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Real Madrid to begin La Liga title defence at Almeria

Real Madrid will begin the defence of their Spanish league title away to Almeria on Aug. 14 and Barcelona host Rayo Vallecano the same weekend, La Liga said on Thursday. With the World Cup in Qatar scheduled to be played for the first time in the middle of the European domestic season, the La Liga campaign will not end until next June.

FIFA increases squads to 26 players for 2022 World Cup

"The number of players to be included on the final list has been increased to at least 23 and a maximum of 26," FIFA said in a statement. UEFA adopted similar changes for Euro 2020 last year in response to Covid-19 concerns.

eSports: Could it become more popular than the real thing?

The world of eSports is booming. Over 300 million copies of the FIFA series have been sold since its launch 17 years ago, and there are some suggestions that its virtual popularity of football could exceed the real thing. But what exactly are eSports? It's an industry worth more than a billion euros, and events feature amateurs and professionals globally.

LaLiga schedule: Real Madrid vs. Barcelona Clasico set for Oct. 16

Real Madrid will travel to newly promoted Almeria on the opening weekend of the 2022-23 LaLiga season while Barcelona host Rayo Vallecano — with the two giants meeting in the campaign's first Clasico on the weekend of Oct. 16 — after the fixture list was released by the Spanish football federation (RFEF) on Thursday.