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Good morning football fans. It’s Thursday, Mar. 26 - A look at the upcoming World Cup qualifiers, Manchester United provides an update on its 100,000-capacity stadium plans, and everything else you need to know. Forwarded this email? Sign up here.
KEY FIXTURES
FIFA World Cup European Qualifying play-off semi-finals (Mar 26): Italy vs. Republic of Ireland, 19:45 GMT / 15:45 ET. The sides most recently met five years ago, when a 0-0 draw denied Italy automatic qualification for Qatar 2022. Should Italy lose, they will become the first World Cup winner to miss out on three successive tournaments. Poland vs. Albania, 19:45 GMT / 15:45 ET. Poland head into Thursday’s contest having won five and drawn one of their last six home matches in all competitions, keeping four clean sheets in the process. Meanwhile, Albania have lost only one of their last five international games on foreign soil. Wales vs. Bosnia-Herzegovina, 19:45 GMT / 15:45 ET. Wales are chasing their third-ever World Cup finals appearance and a second consecutive qualification. While they’ve won five of their last six home competitive matches, only Italy finished with more points (18) than Bosnia (17) in the group stage without automatic qualification. See every World Cup European qualifying fixture here.
Results…
Women’s Champions League quarter-final: Real Madrid 2-6 Barcelona | Man Utd 2-3 Bayern Munich (Bracket)
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TOP TALKING POINTS
World Cup Qualifiers
The European World Cup qualifying play-off semi-finals take place on Thursday (Mar 26) as 16 teams play one-legged fixtures to determine the eight teams advancing to the play-off finals. There will be four finals, with four nations qualifying for the 2026 World Cup. See all the fixtures here.
Nations that finished with better play-off seeding were awarded a home advantage in the semi-final. All the home teams are expected to advance to the finals, according to Opta’s prediction model. This includes Turkey (vs Romania), Czechia (vs Rep. of Ireland), Denmark (vs N. Macedonia), Italy (vs N. Ireland), Poland (vs Albania), Slovakia (vs Kosovo), Ukraine (vs Sweden), and Wales (vs Bosnia & Herzegovina).
Elsewhere, Jamaica are expected (52.5%) to overcome New Caledonia away from home in the Intercontinental play-offs. The winner of this match will face DR Congo in pathway one’s final. In pathway two, Bolivia is projected (65.9%) to beat Suriname to advance to the final against Iraq. Two nations from the Intercontinental play-offs will qualify for the World Cup.
See the nations that have already qualified here.
Man United Stadium Update
Manchester United are hoping to open their new stadium within the next six years, ahead of the 2032-33 season. The planned 100,000-seater stadium, which would make it the UK’s largest stadium by capacity, has been proposed to host the 2035 Women’s World Cup final. It’s expected to cost around £2bn ($2.6bn) to construct.
To start construction, the club must purchase the surrounding land for the project. Negotiations with the current landowner, rail freight and logistics company Freightliner, have reportedly been slow and problematic. The club valued the land at £50m, but the freight company demanded £400m in negotiations last year. Man United's stadium development CEO, Collette Roche, clarified that the club expect the project to take four to five years to complete from the point at which building work begins, meaning negotiations for the land could change the opening date.
Man United say there will be no public money used for the construction of the stadium, with Roche suggesting there was “a lot of interest” in financing the project. As the club already has debts in excess of £1bn, it’s unlikely to borrow more money to raise funds. However, it could set up a new company with investors buying into it, splitting the stadium from the club, reports the BBC.
See images of the planned stadium here.
Ticket Price Complaints
Football Supporters Europe (FSE) and consumer group Euroconsumers have written to the European Commission over Fifa’s World Cup ticket pricing, alleging the world governing body abused its dominant position to impose excessive prices. “Fifa holds a monopoly over ticket sales for the 2026 World Cup and has used that power to impose conditions on fans that would never be acceptable in a competitive market,” FSE and Euroconsumers said in a joint statement.
In response to previous ticket price complaints, Fifa issued $60 tickets, which equated to 10% of each team’s allocation per match. However, as part of their complaint, the FSE accused Fifa of bait advertising - illegal under EU consumer law - as cheaper tickets are “so scarce” that they’re not “genuinely available.” Further, ahead of the next sale phase in April, the FSE has requested that prices be frozen and that dynamic pricing be stopped when selling to fans in Europe.
Fifa justifies the price of tickets by claiming that there have been half a billion ticket requests in its most recent sales window, with president Gianni Infantino saying the demand was the equivalent of “1,000 years of World Cups at once.”
See a breakdown of ticket prices during the early sale phase here.
POLL
Does Mo Salah make it into your all-time Premier League XI?
ON THE BALL
Europe
> Liverpool reportedly have no plans to dismiss manager Arne Slot in the summer as the hierarchy believes there are other factors leading to poor form (More) | Wales and Liverpool legend John Toshack has been diagnosed with dementia (More)
> The Women’s Super League trophy will be redesigned for the 2026-27 season when the league expands to 14 teams (More)
> Cristiano Ronaldo’s eldest son, Ronaldo Jr., has trained with Real Madrid’s under-16 this week (More) | Sevilla have appointed Luis Garcia Plaza as head coach, a day after sacking Matias Almeyda following a poor run of form (More)
> Rangers will aim to raise £16m of new capital in a share issue to fund investment in the men's squad (More)
Americas
> Travellers from five World Cup-qualified countries will have to front a bond of up to $15,000 in order to enter the United States for the tournament in a pre-existing visa policy (More)
> Bolivia and Suriname play the first of two intercontinental semi-finals this week on Thursday (Mar 26) at 22:00 GMT / 20:00 ET (More)
> Brazil vs. France and Colombia vs. Croatia will both take place on Thursday (Mar 26) in each of their first friendlies ahead of the World Cup; see the full friendlies schedule (More)
Rest of the World
> The Senegalese Football Federation has lodged an appeal at the Court of Arbitration for Sport against the decision to strip them of their Afcon title (More)
> FIFA’s ethics committee has launched disciplinary proceedings against three senior Congolese FA officials over allegations of financial misconduct (More)
ROUTERS’ VOICE
Yesterday’s Poll: Do you like seeing players showboating on the pitch?
🟨 🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ 👍 Yes (15%)
🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🙅♂️ Nope (72%)
🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ✍️ Other (3%)
Your punditry takes:
👍 Z.W: “It brings passion, excitement, energy, and can increase the intensity of the game’s atmosphere and rivalries between teams. If you don't like the other team's showboating, it's an easy fix: don’t give them a reason to showboat in the first place.”
👍 F.L: “It’s a game of emotions! As long as the celebration isn’t in another player’s face or is dehumanising, it’s all good with me. ”
🙅♂️ S.D: “Showboating has no place in competitive sport. In fact, it’s a bit redundant!”
🙅♂️ L.V: “My father always said, 'Look like you've been there before.’ Celebrate goals and victories, but always be mindful that a showboater is only one mistake away from looking like a fool.”
EXTRA TIME
How much a US fan will (realistically) spend at the World Cup.
Who was the first footballer to announce their international retirement?
Pochettino’s first USMNT speech in the new camp.
How 11 Premier League teams could qualify for Europe.
Are the rise in shirt prices justified?
The unlikely story of the first English manager to reach a World Cup final.
GAME FACE ON
Question: In which year was the MLS founded?
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.
In the pantheon of overseas attacking players to have excelled in England, only Thierry Henry eclipses Salah’s output and consistency.
Answer
1993.
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