Former England captain and manager Kevin Keegan has died at the age of 75, his family have confirmed.

Keegan passed away seven weeks after revealing that he had been diagnosed with stage four cancer. His family had earlier announced in January that he was receiving treatment after doctors carried out further checks on ongoing abdominal problems.

In a statement, the Keegan family said he died peacefully surrounded by his wife and daughters.

“Kevin, a double Ballon d’Or winner, was a much loved husband, father and grandfather,” the statement read. “The family would like to thank Kevin’s incredible medical team for all their support. This is a hugely difficult time and they are requesting space and privacy.”

Keegan enjoyed a remarkable playing career with Scunthorpe United, Liverpool, Hamburg, Southampton and Newcastle United. He won two Ballon d’Or awards and became one of England’s greatest footballers.

After retiring as a player, he managed Newcastle United, Fulham, England and Manchester City.

Newcastle United led the tributes, describing Keegan as one of the club’s most loved and influential figures.

“Kevin was more than a legendary footballer and manager. He was the beating heart of Newcastle United for generations of supporters,” the club said.

Liverpool also paid tribute, saying his remarkable contribution to the club would never be forgotten, while German side Hamburg described him as one of football’s defining figures.

The Football Association and Manchester City also expressed their condolences to Keegan’s family.

England will honour Keegan’s memory before their UEFA Nations League match against Spain at Wembley on 26 September.Kevin Keegan is remembered as one of England’s finest footballers, with a career that left a lasting mark on club and international football.

Beyond Limits Academy coach Olumide Ajibolade is being considered for the head coach job at former Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) champions Remo Stars.

Remo Stars had a difficult 2025/26 season. After winning the NPFL title two years ago under Daniel Ogunmodede, the club struggled badly and finished 17th on the league table, narrowly avoiding relegation.

Ogunmodede spent much of the season away with the Super Eagles, where he served as an assistant coach, while also attending coaching courses.

The club later appointed Usman Abdallah to help improve results, but he could not lift the team higher up the table. After the season ended, Ogunmodede left to become the new head coach of Kano Pillars, while Abdallah also departed.

Remo Stars have since been searching for a new manager, and Ajibolade is now the leading candidate for the position.

Ajibolade joined the Remo Stars project as the club’s Under-17 coach in 2019 before taking charge of Beyond Limits Academy in 2021.

He has enjoyed great success with the academy, winning several titles, including The Creative Championship (TCC), the Ogun State FA Cup, the Viareggio Cup and the 2026 Gothia Cup.

The coach also guided Beyond Limits to promotion to the NPFL in 2024, showing his ability to lead teams to success.

At national team level, Ajibolade has worked as an assistant coach with Nigeria’s youth teams. He was appointed assistant to Manu Garba in 2024 and currently serves as the first assistant coach to Golden Eaglets head coach Eboboritse Uwejamomere.

If appointed, Ajibolade will be expected to help Remo Stars rebuild and challenge for a return to the top positions in the NPFL.

Kevin Keegan (AP Photo/Scott Heppell, File)

Kevin Keegan, one of English football’s most iconic figures, has died at the age of 75 after battling stage four cancer.The news was confirmed by Newcastle United, the club where Keegan became a legend both as a player and manager. Last month, Keegan had publicly revealed that he had been diagnosed with stage four cancer.“One of the most iconic, influential and deeply loved figures in our club’s history,” Newcastle said in a tribute.

A two-time Ballon d’Or winner, Keegan enjoyed a glittering playing career that saw him captain England, lift the European Cup with Liverpool and become one of only four Englishmen to win football’s most prestigious individual honour.Beyond his achievements on the pitch, Keegan became a cultural icon during the 1970s. His trademark perm hairstyle inspired footballers across Europe, while his celebrity status extended into television, music and advertising. He released the single “Head Over Heels in Love,” appeared in an aftershave commercial alongside heavyweight boxing great Henry Cooper and regularly featured on television shows.Keegan was also among the first high-profile English footballers to move abroad when he left Liverpool for German club Hamburger SV in 1977 after winning the European Cup.“For Hamburg fans he will remain above all a crowd favorite, an exceptional player, and one of the best footballers ever to wear the rhombus (crest) on his chest,” the Bundesliga club said.His move to Germany proved hugely successful. Keegan won the Ballon d’Or in 1978 and 1979 while at Hamburg, helping the club lift the Bundesliga title in 1979 before reaching the 1980 European Cup final, where they were beaten by Nottingham Forest.“Hamburger SV will always cherish the memory of its former championship-winning player and two-time Ballon d’Or winner,” the German club added.Born in Doncaster on February 14, 1951, Keegan began his professional career with Scunthorpe before joining Liverpool in 1971. Under legendary manager Bill Shankly, he formed a prolific strike partnership with John Toshack, helping the Reds secure the league and UEFA Cup double in 1973.During his six-year stay at Anfield, Keegan won three league titles, an FA Cup, two UEFA Cups and the club’s first European Cup in 1977. In that final against Borussia Monchengladbach, he won the penalty that Phil Neal converted in Liverpool’s 3-1 victory.“His legacy at Liverpool will be forever etched in history,” the club said. “He was regarded as a hero wherever he went.”After returning to England from Germany, Keegan joined Southampton, where he finished as the First Division’s leading scorer with 30 goals in the 1981-82 season before moving to Newcastle United, the club he supported through his father.His tireless work rate and infectious personality quickly made him a fan favourite at St James’ Park before he retired in 1984. He briefly returned to action the following year for two guest appearances with Australian side Blacktown.On the international stage, Keegan scored 21 goals in 63 appearances for England. He captained the national team at Euro 1980 and represented his country at the 1982 FIFA World Cup, his only appearance at football’s biggest tournament after England failed to qualify for the 1974 and 1978 editions.Keegan later enjoyed a memorable managerial career that lasted from 1992 to 2008. His greatest achievement on the touchline came at Newcastle, where he guided the club from the second division to the brink of the Premier League title in the 1995-96 season.That campaign became famous for both Newcastle’s attacking football, which earned them the nickname “The Entertainers”, and Keegan’s emotional television outburst directed at Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson.“You can tell him now, we’re still fighting for this title. And he’s got to go to Middlesbrough and get something. And I’ll tell you … honestly … I will love it if we beat them, love it,” Keegan said.Despite leading the table by 12 points in February, Newcastle eventually finished four points behind Ferguson’s Manchester United.Keegan also managed Fulham, England and Manchester City. His spell as England manager lasted from 1999 to 2000 and ended after a 1-0 defeat to Germany in a World Cup qualifier at the old Wembley Stadium. He famously informed Football Association officials of his resignation during an emotional conversation inside a toilet cubicle.He returned for a second spell at Newcastle in 2008 but resigned after nine months following a breakdown in his relationship with club owner Mike Ashley. He never returned to management, instead remaining involved in football through television punditry.Keegan leaves behind an enduring legacy as one of England’s greatest footballers, a pioneering Ballon d’Or winner, an unforgettable manager and one of the sport’s most charismatic personalities.

Pep Guardiola has reportedly emerged as Italy’s top choice for the national team job after holding talks with football legends Paolo Maldini and Leonardo in Barcelona.

According to Sky Sports Italia, Maldini and Leonardo travelled to Spain to meet the former Manchester City manager and discuss the vacant Italy head coach position. The meeting reportedly lasted longer than expected and may have continued throughout the weekend.

Photos of Maldini and Leonardo in Barcelona circulated on social media, fuelling reports that they were trying to convince Guardiola to take charge of the Azzurri.

However, Guardiola has repeatedly said he is enjoying his break from football and is not ready to return to management.

Speaking recently, the 55-year-old explained that he wanted to step away from the game to focus on his personal life.

“From a mental standpoint, I don’t miss anything at all,” Guardiola said.

He added that he wanted to spend more time with his children and his 95-year-old father while adjusting to life away from football.

Although Italy see Guardiola as their preferred candidate, his decision to remain on sabbatical has made any potential move difficult.

The Italian Football Federation is also considering other options. Former Italy coach Roberto Mancini and Juventus legend Andrea Pirlo have both been linked with the role, while recent reports claim Antonio Conte has already reached an agreement to become the new Italy manager.

Guardiola has also been mentioned as a possible future England coach following the Three Lions’ disappointing World Cup campaign, with several football pundits suggesting he could replace Thomas Tuchel if the role becomes available.

From Madrid to Barcelona, Spanish fans were out in full force to celebrate their team’s win. It took 11 shots to get them the 1-0 victory over Argentina. Meanwhile, in Buenos Aires, fans still celebrated late into the night, despite coming in second place for Lionel Messi’s last World Cup outing.

Terence Crawford cemented his place amongst the pound-for-pound greats when he dethroned Canelo Alvarez last year, and now fellow modern boxing legend Oleksandr Usyk has revealed how he believes ‘Bud’ would have fared against the iconic Sugar Ray Leonard.

Crawford became boxing’s sixth five-division world champion when he got the better of super-middleweight poster boy Canelo back in September.

There, he also became the only post-war fighter to have captured the undisputed crown in three different weight-classes – having already achieved the feat at both super-lightweight and welterweight.

Shortly after that history-making triumph, Crawford made the decision to walk away from the sport with his undefeated record intact, content with a career that finished with a record of 42-0.

Meanwhile, Sugar Ray Leonard is hailed for his efforts in the 1980s, when he battled with his fellow ‘Four Kings’ and got the better of each of Robert Duran, Thomas Hearns and Marvin Hagler. 

After Hearns became boxing’s first five-division champion on November 4, 1988, Leonard joined him as the sport’s second quintuple champion just three days later when Leonard got his hands on both the WBC super-middleweight and WBC light-heavyweight gold in a knockout win over Donny Lalonde.

Yet, despite the skill, will and legacy of Leonard, Usyk told Daily Mail Sport that he thinks Crawford would have got the better of the Wilmington-born sensation if they were to meet in their primes.

Usyk also predicted that Crawford would have overcome Pernell Whitaker, Floyd Mayweather and Sugar Ray Robinson – a testament to the regard in which the Ukrainian holds Crawford, who had been considered as his pound-for-pound rival before his retirement.

Rodri, like anyone who has ever played football, had dreamed of this moment. The Spain captain held the World Cup in his hands, surrounded by jubilant teammates. But, before he could lift the trophy, he had to find a way to politely usher the world’s most powerful man off the stage.

He didn’t quite succeed. In the end, it required FIFA President Gianni Infantino to jog in front of the players to try and move Donald Trump on. Still the US president lingered next to Barcelona midfielder Pedri, bathing in the adulation he had been denied when walking on to boos with Infantino moments earlier. Trump had overstayed his welcome in similar fashion at the Club World Cup last year.

Though Sunday’s final, in which Spain beat Argentina 1-0, was the first match of the tournament that Trump attended, he declared it “the most successful sporting event maybe in the history of the world” and was a constant presence even in his absence.

“Trump cast a shadow over the entire tournament, weaponizing it for domestic political purposes, regardless of whether he showed up at matches in person,” Jules Boykoff, a professor in the Politics and Government Department at Pacific University in the US state of Oregon, told DW.

Trump’s ‘notorious’ intervention

Trump administration policies denied entry to the United States for a Somali FIFA referee, forced Iran to train in Mexico and travel to games in Los Angeles and Seattle, and barred fans from around the world from attending matches. On top of all that, Boykoff said, Trump’s knockout-stage phone call to FIFA “will most assuredly go down as one of the most notorious political interventions in World Cup history.”

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Though Trump’ successfully lobbied to overturn the red card suspension of star striker Folarin Balogun, the strategy backfired on the field, with the US losing its last-16 match against a fired-up Belgium 4-1. “I knew it was going to cause a lot of controversy,” Balogun said. “I could almost see within my teammates a bit of nerves because it was something that’s so unique.”

Boykoff said the sporting implications would not have been at the forefront of Trump’s mind. “Intervening in the red card situation allowed him to deliver the message to his political base that he could get international bodies like FIFA to bend to his will,” said Boykoff, who represented the US at the youth level as a player. “Most of Trump’s actions during the World Cup should be read as efforts to influence a domestic political audience ahead of a key midterm election, not as an attempt to convince an international audience that he’s some great guy.” 

2026 World Cup, the tournament that changed football forever

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Trump insisted that the tournament has boosted the US’s international reputation. “All over the world, people have come and they love our country,” he told reporters. 

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Was Balogun call a mistake for Trump?

The US midterm elections are set for November 3 and, with the war in Iran ongoing, Trump’s approval rating is below 40%. Though a “shakedown” of a global organization such as FIFA may have an appeal with a base he’s already won over, Karim Zidan told DW that the Balogun intervention was a political misstep for Trump.

“I think that, in boasting about this when the United States men’s national team gave an opportunity for him to rally behind a team that seemed to be unifying Americans, he managed to find a way to taint it, and those who dislike him hated him just that little bit more,” Zidan, an investigative journalist who has long covered Trump’s use of sports in his politics, said. 

Such unprecedented and direct political intervention in a footballing decision drew scorn and fury from most of the rest of the world — with politicians, football federations, fans and coaches all piling on to criticize. But that won’t bother Trump, Boykoff said.

“Based on his actions, Trump does not appear to care much about what the rest of the world thinks of him. His anti-immigration policies stained the World Cup and undercut FIFA’s slogan that ‘Football Unites the World.’ Trump used the tournament to further fracture the world while stoking his base’s worst instincts ahead of the midterm elections,” he said.

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Sports-shaping as US strategy

The Balogun incident was Trump’s first real foray into the tournament and came over three weeks after it had begun. Given how present he was in the buildup, that came as a surprise to some. But Zidan said the geopolitical situation had been keeping him busy, while the 250th US independence day also occupied Trump’s time during the tournament. 

“All he’s really interested in is making this about himself or reaping any sort of personal prestige from an event,” Zidan said. “So I’m not really surprised at all that he wasn’t very present at standard World Cup games.”

Despite his apparent lack of interest, Trump made a play for future World Cups immediately after the 2026 tournament ended. “I had a great idea for Gianni: You have to do two countries. Announce us again next time and then announce another country after that. It’ll take out some of the anger and the shock,” he told Fox Sports. “Based on the numbers, we will be requesting it again immediately.”

The earliest the US could host the men’s World Cup again is 2038, but Los Angeles will host the Summer Olympics in 2028, with Trump still in power ahead of the presidential election that November. The US is hosting the 2034 Winter Olympics in in Salt Lake City and is likely to win the Women’s World Cup for 2031. 

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UFC a safe sporting haven for Trump

Zidan thinks that Trump will first retreat to the safety of the mixed-martial-arts Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), which he managed to include in the celebrations of the 250th anniversary of the United States.

“Whenever he has shown up at a sports event that is not a UFC event, he’s received resounding boos. It’s not the massive warm welcome he is used to receiving at the UFC,” said Zidan, whose latest book, “The Ultimate Strongmen,” focuses on Trump’s relationship with the UFC. 

“That’s why he shows up so often there, why he’s hosted a UFC event at the White House. He understands that is his perfect audience and his safe space, and, no matter how poorly he’s performing and no matter what he’s doing in the world, no matter if there’s a war going on, he will be welcomed.”

Though FIFA and its president rolled out the red carpet for Trump and the 2026 World Cup made more profit than any tournament before, it is the US voters, not the executive bodies of football organizations, whom Trump must impress now. Whichever way the midterms go, it’s unlikely he’ll be ushered off the political stage anytime soon.

Edited by: Milan Gagnon 

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As an incredible World Cup comes to an end, everyone here at the BBC wanted to say thank you.

Thank you to the 42.8 million people who tuned in to our live match coverage on television or streamed games on iPlayer, the BBC Sport app and website 237 million times. That’s a lot of football.

Whether you were one of the 24 million who watched England v Argentina in the semi-final, the late-night 9.1 million who stayed up until 4am for England v Mexico, the 2.4 million who saw Scotland beat Haiti in the middle of the night, or part of the hardcore crew of half a million who gave Iran v New Zealand a chance at 2am and were rewarded with a four-goal thriller.

Thank you to those of you who trusted us to not spoil your mornings, coming to iPlayer or the BBC Football YouTube channel every day for our eight-minute highlight packages. There were so many of you that we saw the biggest ever day and week in iPlayer’s history.

Thank you to the 57.2 million unique browsers who used our app and website 1.7 billion times, watching clips of our games, interviews and journalism, following our amazing live pages and reading stories from our journalists covering everything from the Trump-Fifa-Balogun scandal to tactical trends and the US entry denial of Somalian referee Omar Artan.