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GM football fans. It’s Wednesday, Mar. 18 - The African Cup of Nations final result has been overturned in a landmark decision, Iran is trying to move its World Cup games to Mexico, and everything else you need to know. Forwarded this email? Sign up here.
KEY FIXTURES
Champions League Round of 16, leg 2, (Mar 18): Barcelona vs. Newcastle, agg 1-1, 17:45 GMT / 13:45 ET. When drawing the first leg away from home, Barcelona have progressed from each of their last 10 Uefa Champions League knockout stage ties. However, Newcastle are unbeaten in their last six games in this competition. Liverpool vs. Galatasaray, agg 0-1, 20:00 GMT / 16:00 ET. Liverpool have now lost their last three against Galatasaray, though all three defeats have come away from home. That said, the Turkish side have won just one of their 12 away games against English teams in all competitions (D3 L8). Tottenham vs. Atletico, agg 2-5, 20:00 GMT / 16:00 ET. Spurs’ home form in the Premier League is poor, winning just two of their 15 home league games this season. However, at home, they’ve thrived in Europe, winning all four of their Champions League home games by an aggregate score of 10-0. See the Champions League bracket here.
Results…
Champions League: Arsenal 2-0 Leverkusen (Agg 3-1) | Chelsea 0-3 PSG (Agg 2-8) | Man City 1-2 Real Madrid (Agg 1-5) | Sporting 5-0 Bodo/Glimt (Agg 5-3)
Championship: Watford 3-1 Wrexham (Table)
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TOP TALKING POINTS
Landmark Ruling Overturns Result
Senegal’s Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) win has been overturned by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) Appeal Board, and Morocco has been officially declared the winner. The landmark ruling follows Senegal’s 1-0 win in extra time after having walked off the pitch in protest when Morocco were awarded a penalty in regular time. After a delay of around 16 minutes, the players eventually returned to the pitch.
Caf’s statement, released 57 days after the final, found that "the conduct of the Senegal team falls within the scope of Articles 82 and 84 of” the Afcon. Articles 82 states that if a team refuses to play or leaves the field before the end of regulation time without the referee's authorisation, it will be considered the loser and eliminated from the competition. By leaving the field of play, Senegal was deemed to have infringed the regulations, resulting in an administrative 3-0 defeat.
Tuesday's verdict means hosts Morocco clinched their second Afcon title, and their first since 1976. However, the case could go to a further appeal at the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
World Cup Negotiations
Iran’s football federation is negotiating with Fifa to move its World Cup matches to Mexico from the United States, while many reports suggest Fifa has no intention of rescheduling the games. The Iran FA’s statement on the social media platform X, attributed to the association’s president Mehdi Taj, stated that they’re pursuing the change because “[President Donald] Trump stated he cannot ensure the security of the Iranian national team.”
Iran is scheduled to play two group matches in Los Angeles, against New Zealand and Belgium, and one in Seattle, against Egypt. While shifting Iran’s fixtures to Mexico would be a significant logistical switch, reports Reuters, relocating matches for security or geopolitical reasons is not unprecedented. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said her country would be on board with plans to host Iran’s matches.
New Zealand Football chief executive Andrew Pragnell also told local media that he doubted Fifa would relocate Iran's matches. The New Zealand national team's head coach, Darren Bazeley, told reporters: "Right now we're still continuing as though we're playing Iran. They're the team that qualified, and we got drawn against them.”
VAR Errors Rise
There have now been 18 VAR errors in the Premier League this season, matching the total for the entire 2024-25 season. The latest error comes as Brighton should have been awarded a penalty in their 1-0 loss at home to Arsenal on March 4, the Premier League’s Key Match Incidents (KMI) Panel has said.
Arsenal, who are nine points clear at the top of the table, have now wrongly escaped a VAR penalty twice in a game they won by one goal. The first time came earlier this month, against Chelsea, when the KMI Panel unanimously voted that a penalty should have been awarded against the Gunners for a Declan Rice handball. Arsenal are not the only team to benefit from VAR errors, with Aston Villa and Wolves also having +3 errors in their favour, while Bournemouth have +5.
The KMI Panel also concluded that Jacob Ramsey should not have received a second yellow card for simulation in Newcastle’s 2-1 win over Manchester United. The panel voted 3:2 that Ramsey wasn’t trying to deceive the referee when he went down in the box. While VAR cannot currently intervene for second yellows, it will be available next season.
POLL
Does the Champions League show the gap between the Premier League and other leagues isn’t that big?
ON THE BALL
Europe
> Former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher has said it will be "difficult" for Arne Slot to win back the support of fans amid their difficult season (More) | Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard could be available for their EFL Cup final on Sunday against Man City, says Mikel Arteta (More)
> Hansi Flick, 61, says that his role as Barcelona head coach will be his final job in management as he is set to renew his deal until 2028 with the Catalan side (More)
> Watford beat Wrexham 3-1 to boost their Championship play-off hopes while inflicting a first away defeat of 2026 for Wrexham (Match Report); see the Championship table (More)
> Non-league team Wealdstone FC say one of their players appeared in the Baller League without the club’s permission (More)
> Craig Bellamy has named a 26-man squad ahead of Wales’ World Cup play-offs next week (More); Captain Aaron Ramsey has been left out of the squad (More)
Americas
> US men’s national team head coach Mauricio Pochettino has named a 27-player roster for the team’s last camp before he determines his final squad for this summer’s World Cup (More)
> Canada's men’s national team have released their 2026 World Cup kits with Nike (More)
> Brazil national team coach Carlo Ancelotti says the Brazilian Football Confederation will extend his contract to the 2030 World Cup (More)
> FC Dallas’ Peter Musa was named MLS Player of the Matchday for Matchday 4 after his hat-trick in their 3-3 draw with San Diego FC (More)
> Former Argentina and Manchester United goalkeeper Sergio Romero has retired at age 39 (More)
Rest of the World
> Sam Kerr’s goal sealed a 2-1 win over China to help Australia advance to their fourth Women’s Asian Cup final (More)
ROUTERS’ VOICE
Yesterday’s Poll: Do you think Chelsea’s punishment is strong enough for the rule breaches they admitted?
🟨 🟨 🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ 👍 Yes (32%)
🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🙅♂️ Nope (63%)
🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ✍️ Other (5%)
Your punditry takes:
👍 H.R: “When you see how long the charges against Man City have been going on, with their legal team seeming to be able to thwart the process, it’s about right for Chelsea, who accepted their guilt.”
🙅♂️ J.C: “A breach is a breach. The club benefited from wrongdoing and should have received a points deduction. But a Big 6 Club was never going to be punished like a non-Big 6 Club”
🙅♂️ J.L: “Looking at that list of players and how many points they earned for Chelsea, this is not even close. They should be docked points and give up all titles won over that span. Look at what Eden Hazard contributed alone. This is a joke and wouldn't deter any club from doing the same or from Chelsea doing it again.”
EXTRA TIME
The 2026 World Cup’s first song drops on Friday.
YouTube and Fifa strike a World Cup streaming deal.
The biggest Champions League comebacks of all time.
Igor Thiago’s family reacts to his Brazil call-up.
BBC’s Premier League team of the week.
Oxford United release unique ‘In Bloom’ shirt.
Ranking this season’s biggest overachievers.
How groundsmen changed the Premier League.
GAME FACE ON
Question: The German Bundesliga has been won by six different clubs in the 21st century. How many can you name?
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.
I don’t think it helps us that after 80 minutes people start to go home… They can be angry but stick with us because we are a family.
Answer
Bayern Munich (2001, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2013–2023, 2024-25). Borussia Dortmund (2002, 2011, 2012). Werder Bremen (2004). VfB Stuttgart (2007). VfL Wolfsburg (2009). Bayer Leverkusen (2024).
