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• Switzerland v Iceland follows in second Group A game

• Player guide | David Squires’ wallchart | Mail Tom

A few transfer nuggets to have caught the eye in the past day or so: the striker Igor Jesus has joined Nottingham Forest for £10m fresh from tearing it up at the Club World Cup with Botafogo; Brighton have snapped up the Club Brugge left-back Maxim De Cuyper for £17m; and Birmingham continue to splash the cash with the former Celtic striker Kyogo Furuhashi joining the Championship club from Rennes for £10m.

Track all the latest deals here:

Playmaker scored against his new club and should form an entertaining combination with the England international

The good news for Chelsea is that Cole Palmer and Estêvão Willian will be on the same team when they next share a pitch. Even better, it seems two of the most gifted young forwards around already have a connection. They were on opposite sides in Philadelphia on Friday night but friends when it was over, sharing a warm embrace after Chelsea’s victory over Palmeiras in the Club World Cup, swapping shirts and perhaps thinking about how much fun they are going to have at the expense of opposition defences when they line up together next season.

It was a heartwarming sight. Palmer offered a reminder that he remains the main man at Chelsea, performing with craft and intelligence during a first half in which he opened the scoring in smooth fashion, but Estêvão vied for centre stage on his final appearance for Palmeiras. It was an extraordinary performance given the context. Anticipation has been building ever since Chelsea agreed a £52m fee with Palmeiras for Estêvão in May 2024. The 18-year-old has remained on an upward trajectory after staying with Palmeiras for one more season, but any hopes of keeping the hype machine from going into overdrive with a player regarded as the best Brazilian youth product of his generation had disappeared long before he found himself trying to knock his future employers out of the Club World Cup.

• Jamal Musiala injured after Donnarumma challenge

• ‘You feel powerless,’ says Bayern coach Vincent Kompany

Bayern Munich’s coach, Vincent Kompany, said that he felt his blood boil after seeing Jamal Musiala taken off on a stretcher during Bayern Munich’s 2-0 defeat to Paris St-Germain in the quarter-final of the Club World Cup. Musiala’s left ankle appeared to be dislocated following a challenge from Gianluigi Donnarumma just before half-time in Atlanta, with players from both teams covering their faces and looking away, clearly affected by what they had seen.

The Bayern Munich coach called the injury an “accident,” but the goalkeeper Manuel Neuer criticised Donnarumma’s challenge and the club’s sporting director, Max Eberl, said that the PSG goalkeeper had not taken sufficient care.

The allegations England’s captain had casually stolen the jewellery on the eve of the 1970 World Cup sparked a diplomatic frenzy

It remains one of the most notorious and unresolved episodes in World Cup history. Now diplomatic cables have emerged in Colombia shedding fresh light on the diplomatic frenzy caused by the arrest of Bobby Moore, then captain of the reigning champions, England, days before the start of the 1970 tournament in Mexico.

The previously unseen documents show how Moore’s trip to the Fuego Verde jewellery shop in Bogotá, the Colombian capital, sparked a desperate campaign from the British Foreign Office to free the West Ham centre-back. The enormous pressure exerted on Colombia by the Foreign Office may have swayed the judge’s decision in the case, a new podcast series El Capitán y el Brazalete de Esmeraldas (The Captain and the Emerald Bracelet) concluded.

Spurs signing Klinsmann or selling Waddle were bolts from the blue. Now, transfer influencers track private jets and almost nothing is unknown

Which transfer fee blew your mind? It was probably Spurs signing Gazza for £2m in the summer of 1988. TWO MILLION. No one is worth that kind of money. The following year, I distinctly remember running into the living room – Spurs had just signed Gary Lineker. I was preparing for the season ahead, invisible football at my feet, commentating to myself: “Gascoigne, to Waddle, in for LINEKERRRR.” The next moment I switched on the TV and someone (let’s say Ray Stubbs) was telling me that Spurs had sold Waddle to Marseille. I was bereft. There was no warning. For me, or for Lineker it turns out.

I heard the striker talking about the transfer recently on the excellent What Did You Do Yesterday? podcast hosted by David O’Doherty and generic broadcaster Max Rushden (perhaps the second-best podcast he hosts).

• Quarter-final: Real Madrid 3-2 Borussia Dortmund

• G García 10, F García 20, Mbappé 90+4; Beier 90+2, Guirassy 90+8

Real Madrid have set up a date with Paris Saint-Germain in the Club World Cup semi-final, despite a chaotic last 10 minutes, giving Kylian Mbappé a chance to face his former side on a big stage after he scored a fantastic acrobatic goal in a 3-2 win over Borussia Dortmund.

Xabi Alonso’s Madrid looked entirely in control for the vast majority of the match, until a remarkable stoppage time made things nervy and Thibaut Courtois’s last-gasp save preserved the victory. That incredible conclusion to an otherwise pedestrian match also included a late red card given to Real Madrid’s Dean Huijsen, the impressive new arrival in central defence, who will miss the semi-final as a result of bringing down Serhou Guirassy right after Mbappé’s stupendous volley for Real Madrid’s third.

Sometimes it really is better to travel than to arrive. After a thoroughly enjoyable journey to their first major tournament, Wales collided with the 2017 European champions and were left dizzy and disorientated. During the course of an instructive 90 minutes in the shadow of Lucerne’s Mount Pilatus, Vivianne Miedema scored her 100th international goal. Perhaps even more significantly Andries Jonker’s side did enough to suggest it would be thoroughly unwise to assume England and France are destined to fill Group D’s top two places.

After conceding three soft goals and regularly being saved by either the woodwork or their quietly impressive goalkeeper, Olivia Clark, Wales will almost certainly be watching the knockout phase on television. No matter; Rhian Wilkinson’s players should eventually come to look back on this chastening evening in central Switzerland with real pride at their part in a landmark piece of national football history.

• Virgil van Dijk and Andy Robertson carry floral tributes

• Portugal forward Jota and his brother died in car crash

Liverpool players and staff joined the family and friends of Diogo Jota and his brother André Silva for their funeral in the siblings’ hometown of Gondomar. People lined the streets as mourners arrived from across the globe.

Jota’s widow, Rute Cardoso, who married the footballer 11 days before his death, and the brothers’ parents, Joaquim and Isabel, were comforted by family throughout.

After Donald Trump banned Iranians from entering the US, one of the co-hosts, there are different views on what should be done

“It’s offensive for any football fan to be prevented from participating in the World Cup, not just Iranians,” Ali Rezaei of Tehran’s Borna news agency says. In March, the national team became the second to qualify for the 2026 World Cup that will be hosted by Canada, Mexico and the United States. In June, Donald Trump authorised the dropping of bombs on Iran and hit the country with a travel ban. As things stand, while the national team will be able to enter the US next summer, fans – and perhaps media – will not.

Residents of Tehran and other cities may have had enough to deal with of late, but still, being barred from entry stings, even if Iranians have long found it difficult to get into the US. “If the US government has issues with the Iranian regime for any reason, it should not result in discrimination against Iranian citizens,” Behnam Jafarzadeh, a writer for the leading sports site Varzesh3, says. “If someone hasn’t committed any illegal activity, why should they be punished? It’s not just about the World Cup – the policy needs to change in general.”

His loved ones’ lives are changed for ever and at one level this is not a sports story. But Jota’s footballing talent, heart and will should be cherished, amid the grief

Bad moon, bad times and a river that will be overflowing for some time yet. It is impossible not to feel a deep sense of pain, sadness and shared heartbreak at news of the sudden death of Diogo Jota and his brother André Silva in a car crash in Spain. Jota was 28, father to three young children and a husband to his long-term partner, whom he married 11 days before his death.

Things that happen in sport are often described, with due dramatic licence, as tragedies. This is not a sports story. But it is the most terrible human tragedy. Those who have suffered similarly can empathise. But it is above all a private horror, an event that will alter the lives of family and friends for ever.

It’s the time of year when out-of-contract players go from club to club to prove themselves worthy of a new deal

Players are returning for pre-season up and down England and Wales. There will be little time for catching up about holidays and families before each has their fitness tested and boots are laced to see whether they remember how to kick a ball. Among the regular faces and new signings, there will be some interlopers in the form of the mystical trialist.

“It is life or death,” says Gboly Ariyibi, who has had trials at six clubs. Football League and National League teams are offered out-of-contract players from all angles, regularly needing to pick through up to 20 to decide whether any deserve the chance to prove themselves for what remains of the budget. From agents suggesting clients to players putting forward a friend in need of work, managers and heads of recruitment are inundated with names and clips sent on WhatsApp by those hoping for a golden ticket.

Here’s how to follow our coverage on the busiest sporting weekend of the year – the finest writing and live reports

Decision to play Chelsea forward left England outnumbered in midfield during damaging opening defeat at Euro 2025

The hour mark was approaching when Sarina Wiegman rolled the dice or, perhaps more accurately, reached for the comfort blanket. A salvage operation of this scale had not been part of anyone’s masterplan, but at least Ella Toone and Chloe Kelly knew exactly how to move the dial at a European Championship. They were the history makers at Wembley in England’s most recent appearance on this stage; if it was going to be anyone, it surely had to be them.

There were to be no heroics this time, even if Selma Bacha’s late clearance was ultimately all that came between Wiegman’s players and a draw. That statement is, in itself, illusory because the manager must face questions about her selection here. She had plumped for Lauren James’s explosive gifts in the No 10 position, sticking to the claim that the Chelsea forward was ready to ramp up her recovery from injury, but the call backfired badly. England were misshapen and leggy where it mattered; the game simply got away from them and so, with another ill-conceived step against the Netherlands, could their Euro 2025 campaign.

As Jule Brand collected the ball on the turn on the corner of the box with her back to goal, she knew the assignment. Germany needed something special to break through Poland’s stubborn resistance. Within a blink of an eye, the net was bulging and Germany were making a winning start to their campaign.

A well-coached Poland side can be proud of their performance but, once Brand’s stunning strike went in in the 52nd minute, the result looked inevitable and Lea Schüller headed in Germany’s second to give them a perfect springboard to the tournament.

There is no shortage of contenders but who will finish as the tournament’s top scorer in Switzerland?

The race to be stop scorer at the Women’s Euros 2025 in Switzerland is a fascinating one. Spain, the world champions, have several players who can top the list: Esther González, Clàudia Pina and Salma Paralluelo. The beaten finalists in Australia and New Zealand – England – count Alessia Russo as their main threat but also have Beth Mead, Chloe Kelly, Lauren James and Lauren Hemp who can chip in with goals.

Germany and France also have high hopes of going all the way this summer and have, among their ranks, Lea Schüller, Jule Brand, Klara Bühl, Marie-Antoinette Katoto, Sandy Baltimore and Kadidiatou Diani.

Get to know every single squad member at the tournament. Click on the player pictures for a full profile and ratings

All the latest Premier League, La Liga, Bundesliga, Ligue 1 and Serie A deals and a club-by-club guide

• Women’s transfers summer 2025: all the moves

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

• Men’s transfers summer 2025: all the moves

Ghanaian left club this week after playing a central role in Premier League title challenges under Mikel Arteta

For the first time since Thomas Partey left his home town of Krobo Odumase in eastern Ghana at the age of 11, he woke on Tuesday without a club. Three days later the midfielder, who had departed Arsenal after his contract expired, was charged with five counts of rape and one count of sexual assault.

What happens next with Partey’s career will be determined by the outcome of legal proceedings scheduled to start with his appearance at Westminster magistrates court on 5 August. The allegations relate to three women who reported incidents between 2021 and 2022. Partey denies all the charges and “welcomes the opportunity to finally clear his name”, his lawyer said.

• Arsenal could now target Madueke after Gittens switch

• Forest sign Igor Jesus and Brighton seal De Cuyper deal

Chelsea have completed the signing of Jamie Gittens from Borussia Dortmund, raising the possibility of Arsenal ramping up their pursuit of Noni Madueke.

Gittens, a 20-year-old winger, has become the fourth attacker to move to Stamford Bridge this summer after leaving Dortmund for £48.5m plus £3.5m in add-ons. Enzo Maresca is not short of options in the final third and the extra competition for places may cause Madueke to consider his future.

Londoner who has worked with some of the biggest names in football has been accused of trafficking, torture and rape

In the rarefied world of the so-called super-agent, and certainly the super-rich agent, Jonathan Barnett was an early kingpin.

The 75-year-old Londoner’s love of football and money, his tough negotiating style and his appetite for hard work made him a forerunner to the likes of Jorge Mendes, Pini Zahavi and the late Mino Raiola, who made tens of millions of pounds from transfer deals as the sport was transformed from a rich man’s plaything to the preserve of oil-rich nation states and private equity firms over the past two decades.

• Right-back signs two-year deal at Turf Moor

• Newcastle agree £55m fee for Forest’s Anthony Elanga

Kyle Walker has completed a surprise move from Manchester City to Burnley for a fee that could rise to £5m after agreeing a two-year contract with the Premier League newcomers.

The England international was eager to stay in the north-west of England when it became apparent he would be allowed to leave City. Everton had shown an interest in the right-back but he eventually chose to reunite with his former Tottenham teammate Scott Parker, who is the Burnley head coach.

• Fluminense 2-1 Al-Hilal (Martinelli 40, Hércules 70; Leonardo 51)

• Players observe minute’s silence for Diogo Jota and André Silva

Brazil’s Fluminense continued their fairytale run at the Club World Cup with a 2-1 victory over Saudi Arabia’s Al-Hilal on Friday in Orlando to book their place in the semi-finals.

The tournament underdogs struck first through Matheus Martinelli in the opening half before Al-Hilal hit back after the break when Marcos Leonardo found the net.
But Fluminense refused to be denied and regained their lead in the 70th minute through Hércules to secure a memorable win over Al-Hilal in the first meeting between the two clubs.

The midfielder says he can be a ‘big player’ after years away from football due to injury, a doping ban and legal cases

By Get French Football News

Dozens of journalists from France, England and Italy are inside the auditorium of Monaco’s performance centre. The densely packed room is filled with multilingual chatter about Eric Dier and Ansu Fati, who have just been presented to the media. There is one player yet to appear: the headliner, the man who has brought reporters from far and wide to this room. Then a door opens. Paul Pogba enters.

After making his way on to the podium and settling into his chair, he speaks. “As you saw, there were a lot of emotions,” says Pogba of the viral video in which the tears flowed as he signed his Monaco contract, bringing an end to two years in the footballing wilderness. “It is very rare to see me cry like that, so I hope you enjoyed it,” the 32-year-old says with a smile. “There were so many images that came into my mind. We know the doping story, my injury. Everything came back to me during the signing and I couldn’t hold back.”

Originally scheduled for the 1960-61 European Cup, political tension meant Northern Irish side Glenavon FC could not host German outfit Erzgebirge Aue – until now

It has taken 65 years, the end of the cold war and some deft social media networking for Glenavon Football Club to finally complete their tie against the former wunderkinds of East Germany, Erzgebirge Aue.

The two teams will meet at the Northern Ireland club’s Mourneview Park stadium in Lurgan, County Armagh, on Saturday to play the second leg of a tie originally scheduled for 1960 and 1961.

The Liverpool and Portugal striker has died aged 28 in a car crash in Spain. We take a look at his illustrious career on the pitch

Plus: top scorers for two clubs in one season, very old under-21 players and much more

• Mail us with your questions and answers

“Has a team won the Champions League without beating any reigning champions?” asks Paddy French. “And if not, which teams have beaten the fewest champions to win it? And which teams have beaten the most champions in winning the Champions League/European Cup?”

Let’s just clarify that Paddy is referring to reigning league champions, here, not reigning European champions, to which we had a few answers. Even in an era in which many Champions League teams are also-rans from the big leagues around Europe, the answer to the first question is no.

With Olympic veterans sidelined and new faces stepping up, the US women’s national team looked dominant again this window – but questions remain in key positions

The US women’s national team have just wrapped up another successful window in an experimental year. After beating Ireland 4–0 in back-to-back friendlies, they defeated an experienced Canada side 3–0 in Washington, bringing their 2025 record to 8-0-2 while continuing to field youthful lineups full of emerging talent.

Emma Hayes’ return to Audi Field came nearly one year to the day since they drew 0–0 with Costa Rica in their final tune-up before going on to win Olympic gold in Paris. Since then, the four-time world champions have turned their focus to the 2027 World Cup. Hayes has worked diligently to build the depth and cohesion needed to challenge for the title.

Pep Guardiola has plenty to think about over the summer after a last-16 defeat to Al-Hilal in the United States

A manager rejuvenated is no overblown assessment of Pep Guardiola, whose friendly wave to this correspondent during a morning training session at Manchester City’s Boca Raton camp was emblematic of a man who oozed energy and commitment for the challenge of elevating his side again throughout the Club. World Cup. Immediately after the winding blow of Monday’s 4-3 defeat by Al-Hilal in Orlando, the 54-year-old blended disappointment with a measured optimism, fairly pointing to how if chances had been taken then City would be facing off against Fluminense in Friday’s quarter-final, back at the Camping World Stadium.

Africa’s major women’s tournament starts in Morocco with Spain’s World Cup-winning coach under pressure to deliver

The historic task of one host staging Africa’s two major competitions this year, the women’s and men’s Africa Cup of Nations – Wafcon and Afcon – within six months of each other could really have been given to only one country: Morocco. It has arguably the best football facilities on the continent and has made itself the tournament-hosting sweet spot for the Confederation of African Football (Caf).

Three years ago a very successful Wafcon was staged there and the North African country then agreed to organise the next two tournaments, as no other nation on the continent offered to shoulder the responsibility. The 2025 edition kicks off on Saturday evening, with the hosts playing Zambia in the opening game.

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After years of drift and false starts, the US men’s team is carving out identity and intensity under their new coach – just in time for a home World Cup

There is something cosmically funny about all of this. Late last summer, the United States men’s national team went out and hired the most qualified manager it could find. The one with the most impressive coaching resume by far of anyone US Soccer had ever employed on the men’s side. The most expensive, certainly. By a multiple. The man brought in to arrest the tailspin the USMNT had slowly slipped into after the 2022 World Cup. To finally unlock that elusive next level. To help a golden generation, or at least a shiny one, come good at last. To salvage something, anything, from a World Cup played mostly on home soil a year from now. Not to squander it all.

And what should Mauricio Pochettino add to the US national team’s brew of aptitudes and attitudes but pluck and grit? The very same underdog mentality, the ferocity and fitness, that had once taken the US from global laughingstocks to merely unembarrassing and then to internationally competitiveness.

• Luna scores twice in first 15 minutes in St Louis

• US hold off late push to beat Guatemala 2-1

• Final v Mexico set for Sunday night in Houston

Diego Luna scored twice in the first 15 minutes and the US men’s national team held on for a 2-1 victory over Guatemala in St Louis on Wednesday to advance to the final of the Concacaf Gold Cup.

Luna tallied in the fourth and 15th minutes before Olger Escobar made it 2-1 in the 80th minute.

• Hutton heads home in 3-0 US win over Canada

• Coffey, Ryan also score in fifth straight shutout

• Lavelle shines with two assists in friendly win

Just playing for the US national team was a big opportunity for Claire Hutton.

Then Canada left her a bit too much space at the edge of the six-yard box – and Rose Lavelle found her with a perfect corner kick. The 19-year-old midfielder was ready.

In the social media age, football is a fraction of the Portuguese Übermensch’s appeal and he is untroubled by his paymasters’ morals

The winners of next season’s AFC Champions League Two, Asia’s second-tier club competition, will receive about £1.8m. The winners of the Saudi King’s Cup will receive just over £1m. Prize money for the Saudi Pro League is not disclosed, but by the most recent available figures (for 2022-23) is in roughly the same area. Weekly attendances at the King Saud University Stadium, where top-tier ticket prices start at about £12, range between 10,000 and 25,000, although of course you also have to factor in pie and programme sales above that.

And so you really have to applaud Al-Nassr’s ambition in handing an estimated £492m to Cristiano Ronaldo over the next two years. Even if they sweep the board at domestic level, if they fight their way past Istiklol of Tajikistan’s 1xBet Higher League and Al-Wehdat of the Jordanian Pro League, if they extract maximum value from merch and sponsorships, you still struggle to see how they can cover a basic salary that comes to £488,000 a day, even before the bonuses and blandishments that will push the total package well beyond that.

With Paris FC promoted, European champions could lose their monopoly in city if out-of-town move goes through

“Ici, c’est Paris” has been the rallying chant of Paris Saint-Germain supporters since the beginning of the 21st century. It has also become an advertising slogan for the club, who appropriated it to the fury of the ultras, who had trademarked it and have launched a lawsuit in response. But fans and marketing consultants, unless they do not fear ridicule, will not be able to use it once PSG carry out their plan to vacate the Parc des Princes, their home since they were promoted to Ligue 1 in 1974.

“It’s over now,” PSG’s president, Nasser al-Khelaifi, told reporters in March. “We want to move.” This was confirmed in a statement on 10 June, the day the newly crowned European champions flew to California and the Fifa Club World Cup. “I like the Parc a lot,” Khelaifi, known in France as Nak, said of the 48,583-capacity arena. “Everyone loves it. But [if we stay], we’re dead. In Europe, all the big clubs have 80,000- or 90,000-seat stadiums. If we want to be at that level for our supporters, the stadium must be expanded.” And because an expansion of the stadium is out of the question, it is likely that “Paris” (as the club love PSG to be called in the media) will no longer play in Paris by the time the decade is over, but in one of two towns of the grande banlieue, Massy or Poissy. We will know which come November 2026.

Drama-biopic starring Steve Coogan will reignite a row that split Irish football fans but there are good signs for its artistic merit

Watching the teaser trailer for Saipan before its cinematic release later this summer called to mind that episode of Friends in which it is revealed Joey leaves his copy of The Shining in a freezer whenever it becomes too scary for him to continue reading. While 23 years may have passed since Roy Keane’s fabled eruption on the eponymous volcanic speck in the western Pacific, it is hard to get past the feeling that the makers of this drama-biopic might have been better off leaving the most seismic row in Irish football history and its accompanying media frenzy hidden among the frozen peas, ice-cream and portions of batch-cooked lasagne. Instead it is about to be sent out into a public domain where it will almost certainly reopen old and, in many cases, still festering wounds.

Everyone of a certain age with a passing interest in football has their own version of what happened in Saipan that they believe to be true, although the details often differ depending on who happens to be doing the telling at any given time. Over the years I have chatted to several former Republic of Ireland footballers who were present at the infamous team meeting where Mick McCarthy held aloft a copy of that interview given by Keane to the Irish Times and asked his captain to explain comments that were scathing in their criticism of the national association’s laissez-faire attitude when it came to preparing for the 2002 World Cup in Japan and South Korea in the immediate run-up to the competition.

The individual walk-ons at Club World Cup underline Fifa’s failure to understand that football is a team sport – just ask PSG

It is in the details that the truest picture emerges. Quite aside from the endless politicking, the forever-war with Uefa, the consorting with autocrats and the intriguing broadcast rights and partnership deals, there has been, not a new, but growing sense during the Club World Cup that Fifa doesn’t really get football. There is something cargo-cultish about it, creating outcomes without engaging in processes.

Perhaps that is inevitable with Gianni Infantino’s style of leadership; like all populists, he is big on vision and short on practical reality. It was there in the expansion of the World Cup to 48 teams.

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Sculptors discuss their craft and the pressure of preserving a player’s likeness and legacy for generations of fans

By Nutmeg magazine

At its heart, football is about community. A feeling of shared identity and purpose. A place where supporters gather to watch their team. The games, goals and moments that live on in the club’s collective memory through a shared act of will. The people responsible for these defining moments – shrewd managers, inspiring captains, prolific goalscorers – are increasingly immortalised in statues.

A sculptor is enlisted to preserve their likeness in a single definitive pose. The subjects take on a size and form, literally larger than life, befitting the impact they had on the club and community that chooses to honour them. According to the Sporting Statues Project, which is run by Chris Stride and Ffion Thomas, there are more than 100 football statues in the UK. The vast majority have been made since the turn of the millennium and there are even more in progress. They have exploded in popularity, becoming the established means of commemoration.

Former Chelsea manager answers your questions on life and work in the US, what she’s looking forward to in this summer’s Euros and pining for roast chicken

Read the first of Emma’s Guardian columns on the Euros

You seem like you’ve taken to the US like a duck to water. But what food or drink from back home are you missing? Antony, Staffordshire
I always miss a roast dinner, roast chicken. And the milk. The milk is different over there so when you have a cup of tea it’s just not the same because the milk is not the same. It alters the quality of the tea so that’s tough for me.

How’s life in America been treating you? Is the infrastructure for women’s football noticeably more developed there? And the million‑dollar question: what happens when your new team face England in the World Cup final in 2027? Tom Stubbs, Brussels
First of all, I love being there. The cultural approach to the girls’ and women’s game is more ingrained in the US because they’ve been doing it for longer in terms of providing opportunities. That’s noticeable. The US approach to women’s sport stands out, not just soccer, but with basketball, too. As for that hypothetical for 2027, well, you’re saying we’re in the World Cup final so I’m excited. If you give me that option today, I’ll bite your hand off. I want to be in the World Cup final competing to win a World Cup so, whoever you’re facing, it’s going to be a top, top side, and I don’t get emotional about it – it’s England but I’m repping the USA so my focus is on the USA.

Those who played and witnessed firsthand the Lionesses’ success at a rapturous Wembley share their memories

On 31 July 2022 the Lionesses made history, Chloe Kelly’s goal in extra time earning a 2-1 win over Germany to secure a first major title at Euro 2022. The home Euros had swung the nation behind the team and women’s football has not looked back. What did the day of the final look like? Ahead of the Lionesses beginning their title defence, this is the inside story of English women’s football’s greatest day.

Waking up on the morning of the final, there was an eerie air of calm and confidence in the England camp.

Twenty-four long years after their relegation, then tumbling lower into ‘the mud’, the club whose fans would not let them die witnessed their return to Spain’s top table

Somewhere in the middle of all those people, of all the shouting and the crying, the emotion and the endless embraces, Santi Cazorla said that this, this, was the dream of his life. It was the dream of all their lives. At 11.43pm on 21 June 2025, the man who was twice a European champion with the greatest generation Spain has ever seen, who has won at Wembley, the Camp Nou and the Santiago Bernabéu, was crouched at the side of the pitch at the Carlos Tartiere ready for one last run. And when the final whistle went – on this game and an entire era – he set off, 40 years old and a kid again leading them all on to the pitch and into primera.

From the touchline they followed, let loose at last. From everywhere else they did too, the stands where 29,624 fans had been through it again emptying on to the pitch. A quarter of a century later, Real Oviedo had returned to the first division. “It’s been many years in the mud,” Cazorla said: they had disappeared down to the second, third and fourth tier, twice they had almost disappeared entirely; here, against Mirandés in the playoff final second leg, the match he called “the biggest of my career”, they had conceded early, two goals down on aggregate, and were taken into extra time, tension tearing at them, even as they knew it was never going to be easy, but now they had actually done it; now they were back. In their centenary year.

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Like Dr John Hammond and his scientists in Jurassic Park, Gianni Infantino and his fawning Fifa lickspittles have spent recent years so preoccupied with whether or not they could, that they didn’t stop to think if they should. The upshot is that a preposterously lucrative tournament described by its creator as “a big bang” has been crowbarred into an already jam-packed calendar. And the largesse of its in-no-way unethically sourced prize-money for those participating now threatens to destroy several already under-threat footballing ecosystems around the world.

I want to talk about my mate. My buddy. The bloke I loved and will miss like crazy. I could talk about him as a player for hours, but none of that feels like it matters right now. It’s the man. The person. He was such a good guy. The best. So genuine. Just normal and real. Full of love for the people he cared about. Full of fun. He was the most British foreign player I’ve ever met. I can’t believe we’re saying goodbye. It’s too soon, and it hurts so much. But thank you for being in my life, mate – and for making it better” – Liverpool’s Andy Robertson remembers his friend, Diogo Jota. And Miguel Dantas reports on how the deaths of Jota and his brother André Silva have shaken Portugal, where mourners are gathering in Gondomar for the funeral on Saturday.

Diogo Jota, an opponent that you’d have in your team in a heartbeat, and that’s from a Toffee” – Ian Taylor.

Regarding Chinese third-tier club Changchun Xidu and the superstitious paper charms (yesterday’s News, Bits and Bobs, full email edition). Are they effective if you want to put off a co-worker competing for the same promotion? Asking for a friend” – Steve Mintz.

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The group stage has featured some great games and indelible moments, thanks mostly to the participants who took things seriously

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Inside the corporate monstrosity hides something that’s actually quite lovely and joyful and organic. It’s burrowed down real deep, beneath layers and layers of maximalist nonsense. But it’s in there somewhere, a good soccer tournament, cloaked by all the avarice and bombast, in spite of itself and those responsible for it.

It’s true: the Club World Cup and its new summer format haven’t been all bad. The group stage, which concluded on Thursday, offered fun and competitive teams. It served up a few genuinely enthralling games, especially in the clashes between the European and South American sides. The fans of some teams – the indefatigable singing and chanting of Boca Juniors’ and River Plate’s barras; the churning sea of red hopping up and down for the Urawa; the clapping and singing Wydad fans; the drumming and dancing Brazilians crisscrossing the nation in the wake of their four thriving clubs – injected the proceedings with exactly the kind of summer tournament folklore and fever you should hope for. We’ve even seen some kit design excellence – thank you, Botafogo.

I recently spent time coaching 80 girls at FC Midtjylland, the team where I began my career but had to leave in my teens as they had no women’s team

I will be on a plane on Monday with Denmark heading to Switzerland to take part in my fourth Euros, but before the tournament I went back to where it all began for me, to Danish side FC Midtjylland. I was there to spend time coaching 80 girls from the age of eight to 13.

More than 20 years ago, I began my own journey there and things looked very different then. There was no women’s team and no women who played football. For me to go back as a role model these girls gives me a lot of energy. There is no better way to ground yourself than to be reminded where you came from.

Today’s rumours don’t really have their heart in it

Four days into July, Arsenal fans could be forgiven for getting antsy over their outgoings list outnumbering their incomings by seven to one. If Gunnersaurus had ears they’d be pricking ozone-wards at word that Real Madrid are willing to let Rodrygo leave during the current window. Xabi Alonso seemingly likes the trade-off of losing a player who doesn’t currently waltz into his preferred XI (just 88 mins of action at the Club World Cup to date) and getting a fee not far short of £80m to help continue his reconfiguration at the Bernabéu.

The tricksy 24-year-old is seen as a substantial upgrade on Arsenal’s current threats from the left wing, but his arrival would not necessarily herald the exit of his Brazilian compatriot Gabriel Martinelli. A player who will leave, however, is knack-plagued defender Takehiro Tomiyasu, whose contract is being ripped up. That’s, thankfully, a situation suiting both parties, with the Japan international still almost half a year from returning to action after an endless string of knee twangs.

Max Rushden is joined by Barry Glendenning, Sam Dalling, Sanny Rudravajhala and Tom Garry for a transfer round-up and the latest from Euro 2025 in Switzerland

Rate, review, share on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Audioboom, Mixcloud, Acast and Stitcher, and join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter and email.

On the podcast today: the panel run the rule over the most interesting stories from the transfer rumour mill. Eze to Arsenal, Kudus to Spurs, Romero to Atlético and, most surprisingly, Barry to Everton.

Plus: different crests on a club’s home and away kits, European clubs playing throughout summer and more GD chasms

• Mail us with your questions and answers

“Spurs finished 17th this season, yet claimed a place in the Champions League. They aren’t the lowest-ranked Uefa qualifier, though, as I recall Millwall playing in Europe in the early 2000s. Which other English second-tier teams have played in Uefa European competitions?” asks Richard Amos.

We looked at this back in the 2011-12 season as Birmingham entered the Europa League by virtue of winning that year’s League Cup. They exited in the group stage, behind Club Brugge and Portugal’s Braga (the latter beaten finalists the previous year), despite reaching the magical 10 points total.

Max Rushden is joined by Barry Glendenning, Will Unwin, Lars Sivertsen and Sid Lowe to talk transfers and Premier League fixtures

Rate, review, share on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Audioboom, Mixcloud, Acast and Stitcher, and join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter and email.

On the podcast today; the Club World Cup might have started to entertain? South American sides are enjoying themselves, Nicolas Jackson is not. It is, of course, impossible to forget the numerous off-pitch issues including Donald Trump invited Juventus to the White House, Fifa flip-flopping on anti-racism messaging and players not able to sit on the subs bench in ridiculous heat.

Best players, best managers, best matches, best goals, biggest flops and biggest gripes: our writers have their say

Mohamed Salah. The numbers don’t lie – 47 goal contributions in the Premier League was an outstanding return from the Egyptian, who seems to be getting better with age. Ed Aarons

Arne Slot’s first season could not have gone any better while Wolves fans drank to Vítor Pereira’s arrival

By winning the league, the Dutchman surprised pretty much everyone. He faced the daunting task of succeeding Jürgen Klopp and inherited the German’s squad, adding only Federico Chiesa, who barely kicked a ball in anger. Not much changed from the previous year, except Ryan Gravenberch became the designated defensive midfielder as Slot’s Liverpool looked to get on the ball as much as possible. Slot was never going to be a personality who generated headlines like Klopp did, keeping his cards close to his chest, but he always comes across as someone who is very personable and has brought the players closer together. Slot made Liverpool an efficient winning machine – rarely thrashing teams, often winning by the odd goal or two – and that allowed them to race to a second Premier League title. No one could compete with the Reds, which was partly down to rivals dropping their standards but most of it can be attributed to the fact Slot made his team superior.

Managers, teams and players who have disappointed over the campaign – including the reigning footballer of the year

Ruben Amorim’s average points tally of a point per league game since arriving at Manchester United in early November puts him just above Malky Mackay’s record at Cardiff and Paul Jewell’s Premier League record with Bradford, Wigan and Derby. While Sporting won the Primeira Liga title without Amorim, United have fallen down the table to 15th since the Portuguese took the reins from the interim coach, Ruud van Nistelrooy. Much of the ire towards United has been directed at the owners but on the pitch Amorim has failed to adapt his squad of expensive, experienced internationals into anything approaching a cohesive unit. The Europa League final defeat by Tottenham showed how much work is left to do.