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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“It is the small hours of the morning and outside the Red Bar in central Belgrade, there are a dozen or so travelling England supporters making themselves heard ahead of a World Cup qualifier against Serbia. There are the usual chants that provide a soundtrack to England’s overseas trips, but there’s also a new addition to the national team’s songbook: ‘Stop the boats, stop the boats,’ they chant. ‘Nigel Farage, we’re all voting for Reform UK.’ …”
“Less than four months after Paris Saint-Germain lifted their inaugural Champions League title by thrashing Inter, the 2025-26 edition is upon us. The 36-team league phase of Europe’s premier club competition kicks off on Tuesday, with Arsenal facing Bilbao’s Athletic Club in one of the two early kick-offs. There are plenty of other highlights this week too, with Bayern Munich facing Chelsea in a 
“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.
“In 1991, England travelled to Poland for their final qualification match for Euro 92. It was a crucial contest: the winners would qualify for the tournament, with a draw favouring England. Considering the importance of the game, it was a surprise that England manager Graham Taylor handed debuts to two players: Queens Park Rangers winger Andy Sinton and Crystal Palace midfielder Andy Gray. The latter was given an unusual role for the game’s opening moments. With David Platt and Gary Lineker taking the kick-off, Gray was instructed to stand just behind them and launch a diagonal ball downfield towards the corner flag, and out for a Poland throw-in. …”
“It is just 90 days since Paris Saint-Germain claimed their first Champions League with 
“At first, it was just a short delay to the start of pre-season training. Players at the clubs of the Indian Super League (ISL) were assured that there was nothing to be worried about, just some administrative issues with the country’s top-flight league that needed to be ironed out. It was when another two weeks were added to the delay that concerns started to grow. Communication was minimal. Players were baffled about what the problem was. Eventually, in early July, it was 
“Tonight’s trip to Chelsea, in all probability, will be the 16th and final European game of Legia Warsaw’s season. A 3-0 first-leg deficit in the Conference League quarter-finals has left a mountain to climb, and the adventures of Poland’s biggest club will likely end at Stamford Bridge. UEFA is too diplomatic to publicly celebrate any club’s exit, but parting with the perennial bad boys at least rids their disciplinary department of a long, nagging headache. …”
“Fifteen of the 16 clubs left in the 
“If Liverpool’s loosely-defined ‘luck’ in the Premier League is a real thing then consider the not-so-compelling narrative in the 
“The Champions League’s new format may have given every team only two possible opponents in the round-of-16 draw but that has done little to dampen the excitement now that we know the eight ties. 
“Football very rarely goes to plan. AC Milan’s new strike force were supposed to quickly start scoring a lot of goals. Feyenoord selling their best player was supposed to mean their season was over. Bayern Munich were supposed to crumble away from home again. Oh, and VAR was supposed to eradicate horrendous refereeing decisions. As you can see from last night’s Champions League play-off knockout clashes, the sport rarely fails to disappoint when it comes to predictability. Here Tim Spiers analyses the key talking points from Wednesday evening’s matches. …”
A mural of Arsenal co-chair Josh Kroenke on the approach to the Emirates Stadium
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“England edged past Slovakia to reach the Euro 2024 quarter-finals, but only after staring a humiliating defeat in the face. Anyone hoping for an improved version of England in the knockout stages was left sorely disappointed during a disjointed and dispiriting first half. Sloppy defending from Gareth Southgate’s team let Slovakia in on several occasions in the first 20 minutes, a foreshadowing of the opening goal from Ivan Schranz on 25 minutes — the 30-year-old taking advantage of acres of space to slot past Jordan Pickford. …”
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“The games in the early slot at Euro 2024 have generally provided sensational entertainment so far. It took a fair while for the Group C encounter between 
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“Europe’s top competition is back. For those who have missed the soothing tones of the Champions League anthem, fear not. The knockout stage is upon us and we have 16 more games to feast on over the next four weeks. Using 
“BEFORE football became the plaything of broadcasters, governments and corporates, big clubs could be found in almost every country in Europe. A club wasn’t considered big by merely having a huge bank balance, but more by its place in society. Hence, any list of the world’s most influential clubs would include those that were systemic in their own market – in other words, a giant in their domestic league and a force in European football. Today, a club’s revenues, wage bill, brand power and social media presence are every bit as important. This shift, coupled with the collapse of state-supported clubs in the old communist bloc, has changed the pecking order in global football. …”
Scissors Kick 