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2 min: What a start that nearly was. England’s fastest ever goal, incidentally, was a 12-second effort scored by Tommy Lawton in a 5-2 win over Belgium in Brussels in 1947.

England get the ball rolling. And within 37 seconds, they’ve put it into the net. However it won’t count, because Saka was miles offside when found down the right by Anderson, so rolling it across the face of goal for Kane to trundle home was an exercise in futility.

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

• Potter had seven years in charge of club side Östersund

• ‘I love Swedish football. It would be a great opportunity’

Graham Potter has said he would be interested in taking over as Sweden’s new manager because he “loves” the country that gave him his first opportunity in coaching.

The former Blackburn manager Jon Dahl Tomasson was sacked on Tuesday after a disastrous start to their World Cup qualifying campaign, with a 1‑0 defeat at home by Kosovo leaving Sweden bottom of their group. It is less than a month since Potter left West Ham after winning six of his 23 Premier League games, with the former Chelsea manager having lasted just 31 games at Stamford Bridge.

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Something is rotten in the state of … Sweden, though it’s a Dane taking the blame. Jon Dahl Tomasson, one-time Newcastle flop turned elite Feyenoord and Milan forward and former Blackburn manager, has just been sent packing after presiding over historic failure as manager of his neighbouring country. “Resign JDT” read one banner in Stockholm’s national stadium after Sweden lost 2-0 to Switzerland on Friday, while another read “danskjävel”, roughly translated as JDT’s nationality within a portmanteau questioning his parentage. Yes, that’s Sweden, the country that boasts Alexander Isak, the Premier League’s most expensive striker, and Viktor Gyökeres, last year’s European Golden Boot winner who hardly came cheap to Arsenal. The midfield trio of Daniel Svensson, of Borussia Dortmund, Lucas Bergvall of Tottenham and Brighton’s Yasin Asari reeks of talent and promise.

Monday night, again at home, and the calls for Tomasson’s head continued after a 1-0 loss to Kosovo. They wouldn’t have to wait long to get their wish. Noa Bachner, red-hot columnist for Swedish outlet Expressen, pushed the button, writing: “No acceptable arguments for anything other than him being replaced. I haven’t been this sure since Alan Pardew managed Newcastle.” Which seems a tad harsh on the man briefly labelled “Pardiola” on Tyneside. Tomasson, in mitigation, was not helped by both Isak and Gyökeres playing well below their capabilities, with both given plunging ratings across the national press.

“We have full confidence in our national coach until we don’t,” wailed the Arsenal legend and Swedish FA suit Kim Källström after the match. It appears that faith melted away overnight like an Ikea candle. “The decision [to sack Tomasson] is based on the fact that the men’s national team has not delivered the results we hoped for,” Swedish FA chief suit Simon Åström roared on Tuesday afternoon. “There is still a chance of a playoff in March and our responsibility is to ensure that we have as optimal conditions as possible to be able to reach a [Geopolitics] World Cup playoff. In this, we assess that a new leadership is required in the form of a new coach.” Barring a mathematical miracle in their final matches with Switzerland and Slovenia, the nation of Nils Liedholm, Ralf Edström, “Brolin-Dahlin-Brolin!”, Henrik Larsson and Anders Svensson’s roulette will be missing out on a trip across the Atlantic next summer.

A hat-trick of corrections in yesterday’s letters feels impressive, even by Football Daily’s own very low standards” – Jim Hearson (who should read on for a VAR intervention).

I salute Peter Holford’s puffin knowledge (yesterday’s Football Daily letters). I have learned more in my life about puffins from a daily football email than from anything David Attenborough ever told me” – David Branch (who is going to learn some more from this link and the caption below).

Relationship between Rovers’ trust and owners Mark and Nicola Palios is fractious, while club struggle in League Two

'You, the lifeblood of this football club, can really help us,” the Tranmere manager, Andy Crosby, wrote as he made an impassioned attempt in his programme notes to galvanise the fanbase before the defeat by Barnet on Saturday made it seven games without a victory in League Two and left the club in 19th place.

Crosby celebrated steering Tranmere to safety last season by joining supporters for a drink in the bar run by the supporters’ trust – less than five yards from the Prenton Park main stand – that is now at the heart of a legal dispute which has created a rift between the club and a section of the fans. Given the team’s form, unity is needed more than ever. Rovers finished 20th last season and two wins in 11 matches this campaign indicate that the aim is to keep their heads above water again.

By blending diaspora players with homegrown talent the island nation of fewer than 600,000 people has qualified for 2026 tournament

On 5 July 1975, the Cape Verdean flag was raised for the first time at Estádio da Várzea in the capital city of Praia, marking the nation’s declaration of independence from Portugal. At that moment, there was no national football team – and no sign of what was to come.

Exactly 100 days after the 50th anniversary of independence, the country’s flag was waved at the very same ground, where crowds gathered to celebrate Cape Verde’s historic first World Cup qualification with the players who had earlier secured the decisive 3-0 win against Eswatini five miles away at the National Stadium. This island nation off the coast of Senegal, with a population of fewer than 600,000, has become the second‑smallest country to qualify for the tournament, after Iceland in 2018.

I had high hopes of making a difference when I joined Halifax Women but ended up feeling let down. Clubs have a responsibility to look after their players – at all levels

Football has given me some wonderful experiences. As a young Arab and Egyptian woman playing for Stoke City from 2017 to 2021 I broke barriers and that paved the way for some exciting opportunities. Fifa selected me as a 2022 World Cup ambassador and put me in a film with David Beckham; I also became an Adidas ambassador and worked as an Afcon pundit for the BBC.

But there have been less easy times as well. As an Egyptian international, representing a country that stands 95th in the Fifa rankings, there are obstacles to playing in the biggest leagues. Because of the points system for international players I left Stoke for the chance of playing second-tier football in Spain with Albacete. And since coming back to England, I’ve seen a world very distant from the new riches of the WSL.

• Hinds selected having represented Jamaica in a friendly

• Wiegman expresses regret over Millie Bright’s retirement

The Arsenal left-back Taylor Hinds has received her first call-up to the England senior side having opted previously to represent Jamaica. The 26-year-old defender is one of three new faces called up by Sarina Wiegman for friendlies against Brazil and Australia this month, alongside Arsenal teammate Katie Reid and the Aston Villa midfielder Lucia Kendall.

Hinds, who joined Arsenal from Liverpool in the summer, had represented England at under-17 and under‑19 level before deciding to play for Jamaica. She featured once for the Reggae Girlz, in a friendly against France in October 2024, but had not played competitively and has subsequently returned to the England fold, with the Lionesses’ left-back berth there to be claimed.

• Wales’s World Cup qualifier defeat by Belgium interrupted

• ‘It’s something I’ve not seen in my 36 years at Cardiff City’

Cardiff City have defended their pest control policy after a rat halted play during the second half of Wales’s World Cup qualifier against Belgium.

The Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois made an unsuccessful attempt to catch the rodent during Belgium’s 4-2 win on Monday night before the Wales player Brennan Johnson ushered the rat off the Cardiff City Stadium pitch. The rat then slipped past a ball boy and disappeared behind the referee review monitor and was not seen again.

Our cartoonist on a smooth journey towards the World Cup for England against a backdrop of flags and uproar

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Clubs’ plan to open new ground in 2031 has been met by local opposition but is required for hosts to stay competitive

A protester outside held a sign insisting “San Siro belongs to the citizens” but Milan’s city council was about to change all that, voting to sell one of the world’s most famous football stadiums to tenants who plan to tear it down. Milan have played home games at what is officially the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza since 1926. Inter moved in with them 21 years later. They propose to build a shared home on the same grounds.

It has been a long time coming. The clubs announced joint plans for a new stadium as long ago as June 2019, with an intention to complete work within three years. International architecture firms were consulted and designs made public, but they never progressed out of this first phase.

• Mosengo-Omba said to run CAF as a ‘proprietorship’

• Employee: ‘Anyone who dares speak up is terminated’

The Confederation of African Football’s general secretary, Véron Mosengo-Omba, has been accused of running the organisation as his “proprietorship” and creating a toxic culture of fear where employees are fired for speaking out against him.

Several former and current members of staff have told the Guardian there is an atmosphere of intimidation and paranoia at the Caf headquarters in Cairo, where Mosengo-Omba is accused of sidelining colleagues and silencing whistleblowers.

Ex-official appeared in court over charge relating to a category A video, the most serious kind

The former Premier League referee David Coote has pleaded guilty at Nottingham crown court to making an indecent image of a child.

The former football official appeared at Nottingham crown court on Tuesday in connection with an allegation relating to a category A video, the most serious kind, recovered by officers in February.

Anybody seeking confirmation that Florian Wirtz was worthy of a £116m transfer fee would not have found it in Belfast. Instead, it was Nick Woltemade, courtesy of his maiden goal for his country, who endorsed his status as Germany’s man of the moment. It would not be a World Cup without Germany and it surely will not be a World Cup without Germany. They are, however, clearly still a work in progress.

Julian Nagelsmann will enjoy more comfortable evenings on the touchline. For all their technical superiority, Germany failed to properly punish a Northern Ireland team who showed wonderful tenacity and grew in belief as the clock ticked down. The scale of frustration at not claiming a point depicted how much they put into this game.

• ‘It’s a feeling and I’m at peace with it,’ Bright says

• She cites physical wellbeing and desire for more time

Millie Bright has announced her retirement from international football, saying she is “at peace” with her decision and that her priorities had changed.

The decision follows Bright’s decision to make herself unavailable for selection for the 2025 Euros because she was “not able to give 100% mentally or physically” after a gruelling treble-winning domestic campaign with Chelsea. After the centre-back said she would not be a part of England’s European title defence in Switzerland, she underwent surgery on a knee injury.

• ‘He needs to push himself … there are no limits’

• Head coach opens door for Jude Bellingham role

Thomas Tuchel believes Marcus Rashford can still become one of the best in the world, but the England head coach has warned he will end up with regrets unless he pushes himself to the limit and improves in the final third.

Tuchel, who also cautiously opened the door to Jude Bellingham being part of England’s leadership group if the midfielder returns to the squad, pulled no punches as he discussed Rashford’s development in the leadup to the World Cup qualifier against Latvia in Riga on Tuesday night. England’s head coach said potential is not enough and made clear that the challenge for the 27-year-old, who has 18 goals in 64 international appearances, is to become more consistent.

The Guardian’s fans’ network on the opening stages of 2025-26: their toughest opponents, biggest setbacks and tips for the next manager sacked

Story so far Top of the table, looking down at our rivals, despite still not really firing on all cylinders … it’s early days, but we’re struggling to keep a lid on the excitement here. Having star turns such as Havertz, Madueke and now Ødegaard succumb to long-term injury is a reminder of the risk of being derailed, but it does feel like we’ve never been better equipped to cope with the slings and arrows. Arteta is still unwrapping his new toys and figuring out the best way to use them – can’t wait to see how the chemistry develops.

Bernard Azulay onlinegooner.com; @GoonerN5

Jonathan Pritchard

Chelsea defender played key role in Euro 2022 triumph and transformed how Lionesses viewed success

Only two footballers have had the honour of captaining England in a senior World Cup final: the late Bobby Moore and Millie Bright, who announced her international retirement on Monday. That alone ensures the 32-year-old’s Lionesses career will leave an indelible mark on English football. Her entry on to the list of England greats had been guaranteed a year earlier, though, as one of the key heroines of the summer of 2022.

When Leah Williamson prepared to raise the Euro 2022 trophy at Wembley after England’s victory against Germany had secured the Lionesses’ first major trophy, she chose to angle it slightly into the direction of the woman next to her, Bright, her vice-captain, so they could lift it together, acknowledging Bright’s major contribution. As the pair held aloft the 60cm-high trophy, weighing 6.7kg, Bright’s tattooed forearm was centre stage in front of the white fireworks erupting behind them in a colourful scene of euphoria.

Keeper has kept eight clean sheets in succession but is keen to acknowledge the team ethic

As they like to say in the US, dee-fense wins championships. The sentiment is not an exclusively American thing. “Attack wins you games, defence win you titles,” Sir Alex Ferguson once said. And he should know, having won quite a lot of them with Manchester United.

As England look forward to next summer’s World Cup, which will be co-hosted by the US, Canada and Mexico, the idea has come to resonate, mainly because of how miserly they have been at the back under Thomas Tuchel.

In this mailbag edition of his newsletter, Jonathan answers questions about the evolution of tactics, heat and World Cup outsiders

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Do you believe playing styles are developing incrementally or cyclically? Will things naturally come back around, or is it more a matter of rock, paper, scissors where one style counters another for a short while, as the current style gets broadly adopted? – Paul

I dislike the term “cyclical” for tactics because it implies inevitability. Winter, spring, summer, autumn is a cycle; what happens in football tactics is not. When older ideas are repurposed for the modern age, they come with knowledge of what went before. So, to take an extreme example, when Pep Guardiola started fielding teams in a sort of 3-2-2-3 shape, it wasn’t the W-M used by Herbert Chapman in the late 1920s, because in the 100 years since, football has changed enormously: players are fitter, pitches are better, kit is better, we understand pressing, we have data and sophisticated analytical modelling.

This is an extract from Soccer with Jonathan Wilson, a weekly look from the Guardian US at the game in Europe and beyond. Subscribe for free here. Have a question for Jonathan? Email soccerwithjw@theguardian.com, and he’ll answer the best in a future edition.

Optimistic in August under Steve Bruce, Blackpool are now managerless and 23rd in League One after Stockport’s win

The Mick McCarthy “it can” meme is known far and wide as social media shorthand for woeful underperformance, although the full context is not.

When McCarthy was infamously asked if a miserable run of one win in 17 games could continue and issued the deadpan response “it can”, he was the Blackpool manager struggling through his ill-fated 2023 spell.

Veteran commentator answers your questions on famous lines, favourite stadiums and being told ‘Not for me, Clive’

What is the best sporting accomplishment or achievement you have commentated on and did you ever harbour personal ambitions to be a professional in any sport? Tony Medlock

I was never good enough at any sport to kid myself that I had a career at elite level. My parents would have told you that from an early age any sporting ambitions I entertained were in the area I ended up in; describing and commentating on top-level sport. I always resist any grading of goals or players or matches because I have a belief that sport belongs in its moment. Sport creates memories – we can recall vividly where we were, who we were with, what we were thinking, when our team won a trophy or an athlete won an Olympic gold medal … or Shane Lowry sunk a putt to seal the Ryder Cup. Those moments are very personal, and the job of the commentator is to try to add something to the memory of those moments. And those moments are unique and should remain separate from one another.

• Australia in race with South Korea, Ecuador and Austria for spot in pot 2

• Tony Popovic’s side out to stretch winning streak in United States friendly

The Socceroos will seek to build on their momentum under coach Tony Popovic and edge closer to a more favourable draw at the 2026 World Cup when they meet the United States in a friendly in Denver at noon AEST on Wednesday.

Australia secured a seventh straight victory when Nestory Irankunda’s goal was enough to snatch a 1-0 win over Canada last Saturday and are now in line to rise to world No 24 when the Fifa rankings are next updated on 23 October.

The club will finally begin playing in Miami next season. For local fans near Chase Stadium there are mixed emotions

From an abandoned and derelict symbol of failed efforts to establish professional football in south Florida, to the arena where Lionel Messi has dazzled MLS while attracting visitors from around the globe. It has been a unique journey for the site where Fort Lauderdale’s Lockhart Stadium once stood.

“Even after all these years it’s so funny to me that Lionel Messi, one of the most famous faces in the history of mankind, is not only playing for our club but playing in this stadium that was abandoned,” said Nico Abad, a member of The Siege supporters’ group and a native of Broward County, where Chase Stadium stands on the former site of Lockhart. “It’s where kids would go to do doughnuts and to smoke and drink.”

• Australia snatch 1-0 win from 2026 World Cup co-host in Montreal

• Paul Izzo keeps out Les Rouges after teenager pinches goal in 71st minute

Teenage sensation Nestory Irankunda has scored his second goal in two matches, while goalkeeper Paul Izzo starred to deliver the Socceroos a fiery 1-0 win over Canada.

After surviving a dour first half dominated by Canada, the Socceroos came to life with the introduction of second-half substitutes Jordy Bos, Lewis Miller and Patrick Yazbek, before Watford star Irankunda netted in the 71st minute.

The former Newcastle and Peru winger became Pakistan’s head coach in July and he tells Tusdiq Din he enjoys the challenge of making the team more competitive

Nolberto Solano has become accustomed to firsts. He was the first Peruvian to feature in the Premier League after he joined Newcastle in 1998, and the first to play in an FA Cup final the following year. In April 2001 he became the first Premier League player to be sent off by Mike Dean. Now, in the latest stop on a peripatetic coaching journey, the 50-year-old is hoping to lead Pakistan’s men to their first Asian Cup.

After taking the lesser trodden path from Lima to Lahore, Solano faces crucial back-to-back qualifiers for the 2027 tournament against Afghanistan, beginning at home on Thursday. Then, in November and March, come visits from Syria and Myanmar, who won the reverse fixtures. Solano, who replaced the Englishman Stephen Constantine as Pakistan’s head coach in July, is clear on his ambitions.

Manager learned at PSG to ignore star power in pursuit of a winning formula that prioritises brotherhood

Thomas Tuchel once stood on the touchline at Anfield, watching in disbelief as his self-indulgent Paris Saint-Germain players refused to put in the hard yards against Jürgen Klopp’s Liverpool. “Guys, what is this?” he said, but there was never going to be a reaction from individuals with too much power and not enough respect for the basic concepts of teamwork.

Intensity? Tracking back? Not for us, thanks. Too many wanted to do their own thing and it ground Tuchel down in the end. The German is a coach who wants structure, identity, sacrifice and energy. At PSG, though, he saw how individualism can bring a dressing room down. How could Tuchel make his mark when he had players who would moan if a teammate looked at them the wrong way?

There is no grand PSR conspiracy against Unai Emery’s side. They should be challenging Newcastle or Tottenham for fifth

Four wins in a row and suddenly life does not seem so bad for Aston Villa. They are up into mid-table and if a 2-0 victory over Feyenoord in the Europa League will not quite live in the memory in the way last season’s games against Bayern Munich, Juventus and Paris Saint-Germain do, a return to Rotterdam at least evoked the glory days of 1982.

It will be a while yet before the frustration at missing out on the Champions League fades, but there does now seem to be a gathering recognition that Villa have a decent chance of winning the Europa League, potentially adding Istanbul’s Besiktas Park to De Kuip as a venue where they have won a European trophy.

An easy target for accusations of luxury hypocrisy, Neville has at least tried to address an issue that has everything to do with aggressively flag-draped and militarised modern sport

“At the far end of the food counter a group of men were pledging allegiance to the flag, with trays balanced in one hand, in order to be allowed to take seats at the table. A group that had arrived earlier was singing The Star-Spangled Banner in order that they might use the salt and pepper and ketchup there.”

Welcome to our own Glorious Loyalty Oath Crusade, another real-time demonstration of the fact every satirical absurdity described in Catch-22 has become, yeah, pretty much totally plausible. The nation is now fully hostage to bad actors and phoney rage. And as ever football must act as a key amplifier of all this, a public echo chamber for the anxieties of what we must, out of a sense of duty, still call the real world.

We know so little about players’ personal feelings. It means everyone’s analysis of the game is fundamentally superficial

A couple of weeks ago, Liverpool were on course to win the Premier League for the second season running and probably the Champions League too. After Manchester City briefly won the title on the opening day when Tijjani Reijnders tore Wolves apart, the Reds’ run of winning without being that good made it feel inevitable. Winning when not at your best is, after all, a sign (™) of a title-winning side, Clive.

But then Liverpool continued playing not particularly well and started losing. At the same time the perennially second-placed high-performance cowards Arsenal have an excellent defence and at least two very good players in every position. Arise Sir Mikel.

Our cartoonist anticipates a battle royale between big men who never shy away from confrontation

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The original throw-in specialist analyses how Premier League teams are reaping the rewards from set pieces

‘You are always looking for a super-strength,” says Dave Challinor. The Stockport manager has a tactics board in front him at the club’s training ground, offering a potential cure to the pain he inflicted on opponents for years. Long throws are back in fashion and causing panic across the Premier League as coaches once again see the merit in chaotic scenes.

Brentford are becoming the masters of the long throw under Keith Andrews, specifically via the arms of Michael Kayode, but face stiff competition, with numbers on the rise across the top flight. Missiles are being launched from touchlines to consistently great effect, bringing with them a headache for defenders and an extra weapon for attackers. Last season there was an average of 1.5 per game in the Premier League; that has risen to 3.7 this campaign. There have already been six goals as a direct result of long throws, compared with 15 in the entirety of last season. Bournemouth, Crystal Palace, Tottenham, Newcastle and Sunderland have joined Brentford as the most regular users of the long throw.

For all the co-owner’s promises of three-year spells, the head coach will not survive this season without real signs of a revival

The word from Manchester United insiders is that Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s headline-hogging declaration that three years is an apt timescale to judge Ruben Amorim is merely Sir Jim being Sir Jim, the self-made billionaire showing his anti-PR, maverick streak.

While the debate rages on TV, radio, social media, and in drinking parlours about the sagacity of his words, what Ratclifffe did not say or allude to intrigues as much.

James is at Manchester United, Luca with Burnley and both are making a mark on the international stage as teenagers

It was almost a perfect night for the Scanlons when the 16-year-old Luca came on for his elder brother, James, to make his Gibraltar debut last month against the Faroe Islands, but there was a nagging problem. “I told him the night before not to play my position,” the older sibling jokes.

Only 57 days after Luca’s sweetest birthday, he became a full international. His plan was to be there to support James, alongside a plethora of other family members, but Gibraltar’s head coach, Scott Wiseman, invited him to train with men twice his age to see what he was about and saw enough to promote him from the under-21s. James is a right-footed winger who plays off the left and Luca is the opposite.

Response to strained schedule has been more football than ever, and a danger that the best will have nothing left to give at the World Cup

Cole Palmer and Ousmane Dembélé looked great when they were photographed sitting on Top of the Rock on the eve of the Club World Cup final but it is not being wise after the event to suggest that both might have been better off spending their summer lying on sunbeds.

Top players struggling with fitness issues was foreseeable before the first edition of Fifa’s expanded tournament took place. “The worst idea ever,” was Jürgen Klopp’s take, citing concerns over the long-term impact of squeezing even more football into an ever expanding calendar. “Last year it was the Copa [América] and the European Championship, this year it’s the Club World Cup, next year it’s the World Cup. That means no recovery for the players involved.”

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Having watched his Scotland players win their second match in four days at Hampden Park, guaranteeing themselves a Geopolitics World Cup playoff spot at the very least, Steve Clarke was in typically upbeat and buoyant mood after a record 72nd game in charge. “I’m really disappointed – really, really disappointed,” Clarke mithered, sounding as morose as it is possible for even the most relentlessly pessimistic Scotsman to be. “It’s possibly as disappointed as I’ve been over the whole 72 games. We just didn’t turn up. I don’t think we got anywhere near the levels we can reach and that was really disappointing.” For an almost comically dour man who appears to have hit upon the priceless formula of coaching a team to win matches in which they have been played off the park, Scotland’s manager could have been excused for cutting uncharacteristically loose and revelling in the fact that for the second game running, his side had ridden their luck and pulled off something of a smash-and-grab. His concerns, though, are nothing if not legitimate.

Re: Friday’s Football Daily. Young man, I’m pretty sure Brian Clough won two league titles, not one. And he was in the top one of candidates for the England job. England’s loss” – Kevin Quinn (and 1,056 others).

Just wanted to point out that the picture of Cloughie addressing a huge crowd while holding a football (Friday’s Memory Lane, full email edition) was to kick off the famous Shrove Tuesday football match in Ashbourne, Derbyshire. There may well have been Nottingham Forest fans present but that was incidental. I’m positive he would want you to get your facts right!” – Vaughan Wilkinson (and 1,056 others).

Your news about the Faroes beating Montenegro 4-0 (Friday’s Football Daily, full email edition) included a picture of some puffins. Having had a close look at the picture I became convinced that these were not Faroese puffins but good old British ones. A quick search confirmed my suspicion: they are from Coquet Island in Northumberland. Is this lazy journalism – just find any old picture of puffins and use it regardless – or is it deliberate fake news? The provenance of puffins in these difficult times is a serious matter. We can’t be too careful” – Peter Holford.

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

Former England international is taking part in Chelsea v Liverpool legends match that will raise money for ex-players in need of support

“I loved competing,” says the former England international Katie Chapman. “I loved the adrenaline of it. That’s whatI missed, the adrenaline and addiction to competing. I spent years trying to find that feeling again.

“I ran a couple of marathons and I did all sorts of things trying to hunt that feeling down, but I had to get it into my mind that I’m never going to have that feeling again in the same way. I had to teach myself to say: ‘Listen, you’re not going to get that back, so stop trying to find it.’ Once I got there, then I could move myself forward.”

Faye Carruthers is joined by Suzy Wrack, Robyn Cowen and Tom Garry to reflect on Millie Bright’s international retirement, a busy weekend in the WSL and a mixed start for English clubs in the Champions League

On today’s pod: Millie Bright calls time on her England career and the panel reflect on her legacy, leadership and unforgettable moments in a Lionesses shirt.

Plus, the panel runs through all the latest WSL action as Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester City all pick up wins, but not without drama. They talk Jess Park’s purple patch, Spurs’ growing resilience, and what’s not clicking yet for West Ham and Everton.

Max Rushden is joined by Barry Glendenning, Jordan Jarrett-Bryan and George Elek to discuss the World Cup qualifiers as Scotland’s 2-1 win against Belarus disguised a dismal performance

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On today’s pod: Scotland edged closer to World Cup qualification with an ugly win against Belarus at Hampden Park. “We know we have got to be better” was Scott McTominay’s verdict, but Scotland are now two wins away from securing a return to the tournament they have not appeared at since 1998.

Everton continue to struggle at home, Leicester’s long wait for an away win goes on but Spurs can take pride in defeat

The disquiet over Kyra Cooney-Cross’s lack of action has grown louder by the week and her 27-minute cameo in Arsenal’s 1-0 defeat of Brighton fuelled her case for a start. The Australian midfielder impressed when she featured last season and there were high hopes for her going into this campaign, but four games glued to the bench have been followed by 54 minutes as a substitute across the following three matches. Brighton were, by their own admission, tiring towards the end of their 1-0 defeat and Cooney-Cross’s ball-carrying and front-foot approach caught the eye as the Gunners tried to extend their lead. “When there’s a drop-off [in] minute 60 or 75 and intensity goes down in games and space becomes bigger, the gamechangers can make a real impact, and that’s 100% what Kyra did,” said the Arsenal manager Renée Slegers. “She capitalised on the spaces and the fatigue and the opposition team and she plays with a lot of confidence and forward intent and she brings all her best qualities to life today, so I’m really pleased.” The preferred midfield trio this season has been Kim Little, Mariona Caldentey and Frida Maanum, with Victoria Pelova also featuring and Alessia Russo dropping into the 10 on occasion. It is hard to see where Cooney-Cross fits into the equation, but with Arsenal struggling to assert authority, change may not be a bad thing. Suzanne Wrack

Plus: the original long-throw specialists, an even earlier early-season pitch invasion and more

• Mail us with your questions and answers

“It’s clear that regardless of personnel, Ruben Amorim will not shift from his 3-4-2-1 even if the pope were to force him,” notes Paul Vickers. “This got me thinking: has there ever been a case of players actively defying a manager’s instructions, not by downing tools and giving up, but by taking up self-devised, alternative tactics and positions that they consider better suited to their abilities and the needs of the team? And what was the outcome of any such defiant player self-management in terms of the immediate result and then the subsequent fate of the manager and the players?”

A cracking question, to which we’ve received plenty of answers, so let’s proceed directly to The Insubordination Files.

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