The 2025 Little League World Series has narrowed down to the final four teams, with the battle for a spot in the championship game scheduled for Saturday.

The action begins with Chinese Taipei, which holds a perfect 3-0 record in this tournament, facing off against Aruba, which has survived two elimination games with a 4-1 record heading into the international championship game.

Chinese Taipei last played on Wednesday, Aug. 20, when they secured a 7-3 victory against Venezuela. This win provided them with an extended rest period, allowing them to be refreshed for the international championship game.

In contrast, Aruba, after a 3-0 win against Japan in an elimination game on Wednesday, returned to the field on Thursday, Aug. 21 to face Venezuela in another elimination match, which they won 3-1. The stage is set for an intense international championship game.

Follow live for all the action from the Little League World Series international championship game between Chinese Taipei and Aruba.

How to watch 2025 Little League World Series

The 2025 Little League World Series will be broadcast on ESPN platforms, with the championship game airing on ABC. Games will also be available to stream on ESPN+.

Date: Saturday, Aug. 23
Times: International game, 12:30 p.m. ET; U.S. game, 3:30 p.m. ET
TV: ABC
Stream: Fubo
Location: South Williamsport, Pennsylvania

Stream the Little League World Series on Fubo

The 2025 Little League World Series continues Saturday with the United States championship game between Nevada and Connecticut, which will determine the final spot in Sunday’s championship game.

Nevada and Connecticut face off for the second time in this tournament. In their first meeting, Connecticut won 7-3 on Wednesday, Aug. 20 in a double-elimination game, which allowed the team from Fairfield to enjoy an extended rest before Saturday’s title game. Nevada rebounded by defeating South Carolina 5-3 on Thursday to keep its championship hopes alive. Now the Las Vegas team is up against the only squad that it has lost to in this tournament.

Don’t miss a moment of the action from the Little League World Series United States championship game between Nevada and Connecticut. Follow live for all the thrilling plays and game-changing moments.

Stream the Little League World Series on Fubo

How to watch 2025 Little League World Series

The 2025 Little League World Series will be broadcast on ESPN platforms, with the championship game airing on ABC. Games will also be available to stream on ESPN+.

Date: Saturday, Aug. 23
Times: U.S. championship game, 3:30 p.m. ET
TV: ABC
Stream: Fubo
Location: South Williamsport, Pennsylvania

Peaks and valleys has been the name of the game for Tyreek Hill over the last calendar year.

Hill continues to be one of the best receivers in the league, routinely burning defenders with his blazing speed. However, the 2024 season wasn’t kind to the star – who missed the playoffs for the first time in his career and also dealt with a nagging wrist injury all season long.

After seemingly looking to force his way out of Miami at a press conference following the team’s Week 18 loss to the New York Jets, Hill repaired those bridges that once appeared to be burnt.

Despite turning a corner, Hill is now battling an injury with the regular season quickly approaching.

Here’s the latest on the star receiver:

Tyreek Hill injury update

Hill is dealing with an oblique injury, which has kept him off the practice field at times throughout training camp.

Head coach Mike McDaniel noted on Aug. 8 that the injury is due to overuse and that Hill still wanted to practice.

“He’s trying to practice,’ McDaniel said, via David Furones of the South Florida Sun Sentinel. ‘He’s working through an oblique that got worse because he was taking every rep that was on the books.’

It’s unclear if Miami will continue to keep Hill sidelined, especially with his experience.

The 31-year-old is coming off a down year, by his standards, after recording just 81 receptions, 959 yards and six touchdowns in 2024.

Hill doesn’t appear to be in danger of missing regular season action at this time, but obliques can be a tricky injury to navigate. All eyes will now turn to his practice availability ahead of the team’s opener on Sept. 7.

Dolphins WR depth chart

Without Hill, Miami’s depth chart at receiver takes a big hit. While training camp battles still have to be wrapped up, here’s a look at the proven options behind the All-Pro receiver:

Jaylen Waddle
Malik Washington
Nick Westbrook-Ikhine
Dee Eskridge

It’s one thing for Gianni Infantino to debase himself, fawning over autocrats and human rights abusers.

His sycophancy is also sullying the World Cup, however, as sure as if the FIFA president took that iconic gold trophy once held by Pelé, Maradona and Messi and dipped it in tar.

The men’s World Cup next year is shaping up to be a North Korea-style state propaganda event, and Infantino is going right along with it. He stood beside Donald Trump as the president turned what was supposed to be an announcement that the draw will take place at the Kennedy Center into a 45-minute stream of lies Friday, smiling, laughing and agreeing with Trump as if he was a Cabinet member.

And because sacrificing your dignity and self-respect doesn’t go as far as it used to, Infantino came bearing more gifts! The first ticket to the July 19, 2026, final at MetLife Stadium, and a hint of a role in the December draw.

“Ah! That’s an interesting proposal,” Infantino said, when someone asked if Trump will announce the results of the draw. “We’ll discuss that.”

Infantino even stood by while Trump suggested that Vladimir Putin ‘may’ attend the tournament, despite Russia being banned from FIFA competitions since the 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

FIFA and its leaders have never been paragons of virtue. Bribes and kickbacks were an accepted part of doing business, votes and support traded for bagsful of cash. Infantino’s predecessor, Sepp Blatter, is still ostracized by FIFA for his shady dealings, and half of the members of the Executive Committee that voted on the 2018 and 2022 World Cups were fined, suspended or banned for life for corruption.

But the World Cup was always viewed separately from its leaders’ tawdry behavior. FIFA and the (mostly) men who run it might be morally bankrupt, but soccer had center stage at the World Cup, the game a wonderful diversion from the ugliness of the world around it.

Under Infantino, however, that has changed.

When the World Cup was awarded to Qatar, that country’s leaders promised that it would not impose its local customs and rules on a global tournament. So much for that. Human rights violations were rampant, the LGBTQ community was targeted and longtime sponsor Budweiser discovered its $75 million sponsorship was worth less than warm beer.  

All of this was fine – just fine! – with Infantino, who saved his outrage for the critics of his besties rather than the cheapening of a World Cup that upended the global calendar and had all the atmosphere and authenticity of a timeshare sales pitch.

Now comes next summer’s men’s World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

The United States is sliding into autocracy, with Trump encouraging voter suppression in Texas, manufacturing a crime wave to justify a takeover of Washington, D.C., and retaliating against his enemies. And that was just in the last few days!

Trump likes anything that can be used to exalt his glorious leadership, so he is, naturally, all in on the World Cup. And Infantino is happy to oblige his grandiosity.

He was late to FIFA’s Congress because he was hobnobbing with Trump in the Middle East. He didn’t step in when Trump crashed Chelsea’s victory celebration after winning the Club World Cup, and he “let” Trump keep the original trophy. Now he’s fawning over Trump’s tales of Washington’s “resurgence” and placating his overestimation of the U.S. men’s national team’s chances next summer.  

“The home team always have a good chance to win,” Infantino said.

This is a team that lost four in a row earlier this year and got humiliated by Panama in the semifinals of the Nations League. At full-strength and at home, no less. Let’s slow the roll.

By allowing Trump to co-opt the World Cup, Infantino is risking the success of the tournament, FIFA’s crown jewel.

Trump is a deeply polarizing president, and there is widespread opposition to many of his policies. Most of the rest of the world has an even dimmer view, which is already being reflected by a drop in foreign tourism. Allow the World Cup to become “Trump’s tournament,” and Infantino should not be surprised if fans decide to sit it out. Or only go to games in Canada and Mexico.

The World Cup has always been a celebration of ‘the beautiful game.’ Infantino is giving it a very ugly look.

Follow USA TODAY Sports columnist Nancy Armour on social media @nrarmour.

The Cincinnati Bengals quarterback had been running for his life during the preseason – something that was on full display in the team’s preseason Week 2 matchup against the Washington Commanders.

As fans watched the action unfold on ‘Monday Night Football,’ many started questioning whether it was worth letting the star quarterback take unnecessary hits in a game that won’t count for the standings.

The Bengals took a new approach to the preseason in 2025, opting to play their starters in the hopes of avoiding a slow start to the regular season.

Cincinnati owns a 1-11 record in the first two weeks of the regular season since Zac Taylor took over as head coach. They have started each of the last three seasons with an 0-2 record.

That led to a change in strategy, but that strategy could’ve been disastrous if Burrow went down. Here’s a look at the team’s plans for their quarterback in the preseason finale.

Is Joe Burrow playing today?

Burrow will not play in the Bengals’ preseason finale at 1 p.m. ET against the Indianapolis Colts.

Taylor indicated in his news conference on Wednesday that the starters would be sidelined in Week 3.

‘I’m not anticipating any starters playing,’ Taylor told reporters. ‘I haven’t talked in depth with the players about this third game. I’ve talked to Joe, I haven’t specifically told these guys they’re not playing, but they’re not playing.’

Burrow completed 18 of 24 passes in limited action across two preseason games. He’ll finish with 185 yards passing and three touchdowns.

More important for the Bengals, Burrow will also be healthy to begin the season.

In the top of the fourth inning, a squirrel made its way onto the field at Yankee Stadium.
The squirrel ran into the foot of Boston’s Jhostynxon Garcia, who was making his major league debut.
The game was briefly stopped as the squirrel ran all over the field, including toward pitcher Max Fried.

The New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox continued their historic rivalry on Friday night – with a special guest.

As the game reached the top of the fourth inning, a squirrel made its way onto the field at Yankee Stadium.

The squirrel ran into the foot of Boston’s Jhostynxon Garcia, who was taking his second at-bat in his major league debut and facing a 3-2 count against Yankees pitcher Max Fried.

The game was briefly stopped as the squirrel ran all over the field, including toward Fried on the pitcher’s mound.

Garcia eventually took a base after being walked by Fried.

The USA TODAY app gets you to the heart of the news — fast.Download for award-winning coverage, crosswords, audio storytelling, the eNewspaper and more.

Hall of Fame jockey Ron Turcotte won the Triple Crown in 1973 with Secretariat.
Secretariat won the 1973 Belmont Stakes by 31 lengths, a record time of 2:24 that stands today.
Turcotte won 3,032 races and $28,606,490 in earnings during his career.

Hall of Fame jockey Ron Turcotte, who won the Triple Crown in 1973 with Secretariat, has died at the age of 84.

Turcotte’s family announced that the jockey died from natural causes on Friday, Aug. 22, at his home in Drummond, New Brunswick. He is best known for winning the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes in 1973 with the legendary horse Secretariat.

Secretariat won the 1973 Belmont Stakes by 31 lengths, a record time of 2:24 that stands today.

Turcotte also won the 1972 Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes aboard Riva Ridge. He won the 1965 Preakness aboard Tom Rolfe.

Turcotte won 3,032 races and $28,606,490 in earnings during his nearly two-decade career. However, his career ended in 1978 when he fell off a horse during a race, leaving him a paraplegic. He was inducted into the National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame in 1979.

‘The world may remember Ron as the famous jockey of Secretariat, but to us he was a wonderful husband, a loving father, grandfather, and a great horseman,’ the Turcotte family’s statement said according to the Associated Press.

The Minnesota Lynx’s longest losing streak of the season ends at two.

The Lynx overcame a 12-point deficit to defeat the Indiana Fever 95-90 in Indianapolis Friday in a rematch of the 2025 WNBA Commissioner’s Cup title game. Lynx guard Kayla McBride led the way with a game-high 29 points (10-of-19 FGs, 4-of-8 on 3-pointers), five assists and one block. Center Jessica Shepard added 22 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists, marking only the second triple-double in Minnesota franchise history.

Minnesota withstood a barrage of 3-pointers from the Fever, who knocked down 10 3-pointers in the first half alone and finished shooting 65% (13-of-20) from the 3-point line. The Lynx took its first lead of the game in the third quarter and extended it to 14 points, before the Fever came within five points.

Fever guard Kelsey Mitchell finished with a team-high 27 points and five assists in the loss, while Lexie Hull recorded a new career high with 23 points, four rebounds and two assists.

Fever guard Caitlin Clark (right groin) and Lynx forward Napheesa Collier (right ankle) were both ruled out of Friday’s matchup. It marked Clark’s 14th consecutive absence and Collier’s 7th consecutive game missed.

Minnesota (29-7) has already clinched a playoff bid marking their 14th in the past 15 seasons. Indiana (19-17) is in playoff contention, sitting in sixth place in the standings.

The Fever and Lynx will face each other two more times this season after Friday’s matchup. They will meet on Sunday, Aug. 24 in Minneapolis and on Sept. 9 in Indianapolis.

Here’s a recap of Friday’s matchup between the Fever and Lynx:

Halftime: Fever 52, Lynx 50

It’s raining 3-pointers in Indianapolis.

The Fever started the game 14-20 from the field and shot 71.4% from the 3-point line, knocking down 10-of-14 shots from beyond the arc. Fever guard Lexie Hull is up to 18 points in 18 minutes (3-of-5 3PT), surpassing her previous season-high of 17 points. She’s closing in on her career-high off 22 points scored against the Seattle Storm in 2024. Kelsey Mitchell (3-of-4 3PT) added 13 points and three assists.

Despite the Fever’s barrage of 3-pointers, the Lynx only trail by two heading into halftime. Minnesota, who is coming off a 75-73 loss to the Atlanta Dream on Thursday, isn’t playing bad by any means. The Lynx are shooting 54.1% from the field and 5-of-11 from the 3-point line and have been able to hang with the Fever on second-chance points. The Lynx had 22 rebounds (7 offensive) in the first half, compared to the Fever’s 14 (1 offensive).

Lynx guard Kayla McBride has a team-high 16 points (3-of-4 3PT), while center Jessica Shepard is on triple-double watch already with 11 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds. Minnesota guard Courtney Williams got off to a rough start and was held scoreless, going 0-of-4 from the field and 0-of-2 from 3 so far.

End of Q1: Fever 27, Lynx 22

The Fever led the Lynx by as many as nine points in the first quarter, but Minnesota cut its deficit to five points heading into the second quarter. Fever guard Lexie Hull came out on a mission on Friday, scoring 11 of the Fever’s 27 first-quarter points. The Fever are shooting 64.3% from the field and 71.4% from the 3-point line.

The Lynx collectively shot 58.8% from the field, but Minnesota gave up seven points on four turnovers, which marks the difference in the game. Center Jessica Shepard leads the Lynx with 10 points and three rebounds.

What time is Indiana Fever vs. Minnesota Lynx?

The Indiana Fever host the Minnesota Lynx in Indianapolis at 7:30 p.m. ET (4:30 p.m. PT) on Friday, Aug. 22 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. The game will be broadcast on ION.

How to watch Indiana Fever vs. Minnesota Lynx: TV, stream

Time: 7:30 p.m. ET (4:30 p.m. PT)
Location: Gainbridge Fieldhouse (Indianapolis)
TV channel: ION
Streaming: Fubo (free trial to new subscribers)

Indiana Fever starting lineup

The Fever are sending guard Odyssey Sims, guard Kelsey Mitchell, guard Lexie Hull, forward Natasha Howard and Aliyah Boston to the floor.

Is Caitlin Clark playing today?

Clark (right groin) was ruled out of Friday’s matchup against the Lynx, marking her 14th consecutive absence and 23rd missed game overall this season. Sydney Colson (left knee), Aari McDonald (right foot) and Sophie Cunningham (right knee) are all out with season-ending injuries. Chloe Bibby (left knee) was also ruled out.

Minnesota Lynx starting lineup

Forward Bridget Carleton, forward Alanna Smith, center Jessica Shepard, guard Kayla McBride and guard Courtney Williams will start for the Lynx on Friday.

Napheesa Collier ruled out

Collier was listed as questionable ahead of Friday’s matchup against the Fever due to her right ankle, but the MVP frontrunner was downgraded to out less than an hour before tipoff.

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