Northern Ireland made sure of their place at Euro 2016 with a 3-1 win over Greece at Windsor Park on Thursday to end a 30-year wait for a major tournament appearance.

Michael O Neill s men needed just two points from their final two qualifiers, but eased to victory against Group F s bottom side to reach their first European Championship.

The last time that Northern Ireland featured in a major tournament was at the 1986 World Cup and the current crop were set on their way by captain Steven Davis opener.

Greece look set to end the campaign winless and fell further behind after the break as Josh Magennis in for the suspended Kyle Lafferty headed home a second to give the home side breathing space.

Jonny Evans, Chris Baird and Conor McLaughlin were als…

Ahead of Euro 2016, Liverpool defender Nathaniel Clyne is determined to show England manager Roy Hodgson that he is worthy of a starting berth come next year s showpiece in France.

England sealed their spot at the tournament with a 6-0 win over San Marino last time out and face Switzerland in the first of their remaining three qualifiers.

Clyne broke into England s set-up last term after some superb performances at Southampton and would earn his seventh cap should he play against Switzerland – with Hodgson declaring he would use the upcoming fixtures to test out less established players.

It s obviously going to be difficult because there are a lot of people who could play right-back there s a lot of competition, but I m looking forward to it and challe…

Euro 2016 now has 12 teams qualified for the tournament after Belgium, Italy and Wales secured their progress to France on Saturday.

Italy made certain of their place at Euro 2016 with a 3-1 win over Group H rivals Azerbaijan in Baku. The group leaders needed one win from their final two qualifiers and goals from Eder, Stephan El Shaarawy and Matteo Darmian ensured they go into Tuesday s qualification finale with Norway assured of their spot.

The home side, who had earlier looked threatening when they briefly made it one apiece through Dima Nazarov in the first half, had Badavi Huseynov sent off in the final minutes.

Norway scored a goal in each half through Alexander Tettey and Alexander Soderlund as they recorded a 2-0 victory over Malta in Oslo.

That r…

Prediction: Match to end in 1-1 draw

Best Odds:

Bookmaker: 

Almeria and Espanyol will face each in La Liga this week. The match between Rojiblancos and Periquitos will be held at the Power Horse Stadium and is scheduled to kick off at 8pm UK time on Friday.

Almeria

Almeria won promotion from the Segunda Division to La Liga at the end of last season. La Unión won the second division title last season, and their main objective this campaign is to make sure that they finish above the bottom three. They had been playing in the Segunda Division since the 2015-16 season.

Rubi’s side are 14th in the La Liga table at the moment with 19 points from 18 matches. They are only two points above the relegation zone and are in real danger of going down to…

Jose Mourinho has said he wants his former club Inter to win the Serie A title after his Roma were beaten 3-1 by the Nerazzurri on Saturday.

Goals from Denzel Dumfries, Marcelo Brozovic and Lautaro Martinez sent Inter top of the table at San Siro, though Henrikh Mkhitaryan pulled back a late consolation for the Giallorossi.

Having played the same number of games, Inter are now a point ahead of Milan and five beyond Napoli in the race for the Scudetto.

Milan face Lazio in Rome while Napoli travel to Empoli, both on Sunday.

When asked if losing to his former club made defeat any easier, Mourinho insisted not, though did concede that he is backing Simone Inzaghi s men to defend their title.

“No absolutely not, he said. I want to win all the games.�…

Aston Villa hero Kortney Hause claimed it was not too tough to defend against Manchester United in Saturday s 1-0 victory at Old Trafford.

The centre-back powered in a header from a corner in the 88th minute to give Dean Smith s side a first away Premier League win over United since December 2009.

It looked as though Hause had handed the Red Devils a share of the spoils after he conceded a penalty in injury time for handball, but Bruno Fernandes missed from the spot for just the second time in 23 attempts in his United career, blazing the ball high into the Stretford End.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer s men lost 1-0 to West Ham in the EFL Cup on Wednesday, a game in which they attempted 27 shots but failed to find the net.

It was a similar story against Villa, Un…

Chelsea head coach Thomas Tuchel hailed Ralf Rangnick s revolutionary thinking with Manchester United reportedly on the brink of appointing the German.

Tuchel played for third-tier Ulm when Rangnick guided the club into 2. Bundesliga before a knee problem cut short the 48-year-old s playing days.

Rangnick, 63, also coached Stuttgart in 1999 and pushed the now Chelsea boss towards working for the club at youth level to learn his trade.

Tuchel s introduction to management proved successful, with the former Paris Saint-Germain head coach then taking charge of Mainz in 2009 before moving to Borussia Dortmund.

Michael Carrick is set to remain in charge for United s trip to Stamford Bridge on Sunday but Tuchel praised Rangnick s influence as the German edges …

Enzo Maresca praised his Leicester players for the 5-0 thrashing of Southampton that put the Foxes a win away from clinching automatic promotion.

Ghana winger Abdul Fatawu scored three of them, with Wilfred Ndidi and Jamie Vardy also on target.

Leicester need only to win at Preston on Monday, or at home to Blackburn on the final day, to make sure they will finish ahead of at least one of Leeds or Ipswich. Indeed, if Leeds lose at QPR on Friday Leicester will be up before they take to the field again.

Maresca, in his first season as City manager, said: “I don’t think that was the best performance of the season but the performance was fantastic, very good on and off the ball.

“We could have been better on the ball but we are all very happy because the…

Mary Earps says she hopes to add a few more trophies to the cabinet with Paris Saint-Germain after leaving Manchester United.

The goalkeeper was at United for five years, helping them to lift their first-ever FA Cup in May.

However, they failed to challenge for the Women s Super League title last season, finishing fifth, 20 points behind winners Chelsea.

Earps biggest successes have come in an England shirt, with their European Championship victory in 2022, while she was also awarded the Golden Glove at the 2023 World Cup, in which the Lionesses reached the final.

She joined PSG as a free agent in July, signing a two-year deal with the club, who finished as runners-up in the Premiere League last season and are set to play for a sixth-straight season in th…

The 2021-22 Premier League campaign reaches its conclusion this weekend – and there is still plenty to be decided at both ends of the division.

One point separates leaders Manchester City and Liverpool at the summit, while Leeds United and Burnley are battling to avoid the one remaining relegation spot.

The fourth and final Champions League qualification place is also up for grabs, with Tottenham two points better off than fierce rivals Arsenal in the battle for fourth.

Manchester United are still not assured of a Europa League place, meanwhile, as seventh-placed West Ham sit just two points behind in a Europa Conference League berth.

Ahead of an action-packed final day of the season, test your top-flight knowledge with our Opta-powered quiz. You ll fin…