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First day of the league season: Vålerenga’s Gabriel Larsen Rajkovic comes on as a substitute in the closing stages and breaks Ødegaard’s record

In a GOAL exclusive, Timo Werner explains his move to San Jose, his evolving role beyond goals, and why MLS came at the right time.

When Newcastle beat Bayern Munich to the signing of towering Stuttgart frontman Nick Woltemade in August, it was seen as major coup on the back of their qualification for the 2025-26 Champions League. Indeed, Eddie Howe was delighted to see the club-record, £65 million ($88m) deal pushed through late in the summer transfer window, with the German snapped up as a replacement for Liverpool-bound Alexander Isak.

Pep Guardiola is a big fan of Phil Foden, but has recently been playing the 25-year-old far less often at Manchester City. The winger has yet to score a goal in 2026.

This is Legacy, GOAL’s feature and podcast series that counts down to the 2026 World Cup. Each week, we explore the stories and the spirit behind the nations that define the world’s game. Today we dive into how Canada stopped waiting for permission, learned to believe again, and transformed a World Cup dream into a defining moment - with an even bigger stage now waiting for them on home soil.

With Manchester City trailing Real Madrid 3-0 ahead of the second leg of their Champions League last-16 tie, you might have assumed Pep Guardiola would spend the day before the game at the Etihad Stadium running through tactical instructions with his squad or delivering motivational messages to help them overhaul this daunting deficit against the kings of European football. You would certainly not have imagined the coach would give his players a day off.

The history of Chelsea Football Club can be split into three separate eras. You have everything that happened before Roman Abramovich's takeover in 2003, everything that happened under the Russian oligarch's control, and everything after he was forced to pass over the keys to the club to the BlueCo-Clearlake consortium in 2022.

Week 4 of MLS didn't disappoint as several high-profile signings made their debuts and is Pat Noonan's seat getting hotter at FC Cincinnati?

Portland Hearts of Pine and Vermont Green are two of New England’s most compelling community-built clubs, and their U.S. Open Cup meeting brings a battle of brands to the pitch.

For Muslim soccer players around the world, Ramadan brings unique challenges and deeper meaning as they balance faith, competition and community.

Although the 2026 Winter Olympics are now concluded, watching Bruno Fernandes pull the strings for Manchester United brings to mind the most iconic film ever made about the event, and more specifically, a stirring motivational speech from the late John Candy.

Thomas Tuchel will name his England squad for the March internationals on Friday, with the Three Lions reconvening for the final time before the end of the 2025-26 club season. This, effectively, will be the last chance for those on the fringes of the squad to impress without immediate fear of losing their World Cup place. But it will also be Tuchel's last opportunity to experiment with systems and players he thinks could help win the trophy.

Winners win trophies. That was the simple message that Chelsea boss Sonia Bompastor gave her players before Sunday’s League Cup final. It clearly got through, too, because her Blues put on a performance of champions to beat Manchester United and win the first silverware of the season, while sending a message to the rest of England - and Europe - that, despite a disappointing campaign so far, they are still a huge threat.

Manuel Neuer, Jonas Urbig and Sven Ulreich are injured – Leonard Prescott may now step into goal for FC Bayern. Who is the 16-year-old and where does he come from?

An analysis of what happened in the match against Lazio and the views of the Rossoneri players.

Since Saturday, Max Dowman has been the youngest Premier League goalscorer of all time. The hype surrounding the Arsenal teenager knows no bounds.

Last season, Borussia Dortmund’s second team were relegated from the 3. Liga. The unspoken goal was: immediate promotion! But the reality for BVB II is quite different.

GOAL reviews the major takeaways from Americans playing in Europe, including another goal from the star No. 9.

GOAL reviews top USWNT performances abroad, from Naomi Girma’s injury to Alyssa Thompson’s first League Cup with Chelsea and Heaps, Yohannes lifting the French Cup with Lyon.

Liverpool missed the chance to climb into the Premier League's top four as they were held to a 1-1 draw by struggling Tottenham on Sunday. Dominik Szoboszlai's fourth direct free-kick goal of the season looked set to be the match-winner for Arne Slot's side, but Richarlison popped up in the final minute of normal time to steal a point for Spurs.

Barcelona re-established their healthy lead at the top of La Liga on Sunday afternoon, beating Sevilla 5-2 to move back four points clear of Real Madrid. It was another fruitful outing for Raphinha, who bagged a hat-trick in the win. Two of his strikes came from the penalty spot, with his third a looping deflection that put the game to bed early in the second half.

The Ivorian is Juventus’ best signing: he cost next to nothing, unlike others. A lesson that brings the past to mind

Lauren James' brilliance took centre stage as Chelsea retained the Women's League Cup on Sunday, the England international once again coming back to haunt Manchester United as her goal was backed up by Aggie Beever-Jones' opportunistic finish to give the Blues a 2-0 win and the first piece of silverware of the season. In a tight game of few chances, James' clinical touch looked set to prove decisive before Beever-Jones made sure of the win in the latter stages, rounding off a remarkable effort from a Chelsea side plagued by injuries.

Manchester United came up short in Sunday's Women's League Cup final, losing 2-0 to Chelsea after a catastrophic Dominique Janssen error gifted Lauren James the opening goal. Marc Skinner's side did have plenty of the play in Bristol across the course of the 90 minutes, but their hopes of a fightback were extinguished by substitute Aggie Beever-Jones in the second half.

Bruno Fernandes made history by inspiring Manchester United to a 3-1 win over Aston Villa as they homed in on a return to the Champions League. The Red Devils captain recorded his 15th and 16th assists of the season as United saw off fellow top-four contenders Villa and tightened their grip on third place, opening up a three-point gap with Unai Emery's side.

Olivia Smith and Stina Blackstenius got the goals as Arsenal beat London City Lionesses 2-0 on Sunday, a result which allowed the Gunners to move within one point of the Women's Super League's European places. With Chelsea playing in the League Cup final on Sunday, Arsenal knew the short journey across the capital presented an opportunity to close the gap and put some pressure on the third-placed Blues, and they took it, winning their seventh game in a row in comfortable fashion.

Manchester City's march towards the Women's Super League title was stalled somewhat on Sunday as the runaway leaders were held to a 0-0 draw by Aston Villa. Andree Jeglertz's side struggled to create chances against the most porous defence in the division, and if not for some excellent Khiara Keating saves, they may well have fallen to just a third defeat of the campaign.

Jobe Bellingham had a difficult start at Borussia Dortmund and struggled to adapt to the higher standard of play. That never worried manager Niko Kovac. The 20-year-old has since made remarkable progress at BVB.

Despite the absence of multiple big stars, Javier Mascherano's side held firm in a scoreless draw