Los Angeles Dodgers beat the New York Mets 10-5 to join the New York Yankees in the World Series.

Tommy Edman and Will Smith both hit two-run home runs to seal a 4-2 victory in the National League series final and book their fourth World Series appearance in the past eight seasons.

The Yankees won 5-2 in their best-of-seven American League Championship series final on Saturday to seal their first appearance since 2009.

“The way the season started, to end up in this situation is crazy,” said Edman, who was injured until August before being named the Most Valuable Player of the series.

“This is an amazing team. They welcomed me with open arms. I can’t wait to keep things going. This is what we’ve always dreamed about.”

The World Series is a best-of-seven contest and begins on Friday in Los Angeles.

It is a record 12th time the sides have met in the World Series, although their last meeting was in 1981.

The New York Yankees, who last won the series in 2009, are 8-3 against the Dodgers in World Series meetings.

The Dodgers’ Japanese superstar Shohei Ohtani, who last month created baseball history by becoming the first player to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases in a season, will play in his first World Series.

“It’s a place that I’ve dreamed of playing all my life. And to be able to finally come to the stage and be able to play and hopefully win it is my next goal,” he said.

“There are no easy games in the post-season. We really played well as a team. I’m glad that we were able to pull through.”

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SERGIO BUSQUETS has been labelled a “crybaby” and “whiner” by Wesley Sneijder.

Sneijder, who starred for Real Madrid and Inter Milan, slammed the Spaniard as he reflected on their past battles.

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The Dutchman recalled how the Barcelona legend’s antics got under his skin.

Speaking to Ziggo Sports, he said: “He was an extremely annoying player, he was always giving it to others but he could never receive it.”

The second leg of the 2010 Champions League semi-final game was one that particularly irked Sneijder when Thiago Motta tackled the midfielder.

Sneijder said: “In 2010 we beat Barcelona 3-1 at home, then we had to go to Camp Nou and after eight minutes Busquets started rolling on the ground while looking through his hands to see if Motta had a red card.

“He then got up again and was fine, the crybaby. A nasty guy to play against.”

He continued: “I had fights with him in every game.”

Sneijder also revealed how he warned Busquets about meeting in Ibiza, adding: “I’ll see you in Ibiza in the summer, then you and I will talk again.”

Under Jose Mourinho that season, Inter Milan emerged with a remarkable win over Pep Guardiola‘s Barca side – considered by many to be the greatest team in football history.

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They then went on to bag the continental Treble, a first in Italian football history.

Meanwhile, Sneijder was full of praise for the recently retired Andres Iniesta.

Unlike his old rival and team-mate, 36-year-old Busquets continues to ply his trade in Major League Soccer alongside Lionel Messi at Inter Miami.

The only defeat England have suffered in the past five years was the 2022 World Cup final against New Zealand.

But the Red Roses are unbeaten since Packer took on the captaincy during the 2023 Six Nations – something she is proud of and believes will continue.

“Since I’ve been captain we’ve not lost a game, so I’ll have that one at the moment,” she said.

“You’ve got five games in the Six Nations, you’ll have a couple of warm-up games and then you’ll have the World Cup.

“So you’re looking around that 30 mark again to whether we can win that World Cup final, which in my head it’s a definite ‘yes’.

“We just need to make sure we work really hard as a group and keep inspiring each other, and remembering why we are the best in the world is because we push each other to be the best.”

Marco Bezzecchi says he was unimpressed by Maverick Vinales showing him the middle finger as he lay motionless on the ground after the pair collided at high speed in Saturday’s sprint race at the Australian Grand Prix.

After being taken for additional medical checks in Melbourne on Saturday evening, during which time Vinales made his frustration towards the VR46 Ducati rider clear in the media, Bezzecchi only made his first comments following Sunday’s grand prix.

“I didn’t like his behaviour immediately after the crash,” said the three-time grand prix winner.

“If it was the other way around, I would go to check how the other rider is instead of showing the middle finger and saying f*** to me many times after we crash at 300km/h.”

The stewards took Vinales’s side regarding the incident itself, issuing Bezzecchi a long lap penalty for the grand prix on Sunday.

Subsequent to taking the punishment, Bezzecchi fell off and dropped out of contention, reporting that he was riding in pain following the crash.

Bezzecchi disagreed with Vinales’s version of the collision on the high-speed entry to the Doohan corner.

“Yesterday was a strange situation. Maverick passed me on the straight with the slipstream….then my bike was moving to the left so to get back I had to lean the bike whilst still on the straight. The wind was pushing me to the outside kerb.

“The problem was that as I did this Maverick put himself exactly in front of me under braking.

Marco Bezzecchi, VR46 Racing Team

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

“He braked early. You can see from the video that he braked, then released, then braked again. When you brake at the right point, you don’t release the brake.

“I was already moving to the right to avoid going on the outside kerb. When I saw him I tried to continue to go to the right but I got sucked by the slipstream. I couldn’t do anything to avoid the contact.

“I understand that it was a difficult decision. Normally the guy behind is the one who [gets the blame]. But for example last year in Qatar with Pecco [Bagnaia] and Fabio di Giannantonio and in Valencia with [Jorge] Martin and Pecco it was completely the same.

“[Those situations were] just another type of corner, a little bit slower, a little bit less windy, a little bit less Phillip Island style.

“It’s a situation that could have happened often, but fortunately for the others, they were able to avoid disaster.

“Anyway, what I didn’t really like was Maverick’s behaviour but as far as the penalty is concerned, I don’t care. I don’t complain. I did my long lap.”

Aprilia rider Vinales did not want to comment further on the issue on Sunday, but was satisfied with the penalty given to Bezzecchi.

“The stewards needed to set down a mark. They set down a mark so that’s fine.”

Vinales finished the grand prix in eighth place after once again dropping back from the front row of the grid.