by Beth Harris INGLEWOOD, Calif.  — Folarin Balogun could have played for any one of three countries. He chose the United States, and it paid off with a splashy World Cup debut on home soil. The 24-year-old striker scored two goals as the Americans opened with a 4-1 victory over Paraguay on Friday night in front of a rabid and star-studded red, white and blue-clad sold-out crowd of 70,492 at SoFi Stadium. “I visualized my debut in the World Cup scoring, but the reality did surpass that,” Balogun said. “A very dreamy night.” With retired England captain David Beckham looking…

by Michael R. Sisak NEW YORK  — If there is a saving grace from the bedlam that is about to ensue in New York City on Saturday, with the Knicks on the verge of a championship and Brazil taking on Morocco in the World Cup, it is that Game 5 of the NBA Finals is on the road. Of course, that won’t stop orange-and-blue-blooded Knicks fans from teeming into the area near the team’s Manhattan arena to watch on bar TVs and big screens as their team — playing 1,580 miles (2,545 kilometers) away in San Antonio — looks to…

by Maura Carey and Tim Jacobs The 2026 FIFA World Cup is underway, and co-host Mexico opened the tournament with a 2-0 win over South Africa on Thursday. Julián Quiñones scored the first goal of the World Cup in the ninth minute, while Raúl Jiménez added a second-half header in a match that saw South Africa reduced to nine players and Mexico to 10 after three red cards. Follow along for live updates, highlights, analysis and scenes from the opening day of soccer’s biggest event. Mexico’s 2-0 win over South Africa brought joy to El Tri’s army of fans. “Let’s…

by Brian Mahoney NEW YORK — A record-breaking comeback, capped off by what could go down as a legendary play. The long road back to the top of the NBA is almost complete for the New York Knicks, and the step they took Wednesday night was unforgettable. The Knicks came from 29 points down and moved to the brink of their first championship since 1973 by beating the San Antonio Spurs 107-106 in Game 4 of the finals on OG Anunoby’s tip-in with 1.2 seconds remaining. “That has to be the most iconic shot in the history of New York…

by Tim Reynolds SAN ANTONIO  — The New York Knicks’ winning streak lives on, and they struck first in the NBA Finals. Jalen Brunson scored 30 points, Karl-Anthony Towns finished with 18 points and 12 rebounds, and the Knicks erased a 14-point second-half deficit to beat the San Antonio Spurs 105-95 in Game 1 of the finals on Wednesday night. OG Anunoby had 17 points for New York — which has won 12 consecutive playoff games, the seventh team to have such a streak in NBA history, and is the third to do it in a single season. Brunson scored…

by Jay  Cohen LAKE FOREST, Ill. — Rome Odunze was hampered by a foot injury for much of his second season with the Chicago Bears. That is part of what he is describing as his new normal. That’s OK, too, because the wide receiver doesn’t think it’s going to get in his way. “It’s not from a standpoint that I’m like always in pain, but the way my foot broke, there’s calluses in there that creates a different type of foot structure with those bones — different things that kind of shifts things around,” Odunze said Wednesday on his 24th…

by Dyepkaz Shibayan ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — A federal court in Nigeria on Wednesday sentenced four gunmen to death in the killing of at least 50 people during a 2022 attack on a church in a southwestern part of the country. Children were among those killed in the assault just as mass was ending at the St. Francis Catholic Church in the town of Owo in Ondo State on June 5, 2022. Scores of people also were wounded, overwhelming hospital workers. The four men were convicted of terrorism charges. A fifth defendant was acquitted for lack of evidence. Prosecutors said…

by Lisa Mascaro WASHINGTON — The House for the first time Wednesday approved a war powers resolution that would halt the U.S. military action against Iran, defying President Donald Trump as a handful of Republicans joined with Democrats to end the three-month-long conflict that has reordered politics at home and abroad. House Speaker Mike Johnson had tried to prevent an outcome that would show the mounting opposition to the war, abruptly shutting down floor action two weeks ago when the resolution was on the verge of approval. But displeasure has only grown as the conflict drags on and as Trump…

by Tim Reynolds OKLAHOMA CITY  — The last time Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Oklahoma City Thunder played a Game 7 it was the ultimate game of ultimate games, one that decided last season’s NBA championship. And that’s why, as the NBA’s two-time Most Valuable Player spoke about the Game 7 that looms against the San Antonio Spurs on Saturday night to decide the Western Conference title, it might have seemed mildly surprising that he said these five words: “Biggest game of my career.” “It’s the next game,” he quickly added. “And if I lose, my season’s over.” Simple as that.…

by Tim Reynolds OKLAHOMA CITY  — Victor Wembanyama had 41 points and 24 rebounds, Dylan Harper finished with 24 points and a team playoff-record seven steals, and the San Antonio Spurs beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 122-115 in a double-overtime classic to open the Western Conference finals Monday night. Wembanyama sealed it with a pair of dunks in the final minute, one of them leading to a three-point play as the Spurs stole home-court advantage and beat the Thunder for the fifth time in six meetings this season. Stephon Castle had 17 points, Devin Vassell and Keldon Johnson each scored…