“The mood around England was great last year as they won all eight World Cup qualifiers without conceding a single goal. But they were poor in both home friendlies last month, showing how lost they look without Harry Kane. With 50 days to go until this summer’s tournament kicks off, you can hear expectations being gently recalibrated… …”
NY Times/The Athletic
“The 2026 World Cup is 50 days away. After nearly eight years of planning and promise, a tournament that could help shape American soccer for decades is near. And among the many questions looming over it is: Will the U.S. men’s national team meet the moment? Broader controversies and business machinations are currently dominating headlines. But once the games begin, no single entity will have a bigger impact on this World Cup’s American legacy than the USMNT. And with the countdown on, signals are mixed. Two March losses dampened momentum. Some key players are starring, but others are faltering as their time in the spotlight approaches. The following is a look at the state of the USMNT with 50 days to go. …”
NY Times/The Athletic
“Fifty days out from the World Cup, France are in ominously impressive form and will go into the tournament as one of the favourites to lift the trophy. After a curious Euro 2024, where Les Bleus went out in the semi-finals having scored only three goals from open play (two of which were own goals), head coach Didier Deschamps used the subsequent Nations League campaign to recalibrate his misfiring attack. Set out in a 4-2-3-1 formation with Michael Olise at No 10, France reached the Nations League semi-finals, where they lost 5-4 to Spain in a madcap game in Stuttgart, before cruising through World Cup qualifying and taking 16 points from a possible 18. …”
NY Times/The Athletic
“It’s not just that the first men’s World Cup game in Canada is around the corner. A potential landscape-altering sporting event for the nation will begin in 50 days. Unlike the other 2026 World Cup co-hosts, Canada has never been in this position. What could happen with a strong performance on home soil? Domestically, soccer could end up joining mainstream consciousness the way it did in the United States after the 1994 World Cup. …”
NY Times/The Athletic
“With 50 days to go until the World Cup, European champions Spain are comfortable with being one of the favourites. Yet manager Luis de la Fuente still has some interesting selection decisions to make before finalising his squad — and picking his starting XI for the opener against Cape Verde on June 15. From the outside, all seems serene for the world’s No 2-ranked team. Is this the case? …”
NY Times/The Athletic
“Germany are 50 days away from what they hope will be redemption. Since winning the World Cup in 2014, they have twice failed to emerge from their group — falling at the first hurdle in 2018 and 2022 — but are among the favourites for 2026. An encouraging showing at the 2024 European Championship, where they reached the quarter-final, was seen as progress. However, in the two years since, the country’s optimism has risen and fallen in response to capricious form. What does Germany expect? Nobody’s quite sure. …”
NY Times/The Athletic
“Chelsea and big numbers. A tale as old as, well, at least 23 years. When Russia invaded Ukraine four years ago, Roman Abramovich’s proximity to Vladimir Putin and the Russian war effort resulted in Chelsea’s then owner being sanctioned, his assets frozen and the club marooned. Without the backing of the man whose funds had fuelled them since 2003, Chelsea could not sell tickets or merchandise, or take part in football’s bustling transfer market. Cash flow became a heightened concern. Not so since. Abramovich was replaced by a private equity-backed consortium, BlueCo, who, alongside paying £2.35billion ($2.97bn) in cash for the club and £49.8m ($63m) to former Chelsea directors for their roles in facilitating the sale, also committed to investing a further £1.7bn ($2.1bn) into the club. …”
NY Times/The Athletic
<Gianluigi Buffon, right, Leonardo Bonucci, left, and other former Juventus stars carry a wreath for ex team-mate Alex Manninger
“‘You seen this?’ Antoine Griezmann laughed. Matteo Ruggeri tried to push the camera away. The staples in his splattered forehead stuck out. Blood continued to gush. ‘El Tigre’s gonna look better now,’ his Atletico Madrid team-mate, Koke, joked. Even the club’s social media admin got in on the act. ‘Call an ambulance!’ Ruggeri did not emerge unscathed from playing one-on-one with arguably the best player on the planet. Lamine Yamal skipped past him. He nutmegged and eluded him. Atletico’s head coach, Diego Simeone, shouted at him. ‘Matteo! Matteo!’ Back in the dressing room at the Metropolitano, Ruggeri raised a fist and smiled. It was worth it. Atletico were through to the Champions League semi-finals at Barcelona’s expense and the 23-year-old Italian, one of three former Atalanta players in their team, looked like a warrior. …”
NY Times/The Athletic (Video)
“Shortly after the full-time whistle blew on Arsenal’s 2-1 defeat at Manchester City, a weary team trudged over to the corner of the ground occupied by the travelling fans. Arsenal had lost the game, and yet another chunk of their diminishing lead in the table. It might have been nine points — it is now just three. It is an undeniably disappointing outcome and a considerable blow to their title hopes. But there was no mass walkout, no opprobrium. The away fans rose to salute their team with warm applause and chants of support. They still believe: this isn’t over yet. In performance terms, this was Arsenal’s most encouraging showing in weeks. As Arsenal feel City breathing ever closer down their neck, that is what they will cling to. …”
NY Times/The Athletic
Guardian: Arsenal are despondent, but the Premier League race is far from over – Jonathan Wilson
NY Times/The Athletic: There is no place to hide in Arteta’s ‘New Premier League’ – Arsenal must embrace their fears (Video)
NY Times/The Athletic: Haaland vs Gabriel – Ripped shirt, butting heads and a decisive battle in the title showdown (Video)
NY Times/The Athletic: Manchester City’s season of many formations – and why 4-2-3-1 might be the one to land the title (Video)
YouTube: Manchester City v. Arsenal | PREMIER LEAGUE HIGHLIGHTS | 4/19/2026
“As Giorgi Mamardashvili disappeared down the tunnel on a stretcher, Everton smelt blood. Liverpool’s narrow lead had been wiped out by Beto, who had clattered into the visitors’ stand-in goalkeeper when turning home Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall’s low cross. It was the kind of avoidable goal Arne Slot’s side have conceded far too often this season. As the third-choice goalkeeper Freddie Woodman, a free transfer from Championship club Preston North End last summer, was introduced off the bench for his Premier League debut shortly before the hour mark, the noise inside Hill Dickinson Stadium intensified. …”
NY Times/The Athletic
NY Times/The Athletic – Everton 1 Liverpool 2: Salah delivers, Isak’s nine touches, what does this mean for fifth place?
YouTube: Everton v. Liverpool | PREMIER LEAGUE HIGHLIGHTS | 4/19/2026
“This game was always going to prove crucial in this Premier League title race — but Manchester City’s win against Arsenal also brought lots of entertainment. The result leaves City three points behind Arsenal with a game in hand and Pep Guardiola’s side can go top on Wednesday if they beat Burnley. We got action from the off, with David Raya’s loose touch nearly gifting City an opener. Moments later, he was relieved to see a shot cannon off the post before a moment of magic from Rayan Cherki opened the scoring as he danced through the Arsenal defence. Then came Gianluigi Donnarumma’s error, which allowed Kai Havertz to pounce and level the scores. …”
NY Times/The Athletic (Video)
NY Times/The Athletic: Arsenal got it wrong in the Carabao Cup final. Here’s how they can fix it on Sunday (Video)
Guardian: Nico O’Reilly’s fearless quality exposes collapsing Arsenal’s title credentials
BBC: Arteta must prove he won’t be remembered as Arsenal’s ‘nearly man’ (Video)
YouTube: Manchester City v. Arsenal | PREMIER LEAGUE HIGHLIGHTS
“… Meanwhile, West Germany won its previous three World Cups in Switzerland, West Germany and Italy. Following unification in 1990, Germany came close in South Africa in 2010, losing narrowly against Spain in the semi-finals. Now Spain’s golden generation was too old and exited at the group stage, so the path opened up for Germany. But they would need to get past South America’s two giants in the semi-final and final. …”
NY Times/The Athletic (Video)
W – 2014 protests in Brazil
W – 2014 FIFA World Cup
Graffiti in São Paulo critical of the expenditures of the World Cup.
“Bayern Munich have won the German Bundesliga for the 13th time in 14 seasons with their 4-2 victory over Stuttgart on Sunday. Bayern were afforded the opportunity to win the title after second-placed Borussia Dortmund lost 2-1 at Hoffenheim on Saturday, with Vincent Kompany’s side requiring one point to take an unassailable lead. Stuttgart took an early lead at the Allianz Arena, only for goals from Raphael Guerreiro, Nicolas Jackson, Alphonso Davies and Harry Kane helping secure the home side’s win, with the away team scoring a late consolation. …”
NY Times/The Athletic (Video)
YouTube: BUNDESLIGA CHAMPIONS 🏆 FC Bayern vs. VfB Stuttgart | Bundesliga Highlights
“At half-time in the Carabao Cup final, Arsenal’s hopes of a quadruple remained strong. They were unbeaten in 14, 11 of them won. They were drawing 0-0 against Manchester City and it wasn’t unreasonable to think that if the second half carried on as the first half had, they would eventually find a winner – quite possibly from a corner. They had drawn a Championship side in the sixth round of the FA Cup and a Portuguese side in the quarter-finals of the Champions League. They held a nine-point lead in the Premier League. This was shaping up to be the greatest season in Arsenal’s history. …”
Guardian
Guardian: Premier League shootout arrives with odd twist for ‘feelings guy’ Guardiola
“It comes out of nowhere. Like being hit by a sniper. Some people even recall hearing a loud pop, like the sound from a gunshot. Others simply feel it, a sudden, intense pain in the back of their lower leg as their Achilles snaps in two. For Hugo Ekitike, it came, as they often do, in the most innocuous of circumstances. An attempted change of direction, pushing off with his right foot and then, bang. The Liverpool striker crumpled to the turf, believing he had been kicked from behind — surely, a blatant foul from a Paris Saint-Germain defender. When Ekitike rolled over onto his back, he realised that there was no one there. …”
NY Times/The Athletic (Video)
“Football, Rayan Cherki said during a day-in-the-life feature with Manchester City earlier this week, is like art for him. The Frenchman talked about the joy he gets from entertaining people and playing in a way that allows supporters to forget about their everyday lives for 90 minutes. Prodigiously talented, equally comfortable on either foot and blessed with an extraordinary repertoire of flicks and tricks, Cherki would have lit up the Premier League in any season. …”
NY Times/The Athletic (Video)
A poster targeting Trent Alexander-Arnold last season
“It is called Liverpool Football Club, but only a few people who represent it at the most significant levels are either from the city or live there. Owners Fenway Sports Group is American and its main leaders are based out of Boston and Los Angeles. In 2014, it expanded its business operation by opening a bureau in London to help grow what had started on Merseyside. Meanwhile, the organisation’s head of football, Michael Edwards, originally from Hampshire, lives just outside Manchester and runs an office in nearby Altrincham. Edwards appointed Liverpool’s sporting director, Richard Hughes, a Scot who usually travels north for a couple of working days a week from his home on the south coast of England. …”
NY Times/The Athletic
“This weekend’s crucial game in the title race may be billed as Manchester City versus Arsenal, but for some, the off-field battle between managers Pep Guardiola and Mikel Arteta could almost be as fascinating to watch. While referee Anthony Taylor tries to keep order on the pitch, fourth official Paul Tierney will have a similarly intense task of attempting to manage the technical areas. In the sky-blue corner, Guardiola will doubtless be as moody and intense as ever on his home patch. In the red, Arteta will likely be less ebullient than at the Emirates — and may even spend most of the match inside his technical area for a change — but will still be on edge throughout, depending on the scoreline. …”
NY Times/The Athletic (Video)
“English Premier League clubs generated record operating losses last season even as revenues soared to new heights, analysis from The Athletic has found. Across the 20 teams in what is routinely cited as the world’s richest football league, underlying deficits hit a combined £1.65billion ($2.24bn) in 2024-25, a 43 per cent increase in a single year. Expenditure across the three main cost categories — wages, transfer fee amortisation, and operating expenses — rose by £911million, almost double the collective’s £462m revenue growth. …”
NY Times/The Athletic (Video)
“Welcome to the latest edition of The Alternative Premier League Table, where each week, The Athletic analyses the entire division through a specific lens. After looking at errors leading to shots and goals last week, we dive into long- and short-passing sequences that result in goals. As usual, the article that follows is long but detailed, so please settle down and enjoy it all — or use the index at the bottom of the page to jump to a specific club. …”
NY Times/The Athletic (Video)
“Real Madrid have been known to not take defeats well. This is the most successful club in Champions League history, with a record 15 titles, so it is perhaps to be expected that they are not used to losing. Many of the club’s players and officials infamously skipped the 2024 Ballon d’Or ceremony when Manchester City’s Rodri won over Vinicius Junior. And, after a Champions League epic in their quarter-final second leg against Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena last night, they were again left with a feeling of injustice after losing 4-3 on the night and 6-4 on aggregate. …”
NY Times/The Athletic (Video)
“You may have seen a Premier League stadium up close. You might have seen one on television. But seeing one from a satellite uncovers things that are not obvious from the ground or television cameras. The Athletic tasked its expert writers with analysing their club’s grounds from above to see what they could find out. From the roads, railways and supermarkets that could cause problems for redevelopment to the regeneration of areas, this is what they discovered. …”
NY Times/The Athletic
“And… breathe. An action-packed Champions League quarter-final second leg saw Arda Guler score within 35 seconds after a Manuel Neuer error, five first-half goals, a decisive Eduardo Camavinga sending off, and two brilliant late efforts from Luis Diaz and Michael Olise, as Bayern Munich progressed to the semi-finals with a 6-4 aggregate win against Real Madrid. It means Bayern will face the holders, Paris Saint-Germain, in the last four as they seek their first Champions League title in six years. …”
NY Times/The Athletic
YouTube: Bayern vs. Real Madrid: Extended Highlights | UCL Quarterfinals – Leg 2
“For all the talk of nerves and late-season hiccups, Arsenal’s hopes of achieving a Premier League-Champions League double are still alive after Mikel Arteta’s men progressed in the Champions League, setting up a semi-final against Atletico Madrid. The 1-0 first-leg advantage earned in Lisbon was enough to see off Sporting CP after a goalless second leg at the Emirates. Sporting had chances. Geny Catamo came closest to breaking the deadlock towards the end of the first half, striking the post as the visitors edged the opening 45 minutes. At times, they cut through Arsenal with ease, but the way in which Arsenal held firm and controlled the match in the latter stages will please many fans, especially after their recent run of poor results. …”
NY Times/The Athletic
YouTube: Arsenal vs. Sporting CP: Extended Highlights | UCL Quarterfinals – Leg 2
“Liverpool’s hopes of a famous Champions League comeback against Paris Saint-Germain came to nothing on Tuesday night, with the French champions winning 2-0 at a rain-soaked Anfield. Expectations that a typically feverish European atmosphere would unsettle the visitors early on were dashed when PSG looked dangerous from the off. The movement of their front three — Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Ousmane Dembele and Desire Doue — caused as many problems for Virgil van Dijk and his defensive colleagues as they had in Paris last week. …”
NY Times/The Athletic
NY Times/The Athletic: How Paris Saint-Germain turned the long throw into a very different kind of attacking weapon (Video)
Guardian: Ruthless PSG prove that not even Anfield has an infinite capacity for miracles – Jonathan Wilson
YouTube: Liverpool vs PSG Highlights & Goals | UCL Quarter Final 2nd Leg
“Barcelona’s defeat in the Champions League quarter-finals means their suffering goes on in a competition they have not won since 2015. Luis Enrique was in charge when Barca last claimed the trophy, with Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar up front in a treble-winning team. Last season, they reached the semi-finals — and progressing further was the big aim this campaign. Instead, Hansi Flick’s side were again knocked out by Atletico Madrid, who also defeated them in the Copa del Rey. …”
NY Times/The Athletic (Video)
“Liverpool were outplayed and outclassed in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final against Paris Saint-Germain. Even if they managed to escape Paris with the tie still alive, they have their work cut out to overturn the 2-0 deficit. Luis Enrique’s reigning European champions are unquestionably one of the best teams in the world — but PSG are not unbeatable. The Athletic explores how other teams have earned positive results against the Ligue 1 side, and how Liverpool can turn this quarter-final around. …”
NY Times/The Athletic
Enzo Fernández will miss Chelsea’s clash with Manchester City on Sunday after ‘crossing a line’.
“Enzo Fernández and Rodri would quite like to move to Madrid; many people would. They both said as much in the international break, those special parts of the season when players join up with their national teams and give interviews while apparently unaware that media are global these days: a whisper on Luzo TV can soon become a hurricane in London. But Rodri will line up for Manchester City at Chelsea on Sunday, while Fernández will not, suspended by the club for ‘crossing a line’. It’s worth, perhaps, looking at exactly what was said. Fernández expressed disappointment at Enzo Maresca’s departure on New Year’s Day. …”
Guardian
NY Times/The Athletic – Chelsea 0 Manchester City 3: O’Reilly steps up again. Was Fernandez missed? Should Arsenal be afraid?
“On Grand National day, Arsenal showed signs they could yet fall at the final fence. A win over Bournemouth would have seen Arsenal go 12 points clear, at least temporarily. At this late stage, that would have been a very healthy lead, even with Manchester City holding two games in hand. The remainder of the season might have become a procession. Instead, Arsenal were beaten 2-1, delivering a performance so disappointing it may leave them not staggering, but crawling towards the finish line. …”
NY Times/The Athletic (Video)
“FANS leaving the game early if their team is losing on their own ground is a curious sight. It seems to be a growing trend within the game and the TV cameras love it, scanning the stands for signs of supporters flicking their seats up and heading, grim-faced, to the exits. Symbolic gestures like destroying their season tickets and comments like ‘I’m finished with this lot’ often accompany the exodus. We’ve seen it regularly this season, at Old Trafford (frequently), Tottenham, Stamford Bridge and others. While this has always been a feature of football, more often than not, a negative scoreline at most grounds was met with defiance and the chant, ‘We’ll support you evermore’. There was something very stoic about the football fan, who reacted to adversary by declaring their life-long affection for their club, even in bad times. …”
Game of the People
“It was November 2020 when Jurgen Klopp, then Liverpool’s manager, likened a football team to an orchestra. He used the analogy in praise of Roberto Firmino’s versatility for the Anfield side as a forward. ‘You need different people to play different instruments,’ he said. ‘Some of them are louder, some not so loud, but they’re all important for our rhythm.’ Half a decade later, with Klopp no longer a part of the Premier League, his idea of balance is still true. Watch Granit Xhaka, Jordan Henderson or Pascal Gross play. Every team needs a conductor, and that trio all made unexpected returns to the English top flight in the past year. …”
NY Times/The Athletic (Video)
“There’s nothing like the wonder of a young player showing what he can do to lift the mood, and Rio Ngumoha did just that with a brilliant finish in Liverpool’s win over Fulham. It has been a tough time of late for Arne Slot and Liverpool, but the sight of the 17-year-old Ngumoha bending the ball in from just inside the area and then Mohamad Salah — who has had his own troubles recently — doubling the lead will have brought some much-needed positivity. …”
NY Times/The Athletic
YouTube: Highlights: Liverpool 2-0 Fulham | Rio & Salah Goals! Premier League
“This has been the Premier League season of getting it into the mixer. That has meant a big focus on inswinging corners and on long throws. The latter concept has become curiously mainstream in the last couple of years. Traditionally, there were only a couple of long-throw specialists in the Premier League, usually playing for bottom-half strugglers who played old-school football and provided an alternative to the style of play of the big clubs. But even the league’s title challengers have become fixated on long throws this season. …”
NY Times/The Athletic – Michael Cox
“Football is one of the mirrors through which Spanish political polarization can be better understood. Despite the best efforts of political parties based in Madrid to construct a narrative that separates sports and politics, the tension between the center (Madrid) and the periphery (especially the Basques and Catalans) remains a long-standing dynamic. This article takes the multidisciplinary analysis from FC Barcelona: History, Politics and Identity as a starting point, arguing that, on a national level, political polarization in Spain can be understood through the “Clásico” rivalry between Real Madrid and FC Barcelona, while on a global scale, both football clubs have the same economic interests in promoting their brands. …”
Georgetown Journal of International Affairs (2025)
“SPANISH clubs liked the Inter-Cities Fairs’ Cup in the first decade of its existence. From the inaugural edition that ran from 1955-1958 to 1965-66, the rather attractive trophy landed in Spain six times. Only in 1961 (Roma) and 1965 (Ferencvaros) did a team from outside Spain win the Fairs Cup. Valencia, after World War Two, were serious title contenders and in 1946-47, won the Spanish league, finishing above Athletic Bilbao. In the years following that success, they were permanent residents in the top three, but by the mid-1950s, Real Madrid had started to dominate Spanish – and European – football. Valencia were invited to participate in the 1961-62 Fairs Cup along with fellow Spanish sides Barcelona and Espanyol and then made the competition their own. …”
Game of the People
Eritrea players celebrate during their historic aggregate victory over Eswatini to reach the next round of AFCON 2027 qualifying.
“James Baldwin once wrote that he loved the US more than any other country in the world, and exactly for that reason, he insisted on the right to criticize her perpetually. As an Eritrean-American, it’s equally painful as it is validating to be in a lineage of Black-American artists committed to patriotism through the lens of dissent. I was sitting in a stadium in Guadalajara on March 31 when DR Congo qualified for the FIFA World Cup after 52 years. While violence and displacement continue to plague Eastern Congo, the DRC squad have been incredible advocates for those still suffering in the region. On the same day, Iraq also qualified for the World Cup in Monterrey, and their coach said he hoped the result would change how the world sees his country. And on the same day these two teams won in Mexico, Eritrea progressed past the preliminary stages of qualifying for the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) after a 19-year absence. …”
Africa Is a Country
“It’s the halfway stage of the Champions League quarter-finals, which is the perfect time to pause for breath to reflect. In football parlance, the job is only ‘half done’ for Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain, Arsenal and Atletico Madrid, all of whom go into the second leg next week with a lead. As for Real Madrid, Liverpool, Sporting CP and Barcelona, they ‘have it all to do’ to reach the last four. …”
NY Times/The Athletic
“The whistles got louder and louder. Joe Gomez was standing on the touchline at the Parc des Princes, using a towel to dry the ball before he could take a throw-in, and the locals were not impressed. The Liverpool defender looked uncomfortable, but he kept on drying. Eventually, with the noise reaching a crescendo and the referee hurrying him along, he hurled the ball into the penalty area. Nothing came of it, but at least Gomez had given Paris Saint-Germain something to think about — even if their supporters took it as an affront. …”
NY Times/The Athletic (Video)
NY Times/The Athletic: Hugo Ekitike toils on Paris return as passive Liverpool look to Alexander Isak (Video)
NY Times/The Athletic: Is this a low-quality race for Champions League qualification, or evidence of a competitive Premier League?
YouTube: PSG vs. Liverpool: Extended Highlights | UCL Quarterfinals – Leg 1
“The graphics are laid out and printed on A4. They are slipped into plastic sheets and placed in files. Corner kicks. Dead-ball routines. Designs that have defined this season in football, making celebrities out of specialist coaches, their impact so outsized they have become almost as prominent as head coaches. The discourse around set pieces has changed accordingly. Whenever they are brought up in the context of today’s game, it’s about the quality of the delivery, the block on the goalkeeper, a push on the back of a defender, a training-ground routine well-executed. The conversation is hardly ever about a free-kick shot. A curler. A daisy-cutter. A kiss on the underside of the bar. A goal of the year. …”
NY Times/The Athletic (Video)
NY Times/The Athletic: How Atletico Madrid’s clever positioning unlocked a Champions League win at Barcelona (Video)
YouTube: Barcelona vs Atletico Madrid Highlights | UEFA Champions League Quarter-Finals 2026
“It was bound to end like this: a long and arduous odyssey that started in 1982 on a crumbling terrace culminated on a grey, drizzly afternoon in December watching my team get hammered 3-0 in a brand spanking new stadium named in conjunction with an international commercial law firm. A glorious away win thanks to a last-minute winner would have been somehow too poetic. This was how it was meant to be, when I finally completed the 92. As with that game at Everton, most games were as an away Nottingham Forest fan; others as a neutral. There is much I witnessed and learned from this ludicrous yet wholly fulfilling enterprise and the many miles travelled. For one thing, it used to be that one displayed allegiances by carefully trapping a scarf in the window, so it fluttered outside all the way. This has been replaced by the executive car sticker or personalised number plate and our society is much the worse for it. …”
Guardian
“Goals from Desire Doue and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia ensured Paris Saint-Germain built a convincing first-leg lead against a Liverpool side that struggled to lay a hand on the European champions. Arne Slot’s side will take limited consolation in the knowledge that it could have been worse, were it not for some erratic fishing from the hosts and a couple of important saves from Giorgi Mamardashvili. Liverpool lined up with three at the back, which meant Mohamed Salah was reduced to a place on the substitutes’ bench — where he remained for the duration, despite Liverpool chasing the game. …”
NY Times/The Athletic
“Atletico Madrid exorcised their Camp Nou demons and will take a 2-0 advantage into next week’s Champions League quarter-final second leg after humbling Barcelona behind enemy lines for the first time in two decades. Julian Alvarez emphatically punished a Pau Cubarsi red card, bending home an unstoppable free kick from the resulting dead ball to put Diego Simeone’s side ahead in the first half, before Alexander Sorloth poked home the visitors’ second to hand Atletico their first win at the Camp Nou since February 2006. …”
NY Times/The Athletic
“Bayern Munich have served real notice of their intent. Vincent Kompany and his players departed the pitch at the Bernabeu celebrating the Germans’ first win over Real Madrid for 14 years, and their first in this arena over 90 minutes for a quarter of a century. That they might actually have ended partly frustrated to be taking only a one-goal advantage back to Bavaria sums up how well they played — up to a point. …”
NY Times/The Athletic
YouTube: Real Madrid vs. Bayern: Extended Highlights | UCL Quarter-final – Leg 1
“Arsenal secured a late win over Sporting CP in what had been a mostly cagey — and sometimes tepid — first leg of their Champions League quarter-final in Lisbon. With the game seemingly drifting toward a goalless draw, substitute Kai Havertz latched onto Gabriel Martinelli’s pass and coolly slotted into the net. After successive defeats — to Manchester City in the Carabao Cup final and to Southampton in the FA Cup quarter-final — Mikel Arteta’s side secured a morale-boosting win. …”
NY Times/The Athletic
YouTube: Sporting CP vs. Arsenal: Extended Highlights | UCL Quarter-final – Leg 1
“If you were picking a match to play after losing 4-0 to Manchester City, it would not be a trip to France to face defending European champions Paris Saint-Germain. Yet that’s the challenge for Arne Slot and his players as they aim to bounce back from this season’s latest low and keep their hopes of winning the Champions League alive. Even if Liverpool were at the peak of their powers, a trip to the Parc des Princes would be laced with an element of trepidation due to the quality of the opposition. For supporters who have been watching this iteration of Liverpool, there is a fear of not just defeat on Wednesday but of another 90 minutes like they witnessed at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday. …”
NY Times/The Athletic
West Ham fans watching a FaceTime of the penalty shootout with Leeds on someone’s iPhone after leaving the game when their team were 2-0 down
“The bloke to your left has already called it a day. The woman on the other side is restless, checking her watch over and over as she tries to work out if she can make the earlier train. Your team are 2-0 down and heading out of a home FA Cup quarter-final without a whimper, and though the fourth official has just signalled that there will be 11 minutes of second-half stoppage time, you face the decision thousands of other West Ham supporters were confronted with on Sunday evening. …”
NY Times/The Athletic (Video)
“With the Premier League campaign on hold before it enters its final weeks, the FA Cup took centre stage over the past two days: Manchester City thrashing Liverpool on Saturday lunchtime, Chelsea enjoying a bit of shooting practice against Port Vale of League One, Championship side Southampton stunning top-flight leaders Arsenal, and finally Leeds United beating West Ham United on penalties to secure their first FA Cup semi-final appearance for 39 years. Here, we will discuss the potential impact on matters at both ends of the Premier League, as well as the legacy of Bernardo Silva, whose end-of-season departure from Manchester City after nine years of trophy-filled service was confirmed on Sunday. …”
NY Times/The Athletic (Video)
“THE current season had been something of an anti-climax for Newcastle United. After winning their first trophy since 1969 in 2024-25, expectations were relatively high at the club, but they look likely to fail in their bid for a Champions League place and they might not have enough in them to qualify for any of the European competitions. The club has yet to fully capitalise on having wealthy owners but you sense that this will come in time – Newcastle’s loyal followers would argue securing silverware is a sign that the process is working. However, there is talk of manager Eddie Howe leaving in the summer and some people have some reservations about the club’s finances. …”
Game of the People
Can PSG become the first team other than Real Madrid to retain the European Cup since Milan in 1990?
“We are down to the final eight in the Champions League after a riveting round of 16 that saw an astonishing 68 goals scored across 16 matches. Seven of the eight ties saw one team score at least four goals. Two teams scored eight while Bayern Munich hit double figures against Atalanta on aggregate. We don’t know if the quarter-finals will be as explosive, but we do know that they will provide us with some classic matchups. Throughout this Champions league campaign, The Athletic’s projections — powered by Opta — have assessed each team’s chances of making it out of the league phase and each knockout round. So here, with just eight storied clubs remaining, we rank their chances of lifting the famous trophy in Budapest on May 30. …”
NY Times/The Athletic
Michael Owen scored on his Liverpool debut on May 6, 1997
“The last of the 3,653 days of the 2000s featured no Premier League football but did, we know now, see the birth of the competition’s youngest goalscorer. This is because Max Dowman entered the world on December 31, 2009 and 16 years and 73 days later, playing for Arsenal against Everton on March 14, 2026, ran more than three-quarters of the pitch before sliding the ball into an empty net to earn this coveted distinction. Dowman’s goal also means the Premier League, which began in August 1992, has now had a scorer born in every year of the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s and 2000s (the 1950s becomes the only incomplete decade and, despite notable recent advancements in sports science, is likely to remain so). So, The Athletic explores the first player born in each year to have scored in the competition: from Viv Anderson in 1956 to Dowman in 2009, and the 52 individuals in between. …”
NY Times/The Athletic
“There were shocking scenes this week as Spain played their last game on home soil before the World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico this summer. Ten minutes into Tuesday’s friendly against Egypt at Espanyol’s RCDE Stadium in Barcelona, a large section of the crowd joined in with chants of ‘musulman el que no bote es‘ — ‘whoever does not jump is a Muslim’. It was repeated during the first half, before a message from the Spanish football federation (RFEF) at the break over the stadium loudspeakers and on the big screens urged supporters to stop any discriminatory chanting. Then, it happened again in the second half, albeit this time the majority of the stadium responded with whistles and booing, and it did not extend from a section of the ground. …”
NY Times/The Athletic
“Manchester City advanced to the semi-finals of the FA Cup with a 4-0 win over Liverpool on Saturday afternoon. In the opening 20 minutes, Mohamed Salah and Rayan Cherki both spurned opportunities to put their sides ahead. City also felt as though they were denied a penalty when Cherki appeared to be felled in the box, but both referee Michael Oliver and the video assistant referee decided it was not a foul. However, City were awarded a penalty in the 36th minute when Nico O’Reilly was felled by Virgil van Dijk. Erling Haaland converted the subsequent spot kick. Haaland then got his second in first-half added time, heading past Giorgi Mamardashvili. …”
NY Times/The Athletic
“… Klopp has been mindful to keep his distance since the emotional goodbye of May 2024. He didn’t return to Anfield until 12 months later when he stood in the directors’ box applauding as his successor Arne Slot lifted the Premier League trophy. The mood could hardly have been more different for Klopp’s latest visit back to Merseyside in his role as an honorary ambassador for the foundation. Slot is under pressure and Liverpool’s troubled season is about to enter a defining period. The sight of his popular predecessor back on the Anfield touchline and being serenaded by a capacity crowd as he unleashed fist pumps in front of the Kop certainly didn’t make Slot’s life any easier. …”
NY Times/The Athletic (Video)
Guardian – Five matches, 16 days, a season to save: Slot’s Liverpool vision faces a defining moment
“ITALY is in a state of mourning after the Azzurri crashed out of the World Cup against Bosnia & Herzegovina, a nation that sits 53 places lower in the. FIFA rankings. The subject is so sensitive that the government, via Sports Minister Andrea Abodi, called for the removal of Gabriele Gravina, the head of Federcalcio, the Italian Football Federation. It was, after all, the third successive World Cup failure, with the Bosnia play-off added to similar exits at the hands of Sweden and North Macedonia. Gravina announced his resignation two days after Italy’s embarrassing elimination and most observers of Italian football expect coach Gennaro Gattuso will fall on his sword after just eight games in charge. …”
Game of the People
“Liverpool will face Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City for the 27th time when they meet in the FA Cup this weekend. While we know it will be the last time Mohamed Salah plays in this fixture after announcing he will leave Anfield this summer, it could also be Guardiola’s last dance for City against Liverpool. He arrived in the summer of 2016, the season after Jurgen Klopp took over from Brendan Rodgers, and tussles between City and Liverpool have defined the era. … The Athletic looked back at all 26 matches to rank them for quality, entertainment and significance. …”
NY Times/The Athletic (Video)
“”Olé! Olé! Olé! Congooo Congooo!’ In the bowels of the Guadalajara stadium, Congolese and Mexican fans sang as one to celebrate the Leopards’ historic victory over Jamaica on Tuesday. Fifty-two years after their first appearance as Zaire, the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s men’s national team is back in the World Cup. Among the roughly 1,000 Congolese fans, most of whom had come dressed in blue, some left the stadium with Mexico’s green jersey draped over their shoulders. Meanwhile, others continued to jump arm in arm to the beat of ‘Vamos al Mundial!’ …”
Africa Is a Country
The supporters of the football club 1. FC Union Berlin are known for their chant “Eisern Union” (Iron Union).
“A football chant or terrace chant is a form of vocalisation performed by supporters of association football, typically during football matches. Football chanting is an expression of collective identity, most often used by fans to express their pride in the team they support, or to encourage them, and to celebrate a particular player or manager. Fans may also use football chants to slight the opposition, and many fans sing songs about their club rivals, even when they are not playing them. Sometimes the chants are spontaneous reactions to events on the pitch. Football chants can be simple, consisting of a few loud shouts or spoken words, but more often they are short lines of lyrics and sometimes longer songs. They are typically performed repetitively, sometimes accompanied by handclapping, but occasionally they may be more elaborate involving musical instruments, props or choreographed routines. They are often adaptations of popular songs, using their tunes as the basis of the chants, but some are original. Football chants are known to have been used by fans from the late 19th century onwards, but developed into the current popular forms in the 1960s. Football chants can be historic, dating back as early as the formation of the club popularly sung down the years and considered the anthems for these clubs. They may also be popular for only a relatively short time, with new chants being constantly created and discarded. The tradition of football chants vary from country to country and team to team, but some chants are common to many clubs and popular internationally. Football chants may be considered one of the last remaining sources of an oral folk song tradition. …”
W – Football chant (Video)
YouTube: 80 AMAZING ULTRAS CHANTS IN 30 MINUTES ! | WORLD’S BEST ULTRAS CHANTS, World’s Best Football Ultras Chants With Translated Lyrics Part 1 | Boca Juniors, Napoli, Celtic etc, Part 2 | Translated Lyrics | Ajax, Besiktas and more, Part 3 | Translated Lyrics | Red Star Belgrade, PAOK and More, Part 4 | Translated Lyrics | Galatasaray, Partizan and more, etc. …..
Iceland fans performing Viking Thunder Clap
The World Cup trophy outside the White House before the 2026 tournament’s group-stage draw
“Finally, we have the full 2026 World Cup draw. The 48 teams competing in the United States, Canada and Mexico this June and July are set. The final six qualifiers have been confirmed following Tuesday’s play-off finals — congratulations to Turkey, the Czech Republic, Bosnia and Herzegovina (who knocked out Italy on penalties), Sweden, Iraq and DR Congo — and so we now have the opportunity to fill out the tournament bracket for the first time. Fair warning: this will stand little analytical scrutiny. Instead, it will be full of half-baked theories, tangents and no doubt lots of European bias. Wish me luck. …”
NY Times/The Athletic (Video)
NY Times/The Athletic: Ranking the 48 teams at the 2026 World Cup (Video)
Guardian power rankings: France lead the way with Senegal and Japan in top 10
BBC: The World Cup line-up is complete – here’s what you need to know (Video)
ESPN: 2026 World Cup squads ranked: All 48 national teams that can win this summer
YouTube: How Africa had to fight for its place at the World Cup
Bosnia and Herzegovina fans celebrate their World Cup qualification in Sarajevo on Tuesday night
“In the Grbavica neighbourhood of Sarajevo, a mural depicts the moment Ivica Osim announced his resignation as coach of Yugoslavia on May 23, 1992. Osim was and will always be a man from Grbavica. This quarter found itself on the frontline during the war and suffered greatly. His quote from that day is painted next to him. … Today the tower blocks still carry the pockmarks of shelling. Next door, the stadium of Zeljeznicar, the club Osim once led to the UEFA Cup semi-finals in 1984-85, is undergoing refurbishment. It was on fire in 1992. …”
NY Times/The Athletic (Video)
The Ivica Osim mural in Sarajevo
“The 2026 World Cup draw has concluded at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. The United States will face Paraguay in its World Cup opener; here you can find a guide to all the teams, group by group. For more commentary and analysis, visit our live blog. To see the easiest and hardest possible draws for your team, try our interactive draw simulator. It lets you explore all your team’s possibilities, ranked by difficulty. …”
NY Times/The Athletic
Scissors Kick 