Soccer

11/21/2025 |  2026 World Cup: Australia and Uzbekistan to host FIFA-backed warmup mini-tournaments (Associated Press (AP)) CH (AP) — World Cup qualifiers Australia and Uzbekistan will prepare for the tournament by hosting FIFA-backed tournaments of intercontinental friendlies in March, soccer’s governing body said Friday.
The “FIFA Series” of mini-tournaments designed to help developing soccer nations debuted two years ago and will add the first women’s events next year, in Brazil, Ivory Coast and Thailand. Brazil will host the Women’s World Cup in 2027.

11/21/2025 |  Stadium project for Birmingham is like ‘Welcome to Wrexham’ supersized (Associated Press (AP)) BIRMINGHAM, England (AP) — Think “Welcome to Wrexham” only supersized.
Birmingham City — a second-tier English soccer team that has been outside of the Premier League for more than a decade — has announced plans to build one of the biggest stadiums in Europe. 

11/21/2025 |  FIFA bans Panama soccer leader again in fallout from fat-shaming comment (Associated Press (AP)) ZURICH (AP) — Days after Panama qualified for the 2026 World Cup, FIFA banned the country’s soccer federation president for failing to respect a previous ban imposed for fat-shaming a women’s national team star.
FIFA said Manuel Arias was “banned from all football-related activity for six months,” which will expire about four weeks before the World Cup kicks off in the United States, Mexico and Canada.

11/21/2025 |  Premier League to introduce a spending cap from next season (Associated Press (AP)) MANCHESTER, England (AP) — Premier League teams agreed Friday to introduce spending caps in England’s top flight from next season.
Clubs’ on-field spending will be restricted to 85% of their soccer revenue and net profit or loss on player sales. There will also be an allowance of an extra 30% - but if clubs exceed that limit they face a points deduction. 

11/21/2025 |  Lionel Messi, Inter Miami's 1st MLS Regular-Season Match In New Stadium Set (Fox Sports) Lionel Messi and Inter Miami will play a Major League Soccer match in their new stadium for the first time on April 4, one of the highlights of the league's schedule that was revealed Thursday.
The 2026 MLS regular season starts Feb. 21 and runs through Nov. 7. It'll be the last season in the February-to-November model, with a shortened season planned for 2027 and then the new summer-to-spring calendar for the 2027-28 campaign to closer align with other global leagues.