Sixteen of the 48 teams are heading home, but which of the sides left standing will survive all the way to the World Cup final at MetLife Stadium near New York City on 19 July? The hopes of another 16 nations will bite the dust after the first knockout round, which includes England against DR […]

The Scottish FA’s chief executive says “nothing’s off the table” in replacing Steve Clarke as national head coach, a process that “starts now”. The surprise announcement of Clarke stepping down quickly followed confirmation that Scotland could not progress to the World Cup knockout rounds. The head coach had agreed a new four-year contract just prior […]

Manchester United have confirmed that midfielder Manuel Ugarte suffered a knee ligament injury in Uruguay’s World Cup defeat to Spain in Guadalajara on Friday. Ugarte twisted awkwardly as he tried to make a tackle in the build-up to Spain’s winning goal and had to be taken off the pitch on a stretcher. The 25-year-old was […]

Fifa has committed to reducing emissions by 50% by 2030 and to reaching net-zero by 2040. For this year’s tournament, the world football governing body set out a number of environmental pledges, including: hosting teams regionally which reduces “reliance on long-haul travel for a significant proportion of attendees” efforts to increase the energy efficiency by […]

In June 2024, Jude Bellingham scored a dramatic overhead kick in the 95th minute against Slovakia to rescue England’s hopes at the Euros. In the heat of the moment, he celebrated by screaming into the jubilant crowd. “Who else?” After England’s 2-0 win against Panama, the 22 year-old’s performance has a similar feel to it. […]

Declan Rice is expected to be available to start England’s World Cup last-32 tie with DR Congo on Wednesday. The key midfielder was rested for the 2-0 win over Panama after taking a heavy blow to the calf in the goalless draw with Ghana last Tuesday. Rice, 27, was unable to complete the full training […]

It is impossible to gauge exactly who has only come on for a penalty shootout. But if we take those who come on for the final five minutes of injury time, there are only five (three of which were in 2022) – and only two of those scored. Paulo Dybala came on in injury time […]

When Marsch kept Leeds in the Premier League on the final day of the 2022-23 season, he could hardly have envisaged he would be sacked a few months later. But that is what happened after a run of seven games without a win, with Marsch later describing the decision as “foolish”. It was a significant […]

At the time of Clarke’s appointment in May 2019, Scotland were looking for someone who could do one principal thing – get the country back to a major men’s tournament for the first time since 1998. That has been achieved, multiple times. So the remit for his successor will be to build on that success […]

Crystal Palace and Sunderland have emerged as the Premier League clubs with the most goals at the World Cup after the group stage, highlighting the remarkable depth of international talent now spread throughout England’s top flight. Players from both clubs have combined to score seven goals in North America, placing them ahead of established heavyweights […]