Chelsea claimed a valuable point in the Champions League on their head coach Sonia Bompastor’s return to face her former team, on a night where the English side’s controlled performance merited significant plaudits, even if the match itself was surprisingly low on goalmouth action. The French side had scored eight times in their first fixture in the league phase, away against the Swiss side Servette, and had in fact scored at least seven times in all four matches they had played in all competitions this season. Given that formidable form and the confidence in the hosts’ frontline, Chelsea were grateful to Hannah Hampton for her sharp save from Salma Paralluelo on 20 minutes, and similarly glad to see Melchie Dumornay’s powerfully-struck effort fizz just wide of the base of the post a few minutes later. Continue reading...

Impressive against Spain, England’s best player against Czechia, the move to La Liga has transformed the winger The way that Anthony Gordon sees it, he is still the same player, the same guy – on a journey, striving for self-improvement, a thinker, immensely driven. The way that an increasing number of people see him is changing, certainly in the UK. And, for that, it is impossible to overlook the Barcelona factor. The winger had a positive World Cup for England, despite a slow start, culminating in the dream moment when he gave his team their 1-0 lead in the semi‑final against Argentina. It was the prelude to the nightmare when he was withdrawn as Thomas Tuchel switched to a back five. England were reeled in, beaten 2-1, left with eternal regrets. Continue reading...

What Guardiola knew at City relates to the true nature of the club and more basic things like spectacle and human nature “Do you know the question that you are asking me? Today, do you honestly think it is my job to make this kind of question happen …” Cut to the long, painful pause. Chuck in a deep, shaming stare, eyes that have suddenly become death rays of betrayal and disgust and Pep Guardiola himself transformed from a man cheerfully toasting his own FA Cup final victory to a grizzled chief detective addressing a room full of convicted perverts. Guardiola had the wind entirely at his back at this point, sitting in the Wembley press room an hour after Manchester City’s 6-0 defeat of Watford in May 2019. Success drowns out every other noise in football. To be good is also to be good, noble, virtuous. History is written by the domestic treble winners. Right up until the moment it isn’t. Continue reading...

A disastrous mix-up between the goalkeeper Misa Rodríguez and the centre-back Leah Williamson gifted Paris FC a penalty that Maeline Mendy converted to deny Arsenal all three points in the Champions League. Alessia Russo and Georgia Stanway had given them a two-goal lead but Clara Mateo pulled one back before Williamson handled the ball after the referee deemed play to have restarted from a goal-kick when Rodríguez passed it to her. Continue reading...

* Joshua reveals he is speaking to Peter Fury on training * Fury vows to ‘blast him out’ at London press conference Anthony Joshua has revealed that he is in contact with Tyson Fury’s uncle Peter, in a surprise twist to the buildup between the two former world champion heavyweights who will finally meet in the ring in Cardiff in December. Peter Fury trained Tyson when he shocked Wladimir Klitschko to win his first world heavyweight title in 2015. The uncle and nephew fell out soon afterwards, apparently over a financial dispute, and have not spoken in many years. Continue reading...

* Premier League executives pushing for severe punishment * City maintain they are ‘innocent of the accusations’ The Premier League will face pressure from Manchester City’s rivals to push for a sanction that will result in a prolonged absence from the top flight after the club were found guilty of more than 100 charges of financial rule breaking. Executives at a number of Premier League clubs have told the Guardian that a points deduction that would relegate City to the Championship for a single season would be insufficient given the scale of what an independent commission described as the club’s “disguised funding scheme” and “sham commercial deals”, which enabled them to artificially inflate their income by £900m between 2009 and 2018. Continue reading...

World No 41 side faced political lobbying and mopping up after Typhoon Dujuan before taking on illustrious visitors The relief was writ large on the face of Axar Patel when his final delivery of the match went for a dot ball. India’s raucous fans celebrated, but they knew that Japanese batter Alexander Shirai-Patmore and his teammates had just come perilously close to inflicting one of the biggest upsets in cricket history. Japan, ranked 41st in the world, had taken the T20 world champions to the final ball in a brief but incident-packed meeting last week between the sport’s minnows and giants that hours earlier had looked like falling victim to Typhoon Dujuan. Continue reading...

* Club ‘a huge partner in building modern Manchester’ * Independent Football Regulator monitoring case Andy Burnham has said he would be “really concerned” to lose Manchester City’s owners as a result of the club being found guilty of more than 100 breaches of Premier League rules. On the day that the Independent Football Regulator confirmed it has powers to investigate the suitability of the Abu Dhabi United Group to own an English club after the damning judgment of an independent commission regarding £900m of sham contracts, the prime minister praised City’s owners for their investment of billions of pounds into Manchester. Continue reading...

* Campbell, Hope and Jangoo all hit tons to reach 405-7 * Previous ODI best was 389 against England in 2019 John Campbell hit 101 to lay the foundations for West Indies’ record one-day international total of 405 for seven against India in their second ODI on Wednesday. Shai Hope (104) and Amir Jangoo (114) also struck centuries to boost the total as West Indies hope to bounce back in the three-match series, led by India 1-0, in Guwahati. It is only the sixth time in ODI history that a team has had three centurions in one innings. Invited to bat first, West Indies lost Keacy Carty for nine before Campbell and Hope put on 110 runs to set the tone for the batting domination. West Indies’ previous ODI best was 389 against England in 2019, but they ended up losing the match. Continue reading...

* Head coach sees Real Madrid man as an option up front * Kane praises Alexander-Arnold’s impact and work rate Thomas Tuchel’s hunt for alternatives to Harry Kane has led to him identifying Jude Bellingham as an option at No 9 for England. Kane continued his remarkable scoring record in the 2-0 win against Czechia in the Nations League on Tuesday, moving to 87 goals in 123 international appearances with a late strike in Prague, but he has little cover up front. There is no prospect yet of Tuchel having to consider life without Kane. The England head coach backed the 33-year-old striker to last another decade at the highest level, tipped him to reach a century of international goals soon, and said England cannot expect to produce a replica of their greatest forward. However, there is concern over whether England have enough depth in attack. Continue reading...

Kevin’s ultramarathon challenge ends in time for kick-off at Old Trafford as son Jack vies for first title with Wakefield There are few families with more stories to tell when it comes to the Super League Grand Final than the Sinfields but, even by their lofty standards, this week will take some beating. Leeds has been the epicentre of that story for more than 20 years but this week the focus has moved 10 miles down the road to Wakefield. Continue reading...

⚽ Updates from the 5.45pm BST kick-off in France ⚽ Live scores | Read Moving the Goalposts | Mail Niall One, zero, one, one, zero – that is Arsenal’s scoring record in five games this season, the Gunners devoid of their usual firepower. Their Champions League opener ended in a fortunate late win over Danish part-timers Køge, but today’s opposition represent a significant step up. Paris FC edged out PSG to finish second in the French top tier last season, and gave Barcelona a scare in their first game, even if the defending champs did eventually run out 5-2 winners. Arsenal will face Barça and Lyonnes later in this league phase amid a tough domestic fixture list, so tonight would be a good time to rediscover their attacking form. Continue reading...

* Keeper pulled out of both Nations League games * Hallgrimsson confident Sunday’s match will go ahead Republic of Ireland manager Heimir Hallgrimsson has claimed “a lot of lies” were told over keeper Gavin ⁠Bazunu’s decision to withdraw ⁠from the Nations League ​game against Israel last weekend, and he does not anticipate any problems with Sunday’s match going ahead. Ireland are one of Europe’s most outspoken critics of Israel’s war in Gaza, ⁠and protests calling for the team to boycott the fixture prompted Bazunu to pull out of both games between the two countries. Continue reading...

England’s coach has given a wake-up call to her whole squad by leaving out two heroes of 2022 and 2025 Sarina Wiegman sent a clear message to two of England’s biggest names on Tuesday and – in doing so, irrespective of reputations – fired the same warning to every player: perform for your club or you will not go to the World Cup. Wiegman was unequivocal with her reasoning for leaving Ella Toone and Chloe Kelly out of her squad for October’s playoff against Greece. Her straight-to-the-point and typically honest style made it inescapably clear, when she said: “The main reason is that I think the levels weren’t what I expect from them on the pitch.” Continue reading...

* Veteran left on bench by Jorge Jesus for win in Norway * The 41-year-old has trained alone in gym since weekend Cristiano Ronaldo continued absence from Portugal team training has led to speculation that the 41-year-old might miss his country’s match in Denmark on Thursday due to a rift with head coach Jorge Jesus. Ronaldo, the all-time leading scorer in men’s international football and pursuing the milestone of 1,000 career goals, was left on the bench on Sunday in Portugal’s 2-1 win at Norway in the Nations League. He has not practiced with the team since then, doing only gym work, the Portuguese Football Federation said. Continue reading...

* I am, always have been, always will, be behind my club’ * Former City chair Bernstein calls for directors to quit Pep Guardiola has thrown his support behind Manchester City after the club were found guilty of all charges of breaching Premier League financial rules over a nine-year period, telling fans: “We will get through this together”. Guardiola left City in the summer after a trophy-laden decade in charge, with the period of his first two seasons part of the investigation ruled on by an independent commission. The Spaniard remains a close ally of the chief executive, Ferran Soriano, who brought him to England, the pair having previously worked together at Barcelona. City maintain their innocence and are set to appeal against the decision before Friday’s deadline. Continue reading...

* Club have been found guilty of breaking financial rules * City deny wrongdoing, saying it is a ‘conspiracy theory’ Manchester City are set to owe the Premier League tens of millions of pounds in compensation for legal costs after being found guilty of virtually all charges brought against them. The Premier League announced on Tuesday that an independent commission had determined the club had artificially inflated their income by £900m over a nine-year period. The panel concluded that Manchester City had arranged “sham” contracts to boost revenues to comply with spending rules. Continue reading...

* ‘They won the titles because cheating was going on’ * Micah Richards says he is ‘devastated and heartbroken’ The former Manchester United captain Roy Keane said he would throw the “medals in the bin” if he were a Manchester City player following Premier League confirmation on Tuesday that the club were guilty of all charges related to their financial rules and boosted their income by more than £900m after arranging “sham ­contracts” with commercial partners. City, who continue to deny any wrongdoing, won eight trophies, including three Premier League titles between 2009 and 2018, the period under investigation. Keane said the achievements of City’s players had become redundant because of the “cheating” that took place during that time. Continue reading...

A look at how our picks from five years ago have got on shows that breaking through early does not guarantee longevity or future success * Read the full updates on our class of 2021 here and here In 2021, as every year, we picked 80 players from around the world who had a chance of making it in world football – 20 from the Premier League and 60 from the rest of the world – as part of our Next Generation series. We then follow these talented boys on their journeys for five years. Often it is almost impossible to predict how they will get on (OK, when Sid Lowe sent over Lamine Yamal in 2024 we had an inkling he might do well). The ball-playing central midfielder comes from a footballing family and academy staff believe his tactical awareness is born from growing up around the game. His father, Adam, played for Brighton and is now manager along the coast at Worthing FC, while Martin (his great uncle), Paul (his grandad), and Wally (his great grandad), all enjoyed careers as players. The youngest to play in the Bundesliga at 16 years and one day, youngest player to appear in the Champions League 17 days later, youngest goal scorer in Bundesliga 11 days after that and youngest player and youngest goal scorer for the Germany Under-21 team before he has turned 17. Continue reading...

World No 41 side faced political lobbying and mopping up after Typhoon Dujuan before taking on illustrious visitors The relief was writ large on the face of Axar Patel when his final delivery of the match went for a dot ball. India’s raucous fans celebrated, but they knew that Japanese batter Alexander Shirai-Patmore and his teammates had just come perilously close to inflicting one of the biggest upsets in cricket history. Japan, ranked 41st in the world, had taken the T20 world champions to the final ball in a brief but incident-packed meeting last week between the sport’s minnows and giants that hours earlier had looked like falling victim to Typhoon Dujuan. Continue reading...

The quarterback is widely adored on and off the field. Whether he deserves the public spotlight is another question Throughout the NFL’s history, we’ve had our fair share of clown princes. Not too long ago, Rob Gronkowski was the league’s court jester. That history extends back, through Pat McAfee and Chad Ochocinco, past Jared Allen and John Randle to Jim McMahon, Steve McMichael, John Riggins, Alex Karras and Billy “White Shoes” Johnson. There’s probably something deeply insightful to say about the need for goofballs in a sport characterized by militarized order and a seriousness that borders on self-parody, but what’s important now is how we reflect on these chosen merrymakers. Continue reading...

* Soriano: the case is based on ‘a single false accusation’ * Club to appeal after verdict on more than 100 charges Manchester City’s chief executive, Ferran Soriano, has said the guilty verdicts against the club for breaches of financial rules are based on “a single false accusation” and a “Premier League conspiracy theory”, as he maintained City’s innocence. It was confirmed on Tuesday that City, according to an independent panel, had artificially inflated revenue and reduced costs by more than £900m over a nine-year period through “sham” sponsorship deals, which were mainly funded by Abu Dhabi United Group Investment & Development Ltd (ADUG), which owned the club. In a video sent to City staff after confirmation of the guilty verdict on more than 100 charges, Soriano said the club would appeal and fight the case. Continue reading...

England’s coach has given a wake-up call to her whole squad by leaving out two heroes of 2022 and 2025 Sarina Wiegman sent a clear message to two of England’s biggest names on Tuesday and – in doing so, irrespective of reputations – fired the same warning to every player: perform for your club or you will not go to the World Cup. Wiegman was unequivocal with her reasoning for leaving Ella Toone and Chloe Kelly out of her squad for October’s playoff against Greece. Her straight-to-the-point and typically honest style made it inescapably clear, when she said: “The main reason is that I think the levels weren’t what I expect from them on the pitch.” Continue reading...

* New York are first No 8 seed to beat first seed * Liberty ease to 2-0 series victory over Minnesota Jonquel Jones had 21 points and 13 rebounds and the No 8 seed New York Liberty beat the top-seeded Minnesota Lynx 87-71 in Game 2 of their WNBA playoff series on Tuesday night to advance to the semi-finals. Breanna Stewart added 21 points and Sabrina Ionescu had 18 to help the Liberty become the first No 8 seed to eliminate a No 1 seed in the league’s 30-year history. The WNBA has undergone a number of different playoff formats, and in many of them, it wasn’t possible for those seeds to match up. However, in 2022 the league changed to the current iteration in which the top-eight teams play in the quarter-finals. Continue reading...

The former Ireland captain talks about allowing his own feelings, why every coach except Andy Farrell has been ‘a bit mad’, and pain over a ruthless exit from Munster “It’s a natural human instinct, especially as an athlete, that you don’t want to lose,” Peter O’Mahony says on a quiet evening in Dublin as a new rugby season looms over us. “But at times it got in my way and caused despair. I honestly don’t know where that deep-down hatred came from but it used to derail me at times.” The former captain of Munster, Ireland and the Lions is settling into his second year of retirement and the taciturn grit and uncompromising commitment which defined his career have been replaced by more complex reflections. O’Mahony is a fascinating character and I ask whether he would have carried the same competitive zeal if he had been a wizard at, for example, chess or mathematics. Continue reading...

The full-back is one of the best passers England has produced: Thomas Tuchel must find a place for him It was the question nobody was asking: could Trent Alexander-Arnold do it against 10 game but limited Czechs on a mild Tuesday night in Prague? The answer was a resounding yes. Alexander-Arnold played well after starting for the first time under Thomas Tuchel, demonstrating his value to England by helping them work out the dreaded low block with a trademark assist for Anthony Gordon to settle the nerves in a game coloured by Czechia losing Pavel Sulc to a debatable red card midway through the first half. Continue reading...

* ‘We need to keep focused, and Trent was a big help in this’ * Alexander-Arnold set up opener in 2-0 win over Czechia Thomas Tuchel praised Trent ­Alexander-Arnold after the right-back impressed on his first England appearance since June 2025. Alexander-Arnold, who has a point to prove after missing out on a World Cup spot, was one of the big positives as Tuchel’s side recovered from their defeat to Spain by recording a comfortable 2-0 win away to Czechia in the Nations League on Tuesday. Continue reading...

How can Manchester City be trusted under these owners after they were found to have devised £900m of ‘sham’ contracts? How bad could it be, really? How serious can a breach of arcane financial regulations be, really? Just how damning can accountancy be? Even after Friday’s revelation that Manchester City had been found guilty of all but one of the charges brought against them by the Premier League, it was perhaps difficult to grasp the scale of what that meant. After the publication of the independent commission’s findings, there can be no doubt: the commission found that Manchester City cheated, that they did so deliberately, and that they have sought to cover that up with a campaign of calculated misinformation. City continue to maintain their innocence and issued a statement insisting that “the opinion contains clear material errors, of law, principle and fact, and is unsafe”. It referred, once again, to “a comprehensive body of irrefutable evidence that exists in support of all of its positions”, and, again, insisted that “the club has diligently respected due process for eight years on the basis that the Premier League Board and Executive would behave as an independent, impartial and fair-minded regulator, free from partisan influence”. Continue reading...

Players across the league are leaving their teams up north to return home. It’s prompted questions around money, tax rates, geopolitics and respect Back in September 1925, Frederick Wilson, sports editor at the Globe, explained the fear among hockey fans that Canadian teams might not be able to compete for players against the new US teams like New York or Boston that were entering the pro league. “Will it be a matter of money?” Wilson headlined his piece. And for about a century, money was the recurrent nexus of the Canadian hockey panic, proven by franchise departures and depleted buying power. At the time, Wilson reassured everyone that, no matter the big US cash, everyone on the ice would be Canadian anyway. “It will be some years before the [US] will be in a position to furnish players,” he wrote. He was right about that. It took a long time for the US to catch up to Canada in on-ice talent. But now that it has, should we expect Americans to want to play anywhere else than the US? For 100 years Canada has worried that the US would just buy all the best hockey players. But now it makes its own and, as the new NHL season gets underway on Tuesday night, they want to go home. Continue reading...

Debutants will face Australia and All Blacks and full-back Paul Altier admits he and his teammates are more used to ‘watching it as fans’ This time next year the Rugby World Cup will be looming large. Australia’s big party kicks off on 1 October 2027 when the host nation will be intent on replicating the feelgood factor generated by their eventful 42-38 win against the world champion Springboks on Sunday. If the Wallabies can maintain their improvement under Les Kiss, the levels of local interest will rise exponentially. A resurgent Australia could also have significant implications for England, their potential quarter-final opponents, as well as New Zealand. Should the Wallabies somehow find a way past the All Blacks in Sydney on the second weekend of the pool stages it would catapult the Kiwis into England’s side of the draw and rip up a lot of advance calculations. Continue reading...

* Former captain says losses can benefit team next year * Johnson refuses to comment on Henry Pollock hype Martin Johnson believes England’s most painful defeats under Steve Borthwick can benefit them at the Rugby World Cup in Australia next year. England endured some disastrous moments during the Six Nations this year, most notably the 42-21 defeat by Ireland at Twickenham, and finished the tournament with a solitary win against Wales. Summer Nations Championship fixtures began with an away defeat by the world champions, South Africa, before victories against Fiji and Argentina. Continue reading...

* Teenager scores twice in 4-1 win to boost Ballon d’Or case * Slovenia beat North Macedonia; Faroe Islands hold Moldova Lamine Yamal scored two goals and set up another as Spain hammered Croatia 4-1 on Tuesday in the Nations League in their first home game since lifting the World Cup. The 19-year-old was joined on the scoresheet by Marc Pubill and Nico Williams as they extended their unbeaten run to 40 matches, including June’s final triumph over Argentina in the US. Continue reading...

How can Manchester City be trusted under these owners after they were found to have devised £900m of ‘sham’ contracts? How bad could it be, really? How serious can a breach of arcane financial regulations be, really? Just how damning can accountancy be? Even after Friday’s revelation that Manchester City had been found guilty of all but one of the charges brought against them by the Premier League, it was perhaps difficult to grasp the scale of what that meant. After the publication of the independent commission’s findings, there can be no doubt: the commission found that Manchester City cheated, that they did so deliberately, and that they have sought to cover that up with a campaign of calculated misinformation. City continue to maintain their innocence and issued a statement insisting that “the opinion contains clear material errors, of law, principle and fact, and is unsafe”. It referred, once again, to “a comprehensive body of irrefutable evidence that exists in support of all of its positions”, and, again, insisted that “the club has diligently respected due process for eight years on the basis that the Premier League Board and Executive would behave as an independent, impartial and fair-minded regulator, free from partisan influence”. Continue reading...

Anybody can lose to Spain. But when England did so at Wembley on Saturday, it served to turn up the temperature for this trip to Czechia. England have form for finding it difficult at this compact stadium. Remember the European Championship qualifier here in 2019 when they lost 2-1? It was not easy at first. Thomas Tuchel shuffled his pack, making the surprise decision to start Jude Bellingham among the substitutes. It was all a little angsty and Czechia, for whom this is the dawn of a new era under the Spaniard Santi Denia after their World Cup wipeout, dared to dream of another upset. Continue reading...

Switzerland have responded exceptionally well to allegations of capers involving vaccination certificates that threatened to overshadow this international window. Make that six points out of six for Murat Yakin’s stylish team. Switzerland look comfortably capable of breezing out of Group B1 in the Nations League. They have not even played at home yet. Granit who? Sébastien Pocognoli, conversely, has been left to ponder one step forward and umpteen back. Scotland’s second half in Slovenia at the weekend provided hope to the new manager and a supporter base who want to enter a brave new world. Age old, troublesome flaws remain. Continue reading...

* Aleksander Ceferin condemns FFE and Balogun affair * Tells club chiefs it is ‘time to say enough’ to Fifa The Uefa president, Aleksander Ceferin, has attacked his embattled Fifa counterpart Gianni Infantino in a scathing takedown of the failed Fifa Forward Enterprise (FFE) project and other recent scandals, saying “the emperor is naked” and declaring “it is time to say ‘enough’”. In a pointed address to the European Football Clubs (EFC) general assembly, Ceferin did not mention Infantino by name but made clear his view that Fifa’s leadership must change. He drew on the event’s location, Copenhagen, to make a comparison to Hans Christian Andersen’s The Emperor’s New Clothes in assessing Infantino’s conduct, making clear reference to the peace prize awarded to Donald Trump and last summer’s Folarin Balogun affair along with the FFE scheme. Continue reading...

New red-ball coach Stephen Fleming and captain Joe Root can capitalise on side’s recent form and create a new identity Just a few weeks ago I was so demoralised. The England team was a mess, a shambles. The management was terrible. One red-ball coach had just been sacked and the other wasn’t going to turn up for ages. The Test captain, whose skillset as a high-class batter who bowls at an elite standard was so important for the team’s balance, had abruptly retired. The squad seemed ill-disciplined and better at manufacturing scandals than victories. And now here I am, heading into the winter full of optimism. The second half of the summer brought a series of outstanding Test and white-ball performances. There is a group of really talented cricketers, a coaching unit that has strong individuals and combinations across formats, and I feel we’re well placed to take on South Africa, who are always going to be tough and competitive, in our next Test series, and to go into next summer benefiting from a sensible, consistent approach. Continue reading...

⚽️ Nations League updates, 7.45pm BST kick-off in Prague ⚽️ Live scores | Follow us over on TikTok and Instagram You could feel it inside the stadium, one of those moments where the air starts to shift, the birds fly backwards through the sky, and outside on Wembley Way an old man clutches his copy of the England Pathway Blueprint to his chest and cowers up at the moon. Welcome to the witching hour, 55 minutes in, when things just seem to happen to Thomas Tuchel’s England. Before this Nations League opener there was general agreement on the desirability of systems, pattern, repeatability. And you can’t say England aren’t consistent. Their last two significant matches, here and in Atlanta in July, have both involved going a goal ahead against the World Cup finalists, playing well and dominating parts of the game, right up until the 55-minute mark. Continue reading...

⚽️ Nations League updates from the 7.45pm BST kick-offs ⚽️ Live scores | Follow Czechia v England | And mail Taha “I just want Billy to enjoy his football with a smile. If he can do that, the rest will come. I remember him well when he was in Brighton. I thought he was fantastic for them.” Here’s more from Sébastien Pocognoli, the new Scotland manager, on Billy Gilmour. Spain v Croatia Scotland v Switzerland Slovenia v North Macedonia Luxembourg v Iceland Bulgaria v Estonia Slovakia v Kazakhstan San Marino v Albania Continue reading...

Everton’s great lost talent of the 90s explains the drinking culture that enveloped him as a teenager, his time in jail, struggles with depression and how he got clean “I was just a kid and no one was there for me,” Billy Kenny says as he wipes away the tears of hurt and regret on a September afternoon in Liverpool. “I’m angry with Everton for not looking after me. “Listen, I’m no angel. I’ve played my part, but there are other people who played their part in the demise of Billy Kenny. So I’m still bitter and frustrated today, at the age of 53. It was an absolute waste of talent.” Continue reading...

* Marque reaffirms commitment to Fred Vasseur * Horner had expressed interest in joining Ferrari Ferrari have reaffirmed their backing for team principal Fred Vasseur in an effort to end speculation that Christian Horner was being considered as a potential replacement for the Frenchman. Horner gave an interview in the Times last week in which he stated that leading Ferrari would be his “dream” job and the only one he would consider without having part-ownership of the team. His comments provoked debate that he could replace Vasseur, given the Scuderia’s underperformance this season. Continue reading...

Our cartoonist on the Premier League’s ruling finally being revealed and Israel v Republic of Ireland * Buy a cartoon | Some of David’s favourite works * And his latest book, Chaos in the Box: get it now Continue reading...

* ‘Sham’ contracts helped inflate revenues by £900m * Commission finds club guilty over nine-season period Manchester City have been found guilty of all charges related to serious breaches of the Premier League’s financial rules over a nine-season period, the league has announced. The league also said an independent commission had found City guilty of the majority of charges in relation to its failure to cooperate with the league’s investigation. Continue reading...

Sign up now! Sign up now! Sign up now? Sign up now! This time last week, Football Daily romanticised a continental renaissance of sorts. The arrival of Jürgen Klopp, Zinedine Zidane and Xavi Hernández on the international management scene piqued our interest. We were also impressed by the clanging brass stones of Roberto Mancini, who returned to the Italy ejector-seat three years after abruptly pulling the lever and abandoning his country in order to take the Saudi riyal. Two games in and it’s time to appraise the respective early efforts of this glitzy A-list quartet of trophy-hoarding aristocrats, one of whom has had a somewhat chastening introduction to life in the international lane. Oh Jürgen! Continue reading...

Our cartoonist on the Premier League’s ruling finally being revealed and Israel v Republic of Ireland * Buy a cartoon | Some of David’s favourite works * And his latest book, Chaos in the Box: get it now Continue reading...

* Socceroos led 2-1 with goals from Metcalfe and Circati * Two late goals sealed win for five-times world champions His first touch taking the ball goalward, Vanderson felt the pressure from Australian defenders closing in and laced a shot goalward, burying it in the top corner of Patrick Beach’s net and putting Brazil ahead. All of 132 seconds had transpired at Lang Park. After being forced to salvage a 1-1 draw with effectively the last touch of the game four days prior, it not only represented a perfect start for the Seleção, but also felt like it was sending a message. We’re Brazil, you’re Australia, and we’re going to put you in your place. And 90 minutes later, a level of pride had been restored when it finished 4-2 to the South Americans. As that effort from the Monaco defender nestled in the back of the net, memories of Nestory Irankunda’s free-kick blast at Queensland Country Bank Stadium were already fading, and as Raphinha twice thundered efforts into the body of Beach a minute later, it started to feel almost like it was 2017 again, when Diego Souza scored after just 11 seconds at the MCG to set up a comprehensive 4-0 win or 2013, when Jô scored after seven minutes in Brasília to set up a 6-0 win. Continue reading...

One of the best strikers in the world, the Scot talks about her career in blind football and the Euros Helga has spotted a pigeon just outside the changing rooms at Poltonhall Sports Complex in Bonnyrigg and it suddenly becomes clear from her ears, tongue and tail that she would very much like to chase it. But not today. She is a good girl, she resists the exciting temptation, and stays true to her task. Helga, a three-year-old black labrador, is a guide dog, partnered with the England women’s blind football captain, Sam Gough, and the duo have important work to do. Gough is preparing for the 2026 IBSA Women’s Blind Football European Championship, which gets under way in Istanbul on Saturday, full of confidence in her everyday life since partnering with Helga last year, a moment she says has been liberating. This year Postcode Lottery players are helping Guide Dogs to fund life-changing partnerships like Sam and Helga. To find out more about Guide Dogs, you can visit guidedogs.org.uk This is an extract from our free email about women’s football, Moving the Goalposts. To get the full edition, visit this page and follow the instructions. Moving the Goalposts is delivered to your inboxes every Tuesday and Thursday. Continue reading...

* Chelsea’s Lexi Potter gets first call-up to face Greece * Leah Williamson back after injury for World Cup playoff Ella Toone and Chloe Kelly have been dropped from England’s squad because of their performance levels by Sarina Wiegman, who has given a first call-up to the 20-year-old Chelsea midfielder Lexi Potter. Toone and Kelly have played key roles in England’s run of three consecutive major tournament finals but Wiegman made clear on Tuesday, when announcing her selection for the Women’s World Cup qualifying playoff against Greece, that she wants to see more from them for their clubs. Continue reading...

* Follow updates as Socceroos face Seleção in Brisbane * Any thoughts? Get in touch with an email The lights of Lang Park have gone down, the flamethrowers are roaring, and the music is pumping as the stadium announcer reads the two line-ups. Irankunda, unsurprisingly, gets the biggest roar from the almost sell-out crowd. Big Sam-Kerr-but-for-the-boys energy. We have to be a little bit sharper in front compared to the last game, and hope everything will be okay. For us, it’s another test… I think we will play a little bit different from the first game. It is a test and I would like to know about the young players who have a lot of quality. Continue reading...

Debutants will face Australia and All Blacks and full-back Paul Altier admits he and his teammates are more used to ‘watching it as fans’ This time next year the Rugby World Cup will be looming large. Australia’s big party kicks off on 1 October 2027 when the host nation will be intent on replicating the feelgood factor generated by their eventful 42-38 win against the world champion Springboks on Sunday. If the Wallabies can maintain their improvement under Les Kiss, the levels of local interest will rise exponentially. A resurgent Australia could also have significant implications for England, their potential quarter-final opponents, as well as New Zealand. Should the Wallabies somehow find a way past the All Blacks in Sydney on the second weekend of the pool stages it would catapult the Kiwis into England’s side of the draw and rip up a lot of advance calculations. This is an extract from our weekly rugby union email, the Breakdown. To subscribe just visit this page and follow the instructions. Continue reading...