Istanbul is set to host the 2027 European Games, giving the Turkish capital a chance to show it can stage an international multi-sports event as it eyes the 2036 Olympics.

The European Olympic Committees group said Wednesday that its executive committee unanimously picked Istanbul as the host, although the decision still needs to be approved by national members at a meeting in June.

Australia thrashed Lebanon 5-0 and became the first team to advance to the third round of Asia qualifying for the 2026 World Cup on Tuesday.

An early goal from Kusini Yengi in Canberra sent the Socceroos on the way to a fourth successive win in Group I and ensured progress to the next stage with two matches to spare.

Germany will carry out border controls at all its frontiers during football's European Championship in June and July, the country's top security official told local media.

Interior Minister Nancy Faeser told the daily Rheinische Post in comments published Tuesday that checks will be carried out at all German borders during the tournament "to be able to prevent possible violent criminals entering." She added that "this is necessary to protect this major international event as best possible."

Ricky Hill packed his bags and prepared to uproot his life again. Next stop: Chicago. The former England international football player is accustomed to making sacrifices and traveling far to build his coaching career, an effort he says has been stymied because he is Black.

"It is something that I hate to do because home is where the heart is," Hill said of leaving behind his wife of 38 years and his 99-year-old mother to chase a rare management opportunity.

It is still a mystery why one of England's best players walked out on the team midway through the last World Cup and hasn't represented his country ever since.

Hiding behind a "Black Wolf", a state-of-the-art nine-ton armored vehicle, a group of armed men in black slowly make their way towards a 19th-century chateau in the southern suburbs of Paris.

An hour earlier, four hooded assailants equipped with assault rifles stormed the historic building in Draveil, which houses a police academy.

Australia cruised into the next stage of Asian qualifying for the 2026 World Cup with a 5-0 drubbing of Lebanon in Canberra on Tuesday.

Craig Goodwin's two goals, plus strikes from Kusini Yengi, John Iredale and a Bassel Jradi own goal gave Australia a maximum 12 points after four games and they are now assured of progressing from Group I.

The father of soccer star Neymar said Thursday that his family won't pay the one million euros ($1.1 million) required to bail Dani Alves out of a Spanish prison where the former Brazil defender awaits the result of an appeal to his rape conviction.

Neymar da Silva Santos said in a statement on behalf of his family that they financially supported Alves during his trial, but that they won't do it again now that the former player was found guilty of raping a woman in a Barcelona nightclub in 2022.

Former soccer star Robinho started serving a nine-year prison sentence in his native Brazil on Thursday more than 10 years after he was first accused of raping a woman in Italy.

The 40-year-old Robinho left his apartment building in the beachfront city of Santos, outside Sao Paulo, in a black police car after losing a bid to remain free pending appeals.

Germany's preparations for the European Championship were dealt a blow Wednesday with Manuel Neuer's thigh injury ahead of the goalkeeper's planned comeback.

Germany's World Cup captain had been due to return to the national team after breaking his leg in a skiing accident, but he sustained a muscle fiber tear in his left adductor during training Wednesday morning, the German football federation said.