England and the United States are set to pack out Wembley in a tantalising October clash between the Euro 2022 and Women s World Cup winners, hailed by Sarina Wiegman as the perfect game .

News of the planned October 7 fixture arrived two days after England completed their European triumph in front of 87,192 spectators at the national stadium in London, beating Germany 2-1 in a final that went to extra time.

It was a record crowd for a European Championship game, men s or women s, and the feverish support for the women s in England looks set to guarantee another full house.

The US women s side beat England 2-1 in the 2019 World Cup semi-finals, and the two teams are expected to be among the trophy challengers at next year s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand…

Spain s triumph at Euro 2008, which started their greatest ever period on the international stage, was built using a real mix of club components.

They won the final 1-0 against Germany, courtesy of a goal from Liverpool striker Fernando Torres, set up by Barcelona midfielder Xavi. Players from Real Madrid, Valencia, Villarreal and even Real Mallorca all appeared in that match in Vienna.

Two years later, when they won the World Cup by the same scoreline, the influence of Pep Guardiola s Barcelona was clear. Seven of the starting XI played their club football at Camp Nou, although one, David Villa, was a new signing and yet to play a game; the rest were from Madrid, and one, Joan Capdevila, from Villarreal.

By the time of their successful European Championship def…

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Hoping to make it three Bundesliga victories on the bounce this weekend, Borussia Dortmund will travel to a high-flying Hoffenheim on Friday night.

Hoffenheim

Starting with the hosts, while Hoffenheim might have been left disappointed last season as they had to settle for a bottom-half finish, the Blues have come flying out of the traps this time around. Putting in another hugely impressive performance last weekend as they claimed a 2-0 victory away at Champions League outfit Union Berlin, Pellegrino Matarazzo’s side have continued to gain a string of recent plaudits. Marking their return from September’s international break with a 3-1 romp away at Koln, the Sinsheim-based outfit now have their sights firmly set on mounting a gen…

Gareth Southgate saw no need to lift Harry Kane after the striker s penalty miss sent England out of the World Cup.

Kane missed a spot-kick late on against France in the quarter-finals, having previously beaten his Tottenham team-mate Hugo Lloris from 12 yards in a thrilling clash that Les Bleus won 2-1.

Yet that failure has not seemed to disrupt Kane s fine season with Tottenham. The 29-year-old has scored 10 goals since the season resumed, with his latest coming against Southampton on Saturday.

And Southgate never felt he had to pick up the phone to his captain, who matched Wayne Rooney as England s record goalscorer with his successful penalty against France.

I don t think it s a big hurdle really, Southgate said of Kane, who has been named in England…

The Ballon d Or will be handed out on Thursday and, as has become tradition, the football world waits with bated breath to see which of Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo will win it.

The Barcelona and Real Madrid stars have won every edition of the prize since 2008, both as France Football s standalone award and during its merger with FIFA s prize, and it seems inconceivable that the duopoly will not continue in 2017.

Plenty of debate has raged over which of them has deserved to get their hands on the glittering gold sphere every year, but not quite so much air time has been given to assessing those who deserved it just as much – perhaps even more so.

Well, in the spirit of Ballon d Or decency, we re going to do just that. Here are the players we think fully de…

Allow me to quote former Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand straight from the off here but Juventus surely need to file an appeal over Cristiano Ronaldo’s red card against Valencia.

Bianconeri superstar striker ended up having a torrid night in his favourite competition as he got sent off just before the half hour-mark after what appeared as if he slightly pulled Valencia centre-back Jeison Murillo’s hair.

after being shown the red card and I’m on the bandwagon with Rio Ferdinand, believing that decision to send him off was a harsh one.

Surely got to appeal this ??

— Rio Ferdinand (@rioferdy5)

Never before the Wednesday night’s clash against Valencia has Cristiano Ronaldo been shown a red card in the Champions League…

Market: Both teams to score

Odds: 8/11 @

Meeting for the second time in the space of just a few days, Luton will welcome QPR to Kenilworth Road on Friday night.

Starting with the hosts, while Luton might have gained plenty of plaudits following their famous Premier League return last season, the Hatters are in the midst of a public struggle. Losing their top-flight status prior to the summer break, Rob Edwards’ side have come under some mounting scrutiny. Crashing out of the EFL Cup earlier in the week as they suffered penalties heartbreak at the hands of Friday’s opponents, the former Watford boss is desperately seeking some kind of boost. Signing off their summer preparations with a 3-1 loss at the hands of Spanish outfit Celta Vigo, Luton have failed to f…

Jurgen Klopp is not surprised at all by Ilkay Gundogan s outstanding form for Manchester City, describing the midfielder as one of the best players I ever coached .

Gundogan is enjoying the best scoring season of his league career, netting seven times to help City climb to the top of the Premier League.

Robbed of Sergio Aguero for an extended period and now also without Kevin De Bruyne, Pep Guardiola has handed additional attacking responsibilities to the Germany international, who is thriving.

Gundogan, a 2016 signing from Borussia Dortmund, has nine goals in all competitions this term at a rate of 0.5 per 90 minutes, his best performance in a City shirt.

Yet Gundogan continues to create for his team-mates, too, supplying a pair of assists and creating 1…

Atletico Madrid striker Alvaro Morata is set to miss Saturday s derby with his former club Real Madrid after an appeal against a suspension was unsuccessful.

Morata was sent off in Atletico s LaLiga clash with Real Mallorca on Wednesday after being shown two yellow cards in quick succession following an appearance as a substitute.

The Spain international had come off the bench in the 69th minute, and he collected a booking just eight minutes later after a row with referee Alejandro Hernandez.

He was then swiftly involved in a flashpoint with Mallorca s Salva Sevilla which saw the pair square up to each other and exchange angry words before Morata, 26, received a second booking.

Atletico had written to the Spanish FA asking for clemency on Morata s suspe…

Cristiano Ronaldo has signed a four-year contract with Juventus after the Serie A champions confirmed the Portugal superstar s €100million move from Real Madrid.

The end of Ronaldo s nine-year stay at Madrid was announced on Tuesday by Madrid, with the 33-year-old explaining in an open letter he wants to start a new cycle in his career.

Juventus have now confirmed details of the deal, with Madrid to receive €100m for the record goalscorer in the club s history.

Ronaldo hit 450 goals for Madrid, helping the club to win four Champions League titles in the last five seasons.

In addition to the €100m fee, which will be paid over the next two years, Juventus said in a statement that a further €12m will be paid in additional costs

Madrid, w…