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By Patrick Sung Cuadrado, CNN Wimbledon (CNN) — Serena Williams lost in her return to singles tennis 6-3, 6-7(6), 6-3 against Maya Joint of Australia in a thrilling match in front of an at times raucous crowd on Wimbledon’s Centre Court. In what was her first singles match since losing to Ajla Tomljanović at the

By Ben Church, CNN (CNN) — Espen Undheim smiles as he recalls the early training sessions where he first met Erling Haaland. The superstar striker wasn’t anywhere near the physical specimen he is today, but his former coach remembers seeing flashes of potential in the “skinny” kid, who had such a burning passion for the

By Kyle Feldscher, CNN (CNN) — Paraguay pulled off the shock of the tournament so far, and Brazil and Morocco booked their places in the Round of 16 after knockout round wins on Monday. It was a day of drama across North America as the first full day of Round of 32 action got going

By Ben Church, CNN (CNN) — Note: This story first appeared in The Beautiful Game by CNN Sports, our daily newsletter on all things World Cup. To subscribe, click here. Welcome to the first full week of World Cup knockout matches, where dreams will be made and hearts broken all across North America and the

By Emile Nuh, CNN (CNN) — The quest for a sixth star begins again for Brazil. This storied, soccer-mad nation has lifted the World Cup five times – more than any other country – but its last triumph in 2002 is beginning to feel like a distant memory as over two decades of frustration have

By Ben Church, CNN Wimbledon, London (CNN) — When Iga Świątek steps out on the pristine Wimbledon grass for the first time this year, she’ll be doing so as the reigning champion. Rewind to the 2025 tournament and a laser-focused Świątek was cruising to her first title at the All England Club, a dream eventually

By Patrick Snell, CNN (CNN) — US soccer legend Landon Donovan has good news for American fans who may just be daring to dream: He believes the USA can indeed win the World Cup. With one important caveat: A lot must fall into place first – starting with a win on Wednesday over Round of

By Kyle Feldscher, CNN (CNN) — Note: This story first appeared in The Beautiful Game by CNN Sports, our daily newsletter on all things World Cup. To subscribe, click here. And … breathe. More than three weeks of multiple World Cup group matches daily has come to an end. For me, this is always a

CNN By Ben Church, CNN (CNN) — Well, this World Cup has found its Cinderella. Tiny Cape Verde, which shocked the soccer world by drawing with Spain in its first World Cup match, is through to the knockout rounds after drawing with Saudi Arabia in Houston and Spain’s defeat of Uruguay on Friday night. It’s

By Ben Church, CNN (CNN) — Well, this World Cup has found its Cinderella. Tiny Cape Verde, which shocked the soccer world by drawing with Spain in its first World Cup match, is through to the knockout rounds after drawing with Saudi Arabia in Houston and Spain’s defeat of Uruguay on Friday night. It’s a

By Ben Church, CNN (CNN) — Note: This story first appeared in The Beautiful Game by CNN Sports, our daily newsletter on all things World Cup. To subscribe, click here. Soccer can be harsh, can’t it? One second you’re celebrating two group wins and dreaming of the USA – maybe? possibly? – going far at