The group stage came to a close in Nizhny Novgorod in perhaps surprisingly thrilling fashion between Switzerland and Costa Rica.
Plenty of excitable travelling fans, and those from more local climes, descended on the banks of the Volga to watch an action-packed 2-2 draw.
Away from the pitch, which is now recovering for the knockout phase, Omnisport experienced a behind-the-scenes tour of a Soviet football exhibition, sampled some region-specific merchandise and even watched a polar bear greeting supporters. Well, sort of.
Here are some of the highlights from week two in Nizhny.
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Andre Onana has signed a new contract with Ajax that will keep him at the Europa League finalists until June 2021.
The goalkeeper s previous deal was due to expire in 2018 and his agent recently suggested Onana could be on the move during the off-season.
Nevertheless, the 21-year-old has now opted to commit his future to Ajax after all by inking a three-year extension.
I am feeling right at home at Ajax and here in Netherlands, the shot stopper commented on his new deal.
I now want to win trophies with this club.
NEWS | Yes! Our goalkeeper has extended his contract at until 2021
More later!
— AFC Ajax (English) (@AFCAjax_EN)
Onana joined Ajax from Barcelona in January 2015 and became first-choice goalkeeper this term f…
Fabian Ruiz’s double helped 10-man Spain claim a comprehensive 4-1 win over Switzerland in the Nations League on a rainy night in Geneva.
Joselu opened the scoring after just four minutes as he latched onto the end of Lamine Yamal’s pinpoint cross to flick goalwards.
The goal was confirmed after some controversy as Swiss goalkeeper Gregor Kobel thought he had clawed it away before it crossed the line.
Switzerland thought they had an immediate response three minutes later but Becir Omeragic had a goal ruled out for a handball in the build-up. Instead, Spain doubled their lead on 12 minutes as Fabian powered home the rebound from Nico Williams’ parried shot.
The Swiss were handed a lifeline as Robin Le Normand was shown a straight red for bringing Bre…
Paris Saint-Germain have announced head coach Mauricio Pochettino has signed a new deal that will keep him in the French capital until 2023.
Pochettino arrived at the Ligue 1 club at the start of January, taking over following the departure of Thomas Tuchel, who is now in charge at Chelsea.
The former PSG defender was unable to secure the top-flight title for a fourth straight season, however, as the reigning champions were dethroned by Lille. They did win the Coupe de France, as well as reaching the last four of the Champions League.
Previously linked with a stunning return to Tottenham, who sacked the Argentinian back in November 2019, Pochettino has now agreed to extend his stay in Paris, along with his coaching staff.
I m really very happy, for my…
Kieran Trippier returns as Gareth Southgate makes one change to his England starting line-up to face Italy in the final of Euro 2020.
The Atletico Madrid defender takes the place of forward Bukayo Saka as the Three Lions return to the back three that saw them through against Germany in the last 16, while Phil Foden has missed out of the squad altogether due to injury – the Manchester City star having missed training on Saturday due to an unspecified injury.
The change opens up a place in a likely front three for Mason Mount, who previously operated in central midfield in wins over Ukraine and Denmark.
England are otherwise unaltered, with four-goal forward Harry Kane – now the country s joint-leading goalscorer at major tournaments – leading the line a…
Figures from the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) have revealed that over 3,000 banned substances were detected in the 283,304 tests carried out in 2014, down by 10 per cent year-on-year.
The statistics showed that a total of 3,153 adverse analytical findings (AAFs) had been found in the worldwide tests conducted across Olympic and non-Olympic sports.
That figure represents a 10.7 per cent fall from 2013, with equestrian (1.8%), golf (1.6%) and weightlifting (1.9%) presenting the highest rate of adverse findings among Olympic sports.
Football performed the most tests with 31,242 but presented only 144 adverse findings, while only 261 AAFs were detected from the 25,830 tests carried out in athletics.
The findings are in stark contrast to those from 2013, wh…
Inter Milan dropped points for only the fourth time this season as they were held to a frustrating 1-1 draw away to Genoa on Friday.
Marko Arnautovic headed the Serie A leaders in front late in the first half, but Radu Dragusin headed the hosts level in added time before the break and Inter could not get back in front as Genoa threatened a winner in the second half.
The result leaves Inter five points clear of Juventus who host Roma on Saturday, while Genoa remain 13th.
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Both Miami and Cincinnati are 1-1 through preseason play and both have their season hopes resting on sophomore quarterbacks.
Tua Tagovailoa and Joe Burrow are entrenched as starters but what can we find out about their supporting cast in this clash?
Find out in our free NFL picks and predictions for Dolphins vs. Bengals on Saturday, August 28, a game Cincinnati is a slight betting favorite for.
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The NFL season is coming down to the wire and with it comes a ton of opportunistic prop markets. We’re looking into every market to uncover some of the week’s best side, team, player, and derivative prop bets. We do the heavy lifting so you don’t have to!
We’re adding to our Week 17 prop list which includes fading one of the better quarterbacks in football while simultaneously riding with one of the worst passers in the league. We’re also betting on a fullback as well as a tight end coming off the COVID list.
Without further ado, we bring you our Week 17 free player prop picks and predictions.
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I feel like I should warn you: You are about to enter a 5-10 minute love fest for one of the most dynamic, exciting running backs in all of the NFL, who has gone from being a superstar to an absolute offensive weapon for the San Francisco 49ers — and also has one of the best nicknames in the sport.
All hail “Run-CMC.”
Can you tell I’m excited to spotlight Christian McCaffrey props this week? He’s got a very juicy Week 15 matchup against a floundering Seattle defense, and the NFL odds on CMC’s props are providing some intriguing value… although my free NFL picks aren’t going in the direction you’d think.
Here’s a hint: Both our 49ers vs. Seahawks betting preview and our best TNF player props are banking on big days from Niners pass-catchers… an…