GM football fans. It’s Thursday, Dec. 11 - World Cup tickets open again, it’s the most congested the Premier League has ever been, and everything else you need to know. Forwarded this email? Sign up here.
KEY FIXTURES
UEFA Europa League (Dec 11): Basel vs. Aston Villa, 20:00 GMT / 15:00 ET. Villa have been in great form, having won 13 of their last 15 across all competitions, scoring two or more goals in 10 of those matches. However, Basel have won each of their last seven home matches in the Europa League. Celtic vs. Roma, 20:00 GMT / 15:00 ET. Celtic have won just two of their last 16 games against Italian opposition, while Roma have been inconsistent in the competition, with three wins and two losses from their last five. Lyon vs. Go Ahead Eagles, 20:00 GMT / 15:00 ET. League leaders Lyon are tied on 12 points with Midtjylland and Aston Villa after five rounds. Meanwhile, debutants Go Ahead Eagles have won just one of their last five matches in all competitions. See every Europa League fixture here and league standings here.
See the Uefa Conference League fixtures here.
Results…
Champions League: Real Madrid 1-2 Man City | Brugge 0-3 Arsenal | Athletic Club 0-0 PSG | Leverkusen 2-2 Newcastle | Benfica 2-0 Napoli | Dortmund 2-2 Bodo/Glimt | Juventus 2-0 Pafos | Qarabag 2-4 Ajax | Villareal 2-3 Copenhagen (Standings)
Women’s Champions League: Barcelona 3-1 Benfica | Valerenga 0-1 Paris FC | Atletico 2-2 Bayern | Chelsea 6-0 Roma | Man United 0-3 Lyon (Standings)
Championship (All Results)
TOP TALKING POINTS
World Cup Tickets Open
The third ticket ballot for the 2026 World Cup opens on Thursday (Dec 11). It’s the first ballot since the draw was made on Friday and the full match schedule announced. The entry period will open at 11:00 ET (16:00 GMT / 17:00 CET) on Fifa’s website–see here.
The application window runs through 13 January 2026, and there is no advantage to applying early. Once the window closes, Fifa will run a lottery to decide which applications are successful. Fans will be notified by email in February, with payment for the ticket charged automatically if the allocation is successful.
While ticket prices are unknown at the time of writing, Fifa has committed not to use dynamic pricing for the main ballot, and the price will remain the same from the start of the ballot. See the price of tickets during the early sale phase here.
See the updated match schedule and kick-off times here.
Congested Premier League Table
This Premier League season sees the tightest race for European spots as only four points separate 4th place (Crystal Palace) and 12th place (Newcastle United) after 15 matches. This is the smallest points difference between these positions at this stage of the competition's history, with the previous record being five points, set in the 2000/01 and 2006/07 seasons. See the Premier League table here.
The congestion means that Manchester United jumped from 12th to 6th in a single week following a 4-1 win over Wolves. A loss would have kept them in the bottom half. However, Ruben Amorim’s side will be tested by AFCON, which will see his first-choice right flank–Bryan Mbeumo, Amad Diallo, and Noussair Mazraoui–absent. See how every team is impacted by AFCON here.
England and Germany are currently on course to win the two extra Champions League places on offer for next season's competition. Last season, nine Premier League clubs qualified for Europe after an extra Champions League place, Tottenham’s Europa League win, and Crystal Palace and Nottingham Forest securing the final spots via the FA Cup and seventh place.
‘Pride’ Match Controversy
Iran and Egypt have complained after Fifa scheduled a World Cup match between the two nations in Seattle to coincide with the city's LGBTQ+ Pride festival. The plans were put in place before the teams involved in the fixture were selected or the draw for the 2026 World Cup was made. Homosexuality is illegal in Iran, and in Egypt, moral laws are often used to prosecute LGBTQ+ people.
Egypt’s football federation issued a statement late Tuesday saying it sent a letter to Fifa "categorically rejecting any activities related to supporting homosexuality during the match." The president of Iran's football federation Mehdi Taj also criticised the scheduling, calling it an “illogical move that essentially signals support for a particular group.”
Reports suggest the LGBTQ+ rights and freedom celebrations will continue despite the objections. The organising committee for Seattle said the plans were for the activities to take place outside the stadium, with the Seattle PrideFest regularly seeing more than 200,000 participants. Although Fifa prohibits banners and flags with political messages from being taken into stadiums during the tournament, it allows flags expressing “sporting and social symbols”, which include the rainbow flag.
POLL
Are you managing to keep up with the number of matches on at the moment?
ON THE BALL
Europe
> Chelsea Women and Paris FC are the two latest teams to confirm their places in the Uefa Women's Champions League knockout phase after both teams won; see a full round-up (More)
> England will host Uruguay and Japan in friendly matches at Wembley Stadium next March in preparation for the 2026 World Cup (More)
> La Liga president Javier Tebas says the league will continue to pursue a league match abroad with Saudi Arabia as a potential host (More/paywalled)
> Former NWSL director Tatjana Haenni will join Leipzig as chief executive (More)
Americas
> The 2026 Concacaf Champions Cup bracket is set with San Diego vs. Pumas UNAM being the sole match between Liga MX and MLS (More); see the full bracket (More)
> NWSL’s Washington Spirit are continuing to work to keep Trinity Rodman despite the turbulent turn the negotiations took last week (More)
Rest of the World
> Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah is a target for clubs in the Saudi Pro League, confirmed its chief executive Omar Mugharbel (More)
> Jesse Lingard scored in his final game for FC Seoul in a 1-1 draw with Melbourne Victory in the AFC Champions League Elite; Lingard’s contract was terminated was mutual consent (More)
ROUTERS’ VOICE
Yesterday’s Poll: Even if they’re rivals, do you support clubs from your country in continental competitions?
🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 👍 Yes (63%)
🟨 🟨 🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ 🙅♂️ Nope (33%)
🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ✍️ Other (4%)
Your punditry takes:
👍 G.U: “A rising tide lifts all boats. The League of Ireland needs European money in order to progress. Government help is not forthcoming. It comes with a risk that the gap between the top clubs and the rest widens, but overall it is a large net positive for all LOI clubs to do as well as possible in European competitions.”
👍 D.W: “90% of the time I would be supporting English clubs in Europe against foreign opposition. On occasion, when a foreign favourite is playing against our biggest rivals (no names mentioned), I would root for the foreign team, otherwise let’s bring the trophy back to England, whoever wins it.”
🙅♂️ T.H: “You need to separate the two here. As a Spurs fan, I’d never cheer for Arsenal or Chelsea, but it wouldn’t bother me to cheer a little bit for say Newcastle.”
🙅♂️ A.V: “Given that I’m an American who supports Liverpool, I have no reason to support other English teams. I only root for my club, and I never root against any other clubs, though. Sport is about things that make us happy. Rooting against teams goes against the spirit of that (provided they’re not playing your team). Maybe this should have been a vote for Other…”
EXTRA TIME
Serie A’s goal of the month is picture-perfect.
Every club with people on their badges.
The Premier League teen everyone’s talking about.
Adidas re-release iconic F50 Spider boots.
The non-league player going to AFCON for the second time.
What’s Salah really like—away from the headlines?
… and Gerrard breaks silence on Liverpool drama. (video)
GAME FACE ON
Question: Leandro Trossard’s goal for Arsenal at Aston Villa was his 50th in the Premier League, becoming the fifth Belgian player to reach the milestone. Who are the other four?
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.
No matter what’s happening internally, you protect the club — your teammates, the manager, the staff. You don’t air dirty laundry in public, especially when the club is going through bad moments.
Answer
Romelu Lukaku (121), Christian Benteke (86), Eden Hazard (85) and Kevin De Bruyne (72). Credit: Opta.
