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Ivan Perisic (top) is still knocking about at 37. He has a World Cup final goal to his name. Photograph: Icon Sportswire/Getty ImagesLuka Modric and friends are aiming for one last hurrah but a Tottenham defender is providing hope for the future for England’s group opponentsThis article is part of the Guardian’s 2026 World Cup Experts’ Network, a cooperation between some of the best media organisations from the 48 countries who qualified. theguardian.com is running previews from three countries each day in the run-up to the tournament kicking off on 11 June.Qualifiers were easy for the Vatreni – the Blazers – as Czechia, far from their glory days, provided the only serious challenge in the group and were the only opponents to snatch at least a draw. Zlatko Dalic therefore used some of those games to experiment and deepen his pool of players. But when, last November, Croatia beat the Faroe Islands to secure top spot with one game to go, the manager said: “I will never try to play with three at the back again.”Fast forward to March before the friendlies with Colombia (2-1 win) and Brazil (1-3 defeat): he changed his mind, trying the formation in both matches with mixed results.However, this is likely to remain only a plan B for the World Cup. Croatia rely on Josko Gvardiol and Mateo Kovacic and, with the Manchester City duo back from injury, Dalic is inclined to revert to a back four – either 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1 – which has been a constant during his nine-year reign.Croatia will be among the oldest teams at the tournament, with roughly half or more of their starters into their 30s and the captain, Luka Modric, now 40. That means loads of experience and a winning mentality but also raises some uneasy questions.Can the old guard of Modric, Kovacic (32), Ivan Perisic (37) and Andrej Kramaric (turning 35) still cut it? Are the younger, lesser-known players ready to step up? Croatia have been used to punching above their weight and their success at the past two World Cups has set the bar impossibly high, but they seem determined to deliver one last hurrah.Keeping his post for almost a decade now is quite an achievement in trigger-happy Croatia, but Zlatko Dalic has done more than enough to earn his credit and is practically untouchable. However, mention his contract ends with this World Cup and he will prove sensitive on the subject. “Leave me in peace to do my job,” he snapped when asked about it recently. “I’m not going to sign an extension if anyone is forcing me to decide now.” This is his third World Cup in charge having led the team to a silver medal in Russia and bronze in Qatar.It’s been 20 years since his full international debut and for most of that time Croatia have been Luka Modric’s team, built around the midfield maestro. It still is, even though a generation or two of players in his supporting cast have come and gone. Clearly he is not the same player who won the Ballon d’Or and Champions League titles with Real Madrid, but that is sometimes hard to tell when he is still pulling the strings for Croatia. He has been Milan’s best player – by some distance – after his switch from Madrid in 2025. He scored his 29th international goal in a warm-up match against Slovenia and should surpass the 200-cap mark in North America.Luka Vuskovic is the ball-playing, playmaking, scoring centre-back who is dominant in the air and has been the leader in every age category or league in which he has played so far. At 19 and still new to the team, the Tottenham defender (who was loaned out to Hamburg in the Bundesliga last season) has proved his worth to Zlatko Dalic and is expected to be a starter in North America. Is he ready for the biggest stage? Of course he is – you just wait and see.Mateo Kovacic spent most of his career in Modric’s shadow and has rarely been seen as a key player for Croatia. It is only when he is absent that his impact in midfield is truly appreciated as, when he is there, he provides Modric with more freedom and connecting lines of play. To Dalic, Kovacic’s importance is so clear that his whole approach, including formation, depends on it. If Kovacic is not at his best, Croatia are likely to switch from 4-3-3 to 4-2-3-1, or even to a back three.Croatia have had more than their fair share of trouble with fans, with their behaviour responsible for various sanctions. The team will have mass support, as always, but fans travelling to North America will be there to sing, dress up and simply have a good time supporting the team rather than protesting or causing strife. Or at least that’s the hope.The “not mixing sport with politics” cliche remains a fixed position in Croatia, rolled out when it suits those in power. The nation’s politicians have not been vocal about the Trump administration, so don’t expect anything even resembling an opinion or attitude from anyone in the team camp. Fans may complain about the prices or other issues, but generally Croatia are unlikely to cause a stir.

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Everton have launched an appeal after being ordered to pay Burnley more than £40m in compensation after they were sued over Premier League profitability and sustainability breaches from the 2021/22 season when the Clarets were relegated.The Toffees were deducted 10 points in late 2023 for financial misdemeanours, a punishment reduced to six points on appeal a few months later, under the previous regime of Farhad Moshiri.Everton finished four points above 18th-placed Burnley in 2021/22 but the Lancashire club successfully argued that had the six-point penalty for PSR breaches been applied that season then they would have survived at the Toffees' expense.Everton officials have lodged an immediate appeal at what they view as a "flawed" judgement.An Everton statement said: "Everton Football Club is surprised and angered by the decision of a Premier League Independent Disciplinary Commission to order a compensation payment to Burnley Football Club in relation to Everton's PSR breach in June 2022," said a club statement."Everton has appealed the decision and is clear in its belief the ruling is fundamentally flawed in both law and fact."The club does not recognise the findings of the panel in determining Burnley's relegation from the Premier League in May 2022 was caused by a sporting advantage gained by Everton due to a breach of Profit & Sustainability Rules, for which a substantive sporting sanction has already been received.Not got Sky? Get instant access with no contract"This ruling sets a dangerous and unworkable precedent for English football, given it is constructed on a principle that a club can be in breach of financial rules at any point in a financial year."Everton believes the panel's ruling misrepresents the clear evidence presented by its legal representatives and that an appeal will be successful."

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Scotland's Super Mario and social butterfly who emerged from Man Utd cocoonBBC Scotland's chief sports writer in CharlotteScott McTominay is talking about mentality, about dig and dog and how some players have it and how some players just don't. That refusal to stop and give up? He says he's had it since he was a kid and knows that every last man in the Scotland changing room has it, too."Not willing to stop when it gets tough, it's one of the most important things in football," he tells BBC Sport, before talking about a guy who, to him, embodied that uncompromising nature every day - Michael Jordan, the NBA colossus of yesteryear."He once said that whenever somebody arrives to the stadium they could be watching for the first time," McTominay explained. "So if you're not giving your absolute best a young fan could be walking away going 'he wasn't that great'."The Scotland midfielder says he's been doing a bit of that in training, a mentor but also a taskmaster for the youngsters in the squad, such as teenagers Tyler Fletcher and Findlay Curtis."I'm demanding and quite hard on some of them," he says. "The right way to live your life off the pitch is probably more important than what you do on the pitch because you can kill your whole career by things that you do off the pitch."They need a little bit of tough love sometimes, young players. I had that. There was a lot of senior pros saying, 'Listen, you've got to up your game or you've got no chance. I don't want to name names. It was a lot. Behind closed doors."And the things that get said are ruthless - sink or swim."The day McTominay scored an even better overhead kickHe left home in Lancaster at an early age to become part of a residency programme at the club, an emotional upheaval that presented challenges to a boy who spent much of his early years flying well under the radar.He was no childhood prodigy, no sure thing.In his first season of under-18 football he barely saw two hours of competitive action. He was only 5ft 6in at 16 - a "silky number 10" as he put it. In his debut season with the under-21s he started two of 22 matches.His growth spurt was something to see, from a diminutive attacker to a beast at 6ft 4in. His bolshiness seemed to grow in proportion with his height.That tough love he talks about now began around then. He tells a story of a day spent training with the senior team and how he vented when all the tight decisions in a bounce game were given in favour of the "old lads" and against the "young lads".Jose Mourinho was his manager who later became his champion."Jose phoned me because I was arguing with Michael Carrick and Ashley Young," McTominay recalled. "There were a couple of swear words in there. He dressed me down. It was like 'who do you think you are, you've done nothing'. I thought it was over [at United] before it started, how forceful he was."It wasn't over, it was just beginning. McTominay made his senior debut in May, 2017. "This kid has everything I want," said the manager.The following season, Mourinho invented a new award at the end of campaign ceremony, making McTominay the manager's player of the season. "He started the season in the academy and ended it playing big games in the Premier League," said the Portuguese. "I thought this kid cannot go home without an award."McTominay was a Scotland player by then, capped in March 2018 against Costa Rica.There was a brief crossover between Steven Naismith exiting the international stage and McTominay bursting on to it, but Steve Clarke's now assistant, remembers how the young man was back then."He kept himself to himself," he said. "At the start I thought, is that because he was born in England and it's his grandparents who are Scottish? He's maybe just a wee bit unsure of the Scottishness, the bluntness of Scottish people? But over the years, he just matured."McTominay was born into a difficult era at United. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer succeeded Mourinho and loved the youngster. He gave him 22 games, then 37, then 49. He called him a "physical monster". His engine was unreal even when the team was not.Ralf Rangnick succeeded Solskjaer and talked of McTominay as a future captain.The problem was that Old Trafford was in turmoil. When the United fans rounded on players then their local boy, the lifelong fan, was one of the first to get it.Playing in a deeper role instead of the box crasher he has become, he came in for special treatment. Tough love? At times, it was savage.Rangnick made way for Erik ten Hag, who simultaneously praised McTominay's fighting qualities while at the same signing a battery of players in his position.He could have left for West Ham for £30m but stayed. Newcastle, Fulham and Bayern Munich were said to be interested. Nothing happened.In October 2023, United were trailing 1-0 at home to Brentford when McTominay came off the bench with 10 minutes to go. He scored twice in added time to win the game.He gave one of his most famous quotes in the aftermath, words that reflected his frustration but also his fierce determination. "Never give up, man," he said. "You never give up. No matter the situation you never give up, never throw the towel in."It's said that McTominay did not give up on United but that United gave up on McTominay. Things were stressed. Money had been wasted. The club needed to sell in order to buy.He left for Napoli. A succession of his former United managers rounded on the club for letting him go. "I'm almost shocked," said Solskjaer. "This decision is beyond me."It wasn't long before Mourinho was calling his former wunderkind "one of the best midfielders in Europe"."When I think of Scotland, I think of my boy Scott McTominay," he said. "I got him when he was 18, when nobody at Man Utd believed he could be the player he is."His Napoli years - the Serie A title in 2024-25 and the adoration that came with it - have turned him into a player who is worshipped in Naples and identified throughout the world.McTominay is the superstar of this Scotland team, the guy with a giant mural on the side of a house near Hampden and whose frame - mid-bicycle kick against Denmark on the night of all nights last November - is on a bank note.For club and country he has scored 13, 16 and 17 goals in the last three seasons, some of them to win a title in Italy, others helping Scotland to the World Cup.McTominay has 70 caps and has played multiple positions - right-sided centre-back, defensive midfielder, attacking midfielder. He is now exactly where he wants to be, in every sense.Naismith has watched him grow into a player of huge substance, on and off the field. "He can glide across the pitch with elegance. He's such an athlete," he said."And see his passing - it's as if you're in a computer game. It's like in Super Mario where you get a mushroom and you're bigger, if that makes sense. He's just more powerful than everybody else."The last part is you just hope he's not an arsehole - and he's not. He'll hang about with the youngest players in the squad at dinner and he'll chat away to them."And then the next day he could be sitting with [John] McGinn and Robbo [Andy Robertson] and Kenny McLean and Grant [Hanley] and be part of that."And then he might just be by himself for a bit. He's a social butterfly and it's all pure happiness for him."It's taken a lot of hard work to get McTominay happy. A nation will be hoping he's still smiling in the wake of their opener against Haiti, Scotland's first World Cup game since the great thoroughbred in their midfield was barely out of nappies.Everything you need to know about the World Cup

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It was Morocco in 2022, Croatia in 2028 and Costa Rica in 2014. Which team will make an unexpected run in 2026?Every World Cup needs a dark horse: the team no nobody quite planned for that disrupts the natural order and is remembered more vividly than the finalists. Morocco did it in 2022, beating Spain and Portugal on their way to becoming the first African side to reach the semi-finals. Croatia produced a fairytale run to the final in 2018. Costa Rica topped a group that featured three former champions – England, Italy and Uruguay – in 2014 before eventually losing to the Netherlands on penalties in the quarter-finals. And South Korea, who had never won a match at a World Cup, went all the way to the semi-finals in 2002. With 48 teams at this year’s tournament, there are a few candidates to make an unexpected run to the latter stages.A defence featuring two Champions League finalists, a 15-game unbeaten streak, and second place in South American qualifying. You would think we are talking about one of the favourites. Instead, we are talking about Ecuador, who have a great chance to go further than ever before at the World Cup – their last-16 exit at the 2006 tournament in Germany.Ecuador did not play in the World Cup until 2002 but they have only missed two tournaments since then: in 2010 and 2018. While participation has long been their goal, there is a growing sense that something greater is finally within reach.A new generation of players – led by Moisés Caicedo, Piero Hincapié and Willian Pacho, under the guidance of manager Sebastián Beccacece – have turned Ecuador into one of the hardest teams to break down in world football. If you are expecting the flair and risk-taking sometimes associated with South American football, this is not it. Beccacece has drilled a side built on structure and control, with Ecuador conceding just five goals in 18 qualifying matches and keeping 13 clean sheets. They were behind for just 97 minutes across the entire campaign.They rarely allow opponents to dictate terms, but the question is whether they can score enough goals to turn draws into wins. No side that qualified from South America scored fewer than Ecuador’s 14 goals, with the burden falling heavily on the shoulders of 34-year-old veteran Enner Valencia, who contributed six of them during qualifying. Nevertheless, as Beccacece himself has argued: “All you have to do is score one more than the opposition.” In knockout football, where margins are often fine, Ecuador’s defensive solidity means they do not necessarily need to score goals in the masses.The round of 16 has haunted Japan at World Cups. Four times they have reached the knockout stages and four times their journey has ended there. Japan hold the record for most World Cup matches played without ever reaching the quarter-finals (25).They are getting closer, though, only missing out in 2018 after a late collapse against Belgium and missing out in 2022 after a penalty shootout defeat to Croatia. This is Japan’s eighth consecutive World Cup appearance and there is a growing sense that they will make a breakthrough.Perhaps the biggest difference this time is the genuine belief in the camp they can do something special. “We aim to win the World Cup, so the national team is ready to play every match like it’s their last,” said manager Hajime Moriyasu in a recent interview. And his optimism isn’t unfounded; Japan beat Germany and Spain in the last World Cup, and they have beaten England and Brazil in the last 12 months. They were the first country to qualify after a near flawless campaign.This team has been refined over years. Thirteen players from the squad that topped a group featuring Spain, Germany and Costa Rica in 2022 are back, bringing experience and a shared understanding of what it takes to compete on the big stage. While injuries to Kaoru Mitoma and Takumi Minamino are significant setbacks, Moriyasu – who has been in charge since 2018 – can still call upon Takefusa Kubo, Daichi Kamada, Daizen Maeda and Ayase Ueda, who won the Golden Boot in the Eredivisie this season.Japan are in a tough group alongside the Netherlands, Sweden and Tunisia but their high tempo, relentless pressing and togetherness could take them far.When Norway last played at a World Cup, in 1998, only nine of the 26 players in this squad had been born. The current generation have ended the country’s long wait and they are not just making up the numbers.Headlined by Erling Haaland and Martin Ødegaard, Norway arrive in North America with wind in their sails. Ståle Solbakken’s side stormed through qualifying, becoming one of only two European teams – alongside England – to win every match. They scored 37 goals and conceded just five in their eight matches, with their massive 11-1 win over Moldova standing out.Norway’s attack should be one of the most feared in the tournament. Solbakken has built a team that can hurt opponents in multiple ways, whether through patient buildup, quick transitions, or wide crosses into the box to make use of their aerial dominance – Norway are the joint-tallest squad alongside Bosnia and Herzegovina.At the heart of it all is Haaland, whose 16 goals in qualifying matched the record for a European qualifying campaign. Behind him, Ødegaard’s vision and creativity provide the ammunition, with the Arsenal captain finishing as Europe’s leading assist-maker during qualification. But the side is far from a two-man show. The Atlético Madrid forward Alexander Sørloth, standing tall at 6ft 5in, provides a perfect strike partner for Haaland. And the pace and invention of Antonio Nusa, Oscar Bobb and Andreas Schjelderup ensure Norway are not reliant on a single source of inspiration.There are some reasons for caution. They lack experience – their last appearance at a major tournament was in Euro 2000 – and they are in one of the toughest groups in the competition, featuring reigning champions France and Afcon finalists Senegal. Norway’s attack has rightfully stolen the headlines so far but their defence – featuring Kristoffer Ajer, Torbjørn Heggem, Julian Ryerson and David Møller Wolfe – will need to stand up against elite opposition. If Norway can answer those questions, they have the quality to go far in this World Cup.

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Burnley relegated in 2022 after Everton breached PSREverton ‘angered’ by verdict and have appealedBurnley have won their landmark legal case against Everton for breaching Premier League financial rules, with the club ordered to pay nearly £40m in compensation.The verdict by a Premier League independent disciplinary commission – comprising the same three-man panel that deducted Everton 10 points over the same breach in November 2023 – has widespread ramifications for the competition and increases the likelihood of more clubs taking legal action over PSR breaches.Burnley sued Everton after they were relegated to the Championship at the end of the 2021-22 season. Everton were deducted 10 points for breaching PSR rules in the four-year period up to June 2022, although that verdict was not reached until November 2023. The penalty was later reduced to six points on appeal.Everton said: “Everton Football Club is surprised and angered by the decision of a Premier League Independent Disciplinary Commission to order a compensation payment to Burnley Football Club in relation to Everton’s PSR breach in June 2022.“Everton has appealed the decision and is clear in its belief the ruling is fundamentally flawed in both law and fact. The club does not recognise the findings of the panel in determining Burnley’s relegation from the Premier League in May 2022 was caused by a sporting advantage gained by Everton due to a breach of profit & sustainability rules, for which a substantive sporting sanction has already been received.“This ruling sets a dangerous and unworkable precedent for English football, given it is constructed on a principle that a club can be in breach of financial rules at any point in a financial year. Everton believes the panel’s ruling misrepresents the clear evidence presented by its legal representatives and that an appeal will be successful.”

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The case - heard by a Premier League commission - relates to the 2021-22 season, when Everton were found to have broken profit and sustainability regulations (PSR) over a three-year period.Burnley argued the breach impacted their chances of staying in the Premier League, and sought compensation for the losses associated with being relegated.The Clarets have been awarded £26m in damages and a further £9m in interest.Everton have appealed, with sources saying they will "robustly and thoroughly" contest the ruling.The club said in a statement they were "clear in the belief the ruling is fundamentally flawed in both law and fact"."This ruling sets a dangerous and unworkable precedent for English football, given it is constructed on a principle that a club can be in breach of financial rules at any point in a financial year," the statement said."Everton believes the panel's ruling misrepresents the clear evidence presented by its legal representatives and that an appeal will be successful."Any compensation payment would not impact Everton's PSR accounts for the current period.Everton were charged by the Premier League and deducted 10 points in November 2023, which was reduced to six points on appeal and applied to the league table in 2023-24.The case centred on the argument that had the points been deducted in 2021-22, Burnley would have had a greater chance of avoiding relegation.Everton finished 16th in 2021-22 on 39 points, with Leeds in 17th on 38 points and Burnley 18th on 35 points.Leeds are reported to have agreed a settlement with Everton in September 2025.Because of the complexities of the accounting period, which runs to the end of June, the Premier League is unable to apply points deductions in the season the offence happens.But Premier League rules allow clubs to seek compensation against another members if rules are broken and cause them loss.Leicester City, Nottingham Forest and Southampton were also reported to have considered legal action.The ruling could have implications for Chelsea, who were not given a points deduction but were fined £10m after admitting making £47m in secret payments to unregistered agents and third parties over transfers between 2011 and 2018.Elsewhere, clubs could seek compensation if Manchester City are found guilty of the 115 charges related to alleged financial rule breaches between 2009 and 2018. City deny all of the charges.Other Premier League clubs could argue their chances of success in the Premier League were impacted by the rule breaches.

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The Football Association of Ireland has formally submitted a bid to host the 2029 Women's Champions League final at Dublin's Aviva Stadium. Dublin was put forward as a potential host city in an expression of interest by the FAI to Uefa in October, with a preliminary bid submitted in February.With support from the Irish Government and Dublin City Council, the FAI says it wants to continue to build the city's "reputation for hosting major sporting occasions" after the 2011 and 2024 Europa League finals at Aviva Stadium.The 51,700-capacity stadium is also set to stage seven games during Euro 2028."Irish football has a strong connection to the UEFA Women's Champions League with four individual winners in Emma Byrne, Ciara Grant, Yvonne Tracy and Katie McCabe, while 11 different Irish clubs have competed in qualifiers since its inception," said FAI chief executive David Courell."Now, we want to bring its showpiece event to Dublin to inspire the current and next generation of girls."The FAI says hosting the showpiece game would be a "fantastic opportunity to build on the "phenomenal growth" of women's football in Ireland.Along with the Aviva Stadium, the Principality Stadium in Cardiff was one of three other potential bids to host the 2029 decider.Parc Olympique Lyonnais and St Jakob-Park in Basel declared interest to host either the 2028 or 2029 finals.Republic of Ireland captain Katie McCabe helped Arsenal beat Barcelona in the 2025 Champions League final in Lisbon, while Barca hammered Lyon 4-0 in last month's final at Oslo's Ullevaal Stadion.New episodes of Women's Football Weekly podcast drop every Tuesday on BBC Sounds, plus find interviews and extra content from the Women's Super League and beyond on the Women's Football Weekly feed

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In case you missed it last week, there was a brilliant bit of camerawork in France’s warm-up match against the Côte d’Ivoire in Nantes. After the African side drew level through Guéla Doué, the camera immediately panned to his younger brother on the opposition bench, Desiré, as the unusued French substitute wore a wry smile as he watched the Côte d’Ivoire celebrations.The two siblings embraced at the end of the match – a shock 2-1 win for Côte d’Ivoire – and it was obvious to see how happy, despite France’s defeat, Desiré was for his older brother, who has often been overshadowed by his PSG superstar young’un. “It’s a shame I didn’t get to play against [my brother], as this was our first France-Ivory Coast match, but I’m happy, and he isn’t too fed up,” said Guéla, who posted a picture of himself reading L’Équipe the following day on his way to the USA USA USA. Cheeky.The pair – born to a French mother and an Ivorian father – have always been inseparable. When Guéla was invited to a trial to join Rennes’ youth academy, five-year-old Desiré was seen doing keepy-ups on the sidelines. Following the trial, both were immediately signed by the club. In 2023, when Guéla came off the bench to make his Rennes first-team debut, who did he replace? His 17-year-old brother of course.The Doué brothers are one of seven – SEVEN! – pairs of siblings at this Geopolitics World Cup. Three other sets play for different teams – Brian Brobbey (Netherlands) and half-brother Derrick Luckassen (Ghana), John Souttar (Scotland) and Harry Souttar (Australia) and Iñaki Williams (Ghana) and Nico Williams (Spain) – while three pairs will line-up for the same nation: Lucas and Théo Hernández (France), Laros and Deroy Duarte (Cape Verde) and Leandro Bacuna and Juninho Bacuna (Curaçao). Jurrien and twin brother Quinten (Netherlands) would have made it eight had Jurrien not been ruled out with knack.There has only been one pair of brothers that have ever played each other at the World Cup: Germany’s Jérôme Boateng and Ghana’s Kevin-Prince Boateng, who faced off at both the 2010 and 2014 tournaments. Guéla and Desiré Doué could well be next, with Côte d’Ivoire a potential opponent for France in the knockout stage this summer. “My brother and I are like twins,” Desiré told Téléfoot. “That’s how we’ve always felt, right from a young age. We have this incredible bond that loads of people have commented on over the years. We tell each other everything and have no secrets. He’s such a massive support for me in my daily life.” We’ll see if that brotherly love is still in tact if Côte d’Ivoire repeat their victory at the GWC.Michael Butler is currently steering the good ship GWC Newsblog towards its mooring for the day, but Scott Murray will then take up the mantle at 9pm BST for (luke)warm-up updates from England 2-0 Costa Rica.double quotation markIf I’m still here today, it’s because the French team has won a lot of games. Otherwise, it could have ended before, whether I decided it or it was decided for me” – Didier Deschamps gets his chat on with Luke Entwistle as he heads for a swansong with Les Bleus at the GWC, discussing a legacy that no one – bar, perhaps, himself – would dare dispute.double quotation markRe yesterday’s Football Daily: you are invited for lunch. The host does not allow your son to come, treats your wife with scorn, and asks your daughter to leave midway through. When you are ready to leave, he detains your wife and presents you with a hefty bill. Does it sound strange? Welcome to GWC 2026!” – Krishna Moorthy.double quotation markPlease pass on my thanks to David Squires, once again, for giving me the spine to metaphorically crumple up and toss into the waste bin this entire GWC spectacle. It was a bit shy of four years ago when a Squires cartoon depicting the deplorable working conditions of immigrants in Qatar gave me the strength to say sod off to the entire enterprise – and I had been watching games since the 1970 final, the first televised here in the USA USA USA. But I admit, as these games have drawn near I have felt myself weakening, looking for some rationale to justify paying attention once again. Then yesterday you presented us with his latest cartoon. It was the perfect reminder of what is truly the essential character of Fifa, my country’s political leaders and as a result, the GWC. So thank you Football Daily, and thank you David Squires!” – Mike Fichtner (and others).double quotation markJürgen Klinsmann may well have seen Maradona’s warmup (yesterday’s Football Daily letters). He could conceivably have started one of his dives in Stuttgart, and ended up in Munich” – Mike Rice.double quotation markRe movable corner flags at the GWC (Monday’s Football Daily): shame Fifa hasn’t gone the full hog, and introduced movable goalposts. Might have helped England should they be forced into another penalty shootout” – Callum Taylor.If you have any, please send letters to the.boss@theguardian.com. Today’s prizeless letter o’ the day is … Krishna Moorthy. Terms and conditions for our competitions, when we run them, are here.This is an extract from our daily football email … Football Daily. To get the full version, just visit this page and follow the instructions.

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Faye Carruthers is joined by Suzy Wrack, Tom Garry and Marva Kreel to discuss England’s failure to qualify automatically for the 2027 World Cup and the uncertain future facing Durham.On today’s pod: The panel assess a frustrating end to England’s World Cup qualifying campaign, as the Lionesses miss out on automatic qualification for Brazil 2027 and must now navigate the play-offs.The panel discuss the Lionesses’ heaviest defeat in 17 years as Spain ran riot in Mallorca, debate Sarina Wiegman’s tactical approach and squad selection, and ask what England’s performances against Spain and Ukraine reveal about the team ahead of next year’s World Cup.The panel also assesses England’s response against Ukraine, looks at the possible play-off opponents awaiting them in the autumn, and asks what the campaign has revealed about where this squad stands heading into a major tournament year.Elsewhere, the Republic of Ireland fall just short of automatic qualification despite an impressive campaign under Carla Ward, while Scotland and Wales secure promotion to League A and Northern Ireland keep their World Cup hopes alive.Plus: Durham Women’s future is thrown into doubt after the club warned it could cease operations without urgent investment. The panel discuss what the situation says about the financial realities of the women’s game and whether independent clubs can continue to compete at the top end of the pyramid.