By Samindra Kunti
July 21 – Brazil’s women will start as one of the favourites for the Olympic gold medal next month, but the host nation’s players fear the permanence of the team may be under threat.
July 13 – Former Sierra Leone international Sheriff Suma hopes the country’s Olympic footballers will not be tempted to abscond when attending this month’s Rio Games.
By Andrew Warshaw and Samindra Kunti
Portugal, as one of the best third-place finishers in the group stage, may not have won Euro 2016 but for the tournament’s new 24-nation arrangement but Uefa has no intention of scrapping the expanded format – not in the short term at least.
July 11 – The head of the Euro 2016 organising committee wants better collaboration at future finals to prevent the kind of hooliganism that marred the early stages of the competition in France.
By Andrew Warshaw
July 11 – They only won one game in regulation time and didn’t have shot on target in the final until the 80th minute. Yet what Greece did to them 12 years ago in Lisbon, Portugal have now done to France: upsetting the host nation to become European champions and wrecking a nationwide party in the process.
By Samindra Kunti
July 8 – Les Bleus players stand to receive €300,000 each from the French Football Federation FFF if they win the European Championship against Portugal on Sunday.
July 8 – No side ever wins a major football tournament without a modicum of good fortune and France arguably had theirs in the semifinal against Germany when they were outplayed for large parts of the game and were awarded a soft penalty.
By David Owen
July 8 – We will have to wait and see whether hosts France or Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal lift the European Championship trophy at the Stade de France on Sunday. But we can already say with absolute clarity that the US mark Nike has won Euro 2016’s Battle of the Brands.
July 7 – Is this the moment when France finally write a new chapter in their football history by beating Germany for the first time for 58 years in a competitive match? Anticipation has reached fever pitch ahead of the host nation’s Euro semifinal but a giant hurdle faces Didier Deschamps’ team in one of the tightest games to call.
July 6 – Their motto is Stronger Together and it has worked a treat so far. Can Wales, the smallest country population-wise ever to get this far, now carry on living the dream when they face Portugal in the Euro 2016 semi-finals tonight?
July 4 – Germany and a combined bid from Nordic nations are possible candidates to host the 2024 European Championship, according to UEFA interim general secretary Theodore Theodoridis.
July 4 – Defending world champions Germany’s preparations for the heavyweight Euro 2016 semifinal clash with France on Thursday have been seriously disrupted by injury and suspension.
July 2 – Germany have a fully-fit squad to chose from for the clash of the familiar heavyweight foes after Jerome Boateng, Julian Draxler and Sami Khedira recovered from minor injuries. Italy will assess key midfielder Daniele De Rossi, who was forced off against Spain with a thigh injury and who has been crucial for Antonio Conte’s side as they upset pre-tournament predictions.
By Samindra Kunti in Lille
July 1 – Up to a 100,000 Belgian fans will make the trip across the French-Belgian border to Lille for the Euro 2016 quarter-final with Wales.
July 1 – Following the lacklustre first Euro 2016 quarterfinal, this one has all the makings of a mouth-watering affair between the side currently ranked No. 2 in the world and outsiders Wales for whom this is the biggest match since the 1958 World Cup.