GM football fans. It’s Friday, Mar. 6 - The Championship play-offs have been expanded, the World Cup will have mandatory hydration breaks regardless of weather, and everything else you need to know. Forwarded this email? Sign up here.
MUST CLICKS
Lionel Messi and the Inter Miami team met US president Donald Trump at the White House (Watch the full stream here)
With relegation a real possibility for Tottenham, it could cost them more than £250m — here’s the breakdown
KEY FIXTURES
FA Cup 5th Round: Wolves vs. Liverpool, Fri 6, 20:00 GMT / 15:00 ET. Wolves’ 2-1 win over Liverpool on Tuesday was the first time a team has beaten the reigning Premier League champions while sitting bottom of the table since October 2017. They’ve also progressed five times in the FA Cup against Liverpool, more than they’ve been eliminated by the Reds (three times). Wrexham vs. Chelsea, Sat 7, 17:45 GMT / 12:45 ET. Chelsea have progressed from their last 24 FA Cup ties against lower-division sides since losing 4-2 to Bradford City in January 2015. Wrexham’s Josh Windass is the player to watch as he’s scored five in his last five FA Cup starts. Newcastle United vs. Manchester City, Sat 7, 20:00 GMT / 15:00 ET. Man City have won 18 of their last 20 matches in the FA Cup across the last four seasons, losing only in the finals in 2024 against Man Utd and 2025 against Crystal Palace. Newcastle also lost their last league fixture to Man City 2-1 in February. See every FA Cup 5th Round fixture here.
Results…
Premier League: Tottenham 1-3 Crystal Palace (Table)
TOP TALKING POINTS
Championship Play-Offs Expanded
English Football League (EFL) clubs have voted in favour of expanding the Championship play-offs from four to six teams. The system, set to be introduced for the 2026-27 season, will mean that a team that finishes eighth will take part in the play-offs for a chance to be promoted to the Premier League. There are no plans to expand play-offs in League One or League Two.
In practical terms, clubs that finish third and fourth will advance automatically to the semi-final. Meanwhile, a one-legged quarter-final will be played with fifth at home to eighth and sixth hosting seventh. Semi-finals will remain as two legs, and the final will still be played in Wembley. It’s widely described as football’s most valuable game, bringing a guaranteed revenue uplift of £180m over three years.
The Premier League has previously raised concerns that expanding the Championship play-offs could dilute the quality of teams promoted to the top flight. While anything can happen in a play-off tournament, it’s rare for a team finishing sixth in the current system to be promoted, as it's only happened on two occasions in the Championship era (since 2004-05) — West Ham in 2005 and Blackpool in 2010.
World Cup’s Hydration Breaks
FIFA will allow broadcasters to cut away to advertisements during the “hydration breaks” that will happen once per half at the 2026 World Cup. They can opt for a split-screen format, which limits advertising to Fifa's official partner sponsors (like Coca-Cola), or choose a full cut-away, allowing for any commercial content.
Strict guidelines dictate that advertisements must not begin within 20 seconds of the referee signalling the break, and broadcasters must revert to live action more than 30 seconds before play resumes.
While promoted as a “player welfare” measure, the three-minute breaks midway through each half will happen in all games, regardless of the weather or temperature conditions in the region. The blanket rule has led critics to suggest that this measure changes football’s framework from two halves to four quarters as a way to increase advertising inventory. There is no evidence or credible reports to suggest this is the case.
UEFA Delays Finalissima Decision
UEFA still plans for Qatar to stage the Finalissima between Argentina and Spain even as the country is targeted by Iranian missiles in the widening Middle East war. The match, played between the last Euros and Copa America winners, is scheduled for March 27 and could likely see Lionel Messi and Lamine Yamal play against each other for the first time ever.
Several reports from credible sources suggested that football chiefs from Europe and South America were discussing alternative venues to stage the match. London, the city which hosted the first Finalissima at Wembley Stadium in June 2022, was thought to be the favourite to host the match later this month.
"At present, there are no alternative venues being considered," Uefa said on Thursday. "A final decision is anticipated towards the end of next week," said the European football body, which organises the game with South American counterpart Conmebol.
POLL
Do you think the expanded Championship play-offs are a good idea?
ON THE BALL
Europe
> Inter Milan and AC Milan, first and second in Serie A, will face off in the Italian top-flight on Sunday (Mar 8); see the key Milan Derby storylines (More); see the Serie A table (More)
> Bayern Munich’s Harry Kane will miss Friday’s Bundesliga home game against Borussia Monchengladbach due to a calf injury (More); see the Bundesliga table (More)
> Rangers and Celtic will meet in the Scottish Cup quarter-finals on Sun (Mar 8); see all the fixtures (More)
> A group of MPs has raised concerns over clubs increasing ticket prices, saying it creates an "existential threat" to the culture and community of football (More) | Nottingham Forest's global head of football Edu has been asked to stay away from the club's training ground amid mounting uncertainty over his future (More)
> The Spanish FA has raised concerns with Uefa over staging their women’s World Cup qualifier in Turkey due to the conflict in the Middle East (More)
Americas
> The United States beat Canada 1-0 in the SheBelieves Cup, and they currently lead the group (More); see the upcoming fixtures (More)
> The MLS Saturday Showdown will be Columbus Crew vs. Chicago Fire on Saturday (Mar 7); see Matchday 3’s biggest matches (More) and every fixture (More)
> The Leagues Cup 2026 schedule is has been released, with teams from the MLS and Liga MX competing (More)
> Liverpool will travel to the United States for the club’s pre-season tour this summer to play in three matches against Wrexham, Leeds United, and Sunderland (More)
Rest of the World
> The Women’s Afcon has been postponed until July, just two weeks before the tournament was meant to kick off (More)
> The Saudi Pro League has written to its clubs informing them that matches will go ahead despite the escalation of conflict in the Middle East (More/paywall)
> The Malaysian Football Association lost its appeal against a Fifa ruling that it cheated by using false documents for foreign-born players (More)
ROUTERS’ VOICE
Yesterday’s Poll: Does the way your team loses matter to you as a fan?
🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 👍 Yes (89%)
🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ 🙅♂️ Nope (9%)
🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ✍️ Other (2%)
Your punditry takes:
👍 W.T: “I want to see entertaining football, no matter what. That's what is so appealing about the Bodo/Glimt story – they play ‘kamikaze’ football. If they lose, so be it. They give their supporters something to get excited about every time they're on the pitch. It's refreshing to see in the modern game. And look where it's got them!”
👍 D.J: “Absolutely. I expect my team to chase down balls and give as much effort as possible up until the final whistle. I have no problem if we lose if we've given everything over the 90 mins, but losing when the players could have done more - or even didn't really try at all - is absolutely unforgivable.”
🙅♂️ C.R: “Sometimes people forget the whole objective of the match: to win games. Obviously there are exceptions, but if I leave the stadium after my team has lost, the feeling is always the same. A loss is a loss, and I like it when my team wins.”
EXTRA TIME
Are football rules becoming too complicated?
A 20-year-old university student has debuted as the manager.
Each Premier League club’s summer transfer needs.
Scott McTominay’s Serie A goal of the month.
The transfer surge reshaping Turkish football.
Gareth Bale features on the Overlap podcast.
GAME FACE ON
Today’s question is simple: Name the winners of the FA Cup for the last ten seasons, starting with the 2015–16 season and ending with the most recent, in chronological order.
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.
[Zidane] didn't do too much... if you played Barca or Bayern you would do a bit of tactics. In big games you do 15 minutes of tactics defensively rather than attacking and that's it.
Answer
Manchester United. Arsenal. Chelsea. Manchester City. Arsenal. Leicester City. Liverpool. Manchester City. Manchester United. Crystal Palace.
