February 2 – England’s League Cup final at Wembley between Manchester United and Newcastle on February 26 will feature safe standing areas, marking the first time in 35 years fans are allowed to stand at a domestic final.
Puerto Rico qualified from their Nations League A group with a win and a draw against Trinidad and Tobago, but lost twice to Mexico. Their win over Haiti in the preliminary round play-off was a seismic result.
What to expect
With a team based primarily around US-based college players, and with very little experience of international football, they did well to reach the preliminary round, but their 1-0 win over Haiti who had qualified for the 2023 Women’s World Cup was as an act of giant killing.
By Paul Nicholson
February 1 – Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa was elected by acclamation for a fourth term as president of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) at its 33rd Congress today in Salman’s home country of Bahrain.
February 1 – Saudi Arabia was confirmed as the host for the Asian Cup in 2027 at the 33rd AFC Congress in Qatar.
February 1 – Who says the mid-season winter transfer window is not the ideal time to bed players in?
February 1 – In contrast to the English Premier League, deadline day in Italy brought to an end a winter transfer window that saw the lowest spending by Serie A clubs in almost two decades.
February 1 – Chelsea have completed their mind-boggling mid-season spending spree by smashing the British record after agreeing a record €121 million (£107 million) deal for Benfica’s Argentina World Cup-winning midfielder Enzo Fernandez.
February 1 – The rebel European Super League clubs have received a boost after a Madrid-based court restored an injunction to stop UEFA sanctions.
February 1 – FIFA president Gianni Infantino, speaking at the AFC’s 33rd Congress in Bahrain, emphasised the financial support that FIFA has given the region since he took over as president.
February 1 – Britain’s police chiefs have promised a “cultural change” as they apologised to families of the victims in the 1989 Hillsborough tragedy, the UK’s worst sports disaster which saw 97 Liverpool supporters lose their lives.
February 1 – African powerhouse Al Ahly of Egypt and OFC champions Auckland City will today kick off the 2022 Club World Cup, with Real Madrid, the European representative, once again the big favourites to win the competition.
February 1 – Domenico Tedesco is on the brink of becoming the new coach of Belgium, succeeding Roberto Martinez who exited the Red Devils following a disappointing first-round elimination at last year’s World Cup.
February 1 – Austrian football has been plunged into disarray with the resignation of FA president Gerhard Millitech with immediate effect.
February 1 – The National Independent Soccer Association (NISA), the US third tier professional men’s league today, is bringing in three new clubs for the 2023 season, but is losing two clubs from its 2022 roster.
February 1 – UEFA and the European Resuscitation Council (ERC) have entered into a new training and education partnership focussed on increasing the number of people with cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) skills and raising awareness of the importance of immediate CPR treatment in cases of cardiac arrest.