Football/Soccer 24-Hour Briefing
×Last updated: October 17, 2026, 4:40 AM ET
Red Roses and Rugby League
England's 41-game unbeaten run skysports.com came to an end after a late Canadian rally stunned the Red Roses. Elsewhere, England's women opened their Rugby League World Cup skysports.com against Wales, while Australia thrashed Samoa skysports.com in the women's opener.
Boxing
Oleksandr Usyk skysports.com could move straight into a world title fight on his return to the ring, according to promoter Frank Warren. Daniel Dubois and Fabio Wardley both weighed in at career heaviest skysports.com ahead of their heavyweight title rematch.
Premier League
Liverpool dropped points bbc.co.uk in the title race as the Premier League's top scorers continued to dominate, while Manchester City face substantial hurdles bbc.co.uk in their appeal. Enzo Maresca hopes for inflatable bananas espn.com at the Etihad, and Erling Haaland's onside mastery espn.com explains his prolific scoring. Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta says job cuts espn.com will help the club achieve success, and Arteta will retake skysports.com the team photo to include William Saliba. Chelsea captain Reece James is out for three months skysports.com after knee surgery, and Henderson and Caicedo have shone skysports.com in the Chelsea midfield.
La Liga and Europe
Real Madrid demanded LaLiga chief Tebas resign espn.com after he compared the club's efforts to Nazi propaganda, while Jude Bellingham is ready to commit bbc.co.uk his future to Real. Barcelona's Raphinha is fit espn.com for the trip to Real Betis. In the Champions League, a Viking side shocked Manchester United espn.com while Barcelona and PSG impressed, and Shakhtar's home win over AEK espn.com carried special significance. Alphadjo Cissè became Italy's youngest espn.com European hat-trick scorer for Milan.
Other Leagues and Competitions
Inter captain Lautaro Martínez is likely to miss seven games espn.com with a hamstring injury. Ousmane Dembélé joked about more holidays espn.com after PSG's win. Spain received a partial stadium closure bbc.co.uk over discriminatory chants during their match against Egypt, and police are investigating bbc.co.uk Nazi chants from Hajduk Split fans. Gloucester drew with Champions Cup holders skysports.com Bordeaux in a thriller, and Burnley's home winless run skysports.com will extend past one year.
MLS and US Soccer
Cavan Sullivan set a new MLS teen record espn.com but called his performance "terrible." Zambian players will miss several NWSL games espn.com due to Ebola travel restrictions. USMNT players are feuding online again espn.com.
Transfers and Finance
Liverpool are reportedly interested espn.com in Bournemouth's Alex Scott, and Liverpool eye Manzambi skysports.com from Aston Villa. The founder of 777 Partners, which had bid for Everton, was found guilty of fraud espn.com and must repay $500M. Liverpool's big-money signings espn.com have struggled to deliver.
Scotland
Celtic face Hearts in the weekend's main event bbc.co.uk, with Martin O'Neill defiant after skysports.com a 4-1 Benfica loss. Derek McInnes says it is too early bbc.co.uk for Rangers to pressure the top two.
Tragedy
A member of South Africa's Lions squad, Hyron Andrews, died suddenly skysports.com in France, where the team were preparing for a match.
Coming Up
The United States Grand Prix returns to COTA skysports.com with the UK schedule published. Saudi Arabia says the Asian Cup espn.com remains on track for next January.