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It is almost certain that El Mala will leave 1. FC Köln this summer. But where to? His preferred plan might be risky for his development, but it is likely to be beneficial overall.

There was always a chance that Liverpool would announce a high-profile departure during the international break and, just three days after their latest Premier League setback at Brighton, the Reds confirmed that Mohamed Salah would be leaving at the end of the current campaign. The timing of the announcement surprised some, but Salah had successfully pushed for the news to be made public more than two months before the end of the season in what felt like an obvious attempt to control the narrative surrounding his painful and unexpectedly early exit.

The ownership of Chelsea has been a hot topic of debate ever since they were formed in 1905, with the main purpose of the club being to simply fill the redeveloped Stamford Bridge stadium. When Roman Abramovich took over from Ken Bates in 2003, he pumped in billions to buy the world's best players and improve the infrastructure. It led to the Blues becoming a force in the Premier League and across Europe, but those days are over.

Kylian Mbappe was only 19 when he turned the 2018 World Cup into his personal announcement to the world - breaking French records and matching feats last seen in Pele’s era, all while powering Les Bleus to a title that felt like the beginning of something historic. For the latest edition of Icons, GOAL's podcast and feature series that revisits the last 10 World Cups through the moments, characters, and controversies that defined them, bringing the spirit of each tournament vividly back to life, we look back on how Mbappe ran the show in Russia for France...

Chelsea were knocked out of the Women’s Champions League on Wednesday after failing to overturn a 3-1 aggregate deficit to Arsenal, winning 1-0 in the second leg of their quarter-final. The Blues gave themselves too much to do after their defeat at the Emirates Stadium last week and their wastefulness in front of goal is to blame for another failed European campaign.

Arsenal's Women's Champions League title defence remains well and truly on track after the Gunners withstood Chelsea's attempts at a comeback on Wednesday, falling to a narrow and late 1-0 defeat to win 3-2 on aggregate. It felt like the Blues had to start fast and score early to stand any chance of overcoming the deficit, and so once Arsenal had prevented them from doing exactly that, progression to the semi-finals rarely looked in doubt.

Ricardo Pepi’s role is suddenly unclear, while Auston Trusty headlines a group that took their chance in a telling March window.

Manchester United's Women's Champions League adventure came to a dramatic end on Wednesday, as Bayern Munich staged a late comeback to beat the Red Devils 2-1 on the night and 5-3 on aggregate. Marc Skinner's side started well in Germany and took a deserved early lead through Melvine Malard, but a defensive approach to the second half proved extremely costly as United succumbed to two late goals that sent the German champions through to the semi-finals, where they will likely face Barcelona.

The French coach is once again being linked with the 'Black Stars'

Italy failed to qualify for a third straight World Cup on Tuesday, and a gathering in New York City restaurant showed just how painful missing the tournament is.

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 during the March international break, as the final six qualifiers were confirmed for this summer's festival of football in North America.

Christoph Kramer saw Caspar Jander as a future international, but the highly talented midfielder has now reached a dead end at Southampton. Could a move to the Bundesliga be his way out?

England's final two games on home soil before the 2026 World Cup were supposed to give Thomas Tuchel's men the perfect send-off for North America. However, instead of being waved off with flowers, the Three Lions left the Wembley pitch to the sound of boos following their 1-0 defeat to Japan on Tuesday, which followed their uninspiring draw against Uruguay four days earlier.

The 12 games of the Thomas Tuchel era have yielded mixed results and performances from England. They remain one of the best sides in international football, even if they haven't played particularly well for extended stretches since the Sir Gareth Southgate era. That said, they are among the favourites to win the 2026 World Cup for several reasons.

He got off to an absolutely dream start at FC Bayern. Since then, however, Joshua Zirkzee’s career has been very up and down. He is now increasingly turning into a flop, whilst his sale was arguably one of the biggest coups of the Salihamidzic era at the record champions.

The road to the 2026 World Cup is almost over for England. The next time the Three Lions convene, they will do so for two pre-tournament friendlies in the United States, against Costa Rica and New Zealand, before kicking-off their tournament against Croatia on June 17. They will do so as one of the favourites to go all the way, with the pressure on Thomas Tuchel and his players to finally end 60 years of hurt.

We are now just over two months out from the 2026 World Cup finals in the United States, Canada and Mexico, with all 48 teams now locked in following the culmination of the various play-offs during the March international break. All of the pre-tournament favourites made it safely through qualifying, including Spain, Brazil, England, France and defending champions Argentina.