Guatemala 0-1 Panama:
June 20 – Friday night at Q2 Stadium bore no resemblance to the venue that hosted football just 24 hours earlier. The transformation was complete, and the catalyst was simple: unbridled passion provided by the hordes of Guatemala supporters who descended on Austin. Stark contrast to the lack of interest shown by US fans on Thursday.
By Andrew Warshaw
October 8 – Newcastle United, one of the English game’s proverbial sleeping giants, look set to become European football’s latest superpower after the long-drawn-out £300 million+ takeover of the club by a Saudi Arabian-backed consortium was finally completed.
By David Owen
I can well imagine how much FIFA boss Gianni Infantino looks forward to my words of advice, dispensed periodically via this website. So let me dredge up another pearl: Mr president, perhaps you should consider focusing a little less on developing grandiose new revenue surges geared to ever bigger and more frequent competitions, and a little more on nurturing the revenue streams FIFA already has.
October 8 – Saudi Arabia moved a step closer to 2022 World Cup participation with a landmark 1-0 victory against Japan to maintain a perfect record with nine points from three matches in Group B in Asia’s third round of qualifiers.
October 8 – The sky might be the limit on the field for Newcastle United following the takeover by a Saudi-led consortium but the club could soon become a pariah off it – the one everyone loves to hate.
October 8 – The US and Mexico have gone joint top of the 8-team final qualifying group for the Qatar 2022 World Cup after four matches, but a feisty Canada are not letting them run away with qualification, forcing a 1-1 draw in Mexico City and sitting two points behind them in the group.
October 8 – Ahead of the Netherlands’ World Cup qualifiers against both Latvia and Gibraltar, the Dutch FA (KNVB) is accelerating its ‘Football supports change’ campaign, which seeks to achieve sustainable change for labour migrants in Qatar.
October 8 – The US and Mexico have gone joint top of the 8-team final qualifying group for the Qatar 2022 World Cup after four matches, but a feisty Canada are not letting them run away with qualification, forcing a 1-1 draw in Mexico City and sitting two points behind them in the group.
October 8 – UEFA and players’ union FIFPRO are pushing the Red Button whistleblowing app as the go-to platform for players to report possible match-fixing incidents.
October 8 – Manchester’s two Premier League giants top a European ranking of highest squad transfer values, with both United and City worth more than €1.2 billion. Their nearest rival is Chelsea who are more than €200m behind them with an estimated squad value of €946 million.
October 8 – An American judge has recommended that a civil case against Cristiano Ronaldo over an alleged rape should be thrown out.
October 8 – The MLS has renewed its sponsorship with Continental Tire for a new multi-year term. The tyre brand has been an MLS partner since 2010.
By Samindra Kunti in Turin
October 7 – With a phenomenal rearguard action, world champions France came from two goals down to triumph 3-2 over neighbours Belgium and book a place in the Nations League final against Spain.
By Paul Nicholson
October 7 – The decision by Saudi Arabia to lift a four-year ban on Qatar-based broadcaster beIN Sports could remove a key impediment in the way of the Saudis taking ownership of Newcastle United.
October 7 – FIFA president Sepp Blatter and former UEFA president Michel Platini will go before a Swiss court to decide their case concerning the CHF2 million ‘disloyal payment’ made by FIFA to Platini in 2010.
October 7 – FC Barcelona have formally reported their mammoth loss of €481 million for the 2020-21 season, with CEO Ferran Reverter going on the record saying that the Catalans backed the breakaway Super League as their life raft to a more sustainable financial model in the long run.