PAUL POGBA

Lionel Messi returns to the World Cup for a fifth attempt at finally winning soccer’s biggest prize.

The first World Cup in the Middle East finally began Sunday night with a flashy opening ceremony and a loss by host Qatar against Ecuador.

All roads now lead to Qatar for Europe’s top soccer nations after they played their final competitive games ahead of the World Cup.

Paul Pogba’s knee injury could save France coach Didier Deschamps from having to make a painful choice.

French officials say World Cup winner Paul Pogba has paid 100,000 euros ($100,000) to an organized group including his brother that was trying to extort him into paying 13 million euros.

French prosecutors are investigating allegations that World Cup winner Paul Pogba was targeted by extortion attempts by his brother and childhood friends.

Manchester City has completed the double over Manchester United with a second derby win of the Premier League season.

Mohamed Salah scored a hat trick as Liverpool humiliated Manchester United 5-0 in the Premier League.

Superstar strikers Harry Kane and Romelu Lukaku have been back in action in the Premier League after some time away.

The return of near-capacity crowds fueled a barrage of goals and a bunch of home wins on the first Saturday of the English Premier League season.

The trend of removing sponsor bottles at European Championship news conferences was started by Cristiano Ronaldo.

Aaron Ramsey scored the first goal to give Wales a 2-0 victory over Turkey at the European Championship.

Liverpool has won 4-2 at Manchester United to maintain its hopes of still trying to qualify for the Champions League.

Jose Mourinho has lost a 10th match of the Premier League season with Tottenham.

Manchester United's Marcus Rashford rests during the English Premier League soccer match between Manchester United and West Ham United at Old Trafford, Manchester, England, Sunday, March. “It’s the life of a footballer — we can rest when we retire,” Rashford said Wednesday, a day before appearance No. Indeed, his priority is winning trophies with United, which hasn’t happened for nearly four years now — since capturing the Europa League under Jose Mourinho in 2017. Under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, the semifinals have been the ceiling for United in cup competitions and Rashford said it’s time to put that right. “We unfortunately got kicked out of the Champions League and our focus was to win the Europa League," he said, "and we are not going to be happy with anything less than that.

(AP Photo/Francois Mori)In a powerful protest against alleged racism, players from Paris Saint-Germain and Istanbul Basaksehir walked off the field during a Champions League game on Tuesday and didn’t return after a match official was accused of using insulting language about a Black coach. It sparked a commotion in the technical area that led to Webo being sent off by the referee. UEFA said it would “thoroughly investigate” the incident, while stating the match would restart with a different fourth official inside an empty Parc des Princes stadium. PSG’s players will return to their stadium knowing they have already qualified for the knockout stage. Ronaldo converted spot kicks for Juventus in either half, after briefly embracing with Messi before kickoff when the pair also exchanged a few words.

The fans — 2,000 from West Ham, 2,000 from Chelsea — had contrasting experiences on opposite sides of London. Chelsea’s players treated their select group of attending fans to a comeback of their own at Stamford Bridge. The match saw respective managers Frank Lampard, of Chelsea, and Marcelo Bielsa, of Leeds, meet for the first time in the Premier League. Meanwhile, Guardiola didn’t make a single substitution, at a time when he is pushing the Premier League to increase the number of replacements from three to five for player-welfare reasons. It’s now 11 goals in 11 games for the Everton striker after scoring the equalizer in a 1-1 draw at Burnley.

The Portuguese soccer federation says Cristiano Ronaldo has tested positive for the coronavirus. He has been dropped from the country's Nations League match against Sweden on Wednesday, Oct. 14. Ronaldo tested positive two days before the team’s Nations League match against Sweden in Lisbon. He had played in the Nations League match against France on Sunday, and against Spain in a friendly last week. Other soccer players who have tested positive for COVID-19 recently include Neymar, Kylian Mbappé, Paul Pogba, Paulo Dybala, Ángel Di María, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Diego Costa.

(Richard Heathcote/Pool via AP)Manchester United began its Premier League campaign with a performance as disjointed as its offseason. Maybe the 3-1 home loss to Crystal Palace on Saturday shouldn’t really have come as a surprise. After all, United only ended a pandemic-prolonged 2019-20 season 33 days ago with a demoralizing loss to Sevilla in the Europa League semifinals. “We knew Manchester United didn’t play last week and that we had the mental advantage,” Palace winger Andros Townsend said. On a day when 21 goals were scored in four games, there were also wins for Everton, Leeds and Arsenal.

James Rodriguez joined Premier League club Everton on Monday, Sept. 7, 2020 in an attempt to revive a career that faltered at Real Madrid. Now, they are both at Everton, a team without a trophy since 1995 and living in the shadow of neighbour Liverpool, the recently crowned Premier League champion. KAI HAVERTZ (Chelsea)The most expensive signing of the offseason at a fee rising to $92 million, Havertz might also be the most interesting. Havertz is the youngest player to reach 100 Bundesliga appearances and scored 36 goals in four seasons with Bayer Leverkusen in the German league. With Timo Werner, Christian Pulisic and Hakim Ziyech making up Chelsea's likely attack, Havertz won't be short of quality around him.

The Latest on the effects of the coronavirus outbreak on sports around the world:___Spanish winger Carles Prez is the second Roma player to test positive for the coronavirus as the team opens its training camp for Serie A. Prez writes on Instagram that he feels fine and is totally asymptomatic.About 10 players have tested positive during the Italian leagues preseason. ___France coach Didier Deschamps says midfielder Paul Pogba has tested positive for COVID-19 and has been left out of the national team squad. Deschamps says "he had a test yesterday which was positive this morning.Pogba has been replaced in the squad by 17-year-old Rennes midfielder Eduardo Camavinga ahead of upcoming Nations League qualifiers against Sweden and Croatia. ___More AP sports: https://apnews.com/apf-sports and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

The money in that contract is daunting: a reported 100 million euros ($118 million) annual salary package and release clause demanding a 700 million euros ($827 million) transfer fee. What coach says no to Messi? said Tuchel, whose side lost the Champions League final to Bayern Munich on Sunday. GERMANYBayern Munich appears in little need of reinforcement after winning a Champions League, Bundesliga and German Cup treble. The Bavarian powerhouse has grown on and off the pitch thanks to smart financial management, with revenue of 750 million euros ($886 million) in the most recent annual accounts and profit after tax of 52 million euros ($61.5 million). When World Cup-winning France defender Lucas Hernndez arrived last year for a club-record 80 million euros ($95 million) from Atltico Madrid, it was an exception.

Manchester United's Paul Pogba runs during the English Premier League soccer match between Manchester United and West Ham at the Old Trafford stadium in Manchester, England, Wednesday, July 22, 2020. (Cath Ivill/Pool via AP)

Manchester United's Paul Pogba runs during the English Premier League soccer match between Manchester United and West Ham at the Old Trafford stadium in Manchester, England, Wednesday, July 22, 2020. Intriguingly, two of them face off on the final day, with Leicester hosting United at King Power Stadium. Chelsea is guaranteed a return to the Champions League with a win or a draw. One of Chelsea, Leicester and United is sure to take one of the spots while the other will go to Wolves or Tottenham. FAREWELLSDavid Silva will play his final Premier League game for Man City before he leaves the club after 10 years.

Manchester United's Mason Greenwood scores his side's opening goal during the English Premier League soccer match between Manchester United and West Ham at the Old Trafford stadium in Manchester, England, Wednesday, July 22, 2020. (Clive Brunskill/Pool via AP)MANCHESTER Manchester United nudged into the Champions League places for the first time since September after Mason Greenwood sealed a 1-1 draw against West Ham in the penultimate match of the Premier League season on Wednesday. West Ham moved four points clear of the relegation zone to secure its Premier League survival. Paul Pogbas needless handball allowed Michail Antonio to give West Ham a surprise lead from the spot. United only needs to avoid defeat to fifth-placed Leicester in its last game of the season to secure a return to the Champions League.

FILE - In this Saturday, Dec. 7, 2019 file photo, Manchester United's Marcus Rashford celebrates during an English Premier League soccer match against Manchester City at Etihad stadium in Manchester, England. Manchester United and England player Marcus Rashford is urging the government to provide free meals for needy students over the summer holidays. My day job, the Manchester United striker tweeted this week alongside a picture of him at practice at the teams training facility. They are qualities the United manager sees in Rashford the soccer player, too, having already made him his No. He has changed the lives of so many kids this summer, Solskjaer said, which is more important than any game of football he will probably play.

LONDON Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal were among the clubs who stepped up their preparations for the Premier Leagues return by holding practice matches on Saturday. The league also announced Saturday that the sixth round of COVID-19 testing of 1,195 players and staff across the 20 clubs on Thursday and Friday produced no positives. Arsenal, which will be in action on the first night back away to Manchester City, hosted second-tier side Charlton at the Emirates Stadium. Eddie Nketiah scored a hat trick in a 6-0 win for the Gunners, with forwards Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette also netting. Players drove to the stadium in their match kit and the match was refereed by fitness coach Charlie Owen.

In this Monday, June 1, 2020 photo, Dnico Perry-Ellis leads a chant on Station Street in Pittsburgh, protesting the death of George Floyd, who died after being restrained by Minneapolis police officers on May 25. Dismayed by the death of Floyd and inspired by the actions of Colin Kaepernick, athletes from around the world have come together during one of the most politically charged periods in modern history. Soccer players may also take what has happened to Floyd more personally because of how often black players have been abused inside stadiums around Europe in recent years. Baer-Hoffman said the reaction of sports stars was a reflection of uncertain times around the world since the outbreak of the coronavirus. It scares you and forces you to think I think it stands for something much greater.