An imitation “Shakhtar Donetsk” is on course for promotion to Russia’s third tier & has co-opted real club’s history. Four clubs from illegally occupied areas of Ukraine now play in Russia’s pro system. Uefa yet to act or even respond to concerns of Ukraine’s FA: www.theguardian.com/football/202...

An imitation “Shakhtar Donetsk” is on course for promotion to Russia’s third tier & has co-opted real club’s history. Four clubs from illegally occupied areas of Ukraine now play in Russia’s pro system. Uefa yet to act or even respond to concerns of Ukraine’s FA: www.theguardian.com/football/202...

Feel sorry for Middlesbrough - ultimately if you lose both rounds of a play-off then hands up, but they’ve been tremendous competitors all season and great fun. Will find it harder next year, going to be a brutal league.

Any Villa fans should ignore the curmudgeonliness below but tonight has rather reinforced it.

In 2022 Chernihiv's ruined stadium became a symbol of Russia's attempts to decimate Ukrainian sporting infrastructure & culture. Now the city's team faces Dynamo Kyiv in a cup final that yet again shows Ukraine's capacity to revive & renew. Piece from Chernihiv: www.theguardian.com/football/202...

As reported here, Uefa change European qualifiers in line with Nations League composition – biggest teams avoid minnows. A few more twists, including larger groups with Swiss-style six games against six different opponents.

In 2022 Chernihiv's ruined stadium became a symbol of Russia's attempts to decimate Ukrainian sporting infrastructure & culture. Now the city's team faces Dynamo Kyiv in a cup final that yet again shows Ukraine's capacity to revive & renew. Piece from Chernihiv: www.theguardian.com/football/202...

Southampton/spying story is, especially given the circumstances and the stakes, among the most extraordinary I've seen in football.

Main takeaway from the disallowed West Ham goal is that, whatever was going on in that box, it definitely wasn't football. NFL-style tedium will be the hallmark of this season's Premier League, unfortunately, regardless of who wins it. Big challenge to correct the course.

If you really want to understand the gap between the Premier League and the rest, look how its teams are - in generally unremarkable fashion - starting to dominate Europe’s second and third competitions: www.theguardian.com/football/202...

If you really want to understand the gap between the Premier League and the rest, look how its teams are - in generally unremarkable fashion - starting to dominate Europe’s second and third competitions: www.theguardian.com/football/202...

Reel life. it’s happening very quickly. nobody asked for it. It destroys all other forms. We really need to stop pumping this shit into young people’s heads www.theguardian.com/football/202...

However you dice it, it’s been a great night for Thai-based cryptocurrency billionaires & Vladimir Putin - who, incredibly, is currently getting more good news from the UK than Ukraine.

Doesn’t always need to be a laugh a minute, and that’s ok - especially for PSG. Report: www.theguardian.com/football/202...

Doesn’t always need to be a laugh a minute, and that’s ok - especially for PSG. Report: www.theguardian.com/football/202...

What a season in Europe. Yes, PSG-Bayern is great but look beyond that to Mjällby, Bodo/Glimt, Thun and Hearts. Epic stories.

Can't downplay what Kieran McKenna did this season – yes Ipswich well funded but had to build new team in mid air and simultaneously instil resilience needed to get through a Championship grind. Lots of noise all year but he just calmly steered them home. An absolute class act.

Top flights would be allowed – *if* approved – to host one match abroad per season under new Fifa proposals. Limit of five games each year per host country. Bar for approval raised significantly but controversy sure to persist. Exclusive with Matt Hughes: www.theguardian.com/football/202...

Top flights would be allowed – *if* approved – to host one match abroad per season under new Fifa proposals. Limit of five games each year per host country. Bar for approval raised significantly but controversy sure to persist. Exclusive with Matt Hughes: www.theguardian.com/football/202...

Nations League-style format is front runner in discussions for revamped European Championship qualifying: www.theguardian.com/football/202...

Nations League-style format is front runner in discussions for revamped European Championship qualifying: www.theguardian.com/football/202...

I interviewed Lando Norris and the world champion was open, honest and articulate. And then his management stepped in to police and muzzle him in an attempt to "control the narrative." From then on it did not go too well....this is what happened. www.theguardian.com/sport/2026/a...

Report from an extraordinary night in Munich, decided by brilliance and silliness. www.theguardian.com/football/202...

Report from an extraordinary night in Munich, decided by brilliance and silliness. www.theguardian.com/football/202...

Been coming here 20 years and it is still the best stadium built this century.

Very happy to see Ukraine's League of the Mighty, for amputees, win a gold in this year's UEFA grassroots awards. Remarkable initiative, run to an incredible standard, as I found out in Kyiv last year: www.theguardian.com/football/202...

The latest Football Weekly is out now 👇 www.youtube.com/watch?v=xAZV... Watch now and listen wherever you get your podcasts. @maxrushden.bsky.social @barryglendenning.bsky.social @nickames82.bsky.social @jordanjarrettbryan.bsky.social 🫡👏

Turkey - dark horses to be the World Cup’s dark horses? www.theguardian.com/football/202...

Turkey - dark horses to be the World Cup’s dark horses? www.theguardian.com/football/202...

A tiny step too far for Kosovo against a professional Turkey, but their time will come: www.theguardian.com/football/202...

Nobody who saw a slung-together Kosovo team train beneath the belching Obiliq power plants in 2014, before splashing through a first official game against Haiti, would believe they are on verge of World Cup now. Piece from Pristina with two men who've seen it all: www.theguardian.com/football/202...

Nobody who saw a slung-together Kosovo team train beneath the belching Obiliq power plants in 2014, before splashing through a first official game against Haiti, would believe they are on verge of World Cup now. Piece from Pristina with two men who've seen it all: www.theguardian.com/football/202...

In next to no time Graham Potter has got Sweden looking like … Sweden. Report from Valencia: www.theguardian.com/football/202...

Just watched Sweden overpower Ukraine with a Gyokeres hat-trick (report coming up) but have to say I feel a little emotional that Kosovo, whose early years playing official games I covered in depth, are now a game from the World Cup. It's the story of the night.

Ukraine have spent four long, tough years on the road. Two wins here in Valencia at the World Cup play-offs would mean their journey has a crowning destination. www.theguardian.com/football/202...

Politics and football don’t mix? Tell that to Ipswich’s players, who are not happy about Farage’s visit. What a mess, and many tough questions still to answer: www.theguardian.com/football/202...

Politics and football don’t mix? Tell that to Ipswich’s players, who are not happy about Farage’s visit. What a mess, and many tough questions still to answer: www.theguardian.com/football/202...

“Football club is apolitical” simply doesn’t cut it when that football club has been naive enough to let a political party trample all over it for its own self-advertisement - anybody could have seen what Reform and Farage were going to pull at Ipswich & it appears they were hardly discouraged.

It is to Raheem Sterling's credit that he chose Feyenoord – a club steeped in history and meaning who play for real things under a harsh, relentless glare. But a flop in De Klassieker against Ajax underlined the risk both parties are taking. Piece from Rotterdam: www.theguardian.com/football/202...

It is to Raheem Sterling's credit that he chose Feyenoord – a club steeped in history and meaning who play for real things under a harsh, relentless glare. But a flop in De Klassieker against Ajax underlined the risk both parties are taking. Piece from Rotterdam: www.theguardian.com/football/202...

European football.

At Spurs ready for La RemonTudor …

Amazing from Max Dowman – genuinely superb achievement to be just 16 days off Jason Dozzell's record.

Union of European Clubs propose radical redistribution of Champions League/Uefa club competition money to curb financial inequality: www.theguardian.com/football/202...

Union of European Clubs propose radical redistribution of Champions League/Uefa club competition money to curb financial inequality: www.theguardian.com/football/202...

Knew this would be the case but to see a Champions League last-16 draw in which 6 of 8 ties contains an English team is properly deflating. For fans of English teams, this used to be a competition full of mystique and fresh, exciting challenges. It’s now basically Premier League 2 with some invites.

One more plug for this report from Bodø on the miracle of Glimt – told from the coffee table that explains everything. www.theguardian.com/football/202...

I've been working on this for ages in various countries: the story of the intelligence buildup to Putin's 2022 invasion. How did the US and Britain find out so much, and why were Europe and Ukraine sceptical. It's a long one: www.theguardian.com/world/ng-int...

Where is the £185m in solidarity money that Fifa promised to those who didn't make the Club World Cup? No timeline, no formula for distribution devised, meetings postponed, smaller clubs still waiting for sums that can offer a lifeline. Exclusive with Matt Hughes: www.theguardian.com/football/202...

Where is the £185m in solidarity money that Fifa promised to those who didn't make the Club World Cup? No timeline, no formula for distribution devised, meetings postponed, smaller clubs still waiting for sums that can offer a lifeline. Exclusive with Matt Hughes: www.theguardian.com/football/202...