Niclas Fullkrug is ready to embrace his role as Germany's second-choice striker behind Kai Havertz, and use it as motivation at Euro 2024.

Julian Nagelsmann confirmed Havertz will lead the line at the tournament for the hosts, who begin their campaign against Scotland in Group A on Friday.

Despite playing five fewer games (46), Fullkurg scored more goals (16 to 14), created more assists (11 to seven), recorded a higher xG (19.18 to 14.79) and a higher shot conversion rate (16.67 per cent to 15.22 per cent) than the Arsenal forward in 2023-24.

But the 31-year-old, who discussed the situation with Nagelsmann, fully respects his coach's decision, and welcomes the opportunity to fight for his place.

"The coach has the power and takes the decisions and that's the right way," said Fullkrug, who has scored 11 goals in 16 seniors caps. 

"Since we were young footballers, we were taught about competition. We are all ambitious to play as much as possible and carry responsibility.

"Kai has my full support and I wish him all the goals possible, because that will take us forward in this unique chance we have.

"We are going into the tournament with a good feeling. You have to identify with your role and still accept it, and see it as motivation to work in order to go beyond just this role and get more playing time.

"Basically, it is good to have two different types of strikers. Kai is a completely different striker, defined by a different game. We are both very confident. I don't think many teams will be happy to play against us."

Carlo Ancelotti insisted Real Madrid will reject FIFA's invitation to participate in the Club World Cup in 2025, citing a lack of financial incentive for the 15-time European champions.

The revamped competition has been expanded to allow 32 teams to compete in the tournament, which is set to take place in the United States at the end of next season.

It will be made up of teams from six federations, with Chelsea, Manchester City, Bayern Munich, Juventus and Madrid already qualified due to past success on the European and global stage.

FIFA have reportedly been discussing rights and prize money with clubs, but with concerns over player welfare due to a bulging fixture schedule, Ancelotti, who has won the competition three times with Milan and Los Blancos, believes it is not worthwhile for the LaLiga champions.

"FIFA can forget it, footballers and clubs will not participate in that tournament," Ancelotti told Italian daily Il Giornale in an interview published on Monday.

"A single Real Madrid match is worth €20million and FIFA wants to give us that amount for the whole cup. Negative. Like us, other clubs will refuse the invitation."

The 65-year-old led Madrid to their 15th European crown following a 1-0 victory over Borussia Dortmund at Wembley.

Ancelotti returned to the Bernabeu in 2021 after leaving Everton, and was keen to highlight the pressures of being a coach in the modern game, revealing how he managed to stay passionate about his job.

"I see nothing particularly new, this has always been our job but the case of Jurgen Klopp is significant. The pressure continues, the burden of responsibility becomes too heavy, obsession takes over," he said.

"I keep my passion, that's how I live the match, the game, my job; I've always carried this balance with me. I've overcome moments that weren't always positive; after my experience with Everton I was off the radar, they thought I was finished, I was old."

Three Valencia supporters have been sentenced to eight months in prison for hate crimes against Vinicius Junior.

The trio, who were also banned from entering football stadiums for two years, were found guilty of hurling racial slurs towards Vinicius when Valencia welcomed Real Madrid to the Mestalla in May 2023.

The conviction - the first to be issued in Spain for racial insults inside football stadia - was welcomed by LaLiga president Javier Tebas.

"This ruling is great news for the fight against racism in Spain," he said.

"It repairs the damage suffered by Vinicius Junior and sends a clear message to those people who go to a football stadium to insult that LaLiga will identify them, report them and there will be criminal consequences for them."

LaLiga reported 16 incidents of racial abuse towards Vinicius in the last two seasons.

The Brazil forward broke down in tears during a press conference in March, when he urged Spanish authorities to take action after admitting he had lost a lot of enjoyment and motivation due to the recurring abuse.

Away teams enjoyed the run of play during Sunday's round of matches in the CONCACAF World Cup qualifiers.

El Salvador secured a 3-1 victory over Saint Vincent and the Grenadines in Group F at the Dr. Ir. Franklin Essed Stadium in Paramaribo, Suriname.

Jairo Henriquez opened the scoring with a stunning strike from outside the box in the 10th minute. Oalex Anderson equalized for Saint Vincent and the Grenadines in the 43rd minute with a well-placed header from a corner.

However, Rafael Tejada restored El Salvador's lead in the 60th minute after a smooth build-up play involving Henriquez and Francis Castillo. Nelson Bonilla sealed the win in the 83rd minute, connecting on a long cross from Nelson Blanco. El Salvador now sits on four points, trailing group leaders Suriname by two points, while Saint Vincent and the Grenadines remain winless.

In Grenada, Costa Rica continued their dominant start in Group B with a 3-0 victory over the home team at the Kirani James Athletics Stadium in St. George's, Grenada.

Manfred Ugalde scored the opening goal in the ninth minute, capitalizing on a through ball from Brandon Aguilera. Alvaro Zamora doubled the lead in the 34th minute with a composed left-footed finish.

Gerald Taylor added the third in the 70th minute, finishing a short pass from Ugalde. Costa Rica's goalkeeper Patrick Sequeira secured his second clean sheet of the campaign. Costa Rica leads the group with six points, while Grenada has only one point from two matches.

Meanwhile, in Bridgetown Haiti triumphed 3-1 over Barbados in Group C at Wildey Turf.

Louicius Deedson opened the scoring in the 12th minute with a precise shot inside the right post. Markhus Lacroix extended the lead with a powerful strike into the top netting in the first-half stoppage time.

Barbados' Niall Reid-Stephen pulled one back in the 73rd minute, but Bryan Labissiere's 84th-minute goal on a counter-attack ensured Haiti's victory. Haiti now has six points, matching the pace with first-place Curaçao, while Barbados remains without a point after two defeats.

At the National Sports in Hamilton, Honduras delivered an emphatic 6-1 win over Bermuda in Group A. Kervin Arriaga started the scoring in the 15th minute, but Bermuda's Zeiko Lewis equalized from the penalty spot in first-half stoppage time.

David Ruiz put Honduras back in the lead in the 49th minute, followed by goals from Edwin Rodriguez (53rd minute), Luis Vega (56th minute), Andy Najar (62nd minute), and Bryan Rochez (90+1 minute). Luis Palma played a crucial role with three assists. Honduras leads the group with six points, while Bermuda has one point from two matches.

Panama secured a 3-1 victory over Montserrat in Group D at the National Football Stadium in Managua, Nicaragua. Jovani Welch gave Panama the lead with a long-distance strike in the 40th minute. Montserrat's Kaleem Strawbridge-Simon equalized with a similar effort in the 48th minute. However, Panama regained control with a header from Jose Fajardo in the 61st minute, assisted by Jose Luis Rodriguez, who then scored Panama's third with a header in the 70th minute. Panama now has six points, keeping pace with group leaders Nicaragua, while Montserrat remains winless.

Angel Di Maria's first-half finish secured an easy 1-0 win for Argentina in a Copa America warm-up match against Ecuador.

Di Maria scored five minutes before the break in Chicago on Sunday, capping off a fine team move, with Lionel Messi sitting out as Lionel Scaloni aims to manage his minutes before the tournament.

Argentina, the reigning Copa America champions, were rarely threatened in defence, though without Messi, struggled to add to their lead.

La Albiceleste face Guatemala in a final warm-up match ahead of their title defence.

"It was a deserved win. We have to keep working as we always do and stay as united," Di Maria said.

"Ecuador are an opponent we could meet in the Copa. We know it's going to be a very difficult tournament. Today was a good game to show what we can do."

Data Debrief: Easy ride

It may have only finished 1-0, but Argentina were largely in control. They finished with 11 shots to Ecuador's five, but did not face a single shot on target.

Argentina ended the match with 1.02 xG to Ecuador's 0.11. 

Ecuador are fancied to impress at the Copa, but they will have to show more potency in attack than they did on Sunday.

Jamaica's assistant coach, John Wall, voiced strong criticism following the Reggae Boyz's 3-2 win over Dominica in their CONCACAF World Cup qualifier on Sunday. Despite securing three points, Wall expressed disappointment with Jamaica's performance and the substandard condition of the pitch at Windsor Park.

"The result was better than the performance," Wall stated bluntly. "We should have killed this game a lot earlier based on the chances that we had. The conversion rate was low. The best of it was the result—we got away with three points."

The state of the pitch was another sore point for Wall, who didn't mince words about its impact on the game. "It was more based on the pitch," he said regarding the slow tempo of Jamaica’s play. "There was a lot more to ask for. It was a 120m in depth and 72/75m wide; that’s a cricket pitch. For me, it’s not up to standard."

Reflecting on the match, Wall acknowledged Dominica's commendable performance and their effective counter-attacks. "Overall, Dominica performed well, and counter-attacked with the two, three players that they had up front. But overall we should have contained the game much better and just finished it off with the chances that we had," he added.

Jamaica entered the match on a high note following their 1-0 victory against the Dominican Republic in Kingston on June 6. However, despite creating numerous scoring opportunities, the Reggae Boyz struggled to find the net until the 31st minute when Shamar Nicholson broke the deadlock.

Kaheim Dixon doubled Jamaica’s lead just before halftime, scoring from close range to send the team into the break with a 2-0 advantage. The second half mirrored the first, with Jamaica continuing to squander opportunities. Dixon missed a glaring chance by hitting the upright from inside the box, while Nicholson also failed to convert several chances, often thwarted by goalkeeper Glenson Prince.

With 10 minutes remaining, Nicholson finally added a third goal from the penalty spot after a Dominica defender handled the ball inside the box. This goal proved crucial as Dominica mounted a late comeback.

Javid George capitalized on a counter-attack, beating an advancing Jahmali Waite and scoring into an empty net. Moments later, Troy Jules fired in a stunning free kick from just outside the 18-yard box, making it 3-2.

Nicholson had a chance to secure the win but lobbed the ball over the advancing Prince and the crossbar, leaving Jamaica to hold on for a nervy finish.

France failed to round off their Euro 2024 preparations with a victory as they were held to a goalless draw by Jesse Marsch's impressive Canada side in Bordeaux.

With captain Kylian Mbappe starting on the bench after picking up a knock against Luxembourg on Wednesday, Didier Deschamps' team were unable to find a way through and were arguably fortunate to avoid an upset.

Antoine Griezmann saw a low drive tipped wide by Maxime Crepeau in the first half, but Canada went closer shortly after the restart as Liam Millar curled a shot against Mike Maignan's crossbar.

Olivier Giroud – playing his final home international before he calls time on his France career after the Euros – miscued on the volley before substitute Randal Kolo Muani somehow headed wide when totally unmarked late on.

Having entered the fray as a 74th-minute substitute, Mbappe tried to provide some inspiration with a mazy run in stoppage time, but his powerful drive was pushed away by Crepeau as Canada stepped up their Copa America preparations with a creditable result.

Data Debrief: No way through for Les Bleus

France will not be panicking just yet, with Mbappe's absence from their starting lineup an obvious factor as they struggled to break Canada down, but they will certainly need more in the final third when they face Austria in eight days' time.

They actually managed fewer final-third entries (40 to 50) than Canada, only hitting the target with four of their 13 attempts.

Ousmane Dembele attempted to provide some much-needed drive, attempting more dribbles in the first half alone (11, finished with 13) than in any other game for France. However, end product was lacking for both the winger and his team-mates. 

Italy rounded off their Euro 2024 preparations with a 1-0 victory over Bosnia-Herzegovina in Empoli, with Davide Frattesi's wonderful volley proving the difference.

Frattesi met Federico Chiesa's left-wing cross with a brilliant side-footed finish while off the ground 38 minutes in, giving Kenan Piric no chance as the ball sailed into the top-left corner.

Luciano Spalletti's team had earlier been indebted to Gianluigi Donnarumma as he denied Haris Hajradinovic, and the Paris Saint-Germain shot-stopper made another excellent one-on-one save to keep Anel Ahmedhodzic out in the closing stages.

Spalletti will have been relieved to see a strong Italy team avoid injuries after losing defenders Francesco Acerbi and Giorgio Scalvini in recent weeks, ahead of their Euro 2024 opener against Albania next Saturday.

Data Debrief: Frattesi makes his mark

There are plenty of new faces in Italy's squad for the Euros, with midfielders Matteo Verratti and Manuel Locatelli both left out after helping the Azzurri triumph at Euro 2020. Frattesi has assumed a key role in their absence.

Since making his international debut in June 2022, Frattesi has scored five goals in 15 games for Italy, more than any other player. 

Kylian Mbappe's move to Real Madrid is "a nail in football's coffin" and symptomatic of the transfer market approaching breaking point, believes Bayern Munich's sporting director Max Eberl.

Mbappe finally sealed his long-awaited move to Madrid earlier this week, leaving Paris Saint-Germain as a free agent after seven years at the Parc des Princes.

The forward has signed a five-year contract with the European champions and will reportedly earn €15million (£12.7m) per year and receive a signing-on bonus of €150m (£127.7m).

Eberl believes that level of financial outlay cannot be sustained, predicting the tendency for top players to run their contracts down will kill the market.

"You can always become more of a money-grubbing person, but everyone who is a money-grubbing person will gradually become a nail in football's coffin," he told Suddeutsche Zeitung.

"If all the money goes out [of the market] at some point, there will be nothing left for us to do business with. 

"We're talking about hundreds of millions. That's too much and at some point you get the feeling that it will burst. 

"At some point it will be oversaturated and Saudi Arabia will come along. That doesn't feel very good. The money is leaving the market. No club benefits from it. 

"Players, families, agents, everyone benefits, but not the clubs. In the past, at least clubs profited. The money stayed in the cycle and that will become less and less now."

Mbappe scored a club-record 256 goals for PSG, including 42 in the Champions League.

Adding 108 assists for the perennial Ligue 1 victors, Mbappe's 364 goal involvements rank as the most for PSG this century – ahead of Edinson Cavani (236) and Zlatan Ibrahimovic (210).

He also scored 44 times in 48 games for PSG in 2023-24, a tally only matched by Bayern star Harry Kane among players from Europe's top five leagues.

Mbappe is currently preparing to lead tournament favourites France at Euro 2024, having scored 12 goals across Les Bleus' last three major tournaments – the 2018 World Cup, Euro 2020 and the 2022 World Cup, with all of those strikes coming at the World Cups. Kane is also the only player to match that figure.

Liverpool have sent their well-wishes to club legend Alan Hansen, who is seriously ill in hospital.

Hansen, who was a key figure in Liverpool's dominant team of the 1980s, won eight league titles, three European Cups, two FA Cups and three EFL Cups during his 14-year stint with the Reds.

He played 620 matches, and captained Liverpool for four seasons.

No further information was given regarding Hansen's status, though Liverpool said they were in contact with the 68-year-old's family.

"We will provide any further updates as we receive them in due course, and we request that the Hansen family's privacy is respected at this time," the statement concluded.

Hansen was a long-time pundit on BBC Sport's Match of the Day programme.

Gregg Berhalter shrugged off the suggestion the United States can take lessons from their 5-1 loss to Colombia, instead insisting the defeat must act as a "wake-up call".

The USA were comprehensively dispatched by in-form Colombia at FedEx Field on Saturday, in a pre-Copa America friendly.

The United States is hosting the 2024 Copa America, though Berhalter's team looked no match for one of South America's best sides as Jhon Arias, Rafael Santos Borre, Richard Rios, Jorge Carrascal and Luis Sinisterra got on the scoresheet in a rout, with those final three goals coming in the last 13 minutes, after Timothy Weah had pulled one back for the home side.

Colombia became the fourth team to score five goals against the USA on American soil and the first since Mexico in 2009, while they were also the first team to score twice in the first 20 minutes against the Stars and Stripes on American soil since Saudi Arabia in October 1995 (11 minutes).

The USA will face Uruguay, Panama and Bolivia in Group C at the Copa America, and Berhalter took few positives from the loss.

"We're not framing it as a lesson learned. We're actually framing it as a wake-up call. Really poor performance against a top team," Berhalter said.

"From the 75th minute on, it was I think a lack of respect for our opponent, the game of soccer and what we were doing.

"There's some glaring things that you have to address if you're going to compete at this level. Guys just didn't do their job. It's about your role, your responsibility and we didn't do that.

"We take responsibility as a coaching staff, for sure. We can't put this all on the players.

"This game will help us understand that when we don't do the things we're supposed to do, we'll get hurt really quickly."

Things do not get any easier for the USA, with a friendly against Brazil up next before the tournament starts.

"Everyone needs to look in the mirror after that game and figure it out because, obviously, we weren't to the level that's required," goalkeeper Matt Turner told TNT Sports.

"I'm going to apologise to the fans. That's not what we're about. And, yeah, we need to bounce back in a big way."

Endrick scored a 96th-minute winner as Brazil beat Mexico 3-2 in a thrilling pre-Copa America friendly.

Brazil coach Dorival Junior named an experimental line-up for Saturday's clash in Texas, but it was one of his substitutes who struck the crucial blow for the Selecao.

Endrick, who will link up with his new club Real Madrid after the Copa America, was the hero as he headed in brilliantly from a cross from Los Blancos star Vinicius Junior.

It capped off a topsy-turvy game in which Brazil had surrendered a 2-0 lead.

Andreas Pereira put them ahead after five minutes, before Gabriel Martinelli doubled their lead with a simple finish in the 54th minute.

Yet Mexico, who were coming into the game on the back of a 4-0 thrashing at the hands of Uruguay, looked set to snatch a draw when Julian Quinones and Guillermo Martinez dragged them level, with that second goal coming in the 92nd minute.

But parity lasted only four minutes, with Vinicius and Endrick teaming up excellently for Brazil's winner, as the duo will hope to do for Madrid next season.

Next up for Brazil is a friendly against the United States, before they kick off their Copa America campaign against Costa Rica.

Data Debrief: A star is born

Endrick became the youngest goalscorer in an international match at Wembley when he netted against England in March.

And in 2024, the 17-year-old now has three goals in the space of 93 minutes for the Selecao. Indeed, Brazil's number nine has converted 50 per cent of his six shots in that time.

Spain were at their ruthless best as they swept aside Northern Ireland to conclude their Euro 2024 preparations with an emphatic 5-1 triumph. 

Luis de la Fuente's side had put five goals past Andorra in their last outing, and repeated the trick in another fine performance on Saturday.

That is despite finding themselves a goal behind after just 66 seconds in Mallorca when Dan Ballard headed in from Caolan Boyd-Munce's teasing delivery.

But the visitors' joy was short-lived as two goals in six minutes courtesy of Pedri and Alvaro Morata saw normal service resume for the three-time European Champions. 

The Barcelona midfielder netted his second of the evening after being picked out inside the area by Nico Williams to finish beyond Bailey Peacock-Farrell. 

La Roja had their fourth shortly before the break as another La Masia graduate took centre stage – Lamine Yamal chipping the ball to Fabian Ruiz, who scored his second international goal. 

Having scored a hat-trick in Spain's win over Andorra, Mikel Oyarzabal was on target again to cap off the rout, with teenager Yamal winning possession back in the final third before teeing up the Real Sociedad forward.

Data Debrief: Rampant Spain show no mercy

Spain have now lost just one of their last 27 home international fixtures (W22 D4), and are unbeaten in their last seven such games (W5 D1), netting 27 goals in that time.

Northern Ireland's barren run against the Spaniards continues, and they are now winless in all 10 of their previous trips to Spain in all competitions, losing on each of their last six visits by an aggregate score of 3-19.

It was a brilliant performance from Yamal, who has been directly involved in five goals in just seven senior appearances (four starts) for Spain (two goals, three assists). His club-mate Pedri, meanwhile, is the youngest player to score more than once in a match for Spain since Ferran Torres' hat-trick vs Germany in November 2020.

Erling Haaland got on the scoresheet but Norway lost 3-1 to Denmark as the latter concluded their Euro 2024 preparations in style.

Pierre-Emile Hojberg opened the scoring for the hosts in Brondby on Saturday, drilling home with a powerful right-footed effort in the 12th minute.

Defender Jannik Vestergaard added a second nine minutes later as he headed home Andreas Skov Olsen's teasing corner kick. 

Manchester City star Haaland thought he had halved the deficit in the 65th minute only to see his effort ruled out after a VAR review, but he did score seven minutes later, finishing from Martin Odegaard's intricate pick out. 

Yet the Danes would give their supporters the perfect send-off as they head to Germany, with Youseff Poulsen restoring their two-goal advantage in stoppage time.

Elsewhere, Denmark's Group C opponents Serbia also managed an impressive victory ahead of their meeting on June 25, securing a comfortable 3-0 win over Sweden in Stockholm. 

Sergej Milinkovic-Savic gave the Eagles an early advantage at the Friends Arena, with captain Aleksandr Mitrovic scoring his 58th international goal on the hour-mark. Dusan Tadic rounded off the scoring 10 minutes later with a fine finish beyond Robin Olsen. 

Serbia will face England, who lost to Iceland on Friday, in their opening match at Euro 2024.

Hungary also won by the same scoreline in Debrecen as a rampant 11-minute flurry was enough to secure a comfortable victory. 

Barnabas Varga teed up Roland Sallai for the opening goal of the game, and then scored twice in quick succession, first finishing from close range before Sallai turned provider for his team-mate to conclude the contest. 

Switzerland and Austria played out a 1-1 draw at the Kybunpark as Christoph Baumgartner saw his fifth-minute strike cancelled out by defender Silvan Widmer. 

Belgium made light work of minnows Luxembourg as Domenico Tedesco's side rounded off their Euro 2024 preparations with a 3-0 victory.

Romelu Lukaku was at the double at Stade Roi Baudouin, with Leandro Trossard also getting in on the act for the Red Devils.

Belgium dominated from the off, though Luxembourg held out until Lukaku converted from the penalty spot in the 42nd minute.

Lukaku made it 2-0 shortly after the restart, with the 31-year-old on hand to finish after fine work from Jeremy Doku.

Trossard added further gloss nine minutes from time, and Belgium will now turn their attention to Euro 2024.

They face Slovakia in their opening group match on June 17, with fixtures against Romania and Ukraine to follow.

Data Debrief: Total control

It really could have been much worse for Luxembourg, given Belgium accumulated 4.81 expected goals from 27 attempts.

In return, Luxembourg mustered just 0.01 xG (essentially, having just one per cent of scoring all match), managing only one shot.