GM football fans. It’s Monday, June. 09 - Uefa are deciding Crystal Palace’s Europa League fate, Mauricio Pochettino is confident despite USMNT’s struggles, and everything else you need to know. Forwarded this email? Sign up here.

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KEY RESULT

UEFA Nations League Final: Portugal 2-2 Spain (Portugal win 5-3 on penalties). Portugal became the first nation to win the Nations League final twice, having lifted the trophy in the competition’s inaugural edition back in 2018–19. Cristiano Ronaldo pulled Portugal level at 2-2 in the 61st minute, taking his international goal tally to 138 and his overall career goals to 938. However, Nuno Mendes collected the Player of the Match award after scoring and neutralising Lamine Yamal throughout the match. While Spain have been brilliant in attack, they’ve shown a leaky defence without Rodri, conceding 15 goals in their last six games. Read the full match report here.

Results…

• Nations League 3rd Place Final: Germany 0-2 France (Report)

• MLS (Results) | NWSL (Results) | USL Championship (Results)

TOP TALKING POINTS

Palace Await UEFA Verdict

Crystal Palace are waiting to hear whether they will be allowed to play in next season’s Europa League, despite having qualified through their FA Cup victory. Uefa is deciding if the club has breached multi-club ownership rules, as Eagle Football, owned by John Textor, holds a stake in Palace and Lyon, who have also qualified for the tournament.

Palace presented their argument to Uefa last week, with the details of the meeting emerging over the weekend. At the heart of Palace’s argument is that Uefa’s regulations are in place to prevent collusion between clubs, and that the south London club are entirely independent and not within the structures of a multi-club model. Additionally, Palace argued that chairman Steve Parish runs the clubs, whilst Textor has a minority stake and lacks influence at Selhurst Park.

The club has also accepted that a fine or temporary oversight measures, such as monitoring transfers, would be an appropriate punishment. They believe that disqualification from the Europa League—their first-ever qualification for European competition in their 119-year history—would be disproportionate.

Poch’s USMNT Struggles

Mauricio Pochettino became the first United States national team (USMNT) coach to lose three straight matches since Jurgen Klinsmann in 2015. Despite this, the Argentine coach says that his team has “the possibility to win the World Cup.”

Saturday’s 2-1 loss to Turkiye followed a 2–1 defeat to Canada in the 2025 Concacaf Nations League third-place match and a 1–0 loss to Panama in the Nations League semifinal back in March. The loss brought Pochettino’s record with the USMNT to 5-0-4.

USMNT will play their final friendly against Switzerland on Tuesday before taking part in the Concacaf Gold Cup, which begins on June 15. The nation’s most established players, including Christian Pulisic, Weston McKennie, Antonee Robinson, and Timothy Weah, will not be part of the squad. See the full roster here.

Ronaldo Ends Speculation

Cristiano Ronaldo has said that he does not plan to play at the Club World Cup this month after receiving “quite a few” offers from participating clubs. Last month, speculation he was set for a move grew after the Al Nassr forward posted on social media that “the chapter is over” following their final league game of the season. Fifa president Gianni Infantino also said discussions were happening for Ronaldo to play in the tournament.

With the 40-year-old’s contract expiring with Al Nassr in June, Ronaldo could’ve made a move using Fifa’s extra transfer window, which closes on June 10. Al Nassr's sporting director, Fernando Hierro, said they were negotiating with Ronaldo over a contract extension but faced competition from clubs eager to sign him.

The Saudi government have reportedly been involved in trying to convince Ronaldo to stay in the league. Some reports, though not verified, suggest he has been offered £167m a year to remain at Al Nassr.

Dive deeper into dates, teams qualified, venues and draws for the Club World Cup here.

POLL

ON THE BALL

Europe

> Tottenham Hotspur have sacked Ange Postecoglou after guiding the club to its first trophy in 17 years; read more on why he was sacked (More); reports suggest Brentford’s Thomas Frank has asked to leave and join Spurs (More)

> Bayer Leverkusen have rejected a £113m bid from Liverpool for Florian Wirtz, and are reportedly holding out for £126m, which would be a British transfer record (More) | Borussia Dortmund agree a €38m fee with Sunderland to sign Jobe Bellingham (More)

> David Beckham is set to be awarded a knighthood in King Charles’ Birthday Honours (More)

> Barcelona Femeni won the Copa de la Reina for the 11th time by beating Atletico Madrid, with Claudia Pina scoring two goals (More)

Americas

> Tom Barlow’s first MLS hat-trick came as Chicago Fire beat D.C. United 7-1, helping the Fire climb back up into the play-off places (More); see current standings (More) | The MLS All-Star Team fan vote is now open through June 11 (More)

> Kansas City Current extend their NWSL lead to five points following their 2-1 win over Gotham FC, marking the fourth straight win for KC Current (More); see current standings (More)

> Charleston Battery drop points in the USL Championship with a 1-1 draw with Loudoun United; Louisville City are now top of the Eastern Conference, extending their unbeaten run in the league to 11 games (More) | FC Tulsa close the gap in the Western Conference with a win as leaders New Mexico drop points (More)

> Aaron Ramsey, former Arsenal midfielder, is set to join Mexican club Pumas (More)

Rest of the World

> Victor Osimhen rejected Al Hilal’s contract proposal, despite Napoli agreeing to a €75m fee for the striker; Galatasaray, where he’s on loan, will insist on signing him (More)

ROUTERS’ VOICE

Friday’s Poll: Do you think financial rules are actually working in football?

🟨 🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ 👏 Yes... (6%)

🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🙅‍♂️ Nope... (91%)

🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ✍️ Other... (3%)

Your punditry takes:

• 🙅‍♂️ D.R: “It is ridiculous that the richest clubs can continue to flout the rules and spend exorbitant sums. Surely the Premier League should want an even playing field and allow others to catch up and compete at the same level.”

• 🙅‍♂️ D.W: “Definitely not. Whatever the Premier League or FA may state, there is an obvious bias to penalising the smaller clubs. Every man and his dog are awaiting the outcome of the 115 charges that have (supposedly) been brought against Manchester City, yet here we are, none the wiser and still without a decision or even a date. And now, everybody is watching in amazement how Chelsea are again spending millions on new players during this current transfer window, which is supposedly justified by CFC selling their hot dog stalls for £1bn. Utterly unbelievable.”

• ✍️ V.P: “Let clubs spend how much they want and build the best teams possible. It’s the only way to compete against the allure of Real Madrid or Barcelona and, ultimately, maintain the Premier League as the best league in the world. PSR is already forcing great players to leave, and it’s only weakening the league’s appeal.”

EXTRA TIME

Every transfer deal from Europe’s top five leagues. (live tracker)

The first-ever filmed football match–now in colour.

Snoop Dogg wants to open a burger van at Celtic Park.

AS Roma reveal their new club logo.

Ronaldinho embarrasses Messi’s bodyguard.

NWSL’s May team of the month.

The Arctic’s most stunning hidden football pitches.

GAME FACE ON

Question: Two players have moved from Arsenal to Chelsea and later lifted the UEFA Champions League trophy with the Blues. Can you name them?

Scroll below for the answer.

ON TODAY

UEFA World Cup Qualifiers

• See all fixtures here.

CONMEBOL World Cup Qualifiers

• See all fixtures here.

*All times in UK. ET -5. CDT -6. PDT -8. MDT -7. CET +1.

Answer

Ashley Cole and Olivier Giroud.

Daily Wordle: Guess the football-related word, from player names to classic phrases, in six tries or fewer. Play it here.