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...

They are still bearing the weight pretty well.

Will Infantino try to restate a case for Russia when he addresses Uefa Congress? Either way, it's likely to be an event where what's said raises more eyebrows than anything done. The reckoning for most of football's geopolitical hot potatoes is coming, but not yet www.theguardian.com/football/202...

Will Infantino try to restate a case for Russia when he addresses Uefa Congress? Either way, it's likely to be an event where what's said raises more eyebrows than anything done. The reckoning for most of football's geopolitical hot potatoes is coming, but not yet www.theguardian.com/football/202...

For anyone interested who might have missed it – a visit to Castel di Sangro, 30 years since the "miracle" that sparked the legendary book by Joe McGinniss. There are conflicted reactions to it, even now. But this is a tale of how time both shapes and preserves. www.theguardian.com/football/202...

For anyone interested who might have missed it – a visit to Castel di Sangro, 30 years since the "miracle" that sparked the legendary book by Joe McGinniss. There are conflicted reactions to it, even now. But this is a tale of how time both shapes and preserves. www.theguardian.com/football/202...

Can miracles happen twice? A visit to Castel di Sangro, 30 years since the achievement made globally famous by Joe McGinniss. Everything has changed but, meeting some of the book's old characters, it's as if nothing has at all. www.theguardian.com/football/202...

Can miracles happen twice? A visit to Castel di Sangro, 30 years since the achievement made globally famous by Joe McGinniss. Everything has changed but, meeting some of the book's old characters, it's as if nothing has at all. www.theguardian.com/football/202...

Portsmouth have now managed twice within a month not to get a game on against Ipswich – not acceptable in the Championship in 2026.

Infantino claims Russia’s global football ban has achieved nothing and should be reversed. But it has, hasn’t it? It is only nation banned from the world’s most-popular sport and that has to sting, it’s a very visible consequence of what’s happened. Reminder fifa largely forced into this ban

Poland's fascinating, impossibly tight Ekstraklasa restarts tonight. The league is thriving, in line with the country's booming economy. It aims to crack Europe's top 10, maybe even top six – and isn't prepared to sit on elite football's sidelines for much longer. www.theguardian.com/football/202...

Poland's fascinating, impossibly tight Ekstraklasa restarts tonight. The league is thriving, in line with the country's booming economy. It aims to crack Europe's top 10, maybe even top six – and isn't prepared to sit on elite football's sidelines for much longer. www.theguardian.com/football/202...

Dynamo Moscow claim their second team beat German club Rott-Weiss Wittlich in a friendly today – a game the latter don't seem in a rush to publicise. Hard to recall any/many similar match-ups involving Russian clubs over the past four years ...

😬 Newcastle pull off an impressive draw v PSG. 🧤 Benfica goalkeeper, Anatoliy Trubin, scored a towering header to secure a playoff position for José Mourinho's men. @maxrushden.bsky.social @nickames82.bsky.social @nickybandini.bsky.social @larssivertsen.bsky.social @archiert1.bsky.social

Bodø/Glimt the single-handed saviours of European football.

For Greenland, futsal offers a rare route to visual, powerful representation abroad. Spent a couple of days in Croatia with a team whose homeland had been threatened and demeaned all week. www.theguardian.com/football/202...

For Greenland, futsal offers a rare route to visual, powerful representation abroad. Spent a couple of days in Croatia with a team whose homeland had been threatened and demeaned all week. www.theguardian.com/football/202...

A World Cup boycott over Trump? Football’s hypotheticals cannot be dismissed any more | Nick Ames

UEFA and European FAs deeply concerned about Greenland crisis. Informal talks held this week about what a response could look like if things escalate in fast-moving situation. Military aggression likely red line for serious World Cup boycott talk. Story: www.theguardian.com/football/202...

UEFA and European FAs deeply concerned about Greenland crisis. Informal talks held this week about what a response could look like if things escalate in fast-moving situation. Military aggression likely red line for serious World Cup boycott talk. Story: www.theguardian.com/football/202...

Scandalous, astonishing end to the AFCON final (if indeed it’s the end).

What happens when you let AI write match reports? You end up with reports for games that never happened. Levante v Villarreal was postponed due to bad weather but according to this site it was played, finished 0-0 and was very dull. They even awarded a man of the match! www.bwin.com/en/news/post...

In case you missed it, yesterday's interview with Michel Platini: www.theguardian.com/football/202...

Interview with Michel Platini – now in the clear but wanting to settle a few scores. On purported plot to "kill" him, Infantino's power lust, the need for Ceferin to face down Fifa, plans for a comeback behind the scenes and whether romantics can really win: www.theguardian.com/football/202...

Interview with Michel Platini – now in the clear but wanting to settle a few scores. On purported plot to "kill" him, Infantino's power lust, the need for Ceferin to face down Fifa, plans for a comeback behind the scenes and whether romantics can really win: www.theguardian.com/football/202...

Utterly insane VAR offside there even by VAR standards. It’s so very, very boring.