Barcelona brush aside Real Madrid to make Women's Champions League semis

Barcelona blasted their way into the semi-finals of the Women's Champions League with a 6-0 thrashing of Real Madrid to give them a whopping ​12-2 aggregate victory over their Spanish rivals on Thursday, setting them up for ‌a last-four clash with German side Bayern Munich, Reuters reported. 

They will be joined in the semis by OL Lyonnes (formerly Olympique Lyonnais), who beat Bayern's compatriots VfL Wolfsburg 4-1 on aggregate after extra time to put them ​through to a meeting with reigning champions Arsenal.

Already leading 6-2 after last week's first ​leg, Barca showed no mercy in the second against Madrid, Alexia Putellas ⁠opening the scoring in the eighth minute and Caroline Graham Hansen adding a second seven ​minutes later to snuff out any hopes Madrid might have had of making a comeback, according to Reuters. 

Danish soul-searching begins as Czechs end World Cup dreams

Denmark’s failure to qualify for the 2026 World Cup has plunged the national team into a period of transition, ending a decade-long run of appearances at major tournaments and raising questions over the ​direction of its ageing squad, Reuters reported. 

Denmark’s qualification hopes ended on Tuesday when they lost 3-1 on penalties to the Czech Republic in Prague after a 2-2 draw in the playoff final.

The setback followed a run of damaging results, including a 2-2 home draw with Belarus and a late 4-2 defeat by Scotland that handed the Scots automatic qualification, according to Reuters. 

Arsenal into Women's Champions League semi-finals after 3-2 aggregate win over Chelsea

Reigning champions Arsenal booked their spot in the Women's Champions League semi-finals with a 3-2 aggregate victory over Chelsea, despite a 1-0 defeat at Stamford Bridge in Wednesday's quarter-final ​second leg, Reuters reported. 

Knowing they had to chase the game, Chelsea, who had manager Sonia Bompastor ‌sent off late on, started at a furious pace. Yet Arsenal soon knocked them out of their rhythm, and the home side didn't manage a single shot on target in the first half as the visitors took their time over ​every dead ball.

Arsenal grew into the game in the second half, but all the drama ​happened late on as Chelsea threw everything forward in an effort to get back ⁠in the tie, according to Reuters. 

Iraq defeat Bolivia 2-1 to qualify for World Cup 2026

Iraq have ended a 40-year wait for an appearance at the FIFA World Cup with a 2-1 victory over Bolivia in the second final of the intercontinental playoffs in Mexico, making them the 48th team to qualify for the tournament, Reuters reported. 

Goals from Ali al-Hamadi and Aymen Hussein helped the Lions of Mesopotamia edge past the South American nation at the Monterrey Stadium in Guadalupe on Tuesday.

Al-Hamadi’s opener in the 10th minute gave Iraq the perfect start, but Moises Paniagua drew the Greens level 28 minutes later in a closely-contested match in one of the cohost nations of the World Cup, according to Reuters.