Soccer

The United States and the United Kingdom looked set on Thursday to be picked by FIFA next year as hosts of Women’s World Cups expanded to 48 teams from 32.

MADRID (AP) — Barcelona can retain playmaker Dani Olmo and forward Pau Víctor after a favorable ruling by Spain's sports authority on Thursday.

Canada climbed one spot to an all-time best No. 30 in the latest FIFA rankings released Thursday. The Canadian men had reached their previous high in November after climbing four places to No. 31. They were unchanged in the end-of-year December list.

Ukraine great Andrii Shevchenko failed to win election to the UEFA executive committee on Thursday, the day Russia formally ceded its seat on the decision-making body of European soccer.

A push to expand the men's 2030 World Cup to 64 teams is “a bad idea,” UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin said on Thursday.

GENEVA (AP) — Champions League winner Real Madrid topped the prize money list last season by getting almost 139 million euros ($154 million), UEFA said on Thursday, finally confirming the payments .

LIVERPOOL, England (AP) — Liverpool manager Arne Slot was happy to see England’s referees’ body acknowledge it was wrong to not award Everton defender James Tarkowski a red card for a dangerous tackle on Alexis Mac Allister in the Merseyside derby .

ROME (AP) — Romelu Lukaku is rounding into form at just the right time for Napoli .

Jose Mourinho appeared to pinch the nose of Galatasaray coach Okan Buruk after his Fenerbahce team was knocked out of the Turkish Cup in a fiery match on Wednesday.

GENEVA (AP) — José Mourinho’s quest to be a champion again. Europe’s top goal-scorer on a title hunt before a big move. A young coach reviving a European giant.