Cafu is confident Brazil can end a 20-year wait for World Cup glory, backing Neymar to help break Europe s dominance .

The former defender lifted the World Cup with Brazil in 2002, a triumph that marked the culmination of a prosperous period for the national side who won the tournament in 1994 and lost in the final to France four years later.

Since then, however, Brazil have fallen short of expectations and have been eliminated at the quarter-final stage in three of the past four tournaments – with the exception seeing them hammered 7-1 by Germany in the semi-finals on home soil in 2014.

Brazil head to Qatar in excellent form, though, having stood undefeated across their 17 matches in qualifying, winning 14, and Cafu believes this is the ideal opportunity for t…

Charles De Ketelaere has completed his move from Milan to Atalanta after the Europa League champions signed the Belgian on a permanent deal.

Atalanta confirmed the transfer on Saturday after activating a buy option included in the 23-year-old s loan deal, with De Ketelaere joining in a reported move worth up to €24million.

De Ketelaere failed to impress in his debut season in Italy after joining the Rossoneri from Club Brugge, but found form after a season-long loan deal to Bergamo in the 2023-24 campaign.

The forward helped Gian Piero Gasperini s side to a top-four finish in Serie A, as well as lifting the Europa League trophy for Atalanta s first-ever success on the European stage.

Only Ademola Lookman and Gianluca Scamacca (both 26) provided more dir…

According to Fabrizio Romano, Crystal Palace winger Michael Olise has agreed to join Bayern Munich. He has already accepted their contract proposal, and Palace will receive a fee amounting to a total of £50 million.

Olise s decision will have come as a disappointment to a number of other clubs, including the likes of Liverpool, Manchester United, Newcastle and Chelsea, all of which were credited with interest in his services this summer.

Two separate spells on the sidelines through hamstring problems hampered Olise s 2023/24 season, and he made a total of just 19 appearances for Palace. However, his form rose notably towards the end of the campaign, which he finished with 10 goals and six assists, and providing his injury issues are behind him, there s no doubt Bayern …

Kylian Mbappe fired Paris St Germain into the final of the Coupe de France despite missing a penalty as Rennes proved stubborn opponents.

The 25-year-old struck five minutes before the break and two minutes after seeing his spot-kick saved by goalkeeper Steve Mandanda at the Parc des Princes to take his tally for the season to 32.

His contribution secured a hard-fought 1-0 semi-final victory which set up a showdown with Lyon at the Stade Pierre-Mauroy in May and a chance to lift the cup for the first time since 2021.

FULL-TIME: Paris Saint-Germain 1-0 Stade Rennes

We are through to the final of the

…

According to Fabrizio Romano, Mario Gotze currently has three options on his table if he is to leave PSV Eindhoven this summer.

Eintracht Frankfurt are keen to bring him back to Germany, Benfica want him in Lisbon, while Inter Miami are keen to take him across the Atlantic and have him play in the MLS. All three clubs are willing to trigger the buyout clause in his contract with PSV, apparently set at just €4 million.

Mario Götze has three proposals on the table: Eintracht Frankfurt pushing, Benfica with Schmidt on it and Inter Miami in MLS. He s gonna decide very soon, matter of days.

All these clubs are prepared to trigger the release clause into his PSV contract for €4m.

— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano)

Having played for …

Alexander Isak hit a clinical double to give Newcastle United a 2-1 victory at Nottingham Forest and believes the Magpies can soar after the international break.

The Swedish striker tucked away a late penalty to earn the win at the City Ground, moving Newcastle to 47 points from 26 games.

They sit one point behind fourth-placed Tottenham with a game in hand and are five points better off than Liverpool.

Several of their players will disperse to represent their countries over the next fortnight, before the battle for Premier League places resumes.

Emmanuel Dennis put Forest ahead in Friday s contest with a high-quality chip in the 26th minute, but Newcastle drew level moments before half-time as Isak volleyed in Joe Willock s cross.

Newcastle s Ell…

Matches at Euro 2016 could be played behind closed doors due to the threat of terror attacks, says UEFA executive committee vice-president Giancarlo Abete.

Abete was speaking in reaction to the blasts in Brussels on Tuesday which, according to latest figures, have killed 34 people and injured over a hundred more.

UEFA released a statement in which it  reaffirmed its commitment in placing safety and security at the centre of its organisational plans for Euro 2016 , but Abete, a former president of the FIGC (Italian Football Association), believes more drastic measures may have to be implemented.

He told Radio 24: Euro 2016 is the kind of event we can t delay or postpone.

We can t exclude the possibility of playing behind closed doors as we cannot exc…

Ralf Rangnick believes it is obvious Manchester United need to buy a striker in the next transfer window.

United s interim manager has overseen a mixed period of results in recent weeks, with the Red Devils knocked out of the FA Cup by Middlesbrough in the fourth round and sitting sixth in the Premier League after a 1-1 draw at lowly Burnley.

Former RB Leipzig head coach Rangnick currently has Cristiano Ronaldo, Edinson Cavani and Marcus Rashford to call upon as striker options, with Mason Greenwood currently unavailable and Anthony Martial on loan to Sevilla.

However, Ronaldo has not scored in his last five appearances across all competitions – the last time he had a longer run without a goal at club level was a run of seven games in December 2008 and January…

It often feels like football works in cycles.

A few months beyond 20 years since a crunch group tie at the World Cup, South Korea and Portugal are ready to do it all again.

The Selecao are already through after two wins from two against Ghana and Uruguay, and barring a three-goal turnaround, their progression will come as group winners.

Head coach Fernando Santos could decide to rotate, but then again, perhaps the smell of revenge will be enough for him to go full strength once more.

The only previous meeting between South Korea and Portugal came at the 2002 World Cup, which South Korea won 1-0 on home soil in the final game of the group stage, a result that eliminated Portugal from the tournament.

This time it will be all or nothing for South Kor…

Vera Pauw has called on the Football Association of Ireland to reach a decision on her future as Republic of Ireland coach ahead of the team’s final World Cup match against Nigeria.

Pauw’s contract is up at the end of the tournament, with Ireland having already been eliminated following defeats to Australia and Canada in their first two games.

That means Monday’s final Group B fixture in Brisbane could be her last game in charge if a decision is made not to keep her on.

Fully focused… |

— Ireland Football (@IrelandFootball)

She has repeatedly stated that she hopes to continue in the role to try to lead them to the European Championship finals in Switzerland in 2015.

The 60-year-old, who was appointed in 2019 and has led the Re…