The Yankees saw their season come to a bitter end Wednesday night in a 5–2 loss to the Blue Jays in Game 4 of the American League Division Series. While Toronto is heading to the championship series for the first time in nine years, the Yankees yet again experienced another postseason letdown as their hitters ran out of firepower in the late innings of the game.

The Blue Jays' $500 million man Vladimir Guerrero Jr. had no such issue this series, homering in each of the first three games of the series. He followed that up with a hit and an RBI in Game 4 and watched as his teammates helped finish off the AL East powerhouse in the Bronx.

Afterward, Guerrero held back tears taking in the special moment. That didn't last for long, though, as the Toronto star slugger was later seen partying it up in the locker room.

At one point, Guerrero joined the Fox Sports MLB crew for a postgame interview, and he couldn't resist teaming up with David Ortiz to rib a pair of Yankees legends, Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez.

"DAAAA YANKEES LOSE," Guerrero said, eliciting lots of laughs all around. Big Papi loved it, and repeated his signature line after him. The two then did it in sync one more time just for good measure:

Too good.

The Blue Jays are set to host Game 1 of the ALCS on Sunday against either the Tigers or Mariners.

يستعد ليفربول لاستعادة أحد لاعبيه السابقين والذي ارتدى قميص النادي فيما مضى، بعد أن حسم مدربه الحالي موقفه من الاعتماد عليه خلال الفترة القادمة.

وأكد آوناي آيمري مدرب أستون فيلا أن النادي قرر عدم التعاقد مع هارفي إليوت بشكل نهائي.

ولعب إليوت خمس مباريات فقط، ولم يشارك كبديل في آخر سبع مباريات في الدوري الإنجليزي، وكانت صفقة إعارته من ليفربول قد تضمنت بند يلزم أستون فيلا بشرائه مقابل 35 مليون جنيه إسترليني بشرط مشاركته في 10 مباريات مع الفريق.

أقرأ أيضاً.. إيفرا: محمد صلاح يذكرني بـ رونالدو.. وكتب نهاية قصته مع ليفربول

وقال إيمري في تصريحات نشرها صحفي “سكاي سبورت” فابريزيو رومانو: “نتحدث معه بشأن وضعه، هو ليس معنا حالياً”.

وأضاف: “نأمل أن نتوصل لأفضل النتائج له ولنا، أقدره وأكن له الاحترام كلاعب وإنسان، إنه يتدرب بشكل جيد ولكن لدينا ظرف خاص به”.

وواصل: “نأمل أن يجد حلاً يمكنه من اللعب بانتظام ومواصلة مسيرته الكروية معنا أو الانتقال لنادي آخر”.

واختتم عن إليوت: “تحدثت معه مرتين أو ثلاث مرات بشأن وضعه الحالي، أولاً بخصوص قراري وثانياً بخصوص الوضع، هو معنا معاراً لكن ليس من المؤكد أنه سينضم لنا بعقد دائم”.

If Father Time is truly undefeated, he was nowhere to be found Thursday night.

During a busy night on the jam-packed October sports calendar, it was a trio of athletes in their 40s who shined the brightest. It felt like 2012 again on when 40-year-old Joe Flacco and 41-year-old Aaron Rodgers battled head-to-head in a tight game between the Steelers and Bengals. Over in the ALCS, the Blue Jays handed the ball to 41-year-old Max Scherzer in a game they needed badly on the road.

The result: One of the most fun nights of prime-time sports in recent memory. Maybe these guys play forever?

Joe Flacco, Bengals quarterback

The World Cup 2026 draw has been made, with England set to face Croatia in the group stages, and the USMNT to take on Australia. Brazil have been drawn with Morocco, while France will play Senegal and Argentina must face Austria.

• England into Group L

  Prime Minister of Canada, Mark Carney, drew his nation into Group B as the first pick, while Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum drew her nation into Group A. United States president Donald Trump then drew the United States National Team into Group D.

  Brazil were the first non-host team drawn by Birmingham shareholder Tom Brady, and were drawn into Group C, while Germany were drawn into Group E, the Netherlands into Group F, Belgium into Group G, Spain into Group H, Argentina into Group J (because they cannot meet Spain in their pathway), France into Group I, Portugal into Group K and England, the final team out of the pot, into Group L. 

  Thomas Tuchel's side will subsequently be playing their first game in either Toronto or Dallas, their second in Toronto or Boston, and their third in New York or Philadelphia. 

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  The draw in full

  Shaquille O'Neal, the NBA legend, drew from Pot 2, before NFL star Aaron Judge drew from Pot 3, and hockey legend Wayne Gretzky drew from Pot 4.

  Group A: Mexico, South Africa, Korea Republic, Denmark / North Macedonia / Czechia / Republic of Ireland.

  Group B: Canada, Qatar, Switzerland, Italy/ Northern Ireland / Wales / Bosnia and Herzegovina.

  Group C: Brazil, Morocco, Haiti, Scotland.

  Group D: USMNT, Paraguay, Australia, Turkiye / Romania / Slovakia / Kosovo.

  Group E: Germany, Curacao, Cote D'Ivoire, Ecuador.

  Group F: Netherlands, Japan, Tunisia, Ukraine / Sweden / Poland / Albania.

  Group G: Belgium, Egypt, Iran, New Zealand.

  Group H: Spain, Cabo Verde, Uruguay, Saudi Arabia

  Group I: France, Senegal, Norway, Iraq / Bolivia / Suriname

  Group J: Argentina, Algeria, Austria, Jordan.

  Group K: Portugal, Congo DR / Jamaica / New Caledonia, Uzbekistan, Colombia.

  Group L: England, Croatia, Ghana, Panama.

• Familiar opponents for England

  The 2026 World Cup will begin with the clash between Mexico and South Africa in Group A. The game will take place on Thursday June 11, 2026, and from there, the tournament will begin. England will face Croatia in a rerun of the 2018 World Cup semi-final and will also meet familiar opponents in Panama, having played them at the same tournament. That game ended in a 6-1 win for the Three Lions, a Harry Kane scored a hat-trick. Tuchel's side will also face Ghana, but have only played them once before, doing so in a friendly in 2011. That game resulted in a 1-1 draw. 

  England's first game will take place on June 17 against Croatia, before their second game on June 23 against Ghana, and they then round out the initial phase of the tournament on June 27, with their clash against minnows Panama. 

  Pundit Dion Dublin said on BBC Sport: "Regarding England, I think the African nations always give England a hard game. I'm expecting England to do what they need to do against Panama. Ghana and Croatia I'm a little bit worried about."

  Scottish pundit Scott Brown added on their draw: "We've got to look to beat Haiti, it will be a huge game for us. Morocco, we'll be underdogs from looking at the world rankings, it's a hard game. Brazil is the big one. Everyone will want to be at that Scotland v Brazil game. Seeing that yellow shirt, they've got top quality players. As do Morocco. We've got to beat Haiti and try to pick up points somewhere else. There is hope for us."

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  What next?

  The tournament will kick off soon enough next year but first, come the playoffs, with the competition's field set to be rounded out. The semi-finals will take place on Thursday March 26 and the finals on Tuesday March 31 with kick-off times of 5pm or 7.45pm.

  The winners of the four play-off finals qualify for the World Cup and complete the field of 16 European participants.

Head coach says: “I don’t think ever in Indian cricket something like this has happened where the transition is happening in the spin-bowling department and in the batting department”

ESPNcricinfo staff26-Nov-20255:55

Saba Karim: India have fallen behind in Test cricket

After a 12-year period in which India won every Test series they played at home, they have now lost two out of three in the space of just over a year: 3-0 last year to New Zealand, and now 2-0 to South Africa. These results have coincided with the tenure of Gautam Gambhir, who took over as India head coach in July 2024.Asked whether he still believed he was the right man for the job, particularly in Test cricket, Gambhir said he wasn’t the man to take that call.”It is up to BCCI to decide,” he said during his press conference after India lost the second Test against South Africa in Guwahati by 408 runs. “I’ve said it during my first press conference when I took over as the head coach. Indian cricket is important, I’m not important. And I sit here and say exactly the same thing.”Related

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Harmer's six-for seals South Africa's 2-0 sweep

All the focus on the home defeats to New Zealand and South Africa, Gambhir suggested, was taking away from his achievements as head coach, including a 2-2 Test-series draw in England and white-ball victories in the Champions Trophy and Asia Cup this year.”I’m the same guy who got results in England as well, with a young team,” he said. “And I’m sure you guys will forget very soon because a lot of people keep talking about New Zealand. And I’m the same guy under whom [we] won Champions Trophy and Asia Cup as well.”Yes, this is a team which has less experience. They need to keep learning and they’re putting [in] everything possible to turn the tide.”Between the home defeats to New Zealand and South Africa, India have undergone a major transition, with R Ashwin, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma retiring from Test cricket, and with Shubman Gill taking over the captaincy. India’s batting, in particular, has been manned by a number of young, inexperienced players.”Look, first of all, the series against New Zealand, we had a very different side,” Gambhir said. “And this is a very different side. The experience that that batting line-up had [compared] to what this team has is chalk and cheese. So comparing everything to New Zealand is probably a wrong narrative.”I don’t give excuses. I’ve never done that in the past. I will never do it in the future as well. But four or five batters in this top eight have literally played less than 15 Test matches [each], and they will grow. They’re learning on the job. They’re learning on the field.”Test cricket is never easy when you’re playing against a top-quality side. So you’ve got to give them time as well. So for me, I think that is something they’ll keep learning. That is important. Because I know that I hate using this word transition. This is exactly what transition is.”The defeat in Guwahati was India’s heaviest by a runs margin in Test cricket. Gambhir pointed to their collapse on day three, when they slipped from 95 for 1 to 122 for 7 in reply to South Africa’s 489, as the passage of play that decided the Test. Fast bowler Marco Jansen took four of the six wickets India lost in that phase.”From 95 for 1 to 120 for 7 is not acceptable,” Gambhir said. “And we keep talking about [India’s batting against] spin, but then one seamer got four wickets in that spell. And we’ve had these collapses in the past as well. Someone needs to put their hand up and say that I’m going to stop this collapse.4:35

Philander: ‘Harmer out-bowled the Indian spinners’

“For me, I think that 30-minute spell took us away from the game. Because at one stage on day three, we were pretty much in control of the game where we were 95 for 1. And then, from there, to lose five or six wickets for nothing on the board literally was always pushing us back.”One of the batters dismissed during that collapse was stand-in captain Rishabh Pant, who charged out to Jansen while on 7, and top-edged a slog to the keeper. Gambhir refused to criticise Pant or any other individual player, he seemed to refer to that shot when he answered a different question about how a coach could measure accountability after a defeat like this.”It comes from care. How much you care about the dressing room and the team,” Gambhir said. “Because accountability and the game situation can never be taught. You can talk about skills, you can work on skills, you can keep talking about the mental aspect of the game, but ultimately when you go in, if you keep putting the team ahead of your own self, not thinking, ‘this is how I play, and this is how I will get the results, I don’t have plan B,’ so sometimes you will get these kind of collapses as well.”So for me I think accountability is important. More than the accountability, it’s the care. How much you care about Indian cricket and how much you care about the team and people sitting in the dressing room is important as well.”

“I don’t think ever in Indian cricket something like this has happened where the transition is happening in the spin-bowling department and in the batting department as well”India head coach Gautam Gambhir

As for the wider question of how India can lift themselves out of this near-unprecedented trough as a Test team in their own conditions, Gambhir said it would come from putting Test cricket first.”Start prioritising Test cricket, if we are really, really serious about Test cricket,” he said. “That is going to happen overall where everyone needs to be the stakeholder. So if we really care about Test cricket, if we want Test cricket to flourish in India, I think we’ve got to have a collective effort to make that happen. Because just blaming the players or just blaming the support staff or just blaming certain individuals will not help.”And as I just said, we can’t put things under the carpet. Come the white-ball formats, if you get runs in white-ball formats, suddenly you forget about what you have done in red-ball cricket. That should never happen.”You don’t need the most skillful and the most flamboyant players to succeed in Test cricket. You need the toughest characters with limited skills who will go on to succeed in Test cricket irrespective of how the conditions [are] and what the situation is.”One major area for concern for India is their spinners getting outbowled by their South African counterparts, Simon Harmer in particular. Asked whether India would need to dip into their pool of domestic cricketers to find new spinners, Gambhir said the ones currently in the team needed to be backed and allowed to gain more experience, with the long-serving Ashwin having retired late last year. He pointed specifically to Washington Sundar, who has taken 36 wickets in his first 17 Tests at an average of 32.97.”Look, that’s why we are giving as many opportunities as we can to someone like Washy. But if you expect Washy to deliver straightaway what Ashwin did after playing more than 100 Test matches, it’s unfair on that young kid. And that is what you guys need to think as well. That he is what — 10, 12, 15 Test matches old?”He is learning his trade. He is learning to bowl in different conditions. He is learning to bowl in different situations as well. And obviously, it’s tough when you lose so many experienced players at the same time.”And that is why it is called transition. That is why these guys need time. Whether it’s the batting unit or the bowling unit. I don’t think ever in Indian cricket something like this has happened where the transition is happening in the spin-bowling department and in the batting department as well. Normally when your batting is secure or your batting has experience then your team goes through a bowling transition. But with this Test team, obviously the transition is happening in both the skillsets.”So you guys and all of us need to give them time and I am sure they have got the skill, they have got the talent, they have got the ability. That’s why they are sitting in that dressing room and they have delivered.

Ahead of a crucial week for Celtic, the last thing the Hoops needed was some disruption.

There was an argument to be made that Martin O’Neill should have remained in charge for the game against Hearts and the League Cup final next week.

The other argument, however, suggested that new manager, Wilfried Nancy, needed to get his feet under the table as soon as possible in a bid to assess the squad ahead of the January transfer window.

Well, his tenure got off to the worst possible start, losing to Hearts 2-1 and surrendering ground on the league leaders.

What made things worse was Nancy’s behaviour on the touchline. We aren’t ones to judge too hard, but the fact that he was clipped moving little magnets around on a whiteboard in the dugout with his team losing sent alarm bells ringing.

Nancy discusses his Celtic tactics

Celtic have traditionally played in a classic 4-3-3 in recent years but the Frenchman tweaked things against the Jambos, starting with Kieran Tierney in a back three, with Sebastian Tounekti and Yang Hyun-jun playing at wing-backs and a four-man box midfield.

Evidently, it did not work and rightfully, Nancy was quizzed about his tactics post-game.

The new Celtic boss said: “To be honest, in the first half we changed the system. I would say in the second half it was the same system. After that, when we wanted to push, it was not the system that we started with.

“So for me this is more about how we can deal when teams are really low. The centre-backs for example, when they had the ball, recognise the moment to play a little bit quicker, recognised the moment to play in between. The intention was here. These are now the nuances that we need to improve.”

Nancy continued: “This is more about how we can connect a little bit more. When we connected, we had opportunities to break them. But second half, we didn’t connect. When we conceded the second goal, we started to put in cross and cross and cross. We needed to combine a little bit more, to attack the box with numbers because they are really good defensively with big tall guys.”

McInnes reveals how Hearts beat Celtic

What should be really concerning for the Bhoys is just how easily Hearts were able to pinpoint the way in which Celtic would play under Nancy.

Usually when a new manager arrives, things are a tad unpredictable for the opposition but that was not the case for Derek McInnes and his side on Sunday.

Speaking at the conclusion of the match, he said: “We have studied the last two or three days, watching a lot of Columbus Crew and what they want to do and expect from their players.

McInnes continued: “We felt well prepared for that and it meant we needed to fill the middle of the pitch with bodies. Celtic have got a lot of good players in that central area, so we needed to make sure we were nice and solid through that part of it.

“We tried to play in the spaces between the outside centre-back and the winger because it’s quite a big distance at times,” the Hearts boss said.

This was a crucial game for Nancy, not just because it was his first in charge, but because the Edinburgh side moved three points clear at the top of the Premiership.

Worse than Maeda: Nancy must drop Celtic flop who lost the ball 23 times

Celtic manager Wilfried Nancy must drop this flop who was even worse than Daizen Maeda against Hearts.

ByDan Emery 4 days ago

From Harmanpreet Kaur’s 171* to Anya Shrubsole breaking hearts, we look back fondly at the past three tournaments

Vishal Dikshit26-Sep-2025Alyssa Healy bosses the 2022 knockoutsThe Australians are known to step up on the big stage, against the best opponents, and in the knockouts. Alyssa Healy did it all at once and on her own in the 2022 edition to send Australia to their seventh ODI World Cup.Batting first in the semi-final against West Indies, Healy raced to a 91-ball century after being given a life early, but then sped from 50 to 100 in just 28 balls for her maiden World Cup hundred to finish on 129 off 107, studded with 17 fours and a six that set up their 157-run victory.Four days later, she hit new highs – again after being given a life – with a commanding 170 against England to take home the Player of the Match and Series awards along with the main trophy. Her magnificent knock helped her finish the tournament with 509 runs, the most in a World Cup edition.”It was an amazing 50-over World Cup for the Australian women’s team, but for me personally the innings in the final was pretty special,” Healy later told ESPNcricinfo. “To contribute and get them over the line in a big match was obviously pretty special for our group.”The 171* Harmonster in the 2017 semi-final0:45

Harmanpreet on her 171*: ‘A lot of things changed in women’s cricket’

If there was one recent World Cup that gave women’s cricket lift off, it was in 2017, and if one had to pick a knock from that tournament that did the same, it would be Harmanpreet Kaur’s epic 171* off 115, that too in a rain-curtailed match.Despite a strained shoulder, Harmanpreet knocked the daylights out of the Australia attack in unexpected and unprecedented fashion, relentlessly belting 20 fours and seven sixes. She raced from 50 to 100 in just 26 balls and then from 100 to 150 in just 17 balls. Her barely believable manner of eliminating Australia from the tournament was immediately chronicled in cricket history.”That knock was really special to me and for women’s cricket,” Harmanpreet said last month in Mumbai. “After that knock a lot of things changed personally in my life, and especially in women’s cricket also, because at that time I didn’t really know what had happened because I was totally off social media. But when we came back to India, and even though we lost the World Cup [final], the amount of people who were waiting for us, cheering for us, that was something very special. Still, when I remember that innings I get goosebumps.”Jhulan Goswami’s peach to Meg Lanning in the 2017 semi-final