soccer

Argentina is preparing an emotional goodbye to Lionel Messi. The soccer great is set to play his final game for the national team on Tuesday. His departure has unleashed gratitude and grief in a country that once questioned his commitment but now celebrates him as a national hero. Messi will keep playing for MLS team Inter Miami.

FIFA lawyers have claimed in a Florida court filing European soccer body UEFA is harassing its president Gianni Infantino. FIFA urges the judge to deny UEFA's request for evidence discovery about a World Cup private investor plan that rocked the sport. The 21-page filing to the Southern District of Florida court late Monday was seen by The Associated Press.

Lionel Messi has ended his career as a player for the Argentine national team at 39 years old. Messi, who played in six World Cups, won the tournament in Qatar 2022 and led Argentina to the final in 2026 losing to Spain.

Inter Miami has announced the signing of Brazil midfielder and five-time Champions League winner Casemiro, and Major League Soccer is now investigating whether the reigning league champion engaged in tampering to get that deal done.

The players and their coaching staff met with the country's royals, and Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez. An estimated crowd of almost 2 million was on hand to greet the squad through the streets of Madrid.

COMMENTARY Argentina used Messi marketing to make its soccer association perhaps the world's richest today — but in the process it's become an FBI-targeted poster child for what's wrong with the sport.

Outraged by FIFA’s decision to delay a U.S. player’s suspension after Trump called Infantino asking him to review the matter, European lawmakers and human rights activists are calling for two separate ethics investigations into the leaders’ actions.

It's a World Cup semifinal lineup for the ages. Four previous champions and the four top-ranking teams in the world. Five of the six top scorers, one GOAT and one of the bitterest rivalries in soccer.

The sending off of Switzerland's Breel Embolo in Saturday's quarterfinal game against Argentina was the latest call that may have left fans scratching their heads, not least because of the confusing name of the newly implemented "mistaken identity" law that swung the match.

Citing sources close to the investigation, the Argentine daily newspaper, La Nación, and the Miami Herald each reported that U.S. federal investigators are examining the Argentine Football Association's Miami branch's transfers of more than $300 million through U.S. banks — and an accounting of how the money was spent.

The Americans had been heavy favorites to top the Bosnians, but the game became a nailbiter in the second half when a red card on U.S. striker Folarin Balogun set the U.S. on their heels.

U.S. youth soccer has long been dominated by an affluent, suburban "pay-to-play" system that critics say limits player development compared to other countries — and which they hope the World Cup helps change.