London City Lionesses' goalkeeper Elene Lete has signed a contract extension until the summer of 2028. The 24-year-old Spaniard played every game for London City in their first Women's Super League campaign after joining from Real Sociedad in 2025. Lete, who has one cap for Spain, is likely to face competition for the number one shirt from former England goalkeeper Mary Earps.
La Liga named Lamine Yamal its Player of the Year, an honor previously won by both Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. Just as Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo dominated La Liga for years, this new era appears destined to belong to Lamine Yamal. The young Barcelona winger was named the league’s best player of the season after a standout campaign. “A wonderkid! Barcelona star, Lamine Yamal wins La Liga Player of the Season,” the Spanish league announced Friday on its official social media accounts alongside a photo of the 18-year-old holding the trophy. The same post highlighted four other players as Yamal’s main challengers. Kylian Mbappe finished second after an impressive season with Real Madrid despite the club’s lack of silverware and his injury struggles. Also featured among the contenders were Villarreal’s Nicolas Pepe, Mallorca’s Vedat Muriqi, and Real Betis’ Pablo Fornals. Lamine Yamal played a decisive role in Barcelona’s title-winning campaign, recording 16 goals and 12 assists in 28 matches — an average of one goal contribution per game. Despite dealing with a groin issue early in the season and a hamstring injury that sidelined him during the final stretch of the campaign, the winger established himself as the team’s primary attacking threat. He even carried much of the offensive burden during the absences of Robert Lewandowski and Raphinha, the other star attackers in the squad. A WONDERKID! 🪄@FCBarcelona star, Lamine Yamal wins #LALIGAEASPORTS 𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐘𝐄𝐑 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐎𝐍!#LALIGAPOTS | #PREMIOSANUALESLALIGA— LALIGA English (@LaLigaEN) June 5, 2026 Yamal follows in Messi’s footsteps In previous years, Lamine Yamal had already shown flashes of brilliance with Barcelona, earning the La Liga U-23 Player of the Season award in both 2024 and 2025. This year, however, he took another step forward and claimed the league’s top individual honor, which had been awarded to Raphinha the previous season. In doing so, Yamal surpassed Lionel Messi as the youngest player ever to win the award. The Argentine forward first claimed the honor at age 21 after starring during the 2008-09 season. However, when comparing the two, Lamine still has a long way to go. Messi holds the record for the most La Liga Player of the Year awards with nine, including a streak of five consecutive wins. After his first recognition in 2009, he also won the award in 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2018, and 2019. Cristiano Ronaldo trails far behind Despite enjoying a brilliant nine-year spell with Real Madrid, Cristiano Ronaldo struggled to establish himself as La Liga’s dominant individual star and spent much of that era competing with Lionel Messi’s overwhelming influence. As a result, CR7 won the league’s Player of the Year award only once during his nine seasons in Spain, claiming the honor in 2014.
France lost their final home match before departing for the World Cup, and Didier Deschamps believes the result should act as a reminder. The post Deschamps: Ivory Coast defeat a timely World Cup reminder for France appeared first on SoccerNews.
According to SPORT, RCD Mallorca’s relegation from La Liga has significantly simplified the potential departure of former FC Barcelona winger Jan Virgili, one of the most sought-after players in the...
In a recent report, Fichajes mentioned that Manchester United are among the clubs hoping to land Real Sociedad winger Ander Barrenetxea. It has been stated that the Red Devils would have to compete wi...
Sevilla safe despite defeat against Real MadridTiny Elversberg seal first promotion to BundesligaRoma took a huge step towards returning to the Champions League by beating Lazio 2-0 in a feisty derby which finished with both teams down to 10 men, while Napoli won 3-0 at Pisa to secure a top-four spot.Gianluca Mancini smashed home two headers from corners, one in each half, at the Stadio Olimpico to move Roma up to fourth thanks also to Juventus’s shock 2-0 home defeat by Fiorentina. Continue reading...
As the La Liga season enters its final stretch with Real Madrid, Kylian Mbappe could miss out on a major individual award. The past few weeks have been turbulent for Real Madrid, with disappointing results on the field and controversy surrounding the club off it. Kylian Mbappe has not been immune to that situation, and now he could lose one of La Liga’s most prestigious individual honors. With two matches remaining in the 2025-26 Spanish league season, Mbappe currently leads the La Liga scoring race. He has scored 24 goals in 36 matchdays, although he has appeared in only 29 of those games. His seven absences were caused by physical issues, first involving his knee and more recently muscular problems. In that context, the French forward’s lead in the scoring standings is being threatened by an unexpected challenger. Vedat Muriqi has enjoyed an outstanding campaign with Mallorca, scoring 22 goals this season. He also holds the advantage of having played in 35 of the club’s 36 matches, missing only one game through suspension. Muriqi’s goals have been crucial in keeping Mallorca alive in La Liga. The club currently occupies one of the relegation spots, sitting 18th in the standings. However, they are level on points with Levante and Elche, and only one point behind Alaves and Girona, meaning their survival hopes remain very much alive. Vedat Muriqi of RCD Mallorca. That motivation could prove decisive for Vedat Muriqi in the final matches of the season, knowing his goals may help the team avoid relegation. Mbappe’s situation appears less encouraging, as he continues to deal with physical issues amid tensions with Alvaro Arbeloa while seemingly focusing more on the 2026 FIFA World Cup with France than on Real Madrid’s final two league games. What’s next for Mbappe and Muriqi in La Liga? The race for La Liga’s Pichichi Trophy appears to be down to Kylian Mbappe (24 goals) and Vedat Muriqi (22), with only two goals separating them. Far behind are Osasuna’s Ante Budimir (17) and Barcelona’s Ferran Torres and Lamine Yamal (16). Each forward’s remaining two matches could prove decisive. Real Madrid will first travel to face Sevilla on Sunday before closing the campaign against Athletic Club in Matchday 38. Muriqi, meanwhile, will battle for survival with Mallorca against Levante and Real Oviedo. Mbappe used to finishing as league top scorer The season after joining Paris Saint-Germain, Kylian Mbappe won the Ligue 1 Golden Boot for the first time at just 20 years old. From that point on, he claimed the award in every season he played in France. In fact, the striker finished as Ligue 1’s top scorer for six consecutive years, outperforming even teammates Neymar and Lionel Messi. After joining Real Madrid in 2024, that scoring dominance carried over to Spain, where he finished as La Liga’s top scorer in his debut season. Now, he is trying to retain that honor for a second straight year.
Japan defined their World Cup list with Takefusa Kubo, while Kaoru Mitoma and Takumi Minamino are injured. While teams were not yet required to officially name their 26-man World Cup squads, Japan chose to remove any suspense and announce its list early. The squad led by Takefusa Kubo does not include Kaoru Mitoma or Takumi Minamino. Japan’s progress over the past few years has been clear. That is reflected in the clubs these players represent, with only three of them, including two goalkeepers, playing in the domestic league. Bad news for Hajime Moriyasu came with the absence of Mitoma, mainly because the midfielder picked up an injury while playing for Brighton last weekend. The manager said: “The medical team assessed that it would be difficult for him to return to fitness during the tournament.” The list Goalkeepers: Zion Suzuki (Parma), Keisuke Osako (Sanfrecce Hiroshima), Tomoki Hayakawa (Kashima) Defenders: Yuto Nagamoto (FC Tokyo), Shogo Taniguchi (Sint-Truidense), Ko Itakura (Ajax), Takehiro Tomiyasu (Ajax), Ayumu Seko (Le Havre), Yukinari Sugawara (Werder Bremen), Hiroki Ito (Bayern Munich), Junnosuke Suzuki (Copenhagen), Tsuyoshi Watanabe (Feyenoord) Mitoma isn’t on the list (Warren Little/Getty Images) Midfielders: Kaishu Sano (Mainz), Wataru Endo (Liverpool), Ao Tanaka (Leeds), Daichi Kamada (Crystal Palace), Junya Ito (Genk) Forwards: Kaito Nakamura (Stade Reims), Daizen Maeda (Celtic), Koki Ogawa (NEC), Takefusa Kubo (Real Sociedad), Iori Suzuki (Freiburg), Kento Shiogai (Wolfsburg), Keisuke Goto (Sint-Truidense), Ritsu Doan (Eintracht Frankfurt), Kaoru Ueda (Feyenoord) The group Japan was placed in Group F for the World Cup, where it will face three strong opponents: the Netherlands on June 14, Tunisia on June 21 and Sweden on June 26.
Georgian opens the scoring as PSG beat rivals 2-0Inter victorious over Lazio in Coppa Italia finalParis Saint-Germain secured a fifth successive Ligue 1 title by beating their nearest challengers, Lens, 2-0 in their penultimate match of the league season on Wednesday.Khvicha Kvaratskhelia scored after 29 minutes and the substitute Ibrahim Mbaye grabbed a stoppage-time goal to put PSG on 76 points, out of the reach of Lens, who are assured of second place on 67 points. Continue reading...
