Find a Football Team

Only five days earlier Rob Edwards had streamed down the touchline and pulled his calf, he said, celebrating Wolves’s second goal in a rare victory against rivals Aston Villa. This time he cut loose again deep into six minutes of second-half stoppage time, as André’s deflected strike floored Liverpool. Edwards booted a ball off a pitch-side cone and went to drink in the moment with the locals. Joe Gomez dragged his red Liverpool shirt over his face. Arne Slot was punch-drunk. Liverpool were beaten by the league’s bottom club.

Wolves had stunned the visitors by taking the lead with 12 minutes of regular time to play, Rodrigo Gomes’s clinical finish capping a well-worked attack that Virgil van Dijk will not want to see again in a hurry. Liverpool were toiling but then, after another anonymous display, Mohamed Salah came to life with an equaliser.

• Ukraine 1-6 England

• Georgia Stanway and Jess Park also score twice

Stressed, anxious or doubtful after a goalless first half? Not these ­England players, who remained fully confident in their ability and found a flurry of ­second-half goals to begin their ­Women’s World Cup ­qualifying ­campaign with a 6-1 win against Ukraine.

It helps when you have players with the firepower of Alessia Russo, Georgia Stanway and Jess Park all thriving and scoring twice. The European champions may feel they should have won by a greater ­margin: they were profligate in the first half, but eventually opened the floodgates as Park continued her bright ­Manchester United form.

Sunderland departed West Yorkshire 13 months ago on a snowy February night with their hopes of automatic promotion from the Championship seemingly in tatters.

Leeds had come from behind to clinch a 95th-minute victory that took them top of the second tier and only the most optimistic visiting fans expected a rematch this season.

Everton harbour ambitions of bringing European football to Hill Dickinson Stadium next season and a first Premier League win at their new home in seven attempts will increase the optimism. The hosts were effective, rather than magnificent, against a woefully poor Burnley but the result is all that matters.

Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester City are the next three visitors to Everton, so goals from James Tarkowski and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall were essential as they looked to build momentum. It was only Everton’s fifth win in 15 league games since leaving Goodison Park, helping solidify their position in eighth, which could be good enough for continental qualification come the end of the season.

Regularly bracketed together, holding the same ambition of European football for the first time, Brentford continue to hold the advantage. The chase may come down to one of these much-admired teams and Bournemouth were frustrated by a 13th drawn game of the season. On a midweek night where the Premier League resembles Prem Rugby, all hustle, grappling, kicking for territory and physicality closing off creativity, Brentford toughed it out.

The Bees remain the only team in the Premier League that Bournemouth have never beaten.

• United manager admits a lot of wins would be needed

• Carrick: ‘You can’t rule anything out in football’

Michael Carrick has refused to rule out Manchester United catching Arsenal and challenging for the title, though the interim manager admitted a lot of wins would be needed.

United recorded a sixth victory under Carrick when defeating Crystal Palace 2-1 at Old Trafford on Sunday, making it 19 points from 21 since he took over. Their form is the best in the Premier League over that period but United trail Arsenal by 13 points with a game in hand and have 10 matches to play. Carrick was asked before United’s game at Newcastle on Wednesday whether he would rule out catching Mikel Arteta’s team.

• EFL to discuss maximum fee proposal on Wednesday

• Top-tier clubs increasingly targeting academy players

The Premier League wants EFL clubs to agree to cap the compensation fees they pay for signing youngsters from lower-division academies.

Under current rules clubs receive compensation for the loss of young players through a combination of fixed training compensation, appearance-based payments and sell-on entitlements, which involves an element of negotiation.

• Petr Vlachovsky given a suspended prison sentence

• He has not been banned from coaching abroad

The Czech player union has called for a lifetime football ban for a coach who avoided jail despite being convicted of secretly filming his female players in the changing rooms and showers with a hidden camera.

Petr Vlachovsky was convicted in May 2025, without a public hearing, and handed a suspended one-year prison sentence and a five-year domestic coaching ban, after being found to have filmed 14 players at FC Slovacko over a four-year period. He was also caught in possession of child sexual abuse material.

Our cartoonist on a decade of magic moments in the big job for world football’s leading ‘man of the people’

• Buy a cartoon | David’s favourite work of 2025

• And his latest book, Chaos in the Box: get it now

Sign up now! Sign up now! Sign up now? Sign up now!

In 2021, during a wide-ranging interview with the Guardian, Flamengo’s veteran defender Filipe Luís described his employers as “probably the most demanding club on earth”. In the early hours on Tuesday, he dropped the probably. Filipe Luís, by now the highly successful manager of Flamengo, had just watched his team win 8 [E-I-G-H-T – Football Daily Vidiprinter] -0 against Madureira to reach another Campeonato Carioca final. Despite that, and the fact he won seven [S-E-V-E-N – FDV] different competitions in 18 months at the club, he was unceremoniously bundled through the door marked Do One. “Clube de Regatas do Flamengo informs that Filipe Luís will no longer be in charge of the professional team,” began an official statement that put the “tory” in “perfunctory”. “Flamengo thanks former player and coach Filipe Luís for everything that was achieved and shared during this journey. The club wishes him success and the best of luck in the continuation of his professional career.”

I don’t drive, but I get around with a driver. I prefer not to drive here. I don’t have a car, but I can drive. I don’t like how they drive here. They follow the rules too much and are a bit slow. Sometimes you see these big traffic jams for no reason. Unfortunately, that’s just how it is here. Everyone has their ways” – Arsenal’s Riccardo Calafiori appears to be no fan of London’s traffic calming measures.

I read with interest your mention of a ‘lukewarm stroopwafel’ with regards to the Premier League’s current stylings (yesterday’s Football Daily). I remember when the Wenger/Fàbregas/Van Persie Arsenal served a delightfully sugared, strawberries and cream stroopwafel that met with withering critique for having no spine, for not tasting good away at Stoke on a Tuesday night. I also remember José Mourinho’s Chelsea teams showing up with a borderline anti-stroopwafel, covered in dirt and sour intention, and hearing that this was a ‘pragmatic’ stroopwafel, full of ‘pace’ and ‘toughness’ and various other bits of hidden post-Imperial delight. I would also note that when playing in Europe, where one’s stroopwafel jersey isn’t tugged all match long and the other side feels compelled to at least attempt to lay out a decent stroopwafel of their own, Arsenal seem capable and delighted to plate up a delicious, crispy-on-the-outside and chewy-on-the-inside version. In light of all of this. Lukewarm? Piping hot? Out of the freezer? Covered in grime? I couldn’t care less which stroopwafel Mikel Arteta puts on the menu this year, as long as the table has the trophy as the centrepiece” – Thad Brown.

Loved the Ken Muir letter (yesterday’s Football Daily letters). Loyalty!” – Paula Adamson (and others).

Real Madrid were reminded on Monday that, when the going gets tough, Getafe get going” – Peter Oh.

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

The midfielder on her nomadic life, experiencing Nigerian celebrations and the national team’s World Cup prospects

Being an integral figure in the distinguished history of Nigeria’s women’s team is an experience that will never dim in the mind of Jennifer Onyinyechi Echegini. Seven months on from beating the hosts Morocco in a pulsating Women’s Africa Cup of Nations final at Rabat’s Olympic Stadium, in the process winning a record 10th African title, “Joe”, as her Paris Saint-Germain teammates call Echegini – an acronym of her three initials – is yet to come down from her career high.

“Winning the Wafcon is on another level, you know?” the 24-year-old midfielder says from Paris. “The pride and the achievement that I felt … when you’re playing with a group of girls that you love and care for, it makes it even more special.”

• Manager compares set-play goals to NBA three-pointers

• Erling Haaland faces fitness test ahead of Forest match

Pep Guardiola is happy that Manchester City have scored a Premier League low 15.8% of their 57 goals this season from set pieces.

City’s nine goals from set plays are the second fewest in the division, ahead of the eight scored by Nottingham Forest and Wolves, as of Tuesday afternoon. Arsenal are the only team to have scored more goals in total than City, with 58, but 24 of them have come from set pieces, representing a 41.3% share, the highest of any top-flight side.

• Emergency services respond to assist after fire

• No casualties but locals told to ‘keep windows shut’

Macclesfield FC have claimed that someone tried to burn down their stadium on Monday night, two months after the club pulled off the biggest upset in FA Cup history by knocking out the holders, Crystal Palace, there.

The “suspected arson attempt” on the Leasing.com Stadium took place overnight and there were no casualties, the club said. “Emergency services have responded immediately and are on site tackling the blaze in the affected areas,” Macclesfield said in a statement.

• Players silent before loss to South Korea in Australia

• Game is Iran’s first since war in Middle East began

Iran’s women’s football team declined to sing their national anthem before their opening match of the Asian Cup in Australia on Monday, their first fixture since the war in the Middle East began.

Every member of the team stood silently, facing straight ahead, during the anthem prior to kick-off in their Group A match against South Korea, who went on to win 3-0 at the Gold Coast Stadium in Queensland. Iran’s head coach, Marziyeh Jafari, and her players declined to comment on either the war or the death of their long-serving leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, when asked by the media.

• Southampton winger won Women’s FA Cup seven times

• Lionesses will wear black armbands against Ukraine

Tributes are being paid after the death at the age of 72 of the trailblazing footballer Lynda Hale, who scored in England’s first official women’s international fixture.

Hale, who was also a seven-time winner of the Women’s FA Cup as part of the Southampton Women’s FC side that dominated the English game throughout the 1970s, started the Lionesses’ first formal game, against Scotland in November 1972.

Martín Satriano’s superb first-half volley earned Getafe a shock 1-0 victory at Real Madrid in La Liga on Monday, a result that left Barcelona four points clear at the top.

Real dominated possession from kick-off and controlled the game but failed to turn pressure into goals, squandering several chances in an ill-tempered contest. Álvaro Arbeloa’s side were left exposed in the 39th minute when a half-cleared cross dropped on the edge of the box and Satriano struck a fierce volley into the top left corner.

Get our roundup of women’s football for free twice a week, featuring the insights of experts such as Ada Hegerberg and Magdalena Eriksson

Join us as we delve deeper into the wonderful world of women’s football in our weekly newsletter. It is informative, entertaining, global, critical – when needed – and, above all, passionate. Written mainly by Júlia Belas Trindade and Sophie Downey, expect guest appearances from stars such as Anita Asante, Ada Hegerberg and many more.

Try our other sports emails: as well as the occasionally funny football email The Fiver from Monday to Friday, there are weekly catch-ups for cricket in The Spin and rugby union in The Breakdown, and our seven-day roundup of the best of our sports journalism in The Recap.

Living in Australia? Try the Guardian Australia’s daily sports newsletter

Kick off your afternoon with the Guardian’s take on the world of football

Every weekday, we’ll deliver a roundup the football news and gossip in our own belligerent, sometimes intelligent and – very occasionally – funny way. Still not convinced? Find out what you’re missing here.

Try our other sports emails: there’s weekly catch-ups for cricket in The Spin and rugby union in The Breakdown, and our seven-day round-up of the best of our sports journalism in The Recap.

Living in Australia? Try the Guardian Australia’s daily sports newsletter

Our editors’ favourite sporting images from the past week, from the spectacular to the powerful, and with a little bit of fun thrown in

The best of our sports journalism from the past seven days and a heads-up on the weekend’s action

Subscribe to get our editors’ pick of the Guardian’s award-winning sport coverage. We’ll email you the stand-out features and interviews, insightful analysis and highlights from the archive, plus films, podcasts, galleries and more – all arriving in your inbox at every Friday lunchtime. And we’ll set you up for the weekend and let you know our live coverage plans so you’ll be ahead of the game. Here’s what you can expect from us.

Try our other sports emails: there’s daily football news and gossip in The Fiver, and weekly catch-ups for cricket in The Spin and rugby union in The Breakdown.

Living in Australia? Try the Guardian Australia’s daily sports newsletter

Max Rushden is joined by Barry Glendenning, Philippe Auclair and Barney Ronay as Arsenal beat Chelsea 2-1 at the Emirates to maintain their five-point lead over Manchester City. On the podcast today; Arsenal edge past Chelsea at the Emirates. It had lots of things you’d expect. Goals from corners and lots of holding, a Chelsea red card and Robert Sanchez flapping about. Chelsea almost equalised but it’s as you were after Man City’s win at Leeds on Saturday Elsewhere, an agonising VAR check at Burnley as we were forced to look at Ashley Barnes pixellated hand for six minutes, Liverpool hit five at home to West Ham. Jordan Pickford makes an unbelievable save for Everton as one goes in off Barry’s backside. Plus, Igor Tudor says Spurs lacked ‘everything’ which is quite a lot of things - relief for them then that Forest also lost. Manchester United go 3rd with victory over Palace while Wolves win their 2nd game of the season. A lopsided Champions League draw Iran potentially not playing at the World Cup and your questions answered.

Subscribe to The Guardian Football Weekly ► https://www.youtube.com/@FootballWeeklyPodcast?sub_confirmation=1

Guardian Football Weekly podcast:

Apple ► https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/football-weekly/id188674007

Spotify ► https://open.spotify.com/show/6w8qWe0kjgHEHSWDSDGoLW?si=231c666f7f5a4453

Follow Guardian Football Weekly:

Instagram ► https://www.instagram.com/guardian_footballweekly/

TikTok ► https://www.tiktok.com/@guardian_footballweekly

#footballweekly #arsenal #chelsea #mancity #wolves #premierleague #championsleague #iran #iranwar #worldcup

The Fifa president’s sycophancy towards the US president has left the organisation facing a new nadir, but any reckoning seems a distant prospect

Mr President. Fellow exco members. We’re going to need a bigger Board of Peace. How many mini‑pitches are we up to now? Gaza got 50 of them last month. What will it take to football-fix the global conflict being set in train by Fifa’s own Peace Prize Boy? A hundred mini-pitches? Four billion mini-pitches? All the mini‑pitches in the universe?

In a more sane version of what we must, out of habit, call the real world, it would seem absurd to talk about sports administration in the context of the US, Iran and the airborne conflict being played out across the borders of their allies.

Spurs’ slide from title hopefuls to relegation candidates is a story of complete mismanagement and widespread injury

• Sign up for Soccer with Jonathan Wilson here

Last week, after Tottenham had lost 4-1 at home to Arsenal, Igor Tudor was bullish. It was possible leaving his post-match press conference to think he was a man with the energy and personality to drag Spurs away from the relegation zone. This week, after Tottenham had lost 2-1 at Fulham, Tudor was deflated. The previous week he had spoken of defeat in the North London derby as being part of the process, a game that would startle his players into understanding what was required of them. This week, he just mumbled about having to forget the game and move on. A week in the Tottenham job seemed to have broken him.

Tudor is a specialist firefighter. He has saved teams from worse positions than being four points clear of the relegation zone with 10 games to go, which is where Spurs stand now. But that is what makes his defeatist tone so shocking. He spoke of “big problems”, dismissing a question about his 4-4-2 formation with the snort of a man asked about the shade of the carpet in his hallway as his roof burns down. He talked of an attack that lacks quality, of a midfield that cannot run and a defence that is not prepared to “suffer” to keep goals out. He made fairly explicit that he thinks his players lack the requisite character and pointed out how Fulham were better at reading the game, accusing his players of lacking “brain”.

Dockside site will transform club’s finances, but fans are frustrated with kick-off times and results at venue so far

David Moyes has numerous theories on why Everton do not yet feel completely at home at Hill Dickinson Stadium, beyond the fact that change is inevitably strange after 133 years at Goodison Park. Wins would be instrumental, but his team have managed only five in 16 matches. Supporters connecting to the magnificent venue through a new matchday routine would help too, but for many that is proving nigh on impossible.

One season-ticket holder, who lives in the south of England, said on social media recently that they expect to miss seven or eight home games this season owing to the curse of the modern fixture schedule. The club are aware that this is not an isolated case. The problem is not new nor confined to Everton, who of course reap the benefits of every game that is switched for live television purposes and, let’s be frank, have not held as much appeal for broadcasters in recent years as they do this season. But in their inaugural campaign at a new home, Everton’s schedule has proved to be peculiar and, in turn, detrimental to fans adapting to new surroundings.

Hat-trick against Villarreal, his first at 18 years and 230 days, made him the youngest Barça player to score a league one

Mounir Nasraoui and Sheila Ebana watched their little boy make history while everyone else watched too, which takes getting used to but is the way it is now and forever. A moment before the second half began on Saturday, Hansi Flick came to an agreement with Lamine Yamal, or tried to. The teenager had scored twice – both superb, the second absurd – to put them 2-0 up against Villarreal and the coach had an idea. If we score the third, we’ll take you off, Flick said; if I score the third, we will, Lamine Yamal replied. Twenty minutes later both happened together and that, he laughed after, was “perfect”, so up went the board with his number on and up went 44,256 people too, applauding as he went.

Back home, following the game on TV and broadcasting to the world, so did his dad. Lamine Yamal slapped hands with Roony Bardghji, delegate Carlos Naval and Flick, but his eyes were turned towards the stands, looking for his mum. He settled into the bench for a while, saw Robert Lewandowski add another to complete a 4-1 victory and then, when the final whistle sounded, headed back out, collected the match ball from Naval and went to find her. “This is yours,” he said, cameras catching another conversation. “I’m going to take it inside and get everyone to sign it, then bring it to you.” Sheila hugged him hard, kissed her “handsome boy”, and waited for him to return so they could go for dinner.

It was right to disallow Tottenham’s goal in the north London derby and it was also correct to rule out the goal that would have given Burnley a 4-4 draw against Brentford

At the start of the season, clubs, fans and the media were told referees would be taking a proactive approach to holding in the penalty area, or grappling as some call it. We have since seen some really good examples of on-field referees making decisions where they have clearly identified holding offences and others where the VAR has recommended a review. But in the past six or eight weeks the issue seems to have intensified, with a change in tack in the Premier League, where clubs are loading the penalty area at every set piece.

During the game between Arsenal and Chelsea on Sunday there was one corner where Declan Rice was holding Jorrel Hato, David Raya was being held, Gabriel Magalhães’s shirt was being pulled and Viktor Gyökeres was having a tug at Enzo Fernández. It was very messy. The players have a real responsibility with this because a lot of histrionics go with it. Players are going to ground easily, obscured by a crowd of people in the penalty area, and offences can be difficult to detect.

Hosts thought they had salvaged an unlikely draw, but title and multiple records now loom for Vincent Kompany’s side

It is not and will not be about the individual records. At least that is what Vincent Kompany has said on more than one occasion and will continue to say, despite Der Klassiker delivering the decisive blow in what was never really a Bundesliga title race on the final day of February. However, in the context of the league campaign, outside the bubble of what was a satisfying spectacle in a standalone sense, there may be little more to say.

Much as Kompany insisted that “prizes are awarded at the end of a season, not in February”, none of the 80,000 fans in Signal Iduna Park or those beyond needed any telling what this all meant. Joshua Kimmich’s beautifully taken late winner, snuffing out a late Borussia Dortmund comeback, gave Bayern Munich a 3-2 victory in an oscillating thriller and extended their lead at the top to 11 points, with 10 games to go. Game, set and match, even if Bayern’s CEO Jan-Christian Dreesen resisted an attempt by the presenters of Bild Sport to ply him with a glass of championship champagne on Sunday.

The former Wolves manager has impressed in the dugout (and the classroom) since replacing Liam Rosenior

By Get French Football News

“Un bon match,” said Gary O’Neil as he walked into the press room, large mug in hand, after Strasbourg’s entertaining 1-1 draw with Lens. You can’t say the Englishman hasn’t embraced the move to Alsace since being named Liam Rosenior’s successor at the start of January; all that was missing was the minuscule espresso to complete the Londoner turned cultured European vibe.

His drink would have gone cold by the end of his 28-minute post-match press conference, which he delivered with a Cheshire cat grin that sometimes broke into a slight blush. There were even a few phrases in French. “I have another lesson on Monday. Hopefully, I’ll bring some more French next week,” he joked on his way out of the door, giving a shoutout to his teacher, Ella.

Raffaele Palladino’s side lacked energy after salvaging Serie A pride last week, when league was written off prematurely

On Wednesday, Atalanta “saved Italian football”. At least, that’s what the headlines said after their sensational 4-1 win over Dortmund that overturned a two-goal first-leg deficit and ensured Serie A representation in the last 16 of the Champions League. Yet on Sunday they could not save themselves from defeat to Sassuolo.

This ought to have been so much easier. Their opponents were a man down from the 16th minute, when Andrea Pinamonti was sent off for a studs-up challenge on Berat Djimsiti. Perhaps Atalanta let complacency creep in, multiplied by exhaustion from their midweek exertions. Or maybe Sassuolo deserve all the credit for the resilience they have developed this season under Fabio Grosso.

The days of the retirement league trope appear to be ending, while Inter Miami’s star had an outstanding – and amusing – game against Orlando City

Even before David Beckham swapped Madrid for Los Angeles, MLS had harbored a reputation as a “retirement league.” The notion is well worn in banter circles. It’s tired, and also at least a little bit true.

Robbie Keane. Kaká. David Villa. Andrea Pirlo. Didier Drogba. Wayne Rooney. Zlatan Ibrahimović. All of them – and many others – enjoyed late-career stops in the United States. Today, three of the 11 players named to Fifa’s Dream Team after the 2014 World Cup play in the league: Lionel Messi (Inter Miami), Thomas Müller (Vancouver Whitecaps) and James Rodríguez (Minnesota United). When Son Heung-min (33 years old) joined Los Angeles FC after his decade with Tottenham, he reunited with longtime Spurs teammate Hugo Lloris (39), and ensured derby days against the LA Galaxy’s Marco Reus (36).

• Australia defeat Philippines 1-0 in first Group A match in Perth

• Captain scores in 14th minute as hosts dominate possession

The Matildas’ Asian Cup campaign is off to an ideal, if rusty, start with a 1-0 defeat of the Philippines in their first group-stage match in Perth on Sunday afternoon.

A goal from captain Sam Kerr in the first half saw the hosts secure their first points of the tournament in front of 44,379 people at Perth Stadium, breaking the record for the highest-attended Asian Cup match on its very first day.

Breaking from European traditions would bring a TV boost and help build a schedule that works both for players and fans

The announcement that Major League Soccer (MLS) is to switch from a summer season to a winter one has reignited the debate about the National Women’s Soccer League’s (NWSL) schedule.

This is not a new conversation: the pros and cons of alignment with the European calendar have been considered for many years by the NWSL.

If every win is going to be painful from here, you may as well just take the painful wins – welcome to Arsenal’s late title stagger

On Thursday night at a swanky London hotel so luxuriously risk‑averse the toilets are equipped with wireless thermostats to control to within half a degree the heat of the seat, the Premier League chief executive, Richard Masters, spoke in detail for the first time about the prospect of “Premflix”, the direct‑to‑consumer model of the future, an app that will sluice this irresistible footballing opiate directly into the eyeballs of 8 billion rapt humans.

In doing so Masters was echoing the words of Todd Boehly on the same stage 12 months earlier, who had talked about the Premier League as a kind of fire stolen from the gods, source of the next great tech platform, an engine of empire, tool of world domination, of lassoing the moon out of the sky.

Arsenal and Liverpool will fancy their chance of making the quarter-finals, while Manchester City and Newcastle face tougher routes

The Club World Cup final victory over Paris Saint-Germain last summer was probably Enzo Maresca’s finest hour as Chelsea manager. He devised a gameplan, pinging balls over Nuno Mendes for Cole Palmer to chase, backed up by Malo Gusto, that tore the European champions apart in the first half. Liam Rosenior may try to exploit the same vulnerability, but this is a Chelsea that look weary, their exertions in the US perhaps having left them fatigued.

For anyone who supports a club who don’t win anything, the Champions League good guys are delivering the dream

Where will you be when Bodø/ Glimt win the Champions League? OK, they won’t win the Champions League, but they could win the Champions League. Could they? Four wins in a row. Manchester City, Atlético Madrid away, Inter, comprehensively, twice. It’s an astonishing run.

I am generally cynical about anything foisted upon us by the game’s overlords, but after a brilliant couple of nights of football Uefa must be delighted with the drama and excitement these playoffs produced.

Our cartoonist looks at Wellington Phoenix goalkeeper Josh Oluwayemi’s unfortunate intervention that created global headlines

England forward was among Arsenal heroes in attendance at event commemorating fan who was stabbed to death

There is a poignant silence as Tashan Daniel’s parents emerge on to Ken Friar Bridge on a cold, wet February afternoon in north London. With heads bowed, the England forwards Noni Madueke and Alessia Russo and the former Arsenal international turned TV host Alex Scott greet them with a hug before beginning a slow walk that Daniel was not able to complete in September 2019. The talented 20-year-old aspiring athlete and photographer was stabbed to death at Hillingdon station in west London on his way to watch his beloved Arsenal face Nottingham Forest in the Carabao Cup.

“I’ve got no words; it’s horrible, something that shouldn’t be happening,” says Madueke, who spent much of the half hour it took to reach Daniel’s seat inside the Emirates speaking to Daniel’s father, Chandy. “We were just talking about Arsenal, just talking about life. He’s a real Arsenal fan and his son was as well. I told him that this season’s going to be a special year. It’s such a difficult situation that they have been having to go through for so long and we wanted to come out here and try to give them strength.”

Quansah left Ghana for Ajax as a boy but injury ended his career before it started. He now earns £5 a day as a builder and strives to find a new purpose in life

By The Blizzard

John Quansah looks at a glass display case hanging on the wall of his living room in Obuasi, Ghana. Inside are three trophies from his days as a youth player at Ajax. For years, they lay tucked away in the back of a cupboard, but two years ago, that changed. “I’m an adult now,” John says. “It’s time to look at the past differently. When I look at the trophies now, I don’t just feel pain. I am grateful too – for those beautiful years.”

Of course, he didn’t fulfil his big dream. But not everyone can say they have played for Ajax. He has every reason to be proud, to look back at that time with satisfaction. During a move, he finds the trophies again and decides to mount a display case on the wall of his new living room. Inside, he places three trophies. One for the best player at a youth tournament in Belgium. Next to that, one from another competition, and one he received for sportsmanship, also awarded in Belgium.

The Winslow pub closed last month after serving pints to Everton players, managers and fans for 140 years

By When Saturday Comes

On Saturday January 24, Duncan Ferguson walked into the Winslow Hotel pub on Goodison Road and handed licensee Dave Bond £1,000 to put behind the bar. Ferguson, the former Everton centre-forward, was there because the Winslow, 140 years old and standing in the shadow of Goodison Park’s towering Main Stand, was closing. Eight months after Everton’s men left Goodison, this was another farewell party and Ferguson had turned up to say goodbye. “It was a brilliant gesture,” said Bond.

Ferguson was not the only ex-Evertonian present. Former captain Alan Stubbs, 1995 FA Cup winners Graham Stuart and Joe Parkinson, and 1987 League champion Ian Snodin each had a turn on the mic. Kevin Sheedy, one of the heroes of Howard Kendall’s great mid-1980s team, made an appearance too.

In tandem with Game Day Vision, the Premier League club are improving the matchday experience for supporters with a variety of conditions

Thomas Clements’ eyes begin dancing as he recalls in vivid detail his first trip to Highbury. It was 1995 and Ian Wright was among the scorers as QPR were defeated. Clements – named after Michael Thomas, scorer of Arsenal’s decisive second goal against Liverpool in their 1989 title decider – points to his dad, Kevin, standing a metre away. “I was sat on his shoulders in the North Bank,” he says.

That is, in itself, not unusual for a child of the 1980s. However, whereas most regular match-goers might take for granted the seemingly small things – travel arrangements, the journey to the stadium, grabbing food and drink, meeting friends and family, entering and exiting the ground – for disabled supporters such as Clements, careful thought and planning go into all arrangements.

Sign up now! Sign up now! Sign up now? Sign up now!

Following Liverpool’s win over Lille to qualify for the knockout stages of Bigger Cup last season, Arne Slot famously revealed that his father had been less than impressed. “There have definitely not been many [Liverpool] games where he has said: ‘Oh I like what I saw!’” sighed Slot of his old man, who presumably views a 4-0 win with the same grim Dutch disdain one might reserve for a lukewarm stroopwafel. This past weekend it became apparent that the apple hasn’t fallen too far from the tree, as the Liverpool head coach told hacks that even he isn’t particularly impressed with the quality of football in the Premier League, although the nature of Arsenal’s attritional Six Nations win over Chelsea may have won him over.

Less than two weeks between hoping that ‘courage and confidence can arrest Tottenham’s slide’ and saying: ‘We are lacking when we attack, we lack the quality to score the goal. We are lacking in the middle to run and we are lacking behind to stay there to suffer and not concede the goal. So, an amazing situation. Amazing.’ Spurs are just like if the late Byzantine court had a football club, but with marginally fewer ritual blindings” – Noble Francis.​​​​

If the Spurs caretaker manager’s post-game assessment of the loss to Fulham is accurate, his club may have missed a huge opportunity by not hiring a tutor instead of a Tudor” – Peter Oh.

On Saturday a group of four old (very old) friends and I attended the Hearts v Aberdeen match at Tynecastle. Many years ago we were all regular Hearts turnstile pushers, but as time passed we all now live in widely separated locales. However, once a year, we still make a point of booking tickets, hospitality and an overnight stay in Edinburgh, just for old time’s sake. (Our journeys do indeed make use of trains, planes and automobiles. Oh, and a coach.) This year we pushed the boat out and booked rooms in the bijou little hotel within the Tynecastle fortress itself. On Sunday morning one friend and I had already checked out and were waiting for the others to appear. Out of nowhere a man in a Hearts jumper came through reception – ‘Can I help you boys?’ [Boys!] We explained we were just waiting on friends. He continued: ‘While you’re hanging on, do you want to come and have a look at the changing rooms?’ So he took us to the changing rooms, showers, medical centre, warm-up room, etc … and then out to the pitch. He took pictures of us in the tunnel and sitting in the dugout! For two old men who have supported Hearts through 50-plus years of disappointment and rare glory, this was almost unbelievable. I had to keep pinching myself. At one point he said: ‘They don’t have a big communal bath like in the old days. There’s showers instead. But there is one single bath still available for whoever wants it and gets it first. We call it “The Cammy Devlin Bath”, on account of the number of red cards he gets!’” – Ken Muir.

SheBelieves Cup campaign that starts against Argentina will show coach is now refining rather than experimenting

When the whistle blows to start USA v Argentina on Sunday in Nashville, a new period of the Emma Hayes era will begin in earnest. The team preparing to play La Albiceleste in Tennessee for the 11th SheBelieves Cup, followed by Canada and Colombia, is the first in more than a year to feature no uncapped players.

For a head coach who spent 2025 setting, challenging or matching all-time USWNT records for capping players, that is a notable shift and it marks the next phase of the team’s World Cup preparation.

Former Chelsea manager André Villas-Boas has played a big part in the club’s work towards gender equality in all sports

For a team that did not have a women’s side until a year ago, Porto have made a rapid rise. The first season ended with promotion from the third division and now they are on the verge of reaching the top flight, where they would finally compete with their rivals Benfica and Sporting.

Porto are top of the final phase of the second division championship, having won the first phase. The champions of the final phase are guaranteed promotion and the next two teams will take part in the playoffs. Porto are yet to concede a goal in a league game.

This is an extract from our free email about women’s football, Moving the Goalposts. To get the full edition, visit this page and follow the instructions. Moving the Goalposts is delivered to your inboxes every Tuesday and Thursday.

Max Rushden is joined by Barry Glendenning, Philippe Auclair and Barney Ronay as Arsenal beat Chelsea 2-1 at the Emirates to maintain their lead over Manchester City

Rate, review, share on Apple Podcasts and join the conversation on email.

On the podcast today: Arsenal edge past Chelsea at the Emirates. There’s lots of things you’d expect: goals from corners and lots of holding, a Chelsea red card and Robert Sánchez flapping about. Chelsea almost equalised but it’s as you were after Manchester City’s win at Leeds on Saturday.

Plus: top and bottom being first and last alphabetically, oldest players to outscore their age and cornerless matches

• Mail us with your questions and answers

“With Sheffield Wednesday on the brink of relegation in February [update: they’re now down], what is the earliest a team has been demoted to another division?” asks Kevin Bartholomew.

The earliest confirmed relegation in a season we can find is Peterborough United, in 1967-68, who were relegated from the third tier with a whopping 27 games remaining. After the club were found guilty of breaking league rules relating to match-fee incentives and signing-on bonuses, a Football League management committee confirmed in mid-November of 1968 that Posh would be relegated, whatever their final league placing or points tally. Despite finishing ninth with 50 points, Peterborough were docked 19 of them, rendering them bottom. The club were relegated having scored 79 goals that season, which made them more prolific than all but one of the other teams in Division Three, including champions Oxford United.

Faye Carruthers is joined by Suzy Wrack, Tom Garry and Jamie Spangher to review a dramatic FA Cup fifth round and look ahead to the upcoming Asian Cup and World Cup qualifiers

On today’s pod: late drama and penalty shootout chaos in the FA Cup as Tottenham edge London City Lionesses in a 17-penalty epic to set up a quarter-final with holders Chelsea. The panel discusses Lize Kop’s heroics, Spurs’ resilience and what the result means for both clubs.

Elsewhere, Chelsea overcome Manchester United after extra time in a heavyweight rematch of last year’s final, Liverpool claim Merseyside derby bragging rights, and Birmingham and Charlton keep WSL 2 representation alive in the last eight. The panel also reflects on Chatham Town’s historic cup run and what the growing gap between the WSL and WSL 2 tells us about the current landscape.

Rio Ngumoha lifts Liverpool, the tussle to be Harry Kane’s England deputy and Chelsea self-destruct

Tottenham weren’t quite as dreadful as they were in losing 4-1 to Arsenal in November, but they were still extremely so, devoid of wit, energy, solidity, creativity, quality, and everything else one would hope to see in a football team. Make no mistake, they are in serious danger of going down and, assessing their fixtures, it is not easy to see where they might win enough points to stay up – all the more so given the form of West Ham and Nottingham Forest who are both playing well. Spurs, on the other hand, haven’t won a league game in 2026 and look like they’ve forgotten how – partly, it must be said, because of an awful injury list. So, where does Igor Tudor go from here? It may well be that his only option is to pick both Dominic Solanke and Randal Kolo Muani, get balls into the box, and hope they can make enough of them to save him – which might not be The Tottenham Way^TM, but is a lot better than relegation. Daniel Harris

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

• Subscribe to Moving the Goalposts, our free newsletter

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