Sunday, December 22, 2024

Euro 2024 and Wimbledon finals lead amazing weekend of sport – BBC Sport

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Image source, Getty Images

Image caption, Alcaraz, Kane and Asher-Smith will all be hoping for victories at their respective events

If you are a fan of sport then it probably feels a bit like Christmas at the moment with the amount of big events taking place.

There is plenty going on across football, tennis, rugby union, rugby league, cycling, athletics, darts and golf so those plans to paint the garden fence or do some summer shopping might have to wait.

Euro 2024, Copa America and Euro 2025 qualifiers

Let’s start with football.

England’s women will be in action on Friday as they face the Republic of Ireland at 20:00 BST in a Euro 2025 qualifier.

The Lionesses go into the game in third place in their group, needing to finish in the top two to secure automatic qualification.

England are below Sweden on goal difference, who they face in their final match on Tuesday in Gothenburg.

Also, if you haven’t noticed, England’s men have reached the Euro 2024 final and will play Spain in Berlin on Sunday.

The game kicks-off at 20:00 BST and coverage will start on BBC One from 18:30 BST and the action will also be available across the BBC Sport website and app, BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC iPlayer.

England’s men have reached the final of a major tournament being held overseas for the first time and they will be bidding to win the European Championship for the first time in their history as well.

England boss Gareth Southgate’s side reached the final of the last Euro’s and, despite taking a 1-0 lead, drew 1-1 and went on to lose on penalties against Italy at Wembley.

The country will be tuning in to see whether they can go one better against Spain, who have been in impressive form in Germany having won each of their six games – including victories against Germany and France – to reach the final.

The final of the Copa America, which is being held in Miami, will also be taking place, with Argentina facing Colombia on Monday at 01:00 BST.

Argentina, with a certain Lionel Messi in their ranks, will be aiming to win the competition for 16th time and add it the the World Cup they won in 2022.

Colombia are in their first final since 2001 when they won their only Copa America title.

The third-place play-off of the tournament will take place between Uruguay and Canada on Sunday at 01:00 BST.

Wimbledon titles on the line

It’s the biggest weekend of the British tennis season with the Wimbledon finals.

In the men’s draw the semi-finals are on Friday with defending champion Carlos Alcaraz and seven-time champion Novak Djokovic still in contention.

Barbora Krejcikova and Jasmine Paolini battled through their semi-finals to reach the women’s final on Saturday and you can catch all of the action from the All England Club live across the BBC.

And what else?

Lancashire bowler Jimmy Anderson’s last match on the international stage finished on Friday lunchtime with the 41-year-old helping England to a dominant win over the West Indies at Lord’s.

England’s women will play the fourth T20 of their series against New Zealand on Saturday as both sides build towards October’s T20 World Cup in Bangladesh.

England lead the five-match series 3-0 going into the game at the Oval, which starts at 18:30 BST.

The 13th stage of the 111th edition of the Tour de France will take place on Friday and the race will continue across Saturday and Sunday, with live text coverage on the BBC Sport website.

The latest Diamond League meet takes place in Monaco as athletes gear up for the Olympics in Paris, which start on Friday, 26 July.

Great Britain’s Dina Asher-Smith will be in action in the women’s 100m.

In rugby union, England will be taking on New Zealand in Auckland on Saturday.

Kick-off is at 08:05 BST at Eden Park as England try to level the two-Test series after losing the first game 16-15 to the All Blacks in Dunedin.

Scotland are playing the United States in Washington on Friday from 23:30 BST, while, on Saturday, Wales are away to Australia (10:45 BST) and Ireland face South Africa at 16:00 BST in Durban.

There will also be plenty of rugby league games, with men’s and women’s Super League action across the weekend.

Darts fans will also be catered for, with the 2024 World Matchplay getting under way in Blackpool on Saturday, 13 July.

The organisers of the tournament have rearranged their schedule on Sunday so that later session starts at 16:30 BST instead of 19:00 BST to avoid a clash with the Euro 2024 final.

And in horse racing, the July Cup at Newmarket on Saturday is one of the top sprint races in the world.

Golf fans have the latest women’s major to follow with the Evian Championship in France, while the men’s Scottish Open is also taking place.

You can follow live text commentary of most events on the BBC Sport website and app as well as across BBC Radio 5 Live, BBC Sounds and BBC iPlayer.

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