Soccer

After months of questions about his future with Liverpool, Virgil van Dijk won't be going anywhere anytime soon.

Liverpool announced on Thursday that the captain agreed to a new contract to keep him in the fold beyond the 2024-25 season. Fabrizio Romano reported that the new deal is for two years, keeping Van Dijk with the club through the 2027 campaign.

Van Dijk's previous deal was set to expire this summer, but ESPN's Beth Lindop noted that his representative has been in negotiations with Liverpool "for several months." Sources told Lindop that "it was abundantly clear that the desire of both parties was to extend Van Dijk's stay at Anfield."

"I’m very happy, very proud," Van Dijk said in a release. "There are so many emotions obviously that go through my head right now speaking about it. It’s a proud feeling, it’s a feeling of joy. It’s just incredible. The journey I’ve had so far in my career, to be able to extend it with another two years at this club is amazing and I’m so happy."

The news of Van Dijk's new contract comes after Liverpool agreed to a new deal with Mohamed Salah, continuing the positive momentum from manager Arne Slot's successful first season.

After spending three seasons with Southampton, Van Dijk joined Liverpool during the 2019 transfer window. He has since made more than 300 appearances for Liverpool and established himself as one of the best defenders in world football.

"It was always Liverpool. That was the case. It was always in my head, it was always the plan and it was always Liverpool," Van Dijk said. "There wasn’t any doubt in my head that this is the place to be for me and my family. I’m one of Liverpool. Someone called me the other day an adopted Scouser – I’m really proud to hear these things, it gives me a great feeling."

Barcelona survived a spirited effort from Borussia Dortmund to advance to the UEFA Champions League semifinals for the first time since 2019.

Dortmund earned a 3-1 win in Tuesday's second leg of their quarterfinal matchup, but Barcelona won 5-3 on aggregate. Serhou Guirassy recorded a hat trick for Dortmund, but an own goal by Ramy Bensebaini in the 54th minute gave Barcelona the separation it needed.

Guirassy's goal in the 76th minute raised the drama, and things appeared to get even more intense when Julian Brandt found the back of the net in the 78th minute. However, Brandt was called for being offside, negating the goal. Barcelona was able to stave off Dortmund's late charges on its way to victory.

Fans on social media celebrated Barcelona for surviving and advancing to the semifinals on Tuesday:

Barcelona reach their first Champions League semifinal since 2019 🥹 pic.twitter.com/2RyqtDhKiW

— B/R Football (@brfootball) April 15, 2025

INTO THE SEMIFINALS!!!!#BVBBarça @ChampionsLeague pic.twitter.com/Tj6QJNngxz

— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) April 15, 2025

Barcelona & Pedri
To The Semi Final 💙❤️ pic.twitter.com/yRZeQMUH6h

— Pedri World (@Pedri_World8) April 15, 2025

FT!

WE ARE IN THE SEMI-FINAL! pic.twitter.com/jYY4E4fPST

— Barça Worldwide (@BarcaWorldwide) April 15, 2025

⭐️ Barcelona has reached the SF’s of th Champions League for the first time since 2018/19. #UCL 🔵🔴✨

— Reshad Rahman (@ReshadFCB) April 15, 2025

The fact that Dortmund clawed back a 3-1 victory against this Barca side is so impressive, could have been 4-1 too. Honestly, respect. What a game

— ❤️🤍 𝓖𝓱𝓸𝓼𝓽 𝓸𝓯 𝓚𝓸𝓱𝓵 🇪🇺🎀 (@DerKanzlerFCB) April 15, 2025

It's been 10 years since Barcelona LAST won the Champions League. 👀

Can they dare to dream? pic.twitter.com/YVHq0PRKgG

— SI Soccer (@si_soccer) April 15, 2025

Barcelona have qualified for the Champions League semi-final for the first time since 2018/19. 

Barça are back. 🙌 pic.twitter.com/8gkxLzH3fS

— Squawka (@Squawka) April 15, 2025

Barcelona will open the semifinals on April 28 and will face the winner of the quarterfinals matchup between Inter Milan and Bayern Munich. Inter leads 2-1 after the first leg.

The field is set for the 2025 Gold Cup.

Concacaf announced the draw for the Gold Cup on Thursday ahead of the start of the event this summer. The four groups are made up of 16 teams—15 of which are from Concacaf and the 16th being Saudi Arabia, which is a guest nation in this year's Gold Cup.

Mexico, Canada, Panama and the United States are the four highest-ranked teams and were in turn placed into four different groups.

Here's a look at the teams in each group.

The group stage schedule for the 2025 Concacaf Gold Cup is here ✨ pic.twitter.com/me62HIhCvM

— B/R Football (@brfootball) April 11, 2025

Group A

• Mexico
• Costa Rica
• Suriname
• Dominican Republic

Group B

• Canada
• Honduras
• El Salvador
• Curaçao

Group C

• Panama
• Jamaica
• Guatemala
• Guadeloupe

Group D

• United States
• Haiti
• Trinidad and Tobago
• Saudi Arabia

An explanation of how each pot and each group are decided can be found here:

All you need to know 👀 pic.twitter.com/AYoygyY1U1

— Gold Cup (@GoldCup) April 10, 2025

The Gold Cup will begin in June and will end on July 6 with the final at NRG Stadium in Houston. Here are the key dates for this year's Gold Cup:

Key Dates

• Group Stage: June 14-24
• Quarterfinals: June 28-29
• Semifinals: July 2
• Final: July 6

On Friday, the Gold Cup announced the full schedule for the event, which can be found here.

The United States' fixtures are as follows:

June 15: Trinidad and Tobago - PayPal Park, San Jose, California

June 19: Saudi Arabia - Q2 Stadium, Austin, Texas

June 22: Haiti - AT&T Stadium, Arlington, Texas

The 2025 Gold Cup will be a pivotal moment for the United States. Team USA is coming off a poor showing at Copa America in 2024 that saw it fail to advance to the knockout stage after finishing third in a group that featured Uruguay and Panama.

In its most recent event, the United States finished fourth in CONCACAF Nations League as Mexico came out as champions and Panama and Canada finished in second and third, respectively.

Now, under manager Mauricio Pochettino, Team USA will get one of its final tune-ups before hosting the 2026 World Cup.

The United States won't have an easy path out of its group as several teams will be vying for a spot in the quarterfinals.

Haiti has seen Gold Cup magic before as it advanced all the way to the semifinals in 2019, but it hasn't fared as well in recent years. Haiti failed to advance past the group stage in both 2021 and 2023, but will rely on Inter Miami winger Fafa Picault to lead it to an upset this year.

Trinidad and Tobago has qualified for the Gold Cup four consecutive years now but is still searching for its first knockout stage appearance in a decade. The United States will take on Trinidad and Tobago with a revenge mentality as the Soca Warriors kept Team USA from qualifying for the 2018 World Cup.

Unlike the Concacaf teams that are used to playing each other, Saudi Arabia will be a fresh face in this year's Gold Cup. While there won't be the added motivation of taking on familiar rivals, Saudi Arabia is still vying for qualification for the 2026 World Cup, and a few wins at the Gold Cup could go a long way.

Group D features some stiff competition, but the United States should manage to advance into the quarterfinals and build some momentum before the World Cup next year.

Mohamed Salah has agreed to terms on a new contract with Liverpool that will keep him at the club through the 2027 season.

Liverpool confirmed the deal on Friday, along with Salah telling James Carroll and Chris Shaw of the club's official website he's "very, very happy" to remain with the Reds.

"I'm very, very happy to be at LFC" 😄👑

Read @MoSalah's interview in full 🗣️

— Liverpool FC (@LFC) April 11, 2025

Per ESPN's Beth Lindop, talks between Salah's representatives and Liverpool management had been "taking place for months" before an agreement was reached.

While the financial terms of the contract aren't known, Lindop did note a pay cut for the 32-year-old "was never on the agenda for either party."

Salah's previous contract, signed in July 2022, was a three-year pact that pays him $18.2 million annually.

The Egypt international said earlier this year that he was preparing for this to be his final season with Liverpool because the two sides were at an impasse on contract talks.

"So far? Yes. Into the last six months, there is no progress there, we're far away from any progress, so we just need to wait and see," Salah told Sky Sports in January (h/t Lindop).

James Cohen of the Daily Mail reported on Jan. 16 that the Saudi Pro League was heavily courting Salah with an offer worth approximately $85 million over two years.

Instead, Salah was able to work out a deal that will allow him to reach 10 full years with Liverpool at the end of the contract. He originally joined the Reds on a transfer in June 2017 from AS Roma.

Salah ranks third of all time in Liverpool history with 243 goals in 394 appearances. He has a combined 44 goals and assists in 31 matches during the 2024-25 Premier League season.

MLS announced Thursday that a potential switch from a winter-to-fall schedule to a fall-to-spring schedule won't occur until at least the 2027 season.

"Any potential changes would not take effect until the 2027 season at the earliest," a statement from the league said, via ESPN's Cesar Hernandez. "This next phase will include additional consultation with key stakeholders and the development of a comprehensive transition plan."

No changes to match the global calendar are expected happen prior to the upcoming 2026 FIFA World Cup, per Alex M. Silverman of Sports Business Journal.

MLS commissioner Don Garber previously explained to reporters that the league was considering an eventual change at his State of the League address in Dec. 2024.

"I do think that we are considering more than ever before this opportunity to change, but it's not something that we're ready to talk about right now," Garber said, via Hernandez. "The schedule does get more crowded. The summers, in particular June now, that has been taken up by most of the international tournaments."

"[It] has us digging in even deeper than we ever had in the past, but we've got a lot of work to do and that work is ongoing," he added.

Momentum towards transitioning to a fall-to-spring schedule appears to be building throughout the landscape of the entire league.

Paul Tenorio and Felipe Cardenas of The Athletic surveyed 21 MLS sporting executives who held a "nearly unanimous" belief that a calendar matching Europe would be "positive" for the league.

One general manager pointed to the league's MLS Cup not having to compete with the NFL as well as college football under a new schedule.

"Right now, the playoffs start and playoffs go on (with international breaks), college and NFL football are on, my friends just kind of stop watching it," the general manager said, per Tenorio and Cardenas. "Having it at the end of May or early June, when there is not as much competition, is better for us."

With the MLS calendar remaining the same heading into the 2026 World Cup, the league previously announced that it plans to take a break during the 2026 season to accommodate the World Cup in North America.

An updated schedule could come as soon as 2027, though.

United States women's national team forward Trinity Rodman does not believe her back will ever be 100 percent again after struggling with ongoing back issues.

"Honestly, I don't think my back will ever be 100 percent," Rodman told reporters on Friday. "It's kind of an issue of it's not one specific thing, it's just the way that my back's structured. And it's more so management than like a curable fix."

The 22-year-old has battled back spasms and other issues since her 2021 rookie season with the NWSL's Washington Spirit, per ESPN, aggravating the injury last September after she was taken off the field during a game against the Kansas City Current in a wheelchair.

"So I think we've managed it really well and I'm happy with the progression that we've had," Rodman continued. "But for me, I don't think my back will ever be the way it was my rookie year, which is unfortunate."

During the 2024 Olympics, Rodman scored three goals to help the USWNT secure a gold medal. However, she has not appeared in any games for the U.S. women since the Olympic win due to her ongoing back injury.

"It's tough for me coming off such a good season and the Olympics and then going into an injury and now trying to find my place again and find my tole and find my rhythm," Rodman said.

In three matches for the Spirit this season, Rodman has made one start, come off the bench twice and taken four shots, with one on target. However, she has yet to find the back of the net.

Cristiano Ronaldo has been revealed as a new character for the upcoming fighting game, "Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves," via a trailer that dropped Wednesday.

Ronaldo confirmed the news himself via social media.

Big news to share with everyone today!
I'm going to be a character in the new fighting game FATAL FURY: City of the Wolves! @FATALFURY_PR
Let's have some fun on April 24th!  
https://t.co/XaIqKFHUIG #SNK #FatalFury #CR7 #AD pic.twitter.com/UX0PhYKKNP

— Cristiano Ronaldo (@Cristiano) March 26, 2025

This marks the first installment of the Fatal Fury series since 1999 when Garou: Mark of the Wolves was released for Neo Geo. Eleven Fatal Fury titles were released from 1991-1999.

The latest edition will be released on Thursday, April 24 for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows and Xbox Series X/S.

The United States Men National Team was called out by fans after they lost back-to-back matches in the Concacaf Nations League to Panama and Canada.  

Until last September, it had been 67 years since Canada beat the USMNT on their soil.

Now they've done it back-to-back. Superb goals from Jonathan David on both occasions.#CanMNT

— thomashewitt.bsky.social 🇨🇦 (@ThomasHewitt22) March 24, 2025

USMNT lose back to back games, responding to Thursday's humiliating defeat against Panama by falling to Jesse Marsch's Canada who were hungrier, more cohesive, and clinical. With so little competitive football between now and the World Cup, these games mattered... pic.twitter.com/N6U4OwxZaf

— Men in Blazers (@MenInBlazers) March 24, 2025

Honestly you can’t really blame the coach on this one.

Well deserved Canada!

The US players didn’t show up. And this loss says it all.

Lack of discipline. Lack of leadership. Lack of mentality. Lack of creativity.#USMNT

— FARMERS LIGUE 𝕏 (@farmersliguepod) March 23, 2025

🇨🇦 Canada has won consecutive games vs the USMNT for the first time since two games in 1980 and 1985.

— Paul Carr (@PaulCarr) March 23, 2025

The USMNT defense really leaves a lot to be desired.
McKenzie can’t drift away from David there.
Let’s see how the team reacts now.
CANvUSA 2-1.

— Roberto Abramowitz (@RobAbramowitz) March 23, 2025

Canada peppering #USMNT defense over that last few minutes finds the joy.

Nothing good from the US so far

— Thomas 🇺🇸 (@USKeeper) March 23, 2025

Canada attacks with big numbers. That’s why US looks suffocated and uncomfortable in their own pitch. A much better look for Jesse Marsch tactically so far. #CanMNT 🇨🇦

— Fernando Contreras (@feratthesix) March 23, 2025

Not only are Canada leading 1-0 over #USMNT they are well worth that lead as they are dominating in an empty SoFi stadium

— Mark (@MarkVivLexCA) March 23, 2025

In a battle for third place, the U.S. scored once at the 35-minute mark to level the game 1-1 with Canada, thanks to forward Patrick Agyemang. After allowing the neighbors up north to score again at the 59-minute mark, the U.S. could not respond despite having four shots on goal and controlling nearly 60 percent of possession.

The USMNT trail Canada 1-0 in the Concacaf Nations League third-place match 🫠

(via @GolazoAmerica)pic.twitter.com/JPnCAMKewg

— B/R Football (@brfootball) March 23, 2025

The team first lost 1-0 to Panama in the semifinals on Thursday, failing to find the back of the net despite holding 66.6 percent of possession. With over 12 shots, five on target and nine corner kick opportunities, their lack of scoring was even more concerning.

United States midfielder Tyler Adams and the team are aware of their shortcomings and understand the need to pinpoint the areas that are holding them back.

"I don't know what we've lacked exactly, whether it was that competitive nature, that mentality, but we need to look in the mirror before anything and just realize that when we have these types of games, we can't wait for something to happen," Adams told reporters after the loss to Panama. "We need to make things happen and put games on our terms… So yeah, I think we have new ideas in our head, and you can tell we're trying to work through them for sure. But yeah, it needs to be better."

The losses are particularly troubling considering the team's future in the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which is set to take place next summer in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

The team has shown no signs of improvement since their seeming decline following the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, where they were eliminated in the Round of 16 by the Netherlands, 3-1.

As the team disperses to return to their respective clubs in Europe and MLS, they will not reunite until July for an international friendly match against Turkey.

FIFA will consider making the 2030 World Cup the largest tournament in event history.

FIFA's governing council has acknowledged a proposal to expand the World Cup to 64 teams in 2030 as a celebration of the organization's 100th anniversary, a spokesperson told Reuters.

The previous World Cup format featured 32 teams from 1998 to 2022.

FIFA expanded the field to 48 teams, including 45 qualifying countries and three host nations, ahead of the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Mexico and Canada.

The FIFA spokesperson said in a statement shared with Reuters:

"A proposal to analyse a 64-team FIFA World Cup to celebrate the centenary of the FIFA World Cup in 2030 was spontaneously raised by a FIFA Council member in the 'miscellaneous' agenda item near the end of the FIFA Council meeting held on March 5 2025. The idea was acknowledged as FIFA has a duty to analyse any proposal from one of its Council members."

The New York Times' Tariq Panja reported the proposal was made by Ignacio Alonso, president of the Uruguayan Football Association.

According to Panja, Alonso made the proposal by "reading out a prepared speech in English" toward the end of the video meeting, and his suggestion was reportedly met with "stunned silence."

Uruguay will host matches during the 2030 World Cup, which is also taking place in Spain, Portugal, Morocco, Argentina and Paraguay.

FIFA president Gianni Infantino has overseen a series of significant changes to the organization's marquee event since taking his position in 2016, including instituting the historic 50 percent increase in the size of the World Cup field ahead of the 2026 event.

The 2022 World Cup featured 64 games, a number that will climb to a record 104 games during the upcoming North American tournament, as noted by ESPN's Dale Johnson.

The previous event in Qatar took place over 29 days, a number that will increase to 38 days given the expanded field in 2026. The tournament could stretch even longer if more teams were allowed to qualify.

The 2026 final will also feature the first halftime show in World Cup history, Infantino confirmed Wednesday. The event has the potential to increase the length of the championship match.

Infantino has also previously discussed the idea of playing the World Cup every two years instead of every four, although the concept has not moved forward.

The 2026 FIFA World Cup final will feature the first halftime show in the event's history.

FIFA president Gianni Infantino confirmed the news in a Tuesday post on Instagram.

"This will be a historic moment for the FIFA World Cup and a show befitting the biggest sporting event in the world," Infantino wrote.

According to Infantino, Chris Martin and Phil Harvey of Coldplay will help FIFA decide who will be performing at the show.

The World Cup final is set to take place at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey on Sunday, July 19, 2026.

The weekend leading up to the final will also feature events in New York City. FIFA is preparing a Times Square "takeover" during both the final match and the bronze medal game, according to Infantino.

Martin and Harvey will also help curate a list of performers for the Times Square events, according to Infantino.

The events is being produced Global Citizen, an international advocacy organization with which FIFA announced a four-year agreement in September 2024.

Infantino first announced plans regarding a halftime show when revealing the 12 World Cup host stadiums across the United States during a Global Citizen event last September.

"One of the things I found in America is that the stadiums here are really built for people to have fun, to enjoy, to spend time," Infantino said at the time, per Inside FIFA. "They don’t just go and watch the game and leave, but they stay hours and hours and hours, and I think that’s exactly what we need."

The NFL generally pauses games for 13-minute halftimes. Super Bowl halftimes stretch as long as 30 minutes to accommodate performances.

Infantino has not yet confirmed if FIFA will take more than the usual 15 minutes between the halves of the World Cup final. Timing changes would raise questions as to how players can stay warmed up over the longer break.

The World Cup will take place in 16 cities across the United States, Canada and Mexico. The tournament kicks off in Guadalajara and Mexico City on Thursday, June 11, 2026.