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⚽️ Updates from this 7.45pm BST KO at the Bilino Polje Stadium
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4 min: Dzeko makes a nuisance of himself on the edge of the Italian box. He feeds Dedic on the left. A low cross is hacked clear by Calafiori … but straight into Locatelli and back out for a corner! That rebound could have gone absolutely anywhere. Nothing comes of the resulting corner. Italy’s defence was all over the shop during that build-up.

2 min: Dimarco goes long for Kean, who cushions down for Tonali. The ball’s slipped wide right to Politano, one of Italy’s better performers against Northern Ireland. But his cross hits the first man. The hosts clear their lines.

It was a step too far for Kosovo, but only just. They could hardly have given more in running Turkey to the wire but it is Vincenzo Montella’s team, relieved and jubilant at the end, that will play at the World Cup in a little over two months’ time. Turkey make their return after 24 years away; Kosovo had been seeking the most unlikely of debuts and could have made that prospect real if Fisnik Asllani’s first-half effort had not come back off the bar.

In the end, though, a scruffy and hotly contested finish by Kerem Akturkoglu settled things early in the second half and, via some minor scares, Turkey could scrape home from there. Kosovo will surely be back, a technically exceptional side richer for this heady experience.

The Graham Potter magic knows no bounds. There will be those who wonder what right Sweden had to be in this playoff, but they will be in the World Cup after an extraordinarily dramatic victory secured by Viktor Gyökeres’s 89th-minute winner.

A patchy, anxious game in which Poland had twice equalised, its shapelessness an apt reflection of the stakes, had seemed to be drifting towards extra-time when Sweden, in a rare forward sally, won a pair of corners in a row. Suddenly there was momentum and a mounting sense of anticipation. The second corner was half-cleared, Lucas Bergvall jabbed it goalwards. His shot was saved but Besfort Zeneli skewed against the post and the ball fell for Gyökeres five yards out with the goal gaping. Destiny called and the Arsenal forward answered emphatically.

It is not a question that Thomas Tuchel wants to entertain at the World Cup this summer but one he had a run at here in what was supposed to be England’s grand Wembley send-off. Can the team thrive against good opposition without Harry Kane? The answer was played out across an increasingly frustrating 90 minutes. It was no.

It was not all about Kane, who missed out because of a sore foot. But it was easy to conflate England’s lack of cutting edge with his absence. Tuchel had highlighted the poor goal returns from his other attacking players before this friendly. They needed to bring more to the party. There was only bluntness.

​Czech Republic beat Denmark on penalties while Turkey ended Kosovo’s dream run and Sweden edged Poland in a thriller

The teams are out and the national anthems are being sung … Kick-off in less than five minutes across the grounds. Great atmospheres across the board in Pristina, Solna and Prague.

Bosnia and Herzegovina v Italy: Reminder, you can follow along the fourth European playoff final with Scott Murray below.

• New Spurs head coach supported Greenwood at Marseille

• Greenwood had charges including attempted rape dropped in 2023

The Tottenham Hotspur Supporters’ Trust has strongly criticised the appointment of Roberto De Zerbi as the club’s head coach, expressing “serious and far-reaching concerns” over his past support for Mason Greenwood.

In a statement released soon after De Zerbi signed a five-year contract on Tuesday, the Trust said his arrival placed a “heavy strain” on unity at a time when Spurs are battling against relegation from the Premier League. It also called on Spurs and the Italian to publicly reassert their “commitment to the values that fans hold dear – chief among them equality, respect, and integrity”.

• Teenager plays in Portugal for Valadares Gaia

• Lionesses face Spain and Iceland in World Cup qualifiers

Sarina Wiegman said she left the 17‑year‑old Erica Meg Parkinson speechless with her first call-up to the England squad for the World Cup qualifiers against Spain and Iceland.

The shock inclusion of the Singapore-born midfielder, who plays for the Portuguese first division side Valadares Gaia, comes less than six months after her first call-up to England Under-23s, amid a rapid rise through the Lionesses’ youth setup.

• Chief executive says he has no ‘stance on Howe’s future’

• Owners sold St James’ Park to themselves for £172.1m

Eddie Howe has seven games to reassure Newcastle’s hierarchy that he remains the right manager to lead the club into next season.

Newcastle sit 12th in the Premier League and David Hopkinson, the chief executive, has made plain his displeasure at the recent 2-1 home defeat by Sunderland.

⚽️ US kick off v Portugal at 7pm ET in Atlanta, Georgia
⚽️ Final friendly before 2026 World Cup roster is named
⚽️ Questions? Thoughts? Email Alexander here
⚽️ Last time out: US 2-5 Belgium | Another lowlands debacle

In Saturday’s game, the introduction of mandatory hydration breaks and a confusing light-on-light kit matchup created a difficult situation on and off the field:

Full-time has been called on the Turkey v Kosovo playoff game in Kosovo, with Turkey winning 1-0. That places them as the final team in the United States’ World Cup group – the US will play Turkey on 25 June.

The defender, a sole link between the past and present, is focused on nurturing young talent to help her country realise its 50-year plan

“Ranking!?” Saki Kumagai says with a laugh. In the afterglow of her team’s Asian Cup triumph in Australia, the veteran Japan defender is asked about where this trophy sits among the many other titles she has won throughout her staggering 17-year career.

But she just smiles and shakes her head. “I never compare my titles,” she says. “Yes, I won some trophies in my career. But this team is from a different generation, so [winning] a trophy in this tournament, that was the really impressive thing for me.

Brighton fans have fond memories of the Italian, hailed as a genius by rivals, but his time on the south coast went sour

Things may have ended on a sour note but there is a reason why a giant picture of a beaming Roberto De Zerbi adorns the wall outside the home dressing room at the Amex Stadium. It was taken in 2023 at the end of the Italian’s first season at Brighton after he had led the club to sixth in the Premier League – their highest finish – and taken them into Europe for the first time.

Three years later, memories of De Zerbi remain strong among Brighton supporters. It is a legacy that Fabian Hürzeler has found hard to emulate since succeeding De Zerbi, who fell out with the club’s owner, Tony Bloom, over squad recruitment.

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• Fifa president made comments at Iran-Costa Rica game

• Infantino says Iran will play games in the US as scheduled

• Iran scheduled to open World Cup in LA on 15 June

The Fifa president, Gianni Infantino, told AFP on Tuesday that Iran “will be at the World Cup” and will play their group matches in the United States as scheduled, despite the Middle East war.

“Iran will be at the World Cup,” Infantino said at half-time of Iran’s friendly against Costa Rica in Turkey. “That’s why we’re here. We’re delighted because they’re a very, very strong team, I’m very happy.”

• Young winger scores twice in 5-1 win against Curaçao

• ‘Two completely different sports, but we’re both athletes’

Celebrating with a backflip-infused, Michael Jackson-inspired dance, Nestory Irankunda scored twice on Tuesday night in Melbourne to propel the Socceroos to a 5-1 victory against Curaçao, before revealing he has another goal in mind.

The confident 20-year-old said he had been “watching from afar” with admiration the athletics phenomenon Gout Gout, and declared he wanted to race the national 200m champion.

• Addo departs hours after 2-1 friendly defeat in Germany

• England are among Ghana’s World Cup opponents

Ghana have sacked their head coach Otto Addo 72 days before the start of the 2026 World Cup. The decision came hours after a 2-1 defeat by Germany in Stuttgart made it four friendly losses in a row.

Ghana, who were beaten 5-1 in Austria on Friday, are among England’s opponents in Group L at the World Cup. The teams meet on 23 June in their middle group fixture.

• Ibrahim Hassan claimed league is ‘out of the spotlight’

• MLS commissioner says Hassan ‘should watch Messi’

In an interview with the Guardian, MLS commissioner Don Garber suggested that the Egyptian soccer executive who urged Mohamed Salah to avoid the league should watch Lionel Messi starring for Inter Miami.

Garber’s comments come after Egypt’s national team director, Ibrahim Hassan, said Salah should stay in Europe when he leaves Liverpool as MLS is “too far out of the spotlight”. Hassan later added that if Salah “does not receive offers from Europe, then a move to the Saudi league would be a good option”.

• Australia defeat Curaçao 5-1 in final home match before World Cup

• Trio of substitutes combine for three goals to dominate second half

Tony Popovic turned to Nestory Irankunda and his fellow frontline Socceroos stars to ensure the team’s World Cup send-off was sufficiently fitting, and in the second half against Curaçao in Melbourne on Tuesday they elevated an otherwise drab friendly into a grand farewell that finished 5-1.

Together with promising performances from opening goalscorer Awer Mabil and Kai Trewin, who was trialled at right wingback, the performance gave Popovic much to ponder for six weeks before the team’s final pre-tournament camp in the US.

Max Rushden is joined by Barry Glendenning, Paul Watson and Jacob Steinberg after a disappointing England performance against Uruguay and Igor Tudor leaving Spurs.

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On the podcast today; England draw 1-1 with Uruguay in their penultimate friendly ahead of Thomas Tuchel’s final World Cup squad selection. The panel debate who performed well enough to further their chances of inclusion.

Elsewhere, a look ahead to the World Cup qualifiers on Tuesday, Paul Watson takes us further afield with stories from Sudan, Rwanda and New Caledonia.

Plus, Igor Tudor departs Spurs after 44 days, Roy Hodgson returns to Bristol City after 44 years and we’ll answer your questions.

Chapters:

00:00 - Coming up

01:00 - England v Uruguay - the worst match ever?

17:40 - Japan beat Scotland

21:29 - World Cup qualifiers preview

27:14 - Barry reflects on Ireland's loss

29:20 - The Paul Watson World Tour

37:27 - Igor Tudor departs Spurs - what next?

47:57 - Roy Hodgson is BACK

51:24 - Keysey's Christmas Day

54:01 - Football Weekly and International Diplomacy

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Marc Skinner laments City’s advantage after Vivianne Miedema shines and Brighton welcome back Kiko Seike

With her hat-trick in Arsenal’s 5-2 win over Tottenham, Alessia Russo took her tally to 25 goal contributions in 31 games this campaign. It is a notable return from a player in her prime, not just in her buildup play, but also her finishing. Arsenal’s attacking dominance – they have scored 18 goals in their past five games – is down to the fact that many of their attacking players are in form. Stina Blackstenius has three goals in her past four games while Caitlin Foord also scored on Saturday, her first appearance since returning from the Asian Cup. Renée Slegers has spoken about the versatility in the type of goals her side produces and the need to be ruthless in both penalty areas. Spurs’ two goals meant an end to Arsenal’s 106-day streak of not conceding in the WSL. While all runs must come to an end, Arsenal still boast the meanest defence in the league. Sophie Downey

Relegation battle has exposed Spurs’ institutional flaws with the stupidity of the interim hire still startling

Probably Tim Sherwood put it best, speaking on Sky Sports about the through-the-looking-glass world of Tottenham Hotspur and magic bean relegation remedies. “They need an arm round the shoulder,” Sherwood said. “I’d tell Xavi Simons he’s the new Luka Modric. Obviously he’s not but I’d tell him he was. I’d tell him: ‘Save us from relegation and you can go to Real Madrid next season.’ Obviously he won’t but I’d tell him that.”

Sherwood has had a good Tottenham crisis period. “The Premier League has smacked him in the mouth,” was his verdict on Igor Tudor, pre-sacking. While every proper football man will like the sound of this, of the Premier League being large and unassailable, Tudor deserves a little sympathy.

Gabriel Zakuani played over 400 EFL games and captained the Democratic Republic of the Congo – now he helps his country recruit talent like Aaron Wan-Bissaka

A Costa Coffee in Purley was the unlikely venue for Gabriel Zakuani’s meeting in 2022 with Sébastien Desabre, the newly appointed manager of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), but they were there on a secret mission. Aaron Wan-Bissaka was at Manchester Unitedand holding out for an England call-up after representing the under-21s. But Zakuani, who was raised in London but born in the Congolese capital Kinshasa and played for the DRC at three Africa Cup of Nations tournaments, had different plans.

“The manager contacted me out of the blue and he was in London,” the former Peterborough defender says. “It was a very random trip – he just wanted to watch players that potentially could play for Congo. We met at Costa and less than an hour into the conversation I had rung up Aaron’s family and we were at Aaron’s house. We were having a conversation with his mum and dad about potentially getting him to change his nationality. It snowballed from there.”

Dutchman who succeeded Dick Advocaat was once offered assistant’s role to Ten Hag at Manchester United

Soon after the news broke last month that Fred Rutten would lead Curaçao at the World Cup, he received a text from one of the players. “Hey boss, welcome to the family,” read the message from the goalkeeper Eloy Room. It was a warm greeting for the coach called in to replace Dick Advocaat, who had led the small island to that historic qualification but stepped down to be with his ill daughter.

Rutten’s appointment may have been a surprise to the outside world – he has not held a coaching role for almost three years and has never led a national team – but his appointment did not come out of the blue.

Relegation playoff against a WSL2 side beckons if Rick Passmoor’s team cannot end seven-game losing run

The sight of two unwaveringly optimistic young girls waving their “Foxes never quit” flags proudly in the air – despite the swirling rain at the King Power Stadium – summed up the never-say-die attitude required for a relegation battle that Leicester are going to need now more than ever, after their chances of staying up decreased significantly with this defeat on Sunday.

Even before losing against Brighton, Leicester’s hopes had sustained a big blow with the sight of Oona Siren hitting a superb, looping volley into the net to secure a valuable point for 11th‑placed West Ham in the lunchtime kick-off. The 1-1 draw at home against London City Lionesses edged West Ham further away from the bottom side Leicester, who went on to be deservedly beaten 1-0 by Brighton and find themselves four points adrift with four games remaining.

Players are not covering the distances of old – they are not being lazy but adapting to demands of an arduous campaign

There is nothing English football admires more than honest endeavour, which is perhaps a consequence of the league’s origins in the industrial cities of the north and Midlands. “He put in a shift.” “She did her job.” “He gave his all.” The language of football is the language of the pit or the factory floor.

All top-level players these days are supremely skilled, but still we demand that they be exhausted by the final whistle, legs leaden with effort, hair soaked with sweat. Which was why it seemed to cause such consternation when Alan Shearer mentioned on Match of the Day last Saturday that Chelsea have run less than their opponents in every Premier League game they have played this season.

Rasmus Højlund is back among the goals at Napoli while Kakub Kiwior has helped make Porto solid in defence and Largie Ramazani has given Valencia a creative spark

The Dane, like many others, struggled under Ruben Amorim at Old Trafford and was packed off to Naples. He scored on his debut, a 3-1 win over Fiorentina, and has been consistent since, netting 10 goals in 26 games for Serie A’s third-placed team. “Now it’s portrayed as if I’m back and just doing really well,” Højlund, who cost United £72m when they signed him from Atalanta in August 2023, said to Denmark’s TV2 last week. “But inside myself my thoughts are in a completely different place. I’m self-critical. I still want to be even better, more involved in the games and score more goals, but it’s fun to observe how the image of me is constantly changing.”

As a player, Mauricio Pochettino suffered under World Cup pressure. As a manager, he hopes to help the USMNT’s belief in the face of it

US men’s national team head coach Mauricio Pochettino probably understands the pressure of playing for your national team in a way few of his players can.

Pochettino was not involved in Argentina’s World Cup plans in 1994 and 1998. He finally made the squad as a veteran in 2002, part of a stacked team favored by many to win the entire tournament. The country itself was in the midst of an unprecedented economic crisis and an entire nation turned to La Albiceleste for a bit of hope.

Minnows have all but sewn up the Swiss Super League title with seven games to go having been favourites to go down

The FC Thun heroes do not hide their amusement and amazement when speaking about what has been an incredible season. They giggle when asked if they could possibly have expected such a scenario. They know that the situation is surreal and illogical. The words “incredible” and “unbelievable” are used frequently.

When Thun were promoted in May to the Swiss Super League, they were predicted to struggle. The Berner Zeitung journalist Adrian Horn says: “A lot of pundits identified them as No 1 relegation candidates. Expectations were very low, and fans thought that avoiding relegation would be a major success.”

Australia’s friendly against Curacao on Tuesday is the crucial audition for players to show Tony Popovic they deserve a ticket to the US

‘Twas the match before the World Cup,
When all through the squad,
The Socceroos jostled,
To receive Popa’s nod.

The most anticipated time in football’s four-year cycle is upon us, and the greatest present of all will be unwrapped within months. But while fans may be scheming for a long lunch when the Socceroos play Paraguay, or musing whether to buy the home or away kit, Australia’s players have something more pressing to worry about.

More than 50 World Cup aspirants have been in Socceroos camps over the past year, so ahead of Tuesday’s send-off match against Curacao in Melbourne, the final squeeze is on.

England’s head coach still rates injury-prone Manchester City defender and seems likely to be a fundamental part of his squad this summer – if fit

Every manager reserves the right to make an exception to the rules. For Thomas Tuchel, it is John Stones. The England head coach has watched Stones endure a lost season at Manchester City; another one, really, because things were similar for him last time out – certainly in terms of appearances.

Once again, there have been injury problems, the sense that Stones cannot get himself fully right compounded over this past week with England. The 31-year-old struggled in training and when he felt something in a calf muscle on Thursday, Tuchel was forced to leave him out of the Wembley friendly against Uruguay on Friday night. He started Fikayo Tomori alongside Harry Maguire in central defence in a drab game that ended 1-1, while Stones has gone back to his club and will play no part against Japan on Tuesday.

The Three Lions have not beaten a good side under their coach and no A-list players have emerged since the last World Cup

Maybe we’re just not that into us. There are times when trying to rationalise the makeup, reach and ultimate capacities of the England football team can feel a bit like living inside the frantically hyper-formalised New York dating scene of the 1990s.

Here we go again. Picking over the details. Hung up on what-ifs. Arguing about The Rules of the Game. Don’t be too available. Never text first. Do wear a wizard hat. Learn magic tricks. And be rude to people. Also, be endlessly mysterious. No, more mysterious than that. Seriously, where do you get off not having enough mystery?

As well as being one of the team’s best performers, midfielder has become a talisman who is aware of the club’s spirit and traditions

The video of Bruno Fernandes kicking in the door is very good, if you haven’t already seen it. In a way, it explains a lot. His Sporting team are drawing 1‑1 at Boavista in 2019 and Fernandes has just been sent off for a fully deserved second yellow. As he stalks down the tunnel he takes furious aim at the two doors, the sheer force of the kick knocking him off his feet.

The doors make a magnificent shotgun sound, but do not yield. “Fuck you!” Fernandes shouts as Boavista security guards try to intervene. “I’ll pay for the fucking doors! Go fuck yourselves!”

Forward has struggled for form and focus this season but Galatasaray display was reminder of his brilliance

It was perhaps as well that Mohamed Salah’s last game before the announcement of his departure from Liverpool was the home game against Galatasaray. After all the frustrations and disappointments of this season, all the games of drifting forlorn and disconnected on the right, after the missed penalty in the first half, here at last was a reminder of the player he had been.

It wasn’t just his goal, a characteristic left-footed whip into the top corner after cutting in from the right after a one‑two with Florian Wirtz, or even the low cross for Hugo Ekitiké’s goal or the fearsome shot that led to Ryan Gravenberch’s; it was the sense of menace, of gleeful mischief, of the way the crowd was gripped by anticipation when the ball came to him. Even if he is not granted another spell like that this season, at least he and Anfield had that chance to remember old times.

Our cartoonist on the 78-year-old’s shock move to Bristol and his attempts to connect with the young ‘uns

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Portugal head coach, who describes the country as a ‘football school’, explains why he is ready to take risks in pursuit of World Cup glory

‘You get there and the mountain is so big, you have no objective other than survive.” It was summer 1995, Roberto Martínez was 21, he had made one brief appearance for Real Zaragoza and just completed military service while playing regional football back in his home town of Balaguer. A complete unknown, he was heading to Wigan, wherever that was, and didn’t speak a word of English. He was also heading to the Third Division, where whatever they played it wasn’t football, not as he knew it. “There is fear: ‘No,’” he says. “But my attitude was always: ‘Why not?’”.

Martínez now stands in the hallway at the Portuguese federations’s base in Oeiras near Lisbon, arms out in a warm welcome. Trophies sit in cases, the Nations League the latest addition. Only one cup is not there, which is why Martínez is. Seventy-five days until the World Cup starts, he takes Portugal into their final pre-tournament international break with matches against two of the co-hosts, Mexico and the United States. The man whose favourite goal was against Scunthorpe at Springfield Park leads a team who are among the favourites to triumph this summer, willing to dream precisely because he never dreamed any of this.

The expansion of this summer’s 48-team tournament mean Tuesday’s games will be the best we see until the round of 16

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• Live in a World Cup host city? Tell us your stories

There is always a slightly odd rhythm to the World Cup. The final round of qualifying games is almost invariably more exciting than the early games at the tournament itself, and now with 32 teams making it through the group stage and into the knockout rounds, that is likely to be even more true for the 2026 edition. Those final qualifiers in November were thrilling and meaningful – Troy Parrott’s hat-trick! Scotland scoring two absurdly good goals in the same game! DR Congo beating Nigeria on penalties as bottles rained down from the stands! Honduras failing to score against Costa Rica! – and Tuesday will be too as 12 teams battle for the six remaining slots.

But for those not involved in World Cup playoffs, there is an unsatisfying phoniness to the friendlies they must play instead, with experimental line-ups and weary players going through glorified training exercises. While it’s never good to be letting in five goals, neither the USA nor Ghana should be too concerned about the defeats to Belgium or Austria.

With their non-league sides in effect serving as national teams for the crown dependencies they have dreams of climbing higher in the football pyramid

Clad top-to-toe in Jersey Bulls paraphernalia, Andy Lane takes a brief step away from drum-banging duties on the Springfield Stadium touchline and rolls up a sleeve to reveal the tattooed badge of a football team in only their seventh year of competition. The bull rearing up Lane’s right forearm matches that on his wife Jojo’s left calf, encapsulating the impact the club has made on the local community. “It’s about pride,” Lane says.

Bulls’ latest visitors are Hassocks, a club hailing from a village just north of Brighton. Like every other team in the eighth-tier Isthmian League South East Division, this away day was the first they sought out when the fixture list was unveiled last summer, and more than 50 supporters have flown over for the occasion. “It’s a great novelty fixture,” says the Hassocks chair, Patrick Harding.

Countdown to tournament begins in earnest with friendly against Uruguay so it’s time to forget other countries are good at football

Is it too early to start plotting England’s inevitable route to World Cup glory? If nothing else it’ll stop me refreshing the internet to find out if Tim Sherwood is going to manage Spurs for the next three games before Dave from Chas & Dave comes in for the final Hail Mary.

Perhaps you’re focused on Arsenal coming second in everything, Everton finishing above Liverpool or the wild York/Rochdale title race in the National League. Take a weekend off and start dreaming of Gianni and Trump handing Harry Kane the trophy as the world burns.

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Pass the paracetamol because Football Daily’s neck is in absolute bits. Two penalty shootouts at the same time will do that to you, eyes bouncing from Wales’s heartbreak in Cardiff to the Republic of Ireland’s agony in Prague. Alas, neither will feature at the Geopolitics World Cup after their playoff semi-final defeats. For Ireland, it’ll be a minimum of 28 years between appearances at the big show. At least they’ll always have Troy Parrott’s glorious week in November. For Wales, it’s … ah, the long wait ended at the Human Rights World Cup in 2022. Never mind.

We spend a day with the surprise package of the Première Ligue to find out how they have taken the top flight by storm

There is one video that is on repeat on the Nantes players’ phones: Lucie Calba’s goal in last weekend’s 3-0 win against Strasbourg, an exceptional passage of play in which eight players touched the ball to move it up the entire pitch in only 18 seconds.

“It’s very satisfying because we’re able to reproduce everything we work on in training in matches,” says Camille Robillard, the team’s No 10 and a product of the club’s academy, clearly fascinated by the goal getting so much attention. A goal “in the Nantes style”, referring to the men’s team of the 1990s, known for their attacking, fluid play and constant movement.

Only existing since 2024, the team, who came fourth at the world championship, has changed its players’ lives

“We are the first, but we will not be the last.” The rallying cry came from Eliane Gonçalves, a 39-year-old midfielder of the Brazilian women’s blind football national team during one of their training camps. The team’s psychologist had suggested the team come up with something to shout before matches. Gonçalves offered that line – and it stuck.

The team had existed for less than a year when they landed in Kochi, India, in October 2025. In their opening game of the world championship, Brazil beat the host nation 1-0 – and Gonçalves scored the goal. She had started playing only two years earlier after gradually losing her sight to a hereditary condition called retinitis pigmentosa. Sport had pulled her through the hardest period. “When I started losing my vision, I was very lost. Everything was completely different,” she says. “Sport took me out of depression. It gave me a better perspective on life, new dreams.”

The Gunners have a nine-point lead in the Premier League. But recent run-ins, and their loss to City on Sunday, will keep them wary

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Some day, probably quite soon, Arsenal will win something again. Quite probably something much bigger than the Carabao Cup. But until then, there is only going to be anxiety, and it is going to get worse after Sunday’s second-half freeze against Manchester City in the Carabao Cup final, which City won 2-0. Wembley could have seen the start of the Arsenal era, perhaps even the first leg of an unprecedented Quadruple; instead it was City celebrating, and with a gusto that suggested the past couple of years of dearth have served as a useful reminder that these occasions can never be taken for granted.

Claims that victory in this final could be a huge psychological blow in the title race are perhaps a little fanciful. One game is one game. Professional athletes, robust self-belief integral to their existence, recover from defeats. But still, that flatness in the second half, the way Arsenal were pinned back and unable to break forward, has to be a concern. City were able to use the way Arsenal like to control the pace of the game against them, the short passes out from the goalkeeper used as a way of penning them in as they closed down passing lanes, allowing their defenders to have the ball and denying them options. What was that? A tactical triumph for Pep Guardiola? Exhaustion from Arsenal? Or the familiar mental fragility returning?

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Like a Christmas day can of John West tuna chunks for one with an accompanying bottle of champagne and war movie triple-bill chez Richard Keys, Tottenham Hotspur Football Club is the gift that keeps on giving. Like Gregory Peck’s crack commando unit attempting to silence the eponymous guns of Navarone, Spurs currently find themselves in an extremely high-stakes race against time only to be repeatedly thwarted at every turn by a mixture of internal sabotage, the at times unbearable burden of leadership and immense dissatisfaction among the rank and file. The mission? To escape an ignominious, financially ruinous slide into the Championship. The plan? A chaotic improvisation that suggests the club hierarchy are just making things up as they go along, one ill-judged managerial appointment at a time.

I’m delighted to hear of Mr Roy’s return to the touchline but it raises a question for me. As a philistine who only learned of his TBOF (two banks or four) in Friday’s Football Daily, I’m compelled to ask how it differs from fellow England alumnus Mike Bassett’s FFFR (four, four, flippin’ two)“ – Simon Riley.

A double doff of the cap to Big Paper’s Jonathan Wilson this weekend. Firstly, for pointing out that ‘in the 2018 World Cup semi-final, the clearest signal England were done for was Jordan Henderson gamely running shuttles as Luka Modric, Marcelo Brozovic and Ivan Rakitic knocked the ball round him’ a whole eight years before Tommy Tuchel picked him for the game against Uruguay. And, secondly, for hoping that most readers would know, or could be bothered to Google, what the ‘Gaia hypothesis’ is, in the very same piece. Never change, Wilson, never change” – Noble Francis.

So Tudor lasted 44 days at Spurs (with some compassionate extension). Bloody hell, that was shorter than Liz Truss’s tenure in charge of the government. At least he didn’t spaff £65bn in the process, so the experiment might be deemed a success if one sets the bar very very low” – Nigel Sanders.

I was playing Football Manager earlier today when I got offered the Tottenham job. I thanked them but declined the offer, hung up the phone and then returned to playing my game” – James Vortkamp-Tong.

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

Max Rushden is joined by Jonathan Wilson, Nedum Onuoha and Will Unwin, featuring very sad voice notes from Barry Glendenning and Elis James, looking back on disappointments for the Republic of Ireland, Wales and Northern Ireland

On the podcast today: Wales and the Republic of Ireland took penalties at exactly the same time, both going ahead but missing at crucial moments … and with it having their World Cup dreams dashed.

Northern Ireland looked good against Italy, but there was just no cutting edge. In the end, two bits of real quality from Sandro Tonali and Moise Kean took the Azzurri one win away from their first World Cup in 12 years.

Plus: swift ascents up the pyramid, Steve Palmer’s maverick set of shirts and an infamous 2004 Olympic penalty

• Mail us with your questions and answers

“During a rather animated discussion at the pub recently, the topic of footballers ‘retiring from international football’ came up,” says Edd Crick. “We were reminiscing about the days when footballers simply stopped being picked for international games, so who was the first to come out and declare their retirement this way?”

We assumed this was a fairly modern development, but it goes back at least as far as the 1950s. Let’s look at the leading answers in reverse chronological order, starting with one of the stars of Italia 90. “Roger Milla is arguably responsible for popularising the concept of international retirement (not to mention elaborate goal celebrations) by famously unretiring at the request of the Cameroon president Paul Biya to play in the 1990 World Cup,” writes Tom Reed. “Milla had formally retired from playing for Cameroon at a jubilee event following victory in the 1988 Africa Cup of Nations.”

Kobbie Mainoo needs a power boost, Everton revel in home comforts but Brentford must rediscover their buzz

• Premier League top scorers: check the latest standings

One theory behind Manchester City’s subpar 18 months is that the end is sliding into view on Pep Guardiola’s glorious reign, and the fact that he may be considering life after City is transmitting itself to his players. Sunday’s Carabao Cup win goes some way to refuting that. Not only did he see off the challenge of his former apprentice Mikel Arteta, but it was vintage Guardiola on the touchline. He looked gobsmacked when decisions didn’t go his side’s way, produced a Chuck Norris tribute kick to an advertising hoarding when City took the lead then sprinted down the touchline, fists pumping, when Nico O’Reilly scored his second of a fairytale final for the club’s local lad. If Guardiola’s intense level of care has dropped, he’s disguising it well. Anybody writing off him – and City’s league title ambitions – would do well to remember just what level of manager we are dealing with here. Alex Reid

Match report: Arsenal 0-2 Manchester City

Player ratings: Arsenal 0-2 Manchester City

Match report: Tottenham 0-3 Nottingham Forest

Ousmane Dembélé becomes our seventh winner as he beats Lamine Yamal into second and Vitinha into third on our list of the best players on the planet

• Premier League dominates list | How every judge voted | Our methodology | The top 100 female players for 2025

• 2024 edition | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012

The Frenchman, who has been named the best male footballer in the world by the Guardian, has benefitted from PSG’s focus on the team rather than individuals

What makes a good player great, and a great player the best? This question has been occupying me since 2014, when the Guardian first asked me to contribute to its inaugural Next Generation feature. My job was to look for a France-based talent born in 1997 who could go on to have a stellar career.

After a great deal of research, I narrowed it down from my shortlist of five by asking questions not about the players’ football ability, but about other attributes: resilience, adaptability, decision-making, creativity, work ethic, response to feedback and willingness to learn. Qualities we cannot see, and are harder to measure.

Aitana Bonmatí has been voted the best female player on the planet by our panel of 127 experts ahead of Mariona Caldentey and Alessia Russo

• 2024 list | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018

• Meet the judges | See how every judge voted

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The margin may have got smaller but the brilliant Spanish midfielder makes it a hat-trick of No 1 finishes

They say the best things come in threes, and Aitana Bonmatí has written herself into the Guardian’s top 100 history as the first player to finish at the top of the tree for a third consecutive year.

Last year the majestic midfielder emulated her Barcelona and Spain teammate Alexia Putellas by winning for a second year running, but the 27-year-old has now gone one better, establishing herself once again at the top of the women’s game.

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