Worldwide Sports News

NYON, Switzerland (AP) — UEFA still plans for Qatar to stage the Argentina vs. Spain game known as Finalissima this month even as the emirate is targeted by Iranian missiles in the widening Middle East war started by Israel and the United States.

“At present, there are no alternative venues being considered,” UEFA said on Thursday about the scheduled March 27 game in Doha between the reigning champions of South America and Europe in a likely matchup of Lionel Messi and Lamine Yamal.

“A final decision is anticipated towards the end of next week,” said the European soccer body which organizes the game with South American counterpart CONMEBOL.

Argentina and Spain are due to play at Lusail Stadium that staged the epic 2022 World Cup final. Argentina won a penalty shootout against France after Messi scored twice and Kylian Mbappé got a hat track in a thrilling 3-3 draw.

Qatar has close relations with UEFA. Its top soccer official Nasser Al-Khelaïfi, the president of Qatar-owned Paris Saint-Germain, is a member of the UEFA executive committee.

“Discussions are ongoing with the local organizers who have made a huge effort to make the match a success,” UEFA said.

If Doha is too much of a security risk to host the game, it could be moved to Spain or elsewhere in Europe where nearly all the players in the two squads are based.

The first Finalissima was at Wembley Stadium in London in June 2022. Argentina and Messi beat Italy 3-0.

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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

GOLD COAST, Australia (AP) — The Iran women's soccer team sang and saluted as its national anthem played ahead of the Women's Asian Cup contest against Australia on Thursday, a contrast to the silence before its opening game.

The outcome was similar, though, with World Cup semifinalist Australia winning 4-0.

The silence during the anthem before Monday's 3-0 loss to South Korea was variously reported as an act of resistance or a show of mourning. The team didn’t clarify.

But in a news conference on the eve of the game against Australia, Iran striker Sara Didar choked back tears as she shared the concerns of players and management for their families and loved ones amid the war in the Middle East.

The 21-year-old Didar was on the bench when Thursday's match started in pouring rain on the Gold Coast, where Iran is scheduled to play all three of its Group A games.

The Iran squad and management have declined to comment on the military strikes or death of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, with head coach Marziyeh Jafari saying it was important for the women as professional players to focus on the tournament and try to qualify for next year's World Cup.

The Iranians arrived in Australia well before the strikes by Israel and the U.S. on Iran last Saturday.

The change in approach with the anthem between games in Australia seemed to mirror the Iranian men’s team at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

The men didn’t sing the national anthem before their opening loss against England as turmoil overshadowed the start of their campaign. In their second game against Wales, the men sang along to the anthem and celebrated when they scored.

Iran was competing in that World Cup amid a violent crackdown on a major women’s protest movement that was spurred by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in the custody of the country’s morality police.

On Thursday, there were Iranian supporters in the crowd of about 22,000 people at Gold Coast Stadium.

After another heavy loss, the Iranians need a big win over the Philippines in their last group game next Monday to have any chance of progressing to the quarterfinals and maintaining any chance of securing a spot at the Women's World Cup next year in Brazil.

Clusters of protesters against Iran's regime gathered outside ahead of the game.

Nasrin Vaziri, an Iranian Australian and long-time Gold Coast resident, told the Australian Broadcasting Corp she was there because she wanted to support the players.

“I think they are brilliant because they haven’t had many chances to play,” Vaziri told the ABC. “They are real people, even under pressure. We are proud of them. As a woman, I’m proud of them."

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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

It’s been 26 days since the Spurs last played in their home venue of the Frost Bank Center in San Antonio, TX. Sure, they had a couple of “home” games in Austin to break up the annual Rodeo Road Trip a bit, but that still counts as travel and not sleeping in their own beds, so they’re part of the overall RRT record in my book, which spanned nine games, seven cities and three time zones that saw the Spurs go 8-1 overall.

If that record is triggering some nostalgia, you aren’t alone. Back in the the good ol’ days, the Stock Show and Rodeo coming to town was a good thing for the Spurs. The extended road trip always acted as bonding time and a successful launching point to get the team out of the January doldrums and into championship contention mode. In 13 of the first 14 years, beginning 2003, they had winning records (and the time they didn’t was when they 4-4 in 2010). However, the tide turned in 2018 when the team went 2-4, just trying to hold on while waiting to hear if Kawhi Leonard would return. While that group and the 2019 squad, who went 1-7, both ultimately turned things around in March and made the playoffs as the 7th seed, the RRT has gone from a defining point of the season to a lost cause ever since. Until now.

With the Spurs going undefeated in the month of February, including a huge win over tonight’s opponent, and sitting comfortably at second in the West, they look like the Spurs of yore. After an inconsistent January, they started clicking as the calendar turned to February, and they’ve been on a roll ever sense (outside of a bad showing in New York that, if their beatdown of the 76ers two nights later was any indication, was a one-off).

Now, after tying 2003 for their best RRT record ever, they head back home to welcomed six-game homestand, but it won’t be that easy. It starts tonight with the top team in the East, and the two “easiest” games will be a couple of play-in teams in the Clippers and Hornets that have been on the rise and are better than their record. It’s officially the home stretch of the season for the Spurs, and for the first time in seven years, there’s a purpose behind it beyond just proving a light at the end of the tunnel while waiting for the season to come to a merciful end.

San Antonio Spurs (44-17) vs. Detroit Pistons (45-15)

March 5, 2026 | 7:00 PM CT

Watch: FanDuel Sports | Listen: WOAI (1200 AM)

Spurs injuries: Harrison Barnes — out (ankle); Mason Plumlee — out (reconditioning)

Pistons injuries: none

What to watch for

The “return home” trap game

Given the pension the Spurs had for playing down to opponents not to long ago, combined with the return home from a long road trip always being a trap game, it’s probably a good thing that this game is against one of just two teams with a better record than them. The Spurs faced the Pistons a mere ten days ago, and the game was everything it was hyped up to be: physical, chippy, and a match-up of two defensive-minded teams with good but imperfect offenses. While it took some time to adjust, Victor Wembanyama eventually figured how to use his gravitational pull on Detroit’s defense to find his open teammates, and they paid him back in kind by hitting their shots.

On the other end, the Spurs’ defense and physicality gave the Pistons problems. They couldn’t finish around Wemby, and Stephon Castle did an amazing job on Cade Cummingham all night. The Spurs have the blue print to beat the Pistons, but perhaps their biggest challenge will be to stay out of their own heads. Don’t relax just because you’re back home, and don’t think you have this figured out. Cunningham will likely be out of revenge, plus there is one other player that wasn’t there in the first match-up to watch out for…

The return of Beef Stew

The Pistons did not have Isaiah Stewart last week because he was serving a 7-game suspension after leaving the bench and fighting Miles Bridges during a brawl with the Hornets before the All-Star break. He’s back now, and while he may seem like merely a backup center whose stats don’t jump off the page, Spurs fans can attest that stats don’t always tell the entire story. Affectionately called Beef Stew, Stewart is known for his confidence, physical play and willingness to muck it up — basically your classic Detroit Bad Boy — making him a fan favorite who hearkens back memories of underdog Ben Wallace.

Everyone knows that the best hope to beating the Spurs is to make Wemby as uncomfortable as possible. While the Pistons were able to do that to an extend in their first match-up, he still found other ways to contribute. If they again have trouble truly taking him out of the game, don’t be surprised if Stewart is put on Wemby and told to not just out-physical him, but get in his head. Wemby will need to be ready for whatever is thrown at him, and just like last time, his teammates need to be ready to respond if he can’t get it going on offense. As they have shown time and again lately, the best way to do that is hit shots.

You can follow along with game here on the Game Thread, as well as on our X profile (@poundingtherock).

This is the big one. The Utah Jazz and Washington Wizards.

Scroll all the way down the NBA standings, and you should be able to find these teams representing some of the very worst either conference has to offer. It’s an elderly goldfish vs a geriatric turtle. It’s coughing baby vs sneezing baby. It’s the fifth-worst Utah Jazz and fourth-worst Washington Wizards. The tagline for this blockbuster epic? Somebody’s got to win. That’s how basketball games work.

It’s professional sports’ worst-kept secret that these two teams have been gunning for lottery odds over Ws — they’ve been the usual suspects for the past few seasons, and this 2025-26 has been no exception.

Washington (16-45) has sidelined their newly acquired veteran stars, Trae Young and Anthony Davis, in an effort to lose today and win tomorrow (though Young struggles to remain sidelined at times). Though their strategy board reads only “TANK”, their new acquisitions arrived with a promise: lose today, win tomorrow.

Utah (18-44) is in a very similar trajectory since the trade deadline, though instead of banking on aging stars alongside their budding young core, the Jazz plug 27-year-old Jaren Jackson Jr. into their roster to pair with their youngsters and whatever you’d consider Lauri Markkanen to be. But with JJJ, Markkanen, and Kessler all out with injury, the Jazz are equally keen to burn the season in hopes of adding an excellent rookie to fortify what’s already forming into a frightening roster.

Lose today, win tomorrow. But again, somebody has got to win in the nation’s capital on Thursday. It’s inescapable.

The Jazz sit 1.5 games ahead of the Wizards in the current standings, but a Washington victory would cut the difference to just 0.5 games. Danny Ainge salivates. Austin Ainge continues to pretend that the Jazz don’t tank. The Inside Out HQ in Adam Silver’s brain has burned to ash in a fit of unbridled rage.

Utah and Washington are currently on a combined losing streak of 13 games, and just 4.5 and 3.0 games removed from the bottomless pit of Sacramento at the very bottom of the NBA ladder.

Keyonte George is officially back from his ankle injury and back to his old ways, dropping 30-plus in both of his two games back. If George plays, this contest leans to Utah on paper, as the Wizards have already announced the absence of Kyshawn George and leading scorer, rebounder, and defender, Alex Sarr. We’ll all watch with bated breath as the injury report will likely confirm that Keyonte George has contracted polio and will be absent for the next four weeks, as the NBA rushes its medical team to Key’s hotel room to confirm the reports.

Somebody has to win, gentlemen. Now shake hands and pretend to want it.

How to watch Utah vs Washington:

Date: Thursday, March 5, 2026
Time: 5:00 PM MT
Location: Capitol One Arena, Washington, D.C.
Channel: KJZZ, Jazz+

Calvin Barrett is a writer, editor, and prolific Mario Kart racer located in Tokyo, Japan. He has covered the NBA and College Sports since 2024.