The league phase has begun. From Olise’s brilliance to Sabah’s pub cleaner turned quiz contestant turned manager, there was plenty to talk about The league phase has been previewed as Barcelona’s first step toward reclaiming a crown last lifted in 2015, with disappointments aplenty since. Lionel Messi claiming just one Champions League title in the last decade of his time at Camp Nou is the starkest statistic. The player anointed as Messi’s successor, Lamine Yamal, is already a European and world champion for Spain, so this is the next frontier. A soggy Wednesday evening at Camp Nou saw Hansi Flick’s team show their attacking chops remain of the highest quality in a 5-1 defeat of Feyenoord. The club presidential regime of Joan Laporta continues to pull levers to confound financial experts, with Gabriel Jesus, one of the summer’s arrivals, scoring his first Barca goal. Yamal got on the scoresheet via a scruffy free-kick after Raphinha had reminded there are further dimensions to that all-star attack, his first goal of his pair two sending Feyenoord defenders skidding. Continue reading...

The US manager’s relationship with the international job has changed with a full World Cup cycle beginning I hope, in this lifetime, you find someone who loves you the way Mauricio Pochettino loves Tottenham Hotspur. The grip Spurs have on his heart seems the stuff of a literary classic: his imperfect partner who called things off at the first sign of trouble must merely check in on him occasionally to rekindle hopes of a reunion. Perhaps a bit extreme, but this week’s revelation – that he’d return to Tottenham even if they were relegated and chalking his absence up to imperfect timing, not the part about handing the club a decade-old title – has implicity laid out the terms of his return as United States manager. Others may always have interest in his services, and a certain North London suitor will never get the door slammed in their face outright. Continue reading...

Forward’s spurned opportunity to level the match proved decisive in the Champions League newcomers’ loss to Manchester United Football – like much of life – can be a story of what might have been, and on 39 minutes Joy-Lance Mickels had an experience that was a sliding doors moment for the centre-forward and Sabah that may haunt a long time. Azerbaijan’s champions were trailing to Matheus Cunha’s opener when Kaheem Parris spiralled the ball up to the far post of Manchester United’s goal. The lurking Mickels had a gilded chance, unmarked and close-in, yet when the delivery dropped, the 32-year-old snatched at his header and the ball fell wide. Continue reading...

The Englishman has gotten no shortage of recognition, but his contributions to the American game deserve an official title Sign up for our free newsletter here Next spring, when the US Soccer Hall of Fame welcomes its newest class, there will be pomp and circumstance. The hall, which sits in a corner of Toyota Stadium, home of Major League Soccer’s FC Dallas, will feature the enshrineds’ signature red jackets. There will be glad-handing and speeches from players and coaches, misty-eyed reflections on their upbringings and their careers. Many involved will be American-born soccer legends, of course. Yet every once in a while, a player whose footprint extends well beyond the borders of the United States graces the stage. Such may be the case next year when the hall potentially welcomes English legend David Beckham into the fold. Continue reading...

The Arsenal striker reminded us grace can exist in the non-stop pace of football with his involuntary noise-provoking act During Covid, when sport was back but behind closed doors, I hosted a number of strange online shows to fill the void of real life. The highlight was chatting to Darren Gough about a lifesize bronze rhinoceros for 45 minutes to 15 small boxes on a Zoom call. I don’t recall who it was for and where the rhinoceros came from – but it might be in his garden. I ended up doing virtual pre-match corporate Zoom calls for Heineken before Europa League games. It was the wifi version of Club Wembley: a Q&A happening on stage between a generic host and some random ex-pro while you’re trying to chat to your mate and eat an unidentified square of meat with some dauphinoise potatoes. Continue reading...

It began with getting her dad into walking football after his diagnosis – now Gemma Darvill is taking a national team on tour to Canada When Gemma Darvill’s dad, Les, was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease aged 58, joining a walking football team stopped him from confining himself to his own home, and she believes the game saved his life. What she could never have foreseen was that, eight years later, she would find herself coaching the first England women’s Parkinson’s team , helping transform the lives of women with the disease from all across the country. She is set to embark on a journey to Toronto to help spread awareness of the ways in which walking football can help put the brakes on the progression of Parkinson’s symptoms. Continue reading...

Five years ago, stars in the league packed Amazon boxes or drove for DoorDash to make ends meet on meager salaries. A new CBA opened doors for off-field pursuits in line with their passions On a cold winter night in Ketchum, Idaho, Chicago Stars midfielder Bea Franklin was pulling off a different sort of physical feat than what she usually does on the soccer field. Under the eyes of taxidermied animals at the Pioneer Saloon, she deftly balanced martinis as a cocktail waitress, wearing cowgirl boots and ensuring the olives didn’t drip when she walked down stairs. Franklin did not take a second job as a cocktail waitress in a Rocky Mountain ski resort town not out of necessity, but as a way to think about more than just the sport that has dominated much of her life. Continue reading...

Manager is excited by new US deal but might have returned to Spurs if the stars had aligned and does not rule out taking England job one day If things had worked out differently, Mauricio Pochettino would have gone back to his beloved Tottenham over the summer. They had put in the call and it stirred him. Nothing was going to put him off – not even the possibility of the club being in the Championship. Seriously, Mauricio? After a World Cup campaign with the United States and top jobs with Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain before that, he would have been willing to start a new chapter in the second tier of English football? “Yes, of course,” Pochettino says. “Tottenham … it’s the only club that always I am open to help. In whatever division.” Continue reading...

Brazilian scores twice in 5-1 victory at Camp Nou Torres scores hat-trick as PSG thump Slovan Bratislava Raphinha let his goals do the talking after being omitted from the Ballon d’Or shortlist, striking twice as Barcelona eased to a 5-1 win over Feyenoord in the Champions League. The Brazilian was a surprise omission from this week’s 30-strong list of candidates for the prestigious award but brushed any disappointment aside to continue his early season hot streak at a rain-soaked Camp Nou. The forward finished brilliantly in the third minute and added a second just before the hour mark to down the Eredivisie side and take his tally to eight goals in six outings at the start of the campaign. Continue reading...

The Guardian joined Wolves at the start of their first season as a fully professional side, determined to show they’re no pushovers Suddenly the bustling classroom at the back of the Guru Nanak Satsang Sikh Gurdwara falls almost silent and all eyes are on Dan McNamara. The Wolves head coach, experiencing a wrestling lesson, is engaged in a tense tussle. He twists, panting and heaving, eventually ends up on top of his opponent, and the room erupts. Compared with some of the challenges McNamara and Wolves have grappled with during his eight and a half years coaching the team, this exercise was child’s play. Wolves, promoted to Women’s Super League Two in May, are visiting the gurdwara – which became Wolverhampton’s first in 1966 – as part of an afternoon city tour which has also included a trip to the historic The Halls music venue and a walk in the centre, as some of their new signings acquaint themselves with the area before the club’s first season as a fully professional women’s team, and their first WSL2 home match, against Sheffield United, on Sunday. Continue reading...

Plus: clubs with multiple £100m players on their books and more trophy-laden footballers Mail us with your all of your questions and answers “The Saturday before last, Clyde were winning 3-0 at The Spartans after an hour when Logan Dunachie was sent off. Twenty-eight minutes later, the score was 3-3. What is the biggest turnaround in a game following a red card/most quantitative blame that can be thrown at a player for getting sent off?” asks Jamie Wills. At Knowledge Towers, we usually receive questions about the greatest comebacks with 10 men. We covered that in 2021 , so it’s a nice change to look at teams who went to seed after having a player sent off. Continue reading...

Summer spending across the league’s 30 clubs has ballooned. Here are three takeaways from the league’s transfer window With the shadow of the 2026 World Cup hanging over the league and a potential set of rule changes looming, Major League Soccer’s summer transfer window was one defined by uncertainty, diverse strategies and record spending. It was the fourth transfer window since MLS allowed clubs to purchase players from other clubs using traditional transfer fees rather than general allocation money (GAM), the intraleague currency system. The new rule, which is now being used more frequently, has helped account for rapid growth in league expenditure, as has increased GAM allotted to each club. These trends have been seen broadly over the last two seasons, but this past window took it to a new level, smashing the previous record for summer spending. This summer, MLS teams spent 65% more year-over-year, with a total of nearly $190m spent, accounting for 45% of the 2026 total. The above factors combined to create one of the most consequential transfer windows in MLS history, which may give a glimpse into the league’s future trajectory. Continue reading...

Faye Carruthers and Suzanne Wrack are joined by Tom Garry and Ayisha Gulati to discuss match day one in the WSL On the podcast today: Faye Carruthers, Suzanne Wrack, Tom Garry and Ayisha Gulati look back on an action-packed opening weekend in WSL 1 and WSL 2. Crystal Palace’s win against Everton was blighted by a breach of the rules, the champions Manchester City picked up where they left off, and Chelsea were the only one of last season’s top three to drop points. Continue reading...

A referee is alleged to have made a remark referring to menstruation that has revived concerns about treatment of players It was a comment allegedly made by a referee during a WK League match that became one of the biggest controversies in South Korean women’s football. What began as an on-field dispute involving South Korea’s all-time top goalscorer, Ji So-yun, has since developed into a wider debate, prompting a response from the Korea Football Association and raising questions about the treatment of female players, the structural set-up of women’s football in Korea and accountability within its governing bodies. It was around the 31st minute of the Suwon FC Women v Seoul City Hall game on 28 August when the incident happened. Suwon’s former Chelsea midfielder Ji appealed for a foul after what she felt were repeated rough tackles by the opposition. The female referee, Bae Sun-young, is then alleged to have made, over the officials’ radio system, a remark interpreted as referring to menstruation after describing Ji as “sensitive from the start”. Ji says she overheard the comment and footage from the game shows Ji visibly upset as she talks to the referee. Ji was shown a yellow card after confronting the official. In frustration Ji threw a water bottle as she approached the Suwon bench. Bae walked towards Ji, appearing to reach for a red card before deciding against issuing one, showing a yellow instead. This is an extract from our free email about women’s football, Moving the Goalposts. To get the full edition, visit this page and follow the instructions . Moving the Goalposts is delivered to your inboxes every Tuesday and Thursday . Continue reading...

Our cartoonist imagines how the football great might while away the hours after calling time on his international career Buy this cartoon | Some of David’s favourite works And his latest book, Chaos in the Box: get it now Continue reading...

There was a gulf between the teams in the middle of the park, with Moisés Caicedo’s absence hurting the visitors There have been seasons when Chelsea have turned up at the Emirates Stadium and parked the bus. “You know, I think 10 years without a title is boring,” José Mourinho said in response to criticism from Arsenal fans after a stultifying 0-0 draw in April 2015 . On Sunday, though, there was no holding back from Chelsea. “I want to compete in the best possible way to win,” Xabi Alonso said after seeing his new side edged out by Arsenal in a breathless encounter . “Today we didn’t want to sit deep from the first minute. We wanted to be active.” The plan worked at times. Chelsea maintained their habit of scoring early goals, going ahead through Morgan Rogers, and created further openings. But they were facing the champions and do not have Arsenal’s completeness . Shortcomings were exploited, particularly in midfield. Declan Rice romped through the middle at one point and the winning goal owed much to Reece James losing track of Martin Ødegaard as Arsenal’s captain strode through to fire past Emiliano Martínez . Continue reading...

It’s still very early but Mikel Arteta’s side are playing with an authority and freshness that eluded them at times last season Sign up for our free newsletter here Three league games played, three games won . For Arsenal this season could only have started better if Manchester City, who look like being one of their two most serious challengers, had dropped points. But it’s not just about results: Arsenal have been comfortably the better side in each of those three games, approaching each of them in very different ways. After the controlled victory over Coventry City and the tight game against Aston Villa that was won thanks to ratcheting up the pressure in the 15 minutes after half-time, came success in a far more open game in which they conceded for the first time this season. Chelsea tested Arsenal on Sunday, went ahead, and yet Mikel Arteta’s side still always looked like they would win – even if it did take a superb late save from David Raya to keep out an Estevão shot. But the goalkeeper too is part of their strength; even if an opposing team can work a shooting opportunity, Raya has the capacity for spectacular saves that can dispirit opponents. This is an extract from Soccer Desk, a newsletter from the Guardian US. Subscribe for free here. Continue reading...

Promoted side’s thrilling win may be overturned after they used four substitution windows, while Georgia Stanway shows the way for Gunners Kirsty Howat’s 60-second cameo deep into injury time could ruin what was a memorable day for Crystal Palace on their return to the top flight. An impressive 1-0 victory against Everton was celebrated emphatically by Jo Potter and her players but that joy would have been replaced by concern and frustration not long after. On Sunday evening WSL Football revealed that there had been a breach of the rules – the Eagles used four substitute windows rather than the regulated three – which had not been picked up by either the coaching staff or the match officials. An investigation has now been launched with punishment to be decided (there is a potential for the result to be overturned). The needless error has put a dampener on what should have been a positive afternoon thanks to the England Under-23 forward Lexi Lloyd-Smith’s winner on her WSL debut. Sophie Downey Continue reading...

Fulham need a win, Tottenham show some spirit and Jack Grealish offers Everton much-needed energy With 25 minutes to go against Manchester United, the Everton supporters had something to roar about as Jack Grealish made his return after rejoining on loan. The attacking midfielder remains universally popular thanks to his desire to entertain, getting the hosts back on their feet by creating dangerous situations within seconds of his arrival. Everton were limited in the final third for long periods as Thierno Barry sat on the periphery. If David Moyes is to keep his side pushing for a top-half finish, he will need Grealish to be a creative focal point. Will Unwin Continue reading...