The story of Soviet football's greatest tragedy, told by @colinmillar.bsky.social for @theathletic.com.

August 11, 1979. Pakhtakor -Uzbekistan's greatest ever football team - boarded a flight to Minsk. They never arrived. Tulagan Isakov missed the plane due to an injury. He told me Pakhtakor-79's story, and powerful legacy. @theathleticfc.bsky.social (FREE LINK) www.nytimes.com/athletic/737...

In 2004, a 12-year-old Iranian ran away from home. He spent his teenage years homeless, sleeping rough outside training grounds and in a prayer room. Now Iran's Alireza Beiranvand is a World Cup star. His incredible story on @theathleticfc.bsky.social (FREE LINK) www.nytimes.com/athletic/739...

Farewell to football's 2025-26 season. Beyond big-league winners, this was the year of the underdog, of shock champions and of dynasties falling. Contrary to popular belief, European football is in good health. 𝗙𝗥𝗘𝗘 𝗧𝗢 𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗗 @theathleticfc.bsky.social 🔗 www.nytimes.com/athletic/731...

The best story in European football this season? 😲 In the small, sleepy Swiss town of Thun, something extraordinary has happened. 🏆 A club who'd never won a major trophy are runaway league champions. This is how. 🎁 Free to read on @theathleticfc.bsky.social www.nytimes.com/athletic/724...

Dutch football is bracing itself for a court decision on Monday which the Dutch FA warns could mean 133 Eredivisie games need to be replayed. This is 'paspoortgate', and the chaos it could bring in the Netherlands. 𝗙𝗥𝗘𝗘 𝗧𝗢 𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗗 on @theathleticfc.bsky.social . www.nytimes.com/athletic/724...

"Football keeps me alive. I guess that dying on a pitch is the greatest thing that can happen to a manager." Remembering Mircea Lucescu, the legendary coach who died on Tuesday — 12 days after managing Romania's World Cup playoff (Free on @theathleticfc.bsky.social) www.nytimes.com/athletic/718...

10 years ago, football did not recognise Kosovo. Tonight, they can qualify for the World Cup. A decade of challenges & resistance could bring "the most important day since independence". The symbolism goes beyond the pitch. Free to read @theathleticfc.bsky.social www.nytimes.com/athletic/715...

10 years ago, football did not Kosovo. Tonight, they can qualify for the World Cup. A decade of challenges, setbacks & resistance could bring "the most important day since independence". The symbolism goes beyond the pitch. Free to read @theathleticfc.bsky.social www.nytimes.com/athletic/715...

🇵🇱 Welcome to Poland's Ekstraklasa: Europe's craziest league 📉All 18 teams can still win the league...or be relegated 😲 Current leaders finished 15th last season 👀 Relegation zone shocks 📈 Crowds up 50% 🇪🇺 European successes 🎁 Gift article on @theathleticfc.bsky.social www.nytimes.com/athletic/711...

🇵🇱 Welcome to Poland's Ekstraklasa: Europe's craziest league 📉All 18 teams can still win the league...or be relegated 😲 Current leaders finished 15th last season 👀 Relegation zone shocks 📈 Crowds up 50% 🇪🇺 European successes 🎁 Gift article on @theathleticfc.bsky.social www.nytimes.com/athletic/711...

🚨MONDAY POD!🚨 Join @acjimbo.bsky.social, @danielstorey85.bsky.social, @liamtwomey.bsky.social & @colinmillar.bsky.social for your rundown of the FA Cup weekend 🏆 🫡Saluting Port Vale + Saints 😠Ngumoha - the one that got away for #CFC 😰Spurs in crisis with @jaydmharris.bsky.social pod.fo/e/3a1ad2

𝐉𝐎𝐈𝐍 𝐔𝐒 𝐋𝐈𝐕𝐄 📺 Still time to get your questions in for @acjimbo.bsky.social, @danielstorey85.bsky.social, @liamtwomey.bsky.social & @colinmillar.bsky.social ... How 'alive and kicking' is the magic of the FA Cup? 🤔 We're on YouTube at 7.30 👉 bit.ly/4biIYad

Ludogorets have won 14 successive league titles. 🇧🇬 Levski Sofia, who they play tonight, stand in the way of a world record. How have Ludogorets done it? And is it good or bad for Bulgarian football? Free to read on @theathleticfc.bsky.social www.nytimes.com/athletic/708...

🚨WEDNESDAY POD!🚨 @acjimbo.bsky.social, @cdeccleshare.bsky.social, @colinmillar.bsky.social, @tomwfootball.bsky.social & @sebsb.bsky.social after an eventful Tuesday in the Champions League🇪🇺🏆 Featuring Juve's collapse in Istanbul, PSG's comeback in Monaco & a toxic night in Lisbon pod.fo/e/391e0f

❗ICE agents will form a “key part” of the security at the 2026 men’s World Cup. “ICE, specifically homeland security investigations, is a key part of the overall security apparatus for the World Cup,” said Todd Lyons, ICE’s acting director. By @colinmillar.bsky.social www.nytimes.com/athletic/703...

After Celta Vigo's Borja Iglesias was subjected to homophobic abuse, including that he painted his nails — his club fought back. Borja's team-mates and 5,000 fans painted their nails for their next match💅 (Article free to read on @theathleticfc.bsky.social) www.nytimes.com/athletic/702...

After Celta Vigo's Borja Iglesias was subjected to homophobic abuse, including that he painted his nails — his club fought back. Borja's team-mates and 5,000 fans painted their nails for their next match💅 (Article free to read on @theathleticfc.bsky.social) www.nytimes.com/athletic/702...

Argentina's FA has moved to prevent players receiving international call-ups if they move abroad before first signing a pro contract at an Argentine club. Rule would have stopped Messi playing for Argentina after Barcelona move. (Link is free for non subscribers) www.nytimes.com/athletic/699...

China's authorities have banned 73 people from football for life and sanctioned 13 clubs following an investigation into corruption. It means 9 clubs begin the Chinese Super League season on minus points, including last year's top two. @theathleticfc.bsky.social www.nytimes.com/athletic/700...

Qarabag are this season's Champions League's surprise story. Liverpool's opponents are from the war-torn Nagorno-Karabkh region. Their Aghdam home has been a ghost-town since 1993. Their story is bound with conflict. For @theathleticfc.bsky.social www.nytimes.com/athletic/699...

Qarabag are this season's Champions League's surprise story. Liverpool's opponents are from the war-torn Nagorno-Karabkh region. Their Aghdam home has been a ghost-town since 1993. Their story is bound with conflict. For @theathleticfc.bsky.social www.nytimes.com/athletic/699...

Football's newest league features eight clubs from seven nations, the first properly cross-border 'domestic' competition in the sport. Could it set a blueprint for how the game might look in years to come? 📝 @colinmillar.bsky.social 🔗 www.nytimes.com/athletic/698...

🚨MONDAY POD!🚨 @acjimbo.bsky.social, @danielstorey85.bsky.social, @colinmillar.bsky.social & Luis Miguel Echegaray on the 🎙️: 🔴Boring Carrick = exciting United 🇸🇳Crazy AFCON scenes with @mahermezahi.bsky.social 🦅Glasner lets loose with @mattwoosie.bsky.social 🫤Spurs' waste of time pod.fo/e/37b842

Bangladesh claim it is not safe for them to play in India during next month’s T20 cricket World Cup. Pakistan will already play its games in Sri Lanka instead. @colinmillar.bsky.socialexplains how the geopolitical tensions on the Indian subcontinent are threatening to overshadow the tournament.

Russia may return to international football after a four-year blanket ban from competitions. FIFA's new under-15 tournament will be "open to all" 211 of its member associations, of which the Russian Football Union remains a member. Story @theathleticfc.bsky.social www.nytimes.com/athletic/689...

🚨MONDAY POD!🚨 Join @mattdaviesadams.bsky.social, @danielstorey85.bsky.social, @colinmillar.bsky.social & Reuben Pinder after a very newsworthy weekend: 🥊Salah v Slot? 🏆Villa in the title race? 📖The weight of history for Arsenal 🦅Palace go 4th! pod.fo/e/361c18

Some tickets left for our first live show at the Southbank Centre tonight in London! Doors are at 19:15, show starts at 19:45! www.southbankcentre.co.uk/whats-on/sta...

DR Congo captain Chancel Mbemba scored a last-minute winner for his nation to beat Cameroon and has now just scored the winning penalty for DR Congo to eliminate Nigeria. Not a bad three days for the centre-back.

At least seven of the 10 most populous nations have not qualified for the 2026 World Cup. In a tournament featuring minnows like Cape Verde (population 525,000), why are so many global powers missing out on football's biggest tournament? 📝 @colinmillar.bsky.social

🚨FRIDAY POD!🚨 @acjimbo.bsky.social, @oilysailor.bsky.social, @danielstorey85.bsky.social & @colinmillar.bsky.social on international duty: 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿What's Tuchel learning? 🇵🇹Ronaldo sees red! 🇳🇬@jaydmharris.bsky.social & the Super Eagles 🇨🇼Could Curaçao qualify? 🇹🇷The Turkish betting scandal pod.fo/e/352da5

Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum has pledged to give up her premium seat for the opening match of the 2026 World Cup to a young woman who could not afford to attend. More from @colinmillar.bsky.social

Football players from Galatasaray and Besiktas are among 1,024 players suspended by the Turkish Football Federation (TFF) as part of an investigation into betting. More from @colinmillar.bsky.social

The Rwanda Football Federation (FERWAFA) has accepted three top clubs from Sudan, where there is an ongoing civil war, into its domestic league for the 2025-26 season. More from @colinmillar.bsky.social ⤵️ www.nytimes.com/athletic/674...

Don't ignore what is happening in Sudan, where Civil War continues. Despite everything, football continues. The top clubs from Sudan - who remarkably qualified for this year's AFCON - will play this season in Rwanda, 2,500km south. @theathleticfc.bsky.social www.nytimes.com/athletic/674...

"A club from here, for here." Meet Supra du Quebec: football's newest club and the first Canadian Premier League team from the French-speaking region. "This club will exist to serve the players of this province," says its president. Story @theathleticfc.bsky.social: www.nytimes.com/athletic/672...

"A club from here, for here." Meet Supra du Quebec: football's newest club and the first Canadian Premier League team from the French-speaking region. "This club will exist to serve the players of this province," says its president. Story @theathleticfc.bsky.social: www.nytimes.com/athletic/672...

🚨MONDAY POD!🚨 It's @mattdaviesadams.bsky.social, @danielstorey85.bsky.social, @tomwfootball.bsky.social & @colinmillar.bsky.social after a jaw-dropping weekend 😲 👿 Maguire makes it 4 defeats in a row for Liverpool 🌳 The end of Ange at Forest 🧮 How many will Haaland get? pod.fo/e/340198

San Marino are the lowest ranked of all 210 men's teams in international football. They have lost all seven World Cup qualification matches so far. This explains why they can still qualify if they (heavily) lose one more. @theathleticfc.bsky.social www.nytimes.com/athletic/671...

Cape Verde Islands, population 525k, qualify for their first World Cup on Monday if they beat Eswatini. Tickets in the 8k-seater Estádio da Várzea are gold dust. There is no online sale but 5 different sale points for tickets: the stadium, 3 petrol stations, and a bakery.

🚨 THURSDAY POD! 🚨 Try telling @acjimbo.bsky.social, @colinmillar.bsky.social, @oilysailor.bsky.social & Carl Anka there isn't plenty to get stuck into over the international break... 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Tuchel's challenges 🌍 CAF qualifying w/ @mahermezahi.bsky.social ✈️ La Liga & Serie A on tour pod.fo/e/33a50e

UEFA has approved a landmark move to allow Italian and Spanish domestic league matches to be staged abroad while reiterating its “clear opposition” to the plans, which it has granted “on an exceptional basis amid regulatory gaps at global level”. ✍️ @colinmillar.bsky.social 🔗 bit.ly/3IZCRNJ

FIFA has changed the men’s international calendar for the 2026-2030 period by merging the September and October international breaks into one. More from @colinmillar.bsky.social

United States-based female refugee soccer players from Afghanistan will not have access to FIFA-organised training camps that determine the selection process for the newly-created Afghanistan women’s refugee team. More from @colinmillar.bsky.social ⤵️

🚨 THURSDAY POD! 🚨 @acjimbo.bsky.social, @colinmillar.bsky.social, @oilysailor.bsky.social & @cdeccleshare.bsky.social get stuck into... 🏆 UCL MD1 fun and games 🔴 Another Liverpool late show ⚽️ Kane at the double 🤔 Is Mou really still box office? 🍿 Merseyside derby intrigue pod.fo/e/32cfab

Any questions? 🤔 @acjimbo.bsky.social, @oilysailor.bsky.social, @cdeccleshare.bsky.social & @colinmillar.bsky.social looking back on Tuesday & Wednesday's UCL action - and ahead to a busy weekend of Premier League football! Do you have thoughts?

UEFA have delayed deciding whether to give approval to staging of regular-season league games outside Europe, following requests from La Liga & Serie A. UEFA say stakeholders to be taken into consideration on the outcome will include fans @theathleticfc.bsky.social www.nytimes.com/athletic/661...

James Milner scored today against James Trafford, who was 2 months old when Milner scored his first Premier League goal. Brajan Gruda, who scored Brighton's second, would not be born for another 17 months. Erling Haaland was a 2-year-old. Brighton boss Fabian Hurzeler was aged 9.

The Premier League issued a reminder to clubs ahead of the season that material which could be considered ‘politically motivated’, which could include symbolism of countries in conflict, should not be permitted in stadiums. Story @theathleticfc.bsky.social: www.nytimes.com/athletic/657...

Rubén Amorim has managed Manchester United in 28 matches against current Premier League teams. He has overseen 4 wins. A win percentage rate under 14.5 percent. 2 of those wins came in his first month in charge.