With all eyes on the Paris Olympics, the World Aquatics Championships feel more like a nuisance than the second-most important event on the swimming calendar.

Given the unusual timing — a lingering fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic — many of the biggest names have decided to skip the meet in Doha, Qatar.

What was billed as a potential final meeting between longtime rivals Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo didn't materialize, but there was no doubt which of the superstars enjoyed Al-Nassr's 6-0 rout of Inter Miami more on Thursday.

Messi spent all but the final seven minutes on the Miami bench looking increasingly glum as Al-Nassr, cheered on by an appreciative Ronaldo sitting high in the Kingdom Arena stands recovering from a calf injury, ran riot in this friendly and scored three goals in the first 12 minutes.

Damian Lillard's emotional return to Portland opened with an ovation and ended in defeat as the Trail Blazers held off the Milwaukee Bucks 119-116 on Wednesday.

Lillard was playing his first game in Portland since the September trade that sent him to Milwaukee after he spent his first 11 NBA seasons as a Blazer.

Erling Haaland is available again for Manchester City after nearly two months out with a foot injury, manager Pep Guardiola said Tuesday.

The Norway striker will return to the squad for City's English Premier League game at home to Burnley on Wednesday.

The highest court in sports sanctioned Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva for doping violations at the 2022 Beijing Olympics. The ruling means U.S. skaters will receive gold medals after they finished second behind Valieva and her teammates in the team competition.

The case rocked the Olympics when, about 24 hours after she led Russia to the victory in the team event, details about a sample taken six weeks earlier at Russia's national championships revealed there was a banned heart medication in her system.

Aymen Hussein was sent off moments after putting Iraq within sight of the Asian Cup quarterfinals and Jordan fought back to win 3-2 on Monday.

The striker was shown a second yellow card for excessive celebrations after firing Iraq 2-1 ahead at Khalifa International Stadium.

Lionel Messi and Inter Miami kicked off their tour of Saudi Arabia by losing to Al-Hilal 4-3 on Monday.

The Major League Soccer team is playing two games in the oil-rich kingdom as part of its preseason preparations, but even Messi could not inspire it to victory in Riyadh.

Congo knocked seven-time champion Egypt out of the Africa Cup of Nations with an 8-7 win on penalties after the teams finished 1-1 after extra time on Sunday in the round-of-16 match.

Egypt goalkeeper Mohamed Abou Gabal struck the crossbar with his spot kick before Congo counterpart Lionel Mpasi stepped up to send the Leopards into the quarterfinals.

Reminders of Lionel Messi and the 2022 World Cup are not hard to find in Qatar.

"Last chance" tournament souvenirs greet visitors on arrival at Doha's Hamad International Airport. In Souq Waqif — a vibrant eating and shopping area — replica World Cup trophies and shirts are on sale. Decorative soccer balls remain inside the metro carriages.

Seventeen-year-old Lebanese Muay Thai star Ramadan Ondash picked up an impressive knockout win on his ONE Championship debut in Thailand.

The Lebanese teenager produced a remarkable performance at ONE Friday Fights 49 inside the iconic Lumpinee Boxing Stadium, knocking out his experienced Thai counterpart Yangdam at 1:20 in the first round.