Showing posts with label Spain. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Spain. Show all posts
Thursday, 10 September 2026
WASHINGTON SPIRIT SIGNS TANZANIAN STAR CLARA LUVANGA
Standout forward inks four-year contract in transfer from Al–Nassr FC
Washington, D.C. – The Washington Spirit has signed Tanzanian national team forward Clara Luvanga to a four-year contract through the 2029 season, the club announced today. The striker is set to be the first player from Tanzania in NWSL history. As part of the move, the Spirit will pay a transfer fee to Luvanga’s former club Al-Nassr FC of Saudi Arabia’s top-flight Saudi Women’s Premier League.
“I am very excited to join the Washington Spirit and to take on this new challenge in the NWSL,” said Luvanga. “I know I am arriving with the season already underway, but I’m really excited to play in a new league and a new country. The team is in a strong position and I want to help in whatever way I can between now and the playoffs. Go Spirit!”
Luvanga joins the Spirit after three illustrious seasons in Saudi Arabia. Upon joining Al-Nassr FC in 2023, the striker led her side to three straight Saudi Women’s Premier League titles, a Saudi Women’s Cup title, a Saudi Women’s Super Cup title and the 2026 WAFF Women’s Clubs Championship title. Individually, Luvanga earned the Saudi Women’s Premier League Golden Boot award this past season as the league’s top scorer with 24 goals. The 21-year-old also collected a hat trick in this year’s Saudi Women’s Super Cup final.
“Clara adds an exciting new dimension to our attack as we head toward the playoffs,” said Sporting Director James Hocken. “Despite her young age, she has demonstrated the ability to score goals in different ways and has the profile to be very successful in this league.”
Originally from Tanzania on the east coast of Africa, Luvanga made her debut for the Tanzanian senior team in 2024. Prior to joining Al-Nassr FC in 2023, she competed for DUX Logroño in Spain after spending her youth development years with Tanzanian club Yanga Princess.
The Spirit will take the pitch at Audi Field next on Sunday, September 13 when the side hosts expansion side Boston Legacy FC. Kicking off at 1 p.m. EDT, the match will be Washington’s annual Spirit & Paws Day as the club welcomes fans and their furry friends. Tickets are available at WashingtonSpirit.com/tickets.
About The Washington Spirit
The Washington Spirit is the premier professional women’s soccer team based in Washington, D.C. and plays at Audi Field in Buzzard Point. The Spirit was founded on November 21, 2012 and is an inaugural member of the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) the fastest growing sports league in the US. The club is home to some of the best players in the world who have won championships for both club and country. For more information about the Spirit, visit WashingtonSpirit.com and follow the club on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
- Washington Spirit
Thursday, 3 September 2026
Sunday, 30 August 2026
Saturday, 29 August 2026
Wednesday, 26 August 2026
FERMIN ALDEGUER JOINS VR46: RACING FOR DUCATI THROUGH 2028
A two-year contract and a factory bike for the Spanish rider, who's leaving Gresini to start anew with the "Rossa" team led by Valentino Rossi
Starting with the 2027 season and for the next two years, Fermín Aldeguer will be racing in the fluorescent yellow colors of the Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team. The rider from Spain, currently in his second year in the MotoGP, will be a Ducati Corse factory rider and ride a factory Ducati Desmosedici GP.
Born in 2005, Aldeguer is the youngest rider on the grid and one of the greatest talents on the MotoGP scene, as he already demonstrated on the track. He took his first steps in Spain by winning regional and national championships and made his World Championship debut in 2021 in the MotoE, after winning European series. In the all-electric category, he immediately showed his stuff, earning a spot in the Moto2. He also demonstrated his potential in the intermediate class, quickly becoming one of the most highly regarded and sought-after riders.
His MotoGP debut came in 2025, when he secured three podium finishes and his first victory in the premier class (in Indonesia), becoming the second-youngest rider ever to win in the category. He finished his debut season in the Top 10 and was named Rookie of the Year. Currently, Aldeguer is eleventh in the championship, with one podium finish (Barcelona) to his credit, despite having missed three races.
The Spanish rider is eagerly anticipating this new challenge. “I’m very happy to take this step in my MotoGP career with the Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team. Signing with Valentino’s team is incredible. He’s always been one of my idols, a role model. I think having him on the team will help me improve as a rider thanks to his valuable advice. The VR46 Racing Team is the Ducati Factory Supported Team—an extremely professional team—and I’m happy to be racing with them. With the new regulations for 2027, my goal will be to adapt to the new tires, but also to the new bike. Having the factory Ducati will help immensely with development throughout the season. It's going to be a year in which we’ll aim to be consistent, avoid mistakes, and spend as much time as possible on the bike to gather data. I’m sure we’ll work very well with the entire team and the Ducati engineers. We’ll be able to do a great job and aim to consistently finish in the top five. I can’t conclude without a word of thanks to the entire Gresini Racing team and to Nadia, who have helped me grow and brought me this far.”
Alessio Salucci added by saying, “We’re thrilled to confirm that Fermín will race with the Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team in 2027. He’s a young rider who has shown great talent since his MotoGP debut, where he immediately made a name for himself. We can’t wait to welcome him to the team, where he’ll ride a factory Desmosedici GP as an official Ducati Corse rider. We’ll give him our full support to help him achieve our goals. Once again, I’d like to thank Ducati for its full support—both on a personal and technical level—and all our partners, who are backing this incredible project.”
Among those who have always believed in Aldeguer’s talent is certainly Gigi Dall’Igna. “We're very happy to announce the renewal of our agreement with Fermín for the next two seasons. Since his arrival in the MotoGP, he has demonstrated extraordinary talent, a great capacity to learn, and a determination that immediately impressed us. He's still a very young rider, but his potential is enormous, and we're convinced he has plenty of room to grow. For this reason, we've decided to further invest in him, reaffirming our confidence in a project that is clearly focused on the future. We believe that the Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team represents the ideal environment for him to continue his journey. In recent years, the team has proven its ability to bring out the best in young talent and to be a truly competitive force in the Championship. We're certain that, here, Fermín will have everything he needs to continue growing and achieving significant milestones. At Ducati, we strongly believe in his potential.”
Pablo Nieto was also present to welcome Fermín. “It's with great pride that we welcome Fermín Aldeguer to the Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team. A rider who has proven to have great talent. Despite his young age, he has already shown maturity and proven himself capable of handling a very demanding championship like the MotoGP. It’s by no means easy to win in the premier class, and he’s already done so in his first year. We have a lot of confidence in him, because we know he has the potential to fight for whatever he sets his mind to. As a team, we’ll be ready to support him every step of the way and make things as easy as possible for him.”
Finally, a special message from Nadia Padovani. “When you first got on our bike, you brought a breath of fresh energy, passion, and an incredible desire to win. Watching you grow and compete in our colors has been—and continues to be—a source of immense pride. We’ll stand by your side, just like on the first day, to give you all the love this team has to offer. Let’s have fun until the very end. Let’s open the throttle as wide as we can. 2027 can wait.”
Tuesday, 25 August 2026
Friday, 24 July 2026
Tuesday, 21 July 2026
NICO WILLIAMS AND HIS BEAUTIFUL GIRLFRIEND AINHI GARCIA | FIFA WORLD CUP 2026
Monday, 20 July 2026
RTÉ SECURES EXCLUSIVE FREE-TO-AIR RIGHTS TO 2030 FIFA WORLD CUP
RTÉ has announced that it has secured exclusive free-to-air rights to the 2030 FIFA World Cup, following its successful run airing the 2026 World Cup, sponsored by Heineken 0.0.
The 2030 tournament will be hosted across Spain, Portugal and Morocco, with three centenary games to be held in South America.
Football fans across Ireland tuned into RTÉ’s coverage of the World Cup as Spain edged out Argentina in the finals to claim the championship.
The final generated over 1.4 million streams on RTÉ Player, thus making it the most-streamed single event in the platform’s history.
Across the tournament as a whole, audiences generated 23.4 million streams – an increase of almost 15 million streams and nearly three times the audience achieved during the 2022 FIFA World Cup (8.5 million streams).
The top performing matches were Spain v Argentina, England v Argentina, France v Spain, and England v Norway.*
Online
Throughout the tournament, there were 91 million video views across all of RTÉ’s social platforms covering the event, including over 6.8 million views of highlights, as well as analysis on the RTÉ Sport YouTube channel.
As many of the matches took place late at night, RTÉ Player generated 1.6 million streams on RTÉ Player, while other FIFA World Cup content – including unseen moments, clips and Up All Night – added 345k additional streams on the platform.
'One Of Our Big Success Stories’
Speaking about the success of the tournament, director general of RTÉ Kevin Bakhurst said, “We are delighted that RTÉ has been successful in securing rights to the 2030 FIFA World Cup for Irish audiences after what has been a very successful 2026 World Cup with record numbers of people enjoying RTÉ’s coverage.
“From the first game through to the final, audiences have come to RTÉ in large numbers for our coverage and analysis of every single game, but also for our World Cup highlights on RTÉ Player and YouTube, our podcasts, Up All Night on RTÉ Player, and more.
“The huge number of streams on RTÉ Player throughout the tournament has been one of our big success stories this year and has highlighted the value of our investment in the service in recent years.
“We look forward to bringing the next FIFA World Cup to Irish audiences, including the Republic of Ireland’s qualification campaign which we hope will be successful.
“Live sport – free to air – continues to provide national moments and conversations – enjoyment and entertainment to Irish audiences – paid for by your licence fee, public funding and commercial revenue.”
‘Exceptional Month Of Sporting Coverage’
Head of sport at RTÉ, Declan Bennett, also commented, saying, “Yesterday was a memorable day for RTÉ Sport, with the All-Ireland Hurling Final and the 2026 FIFA World Cup Final bringing an exciting day of live sport to audiences.
“More broadly, it has been an exceptional month of sporting coverage, including RTÉ’s most extensive FIFA World Cup broadcast operation to date, delivering all 104 matches with a uniquely Irish overview.
“The strong response across television, RTÉ Player, digital and social platforms reflect the enduring appetite for live sport in Ireland.
“We look forward to bringing audiences more major sporting moments in the years ahead as part of RTÉ’s public service remit, including the FIFA World Cup in 2030.”
* Viewing figures: Spain v Argentina (average audience of 1 million, 65% share on RTÉ2, and 1.4 million streams on RTÉ Player), England v Argentina (average audience 949k, 60% share on RTÉ2 and 1 million streams on RTÉ Player), France v Spain (average audience of 873k, 61% share on RTÉ2, and 1 million streams on RTÉ Player), and England v Norway (average audience of 787k, 72% share on RTÉ2 and 1 million streams on RTÉ Player).
- Sarah O'Sullivan
SIX TEAMS HAVE ALREADY QUALIFIED FOR THE 2030 WORLD CUP DUE TO UNIQUE FIFA RULE
The winners of the World Cup will not qualify automatically for the next tournament
Spain absolutely battering Argentina in the World Cup final isn’t the reason why they will automatically qualify for the next tournament in 2030.
Six host nation countries have already secured their places in the next World Cup.
The tournament's three main co-hosts, Spain, Portugal and Morocco, as well as Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay will automatically qualify for the next edition in four years time.
FIFA’s 2030 competition will be held from Saturday, 8 June to Sunday, 21 July, with the opening three matches taking place in Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay.
These South American countries have been chosen to play first to commemorate 100 years of the World Cup, which was hosted and won by Uruguay in 1930.
Where will the opening 2030 World Cup game be played?
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| Spain were the best team in the tournament by a mile (Carl Recine/Getty Images) |
The opening game will be held at the Estadio Monumental in Buenos Aires, Argentina, which boasts a capacity of 100,000.
Estadio Osvaldo Dominguez Dibb, a brand new venue in Paraguay, and the Montevideo in Uruguay will also host opening matches.
After those three games, the World Cup will shift to the Northern Hemisphere in 18 stadiums across Spain, Morocco and Portugal.
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| Ugly scenes at full-time (Marvin Ibo Guengoer - GES Sportfoto/Getty Images) |
It comes after FIFA boss Gianni Infantino wants to controversially expand the World Cup to a 64-team tournament in 2030 following the success of the expanded 48-team competition this year.
"These are all issues that we will be examining after the World Cup," Infantino told Blue Sport.
"When organising a World Cup, it's important to organise it for the whole world - not just Europe and South America, but effectively the entire world. Every nation should be allowed to dream of participating in the World Cup.
"You can see that the quality of the teams is extremely high, and it's getting higher and higher, all over the world. If you don't give smaller countries a chance to participate in the World Cup, they'll lack the incentive to keep improving."
No Messi or Ronaldo
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| The end of an era (Paul ELLIS / AFP via Getty Images) |
Sadly, the squads of host nations Argentina and Portugal are unlikely to include the two greatest players of all time in Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
After Spain’s convincing 1-0 final, Argentina head coach Lionel Scaloni was full of praise for Messi: “He is 39 years old, it is unbelievable. It was always crystal clear to me that he would play until he chose to stop and that everyone would support him.
“I hope everyone is proud of him, because he is the best football player ever to set foot on a pitch.”
Both Messi and Ronaldo are yet to comment officially on their international futures.
On the result, Scaloni added: “I feel sadness but knowing that we left everything out there.
“I have a lot of things to say about how we got here, but it’s not worth it.
“I want to thank these guys eternally for giving us another World Cup final and for competing until the end. They were better, that’s the truth.
“But I’ll hold on to an enormous memory of what they have done, of what it’s worth to get this far. We have to give it huge validity because it takes a lot to get here.”
Featured Image Credit: Florencia Tan Jun/Getty Images
- Anish Vij
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