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GM football fans. It’s Monday, Mar. 2 - FIFA held crisis talks over Iran’s participation at the 2026 World Cup, football’s lawmakers have confirmed the new laws that will be brought in, and everything else you need to know. Forwarded this email? Sign up here.
KEY FIXTURE
Championship: Birmingham City vs. Middlesbrough, 20:00 GMT / 15:00 ET. Middlesbrough, now eight points behind Championship leaders Coventry City with a game spare, have won their last four away league games against the home side. Birmingham have also lost 11 of their last 15 league games against Middlesbrough, though no Championship side has lost fewer home league games than Birmingham this season (1). See the Championship table here.
Results…
Premier League: Arsenal 2-1 Chelsea | Man United 2-1 Palace | Fulham 2-1 Tottenham | Brighton 2-1 Forest | B’mouth 1-1 Sunderland | Burnley 3-4 Brentford | Liverpool 5-2 West Ham | Newcastle 2-3 Everton | Leeds 0-1 Man City (Table)
La Liga: Barcelona 4-1 Villarreal (Table)
Bundesliga: Borussia Dortmund 2-3 Bayern Munich (Table)
Serie A: Inter 2-0 Genoa | Cremonese 0-2 AC Milan | Como 3-1 Lecce | Verona 1-2 Napoli (Table)
Scottish Premiership: Rangers 2-2 Celtic (Table)
MLS (Results)
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TOP TALKING POINTS
FIFA Crisis Talks
FIFA have held crisis talks over the possible implications for the World Cup following the United States’ military strikes on Iran, which has qualified for the tournament and is due to play its group games in the US. The governing body’s secretary general Mattias Grafstrom said they will continue to monitor the situation, but the aim is to ensure a “safe World Cup with all the teams participating.”
The president of the Iranian Football Federation Mehdi Taj reportedly told local news that “with that attack by the United States, it is unlikely that we can look forward to the World Cup, but the sports chiefs are the ones who must decide on that.” While FIfa still expects Iran to compete, if they pull out, another Asian team (likely Iraq or UAE) would replace them.
The head of the White House World Cup task force, Andrew Giuliani, replied to President Donald Trump’s post on X, referencing the death of Iranian leader Ayatollah Khamenei, saying: “We’ll deal with soccer games tomorrow — tonight we celebrate [the Iranian people's] opportunity for freedom.” Iranian nationals are already prohibited from travelling to the US under Trump’s travel ban, though an exemption applies to athletes, coaches, and their immediate families.
New Laws Confirmed
Football’s lawmakers, the International Football Association Board (Ifab), approved a package of measures aimed at speeding up the pace of matches and cracking down on time-wasting. The changes, agreed at Ifab’s annual general meeting on Saturday, will take effect from July 1 but can be enforced as early as the 2026 World Cup.
Specifically, the extension of the countdown principle to throw-ins and goal kicks is one of the most significant new rules. If a referee considers that either action is taking too long, they can initiate a five-second visual countdown, with throw-ins awarded the other way and delayed goal kicks punished with a corner. In addition, players being substituted will have 10 seconds to leave the pitch, or the player waiting will have to wait one minute, and players who leave the pitch due to injury must remain off for one minute.
The new laws will also extend VAR’s powers. VAR will now be able to intervene with red cards resulting from an incorrect second yellow, cases of mistaken identity, and corner kicks that have been awarded in error.
Ifab also confirmed its intention to punish any player who covers their mouth when speaking to an opponent. The proposed rule follows Benfica’s Gianluca Prestianni’s alleged racial abuse of Real Madrid’s Vinicius Junior. It’s not yet clear whether the punishment will be a yellow or red card offence or whether issues will be dealt with retrospectively, though Fifa’s president Gianni Infantino argued that it should be a red card offence.
Prem-flix Confirmed
The Premier League will launch its own Netflix-style streaming service in Singapore next season, allowing users to watch all 380 matches. Known as Premier League Plus, the new app will be launched before next season and will be the first time match coverage is sold directly to consumers. The league’s chief executive Richard Masters said that “if it goes well, it may be replicated” in other markets.
This is a major departure from the traditional way Premier League games have been broadcast, with rights packages sold to broadcasters. Currently, the French top-flight Ligue 1 is the only major European league with its own direct-to-consumer model, and it reported having one million subscribers paying €9.99–€15/month in September.
Some analysts told the Financial Times that south-east Asia was such a hotbed of piracy that the Premier League is looking to bring some of that illicit viewing back onside by offering the right price and product. Another theory is that the English top-flight is simply using this to increase its bargaining power with broadcasters during future rights negotiations.
POLL
Is it right for domestic leagues to cancel matches when clubs are playing in the Champions League? (Relates to PSG story in On the Ball)
ON THE BALL
Europe
> Ligue 1 has postponed Paris Saint-Germain’s league match against Nantes to allow Luis Enrique’s side “to prepare in the best possible conditions” to face Chelsea in the Champions League (More)
> Harry Kane said he is targeting Robert Lewandowski's Bundesliga record of 41 goals in a season (he’s on 30) after scoring another two in Bayern Munich's 3-2 win over Borussia Dortmund (More)
> Coventry City scored in the 94th minute to beat Stoke City 2-1 and maintain their eight-point lead at the top of the Championship (More); see the Championship table (More)
> Celtic scored in stoppage time to draw 2-2 with Rangers in the Old Firm derby, extending Hearts’ lead at the top of the Scottish Premiership to six points (Match Report); see the Scottish Premiership table (More)
> Inter Milan are 10 points clear at the top of Serie A with a 2-0 home win over Genoa (More)
Americas
> Thomas Muller scored twice as Vancouver Whitecaps beat Toronto FC 3-0 as they win both their opening MLS fixtures (More); see every result (More) and conference standings (More)
> The opening SheBelieves Cup matches — Canada vs. Colombia & USWNT vs. Argentina — will conclude shortly after publication; see live results (More)
> Former Manchester United midfielder Jesse Lingard has verbally agreed to join Brazil Serie A side Corinthians on a one-year deal (More)
Rest of the World
> The Asian Football Confederation has postponed continental club championship play-offs scheduled in the Middle East this week after the attacks on Iran (More)
> Sam Kerr celebrated her first international goal in 28 months as Australia kicked off their home Women's Asian Cup with a 1-0 win over the Philippines (More)
ROUTERS’ VOICE
Friday’s Poll: Should there be stricter money rules in European football?
🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 👍 Yes (82%)
🟨 🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ 🙅♂️ Nope (16%)
🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ✍️ Other (2%)
Your punditry takes:
👍 G.M: “Seems like everyone is spending money like it is water. I know that to win the big prizes, you need top players, but where is it going to end? Higher ticket prices and higher merchandise costs. So when it boils down to it, the supporters pay, pay, and pay again.”
👍 K.C: “Right now, most clubs do not have a financially viable business model. European football is kept afloat by wealthy backers. Whenever they choose to stop propping up the game, most clubs won’t survive. Stricter money rules will force all teams to find a profitable way of operating.”
🙅♂️ C.P: “Stricter, definitely not. If anything, it needs to be less restrictive. The way it is set up right now is that everything is geared toward the big clubs, and it will forever hold back mid-tier teams who want to push up into the European spots consistently. All it looks at is revenue. However, there are so many good operating clubs that have no debt structure and owners with plenty of funds that aren’t allowed to challenge the big clubs. Debt ratios of some kind need to be considered, too! Not just PSR and SCR calculations.”
EXTRA TIME
A centre-back scores a Messi-esque solo goal.
Meet the women's team who defied a football ban.
Is this the save of the season?
Arsenal fans to celebrate St Totteringham’s Day early.
The argument for women’s football switching to a summer season.
Snoop Dogg’s post-match team talk to Swansea City players.
GAME FACE ON
Question: What do the following players have in common?
Cristiano Ronaldo, Iker Casillas, Lionel Messi, Thomas Muller, Manuel Neuer, Karim Benzema, Toni Kroos, and Xavi.
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.
Man City will win the title!
Answer
They are the only players with more than 150 Champions League appearances.
