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GM football fans. It’s Wednesday, Mar. 4 - The MLS has had to settle in court after promoting a match that Lionel Messi didn’t feature in, a surprising manager's sacking in the Brazilian Serie A, and everything else you need to know. Forwarded this email? Sign up here.
MUST CLICKS
FIFA has unveiled the official 2026 World Cup poster — with now under 100 days till kick off
A famous YouTuber has bought a minority stake in National League side Dagenham & Redbridge
KEY FIXTURES
Premier League MD29 (Mar 4): Brighton vs. Arsenal, 19:30 GMT / 14:30 ET. Brighton have won two of their last four Premier League home games against the team starting the day top of the table, though Arsenal are unbeaten in their last 19 evening (7 pm or later) league matches. Manchester City vs. Nottingham Forest, 19:30 GMT / 14:30 ET. Since returning to the Premier League in 2022-23, Forest have lost all three of their away Premier League games against Man City without scoring. Newcastle United vs. Manchester United, 20:15 GMT / 15:15 ET. Newcastle have lost each of their last three Premier League home games, while Man United have only lost one of their last 11 away games. Man United also won the reverse fixture 1-0 in December. See every Premier League fixture here.
Results…
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TOP TALKING POINTS
Easter Football Cancelled
The Premier League and Championship are set to be without football over the Easter weekend next season for the first time this century. The development is a result of Fifa modifying the 2027 spring international break to include Good Friday and Easter Monday next March, a move that will hit the two top tiers of English football. The domestic schedule is then reported to resume with the FA Cup quarter-final weekend on April 3.
It will be the first time that there has been an abstention from football at this level in England over Easter since 1997, when Premier League matches were rescheduled to accommodate an international break and qualifying matches for the 1998 Fifa World Cup. Besides that, and since Easter matches began in 1889, only the two World Wars and the Covid-19 pandemic have impacted them.
The Easter alteration is not the only calendar change next season. From the start of the 2026–27 campaign, Fifa will merge the September and October international breaks, meaning national teams will play four matches across a single two-week window instead of two separate two-match breaks.
Messi Match Settlement
A Supreme Court in Canada has approved a CAD $475,000 ($347,000; £260,000) settlement in a class-action lawsuit against the Vancouver Whitecaps and Major League Soccer after star players, including Lionel Messi, were promoted to play in a May 2024 match but did not appear. The suit, representing around 50,000 ticketholders, accused MLS and the Whitecaps of a "classic case of bait-and-switch," having only revealed the absences of Messi, Luis Suárez, and Sergio Busquets two days before the game.
The representative plaintiff, a British Columbia resident who paid $404 for two tickets, claimed the defendants “capitalized on expectations” that the star players would appear. Justice Andrew Majawa described the claim as “novel and complex” when approving the settlement.
The Whitecaps, in response to the lawsuit, said they had no control over Miami’s player lineup or its decision that Messi and others wouldn’t play the match. While accepting no liability, the club has said it will make clear on its ticketing terms that there are no guarantees that players will participate in matches. The settlement, minus the legal fees, will be donated to three B.C. sports-related charities.
Shock Manager Sacking
Brazilian Serie A club Flamengo have sacked former Atletico Madrid and Chelsea defender Filipe Luis as manager just hours after they won 8-0 against Madureira to secure a place in the Rio de Janeiro state championship final. The Brazilian coach leaves the club despite presiding over one of the club’s most successful spells.
Despite his success at the club, Luis oversaw Flamengo’s worst start to a season in a decade this campaign, having lost the Supercopa do Brasil title to Corinthians and the Recopa Sudamericana to Lanus of Argentina. Reports in Brazil, however, suggest his sacking was due to negotiations he held with Chelsea during his contract renewal process, without the club’s knowledge. It’s thought that the club’s president Luiz Eduardo Baptista lost confidence in the coach after discovering this only recently.
Filipe took charge late in 2024 and leaves as Flamengo's second most successful coach, collecting five titles in little over a year. During his time, Flamengo won the Brazilian Cup in 2024, the Copa Libertadores, and the Brazilian Championship double the following season. His side also forced a shootout against Paris Saint-Germain in the Fifa Intercontinental Cup final, nearly ending 13 years of European dominance.
POLL
Are you worried that politics will overshadow the 2026 World Cup?
ON THE BALL
Europe
> English sixth-tier club Macclesfield claimed someone tried to burn down its stadium on Tuesday (More) | England's players are worried about being turned into "political spokespeople" at the World Cup, the chief executive of the PFA has said (More)
> More reports suggest Jurgen Klopp could leave his role as Red Bull’s head of soccer after just 14 months (More)
> Real Madrid’s Rodrygo has torn his cruciate ligament in his right knee and will miss the rest of the season and the World Cup (More)
> West Ham winger Adama Traore has been banned from lifting weights by manager Nuno Espirito Santo (More) | Danny Welbeck, 35, has agreed a one-year contract extension with Brighton (More)
> FIFA has no plans to introduce new measures to address grappling at corners after the game's lawmakers said the problem is "not getting worse” (More)
Americas
> The second round of the SheBelieves Cup takes place on Wednesday (Mar 4) as the United States play Canada and Argentina face Colombia (More)
> The U.S. men's national team roster for the 2026 World Cup will be revealed at an event in New York City on May 26 (More)
Rest of the World
> Myong Yu Jong completed a first-half hat trick in North Korea’s 3-0 win over Uzbekistan in its first Women’s Asian Cup appearance since 2010 (More); dive deeper into why North Korea’s women’s team is so good (More)
> Iran’s women footballers refused to sing their country’s national anthem before their Asia Cup match against South Korea (More)
ROUTERS’ VOICE
Yesterday’s Poll: Is the growing emphasis on set pieces making football less enjoyable to watch?
🟨 🟨 🟨 🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ 😴 Less enjoyable (39%)
🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 💪 Still enjoyable (59%)
🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ✍️ Other (2%)
Your punditry takes:
😴 K.C: “The set pieces are not the problem. The problem lies in the fact that players will do anything to make sure they get a set piece. Overreacting to the slightest touch.”
💪 F.S: “Set pieces are a part of the game, stop whining and learn to defend them or better yet, learn to score with them.”
💪 G.M: “Set pieces are always part of the game. It just happens that more goals are being scored this way rather than in open play. But strategy is still a huge part of the game, so the game still excites me to watch, and goals are something to celebrate from set plays or from open play.”
✍️ J.W: “I concur with Arne on this one... my football heart doesn't like it. As a fan, I prefer the excitement and beauty of goals from open play. However, we have to accept that it is part of modern EPL tactics. Corner kick opportunities arise from intense offensive pressure and should be rewarded with more scoring. However, refereeing physicality in the penalty area during corners needs improvement.”
EXTRA TIME
ESPN releases its World Cup rankings, 100 days out.
Who is the best centre-forward this century?
The rise of ‘System Football’ explained. (video)
Predicting which Championship teams will be promoted.
Find out the origin of the phrase ‘clean sheet’.
GAME FACE ON
Question: What do the following players have in common?
Wilfried Zaha. Diego Costa. Alfredo Di Stefano. Brahim Diaz. Declan Rice.
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 watched Arsenal-Chelsea match. What a terrible game. I was watching it and thought this football is truly awful to watch. I hope it's not a trend, I miss the fun.
Answer
Each represented two different national teams at youth or senior level (under Fifa eligibility rules).
