Sports

WASHINGTON — Iran, New Zealand, Switzerland, Belgium and the winner of a March playoff featuring Wales, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Italy and Northern Ireland will join the U.S. in playing World Cup group-stage games at SoFi Stadium next June. The Inglewood venue will host eight World Cup games in 28 days, beginning with the U.S. opener with Paraguay…

Los Alamitos underclassmen laid down their helmets, one by one, on the five-yard line. Griffins junior running back Kamden Tillis was already overcome by emotion, the reality of a 42-21 defeat to San Diego Cathedral in the Division 1-AA regional final sinking into Los Alamitos as the players said goodbye. “I hate this moment,” said…

WASHINGTON — Friday’s World Cup draw couldn’t have gone much better for U.S. coach Mauricio Pochettino. In a star-studded two-hour ceremony held at the Kennedy Center, Americans were grouped with Paraguay and Australia, teams they beat in the last two months, along with the winner of a European playoff featuring Turkey, Romania, Slovakia and Kosovo. “We’ve already…

Jayshawn Kibble has returned to City Section basketball, and so far he’s dominating. The Washington Prep senior scored 29 points against Lawndale, 34 against Gardena Serra, 24 against Bishop Montgomery and 30 against Inglewood. He won a City Open Division championship when he was a sophomore for King/Drew. He went to St. Anthony last season,…

CIF City Section and Southern Section high school boys’ and girls’ basketball scores for Thursday.

Rams star receiver Davante Adams admired former Arizona Cardinals great Larry Fitzgerald from afar — and eventually embraced him as a mentee and role model. In 17 seasons, Fitzgerald caught 1,432 passes for 17,492 yards, both of which rank second all-time, and 121 touchdowns, which ranks sixth. In 11-plus seasons, Adams has 1,009 receptions for…

It’s not the optimal path — Justin Herbert finishing the Chargers season with a cast on his non-throwing hand — but it’s not a unique one, either. Herbert suffered a fracture in his left hand last Sunday, when it collided with the helmet of a Las Vegas Raiders defender. The quarterback handled the hit with…

UCLA appeared on the verge of a late recruiting victory Tuesday when David Schwerzel, a high school defensive lineman from Seattle, tweeted that he was “1000% committed” to becoming a Bruin, including a picture of himself in a blue and gold uniform. By midday Wednesday, Schwerzel sent out another tweet, saying he remained undecided “due…

America feasted on NFL football this past Thanksgiving. Several viewing records were set Thursday, including the most-watched regular season NFL game in history. The CBS telecast of the Dallas Cowboys’ 31-28 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs was watched by 57.2 million viewers, according to Nielsen data. The number blew past the 42 million viewers…

HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL TUESDAY’S RESULTS BOYS CITY SECTIONAnimo Pat Brown 52, Annenberg 28Animo Robinson 46, New Designs University Park 22Animo Venice 47, New West Charter 40Community Charter 41, CALS Early College 36Orthopaedic 79, Santee 55Stern 36, AMIT 33WISH Academy 56, Middle College 46 SOUTHERN SECTION Aliso Niguel 70, Northwood 44Barstow 79, University Prep 26Beckman 60,…