Gennaro Gattuso gestures during the defeat by Norway
“Welcome to The Briefing, where The Athletic discusses three of the biggest questions to arise from the weekend’s football. In this edition, focused on the World Cup qualifiers, Portugal hammered Armenia without Cristiano Ronaldo, Troy Parrott delivered a moment that will live long in the memory of every football fan from the Republic of Ireland, and Gennaro Gattuso’s Italy were beaten by Norway, who completed a perfect qualification campaign. Here’s what happened in the world of football over the international break. …”
NY Times/The Athletic (Video)
The Briefing: Portugal’s Ronaldo dilemma, Azzurri blues, and who could still qualify?
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“Turkish football was already reeling from the betting scandal that implicated hundreds of their match officials last month. Now, it is the turn of the players to be at the centre of the storm, after 
“France struck early through Michael Olise and sealed the points with a late Kylian Mbappé breakaway to open their World Cup qualifying campaign with a 2-0 victory over Ukraine in Wroclaw, Poland. Mbappé’s 82nd-minute strike, set up by his Real Madrid teammate Aurélien Tchouaméni at the end of a rapid counterattack, took the forward to 51 international goals, drawing him level with Thierry Henry in second place on France’s all-time scoring list behind Olivier Giroud, who has scored 57. … Italy opened Gennaro Gattuso’s reign as coach with a 5-0 home win over Estonia in World Cup qualifying, wasting chances for almost an hour before exploding in the final stages of the second half to turn dominance into a rout. …”
Slovakia celebrate their second goal in the shock 2-0 win over Germany.
“Brace yourselves, the World Cup countdown officially starts…now. … Having 16 more teams means even more of the globe’s best players can showcase their talents on the biggest stage, but who do we expect to be the protagonists next summer? Some names might be obvious, others might not have even earned their first international cap or play for countries whose qualification hangs in the balance. It’s a tricky assignment, but it is fun to try. So, almost one year out, this is The Athletic’s shortlist of those predicted — or expected — to light up World Cup 2026. …”
“‘We’ll see beautiful, days kids, we’ll see sunny days.’ This isn’t the kind of song you’d expect to hear chanted at a football game, let alone by one of the most respected groups of ultras in the world. But this group have defied expectations and baffled social commentators for years. 
“This always promised to be one of the more frenetic nights at Euro 2024 — and 
“There are 67 hours between the conclusion of the 
“As 
Portugal’s midfielder #10 Bernardo Silva celebrates scoring his team’s first goal during the UEFA Euro 2024 Group F football match between Turkey and Portugal at the BVB Stadion in Dortmund on June 22, 2024.
“One player arrives at 
“… He wasn’t here when the earthquakes struck on February 6. He was with his football team, third-tier Adiyaman FK — in his role of technical director — two hours away to the east. In Adiyaman, the city’s clock tower remains frozen at 4.17am, the time of the first of two earthquakes that day; when everything changed. An estimated 9,000 people died in Adiyaman, and a further 18,000 were injured. Bozkurt’s family members were among at least 13,000 people who died in Kahramanmaras, with another 10,000 injured. Three amateur footballers who played for the city’s non-league team — Kahramanmaras Istiklalspor — perished. Fourth-tier side Kahramanmaraspor stopped playing, as did Bozkurt’s Adiyaman FK. …”
“‘This is only a football game, it is not a war. We cannot carry the weight of history on our shoulders.’ Fatih Terim was right and wrong about 
Scissors Kick 