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Asian footballers have dominated headlines during a record-breaking summer transfer window across Europe's top leagues. From high-profile Premier League moves to major Champions League switches, the region's top talents are making historic strides on the global stage.

Iranian defender Nader Mohammadi has gone viral once again after executing his trademark front-flip throw-in to set up the winner for Russian side Spartak Kostroma. The spectacular somersault delivery bypassed Rotor Volgograd's defensive wall to seal a 1-0 victory and cement the full-back's status as a lethal set-piece specialist.

Four nations made debuts at the 2026 World Cup, with Cape Verde, Curacao, Jordan and Uzbekistan gracing the grandest stage in international football for the first time. It was the tournament with the most newcomers since 2006 and Cape Verde achieved the feat of ending a 16-year wait for a debutant to reach the knockout stages, before succumbing to Lionel Messi's Argentina in a classic.

The group stage of the 2026 World Cup came to a dramatic conclusion on Saturday, as Austria scored a 96th-minute equaliser against Algeria to qualify for the knockout stage while simultaneously eliminating Iran, who had been set to progress as one of the tournament's third-placed finishers. Elsewhere, Lionel Messi came off the bench to help Argentina maintain their 100 percent winning record with a 3-1 victory over Jordan and, in doing so, the No.10 extended his record-breaking goals tally at the finals to 19.