Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands unveiled plans on Monday for a joint bid to host the Women’s World Cup in 2027.

A statement released by the three countries' football associations said they had already expressed their intention to bid to world football’s governing body FIFA and that they would put together a formal agreement by the end of the year.

Seattle Storm's Sue Bird believes women's soccer players in the United States are more widely supported than their counterparts in the WNBA because of the public perception of them as "cute little white girls."

Point guard Bird, who won her fourth WNBA title this month, said in an interview with CNN that elite basketball players were more quickly judged by people based on their appearance.

Liverpool center back Virgil van Dijk has damaged knee ligaments and is set to undergo surgery after he was injured in Saturday's Merseyside derby draw against Everton, the Premier League club confirmed on Sunday.

The Dutch defender was substituted early in the game when Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford made a reckless challenge in the box, which left Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp fuming.

LONDON — Christian Eriksen's penalty on his 100th appearance for Denmark earned his side a 1-0 win over England in their Nations League clash at Wembley on Wednesday as the hosts played more than half the game with 10 men.

Former Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Eriksen powered his spot-kick past Jordan Pickford in the 35th minute, a couple of minutes after England centre back Harry Maguire had received a red card for a second booking.

Goals from Bernardo Silva and a brace from Diogo Jota gave Portugal a comfortable 3-0 win over Sweden in the Nations League on Wednesday as the hosts made light of the absence of Cristiano Ronaldo due to a positive COVID-19 test.

LISBON — Football fans in Lisbon were unsurprised after Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo tested positive COVID-19, saying it simply showed everyone was at risk of getting infected — and famous athletes were no exception.

Portugal's Football Federation said in a statement on Tuesday the 35-year-old Juventus forward was asymptomatic and would miss Wednesday's UEFA Nations League game against Sweden as he self-isolates.

In Portugal's capital Lisbon, not too far from the football facility where Ronaldo is, fans were not shocked by the news.

Neymar overtook Ronaldo and moved into second place behind Pele on Brazil's all-time goalscoring list after notching a hat-trick in a 4-2 victory over Peru on Tuesday in a World Cup qualifier.

The Paris Saint-Germain striker now has 64 goals, two more than Ronaldo and 13 behind Pele, who heads the list with 77, according to the count by world governing body FIFA.

Brazil coach Tite was reluctant to compare his current star with past greats.

Iceland will replace head coach Erik Hamren and his entire backroom team for Wednesday's Nations League clash with Belgium in Reykjavik after an unnamed staff member contracted COVID-19, the country's FA said in a statement late on Tuesday.

The FA said that coaches from the nation's under-age teams would fill the breach after previously announcing that Hamren and his staff had all been quarantined following a positive test.

Mexico salvaged a 2-2 draw against 10-man Algeria on Tuesday with Jesús Corona’s beautiful opener pegged back by goals from Ismaël Bennacer and Riyad Mahrez before Diego Lainez provided one final flourish to the script in The Hague.    

COLOGNE, Germany — Germany twice had to come from behind to earn a rollercoaster 3-3 draw against visitors Switzerland in an exciting Nations League group game packed with incident on Tuesday.

The result moves Germany within a point of League A Group Four leaders Spain, who lost 1-0 away to Ukraine, while the Swiss, who are still without a win, remain bottom.