France have named a strong and attacking starting XI for their FIFA World Cup 2026 opener against Senegal, with Kylian Mbappé captaining a side packed with pace, creativity and technical quality in the final third. France XI: Mike Maignan; Dayot Upamecano, Jules Koundé, William Saliba, Lucas Hernández; Aurélien Tchouaméni, Adrien Rabiot; Ousmane Dembélé, Désiré Doué,…

Nilakshika Silva (X-Cricbuzz) Nilakshika Silva held her nerve with a superb unbeaten half-century as Sri Lanka pulled off a memorable five-wicket victory over defending champions New Zealand in Group 2 of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2026 at The Rose Bowl in Southampton on Tuesday.The win marked Sri Lanka’s first success of the tournament…

Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill (PTI Photo) NEW DELHI: Ahead of the second ODI against Afghanistan in Lucknow, India’s spin bowling coach Sairaj Bahutule backed Rohit Sharma amid renewed discussions over the veteran opener’s future. The 39-year-old has endured a dip in form recently and concerns have resurfaced because of his age, a recent hamstring…

Kylian Mbappé and Sadio Mané lead France vs Senegal in a blockbuster FIFA World Cup clash in East Rutherford tonight/ AP,X One of the most intriguing fixtures of the opening round at the 2026 FIFA World Cup arrives in East Rutherford, New Jersey, where France and Senegal renew a rivalry that carries far more history…

New Zealand’s Sarpreet Singh (10) battles for the ball (AP Photo/Andre Penner) NEW DELHI: New Zealand midfielder Sarpreet Singh created history by becoming the first player of Indian origin to start a FIFA World Cup 2026 match. Coach Darren Bazeley kept faith in him until he was substituted in the 90th minute. New Zealand will…

England’s Ben Stokes (AP Photo) Former England captain Michael Vaughan has backed Ben Stokes to remain England skipper despite the controversy that led to his suspension from the second Test against New Zealand.Stokes was left out of England’s squad for the ongoing Test at The Oval after breaching a team curfew following the opening match…

Tino Livramento of England (Getty Images) England have been dealt a setback on the eve of their World Cup campaign after defender Tino Livramento was ruled out of the tournament with a calf injury, prompting a last-minute change to Thomas Tuchel’s squad.The Newcastle United full-back sustained the injury during a training session on Sunday. Following…

NEW DELHI: Hello and welcome to OFFSIDE, a new daily column on the football World Cup where we will track the highs and lows of the day, or night gone by, and what to expect in the next round of matches.In BBC’s United, Jimmy Murphy, Manchester United’s assistant coach during the Busby Babes era, played…

Rohit Sharma, Gautam Gambhir and Shubman Gill (Agency Image) TimesofIndia.com in Lucknow: After a rain-curtailed match in Dharamsala, India’s top-order batters, Shubman Gill, Rohit Sharma, Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer, went through the paces during the net session at the Ekana Stadium.Throughout the 90-odd-minute session, split equally between pace and spin, Gill, Rohit, Ishan and…