Daily Archives: December 1, 2025

World Cup draw 2026: Answering your questions about the tournament

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“World Cup 2026, previously just a dot on the horizon, starts to come into full view this week. With qualification now wrapped up (well, mostly — more on that shortly), the draw for the tournament takes place in Washington, D.C. on Friday. In the lead-up to that event, we answer some of the big questions you may have about that draw and the World Cup more generally. Let’s start with the basics, and then we’ll delve a bit deeper. …”
NY Times/The Athletic

Inside Barcelona: La Liga leaders again — so why was Hansi Flick so upset?

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Barca now lead Real Madrid by a point in La Liga
“Welcome to the latest edition of Inside Barcelona, our weekly series to follow throughout the 2025-26 La Liga season. Every week, we will bring you information and analysis on the biggest talking points, cutting through the noisy world of all things Barca with reporting you can trust. Barca won their fourth consecutive game in La Liga on Saturday and are top of the table after Real Madrid’s draw at Girona on Sunday night. Despite that, spirits are not high at the club. …”
NY Times/The Athletic (Video)

The Briefing: Who were winners from Chelsea-Arsenal? Was Slot brave on Salah? Frank gone too far?

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“This was the weekend when Manchester City squeaked a win over Leeds United, Newcastle United put their woes behind them by thrashing Everton, Brighton & Hove Albion moved into Champions League contention, and Manchester United impressed in beating Crystal Palace. Here we will ask if everyone was pleased with Chelsea and Arsenal’s draw, what Mohamed Salah’s omission from the team that beat West Ham United means for Liverpool and Arne Slot, and whether Thomas Frank is picking the wrong fights. …”
NY Times/The Athletic
NY Times/The Athletic – West Ham 0 Liverpool 2: Lift-off for Isak? Are Liverpool better without Salah?

2025-26 FA Cup, 2nd Round (the 40 clubs): Location-map, with fixtures list & current league attendances.

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“The FA Cup – the oldest football tournament in the world – begins the 2nd Round of its 145th edition on Friday the 5th of December 2025, with a televised match: 4th tier side Salford City (of Greater Manchester) versus 3rd tier side Leyton Orient (of East London). The 2 televised matches on Saturday the 6th of December are: Sutton United (5) (of South London) v Shrewsbury Town (4) (of Shropshire); and Chesterfield (4) (of North Derbyshire) v Doncaster Rovers (3) (of South Yorkshire). The 2 televised matches on Sunday 7th of December are: Slough Town (6, South) (of Berkshire, just west of Greater London) v Macclesfield (6, North) (of Cheshire); and Boreham Wood (5) (of Hertfordshire, just north of Greater London) v Newport County (4) (of South Wales). And the televised match on Monday the 8th of December is Brackley Town (5) (of Northamptonshire) v Burton Albion (3) (of Staffordshire). …”
W – FA Cup
W – 2025–26 FA Cup