GM football fans. It’s Thursday, Sept. 25 - FIFA is open to expanding the 2030 World Cup to 64 teams, Premier League fixture difficulties, and everything else you need to know. Forwarded this email? Sign up here.

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UEFA Europa League, League Stage (Sept 25): Aston Villa vs. Bologna, 20:00 BST / 15:00 ET. When these sides met in last year’s Champions League, Villa won 2-0 at Villa Park. However, Villa have not won a game in the Premier League this season and have scored just one goal in their opening five matches. Rangers vs. Genk, 20:00 BST / 15:00 ET. Although Rangers sit 11th in the Scottish Premiership, they have won their opening game in four of the past five Europa League campaigns. However, Genk are unbeaten in the past three games when meeting a team for the first time in major European competition. Lille vs. Brann, 17:45 BST / 12:45 ET. Brann are unbeaten in six matches in total, but Lille have won four games in a row at home in all competitions. These two sides have never met in a competitive outing before. See every remaining Europa League fixture here.

Results…

FIFA is reportedly open to expanding the men’s World Cup to a 64-team tournament in 2030. It follows a formal pitch made to Fifa by football executives from CONMEBOL, South America’s governing body, to celebrate the centenary of the competition. One source, unverified, claims that Fifa is sceptical about whether expanding the tournament again is a viable proposition.

Expansion would represent an increase from the 48 teams competing in next year’s tournament, which is already a rise from the 38-nation format that has been in place since 1998. CONMEBOL is lobbying to further enlarge the tournament in a move that would likely guarantee a qualification spot for all 10 of the continent's member nations.

The proposal has drawn opposition. Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin believes that expansion would be damaging to the tournament and would reduce jeopardy in the qualification stage. If Fifa approves the move, it would create a tournament of 128 matches, double the number that was played from 1998 through 2022.

The 2030 edition of the World Cup will be played across six host nations and spread across three continents—read more here.

Crystal Palace, who are currently on a 17-game unbeaten run in all competitions, have the hardest next five fixtures in the Premier League, according to Opta’s fixture difficulty ratings. Winless Aston Villa have the third-hardest upcoming fixtures, with matches against Tottenham (A), Manchester City (H), and Liverpool (A) among them. See the full fixture difficulty list here.

League leaders Liverpool once again have the fifth-toughest set of fixtures, while second-place Arsenal face the third-easiest fixtures after having had the third-hardest fixtures in their opening five matches. While Arsenal and Spurs have relatively kind schedules, the Gunners have a trip to Newcastle this weekend, and Spurs host Chelsea in five games’ time. Meanwhile, City will be confident of potentially taking maximum points from a run of Burnley (H), Brentford (A), Everton (H), Villa (A), and Bournemouth (H).

Notably, the teams with the toughest fixtures at the start of the season have performed relatively well. The seven clubs deemed to have the hardest fixtures have all taken at least seven points from their opening five games, placing them 12th or higher in the league (see table).

The United Soccer League (USL) has attracted a major investor to help develop its football league pyramid system, aiming to rival Major League Soccer (MLS). The investment comes from BellTower Partners, a firm run by former Carlyle Group CEO Kewsong Lee.

Earlier this year, the USL announced plans to launch a new US men’s league with first-division sanctioning in 2027, thus becoming the second such league in the country, alongside MLS. The USL already operates three men’s leagues, and the addition of a tier-one league will enable the organisation to become the first sports league of any type in the United States to implement a promotion and relegation system. Dive deeper into how this move will compete against the MLS here.

The USL is not disclosing the size of the investment, the size of the equity stake, or the current valuation of the USL used for the purposes of the investment.

> Wayne Rooney said his wife Coleen saved his life after admitting to “massively struggling” with alcohol during his playing career (More)

> Hugo Ekitike will miss Liverpool’s league match against Crystal Palace after receiving a second yellow for taking his shirt off in celebration against Southampton in the EFL Cup (More) | Tottenham have sold a 3.4% stake in the club worth around £100m to billionaire Michael Ashcroft (More)

> Leeds United and Everton reached an out-of-court settlement in connection with the latter’s breach of profit and sustainability rules during the 2021-22 season earlier this year (More)

> Dutch goalkeeper Tim Krul, 37, has announced his retirement from professional football (More); Watch Krul discuss his legendary substitution in the 2014 World Cup (More)

> MLS fixtures New York City vs. Inter Miami & Vancouver vs. Portland to conclude shortly after publication (Live Results)

> USL Championship’s Colorado Springs Switchbacks vs. New Mexico United will conclude shortly after publication (Live Results)

> Pyramids forward Fiston Mayele scored a hat-trick to lead his side to the African-Asian-Pacific Cup title, following a 3-1 win over AFC Champions League winners Al Ahli (More)

> Former Macarthur Bulls players Clayton Lewis and Kearyn Baccus have been ordered to pay fines of A$10,000 ($6,600) but avoided convictions for their part in a betting scandal in the A-League (More)

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Yesterday’s Poll: Do you celebrate a dive that earns your team a penalty?

🟨 🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ 🎉 Yes (13%)

🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🙅‍♂️ Nope (84%)

🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ✍️ Other (3%)

Your punditry takes:

The worst miss you’ll see all week.

Which fathers and sons have scored hat-tricks for the same team?

Dortmund's apology for 'mocking' an influencer was not accepted.

PSG players welcome Dembele back after Ballon d’Or win.

Keane, Richards and Carragher play who’s most likely.

Dive deeper into Crystal Palace’s 17-game unbeaten run.

Croatian fourth-tier football has a great atmosphere.

Question: Ten players in history have won the World Cup, Champions League/European Cup, and Ballon d’Or. How many can you name?

Scroll below for the answer.

UEFA Europa League

La Liga

Coppa Italia

*All times in UK. ET -5. CDT -6. PDT -8. MDT -7. CET +1.

Answer

Ousmane Dembele. Lionel Messi. Kaka. Ronaldinho. Rivaldo. Zinedine Zidane. Paolo Rossi. Franz Beckenbauer. Gerd Muller. Bobby Charlton.

Daily Wordle: Guess the football-related word, from player names to classic phrases, in six tries or fewer. Play it here.