National Team Scandal

GM football fans. It’s Thursday, Jan. 29 - The Champions League league phase has concluded, La Liga is suing its players for staging a protest, and everything else you need to know. Forwarded this email? Sign up here.

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Europa League (29 Jan at 20:00 GMT / 15:00 ET): Aston Villa vs. RB Salzburg. Villa have guaranteed a top-eight finish and direct last-16 qualification with a game to spare, while it’s a must-win for Salzburg to potentially stay in the competition, depending on other results. Nottingham Forest vs. Ferencvaros. Unbeaten in their last three league matches, Forest need a win and results to go in their favour to have a chance of a top-eight finish. Meanwhile, Ferencvaros are one of only three teams unbeaten in the league phase this campaign, though they have a mixed record against English clubs in 20 meetings (W6, D6, L8). Porto vs. Rangers. Porto, currently seven points clear at the top of Liga Portugal, are guaranteed a place in the play-off, but a win would most likely secure a top-eight finish. Although Rangers have been strong in their domestic season of late, they’re already eliminated from the Europa League. See every Europa League fixture here.

Results…

The Champions League league phase has concluded, with the top eight automatically qualifying for the last 16, while teams finishing in positions 9–24 advance to the knock-out play-off round. See the league phase table here.

Arsenal, Bayern Munich, Liverpool, Tottenham, Barcelona, Chelsea, Sporting, and Manchester City have advanced to the last 16. Arsenal’s 3-2 win over Kairat means Mikel Arteta’s side is the first team to complete a flawless league phase campaign under the new 36-team format. Plus, five of the six Premier League teams in the tournament made the top eight, with it still possible that all six from the English top flight can make the last 16 for the first time in history.

Amongst the teams in the play-offs, a 1-1 draw between holders Paris Saint-Germain and Newcastle kept them both out of the top eight. Elsewhere, Real Madrid suffered a 4-2 away defeat to Jose Mourinho’s Benfica, leaving the 15-time champions placed in ninth position. Benfica’s goalkeeper scored in the last-minute of the game to ensure the Portuguese side finished 24th to secure the final play-off spot—watch the goal here (US link). Last year’s finalists, Inter, also finished outside the top eight and will compete in the play-offs.

The draw for the February play-offs will take place on Friday, January 30 at 11 am GMT / 6 am ET. The first legs will be played on February 17 and 18, with the second legs taking place a week later.

See each team’s possible opponents in the next round here.

The entire executive committee of the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) has resigned over allegations that the organisation doctored citizenship documents so foreign players could play for Malaysia. FAM argues it was an administrative error and that the players are legitimate citizens.

Specifically, Fifa is accusing FAM of tampering with seven foreign-born players’ citizenship documents so they could qualify for Malaysia under the “grandfather rule”. Alleged forged birth certificates made it appear the players’ grandparents were born in Malaysia, but Fifa investigators said the original birth certificates showed the grandparents were born in countries such as Argentina and Spain, matching the players’ birthplaces. This "constitutes, pure and simple, a form of cheating", the football governing body said at the time.

After having three matches overturned to 3-0 defeats, seven players fined and suspended, and being fined 350,000 Swiss francs, FAM appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). This week, CAS temporarily lifted the players’ suspensions while it reviews the case and is expected to give a final verdict in late February.

La Liga has taken legal action against its players over the 15-second stoppage that took place on Matchday 9 in protest against the league’s plans to move the match between Villarreal and Barcelona to Miami in December. The Spanish top-flight has filed a court case to determine whether the stoppage violated labour laws, though the Spanish footballers' union claims it was a peaceful and symbolic form of protest.

Players claimed the decision to move the match abroad was made without proper consultation with the union. The 15-second protest was one of the factors that led to the cancellation of the match. La Liga president Javier Tebas said he felt the cancellation meant that "Spanish football has lost an opportunity" and said critics of the Miami game who cited tradition had a "narrow-minded and provincial perspective."

In an interview this week, Tebas claimed that matches were stopped “under the guise of freedom of expression” and that “rights of this kind are requested five days in advance”. “Our footballers' union should roll out the red carpet for La Liga every time they see us, because 70% of what we sell in rights goes to their salaries,” Tebas added.

> Pubs in England and Wales will be allowed to stay open until 2 AM for home nation matches in the later stages of the 2026 World Cup (More)

> Arsenal Women are through to the final of the inaugural Champions Cup after beating AS FAR 6-0 (More) | Corinthians also advance after beating Gotham FC 1-0 (More)

> Raheem Sterling has left Chelsea by mutual consent after reaching an agreement to end his contract early (More) | West Ham have agreed a deal to sell Brazil forward Lucas Paqueta to Flamengo for more than €41m (£35.5m) (More)

> Ligue 1 side Lorient now has a sole shareholder in Black Knight Football Club group, fronted by American businessman Bill Foley (More)

> The U.S. Soccer Federation president Cindy Parlow Cone is expected to be unopposed in her re-election (More/paywall)

> The Argentine club River Plate is to put a roof on its Monumental Stadium and expand capacity to more than 100,000 in preparation for the 2030 World Cup (More)

> Flight bookings to North America have spiked since the World Cup match schedule was announced in December, with 37% of flight bookings taking place in the month since the draw (More) 

> The Los Angeles Galaxy acquired striker Joao Klauss from St. Louis City SC for $2.375 million in cash (More); see the MLS transfer tracker (More)

> Perth Glory and Sydney FC registered 18 shots on target between themselves in a frenzied 0-0 draw to each extend their winless streaks in the women's A-League (More)

Yesterday’s Poll: Is promotion and relegation the future of football in the U.S.?

🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 👍 Yes (83%)

🟨 🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ 🙅‍♂️ Nope (14%)

🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ✍️ Other (3%)

Your punditry takes:

Every transfer in Europe’s top five leagues.

Wrexham’s £48m cash injection explained.

Is this the best Champions League goal of the season? (US link)

The first club to launch their shirt into space.

Inside Paul Pogba's failure to relaunch his career at Monaco.

Why are Paris Saint-Germain struggling to hit top form?

Question: Name the five players from The Americas who have made over 300 Premier League appearances.

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.

Answer

Brad Friedel (450), Tim Howard (399), Dwight Yorke (375), Antonio Valencia (325), and Pablo Zabaleta (303).