International Football Thread

[Fatman17]

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[ghazi52]

Aston Villa win Europa League​

They ended a 30-year trophy drought following a 3-0 victory over Freiburg

AFP
May 21, 2026

Aston Villa midfielder Youri Tielemans celebrates after scoring in the Europa League final. Photo: AFP

LONDON: Aston Villa ended their 30-year trophy drought in style as spectacular goals from Youri Tielemans and Emiliano Buendia inspired a 3-0 win against Freiburg in the Europa League final on Wednesday.

Unai Emery's side took the lead late in the first half in Istanbul through Tielemans' thunderous volley.
Buendia increased Villa's advantage with a sublime curler seconds before the interval.

Morgan Rogers' second-half goal finished off the outclassed Germans, sealing Villa's first silverware since the 1996 League Cup and their first major European prize for 44 years.

That famous European Cup final upset of Bayern Munich in 1982, secured by Peter Withe's goal in Rotterdam, has stood as the most iconic moment in Villa's 152-year history.

But Villa's current stars were determined to follow in the footsteps of the club's golden generation.

 

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Lens beat Nice to win French Cup for first time​

They had never previously won the French Cup despite reaching the final three times

AFP
May 23, 2026

PARIS: Lens won the French Cup for the first time in their history with a 3-1 victory over Nice in the final at the Stade de France on Friday.

Florian Thauvin, a member of the France squad that won the World Cup in 2018, scored one goal and set up another for Odsonne Edouard as Lens found themselves 2-0 ahead late in the first half.

Teenager Djibril Coulibaly pulled one back for Nice with his first senior goal just before the interval and they hit the woodwork twice in the second half.

But Lens made sure of the win through substitute Abdallah Sima, who poked home in the 78th minute to spark joyous celebrations.

The triumph caps a superb campaign for the club from northern France, who under new coach Pierre Sage finished second in Ligue 1 to a dominant Paris Saint-Germain and qualified for next season's Champions League as a result.

Lens had never previously won the French Cup despite reaching the final three times, most recently in 1998 -- that year they won the league title for the only time in their history.

"It is historic, extraordinary," star performer Thauvin told broadcaster France 2.

"It has really been a remarkable season and we were all eager to make history for the club."

The vast majority of the near-capacity crowd inside the 80,000-seat Stade de France were supporting Lens, with many disillusioned Nice fans not attending.

 

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N Korean women crowned Asian champions​

AFP

They beat Verdy Beleza 1-0 in the final

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Pressure on Sundowns coach Cardoso​

AFP

Sundowns defend a 1-0 lead over Moroccan hosts FAR Rabat in the second leg

 

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Spurs sweat over EPL survival​

AFP

They must avoid defeat against Everton to stay in the Premier League

 

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Liverpool sack manager Arne Slot​

The Reds finished fifth in the table

Reuters
May 30, 2026

Arne Slot's Liverpool are on track to qualify for next season's Champions League. Photo: AFP

LONDON: Liverpool parted ways with Arne Slot on Saturday after the Dutch manager who won the Premier League title in his first season failed to live up to expectations in a roller-coaster second season where they finished fifth.

Former Feyenoord boss Slot replaced Juergen Klopp in 2024 and the Dutchman impressed in his first season as Liverpool won the Premier League title on the back of Egyptian forward Mohamed Salah's 29 goals and 18 assists in the league.

However, his second season at Liverpool transformed from a title defence into a desperate scramble for Champions League qualification while they failed to win a domestic cup, marking a dramatic downturn for the defending champions.

 

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‘I’m leaving Liverpool among Europe's elite'​

AFP
Slot was sacked by the Reds just after two seasons

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AFP
Pochettino’s USA secured an impressive 3-2 friendly win over Senegal





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Brazil thrash Panama 6-2 in World Cup send-off​

AFP
Vinicius Jr fired the Brazilians into the lead

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Undav eases Germany past Finland​

AFP

It was a 10 out of 10 evening, says Undav

 

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A rivalry that changed football
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5 June 2026
By Andy Cryer
BBC Sport senior journalist

Brazil's Kaka had just won the 2007 Fifa Player of the Year award but it was an awkward on-stage moment next to him that was to go viral and provide perhaps the first glimpse of a generational rivalry.

A youthful Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo had finished second and third respectively but Brazil legend Pele mistakenly handed the latter the trophy for second place at the Zurich Opera House.

Fifa president Sepp Blatter had to intervene to ask the duo to swap the trophies, with both looking suitably unimpressed.

For the next 10 years, Messi or Ronaldo won every Ballon d'Or and Fifa award going. In fact since 2007, 20 of the 29 gongs awarded for Europe's player of the year has gone to one of them.

With approaching 2,000 career goals between them, 85 trophies for club and country and countless individual awards and records, Messi and Ronaldo will forever be remembered as two of the most decorated players in history.

It is a rivalry that has defined the last two decades of football, transcending clubs, countries and competitions to reshape how the game has been played, consumed and debated across the world.

"Two players like them, competing at that level for so many years, fighting over the Ballon d'Or and scoring that many goals... I don't think we'll see it again," Argentina World Cup winner Angel di Maria, who played with both, says in BBC Sport's new documentary Rivals: Messi v Ronaldo.

Driven by a pursuit of trophies, records and a relentless desire to be the best, the pair – likely to be making their final World Cup appearances this summer - have pushed each other to new heights.

It is a rivalry that goes beyond the ultimate 'greatest of all time' debate they have fuelled.

"They both changed football," says Di Maria.