Manuel Locatelli has become the latest Italy player to break his silence following the Azzurri’s agonising World Cup playoff elimination, posting an emotional and unflinching message on social media that accepted collective responsibility while vowing to never stop giving everything for the national team.

The Juventus captain’s statement arrives as a wave of public grief continues to wash over Italian football in the days since Wednesday’s penalty shootout defeat to Bosnia in Zenica.

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Leonardo Spinazzola spoke in the immediate aftermath of the match, Gianluigi Donnarumma followed today, and now Locatelli has added his voice, each message reflecting a squad still struggling to process the enormity of a third consecutive failure to reach the World Cup.

Italy had gone into the match with genuine optimism following the victory over Northern Ireland, only for Alessandro Bastoni’s first-half red card to fundamentally alter the complexion of the contest.

A 1-1 draw after 90 minutes, no goals in extra time, and ultimate heartbreak in the shootout, a sequence that has left the entire country searching for answers.

Locatelli: ‘We failed, I’m devastated’

“I am devastated, drained, with tears in my eyes,” Locatelli wrote, before addressing the supporters who had backed the team throughout the campaign.

“We felt the responsibility towards the children, the families, the grandparents and all the Italians who supported us. We gave everything and I am proud of this group. We players, the manager and all the staff were united for this dream. We gave every last drop of energy, but we were not able to give you this World Cup.”

He did not shy away from the uncomfortable truth.

“We failed, that is the reality. And I feel the full weight of it.” Despite the pain, Locatelli struck a defiant closing note, mirroring Donnarumma’s call to move forward. “It is hard, incredibly hard, but let us get back up together. There will not be a single day when I do not give everything of myself on the pitch.”

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Former Italy goalkeeper Emiliano Viviano has delivered one of the more colourful verdicts on Gabriele Gravina’s refusal to resign following Italy’s World Cup playoff elimination, suggesting the FIGC president should be doing far more than simply stepping down.

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“It seems impossible to me that the federation president has not resigned,” Viviano told Radio Firenzeviola, via LLSN. “If I were in his position, I would emigrate.”

Speaking on Radio Firenzeviola, the former Serie A stopper did not limit his criticism to those at the top of the federation.

Vivano slams Italy academies: ‘Nothing is built, nothing is taught’

Drawing on his experience as a father of children currently playing youth football, Viviano pointed to a fundamental failure at grassroots level as a root cause of Italy’s repeated international failures.

“We are one of the best countries in sport, alongside the Balkan nations we have an incredible variety of talent and we are naturally predisposed to succeed in sport,” he said.

“But in football academies nothing is being built and nothing is being taught. It all comes down to ‘today I won, today I lost’, and nothing more.”

It is a damning assessment that echoes the broader frustration being expressed across Italian football in the 24 hours since Wednesday’s penalty shootout defeat in Zenica.

With Gravina yet to show any sign of stepping aside despite mounting pressure from politicians, former players and the public alike, the calls for fundamental change, both at the top and at the grassroots, show no sign of abating.

Franco Baresi has called for Italian football to conduct a collective examination of conscience following the Azzurri’s third consecutive World Cup elimination, while defending Gennaro Gattuso from the bulk of the criticism being directed his way.

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The Milan legend and former Italy captain spoke to Adnkronos in the aftermath of Wednesday’s penalty shootout defeat to Bosnia, with quotes via TuttoMercatoWeb, acknowledging that key incidents on the night had worked against the Azzurri while insisting the deeper problems extend far beyond a single match or manager.

Baresi: ‘Italian football must do a ‘mea culpa’, Gattuso not to blame’

“Yesterday there were episodes that conditioned the match negatively for our team,” Baresi said, a reference to Alessandro Bastoni’s first-half red card, which left Italy with ten men for the majority of the contest.

“But Italy cannot keep arriving at the last stage just to play for qualification. The whole of Italian football must do a mea culpa, because the results of the last twenty years are there for everyone to see, with the isolated exception of the European Championship triumph.”

Despite that broad indictment of the system, Baresi was notably protective of Gattuso.

“In these months he gave everything, his soul, and in my opinion he also did a good job with the little time he had available,” he said. “Unfortunately it was not enough. It is not for me to say whether he should continue, but he is certainly among the least responsible for this defeat.”

It is a sentiment that contrasts sharply with some of the more sweeping criticism aimed at the coaching staff since Wednesday night, and one that reflects a broader view that Italy’s problems are structural rather than the product of any individual failure.

Marcus Rashford’s future has been cast into significant doubt following reports that Barcelona have allowed a crucial transfer deadline to pass, potentially opening the door for a dramatic return to Manchester United this summer.

The England forward joined the Catalan giants on a season-long loan last summer after a high-profile falling out with former United boss Ruben Amorim.

While Rashford has found his feet again under Hansi Flick at the Camp Nou, his permanent stay in Spain is uncertain.

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Barcelona’s buy option for Marcus Rashford expires

According to a report from Cadena SER, Barcelona’s option to trigger a permanent move for Rashford expired on March 31, 2026.

The clause, believed to be worth around €30m (£26m), would have given Barça total control over the transfer.

By failing to notify Manchester United of their intent to trigger the fee by the deadline, the La Liga leaders have lost their fixed-price advantage.

Conflicting reports suggest the clause might technically run until mid-June, but the consensus in Spain is that Barcelona are hesitant to commit to a permanent deal.

Despite Rashford’s 10 goal contributions in La Liga and the Champions League this season, his substantial wage demands, combined with La Liga’s strict salary cap, have proven a major stumbling block.

Barcelona are reportedly interested in a second loan deal, but Manchester United are understood to be against another loan move, preferring a definitive sale to fund their own summer rebuild.

Marcus Rashford might have a chance for redemption

If a permanent move to Barcelona collapses, Rashford could find a very different atmosphere awaiting him at Old Trafford.

The 28-year-old’s exit was largely attributed to a fractured relationship with Ruben Amorim, but with Amorim having departed in January, the landscape has shifted.

Under interim manager Michael Carrick, United have undergone a resurgence, winning seven of their last ten games.

Carrick, who played alongside Rashford for several seasons, has won over the dressing room and is the frontrunner to be named permanent manager this summer.

If Carrick is given the job full-time, the prospect of Rashford reintegrating into a thriving squad, rather than being sold to the highest bidder, cannot be completely ruled out.

The post Marcus Rashford return? Barcelona miss key deadline, opening door to Man United comeback appeared first on CaughtOffside.

Manchester United defender Harry Maguire has been officially charged with improper conduct by the FA following a controversial red card during the club’s recent 2-2 draw against Bournemouth.

The England international was sent off for a professional foul on Cherries striker Evanilson, which resulted in a penalty.

However, it is the aftermath of the dismissal that has landed the 33-year-old in significant disciplinary trouble.

Harry Maguire in hot waters with FA

According to a report from The Independent, the FA’s charge alleges that Maguire breached FA Rule E3.1 by using “abusive or insulting words and/or behaving in an improper manner” toward the fourth official, Matt Donohue, as he left the field.

Eyewitnesses at Old Trafford noted a heated exchange between the defender and the officiating crew after the VAR confirmed the straight red card.

The FA statement released on Wednesday morning confirmed that the center-back’s conduct was deemed “inappropriate” for a professional of his standing.

Maguire now has until April 2, 2026, to provide a formal response to the governing body regarding the allegations.

Also Read: Harry Maguire handed 15-month suspended prison sentence  

How many matches could Harry Maguire miss?

The standard punishment for a professional foul (denying an obvious goal-scoring opportunity) is a one-match suspension.

However, an additional charge for improper conduct typically carries a further two-match ban and a significant fine if proven. This means Maguire is facing a potential three-match ban.

Three games Harry Maguire could miss if handed extended ban

He is already guaranteed to miss the upcoming home fixture against Leeds, but a guilty verdict would rule him out of the blockbuster trip to Stamford Bridge to face Chelsea, as well as the following home game against Brentford.

The post Harry Maguire ban explained: How many matches Man United defender could miss after FA charge appeared first on CaughtOffside.

April 1 (UPI) -- The Tennessee Titans agreed to a one-year contract with free agent wide receiver K.J. Osborn, a league source told UPI on Wednesday.

Osborn, 28, did not appear in an NFL game last season. He started the year with the Washington Commanders, but failed to make their roster out of training camp. Osborn later spent time with the Atlanta Falcons' practice squad.

The fifth-round pick in the 2020 NFL Draft spent his first four seasons with the Minnesota Vikings. Osborn logged a career-high 655 yards and seven scores off 50 catches over 17 appearances in 2021. He totaled 165 catches for 1,902 yards and 16 scores through his first 67 appearances in the NFL.

Osborn spent part of the 2024 campaign with the New England Patriots. He was claimed off waivers by the Commanders later that year.

He will now enter a Titans wide receivers room that features Calvin Ridley, Wan'Dale Robinson, Elic Ayomanor and Chimere Dike, among others. Robinson joined the Titans through a four-year, $85 million contract in free agency.

Tight end Chig Okonko led the Titans with 56 catches and 560 receiving yards last season. Ayomanor led Titans wide receivers with 515 yards. He also tied Dike with a team-high four touchdown catches.

Okonkwo left the Titans last month to sign a three-year, $27 million contract with the Commanders.

The 2025 Titans (3-14) totaled the second-fewest yards, including the third-fewest passing yards, in the NFL.

The collapse the Bucs suffered at the end of the 2025 season was so bad that it was thought that perhaps the team would be looking for a fresh start. Whether that be through changes in the front office or coaching staff, or even the roster, it felt like change was coming.

As it would turn out, the coaching staff and front office would remain in place, but the roster would not be as lucky.

Some moves were inevitable in hindsight, such as wide receiver Mike Evans leaving due to a belief the team wasn't close to winning a Super Bowl. Other moves meant just not retaining many of the players who had hit the open market, while also bringing in some new faces in key areas.

Bucs head coach Todd Bowles talked about the roster turnover during a session with media at the NFL's Annual League Meeting. He explained, "We thought we had to make a few tweaks. Coaching-wise and playing-wise, and we thought we got better, and we got different, and we got better. . .A'Shawn (Robinson) brings a lot more toughness, stoutness, and sturdiness from that standpoint. Rashad (White) was a very good back for us on third down, and could block. (Kenneth) Gainwell will bring a bit more versatility from a 3-team prong standpoint, in running, catching, blocking, and special teams. Not that Rashad wasn't great, because he was. And so you're trying to build those guys, you'll never replace Lavonte (David), but (Alex) Anzalone, in his own right, is a very good linebacker in his league. And he wears a green dot and commands respect as well, so he's gonna be very good."

Check out what #Bucs HC Todd Bowles had today about A’Shawn Robinson replacing Logan Hall and Kenneth Gainwell replacing Rachaad White 👀 pic.twitter.com/u7TSnXgCL3

— PewterReport 🏴‍☠️ (@PewterReport) March 30, 2026

The moves they made do not generate a lot of splash, but they have a certain quality. The team itself is going to look different in these areas, especially at linebacker, but Anzalone should do well to help negate some of that disappointment from David's retirement.

This article originally appeared on Bucs Wire: Todd Bowles opened up about the team and the changes they need

Geno Auriemma is taking an undefeated UConn team into the women’s Final Four for the ninth time.

This group, while extremely talented like the rest, is a bit different than the previous ones for the coach.

Auriemma recalls those earlier teams with AP Player of the Year winners Sue Bird, Diana Taurasi, Tina Charles, Maya Moore and Breanna Stewart as having “that kind of swagger, trash-talking kind of mentality” when wondering why people were surprised that they hadn’t lost any games.

“We don’t walk around with that attitude,” Auriemma said. “That’s why I think, for me, I just keep my fingers crossed because it’s not the kind of team that I’ve had in the past that has gone this far undefeated. It’s not. They don’t have that kind of mentality off the court, on the court.”

The NCAA’s winningest men’s or women’s coach with 1,288 victories and 12 national championships instead calls them “just a bunch of really nice kids that play hard for each other.”

They are an unbeaten bunch with their own AP All-America teammates Azzi Fudd and Sarah Strong going for their second national title, along with Big East Conference top freshman Blanca Quiñonez. They have a 54-game winning streak that began with three-time All-America guard and WNBA top overall pick Paige Bueckers during the Huskies’ championship run last year, and could give Auriemma only his second 40-0 record in 41 seasons.

“What we’ve done the last (38) games was all in preparation for moments like this,” said Fudd, the fifth-year star guard seen all over TV commercials and social media during March Madness. ”So when it comes down to it, we have full confidence in ourselves, in each other. We know the coaches feel the same.”

UConn (38-0) is in its record 25th Final Four since the women's NCAA Tournament debuted 44 years ago. Part of a quartet of all No. 1 seeds in Phoenix, and the same four teams as last year, its semifinal Friday will be against South Carolina (35-3) in a rematch of last year’s national championship game.

Staying unbeaten this season

These Huskies are winning by an NCAA-best average margin of 37.8 points a game, with a 72-69 win over Sweet 16 team Michigan in November their only game decided by fewer than 13 points. They have set NCAA single-season records with their 890 assists (23.4 per game) and 597 steals (15.7 per game), and also are tops nationally in scoring defense (50.1 ppg) and field goal shooting — both on offense (52%) and defense (33.4%).

Sophomore standout forward Strong averages 18.6 points, 7.6 rebounds and 3.9 assists. Fudd, the most outstanding player in last year’s Final Four after coming back from a torn ACL that limited her to two games during the 2023-24 season, is at a career-best 17.5 points per game.

Quiñonez, also selected as the Big East’s top sixth player, has at least 15 points in each NCAA Tournament game, the best four-game stretch of her young career while making 27 of 43 (62.7%) of her shots.

It has been a decade since Huskies finished undefeated

This is the 10th season since UConn's sixth and last undefeated national title in 2016, a 38-0 team with a roster of eight future pros that included four-time champions Stewart and Moriah Jefferson in their senior seasons when Napheesa Collier and Katie Lou Samuelson were freshmen.

“That 2016 team was very, very mature,” Auriemma said. “This is a very young team doing it in a completely different way. ... This isn't that (2016) team, but they find their own way to get the same things done."

That ended an unprecedented run of four championships in a row (2013-16), and a span of six titles in eight seasons for the Huskies, who then didn't win another one until last year.

Their first (and only) losses in back-to-back Final Fours

After Gabby Williams, Collier and Samuelson returned from that 2016 title team, UConn got into the Final Four undefeated again in 2017 and 2018 before losing on last-second overtime shots in back-to-back national semifinal games.

The Huskies' 111-game winning streak and championship run came to a stunning end in 2017 when Morgan William made a game-ending basket in Mississippi State's 66-64 win. The coach then for the Bulldogs was Vic Schaefer, now in his sixth season at Texas and with the Longhorns in their second consecutive Final Four.

UConn was 36-0 again in 2018 before Arike Ogunbowale's jumper with a second left gave Notre Dame a 91-89 semifinal win.

Six of Auriemma's national championship teams finished undefeated. His very first title was a 35-0 team in 1994-95 with Rebecca Lobo and 6-foot-7 center Kara Wolters.

Bird was part of two titles, including the 39-0 championship team in 2002, when Taurasi was a sophomore for the first of three consecutive championships though the last two weren't undefeated.

Four-time All-America forward Moore and Charles were part of back-to-back 39-0 teams that won the 2009 and 2010 national titles. UConn's only 40-0 championship came in 2014, when Stewart was a sophomore and won the first of three consecutive AP Player of the Year Awards — more than any other player.

___

AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-womens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness

Giants trade idea lands Nationals' .805 OPS outfielder to surge Tony Vitello's offense originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

Through five games, the San Francisco Giants' .594 team OPS ranks 26th in the Majors under first-year manager Tony Vitello. 

It doesn't help that the NL West club was held to just one run across three games in the opening series of the season against the New York Yankees. That being said, the Giants could certainly use extra power in their lineup. 

Bleacher Report's Zachary D. Rymer tabbed the Giants as a potential landing spot for a 23-year-old outfielder from the Washington Nationals, despite the trade deadline still being months away. 

The youngster earned his first All-Star selection in 2025, hitting 35 home runs with a .825 OPS in 157 games for a rebuilding Nationals organization. 

Giants-Nationals trade idea sends budding star to San Francisco 

In recent seasons, the Nationals have made significant trades, sending their cornerstone players to contenders. Shortstop Trea Turner was dealt to the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2021, and who can forget the San Diego Padres acquisition of superstar outfielder Juan Soto in 2022. 

Left fielder James Wood could be a key piece of Washington's rebuild, but they could also ship him away for the right price. The Rymer lists the Giants as one of the clubs that could show interest in Wood. 

"Even so, the appeal for would-be buyers is obvious. The 6'6", 234-pound Wood is one of the most purely powerful sluggers in MLB, as seen in how his exit velocity and hard-hit rate both landed in the 98th percentile last season," Rymer wrote. 

Wood swings and misses a lot, and he struck out in 32.1% of his plate appearances last season. Maybe the Giants could make a few mechanical adjustments and turn him into one of their building blocks for the future. 

More MLB news:

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Alessandro Bastoni will cost in excess of £43.5m should any club wish to sign the Italy international this summer, reports Fabrizio Romano.

Barcelona are understood to be leading the charge at this point in time, with negotiations having taken place with the centre-back’s camp.

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The Blaugrana allegedly plan to drop the fee required to land the 26-year-old by using Dani Olmo as a makeweight in talks, claims El Nacional (via Sempre Inter).

Alessandro Bastoni’s camp is in talks with Barcelona

The key factor to bear in mind here is that Barcelona have yet to open talks with Inter Milan.

“For Barcelona, there are no doubts about the quality of Alessandro Bastoni as a player after what he’s shown with Inter Milan in recent years,” Romano said on his eponymous YouTube channel.

“For sure, Barcelona want Bastoni. For sure, Barcelona are in contact with Bastoni’s camp. Exchanges on the contract, the salary, have already started.

“But, Barcelona, at this stage, don’t know how much Inter will ask for Alessandro Bastoni in the summer. A club-to-club negotiation has not started yet.

The La Liga giants’ interest in Bastoni has been well-established, with Barca chief Deco having personally visited over the “last four-five months” to maintain contact.

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And judging by the lack of noise coming out of the player’s camp on the subject, it would seem that the Italian is at the very least open to the idea of a move to Catalonia.

Inter Milan want more than £43.5m for Bastoni

Inter Milan have not clarified exactly how much money they’re looking for before sanctioning Bastoni’s exit this summer.

However, a figure in excess of £43.5m will evidently be required to reach some sort of starting point in negotiations.

Fabrizio Romano continued: “Inter, at the moment, are not communicating any price – only that €50m [£43.5m] won’t be enough to get Alessandro Bastoni.

“Let’s see what will happen in club-to-club. But important money [will be needed] for the centre-back.”

With that in mind, we’re struggling to understand exactly how Barcelona plan to sign the centre-half, given their well-documented financial struggles.

Frankly, we’re far from convinced by their reported plans to offer a player swap plus cash deal. Especially if the plan is to tempt Inter with Olmo, that’s a deal that hardly leaves the Milanese club in anything resembling a strong position after the deal.

If Liverpool want to enter the race for Bastoni, we think they’d have a good chance of beating out Barca.

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As the 2026 NFL Draft approaches, we’re breaking down position rankings individually based on the big boards of Yahoo Sports NFL Draft experts Nate Tice and Charles McDonald.

More position rankings: QB | WR | DL | Edge

1. Caleb Downs, Ohio State

Downs has been arguably the best defensive back in college football since his freshman year at Alabama. He won’t be the first pick in the draft because safeties tend to slide on draft day, but he has all the skills and smarts to immediately be one of the better safeties in the league from Day 1 with real deal upside to be an elite, premier defensive player in the league. — Charles McDonald

2. Mansoor Delane, LSU

A smart player who’s quick to read and react in coverage, Delane has had strong moments as both a zone and man coverage defender this season. He has the twitchiness to stay sticky in man coverage and his high football awareness showed up in zone coverage, where he has a knack for reading quarterbacks and making plays on the football. Delane doesn’t have top-end length and his athleticism might be more good than great, but he just has a feel for playing in zone coverage and timing up his breaks on the football, and that’s going to translate right away at the next level. — Nate Tice

3. Jermod McCoy, Tennessee

McCoy is a quick-twitch athlete who constantly makes plays on the football. He has good size and already shows the footwork and patience to stay sticky with receivers and be consistent in man coverage. McCoy suffered an ACL injury in January of 2025, but he shined at his pro day recently. There are times where he is indifferent against the run, but his skill set and athleticism are just too fun of a package at the cornerback spot to drop too far. — NT

4. Avieon Terrell, Clemson

Like his older brother A.J., a star cornerback for the Falcons, Avieon Terrell has a chance to be a first-round pick and true starting cornerback in the league. He might not be the most athletic corner in this draft, but he has the movement skills that should translate in a big way at the next level. Terrell might not ever be a true lockdown cornerback in the NFL, but he has enough skills to be considered early in the draft. — CM

5. Emmanuel McNeil-Warren, Toledo

A toolsy safety with size and explosiveness, McNeil-Warren plays with an edge on every snap that’s palpable. It’s hard to not notice where the future NFL prospect is located when watching Toledo’s defense. He’s a hard hitter who also has the length and range to play as the deep safety in coverage. His burst and physicality show up when he has to come down and play the run or when jarring the ball loose from pass catchers over the middle. I like McNeil-Warren’s game in any type of modern defense, with his size being an asset against bigger wide receivers and athletic tight ends. — NT

6. Dillon Thieneman, Oregon

Thieneman did a little bit of everything for the Ducks, including being used in a rover position that is becoming increasingly popular. Being centrally located, whether on the back end as a deep safety or playing somewhere in the box, is where Thieneman does his best work. He is perfect for teams that will run quarters-based coverages that allow him to be a true two-way defender against the run and pass and would unlock his play recognition, overall athleticism and burst to close on the football. But I think he can find a role in any type of defense and be a good player for a long time. — NT

7. Colton Hood, Tennessee

The second Volunteers corner on this list has some of the same similarities as teammate Jermod McCoy. Hood has some solid ball skills and ability to play man-on-man coverage that will boost his draft stock as April nears. Hood had an impressive combine workout, running a 4.44 in the 40-yard dash and jumping over 40 inches on the vertical leap. — CM

8. Keionte Scott, Miami

Scott is an older prospect, who will be 25 at the start of his rookie year. He has the playmaking ability to immediately be a weapon in the secondary. Scott really made his presence felt during the Hurricanes’ run through the playoffs en route to the national championship. As an older slot defender, maybe this is a bit high for him, but the ability to win in multiple ways and get his hands on the ball as an aggressor in the secondary will be key for Scott as he enters the pros. — CM

9. Chris Johnson, San Diego State

Smooth. That’s the best way to describe Johnson. An easy mover who can mirror wide receivers without getting too handsy. Johnson has the athleticism and balance to play in man coverage, but he also has the awareness and eyes to be a valid zone corner with real ball skills to take advantage of his positioning. He’s a competitive player who is willing to take on blockers and is more than willing to stick his nose in to make the tackle. Overall, Johnson is a riser and looks like a good outside starting corner at the next level. — NT

10. Brandon Cisse, South Carolina

Like most players who worked out at the scouting combine, Cisse helped himself by having some incredibly explosive jumps that match the tape of a feisty, athletic cornerback who should be able to step in and play in a variety of schemes. He fell underneath the radar playing for an underachieving Gamecocks team, but he has a chance to flourish in the NFL. — CM

There are scorelines that clarify everything, and there are scorelines that blur the picture until only the emotional reaction remains. The United States men’s national team losing 5–2 to Belgium and 2–0 to Portugal belongs somewhere in between. 

The numbers were ugly. The defending was uneven. The questions, rather than shrinking, multiplied. And yet to treat this March window as a referendum on the United States’ World Cup fate would be to misunderstand what Mauricio Pochettino was using these games for in the first place. He was not staging a dress rehearsal. He was collecting evidence.

That does not make the losses meaningless. If anything, it makes them more revealing. Pochettino, notably, resisted the easy narrative of collapse. “When you watch the game again and see the data, we were much better than the result says,” he said after their lopsided defeat by Belgium. “The punishment was massive.”

It is a subtle but important distinction. The scoreline told one story. The performance—fragmented, imperfect, but at times promising—told another.

Belgium and Portugal were not just stronger opponents. They were stress tests. They forced the U.S. into the kind of uncomfortable spaces the World Cup will inevitably demand: moments where technical sharpness must survive pressure, where defensive shape cannot dissolve at the first sign of quality, where the difference between “competitive” and “convincing” becomes impossible to hide. 

Against Portugal, Pochettino himself described the match as one about learning, saying the U.S. showed intensity and capacity but failed to manage the small details. That is a diplomatic way of saying the foundation was there in patches, but the elite-level execution was not.

That, more than anything, is the story of this camp.

The first thing to remember is that this was not the final World Cup team. It was not even close to the final shape of the attacking picture. Injuries mattered. Absences mattered. Sergiño Dest, when fully fit, remains one of the few American players capable of altering the rhythm of a match from wide areas—both defensively and in progression. His return, like that of Tyler Adams, is less about adding talent and more about restoring balance. 

Haji Wright, one of the more useful American forwards when the match calls for physical presence and penalty-box directness, was out with a groin injury. The U.S. can survive without stars for stretches; what it still struggles to survive without is structure.

That structural fragility is what Belgium exposed most brutally and Portugal confirmed more elegantly. Belgium’s 5–2 victory was the messier of the two matches, but Portugal’s 2–0 win may have been more sobering because it was so controlled. The U.S. was not annihilated. It was simply handled. Portugal let the game breathe, picked its moments, punished poor details, and spent much of the second half looking like a side from a higher technical tier. The U.S. has now lost eight straight matches against European opponents and has been outscored 22–6 in that run. That is not one bad night. That is a pattern.

The defensive concerns are the easiest to identify and the hardest to solve quickly. Against Portugal, the opening goal followed a turnover and a familiar failure to close down danger at the top of the box. The second came from a corner, with João Félix given too much time to settle and strike. Against better teams, the U.S. still too often looks like a side reacting to the game rather than dictating its defensive terms. The line gets stretched. The midfield screen gets bypassed. The box, at the worst moments, becomes a place of delayed decisions. These are not glamorous problems, but they are the ones that decide tournaments.  

Pochettino did not frame the issue as purely tactical. He framed it as something closer to identity. “We need to be more aggressive, more intense, to try to recover the ball as soon as possible,” he said. “We gave too much time to Belgium to build. It was too easy to go from their box to our box.”

That distinction matters. This is not just about positioning or spacing or being more lax during friendlies.  It is about habit. “If you are not aggressive today, you are not going to be aggressive in the World Cup,” he added. “You cannot switch it on. You need to create the habit.”

In other words, what looked like lapses were not isolated moments. They were reflections of something deeper—something still being built. The reality that winning is a state of being that is to be embodied at all times, not just when outside circumstances require it.

The goalkeeping situation does not help. Matt Turner’s reappearance was always going to be judged through the lens of memory rather than mercy: what he once was for the U.S., what he no longer consistently appears to be. Matt Freese offered bright moments, but no one left this window feeling that the United States has settled on an inevitable No. 1.

Türkiye, notably, has a similar question in goal, but for the U.S. that uncertainty feels sharper because so much else remains unsettled around it. In a major tournament, uncertainty tends to spread.

Midfield is where the deeper discomfort lives. Pochettino has spent months trying to understand what combination gives him the right blend of control, aggression, and reliability, and March did not settle the issue. Weston McKennie remains invaluable because he can begin a phase like a midfielder and finish it like a fullback or striker, but versatility is not the same thing as collective balance. Without Adams, the U.S. lacked a natural organizer in front of the back line. Johnny Cardoso, Aidan Morris, Tanner Tessmann, Sebastian Berhalter, and others are useful players. The problem is not the talent pool. The problem is that the U.S. still feels as though it is trying combinations rather than trusting one.  

And then there is Christian Pulisic, who remains both the face of the program and the easiest symbol to misread. Pulisic is not what American marketing language has often wanted him to be. He is not a chest-thumping captain in the traditional sense, even if he can wear the emotional burden of being the team’s most recognizable name. He is not the organizing voice who calms the storm around him. What he is, still, is a high-level attacking player whose best qualities depend on a functioning structure around him. Portugal offered a clear if uncomfortable example. Pulisic had chances. He was more central. He was visibly frustrated. But asking him to rescue the shape of the team as well as provide its decisive end product is to ask for two different players in one body. He is not that player, and that is okay. The U.S. needs him to be excellent, not mythical. 

Which brings the conversation to leadership—not the symbolic version, but the functional one. Pochettino’s definition is strikingly unromantic. “Leadership is not something you can buy in the supermarket,” he said. “It’s about character, your capacity, your human profile… and your actions.”

He dismissed the idea that leadership is tied to goals or moments. “It’s not to score three goals or save three penalties. It’s to create cohesion… to give the group the tools to find the right dynamic.”

And perhaps most tellingly, he pointed the responsibility back toward himself. “In the end, the one who leads is the coach.”

For a U.S. team still searching for its emotional center—without Adams, with Pulisic miscast as a traditional leader—this matters. Leadership, in this system, is not about personality. It is about consistency. And consistency, like intensity, is something this group has not yet fully learned to sustain. Leadership cannot be forced. It moves, it builds, it settles into a team the way a rhythm does—like the slow, rising waves of flags in the stands, gathering shape only when enough people believe in the same motion.

This is also why the panic, while understandable, should be resisted. Pochettino was not using this window to comfort fans. He was using it to identify who can survive real tournament stress. Some of the answers were encouraging in small ways. Patrick Agyemang’s profile remains intriguing. McKennie’s usefulness remains obvious. There were stretches, especially early against Portugal, when the U.S. looked brave enough on the ball to imagine a sharper version of the same team. But the low points mattered more because they were not random. They were repetitions. They were echoes. And the closer the World Cup gets, the harder it becomes to wave those echoes away as mere experimentation.

Still, this is where context matters. Pochettino himself has made clear that these matches are not “friendlies” in the casual sense. They are competitive laboratories. Players may appear in roles they will never occupy again; others may barely feature and still make the final roster. The point is not just performance. It is reliability in negative circumstances, adaptability when things go wrong, and whether the team’s identity can survive rotation. That is why these results should be read as data before they are read as prophecy.  

And that brings the conversation naturally to Türkiye.

If Belgium was a punch in the mouth and Portugal a controlled demonstration of quality, Türkiye may be the game that makes the World Cup real. Vincenzo Montella’s side has one of the tournament’s most gifted young cores, led by Arda Güler and Kenan Yildiz, plus the game-management experience of Hakan Çalhanoğlu. Türkiye is not flawless. It lacks a top-level goalkeeper and a truly convincing striker, and it has a history of veering between brilliance and collapse. But that volatility is part of what makes it dangerous. On its day, it can play above ranking and below logic. It is likely the stiffest test in the U.S. group.

That matters because the U.S. does not have the luxury of drifting into rhythm in that match. Türkiye’s fullbacks push high, its creators can punish any team that leaves them room between lines, and if the U.S. enters June still unsure of its midfield balance or defensive spacing, Los Angeles could become a night of chasing shadows. 

Türkiye will not just test the U.S. technically. It will test it physically and emotionally. The Turkish football culture—shaped by intense domestic environments and relentless supporter pressure—produces teams that do not ease into games. They impose themselves.

If the U.S. struggled with intensity against Belgium and Portugal, Türkiye will not allow that to remain theoretical. It will force it into the open.

The good news, if there is one, is that Türkiye also offers the U.S. something Belgium and Portugal did not: a more direct point of comparison. It is dangerous, but beatable. It is flawed, but ambitious. It is the kind of opponent that turns group-stage football into a test of nerve as much as talent.  

Where Duke's loss to UConn ranks among sports' biggest choke jobs of the century originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

We're not even a week removed from the final moments of Duke's Elite Eight loss to UConn and the defeat has already made one of the worst lists in sports history.

According to Bleacher Report's Joel Reuter, the Blue Devils improbable loss to the Huskies is No. 15 on the "20 Biggest Choke Jobs of the Century Across All Sports." While this feels premature, squandering a 19-point lead and the way it happened in the final five minutes is noteworthy.

Braylon Mullins near-logo 3-pointer was the icing on the cake and will go down in history as a top highlight at Duke's expense.

Duke came into the game riding the nation's longest win streak and top-overall seed at 32-2. Jon Scheyer even ran his team through the exact setup they faced against UConn, but it didn't change the result on the floor.

Was this the top college basketball choke job? No.

More: NFL star calls for Cayden Boozer investigation after Duke's Elite Eight loss

However, it's the one that's most fresh in our minds and won't go away. So what is the top blunder in men's hoops over the past 26 years? The 2017-18 Virginia Cavaliers came in at No. 5 overall.

Who can forget UMBC becoming the first No. 16 seed to knock off a No. 1? The Retrievers came into Charlotte as stark underdogs, no pun intended. They quickly shocked the world by upsetting the Cavaliers to make NCAA history. Up to that point, No. 1 seeds had a 135-0 record all-time against No. 16 seeds.

More: Will Wade video feels like an April Fools' Day joke for NC State — It's not

While Duke goes home to Durham, UConn will try to win a third title in four years under Dan Hurley. A feat which seemed impossible midway through the second half of Sunday's game.

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• Two fans ejected from NCAA Tournament after bringing FAFO energy, lose $6K
• Duke’s Jon Scheyer pulls off historic feat Mike Krzyzewski never achieved
• John Calipari says college athletics is broken — Here’s his plan to fix it
• Kenny Smith reacts to UNC coaching rumors
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Guardians have a Gabriel Arias problem, but they have 2 solutions originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

The Cleveland Guardians aren't getting the production they need out of their middle infield.

That's especially true with shortstop Gabriel Arias. He's not just off to a slow start this season. It dates back to last year.

Guardians Prospective shared what Arias' stats are over the past 40 games, and they're brutal:

• .164 average
• .211 on-base percentage
• 22-for-134
• 5 doubles
• 1 triple
• 2 homers
• 9 RBI
• 7 walks
• 61 strikeouts

He has struck out in nearly half of his at bats. That's horrific.

MORE: Terrance Gore's son honors dad with perfect first pitch

The good news for Cleveland is they don't have to stick with this. 

The first key to any change that is coming will likely be to move Brayan Rocchio from second base to shortstop. At that point, they'll have two choices to go from there.

Juan Brito is the longer-tenured minor leaguer and hasn't yet really gotten a chance in MLB. He could be the first choice.

But when former No. 1 pick Travis Bazzana is ready, it'll be his turn eventually. If he can hit well over the next couple weeks, the Guardians could even make the cool soon, especially if Arias continues to struggle.

At this point, it doesn't seem like Arias will turn things around. Cleveland is due to make a change.

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Serie A giants Inter Milan are reportedly interested in high-scoring Modena center-back Daniel Tonoli. 

According to Il Resto di Carlino via FCInterNews, the Nerazzurri could complete another piece of business with the Serie B outfit in the summer.

Inter Milan signed 23-year-old midfielder Yanis Massolin from Modena in the final hours of the January transfer window.

However, they’ve let the Frenchman stay at Stadio Alberto Barglia on loan until the end of the season.

In addition to Massolin, another Modena star could join the San Siro powerhouse this summer. Indeed, Daniel Tonoli is the man in question.

Inter Milan Set Sights on Modena Defender Manuel Tonoli

Tonoli has established himself as one of the most reliable defenders in Serie A this season.

Furthermore, Tonoli graduated from the Inter academy before joining lower-league Virtus Bergamo in 2021.

After wandering in Italy’s lower divisions, he moved to Modena in 2024. However, he has made a name for himself only this season.

Tonoli made 29 league appearances for the Canaries. Despite playing as a center-back, he has racked up five goals.

Furthermore, his impressive form in Serie B has drawn Atalanta’s attention.

Still, Inter can rely on their strong relationship with Modena to beat La Dea to Tonoli’s services.

Robin DeLorenzo, one of the first three women to officiate an NFL game and a trailblazing female referee, has filed a discrimination lawsuit against the league after being fired last year. She joined the league in 2022.

In the complaint filed in Manhattan federal court, DeLorenzo alleges she endured three years of “gender-based scrutiny, humiliation, and hostility.” Not to mention, she claims she was the victim of harassment.

Among the offending behaviors was allegedly being issued ill-fitting men’s clothing by the league, being forced to highlight her ponytail to make it obvious she is a female, and being subjected to derogatory remarks and retaliatory treatment by a crew chief.

DeLorenzo claims the league denied her the same resources and opportunities given to male officials, manipulated her training and evaluations, and ultimately terminated her career based on tainted assessments from those who discriminated against her.

Fired female referee files discrimination lawsuit against NFL https://t.co/pwxMRtCocCpic.twitter.com/icln1kDEvv

— New York Post Sports (@nypostsports) March 31, 2026

Discrimination Lawsuit Puts NFL in Spotlight Over Robin DeLorenzo

“[DeLorenzo] worked her way through two decades of officiating — breaking barriers, making history, and outperforming expectations at every level — only to be met with hostility, retaliation, and systemic inequality the moment she stepped into a league that claims to champion opportunities for women,” the lawsuit reads.

“Instead of supporting one of the only women on its officiating staff, the NFL exposed her to unchecked harassment, denied her the resources given to men, manipulated her training and grading opportunities, and ultimately ended her career based on tainted evaluations created by the very people who discriminated against her.”

READ MORE:

DeLorenzo is seeking reinstatement and unspecified damages, arguing the NFL failed to support one of its few female officials despite publicly championing opportunities for women. The league has not yet publicly commented on the allegations.

The NFL maintained from the start that DeLorenzo was fired after three seasons of documented underperformance as a line judge.

According to the league, her evaluations showed she did not meet the required standards for retention, a decision that also affected two male officials who were similarly relegated to the college ranks that offseason as part of a broader push for accountability in officiating.

All three officials accepted the NFL’s offer of relegation to college conference play, a move that bypassed the union grievance process. It’s unclear whether accepting the offer would affect the lawsuit’s standing.

The case is now headed to federal court, where DeLorenzo will seek to get back in the game. The NFL, meanwhile, will have to prove its termination was based on a league-wide effort to raise officiating standards.

Get your popcorn ready for this one, folks.

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Carmelo Hayes has offered his take on the WWE NXT fans, saying the crowd that helped make him one of the brand’s top stars is ultimately loyal to no one.

Speaking on the Battleground Podcast, Hayes reflected on his time in NXT from 2021 to 2024 and gave an unfiltered take on the nature of that audience and what it takes to survive in that environment.

“That crowd is wishy-washy, even still to this day,” Hayes said. “They’re never yours. They’re who’s hot in the moment, and I knew that and I understood that and it was one of those things where I had even did a promo with Trick Williams where it’s like they love you on the rise and then when it’s the next guy’s turn, they’ll switch on you, and that’s the truth. That crowd, they’ll make you but they’ll also break you.”

During his NXT run, Hayes built one of the more decorated resumes in the brand’s recent history. He won the NXT Breakout Tournament in 2021, captured the NXT Cruiserweight Championship — becoming the final holder of that title — and held the NXT North American Championship twice before winning the NXT Championship itself. Despite that level of success, Hayes was clear-eyed about the crowd’s loyalty throughout.

The reference to Trick Williams is particularly notable and will be remembered by longtime NXT fans. Hayes and Williams were closely linked during their NXT run, with their partnership and eventual rivalry becoming one of the brand’s best storylines. Hayes watched firsthand as the NXT crowd shifted its affections, giving him an understanding of how quickly that audience can move on.

Hayes has been on the main roster since April 2024 as a member of the SmackDown brand. He recently completed a run as United States Champion. For Williams, he has been a bright spot on the SmackDown roster and will challenge Sami Zayn for the US Title at WrestleMania. 

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In this Dolphins Deep Dive video, the South Florida Sun Sentinel’s Chris Perkins and David Furones discuss how new general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan and new coach Jeff Hafley have handled their transition.

Punches, moments of genius, hard blows... A closer look at the most captivating moments of this international break!

Fight between coaches in Brazil’s second division

Does Barça (already) have the new Yamal?

Ancelotti’s joke with Modric

Mbappé, an elite marksman

Cherki, the zen attitude

Japanese fans clean up their section at Wembley

Final score: 19-0

Gyökeres’ group celebration

An Italian “spy” at Bosnia’s training session?

Donnarumma’s cheat sheet for penalty shootouts

Gigio furious after the elimination

Top tweet of the week

Italy’s locker room in Bosnia

Uruguay’s stylish badge

The next generation is in good hands

Second opinion

Wirtz, poetry in motion

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

University of Pittsburgh women’s basketball head coach Robin Harmony announced on Wednesday the hiring of Randy Javier Schneider as associate head coach and Greg Long as assistant coach. Both coaches join the program after serving on Harmony’s staff at the College of Charleston last season.

The appointments reunite Harmony with two long-time colleagues following a successful tenure at Charleston. Schneider has coached with Harmony for nearly 20 years, most recently helping the Cougars achieve a 27-win season and capture both the Coastal Athletic Association regular season and tournament titles in the 2025-26 campaign.

Harmony expressed confidence in the new additions to her coaching staff.

“We are thrilled to welcome Randy and Greg to Pittsburgh,” Harmony said. “Both bring tremendous experience, strong recruiting ties and a passion for developing student-athletes on and off the court. They are high-character individuals who align perfectly with the culture we are building for Pitt women’s basketball.”

During his time at Charleston, Schneider was instrumental in the recruitment and development of guard Taryn Barbot, who was named the CAA Player of the Year in both 2025 and 2026. Barbot became the fastest player in the history of the program to reach 1,000 career points, reaching the milestone during her sophomore year. Schneider helped lead Charleston to three consecutive seasons with 20 or more wins starting in 2023-24. Before his time in South Carolina, he served as associate head coach under Harmony at Lamar from 2013 to 2019. During that six-season stretch, the Cardinals recorded a 115-68 record and led the nation in steals, forced turnovers and turnover margin for three consecutive years.

Schneider also spent six seasons as an assistant under Harmony at St. Thomas in Florida, where the team made three NAIA National Championship appearances. Schneider earned a bachelor’s degree in education from Florida International University in 1998. He and his wife, Jennifer, have one daughter, Taylor. Long joins the Panthers after a single season at Charleston, where he helped the Cougars reach the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history. Prior to that role, he spent five years as the head coach at Mississippi College. He led the program to two winning seasons and three appearances in the conference tournament.

In the 2019-20 season, Long served as head coach at Arkansas-Monticello, where he guided the team to its best start since 1977 and its first 20-win season in more than 10 years. From 2015 to 2019, he was the associate head coach at the University of Central Arkansas. During his tenure there, the program won four Southland Conference Tournament titles and reached the WBI Championship game in 2018. Long began his collegiate coaching career as an assistant at Delta State from 2010 to 2012. The team achieved a 50-11 record during those two seasons and spent seven weeks ranked as the No. 1 team in the country. A Delta State alumnus, Long and his wife, Jill, have two children, Aubree and Clay.

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The Atlanta Falcons are re-signing veteran linebacker DeAngelo Malone to a one-year contract, according to a report from ESPN's Jeremy Fowler. Malone, 26, was drafted by the Falcons in the third round of the 2022 NFL Draft out of Western Kentucky.

Over his first four seasons in Atlanta, he recorded 59 tackles (32 solo), three sacks, seven tackles for loss and one interception. Malone gives the team more depth at linebacker and is a solid contributor on special teams. Last season, Malone appeared in just nine games before going on the injured reserve list with an ankle injury.

Prior to agreeing to terms with the Falcons, Malone took a free-agent visit with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last week but left without a contract. He now returns to Atlanta as another solid depth signing under general manager Ian Cunningham.

Check out the team's updated roster below (free-agent additions in bold).

Quarterbacks (3)

• Michael Penix Jr. (9)
• Tua Tagovailoa (1)
• Trevor Siemian

Running Backs (5)

• Bijan Robinson (7)
• Carlos Washington Jr. (23)
• Nathan Carter (25)
• Brian Robinson Jr.
• Tyler Goodson

Wide Receivers (7)

• Drake London (5)
• Chris Blair (19)
• Dylan Drummond (81)
• Casey Washington (82)
• Deven Thompkins (83)
• Jahan Dotson
• Olamide Zaccheaus

Tight Ends (4)

• Kyle Pitts (8)
• Charlie Woerner (89)
• Joshua Simon (47)
• Austin Hooper

Offensive Linemen (11)

• Jake Matthews (70)
• Matthew Bergeron (65)
• Ryan Neuzil (64)
• Chris Lindstrom (63)
• Kaleb McGary (76)
• Andrew Steuber (62)
• Kyle Hinton (68)
• Jack Nelson (69)
• Michael Jerrell (72)
• Storm Norton (77)
• Corey Levin

Defensive Linemen (8)

• Brandon Dorlus (53)
• Ruke Orhorhoro (98)
• Zach Harrison (96)
• Elijah Garcia (91)
• Ben Stille (95)
• LaCale London (94)
• Da'Shawn Hand
• Chris Williams

Linebackers (7)

• Divine Deablo (0)
• JD Bertrand (40)
• Malik Verdon (43)
• Troy Andersen (44)
• Christian Harris
• Channing Tindall
• DeAngelo Malone (re-signed)

EDGE (6)

• Jalon Walker (11)
• James Pearce Jr. (27)
• Bralen Trice (48)
• Azeez Ojulari
• Samson Ebukam
• Cameron Thomas

Cornerbacks (10)

• A.J. Terrell (24)
• Mike Hughes (21)
• Billy Bowman Jr. (33)
• Cobee Bryant (37)
• Clark Phillips III (22)
• C.J. Henderson (39)
• Mike Ford Jr. (28)
• A.J. Woods (30)
• Natrone Brooks (35)
• Darnay Holmes

Safeties (6)

• Jessie Bates III (3)
• Xavier Wats (31)
• DeMarcco Hellams (23)
• Jammie Robinson (34)
• Tysheem Johnson (41)
• Sydney Brown

Special Teams (4)

• LS: Liam McCullough (49)
• P: Gil Trenton (32)
• K: Nick Folk
• P: Jake Bailey

This article originally appeared on Falcons Wire: Atlanta Falcons re-sign DeAngelo Malone in free agency

A new rumor offers up an intriguing option for the Atlanta Braves to fill their current need at the designated hitter position.

The 2026 MLB season is finally underway, and there are high hopes for the Braves. They have a good starting rotation despite the injuries to a pair of their key young arms, a legit closer in Robert Suarez, and a solid lineup led by the face of the franchise, Ronald Acuna, Jr.

However, that lineup took a notable hit before the season started when Jurickson Profar tested positive for a banned substance and could miss the entire season to serve a second suspension in two years. It put the Braves in a tough spot.

They would like to add more thump to the lineup, but they are still contemplating the idea of adding a veteran arm to the rotation to make up for the injuries to Spencer Schwellenbach and Hurston Waldrep. However, if they choose to spend on replacing Profar, an unexpected but intriguing option seems to be available.

On Wednesday, MLB insider Mike Rodriguez reported that “MLB teams are actively evaluating a return for Franmil Reyes, with a deal in the $30–40M range over 3–4 years in play.” Reyes is a six-year MLB veteran who has played for four different teams. He has not played in the big leagues since 2023.

Franmil Reyes’ Japanese turnaround

However, he has become a star in the Japanese Pacific League while playing for the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters. In 2024, he slugged 29 homers and 74 RBIs. Last year, he continued his big hitting by tallying 32 home runs, 90 RBIs, and 62 runs.

During his years in MLB, he often flashed his power and posted 30 homers for the Cleveland Guardians in 2021. However, his ability to get on base outside of HRs declined in a major way, which is why the Dominican washed out of the league three years ago. However, he had a good .277/.347/.515/.861 slash line for the Fighters last season.

The fact that he could land a deal worth $10 million a season after being out of the league the last two years shows scouts believe in what he did in Japan. He could be an interesting option for the Braves if they are among the teams that have checked in about his availability.

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Chiefs GM Brett Veach gives coy response on Travis Kelce-Taylor Swift wedding originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

Everyone wants to know when Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift are getting married.

It will probably be one of those situations where paparazzi wedding photos pop up on a random weekend without much notice. 

You'd think the Kansas City Chiefs administration would be in the know regarding the biggest wedding of 2026, since it involves one of its star players. However, if they do know what the plans are, KC owner Clark Hunt, head coach Andy Reid, and general manager Brett Veach are remaining mum about it - for now, at least. 

On Tuesday, March 31, Veach, 48, appeared on ESPN's "The Schrager Hour," where he was grilled about the NFL tight end's upcoming wedding. 

Host Peter Schrager had no qualms about asking Veach if he's been "invited" to the nuptials. 

"Um, we’ll see," Veach said nervously. "Couldn’t say either way," he added. 

The Chiefs GM then let it out of the bag that he couldn't share any details even if he wanted to. 

"That’s, like, the hardest-hitting question you’ll ever ask me," he said. "Off the record, you can ask me who we’re picking [with the 9th overall pick] and I’m going to tell you who we’re picking at nine. I cannot disclose anything about the wedding." 

READ MORE: Taylor Swift's nod to Travis Kelce at iHeartRadio Music Awards

Brett Veach on replacing Travis Kelce 

While Veach can't share any details about Kelce and Swift's big day, he had no problem opening up about his excitement about having his star tight end back for another season. 

"He [Kelce] puts a smile on somebody’s face every single day," Veach said. "It doesn’t matter if you win a game by three touchdowns or you lose a game and you gotta come back in and learn from the mistakes, everything he does, he does with a smile." 

Kelce puts a "positive spin and uplifting spin on everything he does," he added.

"I'm glad he's not retiring. When he does, that's going to be almost impossible to replace." 

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Manchester United face a seven-game run-in that will determine whether they play in next season’s Champions League and possibly whether Michael Carrick will be appointed as head coach on a permanent basis.

After a fine run of form since taking over in mid-January, Carrick’s side have surged to third place in the Premier League table and are now firm favourites to finish in the top four, at least.

Given that England are leading the coefficient rankings to be granted an extra place at Europe’s top table next year, it is highly likely that finishing fifth or above will result in Champions League qualification – an extra boost for the chasing pack.

Fixture confirmation

With that in mind, United will fancy their chances of ending the season in the top quarter of the division, but they must pass some tricky assignments along the way.

One of these is a trip to Wearside to face a Sunderland side who have enjoyed a fine season back in the top flight of English football.

With multiple fixtures being changed for television coverage in recent weeks, manutd.com have confirmed the Sunderland clash will take place on 9 May at 15:00 GMT, a rare traditional Saturday kick-off time for United.

In fact, it is only the fourth 15:00 kick-off United have had this term, ironically with one of the others being the reverse fixture at Old Trafford in October.

That match will be remembered by Senne Lammens and Benjamin Sesko in particular, with the Belgian stopper making his debut for the club and the big striker netting his first Old Trafford goal in a comfortable 2-0 win.

Mason Mount opened the scoring on the day and will hope to be available for the trip after missing out in recent weeks due to another frustrating injury setback.

Run-in lowdown

United’s last visit to the Stadium of Light came in 2017, when goals from Zlatan Ibrahimović, Henrik Mkhitaryan and Marcus Rashford gave José Mourinho’s side a 3-0 win.

Michael Carrick will be delighted if his United side can repeat the feat, although Regis Le Bris will expect his men to pose much more of a threat having played well in front of their own fans for the majority of the campaign.

With this fixture now set in stone, United’s only game without a confirmed kick-off time is the visit of Nottingham Forest, which is scheduled to take place on Sunday 17 May, with the FA Cup final the stand-alone clash on the Saturday.

The curtain comes down on the season with the trip to Brighton & Hove Albion, with all Premier League matches kicking off at the same time, Sunday 24 May at 16:00 GMT.

Therefore, United’s schedule for the run-in is listed below, with Carrick and his side desperate to end the season with a flourish and finish in those all-important Champions League positions:

Monday 13 April: Leeds United (H) 20:00 GMT Saturday 18 April: Chelsea (A) 20:00 GMT Monday 27 April: Brentford (H) 20:00 GMT Sunday 3 May: Liverpool (H) 15:30 GMT Saturday 9 May: Sunderland (A) 15:00 GMT Sunday 17 May: Nottingham Forest (H) 15:00 BST – TBC Sunday 24 May: Brighton & Hove Albion (A) 16:00 GMT

Should United achieve their objective of a top four finish, Carrick’s chances of securing the head coach job on a permanent basis will be greatly enhanced, given the state of affairs at Old Trafford when Ruben Amorim was dismissed.

Furthermore, INEOS’s summer spending will be hugely influenced by United’s finishing position, with the prize money for Champions League qualification being transformative for the budget available to whoever is in the hot seat going into the new campaign.

Featured image Gareth Copley via Getty Images

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The Pittsburgh Steelers are still waiting on four-time NFL MVP Aaron Rodgers, hoping the 42-year-old doesn’t retire. For Rodgers, his options appear to be either retirement or head back to Pittsburgh for a second season and a reunion with his former Packers coach, Mike McCarthy. It seems too perfect a fit for the 21-year pro to call it quits now.

Yet, no matter what, whether Rodgers retires or returns, the Steelers appear deadset on adding another quarterback through the 2026 NFL Draft. If so, it means a crowded QB room, as Mason Rudolph and 2025 sixth-round pick Will Howard already command spots on Pittsburgh’s roster. Add Rodgers, and that’s a full depth chart. But it may not be enough.

According to The Athletic‘s Steelers reporter Mike DeFabo, Pittsburgh “hopes to have another young arm on the roster by the end of draft weekend.” Coach Mike McCarthy revealed as much when addressing the media at the NFL’s league meetings.

“I’m hopeful there will be a quarterback at the right time there for us to possibly add to our to our roster,” McCarthy said. “With 12 picks, we want to have a hell of a class.”

The Steelers possess more draft selections than any other team, beginning with No. 21. DeFabo’s sense is that the Steelers would prefer to target one in the middle rounds of the draft. After 21, the Steelers hold No. 53, and three third-round selections. That gives them plenty of ammo to target the QB of their choice.

DeFabo also noted that the QB who seems to “check the most boxes in McCarthy’s criteria” is Miami (FL) prospect Carson Beck, who has both long arms and big hands, two traits Pittsburgh’s coach covets in QBs. He’s the only one that Pittsburgh both met with at the combine and brought to the team facility for a pre-draft visit thus far. Beck is projected to be a mid-round pick.

Related: Pittsburgh Steelers Could Pivot to 4x Pro Bowl Quarterback

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Florida's 2025-26 campaign may have come to an unsatisfying conclusion, but the fact of the matter is that the Gators have emerged as a college basketball blue blood since the turn of the millennium.

With three national championships in the program's trophy case — including a two-peat in the middle of the first decade — the Orange and Blue have seen more success than most. Obviously, some schools have fared even better, like the UConn Huskies, who are seeking their fifth title this century and seventh overall this spring.

UConn's current success inspired the USA TODAY Sports staff to review and rank the top 10 programs since 1999, seeking to answer whether the Huskies are a blue blood or a "new blood." In it, Florida landed at No. 7 on the list, just behind the Gonzaga Bulldogs and a spot ahead of the Kentucky Wildcats.

The group used the following formula to determine their rankings, in which the Gators earned 192 points.

• 20 points for national title
• 10 points for Final Four
• 6 points for regular-season conference title
• 5 points for Sweet 16
• -5 points for losing season

"Surprised to see Florida this low on the list, but sandwiched in between Billy Donovan and Todd Golden, the Mike White years were truly forgettable," author Matthew Glenesk notes.

Here is how those numbers break down.

Florida basketball's blue blood resume

• 7 SEC regular season championships
• 10 Sweet 16s
• 5 Final Fours
• 3 national titles
• 2 losing seasons
• 686-284 (.707)

Ranking top 25 men's college basketball programs since 1999

1. Duke – 284
2. UConn – 270
3. North Carolina – 251
4. Michigan State – 245
5. Kansas – 236
6. Gonzaga – 234
7. Florida – 192
8. Kentucky – 185
9. Villanova – 158
10. Arizona – 156
11. UCLA – 110
12. Wisconsin – 105
13. Syracuse – 89
14. Ohio State – 80
15. Xavier – 78
16. Louisville – 77
17. Maryland – 73
18. Purdue – 70
19. Michigan – 69
20. Butler – 69
21. Virginia – 67
22. Illinois – 65
23. Tennessee – 59
24. Houston – 56
25. Texas – 53

Follow us @GatorsWire on X, formerly known as Twitter, as well as Bluesky, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Florida Gators news, notes and opinions.

This article originally appeared on Gators Wire: Florida basketball's ranking among blue blood programs since 1999

College basketball has never seen this before and now the 7'9 giant is looking for a new home originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

There are players who stand out in college basketball, and then there is Olivier Rioux. At 7'9, he is not just the tallest player in the sport right now. He is the tallest player in college basketball history to ever appear in a game. And now he is entering the transfer portal.

That alone makes this one of the most fascinating stories of the offseason. Not just because of how unique he is physically, but because of what comes next for a player the sport has never really seen before.

You cannot teach what Rioux has

Rioux’s size is not just a stat. It changes everything about how you view him. He became the tallest player ever to play in a college game when he checked in earlier this season for the Florida Gators, and he later became the tallest player in college basketball history to score with a two-handed dunk that instantly took over social media.

To understand just how rare this is, consider the names he is taller than. Yao Ming, Manute Bol, and Gheorghe Mureșan. Those players felt like outliers at the highest level of the sport, and Rioux is even beyond that.

The reality at Florida never matched the attention

For all the attention, the production at Florida never had a chance to match it. He played in 11 games and logged just 16 total minutes, finishing with seven points, six rebounds, and one assist. Most of that came late in games that were already decided.

That was not about ability as much as situation. Florida had one of the deepest frontcourts in the country, and breaking into that rotation was always going to be difficult. Rioux redshirted during the program’s national title run and then spent this season developing behind experienced players.

More: The Final Four is not about blue bloods or Cinderella. It is about coaches who took the long way

Why this move was always coming

At some point, potential needs opportunity, and that is what this move is about.

Rioux is still developing as a player. His size guarantees attention, but the college game demands mobility, timing, and awareness at a high level. Some programs will see limitations there, while others will see something they can build around.

Because you cannot teach 7'9.

The most fascinating transfer portal story to watch

Now the real story begins. Rioux will be one of the most talked-about names in the transfer portal, even without major production, not because of what he has done yet but because of what he could become.

The question is not whether teams will be interested. They will be. The question is who believes they can unlock something no one else has quite figured out yet.

There is no blueprint for a player like this, and that is what makes it so interesting. Rioux has already made history just by stepping on the floor, and now he has a chance to do something even harder by turning that history into a real role somewhere new.

More College Basketball news:

• The Final Four is not about blue bloods or Cinderella. It is about coaches who took the long way

• Illinois is two wins from breaking a 20-year March Madness rule that rarely fails

• Illinois gets one shot to end an 80-year nightmare against UConn

• Dan Hurley stunned by brutal stat mid-press conference as UConn survives Duke in instant classic

• Keaton Wagler did something no freshman guard has done this century and it came at the perfect time

• Illinois and Arizona are more alike than you think heading into the Final Four

• Illinois Fighting Illini advance to 2026 NCAA Final Four

England and Bath lock Charlie Ewels said a leg infection he picked up earlier in the season was so bad he was unsure for a time if it would lead to the loss of his foot.

Ewels missed seven weeks of matches through December and January because of the infection, which required him to have a spell in hospital.

"It was very bad, I spent the week in hospital on an IV drip and had surgery at the end to cut out all the infection," Ewels said.

"It was humbling - one day I was fine and the next day I was lying there on a ward and not really 100% knowing for about 12 hours if I was going to keep my foot or not."

• Bust-ups, off-loads and ex-pats - Prem talking points

Ewels returned for Bath's Prem win against Gloucester at the end of January and has played in both their recent wins against Saracens and Sale following the league's pause for the Six Nations.

The 30-year-old said doctors were not able to determine what initially caused the infection.

"It was a small cut on my left ankle, probably a stud - I don't really know," Ewels said.

"We tested what the bacteria was that got in there to check I was on the right antibiotics but we never found a source.

"We run around outside, there's fertilizers on pitches, there's mud, there's all sorts so where and what got in we don't know.

"I was very well looked after club wise and I spent my time in an NHS hospital and I'm very grateful for the people who looked after me."

The 2025-26 campaign has been a disrupted one for Ewels, who said he has "never had a season like this".

He came back to Bath following a successful summer tour with the England team, starting both Test wins in Argentina.

But a knee injury suffered in their second Prem game ruled him out for seven weeks, before he made his comeback with England, coming off the bench during the Autumn internationals.

After another three games for Bath, though, he was back on the sidelines with the infection, all-but ending any hope he had of challenging for a spot with England during the Six Nations and with the league then taking an eight-week break.

"The Six Nations block for me then probably came at the wrong time, that's probably when I would have been playing rugby," he said.

Bath face Saracens for the second time in two weeks on Saturday, this time in the European Champions Cup last 16, as the reigning Prem champions look to reach the quarter-finals for the first time since 2015.

They thrashed their London rivals 62-15 in the recent meeting at the Rec, and Bath will again have home advantage on their side for the latest fixture.

"This will be a different test, knockout rugby always feels different," Ewels said.

"All the work you do through pre-season through the first two big blocks of the season is to try and put yourself into knock-out game.

"The hard work we did then has led us to this now and this is the opportunity that's right in front of us."

Marc Marquez had a difficult time in Austin, struggling to keep pace after a series of crashes and collisions.

COTA has typically been a strong circuit for the Spaniard, but in 2026, he couldn’t get things working. After a heavy crash during practice, Marquez needed a bandage on his right forearm.

He topped that session despite the setback, though things didn’t improve from there. He qualified sixth and was outqualified by Francesco Bagnaia, and his Sprint race ended early after just one lap.

At turn 12, Marquez collided with Fabio Di Giannantonio and picked up a long lap penalty for it. He accepted responsibility for the incident. The penalty further limited his chances of achieving a strong result as he continued to deal with the lingering effects of his shoulder injury from 2025.

Marc Marquez tells Davide Tardozzi he’s ‘struggling’ after US GP

After taking the long lap penalty, Marquez managed to salvage P5, following a strong battle with Bagnaia and Enea Bastianini. In the post-race debrief, he admitted his struggles to Davide Tardozzi.

Ducati’s official YouTube channel detailed the exchange between the two, with Tardozzi saying: “From when you overtook Fermin to when you arrived to Pecco and Enea, you gained eight tenths on Bezzecchi.”

Marquez then gave his assessment: “Yes, I was going fast there, I felt really good. In the end too I could have continued like this with this pace.

“If I didn’t waste time there by overtaking Pecco and Enea, I could have caught Diggia. The bike is critical but so am I. I’m struggling.

“The bike is definitely one point but I’m another point because rewatching Thailand and Brazil if we get right the first three laps we’re in for the win.”

Marc Marquez admitted to Davide Tardozzi that he was struggling after the United States GP

After serving his long lap penalty, Marquez fought back to finish fifth, engaging in a tight race with Bagnaia and Enea Bastianini. During the post-race debrief, he shared his concerns with Tardozzi.

Ducati’s official YouTube channel recorded the exchange, with Tardozzi noting: “From when you overtook Fermin to when you arrived to Pecco and Enea, you gained eight tenths on Bezzecchi.”

Marquez responded: “Yes, I was going fast there, I felt really good. In the end too, I could have continued like this with this pace.

“If I didn’t waste time there, by overtaking Pecco and Enea, I could have caught Diggia. The bike is critical but so am I. I’m struggling.

“The bike is definitely one point but I’m another point. Because I rewatched the races of Thailand and Brazil if I get the first three laps right we’re in for the win.”

Read more:

James L. Edwards III: Landry Shamet will return tonight against Memphis. Jalen Brunson is questionable with right ankle soreness McBride and Robinson are both OUT due to injury management.

bsky.app

This article originally appeared on Hoops Hype: Landry Shamet cleared to return for Knicks

Temple’s leading scorer, Derrian Ford, has declared for the NBA draft, he announced Tuesday night. Ford, who averaged 18.1 points this season, put together the best numbers of his collegiate career in his lone campaign at Temple. He surpassed 1,000 career points, had 14 games with 20 points or more, and finished fourth in the American Conference in points per game.

inquirer.com

This article originally appeared on Hoops Hype: Temple’s leading scorer, Derrian Ford, has declared …

NBA Communications: Cleveland Charge General Manager Liron Fanan has been named the 2025-26 NBA G League Basketball Executive of the Year, as selected by NBA G League team basketball executives. Fanan is the first woman and the second Charge executive to win the award, joining Mike Gansey of the Canton Charge in 2016-17.

Twitter

This article originally appeared on Hoops Hype: Liron Fanan becomes first woman to win the G League Executive of the Year award

AEK BC Athens entered the race to join the brand-new NBA Europe league, the SDNA reports. NBA President Mark Tatum recently confirmed that over 50 organizations have submitted applications for a franchise in specific cities, with Athens being one of the key candidates.

BasketNews

This article originally appeared on Hoops Hype: AEK BC Athens entered the race to join the brand-new …

CB Bucknor head injury leads to umpire change in Brewers-Rays game originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

CB Bucknor's name has been in headlines lately due to missed calls.

The long-time MLB umpire, though, was in everyone's thoughts for a different reason on Wednesday.

Bucknor was behind home plate for the matchup between the Milwaukee Brewers and Tampa Bay Rays, but he exited the game early after taking a foul ball to the head.

Brewers ace Jacob Misiorowski was pitching, and Nick Fortes was at the plate with two strikes.

The lanky Misiorowski fired one of his high-velocity offerings, and Fortes fouled the 100 MPH pitch straight back into the front of Bucknor's mask.

It was essentially a direct shot right into the face, and it knocked Bucknor backward.

CB Bucknor took a foul ball to the mask and was in visible pain.

He left today’s game as he may have a concussion. pic.twitter.com/YHuluPblER

— js9innings (@js9inningsmedia) April 1, 2026

MORE: Terrance Gore's son honors dad with perfect first pitch

The trainers came out to check on Bucknor, and he eventually walked off the field and down to the clubhouse.

Chad Fairchild took over behind home plate.

It was a moment that no one wants to see, to be sure.

It's not clear how long this might keep Bucknor out of action, but at least for Wednesday, his day was done.

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HBO released the trailer of its new docuseries, “U.S. Against the World,” which follows the U.S. Men’s National Team on its journey to the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The series provides an unprecedented look into the last four years as the team prepares to compete on home soil in one of the largest sporting events of all-time. The series premieres on Tuesday, May 12.

Here’s a breakdown of the 15 players highlighted in the docuseries:

Tyler Adams

After making his senior USMNT debut in 2017, Adams became a mainstay with the squad culminating in a stellar 2022 year where he was named captain of the World Cup team and U.S. Soccer Male Player of the Year. Despite battling injuries over his career, he has recorded 52 international caps and made over 200 appearances for various American and European clubs.

Timmy Tillman

Born in Germany, Tillman competed in the German Youth National Team system before switching to compete with the U.S. in 2018. The midfielder made his USMNT debut in 2024, a year after joining MLS side Los Angeles FC from Germany’s Greuther Fürth. Tillman competed in the USA’s final match of 2025 against Ururguay, contributing to the third and fourth goals in the 5-1 win.

Christian Pulisic

Nicknamed “Captain America,” Pulisic has become one of the most dominant American strikers since his debut in 2016 at just 17 years old. The AC Milan forward is in the top-25 of all-time USMNT appearances with 84 caps while ranking fifth in goals scored with 32. He recorded one goal and two assists in the teams 2022 FIFA World Cup run in Qatar.

Folarin Balogun

Balogun, coming from Nigerian, English and American descent, chose to compete with the United States and made his international debut in 2023. Since then, the striker has recorded eight goals and four assists in 25 caps while scoring 20 goals across all competitions for French side AS Monaco.

Weston McKennie

Known as the “Swiss Army Knife” of the team for his versatility, McKennie has competed with the USMNT every year since his debut in 2017. The midfielder has recorded 12 goals and seven assists in 64international appearances and started every match of the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

Antonee Robinson

Robinson, also known as “Jedi” for his love of Star Wars, has been a key part of the USA’s backline over the last few years. The defender was born in England before moving to New York where he competed with the U.S. Youth National Team before joining the senior team in 2018. He was named the 2024 U.S. Soccer Male Player of the Year after starting all 11 matches played that year.

Chris Richards

The reigning 2025 U.S. Soccer Male Player of the Year, Richards heads into 2026 coming off an impressive year for both club and country. The defender has become a staple in the English Premier League with Crystal Palace FC, helping win the FA Cup and Community Shield. The 25-year-old started at the center of defense for the U.S. in every game on the way to the 2025 Gold Cup Final, a tournament where he scored twice.

Tim Ream

One of the tenured veterans on the team, Ream is heading into his 17th year with the USMNT. The center back has tallied 80 caps since his debut in 2010 and played every minute of the 2022 FIFA World Cup along with Robinson and Adams. Ream has nearly two decades of professional experience in the U.S. and England and currently competes with MLS club Charlotte FC.

Sergiño Dest

Coming up through the youth ranks and appearing in two youth FIFA World Cups, Dest made his senior debut in 2019, the same year he was named U.S. Soccer Young Male Player of the Year. He has earned 37 caps since then, returning in September 2025 after tearing his ACL the year before. The defender currently competes with PSV in his birth country of the Netherlands.

Matt Turner

Another 2022 FIFA World Cup attendee, Turner made two of his 27 career clean sheets in the tournament. The New England Revolution goalkeeper was named MLS Goalkeeper of the Year in 2021, the same year he made his senior international debut. Turner has since led the USMNT through multiple tournaments including the 2023 Concacaf Gold Cup and the 2023–24 CONCACAF Nations League, which the USA won.

Matt Freese

One of the newest additions to the USA goalkeeper squad is Matt Freese. The 27-year-old netminder made his professional debut in 2019 with MLS club Philadelphia Union before joining New York City FC ahead of the 2023 season. After competing with the United States at the youth level, Freese earned his first senior call-up in January 2025. He recorded three clean sheets in 13 caps last year.

Gio Reyna

Born to U.S. national team players Claudio and Danielle Reyna, Gio Reyna grew up in the USA youth ranks and scored 16 goals in 31 appearances. He made his senior debut in 2020 after earning the U.S. Soccer Young Male Player of the Year award earlier in the year. He has recorded nine goals and six assists in 36 caps and was named the Best Player of the 2023–24 CONCACAF Nations League.

Malik Tillman

Younger brother of Timmy Tillman, Malik was also raised and played in Germany before switching citizenship to the United States in 2022. The midfielder made his USMNT debut that year just after his 20th birthday and has since recorded 28 caps. His first two international goals came during the 2025 CONCACAF Gold Cup in the 5-0 win against Trinidad and Tobago.

Brenden Aaronson

Aaronson was also a part of the 2022 FIFA World Cup squad, and he started all three group stage matches. The midfielder has tallied nine goals and seven assists in his 57 international appearances since his first cap in 2020. That same year, he was named to the MLS Best XI after helped the Philadelphia Union to the Supporters’ Shield and the club’s first trophy. He has since moved to England’s Leeds United, where he has 14 goals in over 100 appearances.

Diego Luna

One of the younger guys on the squad, 22-year-old Luna had a breakout year for the USMNT in 2025. He recorded four goals and four assists in 17 appearances last year, including both goals in the 2-1 win over Guatemala in the 2025 Gold Cup semifinal. After two strong seasons with USL Championship side El Paso Locomotive, Luna transferred to Real Salt Lake in a league record deal in 2022. He was named MLS Young Player of the Year in 2024 and was an MLS All-Star in 2024 and 2025.

Not far from the venerable Madison Square Garden, the energy inside Life Time Sky basketball courts in midtown Monday was high. Twenty-two of the area’s more notable street basketball players stepped onto the court for a shot at joining NBA Hall-of-Famer Tracy McGrady’s new one-on-one league as members of Team New York.

The tryouts marked the first NYC event for the Ones Basketball League (OBL), a reboot of the one-on-one league recently announced by McGrady. The OBL is part streetball revival, part global showcase—and for McGrady, a vision of the future where “AND1” streetball meets the digital age.

“You go back to those early 2000s when the ‘AND1’ boys is hot. Could you imagine if social media was going on there? They would have been stars, like, bigger than NBA players,” McGrady said. “So I think in this day and age of social media, we just want to get that, bring that back, bring that type of culture, that type of recognition, back.”

Many of the players who tried out are fixtures at West 4th Street, Dykman Park, and Rucker Park, local legends with social media followings and international playing experience.

“I’m hoping that we can grow this sport nationwide and then global,” McGrady said.  “You don’t see too many people talk about three on three basketball, but now it’s in the Olympics. This is a sport I think should be in the Olympics!”

New York’s team will be led by hip-hop icon and basketball enthusiast Jadakiss, who showed up Monday  to connect with players and bring some local star power. The field of 22 in the coming weeks will be narrowed to a three-man roster that  “best reflect the tradition, values and basketball culture of the city the team represents,” the league said. Cities will compete against one another.

“I love basketball. I have a godson that’s emphatic with one-on-one, so that was another thing that made me jump on the opportunity,” Jadakiss said. “He’s very knowledgeable of it. When he comes to my crib, he turns it on and makes me watch all the premier match ups.”

The tryouts drew players from all over the city, each bringing their own story to the floor.

Isaiah Brown, 29, known on the courts as Leaky Roof or Leaky, hails from Flushing.

“Someone told me my favorite player of all the time was having a tournament in New York City. Why not show up? I got to meet him. I got to play in front of him. And I ended up beating everybody.”

His four-year-old daughter watched proudly from the sidelines. Asked about his nickname, Brown grinned: “When the roof leaks what do you put on the floor to catch the rain? A bucket.”

Jonathan Grimsley, 30, went to Medgar Evers College where he averaged 23 points per game his senior season. Also known as Jon Got VC, (because, as he explained, he looks like a video game player,) he recently returned from playing professionally in the Philippines.

“I’m at a point where I’m playing for the love of the game, because, for me, it was always like, the highest level is NBA. Everything after that, it’s like, you just playing because you want to at that point,” he said. “Like, this is street ball. It’s about heart.”

Waleed Abawi, or Waldo, 28, from Bay Ridge, summed up what it means to represent the city: “I’m in every single park, literally. West 4th, all the parks around. New York is the Mecca of street ball.”

In T Mac’s eyes, one-on-one basketball deserves its own platform—complete with new opportunities for players and fans.

“There are underground leagues…This is a sport I truly believe deserves the platform for betting, for guys to be able to live out their basketball dream and just compete at a high level against the best one on one talent.”

The OBL “Battle of the Cities” competition will run May 15 through June 30 in Orlando, Florida and features teams representing cities across the country—each led by a celebrity owner or general manager. The league’s revival is backed by Miami-based Next Gen Sports.

Team Orlando  is led by Vince Carter, NBA Hall of Famer, Team Miami  by Tim Hardaway Sr., five-time NBA All-Star, while Team Chicago is led by actor and producer Larenz Tate.

You know it's peak offseason when head college football coaches are talking about dinosaur Netflix documentaries. Head coach Ryan Day brought up the new documentary miniseries The Dinosaurs from Netflix on Tuesday after the Buckeyes' sixth spring practice. While this shouldn't be news, the way Day talked about it and the comparison he made were quite intriguing and got the average college football fan thinking about the state of the sport.

Ryan Day on dinosaurs and college football programs

"I watched that Netflix documentary on the dinosaurs," Day told reporters Tuesday. "If you want to feel insignificant, watch that because it talks about how the dinosaurs were on Earth, like, 250 million years ago. Throughout time … the world changed, the climate changed, the Earth changed. Some dinosaurs figured out how to continue to adapt, and some died. I guess that's a little extreme, but I think it's kind of the way it is in college football. The people who know how to adapt are going to continue to move on, and the ones who don't, they die. As frustrating as it all is, as much as we all want to just pull our hair out and throw our hands up and realize that this is all extremely crazy, even being with some of the NFL personnel last Wednesday. When they look at you and say, 'You are insane to be in college football,' they're right. But either you adapt, or you die. This is another phase of it is, half of your team is new. They've never played a down in football here. And we're not allowed to lose a game. So we're going to adapt. We're not going to die."

It was fascinating to hear Day speak so candidly about where Ohio State stands right now. Like the dinosaurs millions of years ago, the Buckeyes find themselves at a crossroads as the sport shifts beneath them. The message was clear, though. They are not going to lie down and die. They are going to adapt and thrive in 2026.

How this 2026 Buckeyes roster was constructed

Day went on to address how the way college football rosters are built has fundamentally changed and how Ohio State approached that reality this offseason. The Buckeyes brought in 17 players from the transfer portal, good for the 5th overall-ranked transfer class according to 247Sports, and added 29 commits from the 2026 recruiting class, also ranked 5th nationally. It is a deliberate blend of veteran experience and youthful energy that Day was careful to frame with intention.

"This isn't just a bunch of guys coming in off the street that we don't know," Day said. "Obviously, there's been relationships built. Doesn't guarantee anything, but it's not just random. I think that's intentional, but there's no question that these guys haven't played for the Buckeyes before. I mentioned it out there, there's guys in that group right there that have scars here, that have had success here, and there's a lot of guys that haven't played one snap here yet. All that comes in, into play this season. We're not unique to that, though. It's the same way across the country, and it's just something that we have to continue to figure out."

The shift of college sports and the importance of the transfer portal

What makes Day's perspective so refreshing is that even at the pinnacle of the sport, running one of the most premier programs in the nation, these are the conversations being had in meeting rooms. The old model of recruiting blue-chip high schoolers and developing them over four years is no longer the only path forward. The transfer portal has become a necessary weapon, and Indiana football proved that to the entire country last season.

The shift is just as visible in college basketball. Michigan and Dusty May got creative in a major way, adding four high-profile transfers in Yaxel Lendeborg, Morez Johnson Jr., Aday Mara, and Elliot Cadeau while also leaning on four returning players and three highly touted freshmen. That combination of seasoned transfers, talented underclassmen, and holdovers from the previous regime has worked beautifully for the Wolverines, who now sit just two wins away from a national title.

College sports are in a genuinely strange and fascinating place right now. The programs willing to think differently, to adapt rather than cling to the old ways, are going to be rewarded before the rest of the sport even catches up. Ryan Day understands that. Ohio State understands that. And if the last year of college football has taught us anything, the ones who figure it out first are the ones still playing in January.

This article originally appeared on Buckeyes Wire: Ryan Day on modern college football: "Either you adapt, or you die."

Looking at the Atlanta Falcons' roster, it's not difficult to pinpoint who the best athlete on the team is. Not since the peak years of former wide receiver Julio Jones have the Falcons had a talent like that of running back Bijan Robinson, who came into the NFL a fully-formed superstar.

Robinson is entering his fourth year in the league, which means that his rookie contract is rapidly coming to a close. A lucrative contract extension for the former Texas Longhorns all-star is a foregone conclusion. The only questions remaining are when and exactly how much he'll be getting.

According to ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter, it should be coming soon. On his podcast last week, Schefter listed a number of running backs who should cash in this offseason, including Robinson, as well as Detroit's Jahmyr Gibbs and Miami's De'Von Achane.

"Take a look at the running backs right now, Bijan Robinson is going to cash in. Jahmyr Gibbs is going to cash in. De'Von Achane is going to cash in... There are going to be some big running back deals that get done at some point this offseason. So while we've already seen one big wide receiver deal, get ready for the parade of running backs, because that's what's coming next."

Gibbs and Achane are special players, but neither have the awesome ceiling of Bijan Robinson - who has a combination of elusiveness and tackle-breaking ability that no other player in the sport can match.

At the moment the NFL's highest paid running backs are Saquon Barkley, Christian McCaffrey and Derrick Henry, all of whom average over $15 million per year. Fans may balk at the prospect of the Falcons resetting the market by giving Robinson a deal worth more than Barkley's $20.6 million per year - but keep in mind Robinson is only 24 years old and has more than enough potential to break every record ever set by an NFL back.

Atlanta will need to build up the other skill positions around him, but the new front office should not hesitate to pay through the nose to keep Robinson as their offensive centerpiece.

This article originally appeared on Falcons Wire: ESPN's Adam Schefter claims Falcons will pay Bijan Robinson offseason

There's reportedly excitement at Liverpool about their future front-three. It's one we'll be seeing a lot of.

Liverpool spent over £400m in the summer and the majority of that went on reshaping their attack. First, they broke their transfer record to sign from Bayer Leverkusen.

The playmaker became their first-ever nine-figure signing in the process. He was followed by Hugo Ekitike, who signed from Eintracht Frankfurt for around £80m.

But that wasn’t all. Liverpool then went out and broke the British transfer record with a deal for Alexander Isak with Newcastle United. It was an incredible amount of money but the Reds figured they were signing a world-class player.

We haven’t actually seen the best of them, however. Liverpool brought in the trio but fitness issues with Isak, followed by a leg break, have kept him sidelined for the majority of the campaign.

Thus the plan hasn’t really been seen. Liverpool bought the trio to be the future of their attack but seven months in, we’ve barely seen them together.

That will soon change. Isak is back training and should return to the pitch this month. In doing so, Liverpool will have their plan back on track.

The Liverpool Echo reports that there’s excitement about the Isak - Wirtz - Ekitike front three, even if it’s not entirely clear how that shapes up in Arne Slot’s 4-2-3-1 system. But that trio is the plan in attack and the one Liverpool are working towards.

And there’s no question that getting it right would give the Reds a truly world-class attack. It’s just about fitting the three of them together in a way that suits the rest of the team.

Slot doesn’t exactly have a lot of time to figure that out, given the ‘business end’ of the season is upon us. Get it right, though, and Liverpool may still compete for honours over the next two months.

Few, after all, can boast an attack with players that good.

Florian Wirtz: Situation Summary

Premier League Performance and Role

Florian Wirtz has enjoyed a productive debut season at Liverpool following his British-record £116 million move from Bayer Leverkusen in the summer of 2025. As of April 1, 2026, the 22-year-old playmaker has recorded six goals and five assists across 34 appearances in all competitions. While he has predominantly featured on the left wing under Arne Slot, recent reports suggest a tactical shift to a 4-2-2-2 formation designed to move Wirtz into his preferred central attacking midfield role. His creative output remains elite, ranking in the 95th percentile for chances created, and he has been a consistent starter when available.

Injury Status and Transfer Talk

Wirtz is currently working his way back to full fitness after a lingering back injury sidelined him for several matches in late February and early March 2026. After missing a string of games, including a league clash with Wolves, he returned to action as a substitute in late March and notably starred for Germany during the international break, scoring twice against Switzerland. Off the pitch, his agent recently sparked controversy by revealing he had attempted to engineer a move to Real Madrid before Wirtz chose Anfield. While Bayern Munich and Manchester City remain admirers, Wirtz is under contract until 2030 and is considered a cornerstone of Liverpool’s long-term project.

Manchester City will welcome Liverpool at the Etihad Stadium this Saturday afternoon as they look to secure a good result at home in the FA Cup. The Mancunian giants managed to earn a solid 2-0 win over Arsenal in the EFL Cup final before the international break, so they would be full of confidence going into this game.

Pep Guardiola will set his men up in a 4-1-3-2 formation and is expected to make a couple of changes to his first team for this clash. Both Marc Guehi and John Stones could play from the start of this game.

4-1-3-2 Manchester City Predicted Lineup To Face Liverpool

Defence

James Trafford will operate in between the sticks for Man City after keeping a clean sheet in his last outing. Marc Guehi will function alongside John Stones at the heart of Guardiola’s defence as they hope to keep a solid shape on the defensive end of the field.

Matheus Nunes will try to prove his worth as the right-back, while Nico O’Reilly looks to give a good account of himself on the other flank as the left-back. Both of them will have to pick and choose their moments to join in on the attack.

Nathan Ake and Rayan Ait-Nouri will offer cover for the defensive positions on the bench.

LONDON, ENGLAND – MARCH 14: Rayan Cherki of Man City during the Premier League match between West Ham United and Manchester City at London Stadium on March 14, 2026 in London, England. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)

Midfield

Rodri will operate as the holding midfielder for Man City as he looks to protect his backline and feed some decent passes to his teammates up top.

The talented trio of Jeremy Doku, Bernardo Silva and Rayan Cherki will play just ahead of the Spaniard as part of Guardiola’s attack. All three of them need to move the ball well if they want to create enough chances for Man City to win this cup game at the Etihad.

Nico Gonzalez, Tijjani Reijnders and Phil Foden will have to be content with a place on the bench as they wait for their chance to shine in the second 45 minutes if needed.

Attack

Erling Haaland and Antoine Semenyo will lead the charge for the Mancunian outfit up top. Both of them need to combine well if they want to threaten the Liverpool goal this weekend.

Omar Marmoush will be named on the bench and might come on to make an impact in the latter stages of the game if required.

A Spanish report claims Atletico Madrid are pushing to land Ederson before Premier League clubs, including Arsenal, enter the race properly.

Marca, 1 April 2026

Clubs are reportedly moving early to try to keep Atalanta‘s Ederson out of the Premier League, with Atletico Madrid already in talks over a deal designed to head off interest from England, including Arsenal.

According to Marca, Atletico sporting director Mateu Alemany recently travelled to Italy for talks with Atalanta president Antonio Percassi as the Spanish club stepped up efforts to sign the Brazilian midfielder for the 2026-27 season.

The report describes Ederson as Atletico’s number one target in midfield and makes clear that the timing of the move is being driven in part by concern over Premier League competition for the 26-year-old.

That is where Arsenal enter the picture. Marca says Atletico’s urgency is tied directly to the financial power of English clubs, with the report stating that Alemany has moved to accelerate negotiations so that sides such as Arsenal do not disrupt a deal they are trying to push through before the market develops further.

But the figures underline why Atalanta are in no rush to make life easy for any suitor.

Photo by Simone Arveda/Getty Images

Atletico reportedly do not want to pay more than €40m, structured as €35m plus €5m in variables, while Atalanta are said to value the player at at least €50m.

With Ederson under contract until 2027, the Italian club still hold a degree of control, but the coming window is also presented as the perfect opportunity to maximise their return on a player they signed from Salernitana for €22.9m in 2022.

His salary is said to fall in the €4m to €5m range, and Marca presents him as the chosen solution for a midfield area Atletico want to strengthen.

Marca notes that Atletico have been tracking Ederson since at least March 2024, when the player was already building a reputation as one of the most complete midfielders in Europe.

At that stage, Atalanta’s €60m valuation was described as ‘prohibitive’. Now, with Alemany leading negotiations and the asking price said to be lower, Atletico appear to believe there is a window to strike, provided they can do so before any Premier League side gets involved in earnest.

At the end of 2024, it was also reported that Arsenal had ‘walked away’ from any deal due to the same €60m price tag, so there was interest from the Gunners.

However, it didn’t go beyond Arsenal asking ‘how much?’ and then saying ‘ok, thanks’, before they looked elsewhere.

The fourth and final phase of ticket sales for the 2026 World Cup in North America began on Wednesday, FIFA announced.

The phase for the June 11–July 19 event in the United States, Mexico and Canada involves more than three million tickets.

This "last-minute" sales phase opened at 1500 GMT on the official website, FIFA.com/tickets, the global governing body stated in a press release.

Tickets are being sold on a "first-come, first-served" basis and will remain available until the end of the competition on July 19, it added.

Tickets will be released for sale on a rolling basis -- including, on occasion, for matches taking place on the very same day -- according to FIFA.

At the scheduled time, prospective buyers were directed to a "waiting" page to "queue" while awaiting access to the site, a wait that could last several hours.

"A countdown will appear before you can enter the ticket sales phase. Once the countdown is over, an 'Enter' button will be available for 5 minutes. Click it to access," instructions specify.

In total, nearly seven million tickets are being offered for the competition, taking into account the capacities of the 16 stadiums hosting the global tournament.

More than three million of these tickets have already been sold during the first three sales phases -- including over one million during the random selection draw phase alone (held in January and February), which received 500 million requests, according to FIFA.

The global governing body is likely to break the all-time record of 3.5 million tickets sold for a World Cup -- a mark set during the 1994 edition.

This summer, the tournament will feature 48 teams and 104 matches, 78 of which will take place on American soil.

The issue of ticketing has sparked controversy, with FIFA facing accusations of offering tickets at exorbitant prices, in disregard of promises made when the tournament was awarded to the three host nations.

On March 24, Football Supporters Europe (FSE) -- an organization representing European fans -- and Euroconsumers -- a group representing consumers across the continent -- announced they had filed a complaint against FIFA with the European Commission.

They alleged abuse of a dominant market position and seek to compel the organization to abandon its "opaque and unfair" ticket purchasing procedures. FIFA has defended its ticket pricing, which, according to president Gianni Infantino, is driven by "crazy" demand.

However, in December, the governing body did introduce a $60 ticket category reserved exclusively for official supporters' clubs; yet, according to the FSE, this quota was virtually sold out before sales even opened to the general public.

Additionally, FIFA is set to reopen its official ticket resale and exchange platform on Thursday. This platform has also come under fire due to the equally prohibitive prices at which tickets are listed for resale.

The global governing body explained that it does not intervene in this "fan-to-fan market," where the reseller "determines the listed price of each ticket" in Canada and the United States.

The legal framework differs in Mexico, however, where reselling a ticket for more than its original purchase price is prohibited.

cyj/js/dmc

Tuesday’s game was the Cleveland Cavaliers’ first chance to showcase their probable playoff starting five this season. And if this game was any indication, that group has some work to do. The Los Angeles Lakers completely ran them out of the building, defeating them 127-113 in a game that wasn’t nearly as close as the 14-point margin would have you believe.

The starting five of James Harden, Donovan Mitchell, Max Strus, Evan Mobley, and Jarrett Allen looked rough.

The Cavs were outscored by nine points in the 13 minutes the starters played. They were awful defensively (135.7 defensive rating) and weren’t able to make up for those shortcomings on the other end.

The offense felt stagnant with the two bigs. The guards tried to force the ball inside. This worked as Allen had another impressive game, putting up 18 points on 9-11 shooting, but the shrunken floor also led to turnovers. Mitchell and Harden combined for five giveaways, and the Cavs weren’t able to generate clean outside looks.

It didn’t help that Mobley had no offensive impact. He provided just six points on 2-4 shooting.

This wasn’t a situation where the Cavs’ guards weren’t looking to get him involved. Mobley simply couldn’t take advantage of any of the mismatches he created, which was the exact opposite of his strong showing the night before against the Utah Jazz.

Mobley was able to force mismatches by getting either Austin Reaves or Luka Doncic switched on to him. Instead of punishing them right away, he waited for the help defense to rotate over, and often wasn’t able to find the open man on the perimeter. This stalled out the offense reminiscent of the beginning of the season.

The Cavs are a top-heavy team, especially when they’re down three rotation players in Sam Merrill (hamstring), Dean Wade (ankle), and Jaylon Tyson (toe). They can’t afford to have one of their top players be this invisible on offense if they want to match up against an elite opponent.

Along those same lines, the Cavs aren’t going anywhere if Mitchell isn’t aggressive offensively.

Mitchell’s downhill attacking is his best offensive trait. It’s rare to find a guard of his size who can completely change the game with their rim pressure. He forces defenses to overload to his side, which creates openings for his teammates.

However, when that forcefulness isn’t there, there aren’t many avenues for him to create good offense for himself or others. This came through as Mitchell finished the game with a dreadful 100 offensive rating, which tied Mobley for the worst on the team. He supplied just 10 points on 4-10 shooting with six assists.

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Mitchell did come out of the gates strong. He stole the opening tip from Los Angeles, but LeBron James swatted his layup attempt away. That seemed to take the wind out of his sails, as he tried just one more shot at the rim throughout the next three quarters (the starters didn’t play in the fourth) and had just two free-throw attempts.

It’s not worth making too much of a poor performance on the second night of a back-to-back. Mitchell didn’t have it on Tuesday. Games like this happen. However, it is worth underscoring that even after the Harden move, this offense will only be as good as Mitchell makes it. And when he doesn’t bring the energy, things will look stagnant rather quickly.

The Cavs need their starting offense to be great, considering how bad their defense is.

The perimeter defense was once again poor. There’s no physicality at the point of attack. Los Angeles’s guards were able to get downhill whenever they wanted, which allowed them to create open looks for themselves and their teammates.

The Lakers were efficient in the three best places to score: the rim, the free-throw line, and the three ball. Los Angeles completed 75% of their looks inside (72nd percentile), had a free-throw rate in the 82nd percentile, and knocked down 42.9% of their triples before garbage time (80th percentile).

The Cavs just aren’t making it difficult at any level of the defense. This has been seen in recent weeks against subpar offenses. Now, we saw just how easily an elite offense can carve up this bad Cleveland defense.

Without Dean Wade, the Cavs have no answer for opposing wings.

Doncic was able to put up one of the easiest 42-point, 12-assist games you’ll ever see. He benefited from the Cavs experimenting with playing more drop coverage with their bigs. Doncic used the space Ayton created off screens to step into easy pull-up threes. But he also did plenty of damage just by beating his man off-the-dribble and creating from there.

Strus is a solid defender, but he isn’t someone who’s going to make a bigger and stronger player in Doncic work for his baskets. And for as helpful as Keon Ellis has been defensively, he also doesn’t have the size to really affect bigger wings too much. That leaves Wade as your only good wing defender, which is a red flag considering his injury history and offensive shortcomings.

This issue is exaggerated by the poor guard defense. It’s one thing to have to cover for a weak link on that end. Mobley and Allen are more than capable of doing that. It’s another when three players are overmatched on the perimeter.

This is a major concern for a team that will likely be matching up with either the Atlanta Hawks or the Toronto Raptors in the first round. Neither of those teams has a Luka-level scorer, but both have multiple wings that can hurt you offensively. The Cavs simply don’t have a good answer for guys like Jalen Johnson, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Scottie Barnes, Brandon Ingram, and RJ Barrett.

It’s easy to look ahead to a possible second-round matchup. And while the Cavs should still be able to handle whoever they face in the first round, they won’t be able to do so if the defense is this bad. At least not easily.

The De’Andre Hunter trade looks worse by the day. The Cavs have had a massive hole at the wing since LeBron left for LA back in 2018. Trading for Hunter was supposed to solve that issue. And for a time, it did. Hunter was good last regular season and had some positive moments in the playoffs before things fell apart this season.

Moving on from Hunter at the deadline made sense. And there were reasons to like the move for Dennis Schroder and Ellis. The Cavs needed a backup point guard, Ellis was worth taking a flyer on, and the moves saved them money. However, considering how poorly Schroder has played for the last several weeks and the fact that Ellis hasn’t been able to plug any defensive holes on the wing, that trade isn’t exactly aging great either. And Schroder’s roughly $15 million per year contract for the next two seasons is also looking much less appealing.

I wouldn’t go as far as saying that the Cavs shouldn’t have traded Hunter to the Sacramento Kings. Instead, I’ll just point out that the initial Hunter move was a dud. The ramifications of that deal are still being felt. And, this will likely be a bigger issue this summer when the Cavs presumably try to move on from Schroder’s contract to duck under the second apron.

No one has more NBA wins than LeBron. This was the 1,229th victory that James has been a part of in the regular season and playoffs, which breaks the record held by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. It feels appropriate that James did so against his former team.

The longevity that LeBron has displayed is difficult to put into context, and I’m not going to try to do so here. He’s still playing at an incredibly high level, even if it’s in a secondary role (and sometimes tertiary role) for the first time in his career.

I’ll wrap this up on a positive: Allen was once again great. He was the Cavs’ best player and an absolute force offensively.

Allen had his way with Ayton inside. He did a great job of using his strength and footwork to create easy looks in the paint. The two-man game with him and Harden still looks crisp. And, he was able to score several times off feeds from Mobley, which is encouraging considering the concerns about how the Harden-led offense looks with both bigs on the court.

The Cavs are a better team when they’re getting Allen involved early and often. Even though they lost this game convincingly, it’s good to see that this is still a point of emphasis.

With a few hours to go before his team is set to take on the Washington Wizards on Wednesday, Joel Embiid’s playing status is unclear. The Philadelphia 76ers originally announced Embiid would miss the contest due to an illness, but the center posted on social media that his injury designation must have been an “April Fools joke.”

In his tweet, Embiid mentioned he played against the Miami Heat on Monday despite the same symptoms.

The 32-year-old center was productive during that game, scoring 26 points and pulling down seven rebounds in the 119-109 loss.

It’s unclear whether Embiid is serious or is playing his own April Fools prank on fans. The 76ers did not participate in a shoot around Wednesday, instead opting to do a film session at the team’s hotel, per the Philadelphia Inquirer. Embiid’s shoes were reportedly laid out at a court-side seat before shoot around was canceled.

The 76ers’ big man has been limited to just 36 games this season due to various injuries. When on the court, he’s been productive, averaging 26.9 points and 7.4 rebounds.

This story will be updated.

Nico Hoerner's $141 million, six-year contract with the Chicago Cubs includes $10 million in deferred money payable from 2040-47.

Hoerner has a $12 million salary in 2026, the final season of a $35 million, three-year contract agreed to in March 2023.

His new deal, announced Sunday, includes a $5 million signing bonus payable in equal installments on June 1 this year and in 2027, according to contract details obtained by The Associated Press.

Hoerner gets salaries of $23 million each in 2027 and '28, and $22.5 million annually from 2029-32. Chicago will defer $2.5 million a year from 2029-32, payable in $1.25 million installments each Dec. 31 from 2040-47.

He also gets a full no-trade provision and a hotel suite on road trips.

A 28-year-old second baseman, Hoerner would have been eligible for free agency after this year's World Series. He has a .282 average with 36 homers, 280 RBIs and 134 stolen bases in eight seasons with the Cubs.

Hoerner’s long-term deal was announced three days after All-Star center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong finalized a $115 million, six-year contract.

___

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

To this point, according to a source close to Williamson, neither Williamson nor anyone in his camp has been given any indication that his time in New Orleans is nearing an end (both Dumars and Weaver declined interview requests). And yet, the awkward fit with Queen, combined with how deeply Dumars and Weaver are now invested in his success — the 2026 pick the Pelicans owe Atlanta as part of the Queen trade currently has a 32% chance of landing in the top four of a draft that scouts say features a loaded class — has many executives around the league assuming that Williamson, who is extension-eligible this offseason, will soon be on the market. Williamson is aware of the situation. “New Orleans is home for me. It’s where I want to be,” he said in a recent interview with Yahoo Sports when asked whether he thinks his time with the Pelicans is winding down. “But at the end of the day, if we're going to be realistic about it, the NBA is a business. I could be traded in the offseason, or I could be traded before [next season’s] trade deadline.” “Not that I want that to happen,” he added. “But that’s just the realism of it.”

Yahoo! Sports

This article originally appeared on Hoops Hype: Zion Williamson: New Orleans is home for me, it's where I want to be, but the NBA is a business and I could be traded

On the other hand, Williamson remains a non-rebounding poor defender who has eclipsed the 30-games-played mark just three times in his seven-year career and whose usage and assist numbers have both dipped this season. Combine that with his injury history and contract — which guarantees him $42.2 million next season and, if he hits certain incentive markers, possibly $45 million the year after — and, in the eyes of some, he becomes too risky a proposition in the NBA’s apron era. “Right now he’s a borderline All-Star who makes a lot of money,” said a Western Conference executive. “That’s the sort of player a lot of teams are now avoiding.”

Yahoo! Sports

This article originally appeared on Hoops Hype: “Right now he’s a borderline All-Star who makes a lot …

The Longhorns are in the meat of spring camp which means we are starting to see the true standouts. There are two names that gained praise from Steve Sarkisian on Tuesday. Both those names represent the batch of newcomers in Austin but also answer some questions for the Longhorns. Derrek Cooper, freshman RB, and Justin Cryer, transfer LB, have turned heads in spring camp and that’s an incredible sign for the Longhorns

Let’s start with Derrek Cooper and the question that he can answer. Cooper came into Austin as not only a 5-star freshman but already the second biggest RB on the roster. Michael Terry is the sole back that weighs in higher and his position seemingly is malleable this offseason. For the Texas run game, the one thing they need in my eyes is a true power back. If Cooper is answering the bell, that means Texas has their power back to go with Smothers and Brown. 

Sarkisian on freshman RB Derrek Cooper:

“I don't ever felt like our practice field has been too big for him... He's a really versatile player.”#HookEm | @TSTVSports

— Nolan Clay (@nolanclay10) March 31, 2026

Moving to the defensive side of the ball, the major concern Longhorns fans have is the LB room, particularly the depth. Well, Justin Cryer has come in and answered the bell, catching Sarkisian’s eye early in camp. If Cryer can step up, I believe Texas has five LBs that can give consistent reps this season(Biles, Smith, Cryer, Atkinson, Spence). That turns the room from a question mark to a strength in a hurry. 

Steve Sarkisian makes a point to highlight Sterling Berkhalter, Bo Mascoe, Rasheem Biles, Melvin Siani, and Justin Cryer as having provided “pleasant surprises” during the first half of spring practice.

— Inside Texas (@InsideTexas) March 31, 2026

There’s much more work to do and other position groups, namely the OL, that needs to see similar reports but this is a major step in the right direction. If Cooper fills the power back role, the Texas run game has four strong ballcarriers, including Arch Manning. If Cryer can be a true LB3, the LB room and defense as a whole gets a major upgrade. These early reports would indicate Texas is heading in the right direction in both cases. 

This Longhorns roster is among the best in the country. That doesn’t mean there aren’t concerns that need to be answered before Week 1. Cooper and Cryer represent two major answers. Now, it’s time for depth offensive lineman and safeties to subside the depth concerns in those position rooms.

This article originally appeared on Longhorns Wire: Cooper, Cryer answering depth concerns at RB, LB for Texas Football

Early reviews of the AirPods Max 2 highlight improved sound quality, excellent noise cancellation, and deeper Apple ecosystem integration, powered by the new H2 chip and added smart features.

Formo makes analytics and attribution easy for DeFi apps, so you can focus on growth. Understand who your users are, where they come from, and what they do onchain. Measure what matters and drive growth onchain with the data platform for onchain apps. Get the best of web, product, and onchain analytics on one versatile platform.

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Lifeplanr visualizes your entire life as 4,680 weeks and lets you plan, journal, map travel, and track finances with a built-in FIRE calculator. You can see life phases at a glance, tag moods, attach photos, and scratch off countries you’ve visited.

Install it as a PWA on any device, switch between 10 themes, and use it offline. Your data stays on your device by default, with optional Pro cloud sync and easy export.

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Samsung’s Bespoke washer and dryer had a problem after a recent software update. Updates are usually made to improve devices as they fix small problems and sometimes add new features. But this time, the update created a big issue.

After installing the update, many users said their machines stopped working properly. The main problem is that they cannot wash clothes anymore. Before the update, there was a “more cycles” option on the screen. This option showed different washing choices.

This option disappeared after the update. The screen became blank, so users could not start a wash. This is a serious issue because the machine is made to wash and dry clothes in one unit. It depends on software to control everything. If the software has a problem, the machine cannot do its basic work.

Some users tried to fix the problem themselves. A few people said that changing the screen settings helped. Others said they had to reset the machine many times before it worked again. These fixes are not simple and may not work for everyone.

Samsung knows about the problem, but it has not given a proper solution yet. This has made many users upset, especially because the machine is expensive.

This problem also shows a bigger issue with smart devices. Today, many home appliances use software. This makes them smart and easy to use. But it also means they can stop working if something goes wrong in an update. Stay tuned for more information.

The post Samsung update disrupts washing function in Bespoke units appeared first on Sammy Fans.

Honor has just made the Play 80 Pro official in China. The phone comes with a 6.8-inch LCD screen with 720x1610 resolution, 850-nit peak brightness, and seemingly a 60Hz refresh rate (since a higher one isn't mentioned anywhere on the official website). It's powered by the 5G-capable Snapdragon 6s Gen 3 SoC, and it's being offered in three RAM/storage configurations: 6/256GB, 8/256GB, and 12/256GB. The entry-level option is priced at CNY 1,899 ($275), the mid-end option is CNY 2,099 ($304), and the top of the line version goes for CNY 2,299 ($333). Honor Play 80 Pro official...

Despite arriving at Barcelona with a secondary role, João Cancelo has managed to impress with his performances. While it took him time to regain his physical condition, the Portuguese has already become key for Hansi Flick. Despite this, the Blaugranas reportedly face significant difficulties in securing his arrival as a free agent, complicating his continuity. Given this situation, the 31-year-old star has opened the door to a move to Benfica.

The Blaugranas have decided to consider signing Cancelo on a permanent basis. However, they would only do so if he manages to leave Al Hilal as a free agent. Since he is under contract with the Saudi club until 2027, they are reportedly asking for around €15 million for his transfer, a figure Barcelona would flatly reject. For this reason, they have reportedly opened the door to Benfica.

In a recent interview with Canal 11, João Cancelo revealed key details about his future, hinting at a return to Benfica: “I’ve already earned more than I expected, but playing for Benfica is like basketball; it’s for the love of the game. I’d be prepared to lower my salary.” While the 31-year-old star remains open to an emotive comeback, the Portuguese side still needs to negotiate his signing with Al Hilal.

Having regained his physical form, Cancelo’s potential arrival at Benfica would be a definite boost for the team. Under José Mourinho, they have regained their competitiveness in the Champions League. The 31-year-old star could boost the team’s performance, as he would contribute on both flanks and shines offensively. Given this, the Blaugranas are already considering two alternatives to João Cancelo.

Report: Barcelona target two left-back reinforcements

Throughout the 2025–26 season, Barcelona have repeatedly been without their starting left-back: Alejandro Balde. While the presence of João Cancelo helped ease the need, his continuity appears unlikely due to Al Hilal’s price tag. In response, they have decided to look for a reliable reinforcement capable of competing for a starting spot. For this reason, the Blaugrana reportedly already have two clear candidates.

According to Alfredo Martínez and Gianluigi Longari, Alejandro Grimaldo of Bayer Leverkusen and Andrea Cambiaso of Juventus have emerged as clear targets for Barcelona. While the Spaniard could leave for €15 million, the Italian could command a higher transfer fee as he is a key player for coach Luciano Spalletti. However, the Blaugrana are only holding talks for now, with no formal negotiations yet underway.

The story involving Cristiano Ronaldo and his son, Cristiano Ronaldo Jr., has taken an unexpected turn after sensational claims spread rapidly online. Reports suggested that the 15-year-old delivered a stunning performance for Portugal’s U-16 side, scoring as many as five goals in a single match. The narrative quickly gained traction, fueled by social media posts and seemingly detailed match breakdowns.

At first glance, the claims appeared credible, with screenshots showing minute-by-minute goal updates attributed to the young forward. Given his growing reputation and soccer lineage, many fans found the story easy to believe. The idea of Ronaldo Jr. replicating his father’s prolific scoring feats added to the excitement surrounding the report.

However, questions soon emerged as observers looked more closely at the details. Discrepancies between official records and viral posts created doubt, prompting further investigation into what actually happened. The situation escalated as more users challenged the authenticity of the widely shared information.

As the dust settles, the reality behind the viral claim has become clear. It has been confirmed that Cristiano Ronaldo Jr. was not called up to the Portugal U-16 squad and did not play in the match, revealing that the story was built on misinformation rather than fact.

What really happened in Portugal U-16 vs Mexico

Official records from the Montaigu Tournament confirm that Portugal U-16 secured a narrow 1-0 victory over Mexico, with Victor Bastianele scoring the only goal of the match. This directly contradicts the viral claims that Ronaldo Jr. scored four or even five goals in the game.

According to the match data, the young forward was not involved in the fixture at all, making the circulating reports entirely false. The fabricated story was further exposed when comparisons with official federation data showed no trace of his participation.

How the viral misinformation spread

The confusion appears to have originated from manipulated content shared on social media platforms. A widely circulated post included a fabricated screenshot designed to mimic a legitimate match report, complete with a breakdown of supposed goals.

Adding to the chaos, a community-driven feature on the live statistics platform, Sofascore, temporarily allowed users to alter match data. This led to a bizarre situation in which Ronaldo Jr. was briefly shown as a multi-goal scorer before corrections were made, further fueling the misinformation.

The altered statistics were eventually fixed, and community notes linked to reliable outlets highlighted the claims as fabricated, exposing the story as a deliberate attempt to generate engagement rather than report factual events.

The spotlight once again falls on Cristiano Ronaldo as anticipation builds around his comeback, with reports suggesting that his status for the upcoming clash has taken a decisive turn. The veteran forward has returned to training with Al-Nassr, raising expectations ahead of a crucial league fixture. For the Saudi club, his presence could reshape momentum at a defining stage of the campaign.

After weeks on the sidelines, uncertainty had begun to surround the Portuguese star’s condition following a muscle injury sustained in a key victory. Even though the club won two games without him, his absence disrupted the rhythm and forced Jorge Jesus to adapt without his main attacking player. However, recent developments indicate that the situation is evolving positively behind the scenes.

The recovery process has been meticulous, involving treatment abroad and a structured rehabilitation plan. Updates from training sessions hinted at steady progress, with the forward himself signaling optimism through brief but telling messages. His return to full training marked a critical step, suggesting that the final phase of recovery had been successfully navigated.

Now, as Friday’s match against Al-Najma approaches, the narrative becomes clearer and more intriguing. Cristiano Ronaldo will become a Saudi ‘centurion’ when he plays his 100th Saudi Pro League game for Al-Nassr, a milestone that adds extra significance to his long-awaited return.

Crucial comeback at a decisive moment

Ronaldo’s return to group training represents a turning point for Al-Nassr, confirming that his rehabilitation has been completed successfully. Having missed several matches, including fixtures against NEOM and Al-Khaleej, his reintegration provides a major boost both tactically and mentally.

According to multiple Saudi reports and club updates, the forward has now been fully cleared to resume competitive action, signaling confidence from the medical staff. This development arrives at a critical juncture, with the club pushing to maintain its position at the top of the Saudi Pro League standings.

What the milestone means for Al-Nassr’s ambitions

Reaching the 100-match mark in the Saudi Pro League highlights Ronaldo’s consistency and impact since moving to the Middle East. With 95 goals and 18 assists in 99 league appearances, his influence has been nothing short of transformative for the club.

The 41-year-old’s return now aligns perfectly with a crucial run of fixtures that could define the title race. Matches against direct rivals loom large, and the presence of a proven match-winner could be decisive in tight encounters.

Galatasaray'ın çok büyük bir transferi daha son anda yapamadığı ortaya çıktı. Yönetici Abdullah Kavukcu, gizli kalmış bir transfer operasyonunu ilk kez paylaştı... Ocak ayı transfer döneminde Senegal ile Afrika Uluslar Kupası zaferi yaşayan Pape Gueye ile her konuda el sıkışıldığını, oyuncunun gelmeye ikna edildiğini ancak kulübünün son anda yükselen performans nedeniyle transfere engel olduğunu itiraf etti. Kavukcu, "Eğer bu imzayı attırsaydık Avrupa'da yer yerinden oynardı" diyerek kaçan balığın büyüklüğünü gözler önüne serdi.

Galatasaray’da futbolun yönetimindeki kilit isimlerden Abdullah Kavukcu, sarı-kırmızılı camiayı heyecanlandıran gizli kalmış bir transfer operasyonunu açıkladı. Katıldığı bir toplantıda konuşan Kavukcu, devre arası transfer döneminde dünyanın konuşacağı bir ismin kapısından döndüklerini itiraf etti.

Kavukcu, orta saha takviyesi için yürütülen çalışmalarda çok büyük bir yıldızla el sıkıştıklarını belirterek şu ifadeleri kullandı:

- Devre arasında orta saha için çok çok büyük bir yıldızla anlaşmaya varmıştık. Neredeyse imza aşamasına gelmiştik; oyuncu gelmeyi kabul etti. Hatta biz bu oyuncuyu getirseydik Avrupa'da yer yerinden oynardı. Fakat o dönemde oyuncunun performansı artınca kulübü bırakmadı.

Abdullah Kavukcu Leroy Sane'ye sahip çıktı: Öve öve bitiremedi

Kavukcu’nun isim vermeden işaret ettiği o dünya yıldızının kim olduğu kısa sürede ortaya çıktı. Bahsi geçen oyuncunun, Senegal Milli Takımı ile AFCON (Afrika Uluslar Kupası) şampiyonluğu yaşayan ve Avrupa piyasasının en gözde orta sahalarından biri olan Pape Gueye olduğu öğrenildi.

O dönemde Fotospor Gueye’nin Galatasaray’a transfer olmayı kabul ettiğini ve tarafların prensipte anlaştığı haberini yapmıştı. Ancak Kavukcu’nun da belirttiği üzere, oyuncunun Afrika Kupası'ndaki form grafiğinin yükselmesi, bu dev transferin son anda gerçekleşmesine engel oldu.

Türkiye Basketbol Federasyonu Başkanı (TBF) Hidayet Türkoğlu ve beraberindeki heyet, Adalet Bakanı Akın Gürlek ile İçişleri Bakanı Mustafa Çiftçi'ye yeni görevleri dolayısıyla "hayırlı olsun" ziyaretinde bulundu.

TBF'den yapılan açıklamaya göre Hidayet Türkoğlu, Adalet Bakanı Akın Gürlek ile bir araya geldi. Ziyarette, TBF Yönetim Kurulu Üyesi Emre Ballı ve Eski TBF Yönetim Kurulu Üyesi Ömer Onan da hazır bulundu.

Adalet Bakanlığı'nın Ankara'daki yerleşkesinde gerçekleştirilen görüşmede, Hidayet Türkoğlu, Akın Gürlek'e yeni görevi dolayısıyla hayırlı olsun dileklerini iletti.

Görüşmenin ardından Türkoğlu, Gürlek'e isminin yazılı olduğu milli takım forması takdim etti.

Türkoğlu, İçişleri Bakanı Çiftçi'yi de ziyaret etti

Hidayet Türkoğlu ve beraberindeki heyet, İçişleri Bakanı Mustafa Çiftçi ile de bir araya geldi.

İçişleri Bakanlığı'nın Ankara’daki yerleşkesinde yapılan görüşmede Hidayet Türkoğlu, İçişleri Bakanı Mustafa Çiftçi'ye yeni görevi dolayısıyla hayırlı olsun dileklerini iletti.

Görüşmenin ardından Hidayet Türkoğlu, Mustafa Çiftçi’ye isminin yazılı olduğu Konya'nın plaka kodunun bulunduğu 42 numaralı milli takım forması takdim etti.

The post Bitcoin Stuck Between $60K and $70K—Why BTC Price Isn’t Ready to Break Out appeared first on Coinpedia Fintech News

The Bitcoin price continues to trade within a defined $60,000–$70,000 range, but this lack of movement is not random—it reflects a market in equilibrium, not expansion. Spot demand is gradually absorbing sell-side pressure, while derivatives have reset, removing excess leverage. As a result, volatility has cooled, and price action has stabilized.

But stability is not strength.

Without a clear catalyst or aggressive demand, Bitcoin remains in a compression phase, where both buyers and sellers are active, yet neither side has enough conviction to drive a sustained move. On-chain data from Glassnode explains why the breakout is still missing.

Supply in Loss Signals: Selling Pressure Is Being Absorbed

The “Total Supply in Loss” metric shows a recent spike, indicating that a large portion of BTC holders are currently underwater. Historically, this phase often leads to increased sell-side pressure, as weaker hands exit positions.

However, the price has not collapsed. This suggests that spot demand is absorbing supply effectively, preventing a breakdown. While this is constructive, it does not indicate strength—it reflects balance between buyers and sellers, not dominance.

Realized Loss Spikes Point to Capitulation — But Not Expansion

On-chain Glassnode data shows a rise in realised losses, particularly among short-term holders. This typically marks local capitulation events, where panic selling flushes out weak participants. Historically, such phases can form a base, but only if followed by strong inflows.

Right now, that second part is missing. The market has absorbed losses, but there is no clear follow-through demand, keeping Bitcoin stuck within its current range.

Derivatives Reset Removes Fuel for Breakout

The perpetual market directional premium has normalized, showing that leverage has been flushed out of the system. At the same time, volatility risk premium is declining, signaling reduced expectations of large price swings.

This move is pivotal as breakouts require aggressive positioning, expanded voalitlty and a strong directional conviction. Unfortunately, none of this has happened as of now, hinting towards the future traders being uncertain. 

Bitcoin Price Outlook — Range Holds Until Catalyst Appears

Bitcoin is not weak—but it is not ready to move either. The current phase reflects absorption without expansion, where supply is being managed but demand is not strong enough to drive a breakout. Until a clear catalyst emerges, Bitcoin is likely to remain range-bound, controlled, and directionless.

As the BTC price remains stuck between $60,000 & $70,000, a breakdown or a breakout from the range may trigger upside or downside price action. 

The post Pepeto Could Deliver What ADA Protocol 11 Will Take Years to Match – Here Is How appeared first on Coinpedia Fintech News

Cardano just confirmed its Protocol 11 hard fork for April 2026, a governance overhaul that will reshape on chain voting and treasury management. ADA sits at $0.24 with developer activity strong at 680 commits per week across 80 repositories. 

The Cardano price prediction conversation shifts because the technical progress is real, but the price has not followed, with ADA still 91 percent below its all time high. Midnight, Cardano’s privacy sidechain, just launched with Google, MoneyGram, Telegram, and Vodafone as validators. The disconnect between development and price is pushing wallets toward entries that combine utility with the kind of listing event that compresses returns. 

Cardano Price Prediction Shifts as Protocol 11 Hard Fork Arrives and Midnight Sidechain Launches With Google and Vodafone

Cardano’s Protocol 11 hard fork introduces a full on chain governance framework where ADA holders vote directly on treasury allocations and protocol upgrades (OpenPR). 

The Midnight privacy sidechain launched with Google, MoneyGram, Telegram, and Vodafone as validators, adding a privacy layer no other major Layer 1 has deployed at this scale (CoinMarketCap). 

The ADA outlook confirms the upgrades are real, but the gap between development and price keeps growing.

Top Candidates Positioned While ADA Governance Upgrades Land

Pepeto: Can This Presale Offer Better Returns Than Cardano This Year ?

The biggest development in crypto this week was Mastercard bringing 85 firms into one program. For everyday wallets, that means more entries competing for attention and more risk of capital landing in the wrong place. 

Pepeto is the Pepe cofounder’s exchange that gives wallets live tools to cut through the noise. PepetoSwap clears every trade at zero cost. The risk scorer checks contracts and flags concentrated holders before capital enters. The bridge moves portfolios across networks for free. The platform solves a real problem that grows bigger every time more entries compete for the same wallets.

More than $8 million committed during Fear and Greed 11 at $0.000000186. Each completed round closes faster as the confirmed Binance listing approaches. The SolidProof audit cleared every deployed contract. A dev who directed Binance token debuts designed the listing timeline. Staking at 190% APY compounds the position while the exchange scales. 

Meme energy plus real exchange tools at the same time happens once per cycle. The Binance listing is the one event that delivers the return. The wallets inside know what the listing delivers, and the presale is still open for anyone who sees the how is promising the potential here.

Cardano Price Prediction: ADA Tests $0.24 as Protocol 11 Governance and Midnight Privacy Launch Target Recovery

ADA trades at $0.24 according to CoinMarketCap, with Protocol 11 hard fork confirmed for April 2026 and developer activity holding at 680 commits per week (OpenPR). 

Midnight sidechain went live with Google, MoneyGram, Telegram, and Vodafone as validators, targeting the $24 billion real world asset tokenization market (CoinMarketCap). CoinCodex forecasts $0.38 by mid 2026 with Changelly targeting $0.307 to $0.412 for April. Support holds at $0.28 with $0.34 as the first resistance. 

The SEC classified ADA as a digital commodity, clearing the regulatory path. The Cardano price prediction shows strong technical fundamentals, but the gap between 680 weekly commits and a 91 percent drawdown from all time highs means the price needs sustained on chain activity beyond governance improvements. Long term targets range from $1.80 to $2.20 if ETF speculation and DeFi growth both accelerate through the year.

Conclusion

The Cardano price prediction is positive and Protocol 11 is genuine progress. But ADA needs to climb from $0.24 to $0.34 just to reclaim the first resistance, and that timeline stretches while a listing compresses everything. 

Pepeto through the Pepeto official website is where meme energy plus verified exchange tools plus a confirmed Binance listing forms the combination crypto produces once per cycle, and the wallets inside know set to profit from the price explosion expected after listing, and the presale pricing that makes the returns possible disappears permanently when trading opens.

Click To Visit Pepeto Website To Enter The Presale

FAQs:

What is the Cardano price prediction for April 2026?

CoinCodex targets $0.38 by mid 2026 after Protocol 11 governance, and the Cardano price prediction confirms Pepeto’s listing compresses what ADA delivers over months.

How does the Midnight sidechain affect the Cardano price prediction?

Privacy at scale with Google and Vodafone validators adds real utility, and Pepeto, through the Pepeto official website gives the meme exchange where the listing delivers faster.

Why is this combination the rarest crypto produced?

Meme energy plus verified tools plus confirmed listing happens once per cycle, and a SolidProof audit with $8 million during fear means the wallets inside already see the outcome.

Google Ads quietly added an auto-apply setting to its experiments feature — and it’s turned on by default, meaning winning experiment variants can be automatically pushed live without manual review.

How it works. Advertisers can choose between two modes — directional results (the default) or statistical significance at 80%, 85%, or 95% confidence levels. There is one built-in safeguard: if a chosen success metric performs significantly worse in the test arm, the change won’t be automatically applied.

Why we care. Experiments are one of the most powerful tools in a Google Ads account. Automating the apply step could speed up testing cycles, but it also removes a critical checkpoint where advertisers catch unintended consequences before they affect live campaigns.

The catch. Experiments only allow two success metrics. That means a third metric you care about — one you didn’t or couldn’t select — could quietly be declining in the background, and the auto-apply setting would never catch it. The guardrails protect what you told Google to watch, not everything that matters.

The bottom line. The auto-apply feature is a reasonable shortcut for straightforward tests, but for anything consequential, manual review is still worth the extra step. Run the experiment, let it reach significance, then dig into the full data before pulling the trigger yourself.

First seen. This update was spotted by Google Ads specialist Bob Meijer who shared the update on LinkedIn.

Bing appears to be testing a significantly expanded sponsored products section in its shopping search results, featuring a double-rowed carousel that takes up considerably more real estate than its current format.

What was spotted: The test was flagged by Digital Marketer Sachin Patel, who noticed the expanded layout while searching for cushions on Bing. The format pairs a large double-rowed sponsored carousel with organic cards from individual websites beneath it.

Why we care. If this format rolls out broadly, it means significantly more screen space dedicated to sponsored products — which typically translates to higher visibility and more clicks for retailers running Microsoft Shopping campaigns. The double-rowed carousel format is also a more visually competitive layout, putting Bing’s shopping ads closer in prominence to what Google Shopping already offers.

The catch: The test appears to be limited — not all users are seeing it. Search industry veteran Mordy Oberstein checked his own results and got a noticeably more compact layout, suggesting Bing is still in early experimentation mode.

The bottom line: Bing quietly runs a lot of SERP experiments that never make it to full rollout, so this one is worth watching but not banking on. Retailers running Microsoft Shopping campaigns should keep an eye out for any uptick in impressions if the format expands.

First spotted. This test was was spotted by Sachin Paten who shared a screenshot of the test on X.

SEO tools were the most replaced martech application in 2025 — but not for the reason you might expect.

According to the 2025 MarTech Replacement Survey, SEO platforms topped the list of replaced tools for the first time, overtaking categories like marketing automation platforms (MAPs), which had led for the past five years.

At first glance, that might suggest instability in SEO. After all, the discipline is being reshaped by LLMs, AI-generated answers, and the rise of zero-click search experiences — all of which challenge traditional keyword tracking and ranking-based workflows.

But the data tells a more nuanced story.

SEO tools: most replaced, but stabilizing

Even though SEO tools were the most replaced category in 2025, they were replaced at a slower rate than in prior years.

In other words, they’re now the most commonly replaced — but also more stable than before.

That shift suggests a maturing category. Rather than widespread churn, you appear to be consolidating, upgrading, or refining your SEO stack as search evolves.

Meanwhile, several other major martech categories saw sharper year-over-year declines in replacements:

• CRM replacements fell more than 12% from 2024 to 2025, reaching their lowest level in the survey’s history.
• MAPs, email platforms, and CMS tools also declined compared to 2024.

Why SEO tools are being replaced

So if SEO tools aren’t being swapped out due to instability, what’s driving the changes?

The survey points to three primary factors:

1. AI capabilities

For the first time, the survey asked about AI’s role in replacement decisions — and the impact was significant.

• 37.1% cited AI capabilities as an important factor.
• 33.9% said they wanted AI capabilities when replacing a tool.

This reflects a broader shift in SEO tooling, with platforms rapidly integrating AI for:

• Content generation and optimization.
• SERP analysis and intent modeling.
• Workflow automation.

In many cases, replacing your SEO tool isn’t about abandoning SEO — it’s about upgrading to AI-native capabilities.

2. Cost pressures

Cost has become a major driver of martech replacement decisions, including SEO tools:

• 43.8% of marketers cited cost reduction as a reason for replacing an application in 2025.
• That’s up sharply from 23% in 2024 and 22% in 2023.

This suggests growing pressure to optimize and rationalize your SEO tech stack, especially as you evaluate overlapping functionality across tools.

3. Changing needs in a shifting search landscape

As search behavior changes, so do expectations for SEO platforms.

Traditional rank tracking and keyword monitoring are no longer sufficient on their own. Teams are increasingly looking for tools that can:

• Surface insights across AI-driven SERPs
• Track visibility beyond clicks
• Integrate with broader marketing and data systems

That evolution is likely contributing to replacement activity — even as overall stability increases.

AI is reviving custom-built SEO tools

One of the more notable trends in the 2025 survey is the resurgence of homegrown solutions, including for SEO workflows.

Replacing commercial martech tools with homegrown applications accounted for:

• 8.1% of replacements in 2025
• Up from 3.4% in 2024 and 5% in 2023

This marks a meaningful shift after years of near-total reliance on commercial platforms.

“AI-assisted coding is changing the calculus of build vs. buy,” said martech analyst Scott Brinker. “It’s easier and faster to build than ever before. Companies should still buy applications where they have no comparative advantage. But in cases where they can tailor capabilities to differentiate their operations or customer experience, custom-built software is an increasingly attractive option.”

For SEO teams, this could mean more organizations building:

• Custom data pipelines.
• Proprietary SERP tracking systems.
• AI-driven analysis tools tailored to their specific needs.

Other martech categories show even greater stability

While SEO tools led in total replacements, the broader martech landscape is becoming more stable.

Several major categories saw declining replacement rates in 2025, including:

• CRM platforms (down more than 12% year over year)
• Marketing automation platforms
• Email distribution tools
• Content management systems

This suggests that many organizations are settling into core systems while selectively updating areas — like SEO — that are changing faster.

Methodology

Invitations to take the 2025 MarTech Replacement Survey were distributed via email, website, and social media in Q4 2025.

A total of 207 marketers responded. Findings are based on the 154 respondents (60%) who said they had replaced a martech application in the previous 12 months.

Download the 2025 MarTech Replacement Survey, no registration required.

FIFA milli komandaların reytinqini açıqlayıb.

Futbolpress.az xəbər verir ki, Azərbaycan yığması 1136.67 xalla 124-cü sırada qərarlaşıb. Milli ötən siyahı ilə müqayisədə üç pillə irəliləyib.

Azərbaycan yığması bir neçə gün əvvəl “FIFA Series-2026″nın qalibi olub. Komanda Sent Lüsiyanı (6:1) və Syerra Leoneni (1:1, penaltilər 9:8) məğlub edib.

Reytinq cədvəlinə 1877.32 xalla Fransa başçılıq edir.

İtaliya millisinin qapıçısı Canluici Donnarumma dünya çempionatına vəsiqə qazanmamalarını şərh edib.

Futbolpress.az xəbər verir ki, qolkiper Bosniya və Herseqovinaya penaltilərdə uduzduqları matçdan sonra bunları deyib:

“Oyundan sonra ağladım. İtaliyanı layiq olduğu yerə apara bilmədik və çox məyusuq. Millinin kapitanıyam və bundan qürur duyuram”.

Misli Premyer Liqasının XXI turunda keçiriləcək “Sumqayıt” – “Nefçti” oyununun biletləri satışa çıxarılıb.

Futbolpress.az xəbər verir ki, 5 aprel, saat 18:00-da baş tutacaq “Sumqayıt” – “Neftçi” matçının biletlərini iTicket.az, 1 saylı Sumqayıt ASAN Xidmət mərkəzi, oyun günü saat 14:00-dan etibarən isə Mehdi Hüseynzadə adına stadionun kassasından əldə edə bilərsiniz.

Qeyd edək ki, biletlərin qiyməti sektorlardan asılı olaraq 2, 3, 5 və 10 manatdır.

I Liqada XX turun təyinatları açıqlanıb.

Futbolpress.az xəbər verir ki, “Səbail” – “Baku Sportinq” oyununu Əli Əliyev idarə edəcək..

2 aprel (cümə axşamı)

MOİK – “Cəbrayıl”
Hakimlər: Kamran Əliyev, Orxan İbişov, Rasim Axundov, Səbuhi Bayramov
Hakim-inspektor: Orxan Məmmədov
AFFA nümayəndəsi: Novruz Əzimov
Binə qəsəbə stadionu, 15:00

“Zaqatala” – “Difai”
Hakimlər: İslam Məmmədov, Sənan Atayev, Aydın Bəxşiyev, Şamil İmanzadə
Hakim-inspektor: Rövşən Əhmədov
AFFA nümayəndəsi: Azər Əsgərov
Zaqatala OİK stadionu, 15:30

“Səbail” – “Baku Sportinq”
Hakimlər: Əli Əliyev, Gülnurə Əkbərzadə, Rəhman Aslanov, Murad Səlimov
Hakim-inspektor: Zöhrab Qədiyev
AFFA nümayəndəsi: Nəriman Axundov
“Bayıl Arena”, 17:00

3 aprel (cümə)

“Şahdağ Qusar” – “Şimal”
Hakimlər: Emin Əliyev, Vüqar Bayramov, Safalı Ağayev, Maqsud Şamıyev
Hakim-inspektor: Ceyhun Haşımov
AFFA nümayəndəsi: Asif Əliyev
Şamaxı OİK stadionu, 15:30

“Mingəçevir” – “Şəfa”
Hakimlər: Elvin Bayramov, Şirmamed Mamedov, Mirnihat Seyidov, Sənan Bayramzadə
Hakim-inspektor: Ramil Diniyev
AFFA nümayəndəsi: Eldəniz Musayev
Y.Məmmədzadə adına Mingəçevir şəhər stadionu (ehtiyat meydança), 15:30

Source

Source

There will still be an Italian presence at the 2026 World Cup, even if Gennaro Gattuso and the Nazionale failed to make it, as three former Azzurri players qualified as head coaches with other nations. 

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Italy crashed out at the World Cup play-off stage for the third tournament cycle in a row as Bosnia and Herzegovina beat the 10-man Azzurri on penalties in Zenica on Tuesday night. 

Which head coaches from Italy will be at the 2026 World Cup?

Despite the shortcomings of Gattuso and his players, there are only three nations, Argentina (6), France (6), and Spain (4) that will have more head coaches at the World Cup than Italy (3). 

That is because Carlo Ancelotti qualified as head coach of Brazil, Fabio Cannavaro as the head coach of Uzbekistan and Vincenzo Montella as head coach of Turkiye, who beat Kosovo in their World Cup play-off final at the same time as Bosnia vs. Italy on Tuesday evening. 

The 48 competing teams at the 2026 World Cup will be led by head coaches from 25 different nations. Those nations include Argentina (6), France (6), Spain (4), Italy (3), Germany (3), England (2), the Netherlands (2), Australia (2), Bosnia and Herzegovina (2), Morocco (2). 

Croatia, Norway, Czechia, Scotland, Switzerland, Egypt, Senegal, Cape Verde, South Korea, Japan, Iran and Mexico will all be led by head coaches from their own nations, while South Africa will be guided by the tournament’s only Belgian head coach in Hugo Broos and Canada by the only American head coach in Jesse Marsch.

Fabio Capello has delivered a scathing assessment of Italy’s third consecutive World Cup elimination, describing the defeat to Bosnia as a national disgrace and calling for the entire FIGC leadership to accept responsibility and step down.

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The former England, Milan and Real Madrid manager spoke to Spanish newspaper Marca in the immediate aftermath of Wednesday night’s penalty shootout defeat in Zenica, and made no attempt to soften his words.

“I could not sleep all night, I still cannot believe what happened,” he said, with quotes via LLSN. “We are talking about a four-time world champion. This is a sporting tragedy, a disgrace. It is one of the worst things to have happened to Italian football in its recent history.”

Capello questions lack of resignations after Italy disaster

Capello’s sharpest criticism, however, was reserved not for the players or the coaching staff but for those at the top of the game’s administration.

“Nobody is resigning here, and that is the most worrying thing,” he said. “The first person who should take responsibility is the president of the federation, along with the entire leadership.”

The 79-year-old was equally clear that the problem runs far deeper than a single bad result.

“This is not just about results, it is structural,” he said. “Italy needs to reinvent itself. We must bring together the experts, analyse what is happening and begin a reconstruction from the foundations. It will be very difficult to recover from this, but I trust it will serve as the beginning of a genuine renewal.”

With Gravina yet to signal any intention to resign despite growing pressure from all directions, Capello’s words add another prominent voice to what is becoming an overwhelming chorus of calls for change.

Tuesday night’s elimination against Bosnia and Herzegovina in the World Cup play-off final means that there is now only one Italy player currently in Serie A that has previously featured in the World’s biggest international tournament.

Italy were beaten on penalties in Zenica on Tuesday night after being held level at 1-1 after 120 minutes of football. The Azzurri played with 10 men for 80 minutes after Alessandro Bastoni’s red card just before the end of the first half. 

This is the third time in a row that Italy have fallen short at the World Cup play-off stage. As fans know all too well, the Azzurri have not qualified for the final tournament since 2014 and have not won a World Cup knock-out match since beating France in the final in 2006. 

Who is the only current Serie A player that has played for Italy at a World Cup?

This means that as things stand, there is only one Italian in Serie A that has previously played at a World Cup: Inter defender Matteo Darmian. 

The now 36-year-old played the full 90 minutes in all three of Italy’s group stage matches in 2014, against England, Costa Rica and Uruguay, but Cesare Prandelli’s side did not qualify for the round of 16 after finishing the group with just one win and three points to their name. 

There was one other current Serie A player in Italy’s 2014 World Cup squad, Juventus goalkeeper Mattia Perin, but he did not play in any matches at the tournament given that Gianluigi Buffon was the captain of the side. 

There are five other members of Italy’s 2014 World Cup who are still active, but are not currently playing in Serie A. They are Mario Balotelli of Al-Ittifaq in the United Arab Emirates, Salvatore Sirigu of Palermo in Serie B, Ciro Immobile of Paris FC, Lorenzo Insigne of Pescara in Serie B and Marco Verratti of Al-Duhail in Qatar.

Claudio Lotito has taken the remarkable step of launching a petition in the Italian Senate calling for FIGC president Gabriele Gravina to resign, in the fallout from Italy’s devastating World Cup playoff final defeat to Bosnia on penalties.

According to TuttoMercatoWeb, the Lazio president and Forza Italia senator is using his political platform to pile pressure on Gravina, who has so far given no indication that he intends to step down despite overseeing a third consecutive failure to qualify for the World Cup.

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Italy drew 1-1 after 90 minutes in Zenica, with Alessandro Bastoni’s red card in the first half leaving the Azzurri with ten men for the vast majority of the match. No goals in extra time saw the tie go to penalties, where Italy were ultimately eliminated.

Gravina days numbered as FIGC chief resists for now

The political pressure on Gravina is now considerable.

The Sports Minister has already publicly called on him to resign, and the FIGC president has convened an emergency meeting for tomorrow afternoon in Rome, bringing together representatives from Serie A, Serie B, Serie C, the amateur leagues, coaches’ and players’ associations, to assess the situation ahead of a full Federal Council meeting next week.

The mood outside FIGC headquarters has turned hostile, with protesters pelting the building with eggs following last night’s result.

Gravina, who was re-elected unopposed relatively recently despite the previous two World Cup absences, faces the biggest crisis of his tenure, and with Lotito now mobilising political opposition from within the Senate itself, the calls for his departure are becoming increasingly difficult to ignore.

Manchester United are interested in signing the Benfica defender, Samuel Dahl. 

The 23-year-old left back has impressed with the Portuguese club, and he has attracted the attention of Manchester United. According to a report from Record via SportWitness, Manchester United have scouted the player more than 10 times this season.

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Man United could use Samuel Dahl

It remains to be seen whether they follow up on their interest with an official proposal to sign the player. They need a long-term replacement for Luke Shaw, and the Swedish defender could be ideal. The 23-year-old is a young talent with a bright future, and a move to the Premier League could be exciting for him.

Manchester United have done well to nurture young players in the past, and they could help the Swedish defender fulfil his potential. If they can sign him for a reasonable amount, the deal could be a shrewd investment.

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Man United move could tempt Dahl

Dahl will look to take the next step in his development and compete at a higher level. Manchester United could provide him with the platform to compete in the UEFA Champions League next season and fight for trophies. They are among the biggest clubs in the world, and joining them would give him great exposure as a talent.

Meanwhile, the player has a contract with the Portuguese outfit until 2029. They are under no pressure to sell him at the end of the season, and Manchester United will have to meet their asking price in order to get the deal done.

Dahl has four goal contributions this season, and he could make an impact at both ends of the pitch for Manchester United. It remains to be seen whether the Red Devils can wrap up the move in the summer.

Man United in advanced talks to sign Premier League star, insiders also confident over another deal

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Arsenal are interested in signing the French attacker Jean-Matteo Bahoya from Eintracht Frankfurt at the end of the season.

According to a report via SportWitness, the 20-year-old has attracted the attention of the London club, and they are prepared to make a move in the summer. The player will cost €40 million, and it remains to be seen whether Arsenal is prepared to pay up.

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Jean-Matteo Bahoya is a promising talent

Bahoya can operate as a left-sided winger or an attacking midfielder. He has eight goal contributions this season, and he will improve with coaching and experience. Arsenal need more creativity in the final third, and the French prodigy could be an excellent long-term investment.

The opportunity to join Arsenal will be exciting for the young attacker as well. It would be a step up in his career, and he would get to play for one of the biggest clubs in the world. €40 million is a substantial asking price for an unproven talent like him, and it remains to be seen whether the German club is willing to reduce their asking price.

Arsenal will be hoping to sign him for a reasonable fee in the summer. Previously, there were rumours Bahoya could cost €70 million.

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Bahoya could be an asset for Arsenal

They are looking to build a formidable team for the future, and the French attacker would be an asset for them in the long run. They have done well to groom young players in the past, and Arsenal could play a key role in Bahoya’s development.

Several European clubs are keeping tabs on the talented young attacker, and it remains to be seen where he ends up. Arsenal have the pull and the finances to get the deal done, and they should act quickly if they are truly interested in the player.

The post Arsenal eye move for €40m-rated French attacker ahead of summer window appeared first on CaughtOffside.

Pervis Estupinan has been linked with a return to the Premier League at the end of the season.

The defender could be on his way out of AC Milan in the summer, and Tottenham Hotspur are prepared to bring him back to England. According to a report from Milan Live, the player is particularly appreciated by Roberto De Zerbi, who signed a long-term contract with the north London club yesterday.

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De Zerbi wants Pervis Estupinan

He has been appointed the club’s new manager and is looking to further improve the team. Ben Davies will leave the club in the summer, and they need to replace him. Signing an experienced left-back would be a wise decision, and Estupinan could prove to be a quality acquisition.

He has shown his quality in the Premier League with Brighton, scoring a stunning goal against Tottenham during his time in England. There is no doubt he has the ability to succeed at Tottenham as well. The opportunity to join the London club could be exciting for him. He has also been linked with Atletico Madrid.

De Zerbi worked with the player during their time together at Brighton, and a reunion could be exciting for both parties. It remains to be seen whether Tottenham come forward with an offer to sign the player in the summer.

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Estupinan needs a move

Estupinan is not a regular starter for AC Milan, and they could be open to selling him for the right price. Tottenham will look to capitalise on his situation and sign him for a reasonable fee in the summer.

The 28-year-old Ecuador international has had just 891 minutes of league football this season, and he needs to play more often at this stage of his career. Returning to England could give him the fresh start he needs right now.

Estupinan was linked with Manchester United before the move to Italy.

The post De Zerbi has already identified 28-year-old wide man as his first Tottenham target appeared first on CaughtOffside.

Boston Red Sox first baseman Triston Casas can't seem to catch a break.

After a standout rookie season in 2023, Casas was only able to appear in 92 games over the last two seasons, and wasn't healthy in time to begin this one. His torn patellar tendon in his left knee, suffered last May, was scheduled to take around 14 months to fully recover from and get back up to game speed.

Early in the spring, Casas seemed to be making good progress by all accounts. He was running the bases, starting sliding drills, and starting to make louder contact against live batting practice on the back fields at the team's spring training complex. 

On Wednesday, Tim Healey of The Boston Globe issued a midday update on Casas, and it wasn't a positive one. The 26-year-old is dealing with sore ribs, and his rehab progress from the knee injury appears to be impacted. 

According to Healey, manager Alex Cora said that Casas will be "shut down for a while... We have to slow it down." 

A rib injury was Casas' undoing in 2024, as he hit the injured list three weeks into the regular season and didn't return for the next four months. That was a torn cartilage issue, and it's unclear at this stage how much that past experience played into the discomfort Casas is now experiencing. 

If the original timeline for Casas' return was sometime around June 1, it's now hard to say whether the team should expect him back before the All-Star break. Further information on that front will have to wait, but for now, it's just another bummer of a setback for a player who has had too many of them for someone with his talent level.

More MLB: Red Sox's Isaac Paredes Trade Possibility Should Still Exist After Latest Report

April 1 (UPI) -- Iraq beat Bolivia in an intercontinental playoff to claim the final spot in the record-breaking 48-team field for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

Aymen Hussein scored the go-ahead goal in the 53rd minute of the 2-1 victory Tuesday in Guadalupe, Mexico. With the win, Iraq clinched a spot in the World Cup for the first time since 1986.

"If they had qualified for 40 years, then I probably wouldn't have taken the job," Iraq coach Graham Arnold told reporters. "That's the type of person I am. I love a challenge. I believed in the actual players because of the quality that they have.

"I'm so delighted for the players, because they are really good boys. I'm really, really happy for the 46 million Iraqis and the country of Iraq. Hopefully this will help change the perception of Iraq as well as help the game of football in Iraq."

Another five teams qualified earlier Tuesday, ending a 937-day qualifying period for the largest World Cup in history.

The 2026 World Cup will be held June 11 to July 19 in the United States, Mexico and Canada. Iraq, ranked No. 57 in the world, will join Group I, which includes top-ranked France, No. 14 Senegal and No. 31 Norway.

The Iraqis will take on the Norwegians in their World Cup opener at Gillette Stadium -- which will be called Boston Stadium for the World Cup -- at 6 p.m. EDT June 16 in Foxborough, Mass. Corporate branding for stadiums are prohibited during the tournament.

Iraq Bolivia

Iraq return to the #FIFAWorldCup 40 years later. pic.twitter.com/fknt56hTJ1— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) April 1, 2026

No. 22 Turkey, No. 38 Sweden, No. 41 Czechia, the No. 46 Democratic Republic of the Congo and No. 65 Bosnia and Herzegovina were among the other teams to claim the final six tickets to the World Cup.

Turkey beat No. 78 Kosovo 1-0 in a qualifier Tuesday in Pristina, Kosovo. Sweden edged No. 35 Poland 3-2 in Solna, Sweden. The DR Congo held off No. 71 Jamaica with a 1-0 triumph in Zapopan, Mexico.

Czechia beat Denmark through a 3-1 penalty shootout in Prague, its capital city. Bosnia and Herzegovina advanced through a 4-1 penalty shootout victory over Italy in Zenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Italy (No. 12) and Denmark (No. 20) are the only teams inside the Top 25 of the world rankings who failed to qualify for the World Cup.

Turkey joined Group D with the No. 16 United States Men's National Team, No. 24 Austria and No. 40 Paraguay. Sweden is in Group F with the No. 7 Netherlands, No. 18 Japan and No. 44 Tunisia. The DR Congo joined No. 5 Portugal, No. 13 Colombia and No. 50 Uzbekistan in Group K.

Czechia will compete No. 15 Mexico, the No. 25 Korea Republic and No. 60 South Africa in Group A. Bosnia and Herzegovina joined No. 19 Switzerland, No. 30 Canada and No. 55 Qatar in Group B.

Each of the teams in the 12-group tournament will play a trio of group stage matches. The top two teams from each group advance to the Round of 32. The eight third-place teams with the most points also advance to the knockout stage.

Round of 32 matches will be held June 28 to July 3. The Round of 16 will be held July 4 to 7. The World Cup quarterfinals will be played July 9 to 11. The semifinals are scheduled July 14 and 15.

The World Cup finale will be held July 19 in East Rutherford, N.J. More than 100 World Cup games will air live across Fox and FS1. Every match also will stream live Fox One and the Fox Sports app.

Mexico will host South Africa in the first match of the 2026 World Cup at 3 p.m. EDT June 11 in Mexico City. Co-hosts Canada and the United States will open their competition against Bosnia and Herzegovina and Paraguay, respectively, the next day in Toronto and Inglewood, Calif.

Khani Rooths has joined Sananda Fru in becoming the first two members of the 2025-26 Louisville men’s basketball team to make it known that they intend to enter the transfer portal when it opens next week.

In his second season with U of L, Rooths averaged 5.3 points and 4.3 rebounds per game, appearing in all 31 games for the Cardinals and making two starts. He scored a career-high 20 points in Louisville’s season-opening rout of South Carolina State.

The kid has a “C-A-R-D-S” tattoo and has clearly loved being a Cardinal over the past two years, but this is the way of the world now and it’s not changing any time soon.

Best of luck to Khani with whatever his next move winds up being. He’ll always have fans here.

The Philadelphia Eagles might still look like one of the best teams in the NFC for 2026 on paper, but all the vibes are off. A messy offseason that has been dominated with swirling A.J. Brown trade rumors, losing priority pass rusher Jaelan Phillips in free agency, and trying to make deals under a difficult salary cap has now morphed into criticism of quarterback Jalen Hurts.

Hurts is coming off a disappointing 2025 season that saw one of the NFL’s better quarterbacks finish below his Super Bowl winning marks in almost every area, critically including rushing touchdowns — which has been one of his most recognizable traits. Now, anonymous sources inside the Eagles are blaming Hurts’ inability to be coached, according to ESPN.

“Poor body language, not always bought in, not the most coachable and the players notice,” a team source said.

Much of the ESPN report centers on one key moment in the 2025 season, in which there was finger-pointing on the Eagles sideline with nobody accepting responsibility for the unsuccessful Four Verts play on fourth down against the 49ers in the playoffs, which ended Philadelphia’s season. Some say Hurts came up with the idea for the play, while others say it was failed offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo, but with Hurts noticeably resisting any wrinkles being added to the play.

“I was like, ‘Oh my God, this is not happening,'” the team source said. “We can’t run four verts.”

Hurts has every tool needed to be an elite NFL quarterback, but two consistent themes continue to emerge when criticism of the quarterback take place: A hesitance to let the ball rip and show off his arm talent, as well as an overarching resistance to change. It makes Hurts the ultimate quarterback when things are going well, but here’s been a tendency to struggle on the rare occasions where he’s needed to fight to get the Eagles back into close games. Hurts has just 10 fourth-quarter comebacks and 13 game-winning drives over the course of his six-year career, lagging behind his peer group. This is in part due to Philadelphia’s dominance, but that doesn’t completely erase the fact that there have been struggles when the offense needs to make in-game adjustments.

There has also been some criticism that Hurts causes a degree of chaos at the line of scrimmage, routinely changing plays at a whim and seemingly not executing on the coaching staff’s vision.

Eagles offensive players know Hurts isn’t afraid to change plays he doesn’t like and must adjust accordingly, a team source said. Added a separate team source, “You never know what play is coming out of the huddle” when Hurts is leading it, and in the past he has been known to signal a route that hadn’t been installed by coaches.

This creates a fascinating dichotomy: Is Hurts simply a die-hard competitor doing what it takes to win? Or does this too often cross into hubris, where Hurts takes too much of the playcalling duties on himself when he should be taking guidance? Is there a possibility that as much success as the Eagles have had, could they be even better if Hurts took himself out of the playcalling equation more?

We might get the answers to some of these questions in 2026. The Eagles will have a fully rebuilt offense with new coordinator Sean Mannion, moving away from the boring principles of Patullo. If the NFL season begins and we see a new-look offense from Philly, then it could be a sign that this team has moved past its issues, but if the plays look almost the same as 2025 then it’s fair to question if this is due to Hurts’ resistance to change. If that’s the case, then who knows what happens next.

Arsenal paid £32,149,359 in agents’ fees over the latest reporting period, a figure that underlines the scale of their activity in the market while still leaving them at barely half of Chelsea’s outlay for a much better return.

Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images

The Football Association data covering 4 February 2025 to 2 February 2026 place Arsenal among the Premier League’s heaviest spenders on intermediaries, but not at the top.

Chelsea’s total of £65,102,247 stands in a different category altogether, with Aston Villa on £38,444,289, Manchester City on £37,358,301 and Liverpool’s £33,881,544 in front of the Gunners.

Even so, Arsenal’s number remains comfortably above Tottenham Hotspur’s £21,384,701, Bournemouth’s £20,883,523, Newcastle United’s £20,284,806, Brighton’s £19,520,800 and West Ham United’s £18,348,058, as it would be expected to be.

image via The FA

The transactions file makes clear why the total has climbed to that level. Arsenal recorded permanent deals for Martin Zubimendi, Christian Norgaard, Noni Madueke, Cristhian Mosquera, Viktor Gyokeres, Eberechi Eze and Evan Mooney, along with a loan for Piero Hincapie.

On top of that came contract renewals for Bukayo Saka, William Saliba, David Raya, Leandro Trossard, Karl Hein and Ethan Nwaneri, as well as a substantial volume of academy registrations and scholarships.

The same pattern is visible on the women’s side, although on a much smaller scale, where Arsenal Women paid £446,010 in agents’ fees.

Photo by Jasper Wax/Getty Images

That again places them towards the upper end of the scale, though Chelsea led the way by a distance, once again, on £1,080,312.

They are followed by Manchester City Women on £509,517, London City Lionesses on £466,981 and Arsenal Women on £446,010.

Below them came Aston Villa Women on £265,466, Everton Women on £210,832, Manchester United Women on £196,687, Brighton Women on £155,877, Tottenham Women on £152,717, Liverpool Women on £115,778, Leicester Women on £101,113 and West Ham Women on £96,624.

image via The FA

The wider picture in the Women’s Super League is one of rapid growth. Total agent spending rose from £2,169,842 to £3,797,914 year on year, an increase of 75 per cent, and Arsenal’s £446,010 places them firmly in the bracket of clubs willing to pay at the top end of that market.

Tuesday night’s elimination against Bosnia and Herzegovina in the World Cup play-off final means that there is now only one Italy player currently in Serie A that has previously featured in the World’s biggest international tournament.

Italy were beaten on penalties in Zenica on Tuesday night after being held level at 1-1 after 120 minutes of football. The Azzurri played with 10 men for 80 minutes after Alessandro Bastoni’s red card just before the end of the first half.

This is the third time in a row that Italy have fallen short at the World Cup play-off stage. As fans know all too well, the Azzurri have not qualified for the final tournament since 2014 and have not won a World Cup knock-out match since beating France in the final in 2006.

ZENICA, BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA – MARCH 31: Players of Italy show their dejection of Italy during the FIFA World Cup 2026 European Qualifiers KO play-offs match between Bosnia and Herzegovina and Italy at Stadion Bilino Polje on March 31, 2026 in Zenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina. (Photo by Getty Images/Getty Images)

Who is the only current Serie A player that has played for Italy at a World Cup?

This means that as things stand, there is only one Italian in Serie A that has previously played at a World Cup: Inter defender Matteo Darmian.

SASSUOLO – FEBRUARY 08: Matteo Darmian of FC Internazionale celebrates during the Serie A match between US Sassuolo Calcio and FC Internazionale at Mapei Stadium Citta del Tricolore on February 08, 2026 in Sassuolo. (Photo by Alessandro Sabattini/Getty Images)

The now 36-year-old played the full 90 minutes in all three of Italy’s group stage matches in 2014, against England, Costa Rica and Uruguay, but Cesare Prandelli’s side did not qualify for the round of 16 after finishing the group with just one win and three points to their name.

There was one other current Serie A player in Italy’s 2014 World Cup squad, Juventus goalkeeper Mattia Perin, but he did not play in any matches at the tournament given that Gianluigi Buffon was the captain of the side.

TURIN – JANUARY 16: Mattia Perin of Juventus looks on during the Serie A TIM match between Juventus and US Sassuolo – Serie A TIM at on January 16, 2024 in Turin. (Photo by Alessandro Sabattini/Getty Images)

There are five other members of Italy’s 2014 World Cup who are still active, but are not currently playing in Serie A. They are Mario Balotelli of Al-Ittifaq in the United Arab Emirates, Salvatore Sirigu of Palermo in Serie B, Ciro Immobile of Paris FC, Lorenzo Insigne of Pescara in Serie B and Marco Verratti of Al-Duhail in Qatar.

Alexander Isak will return to team training on Thursday as he closes in on a first appearance of 2026.

The £125m striker has been out since breaking a leg while scoring at Tottenham in December and has undergone surgery on an ankle injury. He had begun training last month, but without working alongside his teammates.

Head coach Arne Slot has suggested it is more likely that Isak makes his comeback in next week’s Champions League quarter-final against Paris Saint-Germain than Saturday’s FA Cup trip to Manchester City.

But he said the former Newcastle forward is buoyed by the chance to play in the World Cup in the summer after Sweden won their play-off against Poland.

And while Isak has only scored three goals in 16 games for Liverpool since his British record transfer, Slot, who has bemoaned the number of chances his side have missed, thinks they will be more clinical when the striker is available.

The Dutchman told Liverpool’s official website: "I think Alex is in a really good place because Sweden qualified for the World Cup and apart from that he's going to train with the group again for the first time [on Thursday].

"If you've worked so hard for three, four months or something like that and then to return to team training, that's for everyone very nice. So Alex is, in that sense, in a good place.

"Of course it's only his first session, after three or four months [out], with the team but it's good to have him back because we all know who we signed and we've signed an incredible striker.

"So to have him again in a team that's usually generating quite a lot chances – and maybe not immediately from the first moment that he can start – but to have him back for the last two months is, I think, very helpful for us."

Liverpool expect Mohamed Salah, who missed their defeat to Brighton before the international break, to be fit for the quarter-final with City on Saturday.

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The Indiana Pacers travel to the Windy City to take on the Chicago Bulls at the United Center tonight.

My Pacers vs. Bulls predictions and NBA picks take into account the fine line teams walk when tanking.

Even on Wednesday, April 1, tanking can determine where the winning value lies. 

Pacers vs Bulls prediction

Pacers vs Bulls best bet: Pacers moneyline (+160)

Among the many twists of needed tanking reform is how it could impact draft-pick protections.

During last year’s NBA Finals, the Indiana Pacers reacquired their 2026 first-round pick from the Pelicans, though it will still be conveyed to the Clippers if falling between pick No. 5 and 9.

That sounds complicated. Well, the timing of the trade is needed to explain why in the world New Orleans would have made that deal; Tyrese Haliburton had not yet torn his Achilles.

And the exact protections are necessary to grasp how badly Indiana has wanted to lose this season. It has done so successfully, tied with the Wizards for the worst record in the NBA and two games clear of slipping out of the bottom three, when the Pacers’ odds of a top-four pick would start to drop from 52.1%.

Indiana no longer needs to emphasize losing. 

Meanwhile, the Chicago Bulls should emphasize losing.

The Bulls are barely holding off the Bucks for the No. 9 spot in the lottery. Perhaps not surprisingly, Chicago has lost four straight, including at Memphis as 5-point favorites.

Although the Pacers have been terrible all season, they no longer need to be, and simply recognizing that creates value betting on Indiana.

Pacers vs Bulls same-game parlay

When focus and discipline lag amid a tank, it tends to first show on defense. Seven of Indiana’s last eight games have cashed their Overs, while four of Chicago’s last five have done so as well.

Pascal Siakam’s return to the lineup 10 days ago underscored the Pacers’ lack of a need to lose anymore. They could have easily followed Sacramento’s and Utah’s leads and found an excuse to bench their best player.

Instead, Siakam has returned to clear this prop in two of his last four contests.

Pacers vs Bulls SGP

• Pacers moneyline
• Over 247
• Pascal Siakam Over 24.5 points

Our "from downtown" SGP: Pascal's Wager

Siakam has hit all three of these Overs in two of his last four games, both of which were Pacers’ outright wins as notable underdogs.

Pacers vs Bulls SGP

• Pacers moneyline
• Pascal Siakam Over 24.5 points
• Pascal Siakam Over 1.5 threes
• Pascal Siakam Over 6.5 rebounds

Pacers vs Bulls odds

• Spread: Pacers +4.5 (-110) | Bulls -4.5 (-110)
• Moneyline: Pacers +160 | Bulls -190
• Over/Under: Over 247 (-110) | Under 247 (-110)

Pacers vs Bulls betting trend to know

Indiana is 6-0 against the spread in its last six, exceeding bookmakers’ expectations by an average of 8.9 points per game. Find more NBA betting trends for Pacers vs. Bulls.

How to watch Pacers vs Bulls

Pacers vs Bulls latest injuries

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Northern Ireland midfielder Terry Devlin insists ''there's a lot of things we can improve on'' after their hard-fought friendly draw with Wales on Tuesday night.

Jamie Donley opened the scoring for Northern Ireland before Wales drew level just after half time through Sorba Thomas, giving both teams something to talk about.

After making his debut in green and white last March against Switzerland, Devlin is delighted with the experience he has gained over the last few days under Michael O'Neill, particularly Tuesday's draw in Cardiff.

''A lot of people thought it was going to be a pointless or dead rubber game, but for what it was, it was a really intense and hard-fought game between the two sides and it was a good experience for a lot of us players,'' Devlin told BBC Sport NI.

''Wales are a top nation, they've a lot of really good top players. They've loads of players in the Premier League and top Championship level players.

''For us to be level or match them for the 45 or 90 [minutes], it's a really good thing for us to take. We can still be better, there's a lot of things we can improve on, we're a young squad and I'm sure we'll definitely do that.''

Donley has netted twice for his country, securing his first international goal back in November against Luxembourg in the World Cup qualifying campaign.

''Jamie [Donley] is a top lad, he works really hard and he's a top player and it's massive for him to get that [goal],'' Devlin added.

''That's two goals in two camps now, that jersey's his at the minute and he just needs to keep hold of it and keep scoring goals for us.''

Swansea City right-back Josh Key will miss at least three more matches with a hip problem.

Key sat out the defeat by Coventry City before the international break after picking up the injury during Swansea's loss at Wrexham on 13 March.

The 26-year-old has now been ruled out of Friday's trip to Sheffield United, the home game against Middlesbrough next Monday and the fixture at Leicester City on Saturday, 11 April.

Swansea hope he will then return for the final four games of the campaign, though there are no guarantees.

"Josh had a knock against Wrexham," said head coach Vitor Matos.

"Let's see how much time he will need. It's a tricky, strange injury because it was a knock and with the knock the muscle tore a little bit, so let's see how he can cope with the return."

The injury is particularly disappointing for Key given that he had recently regained his starting place – and recaptured some of his best form – after a difficult season.

In his absence, Swansea may again deploy Ethan Galbraith at right-back, though he is also battling to be fit for the Sheffield United game after complaining of a calf issue following Northern Ireland's friendly draw with Wales on Tuesday.

Joel Ward is another option to start on the right flank of defence, while Matos says youngster Sam Parker is another who could come into contention having impressed in training.

There is a specific kind of silence that follows the crash of a titan. It’s not the quiet of peace, but the heavy, ringing stillness of a world trying to make sense of a fall from grace. For decades, Tiger Woods didn’t just play golf; he performed a sort of physical sorcery, bending fairways and physics to his will while the world watched in breathless awe.

But as the sun dipped low over Jupiter Island last Friday, that magic was replaced by the harsh, blue-and-red flicker of police lights and the sickening crunch of a Land Rover resting on its side.

In the aftermath of Tiger’s recent rollover crash and subsequent DUI arrest, an incident that has sent shockwaves through the sporting world, an unlikely narrator has stepped forward to offer a eulogy of sorts for Tiger’s invincibility. Donald Trump, a man rarely accused of subtlety, took to the airwaves not just to defend his long-time friend, but to offer a stark, almost haunting assessment of the legend’s current existence.

“He lives a life of pain,” Trump remarked, his usual bluster replaced by a rare note of somber reflection. “He has a lot of pain. He’s an amazing guy, an amazing athlete, but he does have pain.”

It was a comment that sat at the uncomfortable intersection of deep sympathy and cold judgment. In those few words, the former President pulled back the curtain on a reality that Tiger has tried to outrun for years: the cost of being the Greatest of All Time might just be more than any human body was ever meant to pay.

The Anatomy of a Relapse... and a Relationship

To understand why Trump’s comments carry so much weight, you have to look at the tangled web of their relationship. This isn’t just a “golf buddies” situation. The ties between the Trump and Woods families have become increasingly personal; reports confirm that Tiger is currently dating Vanessa Trump, Donald Trump Jr.'s ex-wife. This isn’t a political alliance; it’s a family-adjacent concern.

When the news broke of the March 27th crash, the details were harrowing. Officers found Tiger “lethargic and slow,” his eyes bloodshot, his speech slurred. While a breathalyzer test came back negative for alcohol, a fact Trump was quick to emphasize to the press, the discovery of hydrocodone pills in Tiger’s pocket told a much older, darker story.

This wasn’t a party gone wrong. This was the physical manifestation of a man whose spine has been fused, whose legs have been rebuilt like a jigsaw puzzle, and who, at 50 years old, is still trying to compete in a game that demands the flexibility of a whip.

“He tested negative for alcohol, as you know,” Trump told reporters, sounding more like a protective uncle than a politician. “He is under tremendous physical pressure from his various ailments… the back and the leg. He doesn’t have an alcohol problem, but he does have pain.”

The “Silent” Recovery That Failed

While the public sees the red shirt on Sundays and the occasional highlight reel, the data behind Tiger’s physical decline is staggering. Since 2014, Woods has undergone at least six major back surgeries, including a spinal fusion, and multiple procedures on his right leg following the near-fatal 2021 crash in California.

What many fans don’t realize is the “half-life” of a professional athlete’s resilience. Medical experts suggest that the sheer volume of inflammatory markers in a body subjected to that many surgeries creates a permanent state of “neural sensitization.” Essentially, the brain becomes so used to receiving pain signals that it begins to generate them even when a specific injury isn’t flaring up.

Trump’s “life of pain” comment isn’t just hyperbole; it’s a clinical reality. Tiger isn’t just “sore” after a round; he is likely navigating a 24/7 fog of chronic agony that makes simple tasks, like changing a radio station while driving, monumental challenges.

Is Our Sympathy Actually Enabling the End?

Here is the part where we have to stop nodding in solemn agreement and ask the delicate question: Is the world’s constant “encouragement” of Tiger’s many comebacks actually a form of cruelty?

There is a prevailing narrative in sports that “quitting” is the ultimate sin. We lionize the man who crawls across the finish line on broken bones. We cheered when Tiger limped through the Masters, and we roared when he returned from the 2021 wreck. But at what point does our demand for “one more miracle” become an invitation to his destruction?

My objective view suggests that by treating Tiger as a superhero who must return to the green, we are effectively fueling the dependency on the very medications that led to his Friday night arrest. Trump, for all his sympathy, is still part of the machine that wants to see “Tiger at the Masters.” Even in his recent interview, Trump broke the news that Tiger likely wouldn’t play this April, yet he still framed it as a temporary setback.

“He’ll be fine,” Trump insisted. “He’s going to be terrific.” But will he? Or are we watching a man who is literally breaking himself apart to satisfy a public that refuses to let him grow old?

Perhaps the most “human” thing we could do for Tiger Woods isn’t to pray for another birdie at Augusta, but to hope he never picks up a club again. If his life is truly “painful,” as Trump suggests, then the golf course isn’t his sanctuary... it is his torture chamber.

Facing the Mirror

To his credit, Tiger seems to finally be listening to the silence. In a statement released Tuesday, just days after his “not guilty” plea for the DUI, Woods announced he would be “stepping away” to seek professional treatment.

“I know and understand the seriousness of the situation I find myself in today,” he shared via Instagram. “Inb am stepping away for a period of time to seek treatment and focus on my health.”

It was a rare moment of vulnerability from a man who has spent his entire life projecting an aura of total control. It also validated Trump’s “cryptic” updates. For years, Tiger has played the stoic warrior. By admitting he needs help, he is finally acknowledging that the “life of pain” has become unmanageable.

The Verdict

The intersection of Donald Trump and Tiger Woods is a fascinating study in the American psyche. Both men are obsessed with winning, both are polarizing figures, and both have spent their lives under a microscope that would incinerate most people.

When Trump calls Tiger’s life “painful,” he is speaking from a place of rare insight into the burden of the crown. But as Tiger heads into treatment, the rest of us need to look in the mirror. We love a comeback story, but we need to ask ourselves if we’re willing to let the protagonist survive the ending.

Tiger Woods doesn’t owe us another major. He doesn’t even owe us another swing. If he can trade the “life of pain” for a life of peace, that would be the greatest victory of his career... even if it means the red shirt never sees a Sunday again.

A Scottish football club has banned under-16s from attending matches without a paying adult after a spate of anti-social behaviour.

Forfar Athletic introduced measures to counter disorder after a number of "unacceptable" incidents at its last home game against the Spartans.

The Scottish Supporter's Football Association said although it was "disappointing" to see young fans miss out on football, it was right for the club to take action.

Police Scotland confirmed they were called to a disturbance on 21 March and said they have a zero-tolerance approach to disorder at football matches.

In a statement the club said it had been left with no other option but to introduce new policies for their three remaining home games.

The Scottish League Two said any non-season ticket holders under the age of 16 will only be allowed access to games if accompanied by a paying adult.

Anyone attempting to enter the ground wearing a face covering will be asked to remove it.

If this request is refused, they will not be allowed access to the ground.

A spokesperson for Forfar Athletic wrote on their Facebook page: "The behaviour of these young people is not acceptable.

"Whilst the club have tried to engage and encourage their support, the attendance of police at two recent games has led to these measures having to be taken.

"Forfar Athletic would also like to add that their behaviour within the town itself is absolutely unacceptable.

"We have received numerous emails about disturbances and can only apologise to residents and businesses, however we cannot be held responsible for their actions away from the football ground."

The club said they it had engaged with police and passed on CCTV images.

It continued: "Forfar Athletic wish to encourage younger supporters to attend matches, but only if they are coming to support the team and behave themselves.

"Not all of the younger fans are to blame, but we need to ensure that none of the ones who do misbehave are allowed to continue causing problems for stewards and Police.

"If police decide that they need to attend games, it comes at a cost to the club, and so we need to ensure that their presence is not required.

"We hope that supporters understand the reasoning behind these measures and we thank all of our fans for their support this season."

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John MacLean, chief executive of the Scottish Football Supporters Association, said it was disappointing to see any fans being deprived from watching football but he praised Forfar Athletic for taking a stance on "unacceptable" behaviour.

He told BBC Scotland: "It is evident that clubs of all sizes have to address some of the anti-social behaviours that can accompany some of the young fans' enthusiasm.

"Clubs have been put under the spotlight to ensure that they take action otherwise strict liability will continue to be an option that the football authorities will be forced to look at.

"We would encourage positive dialogue between the fans and the club."

MacLean said communication between clubs and fans could be the way forward, after clubs such as Falkirk and Partick Thistle found dialogue led to a significant reduction in the use of pyrotechnics.

"There is undoubtedly an element here of youngsters aping what they are seeing at bigger clubs and I do think Forfar's stance on this, particularly regarding balaclavas and pyros, is something other boardrooms could reflect on," he added.

Inquiries into the incident on 21 March are ongoing.

Ch Insp Grace Ewing said: "Anti-social behaviour and disorder of any kind is unacceptable and we recognise the negative impact this can have on the community.

"We work with a range of partners to address issues, provide solutions and determine positive measures we can take to prevent it.

"Part of this activity involves working with Forfar Athletic through pro-active youth engagement programmes and assisting through violence reduction campaigns in the wider community."

• Football Ultras: A menace or a force for good?
• 'Shameful' pitch invasion by Celtic and Rangers fans condemned by police

Wednesday notes…

• TEAM HISTORY INCOMING: The Cubs can make a small bit of team history with a victory today. This is the 43rd season since 1901 in which they have started 2-3 — about one of every three. It is just the fourth they have begun by alternating losses and wins (loss, win, loss, win, loss). They did not win the sixth game in the previous three, tying in 1914 and losing in 1968 and 1993. The Cubs are 26-15-1 in sixth games after a 2-3 start. They are 16-12-1 after having lost fifth games. They finished above .500 after 20 of their previous 2-3 starts, including the three before this year: 2018 (95-68), 2023 (82-79) and last year (92-70). They won pennants in 1918 and 1935, won the division title in 2008 and earned Wild Card berths in 2018 and last year. (Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
• SPLITSVILLE: Last season, the Cubs split the first two games of 26 three-game series. They won 13 third games and lost 13. They were 6-3 after winning and losing in the first two, including 3-3 at home.
• LEADING THE LEAGUE: Nico Hoerner’s three stolen bases puts him in a four-way tie for the MLB lead with Jake McCarthy (D-backs), David Hamilton (Brewers) and Nasim Nuñez (Nats).
• ALSO LEADING THE LEAGUE: Edward Cabrera’s 0.333 WHIP is tied for the NL lead with Michael McGreevy of the Cardinals.

The Cubs lineup was not available at posting time. Please check BCB social media for the Cubs lineup.

Angels lineup:

Matthew Boyd, LHP vs. Yusei Kikuchi, LHP

Matthew Boyd did not have a good Opening Day start. Nope, not at all.

So let’s hope he’s flushed that one and moving on.

Boyd has not faced the Angels since 2022, and that was a couple of one-inning relief appearances. The only current Angels with more than a handful of at-bats against him are Jorge Soler (6-for-22, 10 strikeouts) and Yoan Moncada (5-for-19, a home run).

Hoping for a better day today, Matthew.

Yusei Kikuchi threw 4.1 innings and allowed two runs to the Astros last Thursday in Houston.

This is his eighth year in MLB and he’s made 200 appearances and 188 starts — but tonight will be his first-ever start against the Cubs. Alex Bregman has hit him well — 7-for-20 (.350) with three doubles, two home runs and eight walks.

Here is the weather forecast for the area around Wrigley Field.

Today’s game is on Marquee Sports Network.

Here is the complete MLB.com live streaming page for today.

MLB.com Gameday

Baseball-reference.com game preview

Please visit the Angels site Crashing The Pearly Gates. If you do go there to interact with Angels fans, please be respectful, abide by their individual site rules and serve as a good representation of Cub fans in general and BCB in particular.

The 2026 game discussion procedure has been changed, so please take note.

You’ll find the game preview, like this one, posted separately on the front page two hours before game time (90 minutes for some early day games following night games).

At the same time, a StoryStream containing the preview will also post on the front page, titled “Cubs vs. (Team) (Day of week/date) game threads.” It will contain every post related to that particular game.

The Live! (formerly “First Pitch”) thread will still post at five minutes to game time. It will also post to the front page. That will be the only live game discussion thread. After the game, the recap and Heroes and Goats will also live on the front page as separate posts.

You will also be able to find the preview, Live! thread, recap and Heroes and Goats in this section link. The StoryStream for each game can also be found in that section.

Discuss amongst yourselves.

Real Madrid are closely tracking Atalanta center-back Honest Ahanor, according to reports from Sky Sports, as the club continues to evaluate young defensive talent across Europe.

The 18-year-old joined Atalanta from Genoa in a deal worth €25 million and has quickly established himself as one of the standout young defenders in Serie A. His performances have not gone unnoticed, with Madrid now among the clubs following his development.

Ahanor has already made 28 appearances across Serie A, the Champions League, and the Coppa Italia this season, showing consistency at a high level despite his age. His rise has also been reflected at international level, where he has recently been called up and made his debut for Italy’s U21 side.

Born in Aversa and of Nigerian descent, Ahanor appears set to represent Italy moving forward.

With injuries and uncertainty affecting Madrid’s defensive line this season, the club’s interest in emerging center-backs aligns with a broader strategy of targeting young, high-upside players capable of contributing both immediately and long term.

England cricket pair Harry Brook and Jacob Bethell have been cautioned over their conduct on the tour of New Zealand last year, though have avoided further punishment after an incident on a night out before a game.

Brook was previously fined after he was involved in an altercation with a night-club bouncer in Wellington before the third ODI last October having been out with teammates Bethell and Josh Tongue.

The Cricket Regulator, the body responsible for monitoring compliance with the game’s regulations, has now concluded its investigations after the pair admitted they were in breach.

Brook and Bethell have thus been issued a Caution Notice, with no further action taken in relation to Tongue. The two batters featured in the third ODI in which England were beaten by two wickets, while Tongue did not.

White-ball captain Brook has since apologised both for the incident, details of which emerged at the end of England’s Ashes defeat, and subsequently for suggesting he had been alone at the time, rather than out with colleagues.

“I accept responsibility for my actions in Wellington and acknowledge others were present that evening," said Brook ahead of the T20 World Cup.

"I regret my previous comments and my intention was to protect my team-mates from being drawn into a situation that arose as a result of my own decisions.

"I have apologised and will continue to reflect on the matter. This has been a challenging period in my career, but one from which I am learning.

"I recognise I have more to learn regarding the off-field responsibilities that come with leadership and captaincy. I remain committed to developing in this area and to improving both personally and professionally."

A three-game SEC series between two unranked schools will be contested at Lindsey Nelson Stadium in Week 8 of the 2026 college baseball season.

Tennessee (19-10, 3-6 SEC) will host LSU (20-10, 4-5 SEC) in a matchup of the last three national champions. LSU won a national title in 2023 and 2025, while the Vols won a national championship in 2024.

Game 1 between Tennessee and the Tigers on Friday is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. EDT (SEC Network), while Saturday’s Game 2 will take place at 6 p.m. EDT (ESPN2). A series finale is slated for April 5 (1 p.m. EDT, SEC Network).

Ahead of the three-games series, Nolan Analytics projected scores for each contest.

Tennessee is projected to win Friday’s series opener, 5-3, while LSU is projected to win Game 2, 6-4. The Tigers are also projected to win Game 3, 10-3, for a series victory over Tennessee.

The Vols enter the series after defeating Austin Peay (14-15), 13-4, on Tuesday at Lindsey Nelson Stadium. LSU was also victorious Tuesday, defeating Southern (8-17), 16-6, in seven innings at Alex Box Stadium in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

LSU is receiving 56 points in the USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll. The Vols are receiving 38 points and are unranked for the first week in 2026.

More: 2026 SEC baseball power rankings after Week 7

Follow Vols Wire on Facebook and X (formerly Twitter).

This article originally appeared on Vols Wire: Predicting each Tennessee-LSU baseball game in SEC series

Lionel Scaloni admitted he was saddened by Italy missing out on the 2026 FIFA World Cup, as the four-time champions continue a worrying trend.

Italy’s absence marks a historic low point for one of football’s most decorated nations. For a third straight tournament, they will not be part of the global stage.

The failure has drawn reactions from across the football world. Scaloni was among those who spoke openly. And his response reflected both respect and disappointment.

Lionel Scaloni reacts to Italy missing the 2026 World Cup

Scaloni’s comments about Italy were shared by an X handle, where the Argentina boss made his feelings clear.

“What happened to Italy makes me sad. I have some Italian roots, besides having played there, it’s a brother country to Argentina and they love us a lot,” Scaloni said.

He added: “Not having them at the World Cup isn’t something Argentines like.”

Scaloni’s words underline the respect Italy still command globally. Their absence is felt beyond Europe.

It also highlights how unexpected this continued decline has been for a nation with such history. For many, Italy missing out again is one of the biggest shocks of the qualification cycle.

Italy playoff collapse confirms third straight World Cup miss

Italy’s campaign ended in a playoff defeat to Bosnia and Herzegovina, where they were eliminated after a penalty shootout loss.

The match finished 1-1 after extra time, but Italy lost 4-1 on penalties, sealing their exit from qualification.

They had taken the lead earlier in the game before being reduced to ten men, which shifted momentum late in the match. The equaliser forced extra time, and Italy were unable to recover control before the shootout defeat.

This result confirms their third consecutive absence from the World Cup, following failures in 2018 and 2022. For a nation of Italy’s stature, it represents a prolonged period of underperformance that continues to raise serious questions.

Read more:

According to Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports, Coach McNamara and the Orange will be making an early-season trip to Indianapolis to take on the Indiana Hoosiers at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, home of the Indiana Pacers.

The game is scheduled for Monday, November 9, 2026, and will likely be either the team’s second or third contest of the season. While it is officially designated as a neutral-site matchup, the atmosphere is expected to strongly favor Indiana.

This marks the second game on Syracuse’s schedule next season that will be played in an NBA arena, with the Orange traveling farther than their opponent. It has already been announced that Syracuse will also face Providence at TD Garden in Boston next season as well.

This also means that of the team’s 13 non-conference games on the season, at least five of them, with the team heading back to Vegas for the Players Era Tournament, will take place outside of the Dome. On top of that, if history repeats itself, the Orange will be on the road for this upcoming season’s ACC/SEC Challenge as well.

It is clear that Coach McNamara already has the gears turning, and it seems like it is also clear that the university wants to have more opportunities to improve its NET rankings early in the season, and doing so away from the Dome.

Thoughts on the team and their scheduling so far, especially with more games being slated to be away from the Dome? Is this a good or bad thing for the Orange?

After the Nats dominated in game one, the Phillies pulled out a close one in game two. Now it is time for a rubber match in Philly. Both teams will have their aces on the mound, so this should be a good one. The Nats are looking for their second straight series win to open the season.

With a lefty on the mound, the Nats have altered their lineup a bit. One thing that has not changed is James Wood’s placement as the leadoff hitter. Curtis Mead will make his first start as a Nat, hitting second and playing first base. Jacob Young will be back in the lineup, which slides Joey Wiemer over to center field. Brady House and Drew Millas are also back in the lineup. Daylen Lile will be the DH today. Cade Cavalli will be making his second start of the season and hopefully the righty can go deeper in the game this time.

The Phillies are rolling with the same lineup they had in yesterday’s win. We know most of these guys well at this point. The former Nats are at the top of the order, while home grown guys like Alec Bohm and Bryson Stott follow. Cristopher Sanchez established himself as a true ace last season and pitched well on Opening Day. He will look to continue his dominant run against the Nats.

Game Info:

Stadium: Citizens Bank Park

Time: 1:05 PM EST

TV: Nationals.TV

Radio: 106.7 The Fan

Another series win against a team that made the playoffs last year would be massive for the Nats. However, it will be tough with Sanchez on the mound. With the red hot Joey Wiemer, the Nats have handled left handed pitching this season. Sanchez will be a different animal though. Follow along in the comments down below and let’s go Nats!

Juventus are eyeing a new right-back this summer, and Genoa’s Brooke Norton Cuffa is reportedly the first name on the shortlist.

The Bianconeri thought they had addressed this issue last summer by bringing in Joao Mario from Mario (in an indirect swap for Alberto Costa), but the 26-year-old couldn’t break into Luciano Spalletti’s plans.

The Portugal international was sent to Bologna on a dry loan in January, and he’s not expected to be reintegrated next season. Mario himself hinted he’s unlikely to be given a second chance under Spalletti’s reign.

Brooke Norton-Cuffy tops Juventus shortlist

This season, Pierre Kalulu emerged as Juve’s best solution for the right-back crisis. The Frenchman has been serving admirably in this role, but the squad still needs an alternative solution.

Emil Holm joined in January on loanwith an option to buy, but he sustained an injury a few weeks following his arrival, which has hampered his chances of earning a permanent transfer.

Therefore, Juventus are on the lookout for a new right-back, and Tuttosportbelieves Norton-Cuffy is the preferred profile for the role.

The 22-year-old is an Arsenal youth product who joined Genoa in the summer of 2024 and went on to establish himself as one of the best young full-backs in Serie A.

Juventus monitoring four right-backs

Juventus sporting director Marco Ottolini was the one who brought the young Englishman to Liguria, so he’ll be hoping to capitalise on his relationships with his former employers as well as the player’s entourage to seal the deal. The Grifone’s asking price is around €15 million.

In addition to Norton-Cuffy, the Turin-based newspaper names another three right-backs on Juve’s shortlist, beginning with Zeki Celik, whose contract with Roma will expire at the end of the season.

The Bianconeri’s interest in the Turkish international isn’t new, but the source reveals two Frenchmen who are also under consideration in Stuttgart’s Lorenz Assigon (25) and PSV Eindhoven’s Kiliann Sildillia (23).

Goncalo Ramos is being linked with Chelsea and other Premier League teams as he moves towards the exit at PSG.

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Transfer season is creeping up on us, week by week, and Chelsea have a few rumours bubbling to the surface.

TeamTalk have thrown us into the mix as a side apparently keen on Goncalo Ramos of PSG. Chelsea and Newcastle are both apparently interested should he want to leave the Parisian giants.

PSG paid €80m to Benfica for the striker, who is still just 24. It’s not clear how much he would cost, but given the likes of Dortmund and RB Leipzig are being linked, we can’t see the asking price being too far above something like €50m.

Ramos looks like a Premier League flop waiting to happen

We’re really not fans of Ramos here. He’s a good penalty box finisher, but he’s built for front running teams like PSG who dominate teams and create loads of chances, and just need someone to put them away in games where their first choice attackers aren’t available.

We can see him really struggling with the physicality of the Premier League, and hope Chelsea don’t pursue this one.

In other news…

Malo Gusto has set his sights high – he is already our most versatile player, and wants to keep developing in multiple positions.

Chelsea are looking to improve their midfield this summer, and a top target is also being chased by Man U.

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Check out the latest edition of Simon Phillips’ SPTC podcast here:

Barcelona and Atletico Madrid are both counting the cost of the international break as they come into the decisive phase of their seasons. The two sides will face off three times in 10 days after the break, which will define the European fate of both sides, and perhaps Barcelona’s title challenge too.

The major news for Barcelona over the international break was an injury to Raphinha. The Catalan giants will almost certainly be without their Brazilian lynchpin for the entire month of April, a significant blow. On the other hand, Atletico Madrid have potentially lost Alexander Sorloth, and will be without Johnny Cardoso for at least two of their meetings.

Frenkie de Jong unlikely to make La Liga clash

As per Diario AS, Frenkie de Jong is highly unlikely to be available for their La Liga clash with Atletico too. The Dutchman is targeting a return the following Wednesday at Camp Nou against Los Colchoneros. On Wednesday, de Jong continued doing work in the gym rather than out on the pitch, leaving him just two training sessions in which to prove his fitness before the Atletico game, after more than a month out. Given the significance of the fixtures after it, Hansi Flick is unlikely to take any risks with de Jong.

Good news elsewhere on injury front for Barcelona

However Flick will have more options available to him on Saturday than before the break. Jules Kounde and Alejandro Balde have both been training on the pitches this week, and are expected to be available, as is the case for Eric Garcia, allowing him more flexibility to choose his backline. All three have the potential to start in Madrid, although the form of Gerard Martin and Joao Cancelo means that Flick is under no pressure to rush all three back. In the meantime, it seems likely Marc Bernal will partner Pedri in de Jong’s absence.

There are just four plays left battling it out for Caleb Williams’ best play of 2025. Bears fans have been voting on the last two weeks on 16 of Caleb’s top plays of 2025. Voting for the first Final Four matchup happens today, the second Final Four matchup happens Thursday, and the championship will happen on Monday.

We have reached the Final Four. Thousands of ballots have been cast. Here is how it has played out:

It really shouldn’t be a surprise that these four plays are the last four remaining. They were the four highest-seeded plays; they were the ones that everyone discusses over and over. And, in short, they are all absolutely incredible plays. I mean, think about these 4 plays since Devin Hester left the Bears, how many other plays are even at this level over the last decade or so? A handful of Khalil Mack or Eddie Jackson plays, but there certainly aren’t many.

Let’s take a look at the two plays you can vote on today, and of course, the tweet that takes you to the voting.

Game-Tying Heave to Cole Kmet vs Rams

The only way that could make this play better is if the Bears had ended up winning the game. Everything else about this is absolutely insane. It’s so damn improbable. It still defies logic that it happened. Had the Bears won this game, I think this play eclipses “The Catch” as the greatest non-Super Bowl play in NFL history.

DJ Moore “The Catch II” vs Browns

Caleb Williams’ throw in this one mimicked arguably the most legendary throw and catch in NFL history, Joe Montana to Dwight Clark, “The Catch.” Moore snags the ball in the back corner of the end zone as the ball is just out of reach of a Browns defender.

To vote on this Final Four matchup, you can do so here:

Leicestershire have bolstered their seam attack with the signing of Yadvinder Singh on a short-term deal.

India-born Singh is a product of the South Asian Cricket Academy and has previously played professionally for Worcestershire.

The 30-year-old has played two first-class matches, taking six wickets at an average of 36.50.

He has trained with Leicestershire through the off-season and will be available for the first month of the new campaign.

"Yadvinder has been with us over the winter and has impressed with both his skill and attitude," head coach Alfonso Thomas.

"With a few injuries in our seam group, it's a good opportunity for him and he adds important depth to the squad at the start of the season."

Mohamed Diawara has proven himself to be an NBA caliber player. So why isn’t he getting consistent minutes for a Knicks team in desperate need of his versatility, floor spacing and, most importantly, his youthful exuberance on both ends of the floor?

Slow starts, Karl-Anthony Towns’ inconsistent offensive involvement and disjointedness on both ends of the floor have been pain points for this Knicks team all season under new head coach Mike Brown. But removing Diawara from the rotation altogether has been a head-scratching development.

Because the rookie selected 51st overall in last June’s NBA Draft can clearly play, and Brown knows he can play. So does the rest of his coaching staff, the front office and ownership. After all, James Dolan paid a visit to Ariel Hukporti’s locker last season shortly before the Knicks traded away Jericho Sims, and Diawara clears Hukporti in the impact department.

Which makes his new, inconsistent minutes distribution concerning, particularly in games the Knicks need to win against potential playoff opponents or teams with winning records.

Diawara played 13 minutes and scored five points on two-of-six shooting from the field in the Knicks’ 114-103 loss to the Charlotte Hornets. He then played just two minutes in each of the Knicks’ previous two games: losses to two Western Conference playoff teams in Oklahoma City and Houston.

The Rockets game marked the first leg of a back-to-back, with Leg 2 48 hours later in Memphis against the lottery-bound Grizzlies on Wednesday. The rookie is a likely lock to play heavy minutes after the starters played an emotional, exhausting game in Houston.

But Diawara should have been part of that Rockets game. He should have been on the court against the Thunder, too. He is the second-most versatile player on the roster behind OG Anunoby. He is a streaky 3-point shooter who catches fire when the first shot rips through the net. And he’s one of — if not the most promising young player on a Knicks roster built upon veteran leadership.

Yet Brown, who has vacillated on virtually everything this season, has gone in a different direction. From starting Mitchell Robinson to starting Josh Hart. From playing Jordan Clarkson heavy minutes, to benching Clarkson in favor of Diawara, then going back to Clarkson here down the stretch of the regular season. From ostensibly trusting young players in pressure situations to burying them on the bench against playoff competition.

Since March 10, Clarkson has not played fewer than 18 minutes a night. And from Jan. 18 to March 10, the veteran scorer and former Sixth Man of the Year had become a situational rotational player at-best.

This is where the conspiracy theories begin to grit their teeth. Because Diawara is on a one-year second-round pick rookie deal and will become a restricted free agent next summer. The Knicks will not have room on their payroll to stay beneath the second apron, re-sign Mitchell Robinson to a contract extension and match a competing offer when Diawara becomes a free agent. At least not if the plan is to keep the roster intact as currently constructed.

If Diawara doesn’t play, he falls off of opposing radars. And if he’s off of opposing radars, it’s easier to retain him on a friendlier long-term deal. That’s what the conspiracy theorists on social media have to offer.

Here’s the reality. The Knicks have much bigger fish to fry than their rookie’s free agency value. The only thing that matters at Madison Square Garden is one-upping last year’s Tom Thibodeau-coached team.

And the Knicks, with six games left and three wins needed, could very well hit 51 wins a second year in a row. Fifty-two wins would be the best Knicks season since Carmelo Anthony’s golden year in New York.

That’s a superficial one-up, though, the kind that wins on paper but not in a court of law. And in the court of public opinion, these Knicks aren’t as good as last year’s, despite the same group of players returning under a new coach.

Diawara is a new addition, a welcome one at that, and his minutes have spurred Knicks runs over the course of his inconsistent playing time as a rookie. His relegation to a bench role under duress remains inexplicable for a team in clear need of everything he brings to the court.

Andrew Painter finally made his MLB debut last night for the Philadelphia Phillies. Painter is currently the No. 26 prospect in all of baseball and the Phillies No. 2 prospect. With tremendous hype and hopes of big performances, Painter flashed that against the Nationals in his debut. We are now led to break down the upside: Is Painter a viable fantasy baseball player?

Fantasy Baseball Ranking

Painter has been drafted in fantasy baseball as the SP89, just behind Sean Manaea, Bailey Ober, and ahead of Brady Singer and Brayan Bello. Painter is currently on the up and up in fantasy baseball, with a 33% ownership, rising 5% overnight. If you wish to add him, you must jump on it before Painter is owned over 50%.

Painter's arsenal is classic and effective. He throws a very strong fastball that reaches 97 MPH. Painter then throws his batters off with a duo of breaking balls: slider and curveball. He then adds a changeup and sinker. Standing at 6'7", Painter is deemed a very high-upside prospect with a massive body. The hope is that he becomes a top-3 pitcher in the Phillies rotation.

Last night, Painter went 5.1 IP, allowing 4 hits, 1 walk, and striking out 8 batters with 1 earned run. The output Painter saw was as good as fans could expect. He will rank highly in fantasy baseball.

The consensus is that you should absolutely pick up Painter. The sample size is small, but the expectations are sky-high. We will never find upside with current veterans that we may find with rookies, with the world in front of them.

Phillies Depth Chart Outlook

Painter is currently listed as the 5th pitcher in the Phillies' rotation, behind Taijuan Walker. In due time, this very well may change. Painter shall never get able to overtake Jesus Luzardo or Aaron Nola, but his spot in this rotation is solidified. Even when Zach Wheeler returns, it will be hard to find Painter sent to the bench unless we find bad output in the coming starts.

Working to Painter's advantage will be the Phillies' lineup. They are in the top half of MLB offenses. That fact will aid Painter's win-ability in fantasy baseball. If Painter continues to live up to expectations, the Phillies could be considered to have the best rotation in baseball, with Christopher Sanchez, Aaron Nola, Jesus Luzardo, Andrew Painter, and Zach Wheeler once he returns.

More Fantasy Sports On SI News:

• 2026 Fantasy Football Non-PPR 12-Team First Round Mock Draft: CeeDee Lamb Nearly Falls Out
• 2026 Fantasy Football 12-Team PPR Mock Draft: Does Christian McCaffrey Make The Cut?
• 2026 NFL Draft Rookie Tight End Rankings Featuring Kenyon Sadiq
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This article was originally published on www.si.com/onsi/fantasy as Andrew Painter Surges Up the Fantasy Baseball Rankings After His Elite MLB Debut.

Italy's third consecutive failure to qualify for the FIFA World Cup has stunned fans across the globe, a historic drought for the four-time world champions that will now extend to at least 2030.

The Italians lost on penalty kicks to Bosnia and Herzegovina in their European qualifying playoff on Tuesday, March 31, extinguishing the country's hopes of its first trip to the World Cup since 2014. Italy led Bosnia for most of regulation but was playing down to 10 men after a red card and conceded a late equalizer. In the penalty shootout, Italy missed two of its three attempts to crash out.

One of only three countries to have won the World Cup four times – Brazil (five) and Germany – Italy's inability to qualify for the 2018 World Cup in Russia was the first time the country had missed out on the tournament since 1958.

The first flop was thought to have been something of a fluke for Italy, which was in a tough UEFA qualifying group with Spain. Italy bounced back to win Euro 2020 and looked like one of the best teams in the world – but then failed to qualify for the 2022 Qatar World Cup, suffering a humiliating upset at the hands of North Macedonia in the playoff semifinals after failing to win the group again.

For 2026, the World Cup field expanded from 32 to 48 teams – including 16 from Europe – giving teams like Italy even more wiggle room to qualify

Surely there was no way the four-time champions could fail this time around?

Alas, the gutting defeat in Bosnia kept Italy out of a third consecutive World Cup and will surely result in some shakeup across the federation and player pool – as well as an examination on the future of manager Gennaro Gattuso, himself a member of the 2006 champions.

Here's a look back at Italy's recent qualifying campaigns and World Cup history.

2026

• Lost to Bosnia and Herzegovina in UEFA qualifying playoff final (penalty kicks)
• Managers: Luciano Spalletti (2023-2025), Gennaro Gattuso (2025-present)

Italy won six of its eight group qualifiers, but the two losses came at the hands of Norway, which finished with a perfect 24 points and pushed Italy to the UEFA playoffs. The Italians got through the semifinals with a 2-0 win over Northern Ireland and were initially thrilled to be facing Bosnia instead of Wales in the final. The rest, is history.

2022

• Lost to North Macedonia in UEFA qualifying playoff semifinals
• Manager: Roberto Mancini

A second consecutive World Cup qualifying flop seemed unthinkable after Italy won Euro 2020 (held in 2021 after COVID), but Mancini's team just wasn't up for the task in the end.

Italy went unbeaten in eight group qualifiers (four wins and four draws) but finished in second place behind Switzerland, requiring the playoff route again – after behing held to a scoreless draw against Northern Ireland in the group finale.

Italy looked to have an incredibly favorable playoff draw against North Macedonia at home in the semifinals, but suffered a shocking upset when Aleksandar Trajkovski scored the match's only goal in the 92nd minute.

2018

• Lost to Sweden in UEFA qualifying playoff (1-0 aggregate over two legs)
• Managers: Gian Piero Ventura

Italy failed to quality for the World Cup for the first time since 1958, admittedly unlucky by being drawn into a qualifying group with Spain. The Italians won seven and only lost once in 10 group qualifiers, but finished second behind Spain and were forced into the UEFA playoff route.

Italy lost 1-0 on the road in the first leg of the qualifying playoff against Sweden and were held to a scoreless draw in the return leg in Milan – the first of three consecutive failures to book a World Cup ticket.

Ventura initially refused to resign from his post, but was fired two days after the defeat.

When did Italy win the World Cup?

• 1934: Defeated Czechoslovakia in final,
• 1938: Defeated Hungary in final,
• 1982: Defeated West Germany in final
• 2006: Defeated France in final