GM football fans. It’s Wednesday, Sept. 24 - FIFA received human rights complaints during the Club World Cup, Europa League projections, and everything else you need to know. Forwarded this email? Sign up here.
KEY FIXTURES
EFL Cup, 3rd Round: Huddersfield vs. Manchester City, 19:45 BST / 14:45 ET. Huddersfield have defeated Leicester City and Sunderland to progress, and have won five, drawn one, and lost three of their nine League One fixtures. City have had a mixed start to the season, recording three wins, one draw and two defeats. Tottenham vs. Doncaster, 19:45 BST / 14:45 ET. Spurs have won four of their last six in all competitions (1D 1L) under Thomas Frank. Having won five straight matches in all competitions at the start of the season, Doncaster have have now lost back-to-back matches in their most recent outings. Port Vale vs. Arsenal, 20:00 BST / 15:00 ET. Arsenal have not won this competition since 1993, while this is Port Vale’s second third-round appearance in three years after a noteworthy quarter-final run in 2023-24. Port Vale’s last victory against the Gunners came in 1901, when Arsenal were still prefixed with Woolwich.
Results…
EFL Cup, 3rd Round: Liverpool 2-1 Southampton | Lincoln 1-2 Chelsea | Barnsley 0-6 Brighton | Fulham 1-0 Cambridge Utd | Wolves 2-0 Everton | Wrexham 2-0 Reading | Burnley 1-2 Cardiff | Wigan 0-2 Wycombe
La Liga: Levante 1-4 Real Madrid | Athletic Club 1-1 Girona | Espanyol 2-2 Valencia | Sevilla 1-2 Villarreal (Table)
Coppa Italia, 2nd Round: Cagliari 4-1 Frosinone | Udinese 2-1 Palermo | AC Milan 3-0 Lecce
Scottish Premiership: Dundee 2-0 Aberdeen | Falkirk 2-2 Hibernian (Table)
TOP TALKING POINTS
Club WC Human Rights Complaints
FIFA received 148 reports relating to human rights concerns at the Club World Cup in the United States, despite the governing body’s president Gianni Infantino claiming the tournament passed with “not one single incident.” The complaints were submitted by fans through the governing body’s own reporting portal.
The largest category of complaints, 37 cases, concerned government policies, including alleged sightings of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers at stadiums. The second-most common category, which led to 25 investigations, related to extreme heat during mid-day and afternoon matches. Fans reported long lines at limited water fountains and high prices for bottled water. Around 20 complaints focused on discrimination and accessibility.
Separately, preparations for next summer’s World Cup in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico are stepping up. Police departments in cities like Kansas City, Dallas, and Santa Clara are implementing policies that prevent officers from taking vacation during the tournament to ensure adequate staffing.
Europa League Projections
The 2025-26 Europa League kicks off on Wednesday (Sept 24) with the first nine league-phase matches, followed by the remaining nine on Thursday. See every fixture here.
Aston Villa are 23% favourites to win the competition and have a 72% chance of reaching the quarter-finals, according to Opta’s prediction model. The other Premier League representative, Nottingham Forest, are third favourites with a 10.2% chance, behind Serie A’s Roma (13%). Lille, who automatically qualified for the last 16 of the Champions League last season after finishing seventh in the league phase, are given an 8% chance.
Lyon, Feyenoord, Bologna, and Porto are also expected to join the aforementioned teams in automatically qualifying for the round of 16. Lyon, in particular, are projected to finish second in the league phase, largely because they were handed one of the ‘easiest’ fixture sets—see the fixture difficulty ratings here.
National Team Bribery
The president of the Afghanistan Football Federation (AFF) has been accused of demanding a $10,000 bribe to secure a spot for a player on the national team. In leaked recordings, the president, Mohammad Yousef Kargar, is heard discussing how to transfer the payment with the brother of Nesar Ahmad Mohmand, who was being considered for a spot in the squad.
“Once it arrives on Saturday, I will inform the coach, and then he can proceed with the arrangements,” Kargar says in one recording made public. “We will say that $10,000 was donated to the national team,” he says in another. Kargar has denied the allegations, claiming the recordings are “conspiracies and fabrications,” though he acknowledged that the voice on the tapes is his.
Kargar insisted that the discussion was about sponsorship, not bribery, and said he rejected the proposal to select Mohmand in exchange for money, stressing that only the coach can decide on call-ups. Kargar has faced controversy before: he previously denied accusations of match-fixing relating to two games during an international tournament in Malaysia in 2008.
POLL
Do you celebrate a dive that earns your team a penalty?
ON THE BALL
Europe
> Barcelona have not been granted to use the renovated Camp Nou for Sunday’s match against Real Sociedad due to safety concerns (More); see the latest images of the stadium (Watch) | Atletico manager Diego Simeone has been charged by Uefa after an altercation with Liverpool fans at Anfield in their opening Champions League fixture (More)
> The EFL Board is considering expanding the Championship play-offs to include the teams finishing seventh and eighth, with widespread backing from club executives (More)
> Aston Villa's president of football operations Monchi is poised to leave the club after a winless start to the season (More)
> The Women's League Cup group phase begins on Wednesday (Sept 24); see every fixture (More)
Americas
> Former Brazil midfielder Anderson has reportedly been ordered to serve prison time over failing to pay child support for his nine children (More)
> Former Inter Miami player Mateusz Klich claims the club has become a “disaster” for players and coaching staff as Lionel Messi’s father "basically runs the club” (More)
> MLS mid-week fixtures between New York City and Inter Miami & Vancouver and Portland kick-off on Wednesday (Sept 24) (More)
> USL Championship mid-week fixture between Colorado Springs Switchbacks and New Mexico United will kick off at 21:00 ET on Wednesday (Sept 24) (More)
Rest of the World
> South Africa's leading position in their World Cup qualifying group is at risk because they fielded an ineligible player, Teboho Mokoena, in a win against Lesotho (More)
ROUTERS’ VOICE
Yesterday’s Poll: Does a team need to play attractive football to be considered successful?
🟨 🟨 🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ 👍 Yes... (31%)
🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🙅♂️ Nope (68%)
🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ✍️ Other (1%)
Your punditry takes:
👍 M.H.S: “It’s the ‘beautiful game’, if it’s played properly. I believe the grace, the intelligence, the skill, the technique and the artistry mean something as much or more than just pure victory. You can be great and indomitable yet still be poetry in motion and grace personified. I.e., Wayne Gretzky, Lionel Messi, and Muhammad Ali.”
🙅♂️ D.J: “Attractive football is a nice to have, but not the measure of success. A successful team wins matches, and you win matches by scoring goals. It doesn't matter how you score them, as long as you score them. A team playing 'attractive' football that doesn't score goals has problems, and anyone criticising a team that's playing 'ugly' football but still winning games probably needs a new hobby.”
🙅♂️ J.P: “Teams need to win matches and trophies to be considered successful. Doesn’t matter how you win if it’s pretty or not, a win is a win and the only stat that matters is the score.”
EXTRA TIME
English football records you might not know. (short video)
The best way to secure a hat-trick. (US link)
How Demebele finally lived up to his potential.
… and he joins an elite list of nine other players.
The story of how Berlusconi turned AC Milan into a superpower.
ESPN updates its MLS power rankings.
How Chelsea’s tactics have evolved. (video)
Sydney FC launch new kit ahead of A-League’s restart.
GAME FACE ON
Question: Name the top five American players with the most Premier League appearances?
Scroll below for the answer.
ON TODAY
EFL Cup, 3rd Round
Huddersfield vs. Manchester City (19:45)
Newcastle vs. Bradford (19:45)
Tottenham vs. Doncaster (19:45)
Port Vale vs. Arsenal (20:00)
UEFA Europa League league stage
See every fixture here.
Women’s League Cup
See every fixture here.
La Liga
Getafe vs. Alaves (18:00)
Atletico vs. Rayo (20:30)
Real Sociedad vs. Mallorca (20:30)
*All times in UK. ET -5. CDT -6. PDT -8. MDT -7. CET +1.
Answer
Brad Friedel. Tim Howard. Clint Dempsey. Kasey Keller. Geoff Cameron.
Daily Wordle: Guess the football-related word, from player names to classic phrases, in six tries or fewer. Play it here.
One of the reasons I came to Marseille was to beat PSG, because they represent power and I don't like power.
