France won 2-0 the last time they played world champions Germany on November 13, 2015 but few that night cared about soccer.

Used to relying heavily on one key player for their European glory in the past — Michel Platini and Zinedine Zidane in the 1984 and 2000 tournaments respectively — French fans have two talented players on whom to pin their hopes at Euro 2016.

He may never have won the greatest bicycle race in the world but every day is a celebration of Raymond Poulidor at the Tour de France.

It would be hard to bet against the Williams sisters meeting in their first Wimbledon final since 2009, but Angelique Kerber and Elena Vesnina won’t just be making up the numbers in the last four today.

Greg Van Avermaet rode into the “best jersey in the world”, the coveted race leader’s yellow jersey as he won yesterday’s fifth stage of the Tour de France.

Didier Deschamps’ talented France block the path of Germany’s spluttering juggernaut in today’s Euro 2016 semi-final and the world champions have mounting personnel problems.

A court in Spain yesterday sentenced Barcelona striker Lionel Messi and his father to 21 months in jail for tax fraud, in the latest case of tax avoidance involving a top footballer in the country.

Yulia Stepanova’s much-heralded return to action turned into a damp squib on Wednesday when the Russian whistleblower, running as an independent athlete, dropped out of her 800 metres heat with a foot injury having been off the pace throughout.

The Chicago Cubs will have all four of their players making up the starting infield for next week’s annual all-star game, Major League Baseball announced on Tuesday.

It was a combination seldom seen in what to this point has been a lost Yankees season. Standout starting pitching and production throughout a lineup the Yankees thought before the year would be far more balanced than in 2015 but hadn’t been.

Former Australian captain Ricky Ponting has backed a call for size limits on bats ahead of an upcoming meeting of world cricket figures, as concerns about a glut in run-scoring grows.

Jos Buttler boosted his hopes of a Test recall for the Pakistan series as his stunning unbeaten 73 helped England win the T20 international against Sri Lanka in Southampton on Tuesday.