Analysis

England are missing a lot of key names for their final international camp of 2025. Captain Leah Williamson remains sidelined, making the absences of both Alex Greenwood and Jess Carter all the more notable in a depleted centre-back unit, while Lauren James remains out of the squad having only just returned from injury at Chelsea. Perhaps the most significant bit of team news, though, concerns Hannah Hampton, who could miss the rest of the year with a quad issue.

In an interview with Andrés Cantor for Futbol de Primera, Mauricio Pochettino discusses the work behind the USMNT’s recent turnaround - and calls out coaches who have criticized his approach.

GOAL’s writers found no shortage of drama in the Conference semis, highlighted by Messi’s Miami rolling on and Son Heung-min’s LAFC crashing out in dramatic fashion.

Everton secured their first victory over Manchester United at Old Trafford for 12 years on Monday night despite a first-half red card, but the game will be best remembered for the bizarre manner in which the Toffees were reduced to 10 men. In a rare example of the lesser-seen on-pitch team-mate bust-up, midfielder Idrissa Gueye and defender Michael Keane completely lost it with one another under the eyes of 74,000 fans and plenty more watching on at home.

One year should be more than enough time to transmit your ideas to your squad and mould them to your way of playing. But Ruben Amorim's first anniversary as Manchester United coach against Everton felt like being back at square one, his players still no closer to working out how to beat mid-table Premier League opponents, even when playing against 10 men for more than 77 minutes.

Losing Robert Lewandowski to Barcelona in the summer of 2022 was a bitter blow for Bayern Munich. The Pole had scored 344 goals in just 375 appearances for the club, after all. Replacing him was never going to be easy, but it ended up taking Bayern more than a year to find a worthy successor, as Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting rather unsurprisingly didn't exactly prove himself up to the task.

Gary Neville thought taking the Valencia job in December 2015 would begin his route to eventually becoming England manager; instead, his four-month stint in Spain drained his confidence, made him ill and put him off coaching for life. Neville's was a shock appointment as the former Manchester United defender took over one of the biggest clubs in La Liga despite having no club coaching experience, little knowledge of Spanish football and no grasp of the language.

Saturday's 4-0 rout of Athletic Club was a very meaningful match for Barcelona - and not just because it marked the Blaugrana's belated return to Camp Nou. Indeed, the Catalans winning without conceding a goal was arguably of far greater significance than the long-awaited reopening of their beloved home ground, as it was their first clean sheet for nine games in all competitions. Not since the facile 3-0 win over Getafe on September 21 had Barca shut out an opponent.

When Manchester City signed Gianluigi Donnarumma, most of the reaction focused on his ability, or lack thereof, with the ball at his feet, in sharp contrast to the man he was replacing, Ederson. But nearly three months into his spell with City, the Italian is struggling with a different challenge: the Premier League’s attitude to pushing in the box.

GOAL brings you the lowdown on how British players are doing away from home, with many footballers now taking their talents abroad in search of prosperity. Despite the riches and the glamour of the Premier League, it's far from the be all and end all. You can still carve out a fantastic career even while out of the intense spotlight of the English media.

When Manchester United meet Everton on Monday it will be exactly one year since Ruben Amorim took charge of his first game against Ipswich Town. It has been a highly eventful and not always happy 12 months featuring explosions of anger, fall-outs with players and many defeats. Many people, including the man himself, thought he might not even end up completing a year in the job.

Barcelona's famed La Masia academy has long been the envy of every other top club in Europe, and for good reason. It has forged dozens of legends over the last 46 years, from Pep Guardiola and Albert Ferrer, to Xavi Hernandez, Andres Iniesta and a certain Lionel Messi. Every generation produces multiple superstars, with Lamine Yamal leading the current crop after bursting onto the scene as a 15-year-old.

Following his mid-season arrival at Manchester City, Nico Gonzalez went through the strange experience of being hailed as an oven-ready replacement for Rodri during his first week at the Etihad Stadium, only to then be ignored by Pep Guardiola during the most important stretch of the campaign. Any fears, however, that he would become an expensive flop have since disappeared, with Gonzalez having stepped back in to anchor City's resurgence as they emerge as Arsenal’s main rivals in the Premier League title race.

At one point during the international break, it appeared as if both Napoli and Atalanta would have new coaches in place for this weekend's meeting between the two sides at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona. However, while the Bergamaschi inevitably sacked Ivan Juric the day after their shocking 3-0 defeat at home to Sassuolo, Antonio Conte remains in charge of the Partenopei - which is actually something of a surprise.

Born just outside Marseille to Algerian parents, it was always going to be hard for a footballer as silky as Samir Nasri to avoid comparisons with the great Zinedine Zidane. When he was snapped up by Arsenal in the peak of the 'Wenger-ball' years, it made complete sense. Here was this uber-talented attacking midfielder who could glide past opponents for fun, why wouldn't he be the Gunners' next marquee player?

We are now less than seven months out from the 2026 World Cup finals in the United States, Canada and Mexico, with the group-stage draw set to take place in Washington DC on December 5. Forty-two participating nations are locked in, with four teams from the UEFA play-offs and two intercontinental winners set to complete the line up in March. All of the so-called elite countries will be there, from holders Argentina and arch-rivals Brazil, to Euro 2024 winners Spain and France.

When the draw for the first ever league phase of the Women's Champions League was made back in September, there were a lot of ties that caught the eye. From the repeat of last year's semi-final between eventual champions Arsenal and eight-time winners Lyon, to the return of Mary Earps to Old Trafford as her current side, Paris Saint-Germain, faced former club Manchester United, it was a draw that certainly did not disappoint. But no fixture drew the attention quite like that which will take place on Thursday at Stamford Bridge, between Chelsea and Barcelona.

The comedian Dylan Moran once joked that Silvio Berlusconi was "so thoroughly corrupt that every time he smiles, an angel gets gonorrhoea". The former Italian Prime Minister was certainly a dubious character, right until the end of a life that was as extraordinary as it was controversial. Even while battling the health problems to which he eventually succumbed, he continued to generate headlines, in football and far beyond.

Thomas Tuchel has never looked as happy as during the eight months in which he has been in charge of the England team. But now comes the sad part: being away from the players he has grown so fond of until the next international window in March. Despite the cynicism around his appointment, the German has proved to be a fine choice of coach and has given the Three Lions the shake-up they needed.

For two seasons, signing Arda Guler looked like it might have been a mistake by Real Madrid. There were, in fact, reports that they really didn't want him in the first place, and that he was instead only brought to Santiago Bernabeu because Barcelona were so keen on signing 'The Turkish Messi' from Fenerbahce. Fast-forward, though, and that assumption now seems massively misguided.

Jeremy Doku always had the ability to do something extraordinary on the football field, but what he lacked was the sense of when and how to pull off his magical tricks. He had stood out for possessing a unique footballing talent as young as 15, but on Sunday against Liverpool, the club who wanted to sign him before he turned 16, Doku emerged as the player many knew he could become.

EXCLUSIVE: GOAL sat down with the American teenager to discuss his soccer journey, career aspirations and unique flow

It's fair to say England's homecoming didn't go to plan on Saturday. Returning to action for the first time since winning the European Championship this past summer, the Lionesses were 2-0 down just 18 minutes into their meeting with Brazil, and despite the visitors going down to 10 players not long after scoring that second, England could not make their numerical advantage count in a disappointing 2-1 defeat. What will have made the loss even more frustrating for some, though, was that it came amid a lack of experimentation from Sarina Wiegman.

GOAL runs the rule over the British players earning a living away from their homeland, with plenty more stars deciding to leave their home comforts in search of a better footballing life elsewhere. The Premier League is still obviously one of the world's most entertaining divisions and the Championship can prove fantastic for development, but there are more options out there.

For the first time since clinching a second successive European Championship title back in July, England's Lionesses return to action this week, beginning their 'homecoming series' which will take the team around the country as they celebrate the summer's incredible triumph with as many fans as possible. It starts in Manchester on Saturday against Brazil, the South American champions, and moves onto Derby three days later, where Australia will be the visitors, before resuming in November with two more friendlies.

Scottish football has been dominated by two clubs since forever. The country's first season of top-flight action in 1890-91 saw Rangers share the crown with Dumbarton as joint-winners, while Celtic finished third in the 11-team division. Since its inception, the title has only gone to a team outside the Old Firm 19 times, with the Glasgow duo taking home the remaining 110.

The USL Championship could have two brand new finalists by Saturday, and GOAL US previews the two fixtures to see who will get there

Bayern are on the lookout for a new manager after confirming that the ex-Chelsea boss will be leaving in the summer

The prodigiously gifted left-winger is already making history and megaclubs across the pond are taking notice