Roberto Martinez has revealed Romelu Lukaku will miss Belgium s World Cup opener against Canada and may not play any part in the group stage.

The striker has endured a frustrating start to his second spell with Inter after returning on a season-long loan from Chelsea.

Lukaku has made only five appearances for the Serie A club this season, spending two months on the sidelines with a thigh injury before suffering another setback last month.

The Red Devils record goalscorer is not ready for the encounter with Canada at Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium on Wednesday and Martinez says there are no guarantees he will be ready for the Group F matches against Morocco and Croatia.

The Belgium head coach said on Tuesday: We re very happy the way that he is progressing. He had …

Daniele De Rossi acknowledged his Roma team may be tired, but he insisted they must not allow themselves to be embarrassed.

Roma fought back to draw 2-2 with last season s Serie A champions Napoli in a pulsating fixture on Sunday.

Tammy Abraham s late header secured a point for De Rossi s team, who took the lead through Paulo Dybala s penalty before going behind to goals from Matias Olivera and Victor Osimhen.

With Serie A set to have five teams in the Champions League next season, Roma occupy fifth spot with four matches remaining, but sixth-placed Atalanta are just two points behind with a game in hand.

12 Paulo has been involved in the joint-most goals in 2024 in Serie A: 12 (9 goals and 3 assists), level with Dusan Vlahovic (10+2). Joya.

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Referee Mark Halsey has complained to police about abusive messages on Twitter after Manchester United s 2-1 win at Liverpool on Sunday.

Several tweets regarding the veteran official s battle with throat cancer in 2009 were posted after a game in which the 51-year-old sent off Reds midfielder Jonjo Shelvey and handed the visitors a penalty.

I can confirm that my family have made a complaint to the police, Halsey told BBC Sport.

I will be speaking to the police on Wednesday after I have returned from refereeing Southampton v Sheffield Wednesday.

Professional Game Match Officials, who provide referees for Premier League matches, have also condemned the messages and offered their support to Halsey and his family.

PGMO abhors any abuse of match o…

Tottenham have been handed a mouth-watering third-round tie with arch-rivals Arsenal in the League Cup.

Mauricio Pochettino s Tottenham runners-up to Chelsea last season will play host to Arsenal at White Hart Lane in the week commencing September 21. It will mark the first time that the north London clubs have faced each other in the competition since 2010, when Samir Nasri s extra-time brace helped Arsenal to a 4-1 win in third round.

The Midlands will also be treated to a derby, with Aston Villa who required extra time to beat Notts County 5-3 on Tuesday  set to entertain Birmingham City.

Chelsea open their cup defence at League One outfit Walsall, while four-time winners Manchester United entertain Ipswich Town.

Liverpool will host Carlisle United a…

RB Leipzig sporting director Ralf Rangnick has ruled out making an ambitious move for Bayern Munich midfielder Joshua Kimmich.

Reports in Germany suggested that Kimmich is thinking about leaving Bayern in order to get more playing time, but the club issued a strong rebuttal on those rumours on Tuesday.

Kimmich represented Leipzig between 2013 and 2015 and has been tipped with a return to the club, who will finish second behind Bayern in the Bundesliga.

However, Rangnick says the Germany international is out of their price range.

Kimmich is not an option financially, Rangnick told Bild.

Plus it would not be a logical next step in his career.

Kimmich has scored eight goals in 39 appearances in all competitions for Bayern this term.

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According to , Everton and Fulham are interested in signing Stuttgart youngster Silas Wamangituka in the summer of 2021. It has been reported that scouts from the two Premier League clubs have been impressed by the 21-year-old attacker.

The youngster’s pace and finishing ability has impressed Everton and Fulham scouts, according to the report, and it now remains to be seen if the Toffees or the Cottagers make a move for the 21-year-old Congolese at the end of the season. Wamangituka has been deployed mainly as a right-winger this season, but he has the ability to play in a number of positions in attack.

According to , the Wamangituka has made 21 starts and one substitute appearances in the Bundesliga for Stuttgart so far this season, scoring 11 goals and providing t…

Ange Postecoglou defended his decision to make nine changes after Tottenham suffered a penalty shoot-out defeat at Fulham in the Carabao Cup second round.

Spurs entered this contest following back-to-back wins in the Premier League, which had generated a feelgood factor around the club despite the departure of all-time top scorer Harry Kane on the eve of the new season.

Only Micky van de Ven and Richarlison retained their starting berths from the win at Bournemouth and while Tottenham improved from a sluggish start, penalties were required after a 1-1 draw and Davinson Sanchez failed to score from 12 yards to hand the visitors a 5-3 spot-kick loss.

It inflicted a painful dent to the momentum built during the first couple of months of the Postecoglou era but the A…

Milan vice present Adriano Galliani has played down speculation that Kaka will return to the club, hinting age is a factor in the decision.

Kaka spent six seasons at Milan between 2003 and 2009, winning the Serie A title, the UEFA Champions League and the FIFA Club World Cup.
Real Madrid broke the world transfer record to sign the Brazil international for 65 million euros in June 2009, only to smash it again only a few days later when Cristiano Ronaldo was lured to Spain from Manchester United.
While Ronaldo has been a revelation for Madrid, Kaka has endured mixed fortunes, with injury a key factor in hampering his progress, sparking speculation of a possible return to Milan.
Galliani, though, insists Kaka is not a transfer target.
Kaka is already 31 years old. He will not …

Trash talk from Gennaro Gattuso saw the feisty Italian thrown into a bin by former AC Milan team-mate Zlatan Ibrahimovic, according to Thiago Silva.

The trio played together at Milan, helping the club to the 2011 Serie A title, before Ibrahimovic and Silva departed for Paris Saint-Germain the following year, and the latter revealed a funny story about the intimidating Swedish striker.

It takes a brave man, usually an opponent, to get on the bad side of Ibrahimovic, but it was team-mate Gattuso who learned the hard way after poking fun at him during a training session.

The protagonist of this story is Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Brazil international Silva told Sky Deutschland.

One day, during a training session, Gattuso spent all morning teasing Zlatan. He was …

England Women s manager Mark Sampson has been sacked by the Football Association (FA) after evidence emerged of  inappropriate and unacceptable behaviour during his time with Bristol Academy.

Sampson was named Lionesses boss in December 2013 and has led the team to unprecedented success, including a semi-final spot at the 2015 World Cup.

But a misdemeanour during his time with Bristol has brought about his downfall.

An FA statement read: The Football Association can confirm that Mark Sampson s contract as England Women s head coach has been terminated with immediate effect.

Prior to taking charge of the national team in December 2013, Sampson was manager of Bristol Academy.

In 2014, safeguarding allegations were made against him about his …