Without an ill Cristiano Ronaldo, Al-Nassr of Saudi Arabia drew with Al-Shorta of Iraq 1-1 in the first ever game in the revamped and rebranded AFC Champions League Elite on Monday.

Ronaldo was left behind in Riyadh because Al-Nassr said the Portugal superstar, who has won five UEFA Champions Leagues but has yet to win a major trophy with his current club, had a viral infection and could not travel to Baghdad.

David Beckham and former England coach Roy Hodgson were among the soccer dignitaries who attended the funeral of Sven-Goran Eriksson on Friday in the Swedish manager's small hometown of Torsby.

Eriksson's wooden coffin was covered in white flowers and surrounded by six tall candles and other floral wreaths as the ceremony began inside the 600-seat Fryksande church.

Pep Guardiola has confirmed that the long-awaited hearing into Manchester City's alleged financial breaches begins on Monday.

The Premier League champion faces more than 100 charges ranging over a nine-year period when it was trying to establish itself as the biggest force in English soccer. The hearing into the charges will be held by an independent commission, which will be made up of three judges appointed by a lawyer who chairs the league's judicial panel.

Real Madrid remains with the Spanish league's highest spending limit following the summer transfer window, while Barcelona improved significantly but remained well bellow its rival's cap.

The league released the cost limits for each team on Thursday, with Madrid's cap reaching nearly 755 million euros ($833 million), up from 727 million euros ($803 million).

Liverpool has yet to allow a goal this season and Mohamed Salah has scored in each of the three games — all victories.

If this is what contract distractions look like at Anfield, new manager Arne Slot is fine with it.

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta signed a new contract to 2027 on Thursday.

Potential coaching upheaval, players' injuries, an underdog continuing to soar — oh, and Cristiano Ronaldo stealing the spotlight once again.

Even after leaving star forward Kylian Mbappé on the bench, France handed Belgium yet another loss in the Nations League on Monday.

Two of Mbappé's former teammates at Paris Saint-Germain, Randal Kolo Muani and Ousmane Dembélé, struck with powerful shots either side of halftime in a 2-0 win in Lyon.

England captain Harry Kane will be presented with a gold cap to mark his 100th appearance for his country ahead of the Nations League match against Finland at Wembley on Tuesday.

The Bayern Munich striker will become the 10th Englishman to reach a century of international caps — the first since Wayne Rooney in 2014 — and will look to improve on his record 66 goals for the team.

Julian Alvarez was picked in 83 match-day squads last season. Darwin Nunez, Luis Diaz and Phil Foden played in 72 games. Cristian Romero traveled more than 160,000 kilometers for international games.

In comparison, Erling Haaland had a summer break without a national-team tournament and has started the season fresh with a flurry of goals for Manchester City.