• Ireland gives up on replay over Henry's hand ball
  Ireland has given up hope of a World Cup playoff replay against France because of Thierry Henry's hand ball.

• Spain overtakes Brazil in FIFA Rankings
  Spain has regained the top spot in the FIFA/Coca-Cola Men's World Rankings, which were released on Friday for the month of November.

• Beckham stands up for Henry
  David Beckham claims Thierry Henry did not deliberately handle the ball and has leapt to the defense of the France striker after claiming he is not a cheat.

• Sorry Ireland, what's done is done
  Four years is a long period of time, but for players like Shay Given, Robbie Keane and the rest of Ireland's national soccer team, it may as well be 40 years.

• Ibrahimovic expects Barca to advance
  Striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic is confident that Barcelona will overcome its Champions League wobbles and beat Inter Milan to seal its progress as Group F winners.

• FIFA suspends Iraq for political meddling
  FIFA suspended Iraq from soccer because of political interference in the national federation.

• Police: 17 arrests in soccer match-fixing probe
  German prosecutors investigating match-fixing in soccer say 15 people in Germany and two in Switzerland have been arrested and about 200 games in Europe are under suspicion.

• FIFA says no to France-Ireland replay
  Even though French soccer star Thierry Henry has admitted to a handball during France's World Cup-clinching aggregate win over Ireland on Wednesday and has called for a replay to the game, soccer's international federation shot down the idea on Friday.

• Henry says France-Ireland game should be replayed
  Thierry Henry denied Friday that he was a cheat but said the "fairest solution" would be to replay the France-Ireland World Cup playoff that was decided by his hand ball.

• Serbian police make arrest in soccer fan death
  Serbian police say they have arrested another suspect in the fatal attack on a French soccer fan in Belgrade two months ago.

• France coach sees no need for handball apology
  France coach Raymond Domenech says he and his players see no reason to apologize for the Thierry Henry handball against Ireland that put the team into the World Cup.

• FIFA: No replay for France-Ireland WCup qualifier
  There will be no rematch.

• 'Hand of Shame' sparks debate on cheating, replays
  Irish soccer officials accused Thierry Henry of damaging the integrity of the game when he blatantly handled the ball to set up the goal that booked France's place at next year's World Cup in South Africa.

• As Henry shows, soccer players can't be trusted
  Soccer players just can't be trusted to be honest and Thierry Henry proved that by choosing to play volleyball against Ireland, blatantly handling the ball for the goal that sent France to the World Cup.

• Los Angeles Galaxy cancels Europen tour
  David Beckham won't be coming to Kaiserslautern.

• Real Salt Lake gains financial partner
  The owner of Real Salt Lake is selling a stake in the soccer team to a Utah real-estate developer.

• 'We got robbed': Irish demand replay with France
  Ireland appealed to France and FIFA on Thursday to replay their World Cup playoff after an obvious hand ball by Thierry Henry set up the deciding goal.

• Multiple arrests in German soccer corruption probe
  German police have arrested an undisclosed number of people suspected of fixing matches in major European soccer leagues.

• Comcast-NBC would unite rivals on Oly network
  NBC might have a partner in the cable company that wanted to be its Olympic rival.

• Flag-raising for 32 nations marks WCup milestone
  The flags of the 32 nations that qualified for the 2010 World Cup are flying in Johannesburg.

• France makes World Cup despite Henry controversy
  France qualified for its fourth consecutive World Cup when officials missed an obvious hand ball by Thierry Henry that led to William Gallas' overtime goal in a 1-1 tie against Ireland on Wednesday night.

• Denmark rallies to beat United States
  The United States Men's National Team concluded its 2009 campaign on Wednesday with a 3-1 defeat at Denmark.

• English soccer team sells Katy Perry-inspired top
  West Ham is selling lingerie after singer Katy Perry wore a top made out of three jerseys at this month's MTV Europe Music Awards.

• Cyprus soccer fans will need IDs for tickets
  Soccer authorities in Cyprus say all fans will need to show state identity cards to buy tickets for domestic league matches in a bid to curb violence at games.

• Starry Galaxy wary of scrappy Salt Lake in MLS Cup
  The only obstacle between David Beckham's Los Angeles Galaxy and a Major League Soccer championship is an MLS Cup opponent that barely made the playoffs after finishing the regular season with a losing record.