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GM football fans. It’s Monday, Feb. 23 - The New York/New Jersey official World Cup Fan Fest has been cancelled, James Milner breaks the Premier League appearance record, and everything else you need to know. Forwarded this email? Sign up here.
KEY FIXTURE
Premier League MD27 (Feb 23): Everton vs. Manchester United, 20:00 GMT / 15:00 ET. Man United have more away wins (19) and more wins overall (42) against Everton than any team has against another in Premier League history. However, following Everton’s 1-0 win at Old Trafford in November, a win would give them their second-ever Premier League double over the away side after 2013-14, with current manager David Moyes in charge of Man United in those games. See the Premier League table here.
Results...
Premier League: Spurs 1-4 Arsenal | City 2-1 Newcastle | Palace 1-0 Wolves | Forest 0-1 Liverpool | Sunderland 1-3 Fulham | Villa 1-1 Leeds | Brentford 0-2 Brighton | Chelsea 1-1 Burnley | West Ham 0-0 Bournemouth
La Liga: Osasuna 2-1 Real Madrid | Barcelona 3-0 Levante (Table)
Bundesliga: Bayern Munich 3-2 Frankfurt | Leipzig 2-2 Dortmund (Table)
Serie A: Juventus 0-2 Como | Lecce 0-2 Inter | AC Milan 0-1 Parma | Roma 3-0 Cremonese (Table)
Ligue 1: Lens 2-3 Monaco | PSG 3-0 Metz (Table)
MLS regular season (Results)
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TOP TALKING POINTS
NY/NJ Fan Fest Cancelled
The official Fifa Fan Fest for the New York/New Jersey area has been cancelled four months before the 2026 men’s World Cup begins. The project had full backing from the previous NJ governor, Phil Murphy, but the new governor, Mikie Sherrill, has decided to cancel the Fan Fest in favour of smaller watch parties and street fairs. The area is hosting eight matches at MetLife Stadium, including the final.
Financial pressures on local taxpayers are the core issue, with security alone potentially exceeding $1m per day for the Fan Fest, which was planned ot be open for all 104 matches of the tournament. Instead, Gov. Sherrill has announced a $5m initiative to bring the World Cup to “every corner of New Jersey." Separate fan events are planned, including a ticketed fan zone at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Queens (June 17–28) and a Telemundo-partnered fan village at Rockefeller Center (July 4–19), though neither is an official Fifa Fan Fest.
Fifa aimed for free and full-tournament Fan Fests in every host city, but that is no longer happening anywhere, with many cities scaling them down or running them for fewer days. San Francisco Bay Area, for instance, is considering significantly reducing its fan festivals after being assigned a group stage draw that doesn’t include leading nations or highly marketable players.
Premier League Appearance Record
James Milner has broken the record for most Premier League appearances with 654 as he started for Brighton in their 2-0 away win at Brentford on Saturday. The 40-year-old has overtaken Gareth Barry’s record—see the players with the most Premier League appearances here.
Milner is the only active Premier League player to rank in the top 20 for most appearances in the competition, with Brentford’s Jordan Henderson 22nd on the list with almost 200 fewer appearances (465). Last season, Milner also overtook Ryan Giggs ’ record (22 seasons) by playing a game in 23 different Premier League seasons.
He has played for six clubs in total, with 22% and 35% of his matches being played for Manchester City and Liverpool, respectively. His debut came in November 2002, playing for Leeds against West Ham, when he became the Premier League’s second-youngest player at the time (16 years and 309 days).
Madrid-Benfica Evidence Update
Gianluca Prestianni, accused of racial abuse of Real Madrid’s Vinicius Junior, has given evidence to Uefa over the incident during Benfica’s Champions League play-off game last week. Sources speaking to ESPN suggest Prestianni told Uefa that he called Vinicius the anti-gay slur "m------" in Spanish (fa---t, in English), rather than "mono," which is Spanish for monkey. Notably, Article 14 of Uefa’s disciplinary regulations states that the punishment framework for both racist and anti-gay abuse is the same — a ten-match ban.
Meanwhile, Madrid have sent a dossier of evidence to Uefa as part of the probe. Striker Kylian Mbappe has reportedly given a full account of what he had seen and heard during the incident, saying that he personally heard Prestianni racially abuse Vinicius five times.
Some unverified sources claim Fifa is considering introducing a new law that disciplines players who cover their mouths to conceal insults. There are no reliable sources reporting that football’s governing body intends to introduce this law.
POLL
Should players be banned from covering their mouths during matches?
ON THE BALL
Europe
> Local political pressure may have played a part in the decision to ban Maccabi Tel Aviv fans from attending a match against Aston Villa, a committee of MPs has concluded (More)
> Canada captain Alphonso Davies injured his hamstring in Bayern Munich’s win over Eintracht Frankfurt in the Bundesliga (More); Harry Kane scored two as his league tally goes to 28 goals (More)
> Sheffield Wednesday, who were docked 18 points for financial breaches, became the first team in EFL history to be relegated as early as February (More)
> Championship leaders Coventry City have maintained their spot in the table following a 2-0 away win at West Brom; second-place Middlesbrough drew 0-0 at home to Oxford United (More); see the Championship table (More)
> Hearts extend their Scottish Premiership lead to four points with a 1-0 win over Falkirk, while Celtic and Rangers both drop points (More); see the Scottish Premiership table (More)
Americas
> LAFC reported 75,673 fans attended their 3-0 win over Inter Miami at the Los Angeles Coliseum, the second-largest attendance in MLS history (More); see all MLS results (More) and standings (More)
> The International Olympic Committee (IOC) will take no action against its member Gianni Infantino for a possible breach of political neutrality rules over aligning Fifa with U.S. President Donald Trump's Board of Peace (More)
Rest of the World
> Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice in Al Nassr’s 4-0 Saudi Pro League win over Al Hazem, taking his career goal tally to 964 (More)
> Juan Mata, former Manchester United and Chelsea midfielder, scored two goals as Melbourne Victory achieved a 3-1 derby win against Melbourne City; watch his long-range goal (Watch)
ROUTERS’ VOICE
Friday’s Poll: Is the Premier League title race swinging away from Arsenal?
🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 👍 Yes (69%)
🟨 🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ 🙅♂️ Nope (28%)
🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ✍️ Other (3%)
Your punditry takes:
👍 L.J: “Absolutely. I've never waivered in my belief that they will bottle it, as this has now become a psychological problem for Arteta's team. Couple that with the fact that Pep will have been assuring his players of the same, and they're now well positioned to go on a trademark run of victories and snatch the title. Time to air out the bridesmaid outfit again, Mikel!”
👍 M.B: “Instead of aiming that cannon at their opponents, they are aiming it at their own foot to once again fall out of the title race when it matters most.”
🙅♂️ S.E: “It’s simply a blip. Arsenal will get a run of wins, and they’re the only side with enough squad depth to handle the fixtures to come. Either way, I’d much rather be in Arsenal’s position, where their fate is in their hands, than the chasers hoping that they slip up.”
EXTRA TIME
Potential football rule changes this week.
Messi tries to confront referees at full-time.
The top 50 USMNT players of 2026.
How Sheff Wed's earliest-ever relegation unfolded.
The tactics football managers are copying from Rugby.
Watch Ronaldo’s brace and 964th goal.
Juventus debuted their vintage striped 4th kit.
GAME FACE ON
Question: What do the following clubs have in common?
Napoli. Ajax. Real Madrid. Levallois SC.
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 said to my players: go take caipirinhas, daiquiris… enjoy life! And then, training hard for Leeds game
Answer
They all play in stadiums named after former players.
Napoli (Diego Maradona). Ajax (Johan Cryuff). Real Madrid (Santiago Bernabeu). Levallois SC (Didier Drogba).
