GM football fans. It’s Thursday, Dec. 4 - The deadline to release Afcon players has been extended, Fifa will remove dynamic pricing for some sets of World Cup tickets, and everything else you need to know. Forwarded this email? Sign up here.
KEY FIXTURES
Premier League MD14 (Dec 4): Manchester United vs. West Ham United, 20:00 GMT / 15:00 ET. Man United have lost nine of their last 14 Premier League matches in December (W4 D1), including the last three without scoring. Although West Ham won this exact fixture 2-0 last season, they had been on a 16-game winless run away against United in the top flight prior to that, and they’ve not won consecutive league visits to Old Trafford since 1934. See the Premier League table here.
Results…
Premier League: Arsenal 2-0 Brentford | Brighton 3-4 Villa | Burnley 0-1 Palace | Wolves 0-1 Forest | Leeds 3-1 Chelsea | Liverpool 1-1 Sunderland
La Liga: Athletic Club 0-3 Real Madrid (Table)
Scottish Premiership: Aberdeen 3-3 St Mirren | Celtic 1-0 Dundee | Dundee United 2-2 Rangers | Falkirk 0-0 Motherwell | Hearts 1-1 Kilmarnock (Table)
Liga MX Apertura semi-finals: Cruz Azul vs. Tigres UANL & Monterrey vs. Toluca to conclude shortly after publication (Live Result)
TOP TALKING POINTS
AFCON Deadline Moved
The mandatory release date for clubs to allow all players competing at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) has been pushed back to 15 December. Players had previously been expected to join up with their teams beginning from 8 December, but the new date will now allow for players across Europe's major leagues to take part in matches on 13-14 December.
Teams competing in Afcon will have less than a week to prepare once all players are available. Fifa said the new date was agreed with the Confederation of African Football (CAF) and other stakeholders to “reduce the impact on various parties.”
Of Premier League clubs, Sunderland will be the worst-affected team, with seven players due to depart. The majority of them are first-team regulars, with 50 Premier League appearances between them this season. Wolves, currently bottom of the league table, are expecting to lose five players. Arsenal, Chelsea, and Leeds do not have any players due to play in the 2025 Afcon. See how every team is impacted here.
In the UK, Channel 4 will broadcast Afcon free-to-air for the first time, while beIN Sports USA will show the tournament in the United States.
Dynamic Pricing Retracted
FIFA has backed away from using dynamic pricing for all 2026 World Cup tickets amid concerns about the cost of attending the tournament. The governing body says it will instead ringfence fixed-price allocations, insisting the shift aligns with its original ticketing plan. This World Cup is the first in which variable pricing was introduced.
There will be a sales window after the draw from 11 December to 13 January, when ticket applications will be based on a fixed price for those buying in the random selection draw. "Fifa can confirm ringfenced allocations are being set aside for specific fan categories, as has been the case at previous Fifa World Cups. These allocations will be set at a fixed price for the duration of the next ticket sales phase,” Fifa said in a statement.
The announcement comes ahead of Friday’s tournament draw in Washington DC when fans will know exactly where and when their teams will be playing next summer. Read everything you need to know about the draw here.
Mbappe Closes Gap
Kylian Mbappe is now just four goals away from matching Cristiano Ronaldo’s best-ever tally of 59 goals in a calendar year for Real Madrid. Three of their remaining four matches of the year are at home, including Manchester City in the Champions League, and the league fixtures are against teams currently sitting below 12th in the Spanish top flight. Dive deeper into Ronaldo’s highest scoring seasons here.
The Frenchman scored twice and assisted in Real’s 3-0 away win at Athletic Club, leaving his side just a point off La Liga leaders Barcelona. It was Real’s first league win in over a month, having drawn their previous matches against Girona, Elche, and Rayo Vallecano.
Mbappe now leads the race for the European Golden Boot (see list here) with 16 goals, one ahead of Erling Haaland and two clear of Harry Kane. He is also the Champions League’s top scorer with 9, and his 16 La Liga goals are double that of the three players currently tied for second.
POLL
Will you be watching AFCON this year?
ON THE BALL
Europe
> The BBC has denied a report that it will not send TV pundits and commentators to North America for the 2026 World Cup until the quarter-final stage (More)
> Celtic have named Wilfried Nancy as the club's new manager from MLS side Columbus Crew on a two-and-a-half-year deal (More); read more on Nancy’s rise and managerial style (More)
> Germany have been confirmed as the host for the 2029 Women’s European Championship in a three-candidate contest for the bid (More)
> The Women’s Super League has received an investment proposal, but believes accepting external capital would be premature (More)
> Strasbourg suspended striker Emmanuel Emegha, who will join Chelsea in 2026, for one game for not respecting “the values, expectations and rules” of the Ligue 1 club (More)
Americas
> American disco group Village People, who sing Y.M.C.A., and British singer Robbie Williams are among the artists set to perform at Friday's World Cup draw in Washington, DC (More)
> NWSL’s Washington Spirit have named Haley Carter as their new president of soccer operations, joining from the Orlando Pride (More); Carter said her “top priority” is resigning forward Trinity Rodman (More)
Rest of the World
> The ASEAN Club Championship is back for the 2025-26 campaign after a successful return following a 20-year hiatus; everything there is to know (More)
ROUTERS’ VOICE
Yesterday’s Poll: Do you enjoy mid-week Premier League matches?
🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🤩 Absolutely (85%)
🟨 🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ 🙅♂️ Nope (13%)
🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ✍️ Other (2%)
Your punditry takes:
🤩 D.W: “Midweek games under the floodlights are always great experiences. The only thing I would ask is for all kick-off times to revert back to 19:30 (UK) as some fans have to travel a long way home, very late at night.”
🤩 K.C: “It's a nice break from all the weekend matches–and it gives some of us that respite from their 9 to 5 jobs during the week.”
🙅♂️ J.G: “I understand that it's perfect for fans in England, and is probably similar to how we feel about Monday Night or Sunday Night Football, but for fans globally who work or should be sleeping during those hours, it's quite annoying.”
🙅♂️ S.P.C: “As a regular match-going fan, I have had to miss most of the midweek away games in the past few seasons. Last night, Spurs were away at Newcastle, and I’m betting there were lots of Spurs fans who couldn’t make that game. They just don’t care about us match-going fans.”
✍️ J.R: “I do enjoy it. Any day with a match is a good day. However, the players need a break. These guys are being abused for dollars. Top table teams are playing league games, Champions League games, cup games, and some of the players are additionally playing for international teams. This would have been a good week to give them a rest.”
EXTRA TIME
Lego will launch a 2,842-piece World Cup trophy.
How Haaland set the Premier League's 100-goal record.
London City Lionesses launch holographic third kit.
Dan Burn will play the Genie in Aladdin in a local pantomime.
Every Lionel Messi vs Thomas Muller meeting, ranked.
One thing to know about every World Cup team pre-draw.
What leagues have a winter break and when are they?
GAME FACE ON
Question: Erling Haaland just became the fastest player to reach 100 Premier League goals. Can you rank the following players from fewest to most matches taken to hit 100 goals in the English top flight?
Sergio Aguero. Alan Shearer. Thierry Henry. Ian Wright. Mohamed Salah. Harry Kane.
Scroll below for the answer.
Daily Wordle: Guess the football-related word, from player names to classic phrases, in six tries or fewer. Play it here.
If you have soup every day, it’s nice. But as soon as you have beef, you want more beef.
Answer
Alan Shearer - 124 games. Harry Kane - 141 games. Sergio Ageuro - 147 games. Thierry Henry - 160 games. Mohamed Salah - 162 games. Ian Wright - 173 games.
