Harry Kane does not expect the 2026 World Cup to be his final major tournament with England.

Kane scored his 69th senior goal for the Three Lions as they crushed the Republic of Ireland 5-0 on Sunday to seal automatic promotion back to the top tier of the Nations League.

However, interim coach Lee Carsley benched Kane for England's previous game, a 3-0 victory in Greece on Thursday, and the striker was roundly criticised for his performances at Euro 2024 despite earning a share of the Golden Boot with three goals as his team reached the final. 

Now 31 years old, Kane does not expect the World Cup in the United States, Mexico and Canada to be his final shot at international glory and is holding out hope of featuring on home soil at Euro 2028.

Asked if the 2026 tournament could represent his international swansong, Kane told PA: "I don't think so.

"I think there's a perception when you get to your 30s that you're coming to an end, but for me, I'm performing at the highest level I've ever performed and feel as good as I've ever felt, so it's about taking in the moment.

"I don't like to look too far ahead and in my career, I never have. The World Cup is going to be exciting.

"In America it will be an incredible occasion and ultimately it's about trying to win that, looking at where you are, where to improve and it will be no different in a couple of years."

Kane has scored 61 goals in all competitions since joining Bayern Munich last August, at least eight more than any other player from Europe's top five leagues (Erling Haaland has 53).

Kane scored 44 of those goals under former Bayern coach Thomas Tuchel, who will take charge of England on January 1.

Only Haaland under Pep Guardiola at Manchester City (53) has more under a single manager in that span across Europe's big five leagues.

Kane was speaking at the unveiling of a statue in his honour at the Peter May Sports Centre in east London, where he represented his first team as a five-year-old.

"It's pretty special to be honest," Kane told BBC Newsround. "I played on these pitches as a five-year-old with dreams of playing for England, and I've been lucky enough to achieve that.

"Hopefully the boys and girls will walk past and be inspired by the story of my journey, my life and hard work."

Nagelsmann will use Germany's final Nations League match against Hungary as the start of their 2026 World Cup preparation.

Germany had already qualified for the quarter-finals of the Nations League coming into this international break, but a 7-0 thrashing of Bosnia-Herzegovina on Saturday ensured they would top the pile in Group A3.

In fact, that victory was the biggest by a team in the Nations League, while their 3.4 goals-per-game average in the current campaign is also the best by a team in a season in the competition.

Though qualification for the World Cup has not yet started, Nagelsmann is keen to maintain their momentum in their bid to book a place at the tournament.

"There is no great motivation as far as the group is concerned. We won the group. We get the motivation from wanting to develop," he told a press conference on Monday.

"We do not have many matches until the World Cup but just a few. Little time to develop until the World Cup qualification and little time, if hopefully qualified, until the World Cup. So, there is limited time tolerance in terms of development."

Germany enter the last eight of the Nations League hoping to win their first silverware since their World Cup win in 2014.

They have exited the last two such tournaments in the group stage after disappointing campaigns, while they were knocked out of Euro 2024 at the quarter-finals stage on home soil.

However, they have impressed in the Nations League, going unbeaten across their first five games with four wins and a draw. Their 17 goals scored is a competition high, while only Spain (two) have conceded fewer than their three goals in League A.

"We don't have time to waste," Nagelsmann added. "That does not mean that everything has to work perfectly every time.

"Wins are always important for us. Nothing will collapse if we don't win [on Tuesday]. The result is not as important as the way we will play.

"We don't have the time we would like to develop, so we have to use it wisely."

Viktor Gyokeres says the rumours linking him with a January move to Manchester United are "nothing concrete".

The Sporting CP forward has been the subject of speculation following United's appointment of Ruben Amorim, though he has also been linked with the likes of Bayern Munich and Arsenal after his sensational form since moving to Portugal.

He has scored 34 goals in the Portuguese top-flight this calendar year, more than double the figure managed by the competition's next-most prolific player, Galeno, who has netted 16 times for Porto.

Gyokeres' haul has come from an expected goals (xG) figure of 28.18, while his shot conversion rate sits at 27.64% in 2024 (123 shots).

Amorim, who signed a contract at Old Trafford until June 2027, signed Gyokeres from Coventry City in July 2023, though he has suggested he will not buy any Sporting players in the upcoming transfer window.

Asked about a potential move to the Premier League, Gyokeres told Fotbollskanalen: "It's fun, but not something I attach any importance to because it's talk.

"These are rumours, nothing concrete. Of course, I want to finish the season at Sporting. I enjoy my time there. I don't feel stressed about making a change in the future. We'll see when the time comes.

"He [Amorim] probably already has strikers there. It's very sad that he left [Sporting], but of course, we understand the decision. He meant a lot to me, as he gave me an opportunity and helped me evolve a lot.

"Now we are looking forward to working with the new coach [Joao Pereira]."

The 26-year-old, who scored a league-high 29 goals last campaign, has netted 23 goals in 18 appearances in all competitions this term, with 16 of those coming in the Primeira Liga. 

Patrick Mahomes said the Kansas City Chiefs will use their first loss since Christmas Day 2023 as fuel after the Buffalo Bills halted their unbeaten start to the season. 

Josh Allen scrambled for a stunning 26-yard touchdown with just over two minutes to play as the Bills improved to 9-2 with a 30-21 win over the reigning Super Bowl champions.

The result ended the Chiefs' 15-game winning streak, a run that began after they lost to the Los Vegas Raiders on Christmas Day last year and included their dramatic triumph over the San Francisco 49ers at Super Bowl LVIII.

The Chiefs had started this season 9-0 to take control of the race for the AFC's top seed, but they could have few complaints about Sunday's result.

The Bills outgained the Chiefs by 366 yards to 259, also recording 24 first downs to Kansas City's 19 and enjoying almost nine more minutes in possession.

Mahomes, however, was relaxed about the end of his team's winning streak, saying: "The undefeated thing was cool, but that's not our ultimate goal.

"It's a good football team, so there's nothing to hang your head about. We feel like we can play better, so we will get back to work and try to use this as a spark so that we can be a better football team in the end."

The Chiefs rank just 16th in the NFL for yards per game (337.9) and 11th for points per game (24) in 2024, with many of their victories – including against the Denver Broncos in Week 10 and the Baltimore Ravens in Week 1 – coming via last-gasp defensive or special teams plays.

Mahomes actually feels the team could benefit from a reality check, adding: "I'm hoping that [losing] is a benefit.

"I'm not going to say I or we are relaxed, but at the same time I feel like we were just coming away with these wins at the end of the games. 

"I think it's going to spark us to have more urgency, especially at the start of football games, especially with the offense, and that comes from me and turning the ball over on the first drive. It's something you can't do in big games like this."

No quarterback has thrown more interceptions than Mahomes' 11 (level with Geno Smith and Jordan Love) this season, while a passer rating of 90.3 ranks him a lowly 20th among all players at the position.

Virgil van Dijk and Frenkie de Jong have left the Netherlands’ squad ahead of their final Nations League game on "medical grounds".

Both players featured in the Oranje's 4-0 victory over Hungary on Saturday, a match which confirmed their place in the quarter-finals.

Van Dijk, who has been an ever-present for Liverpool in the Premier League this season, played the full 90 minutes in Amsterdam but will return to his club for further assessment.

De Jong, meanwhile, returned to the Netherlands line-up for the first time since September 2023 in that victory, having missed the previous 18 international matches due to injuries.

The Barcelona man was taken off after 68 minutes, and had confirmed after the game that he would not be featuring on Tuesday, but has now opted to return to Spain instead of staying with the national squad.

"For both Frenkie and Virgil, it is better for them to leave the training camp at this moment. That decision was taken on medical grounds, with of course, the interest of the players coming first," Koeman is quoted as saying on the Netherlands' X account.

The Netherlands will finish second in Group A3, with their result against already relegated Bosnia-Herzegovina unable to affect the standings.

As far as seasons go, you won't find many better than Jannik Sinner's 2024 campaign.

The 23-year-old had long been assured of his place at the top of the ATP rankings heading into 2025, but to further cement his dominance of the men's circuit, Sinner dominated the ATP Finals in Turin last week.

Sinner's 6-4 6-4 defeat of Taylor Fritz ensured he became the first ATP Finals champion since Ivan Lendl in 1986 to win the tournament without dropping a single set.

He became the seventh player to win the event on home soil, and the first Italian champion, as he made it eight titles for the year, including the Australian Open and US Open.

Here, we recap Sinner's brilliant year using Opta's treasure trove of data.

Breakout major success

It almost seems strange to think Sinner began 2024 without a grand slam title to his name. That soon changed at the Australian Open, though, as he defeated Daniil Medvedev in a classic, five-set final.

Sinner did things the hard way at Melbourne Park, also overcoming Andrey Rublev in the quarter-finals and Novak Djokovic in the last four. 

At the age of 22 years and 165 days, he became the youngest player to ever achieve successive wins over ATP top-five opponents in the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final of a grand slam, surpassing Michael Stich, who did so at the age of 22 years and 262 days at Wimbledon 1991.

That triumph also made him only the third Italian man to win a grand slam, after French Open champions Nicola Pietrangeli (1959 and 1960) and Adriano Panatta (1976).

By beating Djokovic, Sinner became the first Italian to defeat the ATP's top-ranked player at a major, with Italians previously going 0-23 in such matches since the ATP Rankings were first published in 1973.

Sinner would also record a final victory over Djokovic at the Shanghai Masters later in the year, becoming the first player on record to not face a single break point in back-to-back tour-level meetings with the Serbian.

Slam consistency

Of course, Sinner later followed up his Australian Open triumph by clinching the US Open crown, downing home favourite Fritz in the Flushing Meadows final.

Those major wins were two of seven triumphs for Sinner at hard-court events this year, making him just the fifth player to win seven or more finals on the surface in a year, after Andre Agassi (1995), Pete Sampras (1996), Roger Federer (2004-06) and Djokovic (2015).

But perhaps his remarkable consistency across all four grand slams is what stands out most.

Sinner reached at least the quarter-finals at each of 2024's majors, losing to Carlos Alcaraz in the French Open semi-finals and Medvedev in the last eight at Wimbledon.

At 23 years and 17 days, he became the third-youngest man in the Open Era to reach the quarter-finals at all four slams in a single season, after Sampras in 1993 (22 years and 18 days) and Rafael Nadal in 2008 (22 years and 83 days).

Sinner won 23 matches overall at grand slams this year, with no other player on the ATP Tour bringing up 20 (Alcaraz managed 19).

Top of the world

Following his defeat to Djokovic in the showpiece match at the 2023 ATP Finals, Sinner sat fourth in the ATP Rankings 12 months ago.

He had already clinched top spot for 2024 as early as October 15, when he beat Djokovic in straight sets in the Shanghai Open final. 

Since changes were made to the distribution of ranking points in 2009, only two players have ever sewn up top spot earlier – Djokovic in 2015 (September 14) and Nadal in 2010 (September 20).

No Italian had previously topped the ATP Rankings, and few could deny Sinner was a deserving recipient of the accolade. His 70 match wins were the most of any player on the ATP Tour in 2024, while his 92.1% win rate is the best by any player since 2015, when Djokovic won 93.2% of his contests. 

Sinner did not let the pressure of being number one affect him, either, going 37-3 since first taking top spot. His 92.5% win rate is the best by any male world number one by some distance, dwarfing Bjorn Borg's 80.4%.

With Djokovic turning 38 next year, most would agree Sinner's breakout season has been good for men's tennis, teeing up what could be a long period of dominance by the Italian and his rival Alcaraz.

His star should continue to rise in 2025.

Rafael Nadal will not let his emotions get the better of him as he focuses on helping Spain win the Davis Cup Finals.

The tournament takes place in Malaga this week, and will mark the end of Nadal's glittering career.

Nadal, a 22-time grand slam champion, confirmed his retirement in October.

But the 38-year-old made it clear he is not treating the Davis Cup as a farewell tour.

"If I am on court, hopefully not, no, because at the end I am not here for retiring," he said when asked if he would be emotional during the competition.

"I'm here to try to help the team.

"Then it's of course going to be my last week on the professional tour, but at the end, we are here in a teams competition.

"The most important thing here is to try to help the team and to stay all focused on what we have to do, which is to play tennis and do it very well.

"Because the rivals are going to be difficult, and the conditions are difficult, too. So then the emotions are going to be for the end.

"To play my last event in Spain, it's something that I am very happy with. Because I will never have the chance to thank enough everybody here in Spain, the support that I receive and the love that I felt."

Spain take on the Netherlands in the opening matches of the Finals on Tuesday, with Germany or Canada their potential semi-final opponents.

Though with Nadal having not played a competitive match since he lost to Novak Djokovic at the Olympics in August, Spain captain David Ferrer is unsure if he will be ready to feature against the Dutch.

"I have not decided the players that are going to play," Ferrer said.

Australia signed off on their T20I series against Pakistan in style after racing to a seven-wicket win with almost nine overs in hand in Monday's third match.

The hosts had already sealed a series success thanks to Spencer Johnson's five-for in Saturday's second match, and any hopes Pakistan had of taking a consolation win were dashed by a dismal performance with the bat in Hobart.

Pakistan were bundled out for just 117 as Aaron Hardie finished with figures of 3-21 and Johnson (2-24) and Adam Zampa (2-11) also dismissed two apiece for Australia.

Babar Azam's knock had put Pakistan in a decent position at 61-1 through six overs, but when Haseebullah Khan handed Matthew Short a simple catch off Zampa's spin ball, the wickets began to tumble with ease.

Pakistan's next five wickets fell for just 31 further runs, with seven of their batters finishing in single figures and four managing one run or fewer, with Babar (41) the only batter to score above 30.

Australia lost Short and Jake Fraser-McGurk early but Marcus Stoinis took any jeopardy out of the chase by scoring an unbeaten 61 runs off 27 balls, with his stand including five fours and five maximums.

Stoinis was unwilling to hang around, smashing Haris Rauf for 22 runs in an over to take Australia to the brink.

He then hit Shaheen Shah Afridi for 19 in the penultimate over as the hosts got the job done with 52 balls remaining.

Data Debrief: Quick and easy for Stoinis

Australia could have taken their time after being set such a paltry target, but Stoinis was determined to put on a show for those present at the Bellerive Oval. 

Only twice has he bettered his knock of 61 in T20Is – versus New Zealand in 2021 (78) and against Oman at the World Cup earlier this year (67*). His strike rate of 225.92, while ruthless, falls some way short of his T20I best of 327.77 versus Sri Lanka in 2022 (59 off 18).

Pakistan's Babar, meanwhile, is now second on the all-time list of T20I run scorers with 4,192 to his name, having overtaken Virat Kohli. Only Rohit Sharma (4,231) is ahead of him.

James Harden may consider himself one of the most confident players in the NBA, but he does not expect to overhaul Stephen Curry's all-time 3-pointer record after going second in the charts.

Curry made a pair of 3-pointers as the Los Angeles Clippers beat the Utah Jazz 116-105 on Sunday, finishing with 20 points, 11 assists and six rebounds.

His first 3-pointer of the evening, made with around six minutes to go in the first quarter, was the 2,794th of his NBA career, the second-most in league history.

Having surpassed Ray Allen's total of 2,973, Harden only trails Curry – who has hit 3,782 3-pointers ahead of his Golden State Warriors facing the Clippers on Monday.

Asked about his feat after Sunday's game, Harden said: "Unbelievable accomplishment. It's just a testament to the amount of work that I've been putting in. 

"As I get older and just chip away at an unbelievable career, I start to accomplish things like that. So I don't ever want to take it for granted.

"I just want to give motivation to the youth and every other person that's chasing a dream to play professional basketball or whatever it is, so it's an honour."

But when asked if Curry's mark was now within his sights, Harden – who is just a year younger than the all-time record holder – said nobody will ever take that honour, adding: "I'm one of the most confident guys that we have in this league, but no, I probably won't catch Steph.

"I don't think anybody will honestly. He can shoot the s*** out of the ball. Granted a lot of these guys are on that list for being catch-and-shoot players, so they came off pindowns, they were spot shots or whatnot. 

"Now, where the game has evolved, guys like Steph are coming off pindowns, he's creating off isos, he's coming off pick-and-rolls. 

"There's so many different variables to be able to shoot the 3, make shots and do it at an efficient high level.

"Somebody has to have an unbelievable career, shoot the ball well and make a lot of 3s. If it happens, it's going to be when we're not here anymore. So that'll be in there for a minute."

The Cleveland Cavaliers are relishing the chance to test themselves against the Boston Celtics.

Cleveland extended their perfect record as they became just the fourth team in NBA history to go 15-0 to start a season by beating the Charlotte Hornets 128-114 on Sunday.

The Cavs are tied for the second-best start to a season, trailing only the 2015-16 Golden State Warriors, who went 24-0.

Cleveland, inspired by LeBron James, beat the Warriors in the NBA Finals that year. All three of the previous teams to go 15-0 to start a season have reached a championship series (2015-16 Warriors, 1993-94 Houston Rockets and 1948-49 Washington Capitols).

Next up for the Cavs are the reigning NBA champions, and first-year coach Kenny Atkinson, who rested talisman Donovan Mitchell against the Hornets, cannot wait for the task of facing the Celtics, who beat Cleveland in the Eastern Conference semifinals last season.

"Boston Garden," Atkinson said after becoming the first coach to win his first 15 games in charge of a team. "What's better than that?

"It's great for the NBA, right? Everybody is going to be watching, and I know our guys are anxious. I know they remember last year. We're going well. They're going well. It's great for the league. Great for our franchise. We're excited.

"It's going to be a great test for us. They obviously play a different style, five-out with five shooters, so it's going to be a really good test for us.

"We're at that point right now, 15-0. Let's test ourselves against the best and see where we stand and see where we're going to make adjustments or not make adjustments.

"It actually comes at the perfect time."

Jarrett Allen had 21 points and 15 rebounds against Charlotte, and was one of four Cleveland players to finish with over 20 points, along with Darius Garland (25), Ty Jerome (24) and Evan Mobley (23).

"It's a rematch," said Allen of facing the Celtics, though he missed last season's playoff series due to a rib injury.

"I know they didn't have some players. And we didn't have me, so I want to try and beat them and test where we are with them.

"Everyone is showing tons of energy, all over the city. It's incredible how Cleveland has adopted us. They come to every game, yelling for everything. The city of Cleveland has our backs."

The Celtics, who will visit the White House later this week to celebrate last season's success, have gone 11-3 to start the campaign and are second in the Eastern Conference behind the Cavs.

Lee Carsley is proud of the way England's players adapted to a more progressive style during his spell as interim coach, ahead of Thomas Tuchel taking the reins.

England trounced the Republic of Ireland 5-0 on Sunday in their final game before Tuchel takes charge in January, recording their fifth win in six matches under Carsley.

Carsley has been credited with instilling a high-pressing, possession-based style during a successful stint as England Under-21 boss, having overseen the team's European Championship triumph last year.

In their six Nations League matches under Carsley, England's senior side averaged a 69.3% possession share and 624.8 successful passes per match, as well as 16 shots and 1.95 expected goals (xG).

At Euro 2024, their final tournament under Gareth Southgate, the Three Lions averaged 55.4% possession, 536 passes, 10.8 shots and 0.88 xG per match as they finished as runners-up to Spain.

Speaking after his final game at the helm, Carsley hailed England's players for adapting to a new approach seamlessly. 

"I definitely felt like I have been out of my comfort zone but not beyond my capabilities," Carsley said. "I never felt at any point I was drowning or I was struggling.

"I've taken the confidence that myself and the rest of the staff will be okay. I think we have got stronger as the windows have gone on.

"You are always learning a lot about yourself when you're in a position you are not used to. I think the most pleasing thing is the younger players coming through.

"We have tried change things. We have tried to adapt and move on the style, the way that we play, the control, the amount of possession we have, the amount of chances we create.

"There has been no resistance to that. If anything, they have taken that on. I think it helps that they have seen the 21s and the way that the 21s have tried to control and score goals."

England's victory was their biggest by a manager in their final match in charge since November 1993, when San Marino were beaten 7-1 in Graham Taylor's last game.

Despite achieving his goal of winning automatic promotion back to League A of the Nations League, Carsley admitted to having some regrets over his only defeat at the helm – a 2-1 loss to Greece at Wembley last month.

"Even though we won five of the six, I straight away go back to that game we should have won at Wembley," Carsley added.

"It's definitely a lonely place in that dugout when you're not winning at Wembley. We’ll keep improving and keeping pushing the players and ourselves."