This year will be just the fourth European Cup/Champions League final between teams from two different capital cities — and the first since since 1971: 1962: Benfica v Real Madrid 1966: Real Madrid v Partizan Belgrade 1971: Ajax v Panathinaikos 2026: PSG v Arsenal

Harry Kane has now scored 140 goals for Bayern Munich — exactly half the number he got for Tottenham (280).

Nobody has scored more Premier League goals for Manchester United this season than Casemiro.

Pleased that my article from last month on Lionel Messi's 900 career goals has been made into a video by the brilliant @tifofootball.bsky.social www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qd6...

#OTD in 1975 Malcolm Macdonald scored five goals for England against Cyprus in a European Championship qualifier — with four of them headers. It is the last time anyone got five in a game for England, with Macdonald scoring just six goals overall in his international career.

Harry Kane has now scored 50 club goals this season — a superb achievement that has come in just 42 games. I've broken his feat down and placed it in an historical context: how many other Englishmen have done it? What's the world record? Free to read: www.nytimes.com/athletic/718...

Kylian Mbappé is now exactly halfway to Cristiano Ronaldo’s all-time European Cup/Champions League goals record (70 vs 140).

Could Kylian Mbappé break Cristiano Ronaldo's record for the most goals in a European Cup/Champions League season? He needs to score four more to overhaul his Real Madrid predecessor, so I've explored the numbers behind their two amazing campaigns here: www.nytimes.com/athletic/719...

Casemiro has scored more Premier League goals than Erling Haaland in 2026 (four vs three).

That was the first goal Harry Kane has ever scored from outside the box in the Champions League.

The 2026 World Cup will be the first in which four of the countries competing lie on the equator: Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador and DR Congo

Italy are the first former champions to ever miss three World Cups in a row.

More than 20% of the people in the world were not alive when Italy last played at the World Cup.

The defeat by Japan means that England have now lost to a country from every continent. First loss to a country from: Europe: Scotland in 1874 North America: USA in 1950 South America: Uruguay in 1953 Oceania: Australia in 2003 Africa: Senegal in 2025 Asia: Japan in 2026 🆕

Jordan Henderson tonight becomes just the fourth man to have had an England career last longer than 15 years: Stanley Matthews: 22 years & 229 days Peter Shilton: 19 years & 225 days Wayne Rooney: 15 years & 277 days Jordan Henderson: 15 years & 131 days

Uruguay are one of just three countries that England have lost to more often than they have beaten: Brazil 🇧🇷: Won 4, Lost 12 Uruguay 🇺🇾: Won 3, Lost 5 Italy 🇮🇹: Won 10, Lost 11 #ENGvsURU

Roy Hodgson was born closer in time to the invention of the Periodic Table than the present day.

The 1986 World Cup will remain the most recent in which three teams from the United Kingdom competed.

Albania’s defeat means that Algeria will remain the country from the earliest in the alphabet to ever play at the World Cup.

Robert Lewandowski has now scored 89 times for Poland, leaving Cristiano Ronaldo as the only European man to have ever scored more international goals: Cristiano Ronaldo (🇵🇹): 143 Robert Lewandowski (🇵🇱): 89 Romelu Lukaku ( 🇧🇪): 89 Ferenc Puskás (🇭🇺): 84 Harry Kane (🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿): 78

Here's my look at the 22 teams battling for the last six spots at this summer's World Cup, with five having never played at the tournament before and one hoping to become the side from the earliest in the alphabet to ever qualify:

Mohamed Salah has scored more goals for Liverpool than anyone has ever scored for any of Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea, Leeds, Newcastle, Aston Villa, Milan, Borussia Dortmund, Atletico Madrid, Napoli, Lazio, Marseille, Feyenoord, Fiorentina, Sevilla and Valencia.

Pep Guardiola has now won the English League Cup more times than Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsène Wenger combined (five vs four).

Tottenham have gone 13 games without winning in the league for the first time since driving tests were made compulsory in the UK.

I've explored the numbers behind Lionel Messi's 900 career goals — looking at his best scoring streaks, favourite opponents and 'keepers, the goals he's scored with his chest, hand and hip and how he compares to both Cristiano Ronaldo and Kevin Nolan: www.nytimes.com/athletic/684...

If he plays this month Jason Steele will become England’s oldest debutant since Leslie Compton in 1950.

I've explored the numbers behind Lionel Messi's 900 career goals — looking at his best scoring streaks, favourite opponents and 'keepers, the goals he's scored with his chest, hand and hip and how he compares to both Cristiano Ronaldo and Kevin Nolan: www.nytimes.com/athletic/684...

Lionel Messi has scored the 900th goal of his career, reaching the landmark against Nashville SC. He has scored the most goals against Sevilla (38 times). There are 46 clubs and countries that Messi has only scored once against - including Portugal, Cadiz, and the United States.

The last of two first-class cricket matches in the 1880s between Smokers v Non-Smokers got underway #OTD in 1887 in Melbourne. The match was drawn with the captain of the Non-Smokers, Arthur Shrewsbury, hitting the top score (236 in the 1st innings). 🏏 www.espncricinfo.com/series/other...

Premier League assists in 2026: Bruno Fernandes: Nine All 26 Tottenham players combined: Nine

#OTD in 1892, Aston Villa became the first side to score 12 goals in an English top-flight game. It's happened just twice since, with one of them occurring 23 days later: Mar 12, 1892: Aston Villa 12-2 Accrington Apr 4, 1892: WBA 12-0 Darwen Apr 21, 1909: N Forest 12-0 Leicester

Mohamed Salah has now scored more goals for Liverpool than anyone has ever scored for Manchester United.

Tottenham's last relegation is closer in time to the Wall Street Crash than it is to today.

Saturday: Everton's Jarrad Branthwaite scores for first time since Apr 2024 with his previous goal coming at home against Liverpool in the PL Tuesday: Everton's James Tarkowski scores for first time since Feb 2025 with his previous goal coming at home against Liverpool in the PL

Enjoyed going on @bbc5live.bsky.social Breakfast this morning to talk about the World Cup, which gets under way in 100 days. Starts at 2:49:18: www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

Luka Modrić made his Croatia debut #OTD in 2006. He has played 194 games for his country overall, with Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo (226) the only European man with more international caps. Modrić has played in 52 per cent of Croatia's matches since independence from Yugoslavia.

Following the conclusion of their Champions League last-16 tie next month, Real Madrid and Manchester City will have played each other 13 times in the 2020s.

Bayern Munich and The Labour Party (UK) were both founded on this day in 1900. #OTD

James Milner has made more Premier League appearances than anyone else. But do you know he's played fewer minutes than Sylvain Distin? @willjeanes.bsky.social looks at the numbers behind Milner's 654. 🔗 www.nytimes.com/athletic/702...

I've taken a detailed look at James Milner's record-breaking Premier League career: 1⃣ How the appearance record has changed hands 🧮 The men he has played with and against the most 🤔 Could any current players break his record? Rice? Pickford? Free to read: www.nytimes.com/athletic/702...

Jimmy Greaves, arguably the greatest goalscorer in the history of English football, was born #OTD in 1940. He is the all-time top scorer in the English top flight with 357 goals and his six hat-tricks for the England national team is more than anyone else.

🔴 Arsenal since 1919-20 🔵 Everton since 1954-55 🔴 Liverpool since 1962-63 With Tottenham close to the relegation zone, I've taken a look at how long each current Premier League team has been in the top flight and when they were last relegated from it (free to read): www.nytimes.com/athletic/703...

England have scored 13 goals in a game on two occasions, with both happening on February 18: February 18, 1882: 13-0 v Ireland February 18, 1899: 13-2 v Ireland Howard Vaughton (who was on debut) became the first England player to score five goals in a game in the 1882 match.

Here's my piece on Harry Kane's 500 career goals — an incredible achievement that began at Leyton Orient in January 2011 and was reached on Saturday in Bremen for Bayern Munich: www.nytimes.com/athletic/700...

Here's my piece on Harry Kane's 500 career goals — an incredible achievement that began at Leyton Orient in January 2011 and was reached on Saturday in Bremen for Bayern Munich: www.nytimes.com/athletic/700...

If Keir Starmer is replaced as prime minister there will have already been more UK PMs in the 2020s than there were in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s combined.

I've come up with 41 stats & facts about Cristiano Ronaldo to mark his birthday this week: ⚽️ More career goals than Henry, Del Piero & Rashford combined 🇵🇹 Played in 32% of games in Portugal's history 🌕 One team-mate born before humans walked on moon www.nytimes.com/athletic/701...

Games between Real Madrid and Benfica in the European Cup/Champions League from 1955 to 2025: Three Games between Real Madrid and Benfica in the European Cup/Champions League in the first two months of 2026: Three

On this day in 1986, England beat Egypt 4-0 in a friendly in Cairo — with the match the last time England played in the month of January. The two captains — Ray Wilkins and Moustafa Abdou — held up a double portrait of Prince Charles and Princess Diana. #OTD

In the first 70 years of the European Cup/Champions League, just two players scored 20+ goals for two different clubs: Neymar & Cristiano Ronaldo In the last five months, three more players have joined this list: Harry Kane, Robert Lewandowski & Kylian Mbappé