Argentine soccer legend Diego Maradona insists he has left his off-the-pitch issues behind as he was formally introduced as the new coach of Mexican second-tier club Dorados de Sinaloa.

The 2018 World Cup is barely up and running but already we know that the 2026 edition will be jointly hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico, writes Liam Mackey

This week is the 20th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement.

So, sports fans are outraged that Jermaine Defoe is missing from the BBC’s Sports Personality of the Year award shortlist? (According to click king Mr Google Analytics). Wait til they see this evening what the chainsaw gang in Montrose have done to the array of Ireland’s Greatest Sporting Moments in the 2000s, writes Tony Leen.

Peter Schmeichel all but scoffs when asked how the current Ireland and Denmark squads compare to his day when the teams drew twice in the qualifying rounds for the 1994 World Cup.

John Fallon breaks down the strengths and weaknesses of Ireland’s potential opponents...

American sports executive Charlie Stillitano believes only a "crazy action" by Donald Trump could prevent the United States from winning the right to stage the 2026 World Cup.

Police were called to investigate an altercation involving Diego Maradona and a woman at a hotel in Madrid, authorities said.

One wouldn’t want to meet Antonio Conte in a dark alley on a dark night, writes John Leicester.

If it’s true that all games are won and lost long before they begin then Ireland were a beaten docket by the time Cuneyt Cakir blew the first whistle at the Nouveau Stade de Bordeaux on Saturday.

THE report published yesterday into the Loughinisland massacre, in which six Catholic men were murdered by UVF gunmen in a bar as they watched Ireland play Italy in the 1994 World Cup, vindicates the victims’ relatives determination to prove there was official collusion with the killers and that an earlier report was inaccurate.

When Roy Hodgson was asked recently to contrast the centre-halves England have brought to France (John Stones, Gary Cahill, Chris Smalling) with the choice Sven-Goran Eriksson had at World Cup in 2006 (Sol Campbell, Rio Ferdinand, Jamie Carragher and John Terry), he couldn’t quite bring himself to dispute the gulf in quality.

The Republic of Ireland travels to France this week with a squad of 23 players who will be looking to make history and take Ireland out of the group stage for the first time in the Euros.

We are the Boys in Green, the best you’ve ever seen

If the hairdryer has to be administered at half-time in the Aviva tonight, it’s tempting to assume it will come courtesy of Roy Keane.

Warmth of reception at Holiday Inn makes up for lack of heating in a hotel that used to be regularly hit by shells and peppered with bullets throughout the bloody three-year siege of Sarajevo, writes Liam Mackey.

You’re backing the bid for the Rugby World Cup? 

We've compiled a list of the best non-Irish born Irish internationals not in the current squad.

Dunga has been named successor to Luiz Felipe Scolari as Brazil coach.

Pele, the footballer, the man the world calls The King still lords it but has a mixed legacy in his own country

That thrilling, slightly jarring draw between the US and Portugal on Sunday night was the most watched soccer game of all time in America.

Impac winner Juan Gabriel Vasquez on how the slaying of soccer star Andres Escobar marked a tipping point, writes Alan O’Riordan

Colombian football seemed to die with Andrés Escobar and drug dealer Pablo Escobar, says Ewan MacKenna.

Landon Donovan needed a bit of head space at the end of 2012 and came back refreshed in March of the following year.

Roy Hodgson has expressed his pleasure that Wayne Rooney has settled his future before the World Cup and believes the Manchester United striker could be England’s captain for the Euro 2016 qualifying campaign.

Ray Houghton has confessed he was surprised at the 'unbelievable' enthusiasm of Roy Keane for the assistant management job.

The World Cup qualifying groups may be over but the Premier League provides a mini World Cup of its own this weekend as internationals from around the globe re-convene on foreign soil; and the ever-intensifying debate over whether that is good for football should have resonance in Dublin as well as London.

Keiren Westwood may have jeopardised his international prospects by withdrawing from the Ireland squad for the concluding World Cup qualifiers against Germany and Kazakhstan.

Changing of the guard.

The heat, eh?

Few people know the words of ‘Amhrán na bhFiann’, and fewer still know what they mean, so why, asks Ryle Dwyer, is playing ‘Ireland’s Call’ at rugby matches such a big deal?

On a visit to Brazil this week Peter Robinson and Martin McGuinness jointly opened a George Best exhibition in Sao Paolo.

The idea of Ireland hosting Euro 2020 was mooted by the FAI last year. Ireland has also been suggested as a host for the 2019 Rugby World Cup.

Hosted by ESPN, three former Ireland internationals gathered in a Dublin hotel yesterday, ostensibly to discuss Premier League and SPL matters but, given the week that had just been in it, it was inevitable that Giovanni Trapattoni’s reprieve would top the media agenda as we renewed old acquaintance with Packie Bonner, Jason McAteer and Phil Babb.

Italy 2 Republic of Ireland 0

Jack Charlton believes that guiding the Republic of Ireland into the knock-out stages of Euro 2012 would be an achievement to rank alongside Giovanni Trapattoni’s greatest in a distinguished career.

Yesterday, the football associations of Ireland, Scotland and Wales expressed an interest in hosting the 2020 European Championships.

Roy Hodgson has taken the first step towards becoming the next England manager after telling West Brom he wants to speak to the Football Association about replacing Fabio Capello.

Barring an unexpected hitch, Roy Hodgson will become the new England manager after it was confirmed last night that the Football Association had been granted permission to speak with the West Brom boss.

Former Brazil great Socrates, who captained Brazil at the 1982 World Cup, died today. He was 57.