Ronaldo's New Milestone

GM football fans. It’s Thursday, Oct. 9 - The World Cup qualifiers explained, Cristiano Ronaldo becomes the first active football billionaire, and everything else you need to know. Forwarded this email? Sign up here.

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TOP TALKING POINTS

WC26 Qualifiers Resume

The Uefa World Cup qualifiers are resuming on Thursday (Oct 9) with Matchday 7 and 8 running through October 14. Eight nations–Croatia, France, Slovakia, Switzerland, England, Norway, Portugal, and Spain–have a mathematical chance to secure their spot at the World Cup during this October international window. See the specific scenarios here.

Group C remains tight, with Denmark (14 points) and Scotland (14) level at the top, just ahead of Greece (13). In Group J, North Macedonia (11 points), Belgium (10), and Wales (10) are locked in a three-way race. See every Uefa World Cup qualifier match here.

In Africa, the final two rounds of qualifying will decide the six remaining automatic spots alongside Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia. Algeria needs one point from their final two matches, while Cape Verde needs one win to reach their first-ever World Cup. Elsewhere, the Ivory Coast hold a narrow one-point lead over Gabon, and Group C is wide open after South Africa was demoted from 1st to 2nd place for fielding an ineligible player.

Qualification in South America (Conmebol) and Oceania (OFC) has already concluded. Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador, Uruguay, Colombia, and Paraguay have qualified from South America, while New Zealand advanced automatically from Oceania.

Premier League’s Gamble

Over 5,000 gambling advertisements were visible during a single Premier League match, new analysis from the University of Bristol has revealed. This comes despite an agreement in 2019 for gambling companies to stop showing adverts five minutes before kick-off and five minutes after full-time.

The match in question, Manchester City’s 4–0 win over Wolves in August, featured 91% of all gambling ads during live play, the highest total recorded since the study began in 2023. Across the league’s opening weekend, there were 27,440 gambling messages, down slightly from last season but still more than triple the figure from 2023.

The Premier League has pledged to ban front-of-shirt gambling sponsors from next season onwards, though critics have said that this won’t reduce the amount of gambling advertisements, but simply change how gambling companies advertise in football.

First Billionaire Footballer

Cristiano Ronaldo has become the first active footballer to become a billionaire, according to the Bloomberg Billionaire Index. The 40-year-old is said to be worth £1.04bn ($1.4bn) based on his earnings, investments, and endorsement deals, which are adjusted for prevailing tax rates and market performance.

Ronaldo has a £745m ($1bn) lifetime deal with Nike, plus several other partnerships, alongside his £167.8m-a-year tax-free contract with Saudi Pro League side Al Nassr. He is also believed to own a minority stake in the club, further boosting his valuation.

Earlier this week, Ronaldo told reporters that he has no intention of retiring soon despite his family’s insistence, adding: “I think I'm still producing good things, I'm helping my club and the national team, and why not keep going?” With 946 career goals, Ronaldo is 54 goals away from reaching the 1,000-goal milestone.

POLL

Do you see a place for any gambling adverts in football?

Leave your initials in your response if you'd like to be featured in tomorrow's edition.

ON THE BALL

Europe

> England and Wales will meet in an international friendly at Wembley Stadium on Thursday (Oct 9) at 19:45 BST (More) | Jordan Henderson says he has had "tough moments" since leaving Liverpool for Saudi Arabia and could "have made different decisions" (More)

> La Liga has confirmed its plan for Barcelona's league fixture against Villarreal to be played on Dec. 20 in Miami (More) | Barcelona have reportedly come under investigation for allegedly avoiding taxes linked to the signing of Brazilian winger Malcom in 2018 (More)

> Women’s Super League players over 23 will be paid at least £40,000 as part of the league’s new financial rules (More)

> Rangers want to speak to Steven Gerrard about a potential return as manager of the club following the sacking of Russell Martin (More)

Americas

> Los Angeles FC vs. Toronto will conclude shortly after publication; LAFC must win their remaining fixtures to top the Western Conference, while Toronto are already out of the play-offs (Live Result) | Columbus Crew midfielder Darlington Nagbe, 35, plans to retire at the end of the MLS play-offs (More)

> 2026 World Cup host city organisers plan to limit durations of fan fests due to cost concerns (More)

Rest of the World

> Egypt became the third African country to book a berth at next year’s World Cup finals with a 3-0 win over Djibouti (More)

> Egyptian giants Al Ahly have appointed former manager of Bundesliga’s FC Augsburg Jess Thorup (More)

ROUTERS’ VOICE

Yesterday’s Poll: Do you think Erling Haaland is the best goalscorer in Premier League history?

🟨 🟨 🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ 👍 Yes (30%)

🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🙅‍♂️ Nope (66%)

🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ✍️ Other (4%)

Your punditry takes:

👍 J.E: “There is no doubt that Haaland is the best goal scorer since the Premier League began. He has the most goals since arriving at City, and he’s the fastest player to score 50 goals in Europe in the fewest matches. The City haters will hate, but the record book says yes, he is the best by a country mile!”
🙅‍♂️ T.N: “He’s not even the best finisher in Manchester City’s history. Sergio Aguero scored a goal every 108 minutes in the Premier League, and that’s in nearly 300 matches. And that’s ignoring everything else he did creatively for the team. I think that once Haaland reaches 300 appearances in the Premier League, he’ll have a similar, if not worse, record than his predecessor.”
✍️ J.L: “Erling Haaland certainly has the potential to be. But until he eclipses Alan Shearer's 261, he's just a guy who scores goals who needs to stay humble.”