There will be a change in the way Premier League referees judge hair-pulling next season after three players were sent off for the offence in 2025-26. All three red cards for hair-pulling came through a video assistant referee review, but from next season, not every time a player is seen to pull an opponent’s hair […]

For the past couple of seasons, many teams looking to dominate the ball have done so in a rigid manner. A very common shape in possession has been the 3-2-2-3 set-up, with a box in midfield – teams such as Manchester City, Chelsea and Arsenal have moved a full-back into midfield to achieve this. In […]

Iran’s involvement in the World Cup has been plagued with uncertainty, linked to the war in the Middle East and related security concerns. Fifa president Gianni Infantino visited the Iran team in the dressing room following the game against New Zealand as tensions continue. Multiple “integral” members of their backroom staff were denied entry visas […]

Despite winning all of these games, Scotland’s opponents don’t tend to score many goals, which is a surprise. In Diaz and Saibari and the left-sided midfielder, Bilal El Khannouss, they have hugely dynamic attackers. And, in Achraf Hakimi, they have one of the best right-backs in the world, if not the absolute best. Hakimi is […]

Welcome to our Who am I? game. The rules are simple. Each day there’s a new footballer and the challenge is to guess who they are in as few attempts as possible. After each wrong guess you unlock a new clue. Guess the answer after as few clues as possible to score more points. Three […]

Manzambi was once a goalkeeper for his youth team – and his first footballing idol was Germany’s Manuel Neuer. Now he is a creative midfielder who enjoys getting forward. And his goalscoring exploits against Bosnia-Herzegovina suggests he could be far more than just a “super-sub” at this World Cup. He broke into the Freiburg first […]

It should have been a moment of pure joy. Canada, 40 years after playing in their first World Cup, secured their first-ever win at the tournament in emphatic fashion, thrashing Qatar 6-0 in front of a packed and loud Vancouver Stadium. They are almost certain of a place in the last 32. But celebrations were […]

Ismael Kone’s serious-looking injury left Canada manager Jesse Marsch in tears and overshadowed their first-ever World Cup finals win as they thrashed nine-man Qatar 6-0. Source link

Ivan Toney and Morgan Rogers were among the scorers as England recorded a comprehensive 5-1 victory over Major League Soccer side Sporting Kansas City in a practice match on Thursday. The game, played behind closed doors at England’s Swope Soccer Village training facility, featured the players not used in Wednesday’s World Cup 4-2 win over […]

Houston / Tuesday, 23 June / 18:00 I am at this game for Radio 5 Live too and let’s just say I will be keeping a close eye on Cristiano Ronaldo. Portugal are such an interesting team. I covered them in their draw against DR Congo and they have the best midfielders in the tournament, […]