7 hours ago
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Key events
So, Spain open against Cape Verde. Come with us and get to know more about their Group H rivals, the Blue Sharks.
Spain are the narrow World Cup favourites ahead of France. So drawing 1-1 with Iraq last night in their final friendly before setting off for the finals was something of a surprise of first glance. Sid Lowe was at Estadio Riazor and explains that there’s nothing to panic about given that the Spanish fielded a team that will bare no resemblance to the one that starts their World Cup opener against Cape Verde on 15 June.
Bruno Fernandes certainly deserves his place on that PFA list. But will he still be at Old Trafford next season?
PFA awards shortlists revealed
The shortlists for the Men’s and Women’s PFA players’ awards have been revealed. Arsenal’s Premier League-winning trio of Declan Rice, Gabriel and David Raya all feature while Bunny Shaw and Yui Hasegawa have both been nominated for the Women’s Player of the Year award after helping Manchester City to title glory.
Men’s Players’ Player of the Year nominations
Rayan Cherki (Man City)
Bruno Fernandes (Man Utd)
Erling Haaland (Man City)
Gabriel (Arsenal)
David Raya (Arsenal)
Declan Rice (Arsenal)
Women’s Players’ Player of the Year nominations
Kirsty Hanson (Aston Villa)
Yui Hasegawa (Man City)
Lauren James (Chelsea)
Jess Park (Man Utd)
Alessia Russo (Arsenal)
Bunny Shaw (Man City)
England can qualify for the 2027 Women’s World Cup finals in Brazil tonight. The good news: all they have to do is avoid defeat. The bad news: they’re away to holders Spain. Tom Garry is in Mallorca to set the scene.
Time for a quick niche post. It comes courtesy of my colleague, Will Unwin.
“If you like a blast from the past, one person who was considered by Leicester for their manager’s role was the former Everton and Sunderland goalkeeper Thomas Myhre, and preliminary talks were held. The Norwegian is currently in charge of top-tier HamKam in his homeland.”
Here’s Jonathan Wilson with some tactical analysis of whether Liverpool and Andoni are a good fit. The conclusions are generally positive.
“Iraola’s style of play would seem a good fit for Liverpool. Bournemouth tend to be a good side to watch, their football progressive and dynamic, with none of the passivity that came to characterise Slot’s Liverpool at their worst. The 4-2-3-1 shape Iraola has tended to favour would seem to fit with at least some of Liverpool’s thinking over the past year. Florian Wirtz should thrive in the central creative role largely occupied by Eli Junior Kroupi this season. The full-backs are attacking, as Bournemouth’s have been; for Milos Kerkez, who recovered towards the end of the season after a difficult start at Liverpool, this will be a reunion with Iraola, a coach to whom he felt so well disposed at Bournemouth that he celebrated an assist against Tottenham by running to the technical area to acknowledge his role in the goal.”
Will Andoni Iraola prove a hit at Liverpool? The appointment seems to have gone down extremely well with Reds fans, especially this line from the new boss: “For me, football is about emotions. About passion.”
First up, here’s Andy Hunter’s story of the 43-year-old Spaniard putting pen to paper at Anfield.
Who will England have to beat to win their first World Cup on foreign soil? The Opta supercomputer crunches the numbers. Warning: the path is not easy.
Bracketology! In past World Cups, a pencil and eraser on a wallchart was the only option to work out England’s most likely stage of elimination. But humans evolve. And now we have this tremendous piece of technology: a clickable online bracket. If they top their groups, can Spain and France (the two favourites) meet in the final? Touch and drag to find out!
Next up, the wallchart. Yep, nick some blu tack off one of your kids’ wonkily-hung posters of a K-pop band and get this centre stage on the kitchen wall. Probably another one in the toilet. Elegantly designed and beautifully illustrated.
World Cup 2026: guide to all 1,248 players
There’s only one place to start. The World Cup 2026: guide to all 1,248 players is a remarkable piece of work. Doffed cap to my colleagues who worked so hard to get this ready. It’ll take you a while to wade through so let’s get going straight away. How best to digest? Up to you. For some reason, my first clicks were to see how old Luka Modric is and then get more on Spain’s Mikel Oyarzabal because he’s going to win the Golden Boot.
Preamble
Good morning! Well, it’s now less than a week away! Six days and 11 hours to be precise before the World Cup kicks off with the Group A clash between co-hosts Mexico and South Africa. We’ve got an absurd amount of analysis to hit you with as the build-up continues and that includes news of last night’s friendlies. Oh, and if you love a wallchart and an online bracket to work out when England might play Spain, we have you covered there too.
Beyond that, Andoni Iraola is in at Liverpool while there’s one of the biggest match-ups in women’s international football this evening as England take on Spain. The Lionesses will qualify for the 2027 World Cup finals in Brazil if they avoid defeat. As for England’s men, we’ll have all the latest ahead of their friendly with Chris Woods’ New Zealand on Saturday night.
“You have to say that’s magnificent!”
