Flora Snelson

Cristiano Ronaldo says the 2026-27 season is probably his final year as a professional footballer, although he has not made a definitive retirement announcement. The 41-year-old, who has one year remaining on his Al-Nassr contract, says he wants to leave a spectacular legacy and focus more on family, travel and other interests after 25 years in football. Ronaldo has won major honours in England, Spain, Italy and Saudi Arabia and is 24 goals short of 1,000 senior career goals. He is also considering whether the 2026 World Cup will be his last, while Lionel Messi has similarly expressed uncertainty about his playing future.

Abbie Donnelly won bronze in the women's marathon at the European Championships in Birmingham, becoming the first British woman to win an individual marathon medal at the event. Alisa Vainio of Finland won gold in a championship-record 2:22:26, while Hungary's Lili Anna Vindics-Toth took silver. Donnelly finished in 2:27:33, 12 seconds behind the runner-up. Great Britain also won the women's team marathon title, with Natasha Wilson fifth and Rose Harvey 14th, taking the nation's overall gold-medal tally to seven.

Jonny Clayton won his first New Zealand Darts Masters title by defeating fellow Welshman and World Cup partner Gerwyn Price 8-4 in Auckland. Clayton built a 5-1 lead with several high checkouts, survived a brief Price comeback, and sealed the match with a 124 checkout. Price acknowledged Clayton’s superior performance after missing several doubles. The World Series regular season ends with the Australian Darts Masters next weekend, followed by the Finals in Amsterdam from 17 to 20 September.

Crystal Palace have signed 21-year-old Israel international Anan Khalaili from Union Saint-Gilloise on a contract running until 2031 for a reported £21m. The versatile winger or full-back helped Union win the Belgian Pro League and Belgian Cup, and scored three Champions League goals last season. He becomes the fifth addition to Pierre Sage’s squad ahead of Palace’s Europa League campaign.

Katie Boulter will captain Great Britain at the Billie Jean King Cup Finals in Shenzhen, replacing Katie Swan. The squad also includes Harriet Dart, 17-year-old Mika Stojsavljevic and Jodie Burrage, while Emma Raducanu is absent after a year affected by injury and illness. Britain qualified by upsetting Australia and will face Czechia in the quarter-finals, with the Czech team including Wimbledon champion Linda Noskova and runner-up Karolina Muchova. The finals will also feature leading players such as Elena Rybakina, Zheng Qinwen, Jasmine Paolini and Sara Errani, with ties decided over two singles matches and one doubles match.