France

USMNT U23’s to face Thierry Henry’s France in opening game of Olympics

PARIS — Hosts France will play the United States to kick off the men's soccer tournament at the Paris 2024 Olympics after the two teams were drawn together on Wednesday.

The game will be played in Marseille on July 24, two days before the opening ceremony in Paris. New Zealand and the winner of a playoff between an Asian team and Guinea complete Group A.

USMNT Olympics group

NY or LA — AC Milan’s Olivier Giroud interested on a move to MLS this summer

Giroud is interested in coming to MLS this summer… only if his club choose to not renew his contract at the end of the season.

According to ESPN, 37-year-old Olivier Giroud would not rule out a move to the United States as his next destination, only if current club AC Milan opt not to extend his contract before the end of the 2023/24 season.

Kylian Mbappé scores absurd golazo vs. Dutch and creeps closer to France’s No. 1 goal scorer

Kylian Mbappé passed the great Michel Platini to become France’s fourth leading goal scorer in history during Friday’s Euro qualifier which the French won 2-1 vs. Netherlands.

Mbappé tied and surpassed Platini’s place among the great French goal scorers during the game against the Dutch as he scored both goals. The victory secured France a spot in the Euro 2024 edition in Germany. 

His second goal was an absurd strike from outside the box that Dutch goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen had no chance saving.

Karim Benzema leaves Real Madrid after 14 years at the club

MADRID - Ballon d'Or winner Karim Benzema will leave Real Madrid as a free agent in the close season after 14 trophy-laden years, the LaLiga club said on Sunday, with the striker set to move to Saudi Arabian side Al Ittihad.

Saudi Arabia's state-run Al Ekhbariya television station reported that Al Ittihad had reached an agreement with Benzema on a two-year contract, with club officials in Madrid to hammer out a "record deal" with the striker.

Not for Irish eyes: Benjamin Pavard goes crossbar down from 20 yards out

Placed in the UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying group of death with France, the Netherlands and Greece, Ireland's only hope of reaching Germany was protecting Dublin against all invaders. 

Up first on Monday night was a visit from the World Cup runners-up, France, who'd just blasted the Dutch 4-0 in Paris to kick-off their own campaign.  

Captain Kylian Mbappé scores brace as France topples Netherlands with 4-0 win

PARIS — New France captain Kylian Mbappé lived up to expectations with two goals in a 4-0 statement home win against the Netherlands as Les Bleus got their Euro 2024 Group B qualifying campaign started in ruthless fashion on Friday.

Mbappé, named skipper after goalkeeper Hugo Lloris ended his international career in January, set up Antoine Griezmann for the opener before scoring the third, after Dayot Upamecano had doubled the tally in a first half blitz, before wrapping the scoring up late in front of an ecstatic crowd.

Kylian Mbappé named as France captain at just 24 years old

PARIS — Paris Saint-Germain forward Kylian Mbappé has been named France captain to succeed Hugo Lloris, the French football federation (FFF) said on Monday.

French sports daily L'Equipe reported that Mbappé had accepted the captaincy after speaking with coach Didier Deschamps.

President of France's soccer federation resigns amid harassment allegations

PARIS — Noel Le Graet has resigned as president of France's soccer federation amid allegations of harassment and sexual harassment and a government ministry audit this month that concluded the 81-year-old no longer had "the necessary legitimacy" for the job.

Le Graet, head of the French Football Federation since 2011, stepped back last month amid a legal investigation into allegations against him of sexual and moral harassment and after an audit and report commissioned by the sports ministry.

Netflix has two soccer shows inspired by ‘Drive to Survive’ on the way

Netflix has been killing it already this year with a collection of celebrated sports shows that take you behind-the-scenes to a degree that few other projects have ever been able to. Much of that stems from the success of Formula 1: Drive to Survive, which has given birth to an entire generation of American F1 fans as the docuseries releases its fifth season.

World Cup winner Raphaël Varane retires from France team at age 29

France defender Raphaël Varane is retiring from international football, ending a 10-year career with Les Bleus in which he won the World Cup in 2018 and was a runner-up four years later.

The 29-year-old, who has 93 caps after making his debut in 2013, and also helped Didier Deschamps's side win the UEFA Nations League in the 2020-21 season.

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