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• England 3-0 Australia

• Beever-Jones 20, Bronze 40, Stanway 90+8pen

A chorus of Happy Birthday ­echoed around Pride Park after England’s Euro 2025 warrior Lucy Bronze had fired in England’s ­second against ­Australia, but the party mood was marred by a nasty looking knee injury to a distraught Michelle Agyemang.

It was better from the Lionesses in Derby, a more structured and controlled performance than the one on display in the 2-1 loss to Brazil on Saturday night, Aggie Beever-Jones and Georgia Stanway scoring either side of Bronze’s effort. Whether that was the change in personnel and positions, or just that the cobwebs needed to be shaken off in the first fixture since their big win in Switzerland before things started to click into place is hard to say.

After more than 21 years without facing one another, Cardiff had to wait a little longer to reacquaint themselves with their Welsh rivals, as Wrexham completely failed to turn up for the first half. The Bluebirds’ victory came as little of a shock, if anything their progress to the quarter‑finals should have been far easier.

Yousef Salech put the League One side into a first-half lead but Cardiff missed numerous chances to finish off the match before it began in earnest. Wrexham joined the tie in the second half; substitute Kieffer Moore equalised but it was Will Fish who settled the match for the team from the capital.

Relying on penalties to see off lowly opposition from League One will do little for Fulham’s morale. Marco Silva’s side are in a sticky spot, four consecutive defeats dragging them towards the Premier League’s bottom three, and making a meal out of reaching the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup at Wycombe Wanderers’ expense was not exactly the required tonic before this weekend’s vital home game against Wolves.

The positives for Fulham did not extend beyond Josh King scoring his first senior goal. The 18-year-old midfielder cancelled out Cauley Woodrow’s early opener against his old side and the favourites went through 5-4 on penalties. Benjamin Lecomte saved from Ewan Henderson, Fred Onyedinma and Donell McNeilly before Issa Diop’s emphatic spot-kick killed Wycombe off in sudden death.

Brentford sauntered into the League Cup quarter-finals for the second consecutive season after ending Grimsby’s magnificent cup run on a one-sided evening in Cleethorpes.

The Mariners had beaten teams from each of England’s top three divisions to reach the fourth round, including their historic win against Manchester United at this ground in August. However, there was never really any chance of a repeat here as Keith Andrews’s team continued their fine recent form to silence a sold-out Blundell Park.

• Long throws have doubled in Premier League this season

• The trend has led to a reduction of in-play time

Football’s lawmakers are considering taking action against the most fashionable trend in the game: long throws.

The International Football Association Board (Ifab) has discussed the possibility of limiting how long a player can spend on a throw-in, in a bid to increase the amount of time the ball is in play during a match.

• ‘Do you remember the throws? Now more teams do that’

• Haaland likely to be rested for Swansea Carabao Cup tie

Pep Guardiola has suggested Tony Pulis’s Stoke side have inspired ­Premier League clubs to become more direct and place greater emphasis on set pieces. The ­Manchester City head coach says he will not change his ­principles but is open to ­turning Omar Marmoush and Erling ­Haaland into a more classical strike partnership.

City travel to Swansea on Wednesday night in the Carabao Cup fourth round, where they will face a Championship side eager to keep the ball. Long throw-ins and corners are becoming increasingly important in the ^­Premier League. Pulis used them to his ­advantage during his Stoke ­tenure in the late-2000s, helping the side defy the odds in the top flight.

The lack of squad investment had clearly frustrated a habitually successful manager yet he was minded to see out his final season – before things got personal

Presumably Martin O’Neill had no inkling of what the coming hours would bring when he used a Monday radio appearance to talk up Hearts’ prospects of winning the Scottish title for the first time since 1960. “This is the time for Hearts,” O’Neill said.

The scale of reverberation around Brendan Rodgers’s resignation is such that even the return of O’Neill to the Celtic dugout is not the most dramatic element. Instead, the lesser‑spotted Dermot Desmond broke cover to lacerate Rodgers. The attack felt personal and spiteful. This proved a sad and unseemly conclusion to Rodgers’s second spell in Glasgow. So much so, in fact, that the third most successful manager in Celtic’s history cannot now show his face at the stadium. Desmond appears to be a bad enemy to choose.

• Forward says players will perform ‘in any situation’

• Crystal Palace visit Anfield in Carabao Cup on Wednesday

Federico Chiesa has claimed that Liverpool’s troubles are not long term and Arne Slot’s side will have answers for any long-ball tactics that Crystal Palace employ in the Carabao Cup.

Liverpool have lost twice against Palace this season, with the reverse at Selhurst Park last month marking the start of a damaging sequence of five defeats in six games. The teams meet again at Anfield on Wednesday when Slot faces a dilemma over the extent of his rotation, given injuries and recent results.

• Teenager could be picked to face Brighton in Carabao Cup

• Jesus, Havertz, Martinelli, Madueke, Saliba all to miss out

Mikel Arteta has admitted that he is tempted to play the 15-year-old Max Dowman against Brighton in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday night. “When you look at what he does in training you have to play him,” the Arsenal manager said.

Dowman made a pair of Premier League appearances in August, having been a sensation in pre‑season. His most recent first‑team involvement was as a substitute at Port Vale in the Carabao Cup on 24 September. As with the careful management of Ethan Nwaneri, who may also play his part at the Emirates Stadium against Brighton, Arsenal have mapped out Dowman’s development. He was an unused substitute last week in the Champions League defeat of Athletic Bilbao.

Our cartoonist dons his best threads to check out which aesthetics are back to dominate the football fashion world

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After more than a year of treading water the scale of the challenge facing Australia coach Joe Montemurro has been laid bare

There were plenty of themes to the Matildas’ 3-0 defeat to England, a reverse in which the margin perhaps flattered the control the hosts demonstrated at Pride Park, and few of the narratives on the night were positive for Australia. The Lionesses hardly got out of third gear but still looked like they were largely toying with their opponents, who struggled to get the ball out of their own half even before Alanna Kennedy received a straight red card for denying a clear goalscoring opportunity in just the 19th minute.

Kennedy’s lapse in judgement and resulting sacrifice was punished when Lucy Bronze redirected the rebound of Aggie Beever-Jones’s resulting free kick back to the Chelsea forward, who lasered an effort into the top corner. A deserved two-goal margin (three or potentially even more would not have been all that unreasonable) was delivered just before half-time when Bronze used the one-player advantage to ghost into a mile of space and comfortably dispatch a through ball beyond Mackenzie Arnold, ending a move in which England ripped through their Australian backline with a casual ease. Adding some salt to wounds, late VAR intervention awarded England a 98th-minute penalty for a Katrina Gorry foul, one easily dispatched by Georgia Stanway.

• Inter Miami star delivered remarks in an NBC interview

• Messi reiterated his desire to play in the 2026 World Cup

Lionel Messi said that MLS must loosen its spending restrictions in order to become a top league in the world of soccer and said that he is hopeful that he will be physically able to contribute to Argentina at next summer’s World Cup.

In a rare interview with an American outlet, Messi sat down with NBC Nightly News anchor Tom Llamas at Chase Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. In the interview, Messi was asked if he felt that soccer could become as popular in the US as American sports like football, baseball, and basketball. Messi said he thinks the sport could get there, but that teams need to have more freedom first.

• USMNT midfielder has struggled with injuries for years

• Offseason move to Mönchengladbach hasn’t paid off yet

Gio Reyna went into the 2022 World Cup as one of United States’ brightest young stars. Controversy over his training effort and a family conflict with the team’s then-coach overshadowed his performances.

A World Cup on US soil next year is a guiding light for the 22-year-old Reyna to revive a career dogged by injuries.

• Cincinnati and Minnesota go up 1-0 in best-of-three series

• Columbus and Seattle to host Game 2s

Kévin Denkey’s goal in the 78th minute was enough for hosts FC Cincinnati to claim a 1-0 victory over the Columbus Crew in the opener of their Eastern Conference opening-round series on Monday.

Match 2 is Sunday in Columbus. A deciding match, if needed, will be on 8 November in Cincinnati.

• TV deals and squeezed calendar cause conundrum

• Boxing Day lands on Friday, which has one broadcast slot

The traditional Boxing Day feast of top-flight football may end up looking like leftovers this winter, with a squeezed calendar meaning there may be only one Premier League fixture.

Boxing Day lands on a Friday and that has left the Premier League with a scheduling conundrum because of an expanded Champions League and a commitment to preserving a platform for the FA Cup.

• Tudor departs after just seven months in the job

• Sunday’s defeat to Lazio was third loss in the last week

Juventus have sacked their head coach, Igor Tudor, after failing to win their last eight matches in all competitions, the Serie A club said on Monday.

“Juventus FC announces that it has today relieved Igor Tudor of his duties as coach of the men’s first team, along with his staff,” the Italian club said in a statement, a day after their 1-0 defeat to Lazio. Massimo Brambilla, head coach of the reserve team, will temporarily take over as the first team manager, the club added.

Recent history has seen all three sides promoted from the Championship be relegated the same season – Régis Le Bris’s side could break the spell

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Last season, all three promoted sides in the Premier League were relegated. The season before that, all three promoted sides were relegated. The fear was that the gulf between the Premier League and Championship had become too big, with the increasing stratification of the English game essentially making it impossible for the promoted sides to survive, much less to thrive. It’s a self-perpetuating issue; the longer the other 17 remain in the Premier League, fattened on television rights, the harder it will be for teams coming up to make an impression.

There was a need for the promoted sides to put up a better fight than they managed last season when, between them, Leicester, Ipswich and Southampton collected just 59 points. Nine games into this season, not quite a quarter of the way through, Sunderland, Leeds and Burnley already have 38 points between them. None of the three are currently in the relegation zone. But most striking have been the performances of Sunderland, who have taken 17 points already and, to widespread surprise, lie fourth in the table.

It was just like old times as Dani Carvajal sparked a full-time ruckus with Barça’s teenage star after his pre-match barbs

“As long as I win they can’t say anything,” Lamine Yamal said once, but this time he didn’t win and they were coming for him. They said he spoke too much; they replied that, yeah, they would see him outside; they told him talk is cheap. And that was just the players: there was more from the preachers in their pulpits, men who never lose.

On the eve of the clásico, the teenager who claims he left fear behind in Mataró suggested that Real Madrid rob and moan, or so it goes. He also offered a reminder that the last time he had been at the Santiago Bernabéu – a kid with blaugrana braces, a glint in his eye and a right foot they didn’t know he had – he beat them 4-0. But that was then and this was now. And, an adult now, exactly a year on, he was beaten back. He knew, they told him so.

Mikel Arteta’s side have experience of being top of the table but have been unable to finish the job in previous seasons

All the signs point to it finally being Arsenal’s season. But given that they have spent almost 800 days top of the table since last being champions in 2004, nothing will be taken for granted at this stage. After an outlay of more than £250m in the summer, Mikel Arteta has a formidable squad that has been able to cope with injuries to important players such as Kai Havertz and Martin Ødegaard – a problem that derailed them in three successive runner-up finishes.

Serie A’s best player last season showed his class against Inter despite his coach getting mouthy with former players

Scott McTominay could have been forgiven for a moment of self-pity after Napoli’s 6-2 defeat to PSV in the Champions League last week, a night when he scored twice and still wound up on the wrong end of a historic shellacking. Instead, he was the voice of reason.

While Antonio Conte debuted a new line of complaint, putting aside a career’s worth of laments about employers failing to back him in the transfer market to this time protest that Napoli had bought him too many new players, McTominay said simply: “It’s football. You have to take it on the chin.”

Forward reflects on a changed landscape at north Wales club and looks forward to Tuesday’s big Carabao Cup clash

“I want to get north Wales back up there and hopefully one day I can get them to the Premier League,” says Wrexham’s record signing, Nathan Broadhead. Back at the club after a 17-year absence, he did not miss a clash with Cardiff in that time but the rivals renew acquaintances in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday night, with the Red Dragons looking down on the boys from the Welsh capital.

The enmity between Wrexham and Cardiff has cooled given they have not faced each other since a Welsh Cup semi-final in 2004 and last met in the league in March 2002 but a lively atmosphere can be expected at Stōk Cae Ras in the battle for a quarter-final spot. The two passed each other this summer, when Wrexham continued their journey up the leagues to the Championship, while the Bluebirds dropped into the third tier for the first time in 22 years.

Arsenal’s title tilt is built on solid defence, Chelsea miss Cole Palmer and what happened to clampdown on shirt-pulling?

“One-nil to the Arsenal” may not be thrilling but it is certainly effective. Sunday’s victory over Crystal Palace was Mikel Arteta’s side’s third by that margin in nine Premier League games. Last season, Arsenal managed that result five times in the league, while also drawing 1-1 in seven matches. Clean sheets in just half of those might have made for an intriguing title race. For all the noise surrounding Arsenal’s attacking talent, their defence is just as vital. It is their solidity at that end of the pitch that will probably lead them to glory, with three goals conceded in nine top-flight games so far. Sunday also marked a century of games across all competitions since they have conceded more than twice. The last to put three past David Raya? Luton – remember them? – back in December 2023. Sam Dalling

Match report: Arsenal 1-0 Crystal Palace

Match report: Aston Villa 1-0 Man City

Match report: Brentford 3-2 Liverpool

Match report: Manchester United 4-2 Brighton

Match report: Everton 0-3 Tottenham

From PSG’s Ibrahim Mbaye to Brazil’s next hope, we select some of the most talented players born in 2008. Check the progress of our classes of 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 … and go even further back. Here’s our Premier League class of 2025

We pick the best youngsters at each club born between 1 September 2008 and 31 August 2009, an age band known as first-year scholars. Check the progress of our classes of 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 … and go even further back. Here’s our 2025 world picks

The clock in the Santiago Bernabéu showed 98:40 when Pedri picked up the ball on the edge of his area and went on the final run of an exhausting afternoon when so much happened that it was not just the players who struggled to keep up. Here was one last chance to salvage something, the Barcelona midfielder somehow hauling himself up the pitch in search of a final twist; instead, as he reached the other end, a tired touch and a desperate lunge saw him take out Aurélien Tchouaméni – the world upside down – and get sent off. And so the clásico was over, bar the shouting and the pushing.

There was plenty of that, players squaring up then and again when the final whistle went a few seconds later, Thibaut Courtois and Lamine Yamal confronting each other; so too Vinícius Júnior, who had stormed off when he was substituted, and Raphinha, who had not even played.

• Retired defender offered coaching role by Vincent Kompany

• Boateng found guilty last year of assaulting former partner

The retired defender Jérôme Boateng has pulled out of a planned coaching internship at Bayern Munich after fans voiced their objection because of the 2014 World Cup winner being found guilty last year of assaulting his former partner.

The former Bayern and Germany centre-back, who played for the club between 2011 and 2021, had discussed a short internship with the head coach, Vincent Kompany. “Following the recent discussion regarding myself, I have decided to focus on my issues such as the A training license … that is where my focus is,” he said in a social media post addressed to Bayern and Kompany. “Your focus should be solely on the pitch and on extending this 13-match winning run.”

The Argentine has been as excellent as ever in his later years, but his presence and performance has yet to push MLS into the US mainstream

OK, show of hands. How many of you knew that Lionel Messi – a global superstar who has committed to spend his next three years in the United States – just completed the best individual season in Major League Soccer history?

Be honest.

• Kimmich, Guerreiro and Karl capitalise on Castrop red

• De Bruyne off injured after scoring as Napoli beat Inter

Bayern Munich needed more than an hour before breaking the resistance of Borussia Mönchengladbach, to earn a 3-0 victory over opponents who spent more than 75% of the game with 10 men. It was the Bundesliga leaders’ 13th win in 13 matches across all competitions this season.

Joshua Kimmich slotted in after 64 minutes and the substitute Raphaël Guerreiro added another five minutes later before the teenager Lennart Karl, who had scored in their Champions League win against Club Brugge on Wednesday, made it 3-0 in the 81st. Bayern have a maximum 24 points from eight league matches, five ahead of RB Leipzig, 6-0 winners at Augsburg.

With their election looming, the Argentinian club hope stable leadership can reverse worst form in four decades

Stefano Di Carlo was two months old when, in 1989, his grandfather, Titi, became the president of River Plate, taking over after the resignation of Hugo Santilli. He was seven months old when, that December, his grandfather narrowly lost the presidential election. He was three years old when his grandfather took him to his first River Plate game.

Titi Di Carlo remained a senior figure at the club and was on the board when he went to a Copa Libertadores quarter-final against Banfield with the 16-year-old Stefano. The first leg had finished 1-1.

Stunning goals by Eli Kroupi and Loum Tchaouna mean they are forcing their way into my brain at the expense of Ian Juryeff

I managed to watch last Saturday’s Match of the Day without knowing the scores. It really is one of life’s enduring thrills. So the first time I’d seen or heard of Loum Tchaouna was when he picked up the ball in the 68th minute at Turf Moor, looked around a bit and thought: “Sod it, I’ll just whack it from here.” And how! What a brilliant way to introduce himself to my brain – which was perhaps not his ultimate goal; in this instance a goal was very much his ultimate goal.

By the time of this last-on-MOTD wonderstrike, I’d obviously spent the previous hour watching various other footballers at work – most of them pretty familiar. The odd one did require a cursory Google. Who is Eli Kroupi? Who are all these Chelsea players? Do they really have the same sized squad as all the other teams? If I was cloning footballers in a laboratory and slipping them into the Champions League squad, I’d call them Reggie Walsh.

Brighton forward is playing the best football of his career at 34 and Thomas Tuchel could have a vacancy next summer

Age appears no barrier for Thomas Tuchel’s England. An 18-month contract as a one-shot deal – North America or bust – little need to plan for the future. Any legacy is bound up in the success or failure of Mission 2026, hence the expected presence of “good tourist” Jordan Henderson, 36 less than a week after the World Cup kicks off.

Though Harry Kane is immovable, undroppable, there may yet be a vacancy for an athletic, intelligent, hard-working forward, capable of linking play and leading the press, should Ollie Watkins or Dominic Solanke falter. Anyone meeting the demands of modern forward play: apply within.

In an embarrassing climbdown, the game in Miami is off with the league having alienated the players and even Villarreal, the club that was on its side

If there is a moment that defined La Liga’s fourth failed attempt to play in Miami, an image to explain why everything went wrong, it may have been the moment it was all over. On Tuesday night, Spanish television broadcast reaction to the news from the Estadio de la Ceràmica, live and unfiltered.

Cameras caught someone else who felt dismissed and disrespected, treated as if they didn’t count. This time it was someone who was supposed to be on the league’s side, but now appeared as a portrait of poor planning and poorer communication, a lack of consideration that pushed the project to collapse.

Our cartoonist looks back at the doomed and very short reign of Ange Postecoglou at the City Ground

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Manager inherits a group of players that suits him and has a track record of creating camaraderie in his squads

Sean Dyche was often spotted at the City Ground while out of work. The Nottingham Forest job has been of interest to him for a long time, and not only because he lives close by. The circumstances in which the role has become available are not ideal for an incoming head coach but his appointment is the pragmatic choice in ludicrous circumstances.

Ange Postecoglou was never the right man, inheriting a squad that did not suit his style and did not adapt quickly enough, though it did not help that he told the players their previous achievements meant nothing. His tenure will go down in history for all the wrong reasons. Dyche, on the other hand, has plenty of respect for what Forest achieved under Nuno Espírito Santo and is far more aligned with that conservatism than with what was witnessed under Postecoglou.

After eye-catching showings for Aston Villa, piano-playing psychology student is ready to step up for England duty

Lucia Kendall was watching TV, probably a drama, and missed Sarina Wiegman’s call. She wasn’t expecting it. Certainly not this soon. The 21-year-old joined Aston Villa from the WSL 2 club Southampton in the summer but her start in the top division has been so impressive that it has yielded a first senior England call-up for the friendlies against Brazil and Australia.

“It’s surreal really,” Kendall says at the team’s St George’s Park training base. “I don’t think it’s really sunk in. I’m just here to learn as much as possible. This team’s just gone and won back-to-back Euros so to be able to be in their environment is something I really didn’t think I’d get to do so soon.”

Former England midfielder has always been a disruptor and says Saturday’s match will show his kids he can fight

David Bentley has never been one to turn down a challenge, even if it is to his detriment. In 2008, on England duty, he got roped into playing what was meant to be a lighthearted game with Jimmy Bullard, shouting “Postman Pat” at Fabio Capello in training, on account of the manager’s likeness to the children’s character. Capello – perhaps unsurprisingly – did not see the funny side and Bentley never played for England again.

Bentley has always been audacious. When coming through at Arsenal, he accidentally sat in the seat of the club captain, Patrick Vieira, in the canteen. When the Frenchman tapped the then teenager on the shoulder, ordering him to vacate the seat in front of the rest of the squad, Bentley refused as a matter of principle. “I wasn’t going to let anyone mug me off,” Bentley says. “If I was on the street, no chance. I’m not moving. There’s a hierarchy but I don’t know, I’m not having that. But I can feel his hand on my shoulder now.” He spent the next three months getting kicked in training by Vieira and excluded from nights out with the team.

More than half the 26 places appear to be locked down but big names are at risk with qualification secured and the tournament looming

Fresh from breaking Gordon Banks’s record for consecutive England clean sheets, Jordan Pickford remains the undisputed pick in goal. A miserly defensive record is a positive for Thomas Tuchel, even if the shutouts have come against poor sides. John Stones, such an elegant centre-back, is back in the team and will start at the World Cup if he stays fit. But who will partner him? Tuchel likes Ezri Konsa, whose versatility also makes him an option at right-back, and Marc Guéhi; big Dan Burn also looks established after making his international debut in March. It is more uncertain at left-back, but Reece James will play at right-back as long as his body does not let him down.

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As splits go, Monday night’s parting of Brendan Rodgers and Celtic was as bitter and spectacular as any rock band have managed. And unlike Mötley Crüe, Guns N’ Roses and the Gallaghers, there will be no reunion tour. Think The Smiths, with attendant wordy statements to reflect just how severed the alliance is. Rodgers’ departure was initially sold as him stepping away. “Celtic Football Club can confirm that football manager Brendan Rodgers has today tendered his resignation,” droned a club statement. “The Club appreciates Brendan’s contribution to Celtic during his two very successful periods at the Club.”

Watching the current success of my adopted fitba club Hearts (yesterday’s Football Daily), my mind immediately turns to Scott Hutchison of Frightened Rabbit/Owl John/Mastersystem fame and now tragically seven years deceased. A lifelong Hearts fan, he even recorded, with Frightened Rabbit, his own version of Hector Nicol’s ‘The Hearts Song’ to commemorate their main stand being knocked down after 103 years. Following his death, Hearts themselves wore the name of the charity set up in his honour (Tiny Changes) on their shirts during the Scottish Cup semi-final warm-ups in 2020. I never had the pleasure to know or even meet Scott, but by all accounts he was one of the good ones. Rarely does much time pass before I put one of his (very, very good) albums on for a listen, and in this miserable autumn weather there’s little better to listen to. I hope he’s out there, somewhere, able to see his team flying high at the top of Scottish Premiership. RIP, Scott. The Jambos are doing you proud” – Oliver Billenness.

Sad news about Sheffield Wednesday (yesterday’s News, Bits and Bobs, full email edition). When I was over in the UK in 2016 (for the Leicester fiesta) I had an hour or two to spare in Sheffield between trains. So on impulse I went up to Hillsborough, which is curiously (to me anyway) up a valley in the ‘burbs. The place was locked up except the club shop, to my chagrin, as I was keen to look around. However, I was directed to a suit passing through the shop who turned out to be the chief suit. When he learned I was a Kiwi footie fan on holiday, he generously took me for a quick tour around the stadium and even on to the pitch. That kind gesture instantly made me a secondary Wednesday fan. Can’t remember his name but he told me he’d previously also had a senior role at my beloved Leicester” – Rod de Lisle.

To cut down on travel, Truro City (yesterday’s Football Daily, full email edition) should consider moving to Truro, Massachusetts. Truro, Massachusetts to Taunton, Massachusetts is only 87 miles. From Truro, Massachusetts it’s 141 miles to Gloucester, Massachusetts. And it’s only 67 miles to Plymouth, Massachusetts. Admittedly, some of their other matches would be a bit further: Hartlepool is approximately 3,200 miles away” – Dan Davis.

Re: yesterday’s Quote of the Day. I am so glad this Kenny Dalglish film has finally been made, as it is a whopping 12 years since Rush came out” – Antony Train.

This is an extract from our daily football email … Football Daily. To get the full version, just visit this page and follow the instructions.

Today’s newsletter looks at the most clinical forwards at the tournament in Morocco, which has reached the last-16 stage

The 2025 Under-17 Women’s World Cup is well under way in Morocco with Brazil, China, Canada and Spain among the countries who have reached the last 16. After an intriguing group stage here are some of the young stars who have stood out so far:

Giulia Galli (Italy): Italy have been one of the surprise packages of the tournament, spearheaded by the goals of Galli. The 17-year-old has enjoyed an eye-catching year for club and country: she was at the heart of her nation’s run to the semi-finals of this summer’s Under-17 European Championship, their highest finish in more than a decade that booked their spot at this World Cup. Since then, she has found herself around the Roma senior team, scoring her first goal for the club – the winner – in their Serie A Women’s Cup fixture against Milan. She has led the charge once again in Morocco as Selena Mazzantini’s side won all three group games to progress. All five goals to date have demonstrated her uncanny knack of breaking defensive lines as well as her instinctive clinical ability inside the box.

This is an extract from our free weekly email, 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.

Today’s newsletter looks at the next World Cup hosts as they prepare to take on England and Italy with a squad with an average age of 24

The road to the 2027 World Cup is long and winding for all teams hoping to qualify – apart from the hosts, Brazil. Having won their ninth Copa América Femenina in the summer, their next major tournament will be the World Cup in 20 months.

That may seem like a long time but the head coach, Arthur Elias, is aware that every minute of preparation counts, starting with their friendlies against England in Manchester on Saturday and Italy in Parma on Tuesday.

Max Rushden, Sanny Rudravajhala, George Elek and Ben Fisher discuss Brendan Rodgers leaving Celtic, Frank Lampard taking Coventry top of the Championship and Sheffield Wednesday entering administration

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On the podcast today; as with what seems to be every Football League-facing podcast, breaking news the day before gets in the way. This time it’s Brendan Rodgers’ decision to leave Celtic and the incredible club statement that followed it.

Max Rushden is joined by Barry Glendenning, Sam Dalling and Dan Bardell as Arsenal extend their lead at the top of the Premier League to four points

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On the podcast today: a brilliant weekend for Arsenal who achieved a six-point swing in their favour as they beat Crystal Palace at home while Manchester City, Liverpool and Chelsea all lost.

Faye Carruthers is joined by Suzy Wrack, Júlia Belas Trindade and special guest Mary Phillip to discuss England’s defeat to Brazil. Plus, Beth Fisher joins to reflect on Jess Fishlock’s emotional farewell

On today’s pod: England fall 2-1 to Brazil as the Homecoming Series begins with questions over Maya Le Tissier’s best position. The panel unpack the Lionesses’ defensive issues, Khiara Keating’s landmark debut and what’s next before their Australia rematch.

Elsewhere, the Republic of Ireland edge closer to promotion to League A after beating Belgium, Spain cruise past Sweden, and Jess Fishlock bows out in style for Wales. We hear from Beth Fisher on Fishlock’s legacy and what comes next for Rhian Wilkinson’s side.

Plus: Austria’s full-house of goals and assists, more free-kick purple patches and seeing red after scoring a hat-trick

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“Is Ange Postecoglou’s 40-day spell at Nottingham Forest the shortest for a full-time manager in the English top flight?” asks Donna Stevens.

Any Nottingham Forest manager aspires to emulate the achievements of Brian Clough at the City Ground, or at least pay some kind of success-based tribute. Alas, Ange Postecoglou’s spell at Forest was more reminiscent of Clough’s time at Leeds – short and sour.

Ron Futcher, Charlton 5-3 Barnsley, Division Two, March 1985
Futcher’s hat-trick put Barnsley 3-0 ahead; he was then sent off with the score 3-3 before Charlton completed a spectacular comeback.

Hristo Stoichkov, Atlético Madrid 1-4 Barcelona, La Liga, September 1992

Benni McCarthy, Porto 5-3 Santa Clara, Primeira Liga, April 2002

Marco Gabbiadini, Sunderland 4-0 Ipswich, Division Two, March 1989
Quite an achievement, this one – after 87 minutes Gabbiadini had scored only one goal. He added two more in the 88th and 89th before being sent off in the 90th for an alleged right-hander.

Chris Iwelumo, Preston 1-3 Wolves, Championship, September 2008

Hugo Almeida, Werder Bremen 3-0 St Pauli, Bundesliga, November 2010

Every deal in the NWSL, WSL, Liga F, Frauen-Bundesliga, Première Ligue and Serie A Femminile as well as a club-by-club guide

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