Sports

LOS ANGELES: Teams at the expanded 2026 World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico will be based in regional clusters during the early rounds to ease travel, FIFA president Gianni Infantino said on Wednesday. Speaking in Los Angeles to unveil the official logo and branding for the tournament, Infantino said the move was prompted by the scale of …

LAHORE: Pakistan junior hockey team manager Hanif Khan is expecting the side to win the Junior Asia Cup, which starts in Oman on Tuesday. Clinching the tournament would also secure the national junior team to secure a spot in the World Cup and Hanif said it was well-prepared to do so. “The boys are well prepared for the Asia Cup …

LAHORE: A number of ump­ires and match referees, who rendered their services in last year’s Kashmir Premier League haven’t been paid their match fees till date, Dawn has learnt. All of the officials in question are affiliated with the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), which permits the holding of the regional T20 league, of which the second edition was held in June 2022. …

ISLAMABAD: Head coach Sabih Azhar belie­ves that despite an outstanding performance in Bang­ladesh recently, Pakistan U-19 team still need to improve. Pakistan’s U-19 squad was returning home from Bangladesh on Thursday after a memorable tour. They won in all three formats — one-off four-day match, one-day series and the solitary T20 against their Bangladesh counterparts. Sabih, however, feels like that there is still …

DHAKA: The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) said on Wednesday that the upcoming tour by Afghanistan has been trimmed to avoid player “burnout” ahead of the Asia Cup and World Cup. Afghanistan were scheduled to play two Tests, three One-day Internationals and three T20 Internationals when they tour Bangladesh in June. But the board said the visitors would now play only …

ROME: World number seven Holger Rune beat a frustrated Novak Djokovic 6-2, 4-6, 6-2 on Wednesday, sending the top seed spinning out in a dramatic rain-interrupted quarter-final at the Italian Open. The Serb, who will drop to second on Monday in the rankings behind Carlos Alcaraz, admitted that he was outplayed in heavy, wet conditions after a week of rain …

Manchester City marched into the Champions League final for the second time in three seasons after outclassing holders Real Madrid 4-0 for a 5-1 aggregate victory at a raucous Etihad Stadium on Wednesday.     Bernardo Silva’s first-half double put City in control against the 14-time European champions, while an own goal by Eder Militao after the break and a …

LONDON: England’s James Anderson said he is expecting to return from his groin injury in “a couple of weeks” but the veteran fast bowler will not aim for a comeback for the one-off Test against Ireland so that he can be fully fit in time for the Ashes. Anderson suffered a groin injury playing for Lancashire last week but was …

KARACHI: While the cricket boards of Pakistan and India tussle over the hosting of the Asia Cup, things are relatively calmer bet­ween the football federations of the two countries. India is looking forward to hosting Pakis­tan’s football team for the SAFF Championship in Bengaluru next month, the two sides pitted together in the same group after the draw for South …

LEICESTER: Two goals from Curtis Jones and a sublime finish from Trent Alexander-Arnold gave Liverpool a 3-0 win away to Leicester City in the Premier League on Monday, boosting their Champions League hopes while deepening the Foxes’ relegation worries. Liverpool are fifth in the table on 65 points after 36 games, one behind fourth-placed Manchester United, who have a game …