A steakhouse in the trendy Buenos Aires neighborhood of Palermo was mobbed by hundreds of frenzied soccer fans late Monday night when word spread that Lionel Messi was inside having dinner.
People rushed to the exclusive Don Julio restaurant eager to get a glimpse of the man who led Argentina to its third World Cup title. Messi eventually needed a police escort to leave.

Kylian Mbappe will take over as captain of France after Hugo Lloris stepped down following the World Cup final defeat to Argentina, a source close to the team has told AFP.
Paris Saint-Germain forward Mbappe, 24, accepted the role after discussions with coach Didier Deschamps.

Erling Haaland has left Norway's training camp because of a groin injury and will miss the team's upcoming European Championship qualifying games, the national federation said Tuesday.
Haaland felt pain from a slight groin injury after playing for Manchester City in the FA Cup quarterfinals against Burnley on Saturday and will return to his club for treatment, the Norwegian federation said. He scored three goals in a 6-0 win against Burnley, raising his total to a club-record 42 this season.

Jorge Sampaoli's second stint as Sevilla coach is over.
Sevilla fired the Argentine coach on Tuesday, two days after a 2-0 loss at relegation-threatened Getafe in the Spanish league.

After a series of high level meetings last week, a second round of bids to buy Manchester United are due Wednesday.
Representatives of Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani toured Old Trafford and the club's training ground last Thursday, meeting with United executives. Jim Ratcliffe held talks with the Premier League club on Friday and was pictured being greeted by chief executive Richard Arnold. American investment firm Elliott Management has also held meetings with a view to providing capital for takeover bids or other finance options.

Carlos Alcaraz defeated Daniil Medvedev 6-3, 6-2 on Sunday to win the BNP Paribas Open title and regain the world's No. 1 ranking.
The 19-year-old Spaniard will move from second to first in the ATP Tour rankings on Monday, displacing Novak Djokovic. The Serb withdrew from Indian Wells before the tournament began when he couldn't gain entry to the U.S. because he's unvaccinated for COVID-19.

By playing good football and winning big matches, Barcelona is leaving aside the distractions of its latest scandal.
With its second win over Real Madrid in less than three weeks, Barcelona made sure there is more talk about the team's prowess on the field than the club's alleged troubles away from it.

Dozens of conservative Muslims marched in Indonesia's capital on Monday to protests Israel's first-ever participation in the FIFA World Cup Under-20 in Indonesia.
The world's most populous Muslim-majority nation is hosting the U-20 World Cup from May 20 to June 11 in Indonesia's six major cities. A total of 24 countries from five continents are participating, including Israel, after a two-year delay because of the COVID-19 pandemic. As the host country, Indonesia is automatically qualified for the tournament.

Real Madrid's path to another Champions League title will have to go through Chelsea in the quarterfinals for the second straight year.
Friday's draw takes Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti back to face his former club, which was eliminated by a goal from Karim Benzema in extra time a year ago.

New Spain coach Luis de la Fuente brought back Chelsea goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga along with several veteran players on Friday when he announced his first squad since replacing Luis Enrique ahead of European championship qualifiers.
De la Fuente only stuck with 11 players that Luis Enrique took to last year's World Cup, when Spain disappointed with a penalty-shootout loss to Morocco in the round of 16.
