Mark Doyle

During Liverpool's historically poor run of results last autumn, Florian Wirtz's form became the subject of much debate. Gary Lineker was among those that felt that the No.10 might benefit from being taken out of Arne Slot’s starting line-up, and thus the spotlight. "Don’t think he isn’t suffering at the moment with this," the former England international said on 'The Rest is Football' podcast.

Cyle Larin came off the bench to spare Jonathan David's blushes by earning Canada a 1-1 draw with Bosnia and Herzegovina in their 2026 World Cup opener on Friday. The Canucks were the better side for the majority of the match but looked set to slump to a seventh consecutive finals defeat after Lovo Jukic headed in a near-post flick from Sead Kolasinac midway through the first half.

There were just seconds to go in Liverpool's 1-0 win over Manchester City at Anfield on October 16, 2022 when Diogo Jota pulled up with a muscular problem that left the Portuguese in agony. Jurgen Klopp feared the worst right away: "If Diogo stays down it is never good." And it wasn't. Jota had sustained a calf injury that would sideline him for months, rather than weeks, thus ruling him out of Portugal's 2022 World Cup campaign.

It's actually happening! After repeatedly threatening to bring Jose Mourinho back to the Bernabeu, Florentino Perez has only gone and done it. On Thursday, it was confirmed that Real Madrid had agreed a three-year contract with Mourinho for him to return for a second spell as coach, 13 years after his first ended in acrimony.

During last December's World Cup draw at the Kennedy Centre in Washington D.C., FIFA president Gianni Infantino was introduced as "football's No.1 fan". Most supporters unsurprisingly scoffed, but Infantino is a football fan. And, just like every football fan, he's never forgotten his first World Cup. It was the 1982 tournament in Spain and, for the Swiss-born son of Italian immigrants, it was "spectacular".

There really is nothing like the World Cup. Even just qualifying generates a level of nationwide excitement that the club game simply cannot match, which is why we witnessed truly joyous scenes all across the globe as one country after another secured a spot at this summer's festival of football in North America. The final six participants were confirmed in March, with Sweden, Turkiye, Czechia and Bosnia & Herzegovina taking the four remaining slots in Europe, while Iraq and DR Congo came out of the inter-confederation play-offs.

England have another warm-up game before kicking off their World Cup campaign against Croatia on June 17, but Harry Kane should clearly play no part at all in Wednesday's friendly against Costa Rice. The Three Lions captain is simply too important to Thomas Tuchel's team, as he underlined for the umpteenth time by scoring the only goal in Saturday's dreadfully dull 1-0 win over New Zealand.

Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes showed why he's Portugal's most important player going into this summer's World Cup in North America by starring in a 2-1 friendly win over Chile in Lisbon on Saturday evening that featured a stupid red card for winger Rafael Leao and a worryingly ineffective display from Seleccao skipper Cristiano Ronaldo.

Brazil are in a bad way. We know this because Neymar's fitness has been a topic of national debate for the past few months. Believe it or not, there are a significant number of Brazilians that believe that the Selecao has no chance of winning this summer's World Cup without a 34-year-old forward who has neither been fit nor good enough to play for his country since 2023.

Liverpool have a new manager. Just over a year after Arne Slot led the Reds to a record-equalling 20th English championship, the Dutchman has been replaced in the dugout by Andoni Iraola. The change of coach has already lifted spirits around Anfield after a disastrous Premier League title defence that featured 12 defeats, while Liverpool were also hammered at home by Crystal Palace in the fourth round of the Carabao Cup, humiliated by Manchester City in the FA Cup quarter-finals and swept aside by Paris Saint-Germain in the last eight of the Champions League.

Erling Haaland has openly embraced his reputation as the footballing equivalent of The Terminator. A few years ago, he even wished all of his followers on social media a 'Happy Haalandween' by sharing an image of himself portrayed as half-man and half-goal-scoring machine. However, to think of Haaland solely as a stone-cold killer in front of goal does a disservice to an emotional and colourful character who has never wanted anything but the best for his native Norway.

The tears began to flow down Cristiano Ronaldo's cheeks as soon as the full-time whistle blew at the Al Thumama Stadium in Doha on the night of December 10, 2022. The forward was so upset by Portugal's shock World Cup quarter-final loss to Morocco he couldn't even bring himself to acknowledge his side's supporters. The pain was too great. So great, in fact, that he wasn't able to properly express his devastation until the following day - and even then only in a social media post.

Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni included Lionel Messi in his 2026 World Cup squad on Thursday, even though his captain isn't "fully fit". Of course, neither revelation was particularly surprising. Messi was widely expected to be a part of his the Albiceleste's title defence - just as it was always unlikely that he'd been in optimal physical condition.

The European club season drew to a dramatic conclusion on Saturday, with Paris Saint-Germain defeating Arsenal on penalties to retain their Champions League crown. Not since Real Madrid nearly a decade ago had anyone successfully defended the title, making his a truly momentous night for Luis Enrique's men. However, defeat shouldn't take any of the shine off Arsenal's historic campaign, with the Gunners having won the Premier League for the first time in 22 years.

Paris Saint-Germain have done it again! A club once derided as the biggest bottlers in the Champions League showed their mettle by edging out Arsenal 4-3 on penalties, after a 1-1 draw in Budapest, to deservedly retain their European crown on Saturday. Unlike last year's rout of Inter, PSG had to dig deep to defeat the Gunners, who proved an unsurprisingly tough nut to crack after taking an early lead through Kai Havertz following a fortuitous break of the ball.

Saturday afternoon's news that Liverpool had sacked Arne Slot unquestionably came as a shock - not because it was the wrong decision, but because very few people actually thought that they'd do it. After being forced to sit through one of the worst title defences in Premier League history, Reds fans had lost as much faith in the club as they had the coach.

Saturday's eagerly-awaited Champions League final between Arsenal and Paris Saint-Germain in Budapest is the classic clash of styles. Arsenal boast the best defensive record in the competition, having conceded fewer goals (six) and kept more clean sheets (nine) than anyone else. The big question is, though, will Mikel Arteta's men be able to contain one of the most talented attacking teams in European football history?

During a recent episode of the Kroos brothers' podcast, 'Einfach mal Luppen', Felix revealed that while making notes during the second leg of Bayern Munich's Champions League semi-final against Paris Saint-Germain, he jotted down the words "Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Ballon d'Or." Toni admitted that he was just as big a fan of the Georgian, but added there was just one problem: "He won't be a world champion."