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Barney Ronay on Cristiano Ronaldo’s visit to the White House to meet Donald Trump ahead of next year’s World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

It is worth being totally clear on what was happening here. This was, first of all, a state visit and a significant refresh of US-Saudi relations. But it was also a kind of executive benediction. First for Ronaldo, who hadn’t been photographed in the US since the leaking in 2017 of allegations of sexual assault, which he denies and have never been proven.

Not being in the US has cost the Ronaldo brand millions. A final pension-pot World Cup is looming. With Trump in the White House and MBS at his back, it seems this is now a safe space. The quid pro quo is obvious. CR7 is huge among young men on the internet. He’s the most winningest World Cup mascot. He’s a tall handsome guy. This is where we are, why Trump is up at his dais saying the word “Roonnnallldoo” in those sensuous cooing tones, like he’s whispering into the ear of his favourite doughnut.

A pension-pot World Cup looms and with Trump in the White House and a crown prince at his back, it is now a safe space

It was hard to choose one favourite photo from football’s double-header at the White House this week. In part this is because the pictures from Donald Trump’s state dinner with Mohammed bin Salman and his in-house hype men Cristiano Ronaldo and Gianni Infantino were everywhere, recycled feverishly across the internet, dusted with their own drool-stained commentary by the wider Ronaldo-verse.

Mainly there were just so many jaw-droppers. Perhaps you liked the one of Trump and Ronaldo strolling the halls of power, Ronaldo dressed all in black and laughing uproariously, like a really happy ninja. Or the one of Ronaldo and Georgina Rodríguez standing either side of a weirdly beaming Trump at his desk, holding up some kind of large heraldic key as though they’ve just been presented with their own wind-up wooden sex-grandad.

Football is truly a family affair for Hednesford Town’s Hazzana Parnell and her fellow forward Remaya Osbourne

“As a mother you try to give your child the best you can,” says the Hednesford Town forward Hazzana Parnell before the tier five side’s Women’s FA Cup second-round match against fourth-tier Sporting Khalsa on Sunday. “The ball will be on the line and I’ll lay it back for her, as if saying: ‘Go on, you have it.’”

This isn’t like letting your kid beat you at Uno, or half-hearted efforts to save the ball when standing in goal at the local park. This is a mother, Parnell, 38, and her daughter, 16-year-old Remaya Osbourne, playing on the same team in the FA Cup, fulfilling a dream many footballers probably have when they hold their newborn in their arms, and that so few have achieved, in men’s and women’s football.

A number of big-money signings, promising talents and club legends are struggling to make their mark

By WhoScored

A £50m signing from Manchester City, Raheem Sterling was once a declaration of ambition by Chelsea but he is now lost in the £1.4bn of talent that has arrived since. It is easy to forget that Sterling was the first of 50 signings under the club’s owners.

Wednesday and United are in the Championship bottom three, but there is still optimism, humour and pride

Four days before the Sheffield derby, trade at the Hillsborough megastore is ticking over nicely. It was the subject of a boycott by Wednesday fans until a month ago but the decision by Dejphon Chansiri to place the club in administration brought them flocking back: £500,000 was turned over in a week.

Despite buckets catching drips from a leaky roof, supporters are stocking up on kits, bed linen, romper suits and lucky socks, all at 50% or more off.

Cristhian Mosquera, Piero Hincapié or Riccardo Calafiori could start against Spurs, but none can replicate what the Brazilian offers in defence and attack

Sometimes it is not just about the numbers. Mikel Arteta probably put it best when he was asked to summarise how influential Gabriel Magalhães has been to his Arsenal side so far this season prior to their meeting with Crystal Palace last month. “His belief is tremendous,” said the manager. “I can tell him to go and run to the first post, and he does it with conviction, energy and attitude. The team’s belief in those moments is really high, and Gabriel is at the heart of that. He gives everything for the team and that sets the tone for everyone else.”

So Arteta must have feared the worst when the 27-year-old trudged off with his shirt over his face in Brazil’s win over Senegal at the Emirates Stadium last weekend. And before Sunday’s north London derby, he could not hide his disappointment when confirming a thigh injury that will be assessed further next week means Gabriel is set for an extended spell on the sidelines.

Coach’s assistant in tough time at Feyenoord sees parallels with issues his former boss needs to deal with at Anfield

Just over five weeks after Arne Slot’s Feyenoord had lost a tight Conference League final by a goal to Roma in 2022, they suffered a 7-0 home defeat by Copenhagen in their first pre-season friendly. Some of the Dutch club’s internationals were on holiday, seven of their starters from the final would leave that summer and Copenhagen were well ahead in preparations, but even so, the scoreline was bruising. It felt as if Slot had to start all over again.

“I can remember it like yesterday,” says Marino Pusic, Slot’s assistant at Feyenoord and earlier at AZ. “The score could have been even higher – that says enough.” Copenhagen’s then coach, Jess Thorup, described it as more akin to “a training session than an actual friendly match”. Two weeks later a stronger Feyenoord side lost 4-0 to the Belgian club Union Saint-Gilloise. Then came home defeats by Lyon and Osasuna.

• Moves prevented as part of new financial regulations

• Clubs overwhelmingly reject anchoring plans

Premier League clubs will no longer be able to sell hotels or their women’s teams to get around spending controls after the competition agreed to a new financial rule book.

At a meeting on Friday, 14 of the Premier League’s 20 clubs voted in favour of a squad cost ratio (SCR) system to replace the existing profitability and sustainability rules (PSR). The clubs voted overwhelmingly against the introduction of controversial anchoring plans.

• Manager optimistic he will be backed by board

• ‘Invest cleverly and we want to do it smart’

Thomas Frank has said Tottenham are not close to emulating Arsenal by spending £100m on one player.

Spurs have experienced a period of change after September’s removal of Daniel Levy as chair and the decision by the Lewis family, who own the club, to put a new leadership team in place. Plans to expand the business are intended to lead to more sporting success, but it remains to be seen whether they can take the next step and challenge Arsenal for the Premier League title.

Record scorer for Norway’s age-group sides discusses his World Cup hope, being frozen out at 15 and fake tickets heartbreak at Anfield

Liverpool against Aston Villa on 18 January 2014. It was impossible to measure the excitement in a seven-year-old from Norway making his first pilgrimage to Anfield. Inside was the promise of watching his favourite player, Daniel Sturridge, and the rest of a freewheeling side throwing everything at a title push. But as Sindre Walle Egeli and his family reached the turnstiles, the cruelest of realities dawned.

“It’s not a good memory,” Walle Egeli says. “We showed up, ready to go, and it turned out we’d got fake tickets. I don’t know what happened, maybe my parents bought from some shady people. It was heartbreaking.”

Club are bottom of the Premier League and winless, but new head coach is delighted to be back

In a cosy room off the reception at Wolves’ Compton training base, Rob Edwards is reminded he is back talking at the top table where, nine years ago, he struggled to conceal his excitement at being in caretaker charge of the club. “Was that when I had to sort of say I didn’t want the job and had to be really diplomatic?” he says, smiling.

This is the real thing after jumping at the chance to take permanent charge despite the club being bottom of the Premier League with two points from 11 matches and possessing the ignominious record of being the only winless team in the top seven tiers of English football.

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Around the Premier League’s press conferences, including Kolo Muani’s derby boost for Spurs and Howe demanding more of Woltemade

• Premier League: 10 things to look out for this weekend

Newcastle host Manchester City at Saturday teatime while Arsenal face Tottenham in Sunday’s north London derby

Saturday 12.30pm TNT Sports 1 Venue Turf Moor

• Manchester United centre-forward out for a ‘few weeks’

• Mbeumo and Diallo in line for Afcon trip in December

Ruben Amorim has revealed Benjamin Sesko’s knee injury will rule him out of action for “a few weeks” but Manchester United’s head coach is hopeful the striker can return before he loses Bryan Mbeumo and Amad Diallo to the Africa Cup of Nations.

Sesko sustained the injury after coming on as a substitute in the 2-2 draw with Tottenham prior to the international break. Asked how long the 22-year-old will be out of action, Amorim said: “He’s going to stay a few weeks out. I don’t know how long, but he’s not that serious. We have to be careful with him. He’s going to recover, he’s feeling better. So in a few weeks, I expect to have Ben.”

• Manager laments club’s £3m fines for late second halves

• Burna Boy pre-show ‘made Champions League final late’

Pep Guardiola has lamented the Premier League’s strict rules that have led to Manchester City being fined more than £3m for 30 late second-half restarts in the past three seasons, jokingly bemoaning that Burna Boy did not suffer a similar fate after delaying the kick-off in the 2023 Champions League final.

City play at Newcastle on Saturday evening, beginning a hectic schedule in which they will play twice a week until mid-January. They travelled to the north-east on Friday afternoon, leading to a change in routine at the Etihad Campus and an early pre-match press conference in order to comply with Premier League rules and avoid another punitive fee.

• Defender ‘out for weeks’ and will now have further scan

• Ødegaard the only injured player set to return for Arsenal

Mikel Arteta expects Gabriel Magalhães to be out for weeks with the thigh injury sustained on international duty and admitted losing “the leader of our backline” was a blow to Arsenal’s title aspirations.

The Brazil defender was sent back to Arsenal for treatment after picking up the injury in a friendly against Senegal at the Emirates last weekend. Arteta revealed Gabriel was due to have further scans on Wednesday, the day Arsenal host Bayern Munich in the Champions League.

Brommapojkarna will have a close eye on Arsenal’s clash with Spurs as their talent factory continues to thrive

“We’re building Swedish youth.” The sign adorning the main stand at Brommapojkarna is simple, authoritative and accurate. Beneath it, in the lashing rain, the men’s side are training. But while their top-tier status is important, that is far from the primary focus.

Twenty-four hours before the men’s game, BP’s 5,000-capacity Grimsta IP stadium hosted a celebration of the under-19s, who secured a first national title since 2008. Youth development is at the heart of the club and on Sunday the fruits of Vällingby, a suburb in west Stockholm, will be consumed 1,100 miles away in north London.

Semenyo can lift Bournemouth, Isak must show up for Liverpool and north London derby rivals left to rue injuries

A Mancunian reunion of sorts is on the cards should Kyle Walker of Burnley face Alejandro Garnacho on Chelsea’s left at Turf Moor. The winger has started to settle at Stamford Bridge after his summer move from Manchester United and showcased his range against Wolves before the international break. His assist for Pedro Neto combined wicked pace with a perfect ball along the carpet. His setup for Malo Gusto involved shifting on to his right foot before a dinked cross to the far post. His celebration with Neto, replicating his sitting embrace with Kobbie Mainoo and Rasmund Højlund, was a reminder of how quickly things change. The last time Garnacho took on Walker? When the former scored for United in their FA Cup final win over Manchester City. Taha Hashim

Which players have run the furthest, taken the most long throws and fouled the most without seeing a card?

By Opta Analyst

You know that Erling Haaland is the top scorer in the Premier League and that David Raya is great at keeping them out at the other end of the pitch, but what about the quirkier metrics? Who covers the pitch but sees the penalty area as their kryptonite? Which defender loves one-v-one battles? Who prefers to shoot without taking a touch to settle themselves?

When you work in the game it is easy to get cynical but this week I’ve been consuming all the #limbs I can find

For the second time in a week, I’m welling up. This time in a cafe on Northcote High Street in Melbourne at 9am. I punched the air when Kieran Tierney curled that one in. But Kenny McLean. From the halfway line. As the ball sails over Kasper Schmeichel my hands involuntarily shoot to the sky. What a moment. The commentary is amazing. Before long I’m watching it on a loop. The unwritten rule of not talking over each other goes out of the window. In fact it’s better. You want the comms to feel like you feel.

On BBC Scotland, Liam McLeod, Steven Thompson and James McFadden absolutely nail it. McLeod: “They’ve given it away.” Thompson: “SHOOT, SHOOT.” McLeod: “He’s gonna shoot.” (McFadden is grinning wildly.) Thompson: “OH HE’S DONE HIM, HE’S DONE HIM, HE’S DONE HIM.” McLeod: “HAS THAT GONE IN? OOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAOOOOOOOOOO THAT’S UNBELIEVABLE …” The fixed camera set on Thompson and McFadden is wondrous. Two grown men jumping up and down in unison like 10-year-old boys. They are just so happy.

Former defender on his challenge as sporting director at Ligue 1 club and using Arsène Wenger as an inspiration

Returning to Brittany was the obvious choice for Laurent Koscielny. Having left Lorient for Arsenal in 2010, the former defender is back at the Ligue 1 side as the sporting director.

“My wife and I were keen to come back, it’s a beautiful region, and the people are welcoming and kind,” the Frenchman says of the seaside town, known for its annual Celtic music festival and military naval base.

The Arsenal and England forward is backing new global campaign because talent and teamwork should decide the game – not the climate

I’ll never forget stepping out on to the pitch in Switzerland for the Euro 2025 tournament. The air felt heavy – not with pressure or expectation, but with heat. It was more than 30C (86f) that day. It makes your lungs sting, makes you feel like you’re running through water.

In the England camp, we had done everything to prepare. Ice vests before training, hydration breaks, modified warm-ups – things that just weren’t part of football life a few years ago. At our base in Zurich we even had cryotherapy and Slush Puppies to cool our core temperatures. During training, there were ice-cold towels, extra rest moments and constant reminders to hydrate. You could feel how carefully the staff planned every detail. But when the whistle blew, no protocol could change the fact that the climate itself has changed.

• Inter Miami to open new stadium on 4 April

• Season starts on 21 February and ends on 7 November

• Tell us: have you bought tickets for the 2026 World Cup yet?

Lionel Messi and Inter Miami will play a Major League Soccer match in their new stadium for the first time on 4 April, one of the highlights of the league’s schedule that was revealed Thursday.

The 2026 MLS regular season starts 21 February and runs through 7 November. It’ll be the last season in the February-to-November model, with a shortened season planned for 2027 and then the new summer-to-spring calendar for the 2027-28 campaign to closer align with other global leagues.

• Forward makes claim about dressing room incident at Montpellier

• ‘It was hard to see it as merely a simple error,’ says Matildas star

Matildas star Mary Fowler has claimed she experienced racism while at Montpellier in 2022, when she was given bananas while others in the squad received flowers at the end of her final season with the French club.

The explosive revelations are contained in her memoir Bloom, which was released this week and details the extensive challenges she has faced in her young career, including a pattern of self-harm she has worked hard to overcome.

Our cartoonist reflects on Tony Popovic’s team’s recent friendlies against Venezuela and Colombia

The Reggae Boyz are well placed to play on the biggest stage for the first time since 1998 and lift a nation needing hope in a time of adversity

Steve McClaren has spoken of a determination to put “a smile on people’s faces” in Jamaica. Over the next six days the former England manager has a golden chance to do so by guiding Jamaica to the World Cup when they play for the first time since Hurricane Melissa.

The devastating category 5 storm that made landfall on the island on 28 October is known to have killed 45 people there and displaced tens of thousands of households, with hundreds still in emergency shelters. The prime minister, Andrew Holness, said it had caused damage to homes and key infrastructure roughly equal to the value of a third of the country’s gross domestic product.

Steve Clarke’s history-making team have a ferocious work ethic that should typify what Scotland stands for

It was not a time for calm reflection. Kenny McLean had just lobbed Kasper Schmeichel from the halfway line. Limbs. Unbridled, unfiltered joy.

On one outrageous Hampden Park night McLean, Kieran Tierney and Scott McTominay relegated Archie Gemmill’s stupendous solo effort against the Netherlands in 1978 to merely the fourth best Scotland goal of all time. Zinedine Zidane’s volley for Real Madrid in Hampden’s Champions League final of 2002? A mere tap‑in by comparison.

Troy Parrott’s last-gasp goal and DR Congo’s triumph proved once again why the best soccer is almost never about the soccer

• Sign up for Soccer with Jonathan Wilson here

Last Thursday, Irish football was in a bleak place. They had two games remaining in World Cup qualifying and apparently no hope of making it to North America next summer. Another campaign had collapsed in predictable ways: they couldn’t score, they made bafflingly simple errors, too few of their players play for elite sides and those that do seemed unable to reproduce club form for their country.

Their one possible star, Evan Ferguson, had not been energised by a move to Roma – quite the reverse – and although there was vague talk of a new contract for their manager, the amiable Icelandic dentist Heimir Hallgrímsson, everybody thought he would be off after the game in Hungary and was vaguely dreading another Football Association of Ireland recruitment saga, which would inevitably take months, throw up a series of implausible names and result in the job being given to Hallgrímsson’s assistant, John O’Shea.

On the bench in Madrid and out of the England squad, the full-back has no one to fight his corner – so will have to do it himself

“He chose to start from zero. To keep showing up, day by day. It was about respect, courage and a genuine desire to belong. What I saw was a person growing beyond himself. In football, words can build trust, connection, identity. That is what true professionalism really looks like.” Well, at least someone is pleased with Trent Alexander-Arnold’s progress at Real Madrid. Unfortunately, it happens to be Sara Duque, his language teacher.

When Alexander-Arnold filmed a video in hesitant but really very good Spanish for Duque’s Instagram page, it’s fair to say it wasn’t received entirely in the spirit of pride and achievement it was intended. Very quickly, internet auditors started to do the maths. Alexander-Arnold claimed to have been learning Spanish for five months, which meant he must have started in May, when – gasp – he was still under contract at Liverpool. Rat, scum, traitor, etc. Perhaps, judging by how well he spoke at his unveiling in June, he had been under Duque’s tutelage even earlier. All of which brought to mind the old Frank Skinner joke (although others have claimed it) about John Lennon airport. A fitting tribute, seeing as it was the first place he went after making a bit of cash.

Mohamed Salah has drifted from crucial to peripheral in big games, and Arne Slot’s decision to keep picking him is strange

There must be blame. We need heads on the battlements. We need entrails, horses, chains, a public quartering. Basically we just need to feel something. We need, above all, to feel that this is all someone’s fault.

This is how elite football must function now. The Dalai Lama once said that instead of looking to blame others we should look for answers within ourselves, which just goes to show how wrong you can be and is, frankly, very disappointing from the Dalai Lama.

Our cartoonist on how the US president’s actions in office may have put him in line for an award

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• David’s latest book, Chaos in the Box: get it now

It starts with singing, banter or enthusiastic goal celebrations – and leads to so much more. Six groups of fan friends share how they met

Like so many football fans, I have my own routines and rituals with which I tie together the home games of a league season. Last year, one such routine involved the older gentleman in the seat to my right. I’d nod hello and, above the strains of pre-match music, ask him what he thought of Norwich’s chances – 23 times I asked, and 23 times he replied along the lines of: “We’ll probably get thumped” or “I don’t see where our goals are coming from.” A shred of contempt would be spared for the referee. Always, the referee was known to him and, always, I’d be forewarned that this or that referee was an “arsehole”, a “wanker”, or – once – “an arsehole and a wanker”.

This neighbour of mine was a retired engineer, a Norfolk boy, and a follower of both first team and academy, home and away. He was just one of thousands with a season ticket at the back of Carrow Road’s lower Barclay stand: a Saturday afternoon companion, a stranger at the start of the last season who became a little less strange as the matches went by. I was able to glean, for example, that after decades of loyal (if pessimistic) fandom, he would soon be moving to Yorkshire with his partner, unable to ignore his dreams of the Dales. He had already decided that he wouldn’t be renewing his season ticket. My first year in this part of the ground was his last.

Assistant coach is using psychological, tactical and physical profiling to help Thomas Tuchel give his England team an edge at the World Cup

Ten years ago, life looked a little different for Anthony Barry. The England assistant coach, whose focus is fixed on helping Thomas Tuchel win the World Cup next summer – nothing less – was playing for Accrington Stanley in League Two. He was in the twilight of a career spent in the bottom two divisions of the Football League and in non-league, and he had taken the first step on the journey that would define him, accepting a voluntary position as the Accrington Under-16s coach.

“It was in the evenings, third of a pitch, asked to do 11 v 11 … flat balls, not enough bibs,” Barry says with a smile. “I was hooked. I’d found what I was destined to do and I thought about what it could become. I’m pretty sure nobody else could see it. But that’s part of dreams.”

Afghan Women United is comprised of players forced to flee their homeland and is another step in beating barriers

“When I step on to the pitch everything else is automatically erased from my mind,” says the captain of Afghan Women United, Fatima Haidari, when asked how football helps her cope with the traumas she has suffered.

“I train, I play, and a fire inside me is lit, not just because of the power that I feel at that moment as a player, but because I feel I have many other girls with me. It’s like I’m taking their hands. Like I’m playing with them. It’s not just for me, and I feel powerful.”

In an exclusive extract from her autobiography, goalkeeper reveals the painful road to her shock England exit

England felt like such a safe space for me. It was usual to have a team review after a big tournament and after the Euros in 2022 we came together in the Club England meeting room at St George’s Park, the team’s headquarters.

The emotional security that I felt within England was bolstered by the culture and values that had underpinned and contributed to our success. Non-collegiate behaviour was not tolerated. We came back together to the news that Hannah Hampton had been dropped from the squad: her behaviour behind the scenes at the Euros had frequently risked derailing training sessions and team resources.

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Cole Palmer, who is set for another cold spell on the sidelines after stubbing and breaking a toe at home, is not the first footballer to bizarrely knack themselves in a domestic incident. Michael Stensgaard arrived at Liverpool as suitable understudy to David James in 1994 but the goalkeeper never made an appearance after dislocating a shoulder when setting up an ironing board. In a plot twist that Armando Iannuci and Steve Coogan seem to have overlooked while writing I’m Alan Partridge in the 1990s, Dave Beasant severed the tendon in a big toe in 1993 after dropping a bottle of salad cream. And the advent of electric toothbrushes didn’t come quick enough for Fulham legend Alan Mullery, who once put his back out overzealously tending to his gnashers and consequently missed England’s tour of the Americas in 1964. After falling out of Alf Ramsey’s favour, Mullery didn’t play again for his country until … 1967, missing a certain tournament.

It’s always amusing to read the England banners when an Ashes Test is on here in Australia, especially as they often proclaim allegiance to an English (or Welsh) football club while attending a totally different sporting event. On the other hand, I can understand the Dronfield Owls and the prominent Sheffield United contingent preferring to be in Perth rather than at their bottom-of-the-table derby on Sunday. I wonder if they’ll get together to watch it after the third day’s play? Could make England’s batting look acceptable” – Trevor Townson.

D!ck Advocaat managing Curaçao to GWC qualification! Is there any other football success that matches this drink-related combination?” – Richard Barker [draw Scotland and you could have a Bru-Curaçao cocktail? – Football Daily Ed].

Was the AK-47 part of the photoshoot or had Andy Cole just equipped himself with a suitable level of protection to head to the insalubrious environs of the Tuxedo Princess afterwards (yesterday’s Memory Lane, full email edition)? When its sister ship, the Tuxedo Royale, first docked in Boro circa 2000, many patrons (including me) flocked onboard to enjoy the combined treats of 25p shots and a rotating dance floor” – Martin Clifford.

On the subject of being comprehensively outplayed by professionals (Football Daily letters passim), in our final season my decidedly amateur five-a-side team had a tough pair of back-to-back matches, including a grudge match against our local rivals. A mate called in a ringer, describing him as ‘someone from work’ and tapping his nose in the way of a panto villain suggesting skulduggery. Said ringer utterly bossed both games – marshalling the defence, laying on three assists and two goals across the fixtures, running at a full sprint the entire time and causing both opposing teams to complain to the competition organisers that we’d hired a professional. The ringer objected both times, swearing he’d never been a professional footballer with such vehemence that even our closest rivals believed him. In the pub afterwards, the truth came out: he’d had a few seasons as a referee in the A-League Men, the peak of flamin’ Australian football. First time I’ve ever seen a ref be named man of the match, but nobody could say he didn’t deserve it” – Adam Osborne.

Gotham are underdogs against a potent Spirit side but they have the talent and resilience to cause another upset

At the close of quintessential NWSL playoffs rife with last-minute goals and upsets, the eighth-placed underdogs Gotham FC will face second-placed Washington Spirit for the trophy. Both teams have won the NWSL Championship once before: the Spirit in 2021 and Gotham two years later. Washington are the likely favourites, but Gotham’s talent cannot be discounted.

As we look forward to Saturday night in San Jose, here are a few key battles that could decide the game.

Vancouver Rise were crowned Canada’s first champions of the new professional league which has exceeded expectations in terms of tickets sold and viewing figures

In the words of Christine Sinclair, the all-time international top scorer for men or women: “What a difference a year makes.” On Saturday at BMO Field in Toronto, Vancouver Rise became the first champions of the inaugural Northern Super League season. It was a triumphant conclusion to a history-making campaign that has set the ball rolling for professional women’s football in Canada.

In front of 12,429 spectators, Anja Heiner-Møller’s side put on a display of perseverance to claw their way back to win 2-1 against AFC Toronto, the winners of the regular season’s Supporters’ Shield. A half-hour lightning break and deluge of rain did little to stunt the quality on show on the pitch and the enthusiasm off it.

Has this been the best international break in living memory? For Ireland and Scotland fans, it will take some beating. Max Rushden is joined by Barry Glendenning, Paul Watson and Seb Hutchinson to look back on it all, and ahead to the return of the Premier League

Rate, review, share on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Audioboom, Mixcloud, Acast and Stitcher, and join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter and email.

On today’s pod, the panelists extol what must be one of the most drama-packed international breaks in years. Max Rushden, Barry Glendenning, Paul Watson and Seb Hutchinson enjoyed every minute of it from last-minute winners and multi-goal pile-ups to minnows on the verge of qualification.

Plus: chants celebrating old memories, Trevor Wood from Jersey and ‘a Genghis Khan-like thick moustache’

• Mail us with your questions and answers

“England qualified for the World Cup in perfect style, winning all eight games without conceding a goal,” writes Charlie Wilson. “How many teams have done this?”

This isn’t the first time England have qualified for a World Cup without conceding a goal. They did the same ahead of Italia 90 – but three of their six group games were 0-0 draws and they might not have qualified had Poland’s Rysard Tarasiewicz scored in the last minute of their final game in Chorzow. Instead his heatseeker hit the crossbar and England were through.

Switzerland (A) 5-0

Wales (H) 12-0

Wales (A) 12-0

Croatia (A) 7-0

Croatia (H) 8-0

Switzerland (H) 11-0

Chelsea lose ground in title race at Liverpool while Arsenal struggle to find their shooting boots

When Alyssa Thompson fired in a superb ninth-minute opener, Chelsea looked on course for another routine win. However, Liverpool’s defence held firm and the Reds levelled in the 33rd minute and held out until half-time. The Chelsea manager, Sonia Bompastor, introduced further attacking options in the second half, including Lauren James and Aggie Beever-Jones, but a solid defensive display from Liverpool ensured Chelsea were unable to find a winner as the hosts earned their second point of the season. Although the result did mean Chelsea set a record of 34 successive unbeaten WSL games, clearly all is not well with the defending champions. Last season they had 27 points after nine games and led the way, this campaign they have eight fewer and are three points behind Manchester City. Réshma Rao

Match report: Tottenham 0-0 Arsenal

Max Rushden is joined by Barry Glendenning, Ali Maxwell and Sanny Rudravajhala to discuss Scotland’s incredible last-gasp winning goals against Denmark that took them to the World Cup

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On today’s pod: Scotland sent the Tartan Army into raptures with a stunning late Kieran Tierney goal at Hampden, followed up by a Kenny McLean lob from the half-way line. It finished Scotland 4-2 Denmark and was enough to send Steve Clark’s men to the World Cup next year. There was also the small matter of Scott McTominay’s breathtaking overhead kick in the opening minutes of the 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

We pick the best youngsters at each club born between 1 September 2008 and 31 August 2009, an age band known as first-year scholars. Check the progress of our classes of 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 … and go even further back. Here’s our 2025 world picks

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