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Neymar's penalty 13 minutes from time earned Brazil a 1-0 win over fellow World Cup qualifiers Japan at Tokyo's National Stadium on Monday as the Paris St Germain striker moved to within three goals of Pele's all-time national scoring record. The forward coolly slotted the ball past Shuichi Gonda to hit his 74th goal in 119 internationals after being frustrated on several occasions by the Japanese goalkeeper in front of a rain-soaked crowd of 63,638 fans. Brazil's win came off the back of

Rafael Nadal regained his aura of invincibility on clay on Sunday by brutally crushing Casper Ruud to lift the French Open trophy for an incredible 14th time and widen the gap at the top of the men's all-time list of Grand Slam winners. Norwegian Ruud became the latest victim in a long line of challengers who have unsuccessfully tried to defeat the Spaniard in the Roland Garros final since Nadal won his maiden title on the red clay in 2005. There was a

Wales ended their 64-year wait for a place in the World Cup finals as they beat Ukraine 1-0 on Sunday to end the war-torn nation's hopes of reaching Qatar. An own goal from Ukraine winger Andriy Yarmolenko, who headed a Gareth Bale free-kick into his own net, decided the contest. It was a cruel way for Ukraine's qualification effort to end with Oleksandr Petrakov's side, who beat Scotland in the playoff semi-final, again showing a level of football which would have certainly merited

Captain Gareth Bale said Wales are desperate to qualify for their first World Cup finals appearance in 64 years when they take on Ukraine in Sunday's playoff match at the Cardiff City Stadium. Wales' only World Cup finals appearance was in Sweden in 1958, where they lost to Brazil in the quarter-finals. "It's a big game. It's difficult to put it into whether it's 'the' big game. Obviously, we played in a semi-final of a European Championship" in 2016, Bale, who sat out

Eighth seed Casper Ruud battled past teenager Holger Rune 6-1 4-6 7-6(2) 6-3 on Wednesday to reach the French Open semi-finals and become the first Norwegian to reach this stage in any Grand Slam. He will play Croatian 20th seed Marin Cilic in the semi-final. "Of course a lot of nerves all day to get going. It's tough to find calm and peace," Ruud said. "I started great but Holger fought back and raised his level." "I had played him three times already,

Argentina marked the revival of the Cup of Champions in style as an inspired Lionel Messi helped them outclass Italy 3-0 in a heavyweight clash billed as the 'Finalissima' at a raucous Wembley Stadium on Wednesday. First-half goals by Lautaro Martinez and Angel di Maria put the south American champions in complete control against an Italy side who were back at Wembley 11 months after beating England to win the delayed Euro 2020. With thousands of their supporters in the 87,000 crowd determined

Ukraine midfielder Oleksandr Zinchenko broke into tears on the eve of his team's crucial World Cup qualifier with Scotland and said he wanted above everything to see peace in his homeland. Ukraine, which has been ravaged by war since Russia's invasion in February, face Scotland at Hampden Park on Wednesday and if they win that game they will go on to take on Wales in Cardiff on Sunday for a place in the finals in Qatar in November. But Zinchenko, who plays for

Debutants Gujarat Titans were crowned the Indian Premier League (IPL) champions on Sunday after they capped a fairytale season by beating inaugural champions Rajasthan Royals by seven wickets in front of 100,000 fans in their home ground in Ahmedabad. Gujarat captain Hardik Pandya conjured up a stellar all-round display as his team clinched the low-scoring final with 11 balls to spare. Opting to bat first, 2008 champions Rajasthan never got going and posted a below-par 130-9 with Jos Buttler, this IPL's leading scorer,

France's sports ministry will meet with police and soccer officials on Monday to discuss the chaotic scenes at the Stade de France before and during Saturday's Champions League final, sports minister Amelie Oudea-Castera said. The final between Liverpool and Real Madrid kicked off with a 35-minute delay after police tried to hold back people attempting to force their way into the French national stadium without tickets, while some ticket holders complained they were not let in. Reuters TV footage showed riot police chasing

Norway's Casper Ruud and Denmark's Holger Rune led a Viking charge into the last 16 of the French Open with impressive wins at Roland Garros on Saturday. Eighth seed Ruud battled back to beat Italy's Lorenzo Sonego to take his place in the fourth round in Paris for the first time having reached round three for the past three years. A little later, Danish 19-year-old Rune continued his sensational progress as he trounced France's Hugo Gaston. Things looked bad for Ruud when a

Vinicius Junior's second half tap-in steered Real Madrid to a 1-0 victory over Liverpool in the Champions League final on Saturday for the Spanish champions' record-extending 14th European Cup victory. Vinicius tapped in at the far post from a Federico Valverde pass in the 59th minute after Liverpool had completely dominated the first half, to secure Real's fourth European crown in the last seven years. Six-time European champions Liverpool, who had come close in the 21st minute through Sadio Mane when his low

The International Football Association (FIFA) announced that tickets will be available Thursday, 26 May, as of 15:00 Doha timefor the last three crucial FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 play-off matches at Qatar's Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium that will decide the final two slots for the greatest global celebration of the beautiful game. The winners of the AFC play-off between Australia and UAE on 7 June will face Peru in a decisive intercontinental play-off on 13 June. The other winner-takes-all intercontinental play-off will take

Led by a sensational century by Rajat Patidar, Royal Challengers Bangalore beat LSG by 14 runs to book their place vs Rajasthan Royals in Qualifier 2. LSG won the toss and put RCB to bat first. Patidar came out to bat early in the innings after Faf went back for a duck. He, along with Virat, stabilised the ship. Rajat was batting aggressively from the get-go. He smashed 20 runs in the final over of the Powerplay to power RCB to 52 after

Deal is set to bring an end to Roman Abramovich's 19-year ownership of Chelsea, in which the club has won 21 trophies including five Premier League titles and two Champions Leagues The government has approved the £4.25bn Todd Boehly-led consortium takeover of Chelsea. After months of negotiations, the deal has finally been approved after the government received legal guarantees that Roman Abramovich - who has had his UK assets frozen - will not benefit from the sale. The proceeds from the sale will

Lucknow Super Giants are all set to take on the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the eliminator of IPL 2022 at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata. The KL Rahul side finished third in the points table and they are coming on the back of a nail-biting thriller against Kolkata Knight Riders in the previous game. The side is likely to bring back regulars like Krunal Pandya and Ayush Badoni for the upcoming fixture after being benched for their last league game. On the other,

Gujarat Titans and Rajasthan Royals -- the top two teams respectively in the IPL points table -- clash in Qualifier 1 of IPL 2022 on Tuesday at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata. At stake is a place in the final, while the loser will go on to play the Qualifier 2 against the winner of the Eliminator between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Lucknow Super Giants. The IPL bandwagon moves to Kolkata on Tuesday but the weather in the city could have a big

Manchester United secured a ticket to next season's Europa League after they ended their Premier League campaign in sixth place, despite losing 1-0 away at Crystal Palace on Sunday. Forward Wilfried Zaha scored against his former team in the first half as Palace celebrated their first-ever Premier League victory over United at home. Ralf Rangnick's tenure as interim manager came to an end with United collecting 58 points, their lowest tally in Premier League history. Watched by new manager Erik ten Hag from

Manchester City won the Premier League title by a point from Liverpool on a thrilling final day of the campaign after Pep Guardiola's side survived a huge scare on Sunday. City had to fight back from 2-0 down against Aston Villa in the second half, but three goals in the space of five stunning minutes -- including two from substitute Ilkay Gundogan -- set off the party, with fans pouring onto the field at the Etihad Stadium at the final whistle. City have

France forward Kylian Mbappe has extended his contract with Paris St Germain until 2025, club president Nasser Al-Khelaifi said on Saturday. "I'm proud to give you a beautiful piece of news -- Kylian Mbappe has signed until June 2025 with Paris St Germain," Al Khelaifi said as he posed with the 23-year-old holding a Mbappe 2025 PSG shirt at the Parc des Princes before the last game of the Ligue 1 season against Metz. Mbappe's deal was set to expire at the end

RB Leipzig defeated Freiburg 4-2 on penalties in a vibrant German Cup final on Saturday, bringing Domenico Tedesco's side their first major trophy despite playing for an hour with 10 men at Berlin's Olympic stadium. Leipzig's Benjamin Henrichsconverted the winning spot kick in the shootout after Freiburg captain Christian Guenter and forward Ermedin Demirovic missed their penalties following a thrilling clash that ended 1-1 after extra time. "It's crazy… we had a very bad start to the game, played an abysmal first half,