Sports
Mbappe wins men’s player of the year at Dubai Globe Soccer Awards + Fill winners’ list
Kylian Mbappe was named the men’s Player of the Year at the Dubai Globe Soccer Awards on Monday night, with Robert Lewandowski, Cristiano Ronaldo and Ronaldinho among the evening’s other winners.
The Paris Saint-Germain forward, 23, took the top honours at the 12th awards ceremony, held at the Armani Hotel.
Mbappe, a 2018 Fifa World Cup winner with France, had earlier featured alongside Bayern Munich counterpart Lewandowski in a panel discussion for the Dubai International Sports Conference, where the pair discussed innovation in football.
In winning the best men’s player award, Mbappe defeated six-time recipient Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Mohamed Salah, Karim Benzema and Lewandowski.
The French international top-scored in Ligue 1 last season with 27 goals, as PSG finished runner-up to Lille, and helped France secure the Uefa Nations League.
“It’s a big pleasure to be here again in Dubai,” Mbappe said. “First of all, I have to wish a Happy New Year to everybody here. A big pleasure to see all the big players here, big legends, big names of football.
“It is a big achievement for me. I want to say thank you to my club Paris Saint-Germain, who believed in me these past five years, even better this season. To my national team; to all the people who nobody knows who work with me, who help me a lot; to my family, they are there with me, always with me.
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“It’s a great pleasure to be here. And it’s a big motivation to keep working hard and maybe come back next year and win again so many titles individually and collectively.”
Lewandowski, 33, did not leave empty-handed though: the Polish international won the inaugural [Diego] Maradona Award for best goalscorer of the year after striking 69 times for the German champions in 2021.
This month’s volley against Wolfsburg was his 43rd goal in the Bundesliga in the past 12 months, breaking Gerd Muller’s record for the most German league goals in a calendar year, which had stood since 1972.
On Monday, Lewandowski was also named TikTok fans’ player of the year – a category organisers said attracted millions of votes.
“Diego Armando Maradona, I know what happened to him last year, so that means a lot, even more to win this award,” Lewandowski said.
“Because for me, as a striker, to be in the right position at the right time is always the best feeling so I know that my play, my goals, will boost my teammates. Because without my teammates, without my coaches, it would be difficult to score so many goals.
“I want to thank all my teammates, all my coaches, because they help be the best scorer this year and I hope maybe next year as well. But I know I have to work hard, even harder than this year.”
Ronaldo, meanwhile, picked up the prize for “top scorer of all-time”.
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Earlier this month, the Portugal captain became the first player to reach 800 goals when he scored twice for Manchester United in the 3-2 victory against Arsenal in the Premier League. Last year, Ronaldo was named Globe Soccer’s Player of the Century.
Speaking via recorded message, the forward, who was getting set to represent his club against Newcastle United in the English top flight on Monday night, said: “Unfortunately I could not be there tonight, but I just want to say thank you for this amazing award. I’m so proud and very happy for this achievement. Thank you guys and have a good evening. And I hope to be there next year.”
Meanwhile, Brazil great Ronaldinho collected the Player Career award for a CV that includes winning the 2002 Fifa World Cup, being twice voted Fifa Player of the Year, and lifting with Barcelona a Uefa Champions League crown and two La Liga titles.
Elsewhere, Barcelona captain Alexia Putellas won the best women’s player and Roberto Mancini scooped the award for best coach after guiding Italy to the Euro 2020 crown this summer.
Manchester City’s Txiki Begiristain was named sporting director of the year.
For the second time in the awards history, fans were invited to vote. Organisers said more than 15 million votes were cast from 210-plus countries and territories. Fans accounted for a 40 per cent of the votes, while a jury – made up of coaches, directors and club presidents – contributed to the remainder.
- WINNERS
- Best Men’s Player of the Year: Kylian Mbappe (PSG)
- Maradona Award for Best Goal Scorer of the Year: Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich)
- TikTok Fans’ Player of the Year: Robert Lewandowski
- Top Goal Scorer of All Time: Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United)
- Best Women’s Player of the Year: Alexia Putellas (Barcelona)
- Best Men’s Club of the Year: Chelsea
- Best Women’s Club of the Year: Barcelona
- Best Defender of the Year: Leonardo Bonucci (Juventus/Italy)
- Best Goalkeeper of the Year: Gianluigi Donnarumma (PSG/Italy)
- Best Coach of the Year: Roberto Mancini (Italy)
- Best National Team of the Year: Italy
- Best Agent of the Year: Federico Pastorello
- Best Sporting Director of the Year: Txiki Begiristain (Manchester City)
- Player Career Award: Ronaldinho.
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International
‘Completely False’ — Moreno Denies Using AI to Prepare Games
Robert Moreno has begun his interim tenure as South Korea’s coach with a denial of one of the more unusual controversies attached to his coaching career, claims that he used ChatGPT to help prepare his teams for matches.
The Spanish coach, who arrived in South Korea this weekend, was asked about the allegation as he began work with the national side.
Moreno was accused by Russian media earlier this year of heavily relying on artificial intelligence during his spell at Sochi, where he left in September 2025 following a poor run of results.
He has consistently rejected the claim.
Moreno said the reports were “completely false” and argued that his use of technology had been misrepresented.
His explanation comes as he takes over a South Korean side attempting to recover from a turbulent World Cup campaign. The team crashed out in the group stage, leading Hong Myung-bo to resign and leaving the Korea Football Association under pressure over both the team’s performance and its previous recruitment process.
The KFA appointed Moreno as a temporary replacement rather than immediately committing to a permanent coach. He is expected to lead the team through six international matches, beginning with September and October friendlies against Ecuador, Uruguay, Venezuela and Uzbekistan.
His first squad includes veteran captain Son Heung-min, who now plays for Los Angeles FC, as well as Lee Kang-in and Kim Min-jae.
Moreno said he wants his tenure to be about more than results, with the immediate goal of rebuilding the relationship between the national team and its supporters.
“I want to make Korean football fans happy,” he said.
For now, however, the AI controversy remains part of the baggage surrounding his appointment, something Moreno appears keen to put behind him as he begins the task of rebuilding South Korea’s national team.
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Sports
Falconets Crush New Caledonia 10-1, Set Up England Clash
Falconets Crush New Caledonia 10-1, Set Up England Clash
Nigeria’s Falconets have secured their place in the Round of 16 of the 2026 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup in Poland after producing a record-breaking 10-1 victory over New Caledonia in their final Group F match on Sunday.
The emphatic victory at the Stadion Miejski ŁKS in Łódź lifted Nigeria to second place in Group F with four points, behind Spain, and earned the team a knockout-stage meeting with England, who topped Group E. The Round of 16 clash is scheduled for Thursday, September 17.
The result marked a dramatic turnaround for the Falconets, who had struggled to find the back of the net in their opening two matches. Nigeria began the tournament with a 2-0 defeat to Spain before playing out a goalless draw against China, leaving qualification in doubt heading into the final group fixture.
With their knockout hopes on the line, coach Moses Aduku’s side responded in emphatic fashion, racing into a four-goal lead before half-time and adding six more goals after the break.
Ramotalahi Kareem opened the scoring from the penalty spot in the 17th minute before Rebecca Adegbemile doubled Nigeria’s advantage two minutes later.
Janet Seimeyeha Akekoromowei added the third in the 23rd minute, while Kareem struck again in the 27th minute to complete a first-half brace and give the Falconets a 4-0 lead at the interval.
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Nigeria continued to dominate after the restart, with substitute Winner Onajite David joining the scoring in the 60th minute.
Kareem completed her hat-trick in the 64th minute before Tosin Rafiu added the seventh goal in the 70th minute. Adegbemile then scored her second of the match four minutes later.
David returned to the scoresheet in the 75th minute to make it 9-0 before New Caledonia finally found a consolation goal through Joceline Kourevi in the 89th minute.
David completed her own hat-trick in stoppage time to round off a remarkable 10-1 victory for Nigeria.
The win is the biggest victory recorded by Nigeria at the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup, giving the Falconets a significant boost in goal difference, which proved decisive in determining their final position in Group F.
Nigeria and China both finished the group stage on four points. However, Nigeria advanced in second position because of their superior goal difference, while Spain topped the group with nine points after defeating China 3-1 in the other final Group F fixture.
The victory also ensured that Nigeria maintained their impressive record of reaching the knockout stage of the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup. The Falconets have been regular participants in the latter stages of the competition and have twice finished as runners-up, although they are still searching for their first world title.
For New Caledonia, the match brought an end to their historic debut at the U-20 Women’s World Cup. The Pacific island nation made history by qualifying for the tournament for the first time.
Despite the heavy defeat to Nigeria, Kourevi’s late goal provided a memorable moment for New Caledonia as the team recorded its first goal at the tournament.
The Falconets, meanwhile, will now turn their attention to England. The knockout fixture presents a significantly tougher challenge, with a place in the quarter-finals at stake.
Nigeria will enter the match with renewed confidence after scoring 10 goals in their final group game, while coach Aduku will be expected to build on the attacking display as the Falconets continue their bid to go all the way in Poland.
The dramatic victory has transformed what appeared to be a difficult group-stage campaign into another opportunity for Nigeria to make a deep run at the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup.
Falconets Crush New Caledonia 10-1, Set Up England Clash
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Sports
‘Unacceptable’ — Arteta Furious Over Sunderland Penalty in Arsenal Win
‘Unacceptable’ — Arteta Furious Over Sunderland Penalty in Arsenal Win
Arsenal left the Stadium of Light with another three points, but Mikel Arteta was far from satisfied with one of the major refereeing decisions in the champions’ 2-0 win over Sunderland.
The turning point came early in the second half when Sunderland were awarded a penalty following a physical battle between Arsenal’s Ezri Konsa and Dan Ballard.
Although VAR reviewed the incident, the original decision stood. Arteta strongly disagreed, insisting that the footage showed no offence worthy of a penalty and warning that such calls could have serious consequences in a Premier League title race.
Sunderland had a chance to capitalise, but Raya came to Arsenal’s rescue. The goalkeeper guessed correctly to keep out Le Fée’s penalty and turned the ball onto the post.
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Arsenal needed only a short time to make the save count.
Guimarães, introduced at half-time, collected the ball outside the area and unleashed a curling strike that flew into the top corner. It was his first goal since joining Arsenal and gave the visitors the breakthrough they needed.
Sunderland refused to collapse and continued to test the visitors, but Arsenal’s defence survived the pressure. Saka then put the result beyond doubt from the spot in stoppage time after Reinildo was sent off for a second yellow card.
The victory means Arsenal have won all four of their Premier League matches this season, maintaining their flawless start and moving to 12 points.
For Arteta, however, the result did not erase his concerns about the penalty decision.
He argued that football’s extensive use of VAR should ensure such controversial calls are corrected, saying the incident was not acceptable at the highest level.
Arsenal ultimately had Raya’s heroics, Guimarães’ brilliance and a resilient defensive performance to thank for turning a potentially difficult night into another important victory.
‘Unacceptable’ — Arteta Furious Over Sunderland Penalty in Arsenal Win
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