2026, and those targets might be good ones, thanks to the second reason why Ferguson could breakout in 2026: the wide receiver room.

2. Elite WRs who'll draw attention

"Ferguson should be very difficult to account for with the attention they have to give to Puka Nacua and Davante Adams," Atkins writes.

With Puka Nacua, one of the best wide receivers in the NFL, and Davante Adams, probably the best No. 2 WR in the league, if not right up there with Tee Higgins, the Rams' passing attack is going to be dangerous.

MORE: 49ers predicted to trade for Maxx Crosby during training camp

Nacua and Adams are a great duo, and with all of the attention from defenses on those two, Ferguson might be able to thrive in this offense.

Matthew Stafford and Sean McVay are already great things for Ferguson, but add in the fact that the Rams TE might be seeing weaker coverage thanks to Nacua and Adams, and it would hardly be a surprise if he had a big 2026 season.

With the Rams' elite WR duo of Nacua and Adams, and the expected volume increase for Ferguson in his second NFL season, a breakout year from the 23-year-old, 46th overall pick from the 2025 NFL Draft could be in store for a breakout season in 2026.

More NFL news:

• How 49ers' problem with Brandon Aiyuk might've been solved without a trade or release
• Browns TE Harold Fannin Jr. receives ‘arrow up’ projection from NFC exec
• Bears urged by NFL exec to use Cole Kmet more amid top-10 TE ranking
• Browns’ Sheduer Sanders predicted to win QB battle during training camp
• Bengals' new DT Dexter Lawrence ranked as No. 7 DT in NFL in ESPN poll

The Buffalo Sabres have made a minor move with the Washington Capitals.

The Sabres have announced that they have acquired forward Zac Funk from the Capitals in exchange for forward Tyler Kopff. 

Funk, 22, split this past season between the ECHL and the AHL. In 23 games with the South Carolina Stingrays in 2025-26, he posted nine goals, 10 assists, 19 points, and a plus-2 rating. In the AHL with the Hershey Bears last season, the 6-foot forward recorded two assists and eight penalty minutes. 

Funk dominated the WHL with the Prince George Cougars during his final season with the junior club in 2023-24. In 68 games with the Cougars that season, he posted 67 goals, 56 assists, and 123 points. However, he has had trouble breaking out at the AHL level at this stage in his career. 

Kopff, on the other hand, spent last season primarily in the AHL with the Rochester Americans. In 30 games with the AHL club in 2025-26, he posted one goal and five points. He also had two goals and six points in 10 games for the Jacksonville Icemen of the ECHL last season. 

After four seasons, the Miami Dolphins released Tyreek Hill as the All-Pro wide receiver was set to carry a $51 million cap hit in the 2026 season. The move kicked off an offseason that saw the Dolphins part ways with most of the players who remained from their 2022 and 2023 postseason runs, including quarterback Tua Tagovailoa.

Tagovailoa’s release was somewhat different to Hill’s. Hill’s release, while costly, saved the Dolphins over $30 million in cap space this season. Meanwhile, Tagovailoa’s release resulted in Miami accumulating $99 million in dead money over the next two seasons. Hill’s release was primarily a financial decision, and Tagovailoa’s was performance-based.

The pair of releases ended a partnership that resulted in both players having the best individual seasons of their career; however, they did have their rough stretch. Now, a few months after their official release, Hill has commented on his former quarterback. 

Former Miami Dolphins Wide Receiver Posts Image With Tua Tagovailoa

While Hill’s status for the upcoming season remains unknown, he might have teased yet another destination. The former Miami Dolphins wide receiver posted an image of himself on his Snapchat with Tua Tagovailoa, as the pair celebrated a touchdown alongside running back Raheem Mostert, with the caption “I miss you old friend.”

As previously mentioned, the pair had the best individual seasons of their career together. In 2023, Tagovailoa led the NFL in passing yards and earned Pro Bowl honors for the first time in his career as he led the Dolphins to the playoffs. Meanwhile, Hill led the NFL in receiving yards, which also set a Dolphins franchise record, as he earned All-Pro honors for the second consecutive season.

Hill’s move to Miami was originally questioned due to a possible poor fit with Tagovailoa; however, that was not an issue during Hill’s first two seasons with the Dolphins. Then, things began going south in 2024.

Hill and Tagovailoa’s Relationship

Unfortunately for the Miami Dolphins, the 2024 season was a difficult one. Hill did not surpass 1,000 yards for the first time since his injury plagued 2019 season, as Tagovailoa missed significant time with a concussion and hip injury. Additionally, Miami’s fast-paced offense no longer possessed explosiveness and the team changed into a more possession-based team focused on quick passing plays to tight end Jonnu Smith and running back De’Von Achane.

During the final week of the 2024 season, Miami needed the Kansas City Chiefs to beat the Denver Broncos in order to earn a playoff berth, but once it became evident that the Chiefs would lose, Hill asked out of Miami’s contest against the Jets. Then, following the game, Hill declared that he wanted out of the Dolphins entirely. While Hill would then apologize for the incident and express his desire to stay with the team, he was not quickly forgiven by Tua Tagovailoa, who told the media that the relationship with the star wide receiver needed work.

By 2025, Hill’s status as team captain had been revoked. Despite this, Hill’s signature explosiveness remained evident as he started the season off strong. Then, Hill suffered a dislocated knee that ended his season. Without his star wide receiver, Tagovailoa struggled in 2025, which resulted in him getting benched and subsequently released.

Now, the former Dolphins quarterback is competing with Michael Penix Jr. for the starting job with the Atlanta Falcons. Whether Hill’s post might be related to the receiver hoping to land a job with the Falcons remains unclear.

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The post Ex-Dolphins WR Tyreek Hill Shares True Feelings on Tua Tagovailoa appeared first on HEAVY.

On Monday, On3 and Warchant’s Matt LaSerre reported that Tom Herman, a former head coach at Texas, Houston, and FAU, would be joining the Florida State football coaching staff. Herman did not coach in the 2025-26 college football season after being fired from FAU with two games left in the 2024 season.

Herman has an interesting track record, to say the least. He has been part of some extraordinary seasons, including winning a national title with Ohio State as offensive coordinator in 2014 and taking home the Sugar Bowl with Texas in 2018. However, there have certainly been some bumps along the way, such as his most recent stint with FAU, where he went 6-16 across 22 games and almost two seasons with the Owls.

There is also some off-the-field baggage that comes with Herman, such as the frosty handshake with former USF, now Auburn head coach Alex Golesh, two years ago, along with distasteful stories about his personal life during his time at OSU.

The move is certainly an interesting one for head coach Mike Norvell, who clearly feels that he needed more help on his offensive staff after the abrupt retirement of former offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn in February. While certainly a late add in the offseason with fall camp starting in less than a month, Herman should bring a new perspective and take some of the offensive load off of Norvell’s plate.

Panini World Cup stickers: Everything to know about collecting, including where to find and trade in 2026 originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

Taking place every four years, the FIFA World Cup often brings with it an unprecedented level of exclusive merchandise that can only be found when the tournament comes around.

One of the most popular World Cup collectibles is the Panini sticker album, which features stickers for many of the 1,248 players across the 48 participating rosters at the 2026 tournament.

Every four years, the Panini album is a globally popular collectible, as fans all around the world attempt to fill their sticker books with every single player at the tournament.

The Sporting News takes a look at why the album is such a famous and exciting collectible event, and how you can begin collecting it yourself.

2026 WORLD CUP HQ:Latest World Cup news | Full World Cup schedule | Buy World Cup tickets

What are Panini World Cup stickers?

Since 1970, Panini has done an officially licensed sticker booklet for every FIFA World Cup, with the exception of 1994 when Upper Deck owned the rights.

The first of its kind featured 270 stickers to collect, with one for most players featured at the competition.

Since then, the sticker album has grown into a collecting phenomenon, with soccer fans and collecting enthusiasts alike excited every four years for the product to be released.

Collecting all stickers and filling an album is a badge of honor in the hobby, but that has become more and more difficult each cycle as the album grows in size. For the 2026 sticker album, there are a whopping 980 different stickers to collect to complete the booklet from front to back.

"That swap experience, that culture, has been ingrained and embedded long before the last 16 years [when Panini America joined the company as a subsidiary] because there's such a dynamic and diverse group of people in the U.S. from all over the world," Panini America senior vice president of marketing and athlete relations Jason Howarth told The Sporting News.

Panini World Cup sticker rarities

While most collectors just hope to acquire one of every single sticker in the Panini World Cup album to complete the set, there are also different rarities of each sticker for those more dedicated or specific collectors.

In the United States, each sticker has a border color that indicates its individual rarity. The different colors are:

The rarest of the stickers are the black borders, of which there is only one of each player in existence. For the most desirable players, these can often sell for upwards of thousands, or even hundreds of thousands, of dollars on resale sites.

Coca-Cola Panini World Cup partnership

New for the 2026 album is a partnership with Coca-Cola.

In the very back of the album are 12 stickers to collect from the inside of Coca-Cola labels on select bottled products. Panini has negotiated individual rights deals with all 12 players in order to include their images in an additional way.

The deal with Coca-Cola gives Panini a "massive presence" across major retailers, Howarth said. There are 375 million Coca-Cola Panini stickers to be produced across the United States and Canada, and more than 1 billion across the globe.

In addition, there are digital-exclusive stickers that fans can download and collect as well, with each individual able to redeem one code per day for a pack of digital stickers.

Different Panini World Cup sticker products

Here are the different products available for purchase for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, and their approximate retail price.

• Packs — $2: Each individual pack of stickers contains 7 stickers
• Sticker Album tin — $25: A cylindrical tin of 1 sticker album and 10 sticker packs
• 25-Pack box — $50: A box of 25 sticker packs
• 50-Pack box — $100: A box of 50 sticker packs
• Starter Kit tin — $60: A cylindrical tin of 1 sticker album, 25 sticker packs, and 1 trophy card

How to keep track of stickers owned and needed

Everyone has their own method to keep track of their pulls and what stickers are still needed. From pen and paper to customized charts, there are many different ways to log which stickers you still have left to acquire.

However, there is one method that's starting to become a popular is tracking by app. While there's no official Panini app, there are a few third-party offerings that have risen to prominence.

After attending various sticker swap meet-ups, Sporting News has found that the most popular app is called Figuritas. As long as you can put up with the frequent ads which stop your progress — or purchase the no-ad version — this app not only allows a user to log their pulls, but also their duplicates with just a few simple taps.

Additionally, it makes swapping with another person a breeze, as you can simply scan your potential trade partner's QR code in their app, and it tells you what you need that they have extra of, and visa-versa. You can then simply mark what you're trading, press a button, and the app completes the trade for you, removing the duplicates you sent and adding what you received to your pile.

Can you buy missing Panini World Cup stickers individually?

Yes, you can buy individual stickers missing from your collection.

The first stop for your missing stickers is the official Panini website, where you can purchase up to five missing stickers for 70 cents each. However, don't expect to find a Lionel Messi sticker, as those are sold out.

Otherwise, you will have to check resale websites like eBay for your missing stickers, which vary greatly in price depending on player desirability and rarity.

The best way to finish your collection is still through trading, however!

Where can I trade Panini World Cup stickers?

Panini has a number of official trading events and locations all across the United States during the 2026 FIFA World Cup, with dedicated times and dates for each one. You can find one coming up near you by clicking here.

"The swap experience for Panini, and how engaged people are, and just hungry for it, is not dissimiar to the Pokemon Go crazy," Howarth said. "Everyone's talking about meet-ups and where they're going to be for Panini sticker swaps across all social platforms. It's not just 'oh there's a bunch of kids at the park swapping stickers that will ride home on their bikes' like I did in the 80's. They're definitely more engaged [now]."

The hub is located in New York City at Rockefeller Center, where a Panini truck sells product and a crowd of collectors gather to trade every weekday during the tournament.

Mobile tour vehicles

There are four mobile tour vehicles moving around the United States and Canada throughout the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

Starting in May and continuing through the , vehicles visited stops in Florida, Deleware, New York, New Jersey, Texas, Georgia, Virginia, California, Illinois, Missouri, Ontario, and other stops throughout the countries.

Guinness World Record attempt

Panini attempted to set a Guinness World Record for "Largest Sports Sticker Exchange in 8 Hours (multiple venues)" on Sunday, July 12, 2026.

There will be four different locations during which collectors can come to trade stickers:

• Rockefeller Center (New York City, NY)
• American Dream Mall (East Rutherford, NJ)
• Mexico City FIFA Fan Festival (Mexico City, Mexico)
• Parque de las Ninas y los Ninos (Guadalajara, Mexico)

The events will all take place simultaneously, from 11 a.m. ET to 7 p.m. ET.

The previous record stood at 2,577 one-to-one swaps. "Panini will aim to surpass that mark by creating a continuous flow of collectors throughout the day across all locations," the collectable company said before the attempt.

The following day, Panini confirmed that it had smashed the previous record, with 4,446 swaps logged throughout the day, nearly doubling the old mark.

Who is doing the sticker album for the 2030 FIFA World Cup?

Panini will be in command of the FIFA World Cup sticker album for the 2030 FIFA World Cup, the 100th anniversary of the tournament.

However, that will be their final time producing the sticker album, as their current deal runs out after that tournament.

Following the 2030 competition, Fanatics and their collectables brand Topps will be taking over all World Cup collectables, as they signed a landmark long-term licensing deal with FIFA.

In this series, Heavy Sports is looking at what every NHL team has done over the offseason. Next up is the Boston Bruins. The Bruins had a solid bounce-back campaign this year, in which they returned to the postseason. They are aiming to return to the playoffs once again next season.

Who are Boston’s Additions?

Key additions: Will Borgen, Connor Clifton, Brendan Gaunce, Ivan Ivan, Jiri Patera, John Peterka

The biggest addition of the summer for Boston is acquiring John Peterka from the Utah Mammoth. Peterka’s game did not translate with Utah in the way that was expected when the club acquired him last year from the Buffalo Sabres. The hope is that Peterka gels better in a new environment. He should get an opportunity to play with franchise player David Pastrnak. That could be the chance he needs to rejuvenate his career. If Peterka can get back on track, that would provide a significant boast to a Bruins offense that needs it. Boston also added depth to their blueline by bringing Will Borgen and Connor Clifton aboard. Those two are expected to increase stability on their back-end. Top prospect James Hagens should also give this team more support in what will be his rookie season next year. He has to be an x-factor for this group if they are to maintain success.

Who are Boston’s Subtractions?

Key subtractions: Viktor Arvidsson, Andre Gasseau, Joonas Korpisalo, Fabian Lysell, Andrew Peeke, Victor Soderstrom, Riley Tufte

Boston has avoided major loses this summer for the most part. The biggest departure is Victor Arvidsson, he was a nice secondary producer on their forward core last season. He gave the club depth offensive contributions on a team that has often lacked that in recent seasons. Andrew Peeke is also a significant loss, he has been a nice piece on their blueline. The team opted to move on from backup goalie Joonas Korpisalo after a tough campaign. Fabian Lysell was a top prospect in the organization at one point, but was never able to make that jump.

While the Bruins have not necessarily gotten any worse, it is questionable if they have done enough to be able to compete for a playoff spot once again next season. Compared to their Atlantic division rivals, they have had a relatively quiet offseason. The eastern conference will be a bloodbath next year, especially with teams like the Florida Panthers and Toronto Maple Leafs getting better. It will be a tall task for this team to return to the postseason. It is an unknown if there are enough weapons on offense to make life tough on the opposition. They will once again have to rely on Pastrnak to lead the way as he has always done. He has shown an impressive ability to lift up his linemates; he has been able to get the best out of players such as Morgan Geekie and Pavel Zacha. Fellow core pieces Charlie McAvoy and Jeremy Swayman will be counted on big time as well.

All transactions are available via Puck Pedia.

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One of the most popular, fun, and entertaining events on Major League Baseball’s calendar each season is the T-Mobile Home Run Derby, which is a fan-favorite All-Star break festivity that features eight of MLB’s top sluggers duking it out for a prize of $1 million. The All-Star game (and Home Run Derby) is being held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the Phillies’ home ballpark, Citizens Bank Park.

MLB.com’s Thomas Harrington provided some insight on the new Home Run Derby format, which is powered by T-Mobile:

“Eight players will still make up the field, same as in years past. But instead of trying to hit as many homers as they can during timed rounds, participants will start each round with a finite number of swings: 20 in Round 1, 15 in Round 2 and 15 again in the final round.”

“All swings will count against a player’s swing allotment, whether it results in a homer or not. However, a player who homers on his final swing of a round can keep swinging until he doesn’t hit one out.”

The eight sluggers participating in the 2026 Home Run Derby include: Kyle Schwarber (Philadelphia Phillies), Bryce Harper (Phillies), Munetaka Murakami (Chicago White Sox), Junior Caminero (Tampa Bay Rays, 2025 runner-up), Jac Caglianone (Kansas City Royals), Willson Contreras (Boston Red Sox), Jordan Walker (St. Louis Cardinals), and Ben Rice (New York Yankees).

It’s a pretty stacked field, and honestly, one of the more anticipated Home Run Derbies in recent memory, it feels like. Two participants from the host city (Schwarber, Harper), last year’s runner-up in Caminero, and a guaranteed new winner. Add in the likes of rookie slugger Munetaka Murakami, and rising stars in Ben Rice, Jordan Walker, and Jac Caglianone. Sign me up.

Let’s get into some of the very important details of the event, plus some sharp predictions/odds.

More MLB on Heavy: Dodgers Trade Rumors: Tarik Skubal Chances, Top Needs Revealed, Who Could Be On The Move?

How to Watch MLB Home Run Derby, Presented by T-Mobile.

NEW YORK, NY – JULY 15: Bryce Harper of the Washington Nationals gets a hug from his father Ron Haper during the Chevrolet Home Run Derby on July 15, 2013 at Citi Field in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)

How to watch the T-Mobile Home Run Derby. Event details:

Channel: Watch the 2026 MLB Home Run Derby live on Netflix. This is the first time that Netflix is hosting the event.

Time: The 2026 Home Run Derby is set to take place at 8:00 p.m. There is pre-event coverage at 7:00 p.m. ET, and also player introductions, which will likely start at 8.

Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, @ Citizens Bank Park. 

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More MLB on Heavy: Toronto Blue Jays Reportedly Sign 5-Year MLB Veteran Before All-Star Break

Home Run Derby Odds by Participant

GettyST PETERSBURG, FLORIDA – JULY 07: Ben Rice #22 of the New York Yankees reacts after hitting a three-run home run in the third inning against the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field on July 07, 2026 in St Petersburg, Florida. (Photo by Julio Aguilar/Getty Images)

First, let’s start off with the odds for each participant to win the HRD, courtesy of FanDuel SportsBook. Odds are subject to change:

*Indicates home run total for 2026.

• Kyle Schwarber (+290); $100 bet wins $290 ($390 total) *32
• Junior Caminero (+400); $100 bet wins $500. *28
• Munetaka Murakami (+550) *20
• Jac Caglianone (+700) *15
• Jordan Walker (+700) *22
• Bryce Harper (+950) *20
• Ben Rice (+1000) *29
• Willson Contreras (+1100) *20

Disrespect on behalf of Ben Rice?? Perhaps.

Prediction Time!!

Kyler Schwarber is very obviously going to be the most popular pick to win this thing, and why wouldn’t he be? Schwarber has been the perfect HRD candidate, but he’s turned the event down in recent memory. He remains the game’s top pure slugger, and in his home ballpark, it’s possible he just flicks balls out of the yard.

However, for my prediction, I’m going to hand out two potential winners that I like to win the whole thing.

Prediction: Junior Caminero (+400); Ben Rice (+1000) 

The biggest factor I take into account when trying to bet this event is which players need the $1 million the most (right now). Of course, every player in this event is going to get paid in due time, but the players whose salaries are less than $1 million on this list are Ben Rice, Junior Caminero, Jordan Walker, and Jac Caglianone.

Murakami, Kyle Schwarber, Bryce Harper, and Willson Contreras are all signed MLB players.

Well, if you made it this far, thanks for reading, and enjoy the 2026 Home Run Derby, presented by T-Mobile.

More MLB on Heavy: MLB Trade Rumors: Red Sox Deadline Plans, Yankees Search for Bullpen Support, Bidding War Between Braves-Phillies for Joe Ryan

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The post MLB Home Run Derby Odds, Predictions, How to Watch Top Sluggers in Popular All-Star Week Event appeared first on HEAVY.

A former Michigan football coach claims the university was working to hide details of its sign-stealing scandal and also knew about former head coach Sherrone Moore's affair with a staff member for years before it led to his firing.

Former Wolverines linebackers coach Chris Partridge sued the university, athletic director Warde Manuel and U-M's Board of Regents for wrongful termination after he was fired during Michigan's elaborate sign-stealing scandal led by assistant Connor Stalions in 2023. The now-linebackers coach for the NFL's Seattle Seahawks was cleared of wrongdoing by the NCAA and was never alleged to have known about the sign-stealing system.

REQUIRED READING: U-M hid evidence of cheating in football, ex-coach's lawsuit says

Partridge sued the university back in March, but the filing was updated in June and features 20 more pages of documents, also adding former Michigan president Santa Ono and Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti as defendants. His claims have been brought back to light after Manuel's future with the school is reportedly in doubt amid a third-party investigation into the athletic department from law firm Jenner & Block, according to multiple reports July 12.

A Michigan Board of Regents meeting is set for Thursday, July 16, and Manuel's status is believed to be decided before then, according to reports.

Partridge's lawsuit contains numerous allegations of the school's attempt to cover up scandal, including the following, according to the Detroit Free Press, part of the USA TODAY Network, who obtained the documents:

• "Manuel and other leaders allegedly knew about Moore’s relationship with a staff member “for years without taking action to protect the employee.”
• "Ono allegedly hid key findings of a private law firm’s investigation into then-assistant football coach Matthew Weiss. Federal prosecutors say Weiss illegally used school devices and other equipment to inappropriately obtain thousands of student photos, records and other personal information. Weiss denies engaging in criminal conduct."
• "Ono allegedly directed a handful of key people – including Manuel – to take no notes or any other records of their meeting with the law firm when it presented the findings of its investigation."
• "Ono and Manuel never, “reported the evidence of cheating found on Weiss’s computer, the law firm’s involvement, or the results of the investigation to the Board of Regents, the Compliance Services Office, or the NCAA … [and] failed to hold itself accountable for the 'sign-stealing' scheme, in violation of both its NCAA requirements,” the lawsuit states."

Partridge claims the school used him as a "scapegoat" amid the NCAA's investigation into the program. The lawsuit also states the university didn't push back on allegations that Partridge was destroying evidence during the sign-stealing investigation, despite he not having knowledge of the situation.

He also stated he was ultimately fired for telling a player to get a lawyer, according to the Detroit Free Press.

Ono has since left the school, as he originally left to pursue the same job at the University of Florida, although his candidacy was denied despite being the lone finalist for the position. He now is an executive at the Ellison Institute of Technology, which was founded by billionaire Larry Ellison, a mega-donor of Michigan athletics.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Michigan hid evidence of multiple scandals, former coach lawsuit says

The Philadelphia Phillies had to wait a little longer than other teams to make their first selection in the 2026 MLB Draft, but once they were on the clock, they selected high school infielder Tyler Spangler. 

Instead of taking a massive risk, the Phillies selected a prospect with a high floor and a lot of upside once he starts playing professional baseball. 

Phillies Tyler Spangler Draft Grade: B+

The Phillies took the safe approach with drafting Spangler No. 36 overall, and that was a great approach by Philadelphia's front office. 

Coming out of high school, Spangler doesn’t necessarily have one trait that stands out as a clear strength, but there are no glaring red flags either, and that’s entirely alright.

Here’s how MLB Pipeline ranked each of his tools on a scale of to 20 to 80:

• Hit: 55
• Power: 55
• Run: 50
• Arm: 55
• Field: 55
• Overall: 50

MLB Pipeline also wrote that, "a big shortstop with impressive all-around tools."

Given that Spangler is only 18 years old, he still has plenty of time to develop, with some of these skills hopefully emerging as strengths as he makes his way through the Minor Leagues. 

Looking at how Spangler played in high school, he slashed .376/.512/.708 with 16 home runs over three seasons. 

Tyler Spangler is back 👀

After missing his high school senior spring with a back injury, Spangler is on the field participating in drills at the MLB Draft Combine. He ranks No. 32 on BA's latest draft rankings and at one point ranked among the top high schoolers in the class… pic.twitter.com/0GvM39v2Dr

— Baseball America (@BaseballAmerica) June 23, 2026

Where were the players with more potential on the board when Spangler was selected? Sure, but that shouldn’t have been the goal with this pick.

The Phillies' farm system was recently ranked No. 29 by Baseball America. The organization is not at a point where it can take a big risk on a prospect with a high ceiling, but a low floor. 

This is a very solid pick that warrants a B+. The reason it doesn't get an A is that, with Spangler being a high schooler, there are still many unknowns about his future. The 18-year-old also dealt with a back injury, which kept him out of his senior season. 

(Unfortunately, that's very reminiscent of an issue with one of the Phillies' current top prospects, Aiden Miller.)

Overall, Spangler is a well-rounded and safe selection, and his age still gives him time to develop in many areas, making this a more than solid pick for the Phillies.

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Baker Mayfield could finish next season as high as second on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' all-time passing yards list, and could top Jameis Winston with a contract extension.

Mayfield, heading into his fourth season in Tampa Bay, ranks seventh on the all-time passing yards list at 12,237 yards. He's 732 yards away from surpassing Trent Dilfer and entering the top five.

The 10-year veteran can leapfrog Dilfer, Josh Freeman (13,534), Tom Brady (14,643) and Vinny Testaverde (14,820) next season. All it will take is an average throwing season from Mayfield to accomplish such a feat.

Buccaneers all-time passing yard leaders 1-5:

♦️Jameis Winston - 19,737
♦️Vinny Testaverde - 14,820
♦️Tom Brady - 14,643
♦️Josh Freeman - 13,534
♦️Trent Dilfer - 12,969

Baker Mayfield is currently 7th with 12,237. Where will he end up ranking? 🤔#WeAreTheKrewepic.twitter.com/ZvNk8oYnCF

— SleeperBucs (@SleeperTBBUCS) July 13, 2026

He has averaged 3,169 yards for his entire career, and that average would put his franchise total at 15,406 yards. Mayfield has never thrown under 3,500 yards in a Buccaneers uniform, even with a down year last season.

Tampa Bay's starting quarterback is practically guaranteed to finish second all-time should he remain healthy. He threw for nearly 3,700 yards despite the team dealing with the injury bug on offense.

The real challenge for Mayfield is surpassing Winston. By his averages, it shouldn't be a tough ordeal for him to do, but his contract situation with the Buccaneers may bring his time with the organization to an end sooner rather than later.

Mayfield and the team have yet to agree to a contract extension, and the two parties are far apart in negotiations. It's understandable, as Tampa Bay has never had to break out the big bucks for a quarterback.

Even when Brady was commanding the offense at 43 to 45 years old, the team paid him $25 million annually. Mayfield's value is double what the organization paid Brady during his tenure.

It's rightfully uncharted territory, but the Buccaneers cannot afford to lose out on a franchise quarterback because they want to be cheap. Mayfield could finish second in all-time passing yards for Tampa Bay, and he'd have done it in four seasons.

Part of Mayfield's success in Tampa Bay speaks to the organization's shaky quarterback history and how talented a passer he is. He had a career year in a Buccaneers uniform, throwing for 4,500 yards and 45 touchdowns in 2024.

Tampa Bay's offense regressed last season due to injuries and the loss of offensive coordinator Liam Coen, but may bounce back under new offensive coordinator Zac Robinson. The offense Robinson will implement fits Mayfield's strengths and allows him to prioritize open receivers rather than force-feeding a star receiver.

Mayfield has the opportunity to make history in Tampa Bay once more next season, and should he receive a contract extension, he'll have a shot at ending his career as the all-time passing yards leader in franchise history.

Join our ROUNDTABLE community! It's free to join. Share your thoughts, engage with our Roundtable writers, and chat with fellow members.

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Baker Mayfield could finish next season as high as second on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' all-time passing yards list, and could top Jameis Winston with a contract extension.

Mayfield, heading into his fourth season in Tampa Bay, ranks seventh on the all-time passing yards list at 12,237 yards. He's 732 yards away from surpassing Trent Dilfer and entering the top five.

The 10-year veteran can leapfrog Dilfer, Josh Freeman (13,534), Tom Brady (14,643) and Vinny Testaverde (14,820) next season. All it will take is an average throwing season from Mayfield to accomplish such a feat.

Buccaneers all-time passing yard leaders 1-5:

♦️Jameis Winston - 19,737
♦️Vinny Testaverde - 14,820
♦️Tom Brady - 14,643
♦️Josh Freeman - 13,534
♦️Trent Dilfer - 12,969

Baker Mayfield is currently 7th with 12,237. Where will he end up ranking? 🤔#WeAreTheKrewepic.twitter.com/ZvNk8oYnCF

— SleeperBucs (@SleeperTBBUCS) July 13, 2026

He has averaged 3,169 yards for his entire career, and that average would put his franchise total at 15,406 yards. Mayfield has never thrown under 3,500 yards in a Buccaneers uniform, even with a down year last season.

Tampa Bay's starting quarterback is practically guaranteed to finish second all-time should he remain healthy. He threw for nearly 3,700 yards despite the team dealing with the injury bug on offense.

The real challenge for Mayfield is surpassing Winston. By his averages, it shouldn't be a tough ordeal for him to do, but his contract situation with the Buccaneers may bring his time with the organization to an end sooner rather than later.

Mayfield and the team have yet to agree to a contract extension, and the two parties are far apart in negotiations. It's understandable, as Tampa Bay has never had to break out the big bucks for a quarterback.

Even when Brady was commanding the offense at 43 to 45 years old, the team paid him $25 million annually. Mayfield's value is double what the organization paid Brady during his tenure.

It's rightfully uncharted territory, but the Buccaneers cannot afford to lose out on a franchise quarterback because they want to be cheap. Mayfield could finish second in all-time passing yards for Tampa Bay, and he'd have done it in four seasons.

Part of Mayfield's success in Tampa Bay speaks to the organization's shaky quarterback history and how talented a passer he is. He had a career year in a Buccaneers uniform, throwing for 4,500 yards and 45 touchdowns in 2024.

Tampa Bay's offense regressed last season due to injuries and the loss of offensive coordinator Liam Coen, but may bounce back under new offensive coordinator Zac Robinson. The offense Robinson will implement fits Mayfield's strengths and allows him to prioritize open receivers rather than force-feeding a star receiver.

Mayfield has the opportunity to make history in Tampa Bay once more next season, and should he receive a contract extension, he'll have a shot at ending his career as the all-time passing yards leader in franchise history.

Join our ROUNDTABLE community! It's free to join. Share your thoughts, engage with our Roundtable writers, and chat with fellow members.

Download the free Roundtable APP, (https://apps.apple.com/us/app/roundtable-rtb/id6450423049) and stay even more connected!

Google's Ginny Marvin explains AI Search eligibility, Qualified Future Conversions, and Creator Partnerships, adding context to key Google Marketing Live announcements.

The post Google’s Marvin Clarifies AI Search and Qualified Future Conversions appeared first on Search Engine Journal.

MeetingSketch turns technical meeting transcripts into architecture decision records. After architecture reviews, discovery calls, and kickoffs, teams replay recordings, redraw systems, and hunt for what was decided. MeetingSketch turns a transcript from Otter, Zoom, Teams, Fathom, Granola, or plain text into a current-state visual map, target-state architecture, interactive diagram, executive brief, action items, and AI Coach. Each output separates what was stated, inferred, or recommended. Built for Solution Architects, SEs, consultants, PMs, and technical leaders. Leave with the picture, decisions, and next steps, not another transcript.

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MapsGPT / Elio is a map you can talk to like a friend. Skip endless searching by asking for what you want, like "a romantic spot for drinks, dim lights, quiet enough to talk" or "where do locals actually eat in DC Chinatown," and get real, rated places. It plans full trips too: tell it where you're going, and it builds a multi-day itinerary your friends can join, add spots to, and vote on. No more long group chats that end up at the same restaurant. It runs on a new kind of geospatial model we built ourselves, an AI that understands places and how people move through them. It turns spots saved in TikToks and screenshots into a usable map. Free with a waitlist at mapsgpt.es.

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Lionel Messi faces England for the first time in his career when Argentina and the Three Lions meet in the 2026 World Cup semifinals on Wednesday, July 16th at Atlanta Stadium. The milestone means Messi will have now faced every World Cup champion at least once, completing a remarkable checklist across two decades of international football.

The Argentina-England rivalry runs deep, with 14 previous meetings between the nations and a history of tension that extends well beyond the sport. Yet despite making his international debut in August 2005, Messi has never shared a field with England, and the one opportunity he had slipped away under unusual circumstances.

On November 12, 2005, Argentina and England met in a friendly in Switzerland ahead of the 2006 World Cup. Messi was part of the squad but was serving a one-game FIFA suspension following the red card he received on his debut against Hungary, forcing him to watch from the sidelines as Argentina fell 3-2 in what would have been his first taste of the rivalry.

Now, 24 years after their last World Cup meeting, a 1-0 England win in 2002, the two nations meet again on soccer’s biggest stage. With Argentina holding a record of just one win, one draw, and three defeats against England historically, Messi will be looking to tip the balance in the Albiceleste‘s favor.

Messi’s record against World Cup champions

Brazil

In arguably the fiercest rivalry in the sport, Messi has faced Brazil 14 times in the Argentina shirt. His most significant win came in the 2021 Copa America final, and his most recent appearance in the fixture came during the 2023 World Cup qualifying campaign. The overall record is about as even as it gets.

• 14 games.
• 5 goals.
• 0 assists.
• 6 wins.
• 2 draws.
• 6 losses.

France

Messi has faced France three times, twice in the World Cup and once in a friendly, and has consistently delivered in those moments. The record remains level, with the 2022 World Cup final standing as the defining encounter between the two sides.

• 3 games.
• 3 goals.
• 2 assists.
• 1 win.
• 1 draw.
• 1 loss.

Germany

Germany has historically been one of Argentina’s most difficult opponents, and Messi’s personal record reflects that. Both of Die Mannschaft‘s wins came in the World Cup, most painfully in the 2014 final in Brazil.

• 4 games.
• 1 goals.
• 0 assists.
• 2 wins.
• 0 draws.
• 2 losses.

Italy

Messi has faced Italy only once, in the 2022 Finalissima, and made his presence felt with two assists as Argentina claimed the unofficial title. It stands as one of the few World Cup champions where Messi holds an unblemished record.

• 1 game.
• 0 goals.
• 2 assists.
• 1 win.

Spain

All three of Messi’s meetings with Spain have come in international friendlies, with no World Cup crossovers. The most memorable of those came when a reigning world champion Spanish side was dismantled 4-1 by Argentina.

• 3 games.
• 2 goals.
• 0 assists.
• 1 wins.
• 0 draws.
• 2 losses.

Uruguay

Uruguay is Messi’s most favorable matchup among World Cup champions, with a commanding head-to-head record built largely through competitive fixtures. The most recent meeting, however, went La Celeste’s way with a 2-0 win on Argentine soil in the 2023 World Cup qualifiers.

• 13 games.
• 6 goals.
• 3 assists.
• 8 wins.
• 3 draws.
• 2 losses.

Lionel Messi has emerged as one of the best players of the 2026 World Cup, showcasing his scoring prowess and exceptional creativity. Even at 39 years old, he has remained an undisputed starter for Lionel Scaloni’s Argentina, demonstrating outstanding fitness while competing for the tournament’s Golden Boot. Amid reported tensions, Barcelona president Joan Laporta has praised the Argentine legend’s performances.

“Messi’s World Cup is extraordinary. Eight goals, some of them of great quality. With that talent, Messi is always good. Other players in the world of soccer, when they reach a certain age, because they don’t have the talent Leo has, it becomes more noticeable… they are fortunate to have Leo up front, because as soon as the ball reaches him, he puts it in the back of the net,” said Joan Laporta as reported by Fox Sports.

After his departure from Barcelona in 2021, the relationship between Joan Laporta and Lionel Messi has reportedly been damaged. While the Argentine legend has chosen not to make any public comments, the executive has repeatedly reaffirmed that his decision not to renew Messi’s contract was the right one. However, he has now sought to ease tensions by acknowledging the 39-year-old’s remarkable talent and outstanding performances.

Under Lionel Scaloni, Argentina have once again dominated at the 2026 World Cup, keeping Messi as the team’s central figure. Having been on the bench in just one match, the Argentine legend has shone even in extra time, delivering his best version. With the semifinal against England still to come, he still has the chance to further cement his legacy in the tournament’s history.

Lionel Messi’s 2026 World Cup is rewriting the record books

Unlike previous editions, Lionel Messi did not arrive at the 2026 World Cup as one of the favorites to shine. Despite that, he has managed to compete to be the tournament’s best player. After playing in six matches, he has scored eight goals and provided two assists. His outstanding performances at the tournament have led the 39-year-old legend to rewrite the World Cup record books.

Following his eight goals in the tournament, Messi is directly competing with Kylian Mbappé to finish as the top scorer. In addition, he already stands as the World Cup’s all-time leading scorer, with 21 goals in 31 matches. Not satisfied with that, Lionel also became the tournament’s all-time leading assist provider, with 11 assists, holding the record outright. With this, he rewrote the tournament’s record books.

Vincenzo Italiano'nun askeri kamp sertliğindeki "boğucu pres ve dikey futbol" felsefesi Beşiktaş'ta hayat bulabilir... geride oyunun aklı olacak Orkun Kökçü transfer edilmesi durumunda 10 numarada presi tetikleyecek dünya yıldızı Julian Brandt, kanatlarda rakipleri çaresiz bırakacak Trossard ile Cerny ve ileri uçta duvar olacak Oh! Siyah-beyazlılar, Süper Lig'in en çok şut çeken, en yüksek gol beklentisi üreten ve Marvel kahramanlarını kıskandıracak bir geçiş canavar olabilir.

Vincenzo Italiano’nun istediği transferlerin tamamlandığı senaryoda, Beşiktaş'ın rüya kadrosu tam anlamıyla bir "baskı ve geçiş canavarı" haline gelecek.

İtalyan teknik adam; Spezia, Fiorentina ve Bologna'da uyguladığı agresif dikey futbolu, boğucu ön alan baskısını ve kanat izolasyonlarını İstanbul'a taşıyacak.

Orkun, Cerny, Oh, Trossard ve 10 numara olarak eklenmesi planlanan Brandt beşlisi, Italiano’nun askeri kamp sertliğindeki felsefesinde Marvel kahramanlarını kıskandıracak bir hücum gücüne dönüşecek.

Bu sinematik hücum hattında herkesin rolü milimetrik olarak belli olacak. Takımın yeni beyni olması düşünülen Brandt, stoperlere basan bir pres tetikleyicisi ve ceza sahasına sızan gizli forvet olacak... kanatları çizgide genişleten Italiano, Leandro Trossard ve Vaclav Cerny’yi savunmayla 1'e 1 bırakarak izole edecek.

İleri uçtaki Oh, topu saklayıp arkadan gelenlere alan açan bir pivot-presçi görevi görürken; eski bir derin oyun kurucu olan Italiano, aradığı oyun aklını geriden milimetrik dikey paslar atacak olan Orkun Kökçü’de bulacak.

Bu yapı, Beşiktaş'ı topu kaybettiği an 3 saniye içinde geri kazanan, sürekli önde basan yoğun bir takıma büründürecek.

Top rakip yarı alana yıkıldığında Orkun'un oyun zekası ve bekleri merkeze çekip kanatları serbest bırakan sistem sayesinde Trossard ve Cerny maç başına 5-6 kez ceza sahasında topla buluşacak.

Ancak Italiano’nun "ne kadar çok saldırırsan, kontraya o kadar açık olursun" felsefesi büyük bir geçiş kumarını da beraberinde getirecek... Orkun’un arkasına sert 6 numara (Salih Özcan) eklendi... ancak arkaya atletik bir toper (Agbadou'nun yanına...) daha monte edilmesi gerekiyor.

Brandt'ın yönettiği, Orkun'un geriden beslediği ve Trossard-Cerny-Oh üçlüsünün bitirdiği Italiano Beşiktaş'ı, Süper Lig'in en çok şut çeken ve en yüksek gol beklentisi (xG) üreten ekibi olacak gibi duruyor.

Arkada büyük riskler alan ama önde göz açtırmayan bu sistem, futbolseverlere izlemesi inanılmaz keyifli, her anı aksiyon dolu bir hücum makinesi vadeder.

Galatasaray transfer piyasasını sarsacak bir stratejinin eşiğinde. Sarı-kırmızılılar, Davinson Sánchez için İtalya kanadından gelen dev tekliflere rest çekerken; Kolombiyalı yıldızın ayrılması ihtimaline karşılık aradığı "veliahdı" Avusturya'da buldu: 1.95'lik Fransız dev Joane Gadou.

Galatasaray’da Davinson Sánchez transferi etrafında dönen oyun, yönetimin sert kayasına çarptı. George Gardi’nin İtalyan ekibi Como adına yürüttüğü ve İtalyan medyasını kullanarak başlattığı "18-20 milyon Euro’ya bitiyor" algısına Galatasaray yönetiminden misilleme geldi.

İstanbul’daki zirvede Gardi’nin getirdiği 23-24 milyon Euro’luk resmi teklifi anında çöpe atan yönetici Abdullah Kavukçu, "Sánchez’i satsam yerine alacağım oyuncular 35-40 milyon Euro. Bu rakamları getirmeden karşıma bile çıkma" diyerek masayı dağıttı.

Oyuncu gitmek istemediği sürece rakam ne olursa olsun Sánchez satılmayacak ve menajerlerden gelen diğer stoper önerileri de an itibarıyla reddedilecek.

Yönetim, Sánchez’in olası ayrılık ihtimaline karşı teknik direktör Okan Buruk’un önüne Milan’ın gözden çıkardığı Fikayo Tomori ismini koydu.

Ancak Başkan Dursun Özbek ile yapılan transfer zirvesinde başarılı teknik adam ezber bozdu. Tomori'yi listeden silen Okan Buruk, Sánchez’in sistemdeki muadili olarak Red Bull Salzburg forması giyen Joane Gadou’yu bizzat talep etti. PSG altyapısından yetişen 19 yaşındaki Fransız stoper, fiziki ve atletik özellikleriyle teknik heyet tarafından "Sánchez'in 10 yaş daha genci" olarak raporlandı.

Salzburg'un PSG akademisinden kaparak Avrupa futboluna sunduğu Joane Gadou, pasör bir stoperden ziyade tam bir "fiziksel canavar" prototipi. 1.87 boyundaki Sánchez kompakt kas kütlesi, elit ilk adım patlayıcılığı ve tecrübesiyle forvetleri adeta boğarken; 1.95'lik Gadou devasa boyuna rağmen sıra dışı bir sprint hızına sahip. İki oyuncu da Galatasaray'ın riskli ön alan baskısında arkada kalan devasa boşlukları tek başına süpürebilecek "geniş alan canavarı" kimliğiyle öne çıkıyor.

Sánchez tecrübesi ve liderliğiyle savunmada nerede risk alacağını çok daha iyi bilirken, baskıyı daha dikine ve uzun paslarla kırıyor. Genç Fransız Gadou ise uzun bacak boyunun avantajını kullanarak topla dikine driplingler yapmayı, orta sahayı yararak geçmeyi seviyor. Oyun kurma becerisinde henüz ham ve gelişime açık olan Gadou, zaman zaman gençlik hatası olarak riskli bölgelerde top kaptırsa da tavan potansiyel olarak atletizmde Sánchez’in bile üzerine çıkmaya aday gösteriliyor.

Fenerbahçe'nin dünya yıldızı Mason Greenwood'u transfer etme hamlesi, saha içindeki büyük hedeflere rağmen saha dışında dev bir sponsorluk krizini tetikledi... Başta Chobani olmak üzere küresel markaların kulüpten çekilme ihtimali yüksek sesle konuşulmaya başlandı. Benzer bir süreçte ana sponsorlarını kaybeden, Amazon ve Netflix gibi dijital devlerin ambargosuyla karşılaşan Marsilya'nın yaşadığı ağır itibar kaybı ortadayken; imaj hakları, premium içerikler ve küresel turlarla bu büyük yatırımı finanse etmeyi planlayan Fenerbahçe, endüstriyel futbolun en riskli finansal kumarıyla karşı karşıya.

Fenerbahçe’nin küresel hedefleri doğrultusunda Mason Greenwood’u kadrosuna katma ihtimali, saha içindeki sportif beklentilerin aksine saha dışında devasa bir sponsorluk krizini tetikledi.

Transferin küresel markalar üzerindeki negatif etkisi başlangıçta derinlemesine araştırılmasa da tehlike çanları erken çaldı.

CHOBANI SPONSORLUĞU ÇEKEBİLİR

Başta Chobani olmak üzere birçok güçlü sponsorun, oyuncunun geçmişindeki adli süreçler ve kadına şiddet iddiaları nedeniyle kulüple olan bağlarını koparma noktasına geldiği yüksek sesle konuşulmaya başlandı.

Benzer bir risk kumarını oynayan Marsilya, bu süreçte çok ağır ticari bedeller ödedi. Transferin ardından kulübün köklü iş ortaklarından sigorta devi Mutuelles du Soleil sözleşmesini anında feshederken, ana sponsor CMA CGM (Ceva Logistics) ise Greenwood'un hiçbir reklamda logolarıyla yan yana getirilmemesini şart koştu.

MARSİLYA KÖTÜ DAMGALAR YEDİ

Kulüp ayrıca belediye başkanının siyasi vetosuyla, kadın taraftar derneklerinin boykotuyla ve İngiliz medyasının uyguladığı ambargo nedeniyle Netflix ve Amazon gibi platformların dijital içerik dışlamasıyla karşı karşıya kaldı.

Fransız kulübü saha içinde sportif başarı yakalayıp oyuncunun bonservis değerini artırsa da, kurumsal itibar alanında büyük bir zemin kaybetti ve "etik değerleri paraya feda eden kulüp" damgası yedi.

ASLINDA KAZANÇ KAPISI OLABİLİRDİ

Normal şartlarda dünya çapında bir yıldızın transferi; imaj haklarının paylaşımı, YouTube Katıl veya özel belgesel projeleriyle dijital içerik satışı, küresel ortaklıklar ve yüksek bütçeli sezon öncesi kıta turlarıyla (ABD, Körfez, Asya) devasa bir kazanç kapısına dönüştürülebilir.

BÜYÜK KURUMSAL RİSK TAŞIYOR

Hatta Saracoğlu Stadyumu'nda kurulacak ultra-premium ağırlama alanları ve varlıklı turistlere yönelik binlerce dolarlık özel paketler, klasik forma satışının çok ötesinde bir endüstriyel başarı yakalanmasını sağlayabilir.

Ancak Greenwood isminin taşıdığı yüksek kurumsal risk, bu çok katmanlı finansal modelleri Fenerbahçe için henüz hayata geçmeden birer bariyer haline getiriyor.

FENERBAHÇE'YE TERS TEPME RİSKİ

Sarı-lacivertli kulübün bu büyük yatırımı kâra geçirebilmesi için oyuncuyu sadece bir futbolcu değil, yürüyen bir medya şirketi gibi konumlandırması gerekiyordu; fakat batılı kurumsal sponsorların ve Chobani gibi markaların net tavrı, kulübün elini kolunu bağlayarak finansal bir krize zemin hazırlıyor.

Fenerbahçe'nin transfer gündemindeki Mason Greenwood ile Galatasaray'dan ayrılan Mauro Icardi arasındaki sponsorluk yaklaşımı farkını masaya yatıran uzmanlar, endüstriyel futbolun kırmızı çizgilerini çizdi. Icardi'nin geçmişi, markalar tarafından yüksek reytingli bir "pembe dizi" ve magazin figürü olarak tolere edilirken; Greenwood'un adli sürece yansıyan "kadına şiddet" bagajı, küresel sponsorlar için hukuk ve insan hakları zemininde taşınamaz bir finansal risk oluşturuyor. Dava teknik olarak düşse de toplumsal hafızadaki ses kayıtları ve fotoğraflar, kulüpleri uluslararası yaptırımlar ve itibar kaybı tehlikesiyle karşı karşıya bırakıyor.

Fenerbahçe’nin transfer gündemini meşgul eden Mason Greenwood ismi, sponsorlar cephesinde ciddi bir krizi tetiklerken, spor kamuoyunda "Galatasaray, Mauro Icardi’yi transfer ederken sessiz kalan sponsorlar, Greenwood’dan neden çekiniyor?" sorusu yüksek sesle tartışılmaya başlandı.

Ancak kriz yönetimi, marka itibarı ve risk analizi perspektifinden bakıldığında; iki isim arasındaki fark bir magazin skandalı ile ağır ceza davası arasındaki uçurum kadar derin. Konuyu Halkla İlişkiler ve Kriz Yönetimi Uzmanı Fırat Demir ile Kurumsal Risk Analisti Ceyla Günel mercek altına aldı.

ICARDI'NİN DURUMU PEMBE DİZİ KABUL EDİLDİ

Kriz anlarında markaların ilk refleksinin "kamuoyu algısı ve toplumsal hassasiyetler" olduğunu belirten PR Uzmanı Fırat Demir, iki futbolcunun bagajının iletişim dünyasındaki karşılığını şu sözlerle özetliyor:

- Sponsorluk dünyasında 'itibar riski' çok keskin çizgilerle ayrılır. Mauro Icardi’nin geçmişi hukuki bir suç değil; tamamen sadakatsizlik, etik tartışmalar ve Wanda Nara ile yaşanan bir magazin sarmalıdır.

- Icardi ve Wanda arasında yaşananlar, dünya basını tarafından adeta bir pembe dizi gibi tüketildi. Bu durum Icardi'ye sportif olarak Arjantin Milli Takımı kapılarını kapatsa da ticari markalar için bir sponsorluk iptal gerekçesi yaratmadı; aksine yarattığı devasa medya etkileşimiyle markaların görünürlüğünü artırdı.

GREENWOOD KIRMIZI ÇİZGİ BARINDIRIYOR

Türk futbol kamuoyu, oyuncunun ikili ilişkilerini değil, sahadaki saf performansını satın aldı" diyerek Greenwood isminin neden bu formüle uymadığını açıklıyor:

- Greenwood ismi; kurumsal sosyal sorumluluk ilkelerini, kadın taraftar tabanını ve insan hakları algısını doğrudan tehdit eden bir 'kırmızı çizgi' barındırıyor. Toplumsal hafızadaki algıyı Icardi'de olduğu gibi bir şarkıyla veya sempatiyle sıfırlamak iletişimsel açıdan imkansıza yakındır.

YASAL MEVZUATLARDA BURADA ÇOK DEĞERLİ

Konunun duygusal ya da iletişimsel boyutundan ziyade kurumsal ve finansal risklerine dikkat çeken Risk Analisti Ceyla Günel ise markaların yasal mevzuatlarına vurgu yapıyor:

- Kriz anlarında markaların ve özellikle küresel sermayeli sponsorların ilk baktığı yer, olayın hukuki boyutudur. Icardi’nin geçmişinde adli bir soruşturma veya şiddet olmadığı için sponsorlar adına yasal bir ihlal veya ahlak sözleşmesi tetikleyicisi oluşmadı. Ancak Greenwood; İngiltere’de 'tecavüze teşebbüs' ve 'fiziksel şiddet' gibi ağır suçlamalarla gözaltına alındı, ciddi bir adli süreç yaşadı."

FENERBAHÇE RİSKLERİ GÖZÖNÜNE ALDI MI?

Davanın düşmüş olmasının kurumsal risk analistleri için bir beraat anlamı taşımadığını belirten Günel, tehlikenin boyutunu şu sözlerle aktarıyor:

- Dava teknik nedenlerle ve şahitlerin çekilmesiyle düşmüş olsa da, ortadaki ses kayıtları ve fotoğraflar küresel markaların 'kadına şiddete sıfır tolerans' duvarına çarptı. Fenerbahçe, Greenwood hamlesini yaparken küresel finansal yaptırımları, uluslararası sponsor kayıplarını ve hisse değeri risklerini göze almak zorundaydı. Çünkü endüstriyel futbolda sponsorlar, pembe dizilere ve magazin krizlerine tahammül edebilir ama ceza hukuku kapsamına giren, kurumsal imajı doğrudan dinamitleyen dosyalara asla geçit vermez.

GREENWOOD'UN DURUMU MARKALAR İÇİN TAŞINAMAZ

Uzmanların ortak görüşü; Greenwood transferinin markalar için hukuk, adalet ve insan hakları zemininde "taşınamaz" bir finansal ve itibari risk teşkil ettiği yönünde.

Icardi’nin durumu ise sadece etik ve magazin zemininde kalan bir reyting malzemesinden ibaret. Dolayısıyla Türk futbolunda "Icardi'ye sustular, Greenwood'a neden konuşuyorlar?" sorusu, modern endüstriyel futbolun risk yönetimi gerçekleriyle tamamen ters düşüyor.

Galatasaray'ın Osimhen'in araya girmesiyle İstanbul'a indirdiği 1.90'lık dev Lesley Ugochukwu; adını taşıyan "Tanrım asla uyumaz" felsefesiyle büyüyen, lüks gece hayatı yerine illüzyon müzelerini tercih eden, efsane amcası Onyekachi Apam'ın mentörlüğü ve pusetten saha kenarına uzanan sıra dışı aile hikayesiyle tam bir profesyonel portresi çiziyor.

Galatasaray’ın transfer gündemini sarsan 1.90’lık dev Lesley Ugochukwu, sadece sahadaki performansıyla değil, sıra dışı yaşam hikayesiyle de dikkat çekiyor.

Nijerya basınında "Osimhen'in yanına gidiyor" manşetleriyle duyurulan genç yıldızın tam adı Chimuanya Lesley Ugochukwu. Fransa doğumlu oyuncunun yerel İgbo dilindeki ismi Chimuanya, "Tanrım asla uyumaz" demek.

Köklerine sıkı sıkıya bağlı olan Lesley, parıltılı Avrupa hayatından uzaklaşarak her fırsatta Nijerya'daki Imo Eyaleti’ni ziyaret ediyor ve buradaki köy yaşantısının kendisini kibirli olmaktan koruduğunu söylüyor.

Futbolun kelimenin tam anlamıyla içine doğan Lesley’nin çocukluk albümündeki ilk fotoğrafı, Rennes stadyumunun kenarında bir pusetin içinde çekilmiş.

Ailesi tam bir futbol fabrikası olan genç yeteneğin amcası, Ligue 1’de fırtınalar estiren eski millî stoper Onyekachi Apam. Lesley’nin en büyük mentörü olan Apam, onu gece hayatından ve parıltılı dünyanın tuzaklarından uzak tutarak tamamen futbola odaklamış. Ayrıca oyuncunun kardeşi Chibuike Ugochukwu da abisinin izinden giderek Stade Rennais B takımında stoper olarak kariyerini sürdürüyor.

Londra günlerinde lüks gece kulüpleri yerine sıra dışı hobileriyle İngiliz basınına haber olan Lesley, tam bir optik illüzyon hayranı.

Boş zamanlarını Oxford Street’teki "Twist Museum"da illüzyon oyunlarıyla geçiren yıldız isim, sakin yürüyüşleri ve dingin bir hayatı tercih ediyor.

Sahadaki idolü ise Trabzonspor'un eski yıldızı John Mikel Obi. Çocukken videolarını gizlice izlediği Mikel Obi’nin baskı altındaki o soğukkanlı ve sakin duruşunu kendisine rol model olarak alıyor.

Eğitimine büyük önem veren ve Rennes altyapısındayken A takıma çıksa bile lise sınavlarını kulüp akademisinde tamamlayan Lesley, tam bir profesyonel profili çiziyor. Henüz 16 yaşındayken eski Nijerya Teknik Direktörü Gernot Rohr tarafından Wilfred Ndidi'nin alternatifi olarak keşfedilen genç dev, tercihini Fransa genç millî takımlarından yana kullanmıştı.

Ugochukwu, güçlü aile bağları ve disiplinli yaşamıyla sarı-kırmızılı taraftarları şimdiden heyecanlandırıyor.

Beşiktaş, Arsenal'ın Belçikalı sol kanadı Leandro Trossard transferi için tüm şartları zorlarken; oyuncunun menajeri Dirk Hebel transfer teklifini doğrulayarak kararın kısa sürede verileceğini açıkladı. Trossard'ın imza sürecini ağırdan alması üzerine B Planını devreye sokan siyah-beyazlı yönetim, Arjantinli maestro Thiago Almada transferinde vites yükseltti.

Beşiktaş, transfer piyasasında yılın bombasını patlatmak için adeta satranç oynuyor. Siyah-beyazlıların Arsenal’ın sol kanat oyuncusu Leandro Trossard için tüm şartları zorladığını doğrulayan menajer Dirk Hebel, "Beşiktaş elinden gelen her şeyi yaptı. Ancak henüz karar verilmedi. Önünde Arsenal'da kalmak dahil birçok seçenek var ve kısa süre içinde kararını verecek" ifadelerini kullandı.

Belçikalı dünya yıldızının ağırdan alması üzerine panik yapmayan Beşiktaş yönetimi, B planını devreye sokarak Thiago Almada transferinde vites yükseltti.

Kara Kartal'ın radarındaki iki isim, hücum hattında tamamen farklı rollere sahip. 31 yaşındaki Premier Lig patentli Leandro Trossard, adeta bir İsviçre çakısı.

Sol kanat, sahte 9 ve 10 numara oynayabilen Belçikalı, iki ayağını da mükemmel kullanan soğukkanlı bir "alan bulucu" ve elit bir bitirici. 25 yaşındaki Arjantinli Thiago Almada ise Atletico Madrid'in parlattığı dinamik bir maestro. Saf yeteneğiyle öne çıkan Almada, dikine driplingleri, adam eksiltme becerisi ve savunma arkasına attığı milimetrik paslarla tam bir hücum lideri.

Beşiktaş, Trossard ile sol kanattan içeri sızıp skor yükünü sırtlayacak, büyük maçlarda sahne alacak taktiksel bir olgunluk hedefliyor. Arteta’nın pres sisteminde rüştünü ispatlayan Trossard, bitmiş ve garantili bir ürün.

Buna karşın işlerin hızlandığı Almada ise takımın yaratıcılık sorununu kökten çözecek, duran topları yönetecek ve tempoyu ayarlayacak yüksek tavanlı bir oyun kurucu.

Siyah-beyazlılar, Trossard'ın kozuna karşılık Almada hamlesiyle elini güçlendirerek transferde her ihtimale karşı gövde gösterisi yapmaya hazırlanıyor.

Gözler futbol aklı Feridun Geçgel'den hamleler beklerken sahneye yine o çıktı! Stoch'u Galatasaray'ın elinden kapıp getiren, 3 Temmuz'un en karanlık günlerinde Moussa Sow transferini kulübün kasasından tek kuruş çıkarmadan çözen, Niang ve Dia operasyonlarının arkasındaki gizli kahraman Cihan Kamer; şimdi de Nathan Aké'den sonra Mason Greenwood'u da bitirerek transfer sihirbazlığını arşa çıkardı.

Fenerbahçe camiası futbol aklının başındaki isim Feridun Geçgel'den transfer hamlesi beklerken, sahneye asıl "Sihirbaz" çıktı. Sarı-lacivertlilerde Cihan Kamer, dünyaca ünlü yıldız Nathan Aké’nin ardından Mason Greenwood transferini de bitirerek gövde gösterisi yaptı. Kulübün en zorlu dönemlerinde üstlendiği rollerle bilinen Kamer, bu dev hamleyle transferdeki sihirbazlığını adeta arşa çıkardı.

STOCH'U GALATASARAY'IN ELİNDEN ALDI

Kamer’in transferdeki bu uzmanlığı aslında yeni değil. Aziz Yıldırım yönetiminde 2009-2012 yılları arasında asbaşkanlık yapan Kamer; Londra ve Avrupa şehirlerinde yürüttüğü gizli operasyonlarla tanınıyor. Dönemin en sansasyonel hamlesi, 2010 yılında Chelsea'den alınan Miroslav Stoch olmuştu. Galatasaray’ın imza aşamasına getirdiği Slovak oyuncuyu, Kamer bizzat İngiltere'ye uçarak gizli bir operasyonla Fenerbahçe'ye kazandırmıştı.

SOW'UN ALINMASINI ORGANİZE ETTİ

Deneyimli yönetici, kulübün en karanlık dönemi olan 3 Temmuz sürecinde de tarihi bir finansal liderlik üstlendi. 2012 Ocak ayında Lille'den alınan Moussa Sow'un 10 milyon Euro'luk bonservisi, yaşanan ekonomik kriz nedeniyle tıkanmıştı. Cihan Kamer; Ali Koç, Nihat Özdemir ve Ferit Şahenk gibi güçlü isimleri organize ederek 8 milyon Euro'luk sponsorluk köprüsü kurdu ve bu transferi kulüp kasasından para çıkartmadan bitirdi.

2010'DA NIANS VE DIA'YI GETİRDİ

Kamer'in başarı listesi bunlarla da sınırlı değil. Başarılı yönetici, 2009 yılında Cristian Baroni ve André Santos'un takıma kazandırılmasında idari rol oynadı.

Futboldan sorumlu asbaşkan olduğu 2010 yazında ise Mamadou Niang ve Issiar Dia gibi yıldızların transfer operasyonlarını, tüm görüşme koordinasyonlarını ve medya iletişimini tek elden başarıyla yönetti.

Şampiyonlar Ligi'ndeki Gornik sınavı öncesi Fenerbahçe'de taşlar yerinden oynuyor! Teknik direktör İsmail Kartal'ın 25 kişilik UEFA listesi büyük oranda netleşirken, aralarında dünya yıldızlarının da bulunduğu 12 isim dışarıda kaldı. Mason Greenwood transferinin seyrine göre kaderi değişecek oyuncuyla birlikte, sarı-lacivertlilerin Avrupa kadrosuna dair tüm yerli, yabancı ve altyapı detayları belli oldu.

Şampiyonlar Ligi 2. ön eleme turunda Gornik Zabrzere ile karşılaşacak olan Fenerbahçe'de 16 Temmuz Perşembe günü verilecek 25 kişilik Avrupa kadrosu büyük ölçüde şekillendi.

Teknik direktör İsmail Kartal, UEFA listesine son dokunuşları yaparken kadro dışında kalacak isimler de netleşti. Mason Greenwood transferinin durumuna göre listede kritik bir değişim yaşanacak; İngiliz yıldız yetişirse 13, yetişmemesi durumunda ise 12 oyuncu UEFA listesinin dışında kalacak.

Sarı-lacivertlilerin altyapı kontenjanından listeye Mert Günok, Tarık Çetin, Alaetin ve Yiğit Efe dahil ediliyor. Yerli statüsünde ise Çağlar Söyüncü, Levent Mercan, Mert Müldür, İsmail Yüksek, Kerem Potuk, Oğuz Aydın, Cengiz Ünder ve İrfan Can Kahveci gibi isimler kadrodaki yerini sağlama almış durumda.

Fenerbahçe’nin Avrupa listesinde yer alması kesin gözüyle bakılan yabancı ve yabancı statüsündeki yıldızlar dikkat çekiyor. Savunma ve orta sahayı sırtlayacak olan Nathan Ake, Milan Skriniar, Jayden Oosterwolde, Matteo Guendouzi, Fred, Marco Asensio, Anderson Talisca, Sidiki, Mimovic, Nelson Semedo, Brown ve kaleci Ederson kadronun omurgasını oluşturuyor.

Eğer Greenwood transferi yetişirse, şu an kadroda görünen Musaba listeden silinecek ilk isim olacak.

İsmail Kartal’ın planları arasında yer almayan ve UEFA listesine yazılması beklenmeyen isimler ise camiada geniş yankı uyandırdı. Listeye dahil edilmeyecek oyuncular şu şekilde:

Çağrı Balta, Adem, Nene, Emre Demir, Bartuğ Elmaz, N'Golo Kante, Sofyan Amrabat, Omar Fayed, Rodrigo Becao, Diego Carlos, Yiğit Efe ve kaleci Dominik Livakovic.

Frankfurt'un 60 milyon Euro'luk devasa bonservis duvarını yıkmak isteyen Galatasaray, millî yıldız Can Uzun'u ikna ederek transferde 'şah mat' yapmaya hazırlanıyor. Serie A tehlikesine karşı bugün vites yükselten sarı-kırmızılılar, 'önce oyuncu' stratejisiyle Alman devinin elindeki tüm kozları alıp transferi tarihi ama ekonomik bir formülle bitirmeyi hedefliyor."

Galatasaray, transfer piyasasında yılın bombasını patlatmak için vites yükseltti. Sky DE kaynaklı bilgilere göre sarı-kırmızılılar, Frankfurt forması giyen millî yıldız Can Uzun’u kadrosuna katmak için stratejik bir hamle başlattı. Alman ekibinin masadaki direncini kırmak isteyen yönetim, transferi ekonomik olarak makul bir zemine çekmek amacıyla yoğun bir mesai harcıyor.

Sarı-kırmızılılar, Frankfurt ile masaya oturmadan önce "Önce Oyuncu" stratejisini devreye soktu. Can Uzun ve menajeriyle temasları sıklaştıran Galatasaray, genç yıldızı ikna ederek elini güçlendirmeyi hedefliyor. Oyuncunun Türkiye projesine ve Şampiyonlar Ligi faktörüne "evet" demesi halinde, Frankfurt'un transferdeki katı tutumu tamamen boşa çıkacak ve ayrılığa onay vermek zorunda kalacak.

Alman kulübünün pazarlık masasını 60 milyon Euro gibi astronomik bir tavan fiyattan açması ise tamamen bir taktik strateji olarak görülüyor. Oyuncunun Galatasaray’ı seçmesiyle birlikte bu rakamın doğrudan ödenmeyeceği netleşecek. Frankfurt, elindeki en büyük kozu kaybedeceği için 60 milyon Euro'luk duruşundan vazgeçerek bonuslar, vadeli ödemeler ve sonraki satıştan pay gibi esnek formüllere razı olacak.

Transfer sürecindeki en büyük tehdit ise İtalya'dan gelen ilgi. Çizme ekiplerinin (AC Milan, Napoli ve AS Roma) devreye girmesiyle birlikte Galatasaray, süreci hızlandırarak bugün kritik bir görüşme daha gerçekleştirdi.

Can Uzun'un Serie A yerine sarı-kırmızılı formayı seçmesi, Frankfurt’un İtalyan kulübünü koz olarak kullanma şansını tamamen ortadan kaldıracak.

Galatasaray, kulüp tarihinin yerli transfer rekorunu kırabilecek ancak bütçeyi sarsmayacak mantıklı bir anlaşma için ilk ve en doğru adımı attı. Can Uzun'un ikna edilmesiyle birlikte, Frankfurt'un direnci tamamen kırılacak ve genç yetenek parçalı formayı giymeye bir adım daha yaklaşacak.

The U.S. smartphone market is currently dominated by Apple, with a small but important chunk occupied by Samsung. The remaining brands have been offered breadcrumbs in terms of market share, refusing to let any other manufacturer grow out of their shadow. Unfortunately, the AI boom had to arrive at an inopportune time, because the aforementioned reason and rising memory prices have forced one company out of the U.S., plus one other market. OnePlus is preparing to bid farewell to the U.S. and European markets, with an announcement expected in the coming days The writing was practically on the wall, and […]

Read full article at https://wccftech.com/one-smartphone-player-to-bow-out-of-us-market-letting-apple-and-samsung-grow/

My 8-year-old daughter desperately wanted a Nintendo Switch. Her evil parents refused to buy it for her.

She was too young to get a job, so she did what any resourceful kid would do: she set up a lemonade stand in front of our house.

But she didn’t just put out a table and a pitcher. She ran a high-stakes A/B test.

Her hypothesis was simple: if she could get more people to stop, she could sell more lemonade and buy her Nintendo Switch faster.

Variant A was her two-year-old sister, Julie, stationed out front to attract attention.

Variant B was our dog, Ginger.

I know what you’re thinking.

The dog. Obviously, the dog.

But her sister won. It wasn’t close.

The only metric that mattered

Actually, my daughter didn’t care about the outcome of the A/B test. She didn’t care how many people stopped by the stand.

She cared about one thing, and one thing only:

Did she make enough money to buy the Nintendo Switch?

Marketers have a similar problem right now.

Generative engine optimization (GEO) is the practice of increasing your brand’s visibility in AI-generated answers from platforms like ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, and AI Overviews.

We’re tracking AI visibility, citation share, impressions, rankings, and every other signal we can find.

Meanwhile, leadership is asking a much simpler question:

Is any of this helping the business grow?

I use a simple test I call the Dollar Rule: If I can’t put a dollar sign in front of a metric, it’s a channel metric, not a business metric.

That’s the challenge with GEO.

Most of the metrics we’re tracking are useful operational signals. They tell us what’s happening inside the channel.

Leadership wants something different.

They want to understand business impact.

GEO arrived at exactly the moment attribution started becoming less reliable.

Traditional SEO measurement was built around a straightforward model: someone searched, clicked, visited your website, and converted. You could trace the path and measure the outcome.

AI search changed that.

Buyers are making decisions before they ever reach your website and AI influence is hard to measure with traditional attribution models.

AI search broke attribution

Buyers now discover brands through AI-generated answers, citations, publishers, forums, reviews, videos, and other sources that influence decisions before a click ever happens. Much of that influence never shows up cleanly in analytics.

That’s why so many teams are struggling to justify GEO investments. The visibility is real. The influence is real. But the attribution is often incomplete.

Waiting for perfect attribution is becoming a convenient excuse for inaction.

If you want buy-in for GEO, you need a way to connect that influence to business outcomes, even when you can’t connect every interaction to a conversion.

Making the case for GEO using financial impact

The biggest mistake marketers are making right now is trying to prove attribution before proving value.

Before you worry about attribution, ask whether you’re measuring something that matters to the business. 

That’s where the Dollar Rule comes in.

We’ve found that justifying GEO usually comes down to three things:

• Align metrics to business outcomes.
• Verify that the metrics reliably point you in the right direction.
• Translate the metrics into language your CFO understands.

The Dollar Rule is simple: 

If a number doesn’t translate into dollars, it’s a channel metric, not a business metric.

Consider revenue opportunity, revenue at risk, payback period, and customer acquisition cost. These are the metrics that live on a P&L, and they’re the ones your leadership team actually cares about.

CFOs don’t allocate budget based on attribution models. They allocate budget based on expected financial outcomes.

Here’s what that looks like in practice.

Influence over attribution

AI search didn’t just change discovery. It changed measurement.

Traditional organic attribution assumes a simple path: search, click, visit, convert.

AI platforms increasingly answer questions before a click happens, influence buyers across multiple touchpoints, and often remove the referral data marketers depended on.

The result is a strange situation: your GEO campaigns may be influencing pipeline while your analytics platform struggles to prove it.

Loamly estimates that roughly 70% of AI-influenced traffic appears as Direct traffic in GA4, making a large portion of AI’s contribution difficult to trace through traditional attribution models.

That doesn’t mean measurement is impossible. It means we need to broaden where we look for evidence.

Instead of asking, “How many clicks do we get from AI search?” ask:

• Is branded search growing?
• Are prospects arriving already familiar with our positioning?
• Are we cited in AI answers for revenue-driving questions?

None of these signals is definitive on its own. Together, they create enough confidence to make investment decisions.

This is how GEO measurement differs from traditional SEO. You’re not measuring a click path. You’re measuring market influence.

The marketers who adapt fastest will stop treating attribution as a traffic sorting exercise and start combining quantitative signals with qualitative evidence. The goal isn’t certainty. The goal is confidence that your GEO investment is moving the business in the right direction.

You’re measuring the wrong thing

The problem isn’t that SEO or GEO metrics are wrong. The problem is that they’re often precise without being relevant to the business outcome you’re trying to influence. They tell you exactly what happened in a channel, but not whether the business is moving in the right direction.

SEO tools are full of precise numbers. The challenge is that many of those numbers aren’t closely connected to business outcomes.

Precise = exact

Accurate = connected to business outcomes

Leadership would rather have a roughly correct estimate of revenue impact than a perfectly precise count of clicks.

I studied engineering in school. We spent a lot of time talking about precision, as in, how exact and repeatable your measurements are, down to the decimal point. In marketing, those precise metrics look like organic clicks, rankings, impressions, and click-through rate. You can get extremely precise numbers from tools like Google Search Console.

The problem is they aren’t accurate. Accurate measurements tell you whether you’re moving closer to a business outcome that matters. Even if they’re not precise, accurate measurements are more useful because they point you toward the bullseye: business outcomes your leadership cares about.

Knowing you got 40 organic clicks to a page is precise. It tells you almost nothing about whether you’re winning or losing in the market, or in my daughter’s case, whether she’s getting close to buying that Nintendo Switch.

That’s a practical application of the Dollar Rule. When attribution is incomplete, translate the evidence you do have into business impact.

Revenue beats attribution

A rough number tied to revenue beats an exact number tied to channel metrics every time.

When accurate attribution isn’t available, build your case from signals you can actually get your hands on and do the math from there.

Fuzzy math doesn’t replace SEO metrics or attribution. It sits alongside them when a traffic-based attribution metric isn’t available.

Here’s an example:

One of our healthcare clients had a problem.

Prospects were showing up to sales calls already convinced of things that weren’t true.

The source was a competitor’s comparison page that was shaping buyer perceptions long before our client had a chance to tell their side of the story.

We recommended publishing content to counter the narrative, but leadership wasn’t convinced there was enough evidence to respond. So we had to make the case.

SEO tools estimated roughly 40 organic visits per month. Whether that number was right or wrong didn’t matter. It wasn’t measuring influence.

So we looked at something more meaningful.

We talked to our client’s salespeople. They told us that roughly 10% of their qualified B2B discovery calls included unprompted mentions of specific claims from the competitor’s page.

It wasn’t a clean number we could do exact math with, but we couldn’t ignore it. It was real. It was happening on live sales calls.

So we did fuzzy math:

10% mention rate on discovery calls

× 1,200 qualified B2B sales calls per year

× $500,000 average contract value

× 20% average win rate

= $12 million in annualized revenue being influenced by the competitor’s narrative

This wasn’t a forecast, and it wasn’t an attribution model. It was a directional estimate of the amount of pipeline influenced by the competitor’s messaging.

We stopped talking about 40 clicks a month and started talking about $12 million in influenced pipeline.

That’s the number we brought to leadership. Not impressions or citation shares. We brought them twelve million dollars of pipeline being influenced by a page our client was refusing to counter. That is a number a CFO understands.

Lead with the value metrics

If you walk into a GEO campaign review and lead with citation share going up or impressions growing, your CMO is going to yawn. Your CFO is going to wonder what language you’re speaking. In the worst case, they’re going to cut your budget because they don’t see the return.

Here’s how we framed the situation for our client’s leadership:

Leadership funds marketing campaigns with business impact. Translating the problem into dollars changes the conversation.

The decision makers didn’t need certainty. They needed a credible story: leading indicators and momentum that build trust, all tied to dollars.

Focus on what matters

That’s what my eight-year-old intuitively understood at the lemonade stand. Her goal was never to count lemonade stand visitors. Her goal was to buy the Nintendo Switch.

GEO has created a lot of anxiety because it broke the attribution models we relied on for years. But attribution was never the goal.

The real goal: business growth.

If you can connect your GEO efforts to revenue opportunity, revenue at risk, pipeline influence, or customer acquisition, you don’t need perfect certainty to make the case.

You just need evidence that your GEO campaigns are moving the business in the right direction.

Precise metrics tell you what happened. Relevant metrics tell you whether you’re winning.

Before your next GEO report, take every metric on the page and ask one question:

If this metric doubled tomorrow, would the business care?

Then ask the follow-up:

Can I translate this metric into revenue opportunity, revenue at risk, pipeline influence, or customer acquisition cost?

If the answer is no, you’re probably reporting on channel impact, not business impact.

İngiltərənin “Lester Siti” klubunun sol cinah hücumçusu Ceremi Monqa bundan sonra “Mançester Siti”nin uğurları üçün çalışacaq.

Arena.az xəbər verir ki, bu barədə Mançester klubunun rəsmi saytı məlumat yayıb.

İngiltərəli 17 yaşlı vinger “Lester Siti”dən tamhüquqlu əsasda “şəhərlilər”in dürşərgəsinə keçib. Transfer “Mançester Siti”yə 11,7 milyon avroya başa gəlib. Monqa 2031-ci ilin iyun ayının sonuna qədər müddət ərzində “şəhərlilər”in xidmətində olacaq. İlk mərhələdə o, klubun gənclərdən ibarət komandalarında çıxış edəcək.

Qeyd edək ki, Ceremi Monqa “Lester Siti”nin yetirməsidir. O, sözügedən klubun əsas komandasının heyətində 37 oyuna çıxıb, 1 qol vurub, 2 məhsuldar ötürmə verib.

Monqa İngiltərənin U-15, U-16, U-18 və U-19 yığmalarında da forma geyinib.

“Transfermarkt” internet-portalı 17 yaşlı vingerin transfer dəyərini 15 milyon avro məbləğində qiymətləndirir.

Portuqaliyalı futbol mütəxəssisi Hüqo Oliveyra Fransa Liqa 1-də mübarizə aparan “Strasburq” komandasının baş məşqçisi təyin edilib.

Arena.az xəbər verir ki, bu barədə Fransa klubu rəsmi saytı vasitəsilə məlumat yayıb.

41 yaşlı portuqaliyalı mütəxəssislə 3 illik müqavilə imzalanıb. O, bu postda ötən mövsüm bitən kimi komandadan ayrılmış və “İpsviç Taun” komandasının baş məşqçisi vəzifəsinə təyin olunmuş britaniyalı mütəxəssis Qari O’Nili əvəz edib. Onun rəhbərliyi altında Elzas təmsilçisi ötən mövsüm Liqa 1-də 8-ci yeri tutub və klub tarixində ilk dəfə Avropa Konfrans Liqasının yarımfinalına yüksəlib.

Hüqo Oliveyranın sonuncu iş yeri isə Portuqaliyanın “Famalikan” komandası olub. Komanda onun rəhbərliyi altında ölkə çempionatını 5-ci pillədə başa vuraraq tarixinin ən yaxşı nəticəsinə imza atıb.

Hüqo Oliveyra ilk dəfə ölkəsindən kənarda məşqçi kimi fəaliyyət göstərəcək.

Azərbaycanı Avropa Konfrans Liqasında təmsil edəcək “Neftçi” Sloveniyadakı təlim-məşq toplanışı çərçivəsində sonuncu yoxlama görüşünü keçirib.

Arena.az xəbər verir ki, paytaxt təmsilçisi bu gün Xorvatiyanın “Osiyek” komandası ilə qarşılaşıb.

“Ağ-qaralar” Lendava stadionunda baş tutmuş bu görüşdə 0:1 hesabı ilə məğlub olublar. Yeganə qolu matçın 74-cü dəqiqəsində Admir Lyatifi vurub.

Baş məşqçi Yuri Vernidub bu oyunda aşağıdakı heyətə güvənib: 13. Kenan Piriç (1. Emil Balayev, 46), 5. İqor Ribeyro (17. Murad Xaçayev, 75), 6. Sessi D’Almeyda (18. İfeanyi Metyu, 63), 8. Emin Mahmudov (k) (7. Emil Səfərov, 46), 11. İmad Faraj, 20. Qustavo Klisman (4. Elvin Camalov, 75), 24. Mustafa Sek (3. Rüfət Abbasov, 46), 29. Lyubomir Tupta (97. Bassala Sambu, 63), 33. Breno Almeyda (70. Andrey Ştoqrin, 75), 55. Endryu Qravilyon (14. Elvin Bədəlov, 75), 77. Falaye Sako.

“Ağ-qaralar” bu yoxlama oyunu ilə toplanışı başa vurub. Komanda sabah Bakıya qayıdacaq.

“Neftçi” daha öncə iyulun 2-də ÇFR (Kluj, Rumıniya, 1:2), 6-da “Partizan” (Serbiya, 0:1), 10-da isə “Radniçki” (Niş, Serbiya, 3:0) ilə yoxlama oyunları keçirmişdi.

“Mançester Yunayted” heyətini yeni futbolçu ilə gücləndirməyə hazırlaşır.

Futbolpress.az xəbər verir ki, “qırmızı-şeytanlar” “Aston Villa”dan Yuri Tilemansla anlaşıb. Bu barədə insayder Fabrizio Romano məlumat yayıb.

MY belçikalı yarımmüdafiəçinin transferi üçün 41 milyon avro ödəyəcək.

Tilemans Belçika millisi ilə dünya çempionatında 5 oyunda 2 qol vurub. “Qırmızı şeytanlar” mundialda ¼ finalda İspaniyaya uduzub – 1:2.

Alex Jimenez is officially a Fiorentina player, on loan with an option to buy from Bournemouth, where he was forced to leave under a cloud after suspended for inappropriate messages.

The deal was somewhat surprisingly done last week, and he was already in Florence to undergo medical tests.

It’s widely believed the move is worth a total of €20m plus a 30 per cent cut of the future sale fee, if the option to make it permanent is taken up at the end of the season.

It is reported that the option has several clauses making it an obligation to buy, including once he reaches 30 appearances with the Viola.

Jimenez is training with Fiorentina

Although Fiorentina have not yet formally announced the signature, his contract has been deposited with the Lega Serie A, and he participated in the first day of pre-season training.

The 21-year-old has experience of Serie A already, having been at Milan from 2023 until his move to Bournemouth in September 2025.

That was a loan with obligation to buy for a total of €20m.

The return to Serie A was rather forced upon him, because the Telegraph newspaper note that Jimenez is currently suspended by the Football Association in England.

He was formally excluded from playing domestically in this country while it investigates claims he direct messaged a 15-year-old girl on social media.

The allegations with screenshots were made in May, after which he was dropped from the Bournemouth squad.

“AFC Bournemouth are aware of posts circulating on social media involving right-back, Alex Jiménez,” read a statement from the Premier League side in May.

“The club understand the seriousness of the matter and it is currently being investigated.”

Milan had their first training session under new coach Ruben Amorim today and there were already some surprises, including Samuel Chukwueze following in Amad Diallo’s Manchester United footsteps.

The Rossoneri began their pre-season training today at the Milanello ground, complete with RedBird patron Gerry Cardinale flying in and out by helicopter.

Fans were present to watch the game between ranks and get their first idea of how they will play under Amorim.

Chukwueze given new role by Amorim

It was already known that a 3-4-2-1 formation was likely, but the big surprise was seeing striker Chukwueze instead used wide right of the four-man midfield.

This is not entirely out of character for the coach, who had after all used Amad Diallo there for Manchester United during his ill-fated experience at Old Trafford.

Chukwueze is usually an attacking winger on the right flank, so could’ve been one of the support strikers in this system, but is instead placed in a deeper role.

He returned to Milan after a loan spell at Fulham last season, where he scored three goals and provided four assists in 25 games.

The first Milan goal of pre-season was scored by youngster Andrej Kostic.

Andrea Pirlo is the new favourite to take over as Italy coach, claims La Gazzetta dello Sport, as Paolo Maldini and Leonardo hope to reunite with a former Milan teammate.

The Nazionale can begin taking shape now that the decision has finally been made to appoint a technical director, a role that until now did not exist within the Azzurri set-up.

Maldini is in charge now along with his consultant Leonardo of choosing who will sit on the bench when Italy begin their Nations League campaign in September.

Pirlo emerges as Italy candidate

Until now, Antonio Conte and Roberto Mancini had been the main contenders for a return to the job, along with the audacious idea of approaching Pep Guardiola.

However, the Gazzetta dello Sport claim that Pirlo is emerging as a genuine candidate.

The 47-year-old was of course part of the squad that won the 2006 World Cup, and he is currently a coach in Dubai with United FC.

His management experience is limited to Juventus in 2020-21, where he won the Coppa Italia, then in the Turkish Super Lig with Karagumruk, and a brief spell at Sampdoria that ended in August 2024.

Pirlo knows both Maldini and Leonardo well from their time together at the successful Milan side, where the midfielder played from 2001 to 2011.

It is reported that Maldini had wanted to hire him as the coach of Milan in 2023.

Unlike the other alternatives on the list, Pirlo’s wage demands would not break the bank of the FIGC.

After turning down reported offers of over €25m for Trevoh Chalobah, it’s now reported in Italy that Chelsea are frustrated Inter and Como are looking elsewhere.

The defender is currently at the World Cup with England preparing for Wednesday’s semi-final against Argentina, but his future remains up in the air.

A bidding war had broken out for the 27-year-old, between Serie A sides Inter and Como, but the asking price of €35m has put them off.

Chalobah too expensive for Inter and Como

Another change was the Gazzetta dello Sport report last week that the two Italian clubs had agreed on a pact not to one-up each other, so Como backed off Chalobah and instead focused on Galatasaray defender Davinson Sanchez.

Now Sportitalia transfer expert Alfredo Pedullà and Sky Sport Italia both claim that Chelsea have contacted Inter and Como to ask if they are still interested in Chalobah.

The excessive asking price has put both off, so they are currently looking at other targets instead.

It is not just the Chelsea demand that is causing problems, but also the salary his agents are requesting.

Inter have the added problem of now needing to seek a new wing-back, seeing as Marco Palestra was poached by Chelsea and Anan Khalaili failed a medical.

Mexico International Gilberto Mora has been linked with a move to the Premier League in recent weeks.

The 17-year-old impressed in the World Cup with his country, and he has been exceptional for Club Tijuana as well.

Mora is regarded as one of the finest young midfield talents around, and he has been linked with Liverpool. Liverpool midfielder Alexis Mac Allister has been questioned regarding Liverpool’s interest in Mora.

The Argentine international has claimed that the 17-year-old must be an exceptional talent, and that is why Liverpool have been mentioned as a potential destination.

“Honestly, I didn’t see anything about it. When these things happen, you’re always careful what you say, out of respect for the player and the club he belongs to. But if they’re mentioning him as a possible Liverpool player, he’s surely a great player. There’s a reason they’re mentioning him,” he said to Claro Sports.

The 27-year-old midfielder has recently helped his country reach the semi-finals of the World Cup with an important goal in the quarter-finals against Switzerland. His comments regarding Mora will certainly fuel further speculation surrounding a Liverpool move for the Mexican.

The 17-year-old is an attacking midfielder who could be a quality long-term acquisition for the Premier League club. They could use more technical ability and creativity in the final third. They have done well to nurture young players in the past, and they could help the Mexican develop further and fulfil his potential.

It remains to be seen whether they follow up on their interest with an official offer to close the deal.

The opportunity to join Liverpool will be exciting for the young playmaker as well. Regular football in England could bring out the best in him and help him improve further.

The post Liverpool star’s verdict fuels excitement over ‘great player’ wanted by the Reds appeared first on CaughtOffside.

Manchester United have been linked with a move for the French International midfielder Manu Kone in recent weeks.

The 25-year-old has been outstanding for Roma and has impressed with France at the World Cup. Manchester United are reportedly interested in signing the player, and they have been handed a major boost in their pursuit of the midfielder.

AS Roma manager Gian Piero Gasperini has now confirmed that the club will have to comply with Financial Fair Play regulations. He has hinted at a potential sale for the French midfielder.

He said (h/t AllRoma): “His future? I think these Financial Fair Play conditions are never so precise and defined; they vary from team to team. Roma also need to balance the books, which have been burdensome in recent years.

“I hoped that returning to the Champions League would be enough, but it’s clear that financial statements are crucial for clubs. I believe there will be more clarity in the coming weeks.”

It will be interesting to see if Manchester United come forward with an acceptable offer for the player. They need more physicality and defensive steel in the middle of the park, and Kone could be ideal for them. He has shown his quality in Germany and Italy. He has the technical attributes to do well in the Premier League.

After impressing with Roma, Kone could be tempted to take the next step in his career. Joining one of the biggest clubs in the world will be exciting for him. Manchester United could provide him with the platform to fight for major trophies.

Manchester United have improved the midfield unit with the signing of Andrey Santos, and they are closing in on Youri Tielemans as well. The addition of Kone will take them to a whole new level and complete their midfield unit for the upcoming campaign.

The post Man United receive boost in race for World Cup star with club looking to ‘balance the books’ appeared first on CaughtOffside.

Manchester United are closing in on the capture of Youri Tielemans from Aston Villa.

The 29-year-old Belgian International has been outstanding for the West Midlands club, and he played a key role in their UEFA Europa League win last season. He also helped them secure Champions League qualification for the upcoming campaign.

Manchester United needed more control and creativity in the middle of the park, and it is no surprise that they have decided to sign the Belgian International by activating his €41 million release clause. He was quite impressive for his country in the World Cup as well, helping them reach the quarter-finals.

The opportunity to play for the Red Devils will be exciting for the Belgian international. It will be a step up for him, and he can showcase his qualities at the highest level. Meanwhile, Sky Sports reporter Florian Plettenberg has confirmed that the player will undergo his medical ‘later this week’, and all details have been agreed between the two clubs.

Manchester United have also signed Andrey Santos from Chelsea. It is clear that they are looking to significantly improve the midfield. Two quality central midfielders will certainly help them next season. However, they also need to invest in a specialist defensive midfielder. They look quite mediocre at the back, and someone who can break up the opposition attack and protect the defensive unit would be ideal.

Casemiro has left the club, and they need to replace them properly. It will be interesting to see who they end up with. In addition to the departure of Brazilian, Manuel Ugarte has been hugely underwhelming and is currently sidelined with a serious long-term injury.

The post Medical ‘later this week’ as Sky Journo drops fresh update on Man United transfer appeared first on CaughtOffside.

For decades, the formula for Pittsburgh Steelers football has been as predictable as it is grueling: play suffocating defense, lean on a physical running game, and drag opponents into a fourth-quarter "rock fight."

Christopher Carter, the host of the “Locked on Steelers” podcast, highlighted a hidden franchise metric that truly defines their winning culture and could present a massive challenge for new defensive coordinator Patrick Graham.

According to Carter’s data, the Steelers have built a legacy around protecting late-game advantages. Over the last four seasons, under former defensive coordinator Teryl Austin, Pittsburgh protected 39 fourth-quarter leads while blowing just five, translating to a staggering 88.6% protection rate, ranking second in the NFL only to the Detroit Lions.

This knack for closing games isn't a recent anomaly; it is woven directly into the team’s DNA. During the Mike Tomlin era, the Steelers boast an 85.1% success rate when entering the final frame with a lead. Even going back to the late 1990s and early 2000s, Bill Cowher's teams ranked fourth in the NFL in the exact same metric.

"You've basically seen defenses that were just elite at protecting leads," Carter noted. "Growing up, that was also a philosophy that you very much understood when it came to Steelers football. The point was to get a lead, play great defense, and run people over... If they got the lead late, it was like shooting a free throw in basketball. They were going to win that game."

Now eyes turn to Graham, whose track record stands in stark contrast to Pittsburgh's. Over his four years as defensive coordinator for the Las Vegas Raiders, Graham’s units protected 19 fourth-quarter leads but surrendered nine, placing them 28th in the league with a disappointing 67.9% protection rate.

Furthermore, Graham's average across stops with four NFL teams hovers at roughly 66%. Bridging that 20% statistical gap will define his first year in the Steel City.

Ultimately, the pressure is on Graham to modernize the defense without losing the foundational grit that has secured Pittsburgh victories for generations.

This article originally appeared on Steelers Wire: Steelers' 4th-Quarter Strength Poses Big Challenge for Patrick Graham

The 2026 World Cup has received great feedback with its 48-team field and now Gianni Infantino and FIFA want to expand the tournament again.

This summer’s World Cup marks the first time that the competition has increased beyond 32 countries. However, Infantino and Co. are clearly eyeing another expansion in the future given the additional eyeballs and revenue.

MORE: 2026 World Cup semifinals TV schedule & viewing info

Infantino confirms that he wants more nations playing in the World Cup as he plots for 64 teams in the near future. This would align with FIFA’s plans to expand the tournament and become more similar to March Madness.

Gianni Infantino confirmed that FIFA will discuss expanding the men's World Cup to 64 teams after the 2026 tournament, saying every nation should have the chance to dream of playing at football's biggest event. https://t.co/HvBTuagd8h

— ESPN (@espn) July 13, 2026

The 2026 edition of the competition is drawing major plaudits from fans with new countries like Cape Verde and Haiti having success. Meanwhile, the reality of the World Cup is that the infrequency of the event always draws major attention.

Infantino wants expanded FIFA World Cup

College basketball’s success over the years with March Madness is clearly rubbing off on other sports like soccer. Infantino is undoubtedly aiming to feature more top countries from around the globe in the World Cup.

“When you organize a World Cup, it’s important that you organize it for the whole world,” Infantino said. “It’s not just Europe and South America, but the entire world, effectively. Every nation should be able to dream of taking part in the World Cup.”

Another World Cup expansion surely benefits federations in Africa, Asia, Caribbean and other areas that aren’t regularly featured. Meanwhile, it could also prevent top countries like Italy from missing out on the tournament.

MORE: FIFA makes claim about controversial wire cam moment during England’s win over Norway

If FIFA does go through with the plans for 64 countries, teams would end up playing 128 matches during the tournament. The 2026 World Cup is currently playing 104 matches with its 48-team event.

When will FIFA expand to a 64-team World Cup?

Executives from FIFA and top federations first floated the idea of 64 teams back in 2025. However, given the World Cup’s success this summer it’s evident that Infantino wants the idea to become a reality.

CONMEBOL president Alejandro Dominguez expressed his support for the concept, which could come as early the 2030 tournament.

The next World Cup marks the 100-year anniversary of the competition, which is set to be played in Morocco, Portugal and Spain. However, opening matches are likely to be played in Argentina and Uruguay as an homage to the 1930 World Cup in South America.

People love lists. Even if they don’t, the safest bet in the world is that the proliferation of list-based content will continue unabated. They drive conversation because, at their core, they are profoundly and proudly imperfect. There is no “correct” way to rank the top 150 high school football players in America or the concession offerings at all 30 Major League Baseball stadiums. If there were, the perfect list would drive zero conversation as consumers would nod silently through every paragraph and congratulate the list-maker on a job well done while clicking off the page. Getting it as right as possible is a goal but it’s not the ultimate goal.

That’s to drive conversation.

Admit it. When you see a list you instinctively take up armor to see what they got wrong and where you disagree with the ordering. This morning I experienced that buzz when I hopped over to see what ESPN had cooked up for its ordering of the top NFL quarterbacks for 2026. It’s the latest installment of a series where they asked league executives, coaches and scouts to help in the work of slotting top players at 11 different positions. And since this is the most important one in all of sports, there are obviously going to be different points of view and strong emotions.

Top NFL quarterbacks

To no one’s surprise, Josh Allen is No. 1, a spot over Patrick Mahomes. Matthew Stafford sits at No. 3, followed by Joe Burrow. That’s where things get a bit strange. Lamar Jackson checks in as the last top-five QB with Dak Prescott at No. 6. Justin Herbert is at No. 7 and Drake Maye, on the heels of a Super Bowl appearance, has climbed to No. 8. Jared Goff edges out Caleb Williams as the NFC North signal-callers make up the rest of the list. Super Bowl champion Sam Darnold is among the honorable mentions that also includes Jayden Daniels, Jordan Love, Brock Purdy, Baker Mayfield, Trevor Lawrence and Jalen Hurts.

Let this be a reminder just how hard it is to be someone one who is universally perceived to be in the top half of NFL starting quarterbacks. Hurts barely makes it and Mayfield isn’t entirely comfortable in his spot either.

There’s room for nuance when it comes to sports debate. Ask 100 people outside of Seattle to name the top-10 quarterbacks in the league and you might not hear Sam Darnold’s name more than a few teams. And yet he was awesome as his team captured the ultimate prize. What makes the omission—even if it’s understandable—more interesting is that almost half of the top 10 QBs featured here did not make the playoffs last season.

What makes a good QB?

What does that mean? I honestly don’t know. Good things?

I’m old enough to remember when Trent Dilfer and Brad won Super Bowls and people would stubbornly claim they should be seen as the NFL’s best QBs because winning is all that matters. It was just as stupid then as it sounds today. Wins and losses are not quarterback stats anymore and that’s progress. One wonders if we’ll get to a point where the stats and eye test actually become too weighted and victories will not be as valued as much as they should. It feels like we’re close, though it’s actually hard to quibble too much with what should be a ground rife for debate.

All in all, pretty good list considering the depth of top-end talent at the position—something that cannot always be said.