United, Spurs grab vital Europa League wins, Messi eyes 2026 World Cup, Shiffrin back in action

Manchester United booked their place in the Europa League last 16 with a 2-0 win at Romanian side FCSB, while Tottenham turned to their young guns to advance via a top-eight finish on Thursday. Diogo Dalot and Kobbie Mainoo scored for United in the second half of their final league phase fixture at the National Arena in Bucharest. In north London, under-pressure Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou was relieved to see Dane Scarlett, Damola Ajayi and Mikey Moore kill off Swedish minnows Elfsborg with their first goals for the club in a 3-0 victory. United, unbeaten in eight games in the tournament, finished in third place and Tottenham came fourth, ensuring the Premier League pair avoided the Europa League play-off round. Scottish side Rangers made it to the last 16 after climbing to eighth place with a 2-1 win against Belgium’s Union Saint-Gilloise at Ibrox. Jose Mourinho’s Fenerbahce scraped into the play-offs, finishing in 24th place – above Braga on goal difference – after a 2-2 draw at Midtjylland. Lazio came top of the league phase despite a 1-0 defeat at Braga, while Athletic Bilbao beat Viktoria Plzen 3-1 to secure second place. Fifth-placed Eintracht Frankfurt, sixth-placed Lyon and seventh-placed Olympiakos comprise the rest of the top eight. Roma secured a play-off place, beating Frankfurt 2-0 through goals from Angelino and Eldor Shomurodov. Everton injury blows Everton are set to be without injured pair Orel Mangala and Dominic Calvert-Lewin for some time. The Toffees have confirmed on-loan Lyon midfielder Mangala sustained an ACL injury during their 1-0 Premier League victory at Brighton on Saturday and will miss the rest of the season. “Calvert-Lewin sustained a hamstring injury in the 12th minute at Brighton which will require a specialist opinion and is likely to sideline the striker for a number of weeks,” Everton said on the club website. Everton manager David Moyes is already facing up to the possibility of being without winger Dwight McNeil for the remainder of the campaign. McNeil has been out since December 4 with a knee injury and may have to undergo season-ending surgery. Shiffrin back in action Croatia’s Zrinka Ljutic earned her third World Cup win of the season on Thursday in the women’s slalom in Courchevel, France, where Mikaela Shiffrin finished 10th on her return from an injury suffered two months ago. Ljutic, who led after the opening run, had a combined time of one minute 45.06 seconds under the lights at the Emile-Allais Stadium to beat Sweden’s Sara Hector by 1.26 seconds. Germany’s Lena Duerr finished third. For Shiffrin, the event was her first race since a ski crash last November that interrupted her quest for a record-extending 100th World Cup win and left her with severe injuries. “It was a very important step in my recovery to see how I am stacking up with the top skiers in the world and to see what I can work on to improve my skiing,” Shiffrin said. “I really appreciate watching them and I am so happy to be back competing with them. Hopefully, I get faster in the next weeks.” Messi eyes 2026 World Cup Argentina great Lionel Messi wants to play in the 2026 World Cup, but is too early to make any official announcements, his national coach Lionel Scaloni said on Thursday. Scaloni, who led Argentina to the 2022 World Cup title in Qatar, said the 37-year-old record eight-times Ballon d’Or winner’s wanted to remain in the squad. “The first thing to say is that both he and his teammates are aware that there is a reasonable amount of time left and that he and everyone else are keen to play in the World Cup,” Scaloni said. “We will have to wait and see how things develop. He [Messi] knows what we are thinking and he is the most intelligent of us all,” the coach added. Around the world in (almost) 80 days British sailor Samantha Davies crossed the finish line of the gruelling, round-the-world Vendee Globe yacht race in 13th position on Thursday after little more than 80 days at sea. The 50-year-old crossed the finish line off France’s west coast 16 days after French winner Charlie Dalin. She had spent 80 days, 22 hours, 13 minutes at sea aboard Initiatives-Coeur. Davies finished fourth in 95 days in her first Vendee Globe in 2008-2009 but had been forced to abandon her past two attempts in 2012 and 2020. Swiss sailor Justine Mettraux became the fastest-ever woman finisher when she finished eighth after 76 days, 1 hour and 36 minutes. She broke the women’s record of 87 days, 2 hours, 24 minutes set by Frenchwoman Clarisse Cremer in 2020-21.

United, Spurs grab vital Europa League wins, Messi eyes 2026 World Cup, Shiffrin back in action

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Manchester United and Tottenham into last 16 of Europa League, Lionel Messi’s coach says superstar wants to play at next World Cup

Manchester United and Tottenham into last 16 of Europa League, Lionel Messi’s coach says superstar wants to play at next World Cup