Real Madrid recorded their first win at the 2025 Club World Cup against Pachuca, despite going down to 10 men as early as the sixth minute.

Los Blancos had been held to a 1-1 draw in their first game against Al Hilal.

The LaLiga giants were looking to bounce back in their second fixture, but saw Asensio sent off for a last-man tackle.

However, it was Madrid who went in front, with Jude Bellingham bursting into the area to finish confidently.

Xabi Alonso’s men doubled their advantage before the break, with Arda Güler stroking home after a sublime team move.

Federico Valverde made it 3-0, before Pachuca pulled one back through Gonzalo Montiel.

Madrid now have four points ahead of their final game against Salzburg.

Former France midfielder Paul Pogba, who wants to resume his career after a doping ban, said on French television on Sunday he is “talking” with a club, which sources close to him said was Monaco.

The 32-year-old also said he had re-established contact with his brother Mathias, sentenced to a year in prison last December for his involvement in a plot to extort 13 million euros ($15 million) from the 2018 World Cup winner.

Pogba, who played for Manchester United and Juventus, is hoping to put three chaotic years behind him.

Pogba suffered through repeated injuries and patchy form that led to his departure from United in 2022. He returned for a second stint at Juventus, where his problems continued.

He failed a drugs test after a game in Italy in August 2023 and was handed a four-year doping ban, which was reduced 18 months on appeal. It ended in March.

“It was very, very hard,” he said.

He said he was “talking” to a club, which multiple sources said was Ligue 1 Monaco.

Pogba said he was determined “to get back on the pitch, mentally ready, physically ready, it’s just a matter of time”.

The extortion case involving six men linked to Paul Pogba shocked France because the perpetrators included three childhood friends and his own brother.

The five other defendants were found guilty of extortion, kidnapping and detention, as well as participation in a criminal association, and sentenced to up to eight years in prison. All six were also fined.

Paul Pogba said he was talking to Mathias who is being allowed to serve his sentence wearing an electronic bracelet rather than behind bars.

“We are in contact. We’ve spoken, among ourselves, with the family,” Paul Pogba said. “It’s a blood bond. There was a scar, of course. We’re moving forward. Only time can give us answers.”

“All we want is to always be united as a family. That’s the most important thing. It’s hard. Of course it’s very hard, I’m not going to lie. I was hurt. It’s not the same as before, but we’re in touch,” he added.

Paul Pogba was held at gunpoint in 2022 by two hooded men who demanded money.

He said on Sunday that he was initially willing to pay but “afterwards, I cracked,” he said, deciding “to speak out, even if it meant dying” and refusing “to throw away my money like that”.

He said the ban and the court case had changed him

“I learned a lot during this period,” Pogba said. “I did a lot of cleaning around myself too. I am also much closer to my family, my children.”

Former Ajax winger and Dutch international Quincy Promes has been extradited to the Netherlands to begin a seven-and-a-half-year prison sentence after being convicted of drug trafficking and aggravated assault, reports Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf.

Promes, 33, who had been playing professional football in Dubai, was apprehended following a formal extradition request by the Dutch authorities.

He arrived in the Netherlands aboard a chartered plane and was immediately transferred to a detention facility to commence his sentence.

According to reports, the earliest possible date for his release is 2030, depending on parole eligibility and the outcome of any legal appeals.

Promes was sentenced to six years in February 2024 by an Amsterdam court, which found him guilty of smuggling 1,360 kilograms of cocaine into the Netherlands in two separate shipments from Belgium in 2020.

The drugs were linked to organized trafficking rings with which Promes allegedly maintained regular contact.

While Promes denied the allegations, the court cited eyewitness accounts and intercepted phone calls as strong evidence of his direct involvement in the international drug trade.

The footballer had previously been sentenced to 18 months in prison for stabbing his cousin during a family gathering in 2020.

That sentence, too, had not been served, as Promes had remained outside Dutch jurisdiction until his recent arrest and extradition.

Combined, the two convictions result in a total sentence of seven and a half years.

Once regarded as one of the Netherlands’ brightest football talents, Promes rose through the ranks at Spartak Moscow, Sevilla, and Ajax, and earned over 50 caps for the Dutch national team.

His career took a sharp downturn following the criminal investigations, which ultimately led to his departure from Ajax and a move to the UAE.