Spanish defender Rafael López Gómez will ply his trade for The Rajesh Wadhawan Group-owned Indian Super League (ISL) club FC Pune City in the 2017-18 season. The Spanish central defender who played top-flight football in Spain and Germany will fortify the defence line of the Antonio Habas-managed side.

Announcing the signing of the central defender, FC Pune City CEO Gaurav Modwel said, “Rafa has played a decade of top-flight football in Spain against some of the best players in the world. As a captain of Real Valladolid, his leadership and experience as a defender will add strength to our line-up. I am excited to see Rafa in Orange & Purple.” 

Arsenal Manager Arsene Wenger hit out at match officials yesterday after the Gunners' latest defeat at the hands of Stoke City at the Britannia Stadium.

Arsenal, who have a terrible away record against Stoke, dominated the game, but were denied by the brilliance of young Jack Butland in the Stoke goal, who made a clutch of key saves, especially in the first half.

Canada Soccer have added both experience and youth to their Men’s National Team squad coming off a strong performance at the 2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup. Coach Octavio Zambrano has selected a pair of former Players of the Year and called in two debutants to the “A” squad for Canada’s return to BMO Field in Toronto this 2 September.

Midfielders Atiba Hutchinson and Will Johnson are both included in the September squad after missing this year’s CONCACAF Gold Cup run to the quarter-finals. Hutchinson of Brampton, Ontario is making his first appearance with head coach Octavio Zambrano. The five-time Canadian Player of the Year has led Beşiktaş JK to back-to-back Turkish Süper Lig titles and consecutive qualifications to UEFA Champions League.

Canada have advanced to the semi-finals after back-to-back wins at the CONCACAF Boys’ Under-15 Championship. Canada finished second in their group following a 3:0 win over Trinidad and Tobago on Wednesday morning at the IMG Center in Bradenton, FL, USA.

Canada will next face Mexico on 17 August in the first of two semi-final matches followed by USA v Panama in the other Thursday semi-final. Fans can follow Canada’s team at the 2017 CONCACAF Boys’ Under-15 Championship across Canada Soccer’s digital channels including in-match updates on Twitter.

It looked like FC Cincinnati were home and dry at 2-0 up and heading for an historic Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Final, only for New York Red Bulls to hit back late and eventually spoil the party. The visitors from Major League Soccer finished the job 3-2 in extra-time with Bradley Wright-Phillips heading home his second of the night to send the New Jersey-based club through to its second Open Cup Final since their founding (as the MetroStars) in 1996.

The New York Red Bulls will meet three-time Open Cup champs Sporting Kansas City, who dispatched San Jose Earthquakes 5-4 on PKs in last Wednesday's opening Semifinal, in the Final on Sept. 20, a game that will be broadcast live on ESPN2 and ESPN Deportes . It will be the Red Bulls' first appearance in an Open Cup Final since 2003 when, led by top-scorer Amado Guevara, they finished runners-up to Chicago Fire. Having never won MLS Cup, the 2017 Open Cup crown would be NYRB's first piece of significant silverware.

The United Bid Committee of the United States, Mexico and Canada officially started its outreach for cities to declare their interest to serve as Official Host Cities for the 2026 FIFA World Cup TM by sending Requests for Information (RFIs) to 44 cities across the three nations. The RFI asks each city to declare its interest to take part in the bid process by September 5, 2017.

A total of 49 stadiums located in or around those 44 candidate cities will be considered for inclusion in the official bid that will be sent to FIFA by March 16, 2018.