Had things turned out differently, Lee Carsley could quite easily be taking charge of the Republic of Ireland’s Nations League playoff against Bulgaria in Dublin on Sunday night. At the end of 2023 the former Derby and Everton midfielder was approached by the country he represented 40 times to see if he would be interested … Read more
John Calipari is heading to the Sweet 16 for the 16th time, and this one could be the sweetest of all. Calipari’s Arkansas Razorbacks beat longtime nemesis Rick Pitino and No 2 seed St John’s 75-66 on Saturday, sending their itinerant coach to the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament with his fourth school. Billy … Read more
England Women are facing another impasse with the Football Association over bonuses, with the squad yet to agree to the terms they have been offered for their European Championship defence this summer. A dispute over bonuses interrupted the Lionesses’ preparations for the World Cup two years ago, with the FA initially refusing to offer performance-related … Read more
Jordan Henderson wanted to be part of it. He felt he deserved to be part of it. And so, despite the obstacles, he put in the hard yards to make it happen. It has been a theme of the Ajax midfielder’s career and it resonates once again with him back in the England squad, winning … Read more
It was not pitch perfect but Wales made a winning start to their World Cup qualifying campaign, the substitute Rabbi Matondo capping victory in stoppage time after Ben Davies and Daniel James scored either side of a Kazakhstan penalty. The hush of trepidation that filled the Cardiff air approaching the final whistle served to confirm … Read more
Goalkeeper: Matz Sels (Nottingham Forest) Perhaps the most difficult decision in the XI. David Raya has been excellent at Arsenal and Mark Flekken quietly impressive behind a loose Brentford defence. But that Sels has been the third-busiest keeper in the league (89 saves) behind Flekken and Southampton’s Aaron Ramsdale, yet has conceded the fourth-fewest goals … Read more
One of the problems of international football is that everybody is always asking the wrong question, which to an extent is built into the form. Qualifiers matter only in as much as they have to be negotiated. Friday’s win by England over Albania fell into a very familiar pattern. The brave new world of Thomas … Read more
Name the League Two club with wealthy, fully committed, American owners, a famous name in the home dugout and a squad boosted by 11 January signings? If the answer – Carlisle – is easy, the reasons why they are stuck to the bottom of England’s Football League with nine games to go remains rather harder … Read more
Two red cards, six tries, a nip-and-tuck scoreboard and a traditional Scottish deluge falling from the sky. This had pretty much everything and Scotland were the team left standing with a win, but only just, at the end of a pulsating encounter. These sides meet again in August, in Pool B of the Women’s Rugby … Read more
Key events Show key events only Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature Preamble One of the top-30 sides in the world host the team ranked 110th, a collective which has lost ten of its last 11 competitive matches, drawing the other 0-0. On paper, this is as close as it gets to a … Read more