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On the one hand, he did well to coax a title out of a squad whose best players are ageing; on the other, it was Jürgen Klopp’s team and it relied upon Mo Salah delivering half a season of dead-cat bounce brilliance that had little to do with anyone’s tactics.

And as for this season, who signed off on all the summer business? Changing five players is never going to be seamless, but ignoring the major weaknesses in the squad – the middle of defence and the middle of midfield – to splurge on an attack that didn’t need that level of refreshment, was a colossal error.

• Arne Slot under pressure before Champions League tie

• Van Dijk questions togetherness after 15th loss of season

Virgil van Dijk believes Liverpool “gave up” during their FA Cup defeat at Manchester City and has apologised to fans for the woeful performance that heightens the pressure on Arne Slot.

A dejected Liverpool captain was unsparing in his assessment of the heaviest defeat of Slot’s reign and claimed it will be difficult for the team to recover for Wednesday’s Champions League quarter-final first leg against Paris Saint-Germain.

Lack of specialist training may explain drop in influence, but many feel the centre-forward is due a revival

Andy Cole and Dwight Yorke barely knew each other when the latter arrived at Manchester United in the summer of 1998, but the partnership they forged became the stuff of legend. In training, they were often found working together, practising runs, interchanges, dummies and combinations. That season they scored 53 goals between them as the club won the treble. Yorke shared the Premier League Golden Boot with Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and Michael Owen on 18 goals. Cole finished one behind. The top 10 scorers in the league that season were all strikers.

But the training pitches and scoring charts paint a very different picture today. Finishing drills are infrequent, possession is paramount and the league’s leading scorers are more often wingers, No 10s or false 9s. Traditional centre-forwards are disappearing. Opta data shows the sharp decline in their influence. Two decades ago, strikers scored 41.6% of the Premier League’s goals – 387 of 931. This season, the figure stands at 25.9% – 291 of 845.

• League leaders fall to late strike in FA Cup

• ‘I love my players. I’m not going to criticise’

Mikel Arteta vowed to defend his players “more than ever” after a shock FA Cup quarter-final defeat at second-tier Southampton but the Arsenal head coach accepted his side must “look in the mirror” after successive losses for the first time this season.

Arteta insisted “the most beautiful period of the season” is on the horizon, with a Champions League quarter-final first leg at Sporting their next match on Tuesday.

Nu Stadium’s first game of any kind saw the South Florida club accomplish a long-held goal barely under the deadline

Lionel Messi may have scored, captained the side and had a quarter of the new building named in his honor, but this was unmistakably Inter Miami co-owner Sir David Beckham’s night.

The inaugural game at Nu Stadium in Miami – an entertaining 2-2 draw with Austin FC – was the culmination of the former England captain’s arduous, thirteen-year odyssey to first establish an MLS team in Miami, then fill it with superstars, win major honors and, critically, build a world class arena for the team to play in.

• Nine clubs yet to secure front-of-shirt commercial deals

• Several may begin the campaign without a shirt sponsor

Nine Premier League clubs have yet to secure front-of-shirt commercial deals for next season and 12 have not signed contracts, leading to increasing concerns that several may begin the campaign without a shirt sponsor.

The imminent ban on shirt advertising from gambling companies is having a significant impact on all clubs’ commercial returns, other than those in the big six, with an executive at one club telling the Guardian that the collective loss of income from shirt deals could be as high as £80m next season.

With seven games to save their status, Tottenham’s owners have taken risk on a gifted coach who favours tough love

It is ironic that the man who has appointed Roberto De Zerbi to be Tottenham manager, just as the club faces its most critical seven games this century, is also partially responsible for one of the most successful managerial recruitments in Mikel Arteta, albeit for north London rivals, Arsenal. And even that didn’t start well. Vinai Venkatesham was blindsided when photographs of him emerging from Arteta’s house at 1.20am were published in a newspaper at a sensitive stage in negotiations. The man who is now Tottenham’s chief executive only found out he had been rumbled when the pictures went online and was mortified.

Venkatesham was part of a committee that settled on Arteta as a replacement for Unai Emery, and while it was a huge gamble to entrust a novice to a club the size of Arsenal, it was at least inspired, which is more than can be said for his hiring of Igor Tudor, a coach with no Premier League experience, to save Spurs. Now Venkatesham, along with the sporting director, Johan Lange, has settled on De Zerbi, which is similarly high risk.

A decade ago, Lincoln City finished 15th in the Conference – now they’re on the verge of promotion to the second tier for the first time since 1961

It is almost like an actor refusing to say “Macbeth” for fear of jinxing the play. Even though Lincoln City’s promotion to the EFL Championship is nigh on certain – “it feels a bit like we’re on match point,” Michael Skubala said after Friday’s 1-0 victory over AFC Wimbledon – no one involved dares mention the prospect of Tottenham or Wolves playing a league game at Sincil Bank next season.

Extending their club-record unbeaten run to 24 league games at Reading on Monday would guarantee Lincoln’s return to the second tier of English football for the first time in 65 years. A draw between Bolton and Stockport would also suffice.

Thirty five-year-old reflects on his players overcoming adversity to climb towards new heights in the WSL and his evolution as a coach

Martin Ho is ready to chat, after being playfully reprimanded by the waiter in a south London cafe for leaving a lone tomato on his plate. “It’s got more vitamin C in it than orange juice,” the waiter quips as he clears the table.

It has been quite the season for the 35-year-old Tottenham head coach, who took charge of a team in July that looked rudderless and despondent as it limped to an 11th-place finish in the WSL, one season on from finishing sixth and reaching an FA Cup final.

Spotlight intensifies on Liverpool’s coach, but what of a group of players who in effect surrendered against Manchester City?

Budapest or bust it is, then, for Liverpool’s hopes of silverware this season and quite possibly Arne Slot’s prospects of remaining in his job, although thoughts of this team reaching a Champions League final appear ludicrous in light of their gutless exit from the FA Cup.

A pity whistle on 90.04 from the referee, Michael Oliver, sounded an appropriate death knell for a pitiful performance by the fading Premier League champions. So much for a shot at redemption for Liverpool and Slot as a defining period of five matches in 16 days commenced in humiliating fashion.

Arsenal meet Brighton with their sights set on reaching a second semi-final while Tottenham could be facing Chelsea at just the right time

Riding high after their Champions League quarter-final win over Chelsea, Arsenal are ready to push on in the FA Cup. The WSL title may be almost certainly out of sight following Manchester City’s impressive victory over Manchester United, but the chance to go for a European and domestic cup double is very much there. Brighton stand in the way of securing a second cup semi-final within six days. Last weekend Dario Vidosic’s side earned a first WSL win since their 23 January defeat of Everton, securing a 1-0 win over bottom-placed Leicester. The Seagulls sit sixth in the WSL, eight points behind Tottenham and only ahead of London City Lionesses on goal difference. They are seven points off of last season’s total with four games remaining. However, those four games are against Manchester City, Manchester United, Arsenal and Spurs and inconsistency has blighted their campaign. The hope will be that they face a tired Arsenal after their Champions League exploits, with the 1-0 second-leg defeat to Chelsea a frantic and exhausting match. That is perhaps an ambitious ask given the depth at Arsenal’s disposal and the form they are in, Wednesday night’s inconsequential defeat being their first loss since 21 January.

Most of what has gone wrong this season can be put down to poor recruitment – but the manager must share the blame

Even when the fixture list was revealed last summer, it was perhaps predictable that the middle of March would represent the crisis point for Newcastle. If they had reached the Champions League quarter-finals and won the Tyne-Wear derby at St James’ Park, a lot of other frustrations could have been forgotten. Even better, that game against Sunderland would have had to be postponed had Newcastle reached a third Carabao Cup final since 2023.

Those days of celebration a year ago feel a long time ago now, but the mood could easily have been very different. Newcastle were the better side in the home leg against Barcelona in the last 16 of the Champions League. Only the concession of a daft late penalty denied them victory and they were a persistent threat on the break in the first half of the away leg. Only in the second half of the second leg did the game get away from them: a 7-2 defeat made the difference between the sides seem much greater than it actually was.

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• Robert Lewandowski’s late winner sinks Atlético

• Real downed by Mallorca’s stoppage-time winner

Barcelona’s Robert Lewandowski came off the bench to score a late winner in a 2-1 victory away to 10-man Atlético Madrid on Saturday that moved the defending champions seven points clear of Real Madrid – who suffered a shock defeat at Real Mallorca – at the top of La Liga.

Barcelona had plenty of motivation after Real’s 2-1 loss at Mallorca earlier on Saturday, but it was the hosts who took the lead six minutes before the break through Giuliano Simeone.

• Danny Rohl’s side move above Hearts on goal difference

• Hibernian and Falkirk cement top-six spots

Danny Rohl told his Rangers players to stay “on the front foot” in the Premiership run-in after a 4-2 win over Dundee United took the Gers top for the first time in more than two years. Goals from Ryan Naderi, Dujon Sterling, Thelo Aasgaard and substitute Bojan Miovski proved too much in the end for the visitors, who scored through Amar Fatah and Zac Sapsford.

Rangers were 13 points behind Hearts when Rohl took over as manager in October, but they lead the Jambos on goal difference with six games remaining, albeit their rivals have the chance to go back to the top when they travel to Livingston on Sunday. Third-placed Celtic, five points behind their Old Firm rivals, face Dundee at Dens Park later the same day.

It will take more than a thumping FA Cup quarter-final victory over the worst team in League One to ignite Chelsea’s season as it enters the defining stretch. This was, at least, a step in the right direction. Or perhaps it was just good for the club to avoid any further chaos.

The occasion was framed by Liam Rosenior’s decision to ban his vice-captain, Enzo Fernández, for the game and Chelsea’s next one, which is here against Manchester City in the Premier League next Sunday. The manager felt he had to act after Fernández’s none-too-subtle message to Real Madrid during the international break. Basically, he is bang up for joining them.

• São Paulo player spent five days in hospital after fainting

• Oscar won two league titles in five years at Chelsea

The former Brazil international Oscar has been forced to retire at the age of 34 with cardiac problems, São Paulo confirmed on Saturday.

The attacking midfielder spent five days in hospital after fainting during a routine medical in November and has not played since. A vasovagal syncope, caused by a sudden drop in blood pressure, heart rate and cerebral blood flow was observed, forcing Oscar to call time on his career. He had a contract that was due to expire in 2027.

• Canada Soccer holding jersey exchange in Toronto

• Italy failed to qualify for finals after playoff defeat

Italian football fans are being encouraged to put their national team’s World Cup 2026 qualification failure behind them – by backing co-hosts Canada instead.

Canada Soccer, the national governing body for the sport, is offering a jersey swap on Saturday for fans in Toronto’s Little Italy district. “Dear Italian soccer fans, Don’t wait four more years. Swap your jersey for Canada,” read a post on X.

Max Rushden is joined by Barry Glendenning, Nick Ames and Jordan Jarrett-Bryan to preview the weekend’s action.

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A distant relative found a family link to the football prodigy, as they are both related to George Male, the first player to win six English top-flight titles

Dave Male could have had no idea that his decision to attend a match while he was on holiday in Spain two years ago would uncover a remarkable family link to one of English football’s brightest young prospects. The retired teacher was staying just down the road from the Pinatar Arena in Murcia and went along to watch England Under-16s in a friendly against Italy. “I was looking at the team sheet and that’s when the name Dowman hit me straight away,” Male recalls.

On the pitch that day was a 14-year-old Max Dowman, already standing out as England claimed a 2-1 victory. But for Male, it wasn’t just the performance that caught his attention. It was his name. Male, a keen genealogist, recognised it instantly from his own family history.

A first FA Cup semi-final since 1987 is within reach but manager says Premier League is ‘our bread and butter’

As Leeds travel to West Ham for an FA Cup quarter-final both teams could arguably do without, one thing is not in doubt: Daniel Farke knows how to read a balance sheet. As the holder of an MA in economics and a diploma in sporting directorship, the Leeds manager needs no reminders that, financially, avoiding relegation is infinitely more important than trying to win the FA Cup. “The Premier League’s our bread and butter,” he said on Thursday . “It’s our priority.”

There is, though, another side to Farke. Away from the training pitches at Thorp Arch, one of the German’s preferred ways of switching off is to spend hours reading on his sofa, transported to different worlds through his love of literary fiction. His favourite novels include Gabriel García Márquez’s One Hundred Years of Solitude.

From Algeria to Uzbekistan, our writers and contributors from around the world assess the state of the 48 nations to qualify for the tournament

“There’s more talent and potential than in 2022,” Kylian Mbappé said ominously this week after France had beaten Brazil 2-1 despite having Dayot Upamecano sent off after 55 minutes. He may well be right. For the second game of this window, against Colombia, Didier Deschamps changed the entire starting XI but was still able to field an attack of Marcus Thuram, Désiré Doué, Rayan Cherki and Maghnes Akliouche. Doué scored two in a comfortable 3-1 victory. “I’m well aware that there are some very good players that I won’t be bringing because, in my opinion, there are even better ones,” Deschamps said. Marcus Christenson

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The Championship – a league so chaotic it makes a piano falling down some stairs resemble a Zen garden – resumes with an old-fashioned Easter weekend double header. Automatic promotion, playoff places and the drop into the abyss all remain up for grabs, with only beleaguered Sheffield Wednesday’s relegation rubber-stamped as the contenders jockey for position on entering the home straight. Not a Stone Island jacket will go unworn as fans of all 24 clubs proudly get the badge in before heading off to support their teams over a hectic bank holiday schedule. At the top, Frank Lampard’s Coventry City are in the box seat for automatic promotion, with an 11-point cushion between them and Ipswich Town in third. They will fancy their chances of at least maintaining the gap in tomorrow night’s televised Geographically Quite Near Each Other But Not Really A Derby derby against, er, Derby County. With no Good Friday game due to Southampton’s weekend FA Cup appointment with Arsenal, Ipswich will have additional time to de-Farage Portman Road for Monday’s visit of Birmingham.

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NWSL newcomers attracted more than 60,000 fans to Mile High Stadium for landmark fixture against Washington

On Saturday in Denver, the NWSL set a new single-game attendance record for the second time in less than a year. This time, it was the league’s 16th franchise, Denver Summit, who did the honors in their first home game, hosting 63,004 fans at Empower Field at Mile High Stadium (home to the Denver Broncos). The league’s new milestone eclipses the previous record by about 23,000.

Denver’s entry into the NWSL has been a fast-paced and ambitious whirlwind. They were officially announced as the league’s 16th team in January 2025. Three days later, they became the fastest expansion franchise to sell 5,000 season tickets, with 5,280 sold in three days. They went on to sell out their 8,500 season-ticket allotment in short order, adding thousands to a waitlist.

The Lions of Mesopotamia have waited 40 years to return to the World Cup and they have had to do it the hard way

If anyone deserves the chance to celebrate Iraq’s return to the World Cup it is Aymen Hussein and not just because the striker scored the winning goal in the final intercontinental playoff against Bolivia on Tuesday.

Born and raised in Kirkuk in northern Iraq, a region affected first by war and then by Islamic State, Hussein lost his father in an al-Qaeda attack in 2008. Six years later his brother disappeared and the young footballer was then forced to flee with the remaining members of his family. Football provided Hussein with a way out and hope. Now he has given his country, one that is recovering from recent horrors but still susceptible to the general regional instability as current events show, one of the happiest moments in its recent history.

Mauricio Pochettino faces several tough decisions to name a squad for the 2026 World Cup hosts

A full 24 matches into the Mauricio Pochettino era, we have arrived at the moment of truth. The US men’s national team’s 2026 World Cup roster will be named on 26 May, and the team’s two recent friendlies (a 5-2 loss to Belgium and a 2-0 loss to Portgual) have given Pochettino plenty to think about as he makes his selection.

We here at the Guardian have made our picks as well – based a little on our own preference, but still within the realm of what Pochettino may do. Separately, the three of us made our 26-man rosters. Any player who we agreed on got the “on the squad” designation. Anyone we differed on is listed as “up for debate”, with other notable exclusions listed as “out of the picture”.

• Police investigate chants heard at Barcelona friendly

• Spain’s coach and justice minister condemn behaviour

Lamine Yamal has criticised chants by Spain fans during a friendly against Egypt in Barcelona that police are investigating for Islamophobia and xenophobia.

Spain supporters chanted “who doesn’t jump is a Muslim”, prompting Yamal to respond on Instagram. He wrote that the chanting “was aimed at the opposing team and was not something personal against me, but as a Muslim it is still a lack of respect and something intolerable. To those who sing these things: using a religion as a form of mockery on a pitch shows you up as ignorant and racist.”

Manager and team had hit rock bottom, but together they found redemption and are heading to North America

A manager down on his luck after a second failure in quick succession, wondering what the future would hold. A national team struggling at the bottom of their qualifying group given a second chance through the vagaries of the Nations League. That national team happens to be the country where the manager made his name, inspiring a team from a town with a population of 50,000 to win the Swedish Cup.

So the two get together, doubting manager and doubting country, and somehow, less than six months after the nadir, they are going to the World Cup finals.

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.”

Sublime stint at Bayern Munich has made home audiences appreciate a man who isn’t flash or twinkly but is his country’s best footballer

Everyone has their favourite mental comfort food, the stuff that makes you feel good in troubled times. Maybe you like baking bread and listening to history podcasts about Nazi atrocities. Maybe it’s watching Notting Hill in a Hugh Grant mask.

Perhaps you love to unwind by sitting in your walnut-panelled library and reading Catullus, naked, covered in Doritos crumbs, with a plastic bag over your head. Or enjoy nothing better than doomscrolling in a state of late-night brain-death, before accidentally subscribing to a mystery supplement that will rid you of all the horrific writhing parasites inside your body, because the advert had a really convincing animated graphic that made you hate yourself.

For examples of how little a team’s form in the World Cup run-in matters in the tournament itself, look no further than the US

The last time the United States men’s national team entered into the final stretch of their preparations for a World Cup on home soil, the results were dire. From January through April of 1994, the Americans, who were mostly sequestered in a full-time training camp, played 12 games and won just twice. They even managed to lose to Iceland, who were a total non-factor in global soccer back then.

Then, that ’94 team went on to survive the group stage and narrowly lose to eventual champions Brazil, 1-0, in the round of 16. They delivered on expectations in spite of their deflating run-in.

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.

Roberto Baggio proposed an overhaul of talent pathway in 2011 but it was never acted on and the national team’s approach now is just not working

The decline of Italy’s footballing expectations can be read in the headlines that greeted their third consecutive failure to qualify for a men’s World Cup. When the Azzurri lost their playoff against Sweden in November 2017, La Gazzetta dello Sport defined it as “The End” and an “Apocalypse”. After defeat by North Macedonia in 2022, Il Corriere dello Sport saw a country sinking “Into Hell”.

On Wednesday both newspapers led coverage of elimination by Bosnia and Herzegovina with a simpler, perhaps sadder, “Tutti A Casa” – Everybody Go Home. What else is there left to say? Italians understood long ago that 2018 was not some aberration but the continuation of a trend, their team having failed to reach the tournament’s knockout stage in 2010 or 2014.

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Only half of the 26 places appear nailed-on and some players benefited from missing the Uruguay and Japan games

Jordan Pickford remains the undisputed No 1. Harry Kane is irreplaceable up front. Declan Rice and Elliot Anderson look certain to start in midfield, nobody has emerged as a realistic challenger to Bukayo Saka on the right and Jude Bellingham’s hopes of grabbing the No 10 spot were done a world of good by other challengers failing to impress against Japan and Uruguay.

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.

Rasmus Højlund is back among the goals at Napoli while Jakub 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.”

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.

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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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.

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.

Quiz time! Can you identify the British football stadiums pictured in the matchday images below?

• This article was amended on 3 April 2026 to correct the spelling of the Wrexham stadium, Cae Ras.

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

Faye Carruthers is joined by Suzy Wrack, Freddie Cardy and Emma Sanders to discuss the Champions League and Sarina Wiegman’s latest England squad

On today’s pod: Arsenal are into the Champions League semi-finals after knocking out Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, while Manchester United couldn’t overcome Bayern Munich as the German champions also progress into the last four.

Plus: Sarina Wiegman’s latest England squad, a review of the weekend’s WSL action, and congratulations to Bournemouth for winning the FAWNL Cup for the first time.

Plus: qualifying for the World Cup with no more than two wins, a 20-0 victory and scratching a 34-year itch

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“The Bundesliga table shows Bayern Munich on 70 points with an eye-popping goal difference of +72,” pops Chris Fryer. “Has any club won the league with a greater goal difference than points tally?”

Bayern Munich have won 22 and lost one in the Bundesliga this season. That was a 2-1 defeat against Augsburg, which means their 22 victories have produced a goal difference of +73. In other words, their average margin of victory is an absurd 3.32 goals.

0.388 Rangers 1898-99 (Scottish First Division)

0.353 Hearts 1957-58 (Scottish First Division)

0.200 Liverpool 1895-96 (Second Division)

0.176 Ajax 1966-67 (Eredivisie)

0.09 Birmingham 1892-93 (Second Division)

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