Phil Foden has left the England squad to fly back home temporarily due to a pressing family matter, an FA spokesperson confirmed.

The Manchester City star played 89 minutes in the Three Lions final Group C fixture against Slovenia on Tuesday night.

Foden has started in all three of Gareth Southgate s side s group games, featuring in England s win over Serbia and 1-1 draw with Denmark.

After confirming top spot in Cologne, the Three Lions last-16 match will take place this Sunday at the Arena AufSchalke in Gelsenkirchen, with their opponents to be confirmed after Wednesday s final group games.

Phil Foden has temporarily left the England camp, the FA has confirmed.

We hope all is well back at home.

— Football on TNT Sports (@footballont…

Iraq will definitely not make an appearance at the 2010 World Cup. Their chances were slim, but did exist as long as FIFA hadn t replied to an appeal concerning their qualifier with Qatar in March.

Qatar fielded Brazilian-born Emerson in their first of two matches with Iraq. It turned out however, that the player had already represented the Brazilian U-20 team using the name of Marcio Passos De Albuquerque.

Since this is against FIFA regulations, Iraq tried their luck and filed an appeal against the result of that match, a 2-0 defeat.

But the world governing body on Monday announced that it will not be treating the issue, as Iraq paid the required fee eleven days too late.

The second game was lost 0-1, allowing Qatar to advance to the next round.

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Euro 2020 is disappearing before our eyes, with the delayed tournament somehow already at the business end as we head into the final three matches.

It s been a thrill ride since the very beginning. From Italy making a sparkling start and Denmark rallying after Christian Eriksen s medical emergency, to France falling at the last 16 and England reaching the semi-finals of a second successive major tournament.

Italy, England, Spain and Denmark are all that s left as Euro 2020 enters its final week, and at this point it seems particularly tricky to call, particularly between first three.

But, given how integral statistics are to football these days, data can potentially give you edge when attempting to predict certain outcomes, and this is where Stats Perform s Artif…

France midfielder Yohan Cabaye believes the team should not be ashamed of their Euro 2012 exit at the hands of European champions Spain.

Les Bleus were comfortably beaten courtesy of two Xabi Alonso goals to see their challenge in Poland and Ukraine end at the quarter-final stage.

We were not ridiculous, the former Lille man told the French Football Federation s official website.

We have done the essential which was to reach the quarters.

We knew that in the game, we could win, but we couldn t quite do it.

France will begin their bid to win a place at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil later this year, and will once again meet Spain, who have been drawn in the same qualification group.

Cabaye believes Les Bleus will be ready to dish out so…

The World Cup in South Africa has helped FIFA s revenues past the billion dollar mark for the first time, world football s governing body said Friday.

We are very confident, not only confident but very proud, that we can deliver the World Cup to Africa and that Africa can deliver the World Cup to the world, Blatter said after a two day FIFA executive committee meeting.

FIFA, a non profit-making organisation, said it had made a 196 million dollar surplus in 2009, as revenues soared to 1.06 billion dollars.

For the first time out turnover in one year has been more than one billion dollars, Blatter told journalists.

The market trusts South Africa, he added, referring to lucrative television and marketing deals in the years running up to the first ever fi…

Ballon d Or 2021 winner Lionel Messi has said that runner-up Robert Lewandowski deserved a Ballon d Or of his own for his exploits last year.

Messi claimed the coveted award for a record-extending seventh time on Monday, while Bayern Munich forward Lewandowski won the inaugural Striker of the Year award and finished second in the Ballon d Or voting.

The Paris Saint-Germain superstar has enjoyed a superb but bittersweet calendar year, highlighted by finally leading Argentina to success on the international stage with a Copa America victory in which he was both the tournament s top scorer and top assister.

He then returned to Barcelona expecting to sign a new deal, but the club s financial situation made it impossible.

In 40 club appearances this yea…

On a new contract worth up to £300,000 a week, Rooney would spend another three seasons at United and finish with 253 goals from 559 appearances.

The attacker broke Charlton’s record on January 21, 2017 with a free-kick at Stoke and a week later was presented with a commemorative Golden Boot to acknowledge him becoming the club’s all-time leading goalscorer.

After five Premier League titles, three League Cups, plus solitary success in the Champions League, Europa League, Club World Cup and FA Cup, Rooney left Old Trafford to return to boyhood side Everton.

His second spell at Goodison Park was short-lived and, after stints with DC United in the United States and at Derby in the Championship, Rooney retired from professional football at the start of 2021 to t…

It’s a moment we’ve all experienced. You meet up with an old friend a few years after graduation, only to realize that while you have your life fairly put together, they are yet to grow up. That’s the situation we have in the Meadowlands on Sunday, as two perennial poster boys for NFL dysfunction meet, with one of the two having finally grown up.

The 5-2, AFC-leading Cincinnati Bengals visit the 1-5 New York Jets who, despite hitting the reset button, appear more adrift than ever. NFL betting lines have Cincinnati as a 10.5-point favorite but is that still giving New York too much credit? 

Find out with our best free picks and predictions for Bengals vs. Jets.

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The now-infamous overtime loss to Las Vegas in Week 18 can serve as a stepping stone for the Los Angeles Chargers, entering Year 2 under head coach Brandon Staley.

It was a massively missed opportunity and has the potential to be a chip on the shoulder of this young and exciting team. That said, the Bolts’ floundering in the finale wasn’t a one-off. The Chargers botched spots against Houston and Denver and lost in OT to Kansas City in the weeks leading up to that season-ending result, perpetuating the culture of collapsing that has hung over this franchise for years.

The talent is there to flip the script in L.A. and get the Chargers to the postseason. Los Angeles’ stars rival those shining on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, with Justin Herbert a…

The Green Bay Packers will get their first chance to play at Lambeau Field this summer as they host the New England Patriots tonight in preseason action.

Green Bay (1-0) opened its preseason schedule with a 36-19 win against the Cincinnati Bengals last weekend. New England (0-1) lost its exhibition opener 20-9 at home against the Houston Texans last Thursday.

The Patriots appear likely to give their first-team offense a bit more run in the second game of the preseason, which could improve upon their anemic production against the Texans. We’ll break down the game in our free NFL picks and predictions for Patriots vs Packers on August 19.

Patriots vs Packers odds

Patriots vs Packers predictions

The Gr…