The debate over Manchester City punishment has escalated, with a growing number of Premier League clubs demanding that any sanctions go far beyond a simple points deduction, sources have told the BBC. An independent commission recently found City guilty on all charges relating to breaches of the Premier League’s financial regulations spanning the 2009-10 to 2017-18 seasons, and rival executives are now pushing for a reckoning that covers both the past and the future.

City have lodged an appeal against the verdict, but behind the scenes a consensus is forming among at least four top-flight boardrooms that the eventual punishment, should the appeal fail, must do two things simultaneously: make reparations for the years City broke the rules, and meaningfully restrict the club’s operations going forward.

Why a one-off Man City punishment won’t satisfy rivals

Central to the frustration among clubs is the fear that a single, one-season points deduction resulting in relegation would amount to little more than an inconvenience for a club of City’s resources. Given their financial muscle, many executives believe City would simply bounce back to the Premier League at the first opportunity, treating relegation as a “bump in the road” rather than genuine consequence.

As a result, several club figures are advocating for any Man City punishment to be spread across multiple seasons rather than delivered in one hit. Suggestions include points deductions staggered over several campaigns, as well as transfer bans extending across multiple windows, which would do more to blunt City’s ability to rebuild quickly and reassert their dominance.

One club source went further, telling the BBC it would be “bizarre, almost obtuse” if City were allowed to trade freely in the January transfer window while the sanctions process remains unresolved.

Calls to strip titles, not redistribute them

Perhaps the most striking demand circulating among rival clubs concerns City’s trophy haul. One senior club source argued that City should lose the honours won during the period covered by the guilty verdict, including eight Premier League titles, warning that the competition’s credibility would suffer if City were permitted to keep silverware earned while breaking financial rules.

Notably, there appears to be little enthusiasm for redistributing those trophies to other clubs. Instead, the preference voiced by at least one executive was to vacate the titles altogether rather than hand them to whichever side finished second. That said, BBC Sport has also been told that appetite for stripping titles is not universal, and opinions across the league remain divided on this particular element of any Man City punishment.

A “tariff-based” approach to compensation

Among the more technical proposals gaining traction is a so-called tariff-based system, under which City’s historic league finishes would be recalculated as if points deductions had applied at the time. Rival clubs could then seek financial compensation based on the difference between where they actually finished and where they would have finished had City been correctly sanctioned during those seasons.

One club source said they found “merit” in this approach, suggesting it could offer a more precise mechanism for reparations than a blanket penalty, and could help address complaints from clubs who feel they lost out on prize money, European qualification or other financial benefits because of City’s rule-breaking.

Frustration over timing and transparency

Beyond the substance of the punishment itself, several clubs expressed frustration at being kept “in the dark” about the Premier League’s handling of the process, particularly around the chronology of City’s appeal and the eventual sanctions hearing. Even so, sources indicated there was “empathy” and “understanding” for the difficult position the Premier League finds itself in, given both the scale of the case and the ongoing legal complexities.

The debate over the appropriate scale of Man City punishment comes against a backdrop of continuing football matters for the club itself. Manager Enzo Maresca is expected to address his squad collectively once players return from international duty, ahead of City’s Premier League trip to Liverpool, their first match since the verdict was announced. Merseyside Police confirmed it has received queries about the fixture and said an “appropriate policing operation” would be in place, while sources at Liverpool described preparations as “business as usual,” with no extra measures planned beyond the usual pre-match arrangements between clubs, supporters and authorities.

For now, City’s guilt has been established, but the shape of their punishment remains unresolved. With clubs pushing for a combination of retrospective reparations and forward-looking restrictions, the final outcome could reshape not just City’s immediate future but the Premier League’s approach to financial discipline for years to come.

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TITLE: Harry Kane Ties Peter Shilton’s 125-Cap England Record in Wembley Win Over Czech Republic
KEYWORD: Harry Kane England caps
DESCRIPTION: Harry Kane equalled Peter Shilton’s 36-year-old England caps record at Wembley as the Three Lions beat the Czech Republic in the Nations League.

Harry Kane walked onto the Wembley turf on Tuesday night and, in doing so, quietly rewrote a piece of English football history that had stood untouched for 36 years. His 125th appearance for the national side, against the Czech Republic in the Nations League, drew him level with Peter Shilton’s long-standing record for most Harry Kane England caps, a tally many assumed would never be matched.

It is a landmark that fits a career built on relentless accumulation rather than fireworks. Kane is already England’s all-time top scorer with 89 goals from 124 appearances, having opened his account just 79 seconds into his debut. Now 33 but still first-choice for club and country, the Bayern Munich striker has become the kind of fixture in Thomas Tuchel’s team that younger players are urged to model themselves on as the manager rebuilds his squad with an eye on Euro 2028.

Harry Kane England caps milestone comes amid a dominant run

The timing could hardly have been better. England arrived at Wembley full of confidence after thrashing Croatia 7-0 in Rijeka at the weekend, a result that followed a tidy 2-0 win over the Czechs in Prague earlier in the window. Tuchel has used this extended international break to blood exciting young talent alongside senior figures, and Kane’s Harry Kane England caps achievement arrived in a side that also featured Trent Alexander-Arnold, back in the squad and nearly announcing his return with a curling free-kick that Czech goalkeeper Antonín Horníček was forced to tip away in the opening minutes.

The match itself followed a familiar pattern for a dominant England side against opponents already eliminated from contention in the group. The Czech Republic, pointless heading into the fixture, started with intent and had moments of promise through Václav Král and Ladislav Krejčí’s teammates down the flanks, but England controlled the bulk of possession. Morgan Rogers combined well with Alexander-Arnold early on, Jude Bellingham probed for openings through the middle, and Kane, playing his part as the focal point of the attack, took on dead-ball duties that repeatedly tested Horníček.

From a trial as a goalkeeper to the record books

The journey to this point began far from Wembley’s bright lights. As a six-year-old turning up for trials at Ridgeway Rovers, the same youth club that once produced David Beckham, Kane was initially pegged as a goalkeeper after a shooting drill in which he pulled off a string of athletic saves. It was only when a parent on the sidelines pointed out he was “better on the pitch” that coaches discovered the boy could finish as well as he could save.

That knack for scoring followed him through Waltham Forest district football and brief, unsuccessful academy spells at both Arsenal and Watford, neither of whom kept faith with the young striker. Arsenal let him go at 11 despite him reportedly finishing as the academy’s second-highest scorer. It was Tottenham Hotspur who eventually gave Kane his platform, signing him to scholarship terms on his 16th birthday, though even there his old youth coach Alex Inglethorpe admits Kane was far from the standout prospect in his age group at the time.

What set him apart, according to those who coached him, was not raw talent but an unshakeable work ethic. Teachers at Chingford Foundation School remembered a “model student” who never acted the prima donna despite being his team’s best player, while former teammates recall a boy who lived and breathed football above all else, Beckham Mohican haircut included.

A record set in a different footballing era

Shilton’s mark had endured since English football’s pre-Premier League days, set across a goalkeeping career so durable he was still playing senior football into his late 40s, eventually making his 1,000th league appearance for Leyton Orient. That longevity now finds an echo in Kane’s own career arc, a striker who has sustained peak performance levels into his thirties while continuing to add to his England ledger.

Speaking before kickoff, Kane reflected on what it takes to sustain a career at the top. “To be consistent at the elite level you have to have discipline both on and off the pitch and be ready to dedicate pretty much your whole life to the cause,” he said, crediting his family’s support. He added that he felt the team, and himself, were “in a good place,” with bigger tests still to come before Euro 2028.

With Kane expected to continue featuring regularly for Tuchel’s side, breaking Shilton’s record outright now looks a matter of when, not if. For a player once discarded by two academies as a boy too small to make the grade, matching the most hallowed appearance record in English football is a fitting milestone in a career defined by persistence rewarded.

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Mikel Merino was the hero for Spain as La Roja came from behind to defeat Croatia 2-1 in the UEFA Nations League.

Croatia took the lead in the first half, but Merino turned the game around after coming on at the break. The Arsenal midfielder scored twice to complete Spain’s comeback and secure another important victory.

The brace means Merino has now scored three goals in his last two games for Spain, continuing his impressive run of form on the international stage.

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His latest performance once again highlighted his importance to Luis de la Fuente’s side, with the midfielder proving decisive when Spain needed him most.

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The Nations League has always promised meaningful football between international breaks, but this October window delivered something far messier: a tangle of political tension, competitive anxiety and logistical strain that left several associations questioning whether the format is fit for purpose.

Across the continent on Monday night, three fixtures captured the night’s drama in microcosm. France, bristling with attacking talent under new management, pushed hard against Belgium, with Bradley Barcola and Rayan Cherki probing a well-organised Belgian defence marshalled by Zion Suzuki’s deputy in goal, Vandevoordt. In Belfast, Northern Ireland asserted control over Georgia at Windsor Park, Shea Charles driving forward alongside the impressive Ethan Galbraith. Meanwhile in Romania, Sweden’s Viktor Gyokeres struck early to put his side ahead, continuing his habit of delivering when it matters. These were the games broadcasters wanted — tight, competitive, full of stars doing what stars do.

But not every Nations League story this window was about goals and tactics.

Wales left searching for answers in Nations League scrap

For Wales, the return to League A has been a brutal education. Craig Bellamy’s side lost three of their four matches in this window, beaten in Portugal and twice by Denmark, sandwiched around a surprise win over Norway that now looks like a false dawn rather than a turning point. Wales have not kept a clean sheet in nine consecutive matches, and their survival in the top tier — along with the seeding boost that would bring for Euro 2028 qualifying — now hinges entirely on next month’s final two fixtures.

Bellamy didn’t mince his words afterward, calling the new four-game international window format “no sense,” arguing it disproportionately benefits bigger nations with the strength in depth to rotate squads, something Germany did by effectively naming two different groups across the international period. Wales had no such luxury. Injuries to Harry Wilson and Joe Rodon before a ball was kicked, followed by a mid-camp withdrawal from David Brooks, exposed just how thin Wales’s resources have become. Former international Iwan Roberts didn’t sugarcoat it: with the bench featuring League One regulars, Bellamy is increasingly forced into selections that reflect scarcity rather than strategy.

The frustration wasn’t confined to the pitch. Attendances dipped amid the toll of travel costs and fixture congestion on fans following the team across multiple countries in a fortnight, a warning sign for the Football Association of Wales given that the same four-game structure will govern Euro 2028 qualifying next autumn — stakes raised further by Wales’s involvement in hosting that tournament.

Ireland and Israel: a Nations League draw nobody wanted

If Wales’s troubles were primarily sporting, the Republic of Ireland’s Nations League campaign became something else entirely: a flashpoint for one of football’s most sensitive geopolitical disputes. Drawn against Israel back in February, Ireland faced mounting pressure at home to boycott the fixtures altogether given Israel’s conduct in Gaza. The Football Association of Ireland resisted that pressure, wary of the severe sanctions Uefa could impose, but the compromise solution satisfied no one. Israel’s home matches were already being played in Hungary due to the war, and Ireland’s own “home” fixture was shifted to Serbia for what the FAI described as operational reasons, with no supporters permitted inside the stadium.

The two matches that followed were as fraught as expected. Ireland won the first meeting 3-0 in Debrecen, but the build-up was overshadowed by Irish players wearing black armbands and bowing their heads during the Israeli anthem — a gesture repeated in the return fixture, a tense 1-1 draw in Backa Topola, where Israeli players wore their own armbands in memory of the October 7, 2023 attacks. On the pitch, things grew uglier still: Ireland’s fitness coach Damien Doyle alleged he was spat at by an Israeli player before half-time, while a pre-match press conference descended into acrimony after an Israeli journalist accused Irish players of racially abusing opponents in the first match, a claim Ireland’s communications officer dismissed as “a lie” before ending the briefing outright. Striker Adam Idah, who is Black, had already reported racial abuse from a section of Israeli supporters during the opening game.

Ireland manager Heimir Hallgrímsson, visibly weary after the second match, called on Uefa to ensure the two nations are not drawn together again. “I wouldn’t wish any national team to go through what we have gone through these two weeks,” he said, adding that Uefa “needs to step in and do something.” It was a rare public plea from a manager for his governing body to intervene not on a sporting matter, but on the human toll of fixture scheduling in a geopolitical minefield.

A format under strain

Taken together, these stories suggest a competition straining under its own structure. The Nations League was conceived to replace meaningless friendlies with fixtures that mattered, and on the pitch — as Monday’s slate of France, Italy, Sweden and Northern Ireland matches showed — it still largely delivers that. But the expanded four-game window has magnified problems that smaller nations and sensitive geopolitical pairings were always going to struggle with: squad depth, fan fatigue, and now, the question of whether football administrators can insulate competition from world events at all.

With Euro 2028 qualifying set to adopt the same four-game structure, associations from Cardiff to Dublin will be watching closely to see whether Uefa adjusts course — or whether this October’s chaos becomes the new normal for the Nations League era.

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College basketball practices are well underway across the country, which means NBA scouts are back on the road to begin the evaluation process for the 2027 draft cycle.

Fall practices used to be the first extended look that NBA scouts would get of college freshmen, beyond an early preview at events like the McDonald’s All-American Game and Nike Hoop Summit. But now front offices are doing more legwork than ever in both high school and FIBA spaces. Still, fall practices mark a new stage in the evaluation process and a more intense focus for the coming year.

While each NBA front office has its own system and calendar for evaluating potential draft candidates, there are quite a few norms across the league. At this point in the fall, the vast majority of teams are still building their prospect list and then beginning to sort prospects into tiers. They may know the big names, but they’re looking for more subtle ones or some diamonds in the rough. It’s not uncommon for teams to have 200 names they’re interested in exploring at this point, and they’ll continue to add and subtract from that in the coming months.

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Big Ten expert picks: Projected order of finish, preseason predictions, top players to watch, starting lineups

Isaac Trotter

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Then, most NBA teams create and build categories that go something like: lottery pick, potential lottery pick, potential first-rounder, potential two-way or second-rounder, and future name. As the fall goes on and gives way to the season, they’ll sort the prospects on their lists into one of those categories, as both a precursor to eventually creating their own big board and also to help determine the players that the ultimate decision-makers have to prioritize seeing during the year.

That general process is relatively common among teams and consistent from year to year. What varies, of course, is the talent in each class.

As the 2026-27 college basketball season begins, here is a look ahead to five storylines we are tracking for the 2027 NBA Draft class.

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1. It’s wide open at the top

Last year’s freshman class had a clear big three of AJ Dybantsa, Darryn Peterson, and Cameron Boozer that was already established in high school and stayed consistent through draft night, when those were the first three names called.

This year’s class has neither that level of star power nor certainty at the top. 

There is only one freshman with comparable natural talent: Tyran Stokes. The Kansas jumbo playmaker is built like an NFL tight end and can create like a lead guard. But Stokes arrives in the college ranks with more questions about his habits, consistency, and approach than any of the top prospects from the last cycle. He’ll have a chance to prove he’s worth the top pick, but is far from a lock just yet.

The next tier of incoming freshmen includes two guards: Arizona’s Caleb Holt and Arkansas’ Jordan Smith. Both are two-way players with strong frames and winning intangibles. Smith is more of a creator, but a questionable shooter. Holt has improved his shooting, but has yet to prove his playmaking. The bottom line is that neither is yet dynamic enough to be considered a No. 1 overall pick in most classes.

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One thing this class has that last year’s did not is a high-end lottery talent who opted not to come to the college ranks. The 2027 cycle has Stefan Joksimovic, a native of Slovenia who is playing for Baskonia in Spain. The 6-foot-7 lefty can initiate, has developing guard skills, and some swag to match. The 18-year-old has also been building up an impressive resume with MVP performances at the EuroCamp and U18 European Championships. Still, he’s not a sure thing, nor a typical candidate for the No. 1 overall pick.

In total, this draft class is drawing some early comparisons to the 2024 NBA Draft, another class that lacked star power at the top of the class. That’s daunting for NBA decision-makers who know that their fans, and more importantly owners, will instinctively equate a high draft pick with star expectations. History tells us there is a future all-star hiding somewhere in virtually every class, but right now, it’s hard to spot him in this class.

2. There’s more depth than star power

So, while there may be a clear risk to drafting atop the 2027 class because of the expectations associated with the pick, there should be real value in the bottom half of the lottery through the majority of the first round. This is because there was an unprecedented number of potential first-rounders who spurned the 2026 draft in favor of returning to the college ranks for the 2026-27 season. Players like Florida’s Thomas Haugh, UConn’s Braylon Mullins, Arizona’s Mo Krivas, Alabama’s Amari Allen 
and Duke’s Patrick Ngongba all had a chance, to varying degrees, of hearing their name called in the first round, but instead returned to school.

Now, it’s possible the extra year could give them a runway to play their way into consideration to be selected higher in the lottery. Allen looks like he’s going to have a chance to be Alabama’s primary initiator this year. Mullins should be showcased as UConn’s top scoring option. Ngongba may be the guy that Duke now plays through in the frontcourt. For Haugh, it’s another year to raise his shooting numbers and prove himself to be a true big wing.

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Simultaneously, we may see real jumps from players like Alijah Arenas at USC, Tounde Yessoufou at St. John’s, Dame Sarr at Duke, Davis Fogle at Gonzaga, Matthew Able at North Carolina, and a host of others.

There are also plenty of other freshmen with interesting draft profiles. Bruce Branch has undeniable upside and is stepping into a wing role at BYU that has produced consecutive one-and-done lottery picks. Ohio State’s Anthony Thompson has an intriguing blend of size, length, and shot-making, and should have the platform to put up big numbers. No one may get more on-ball volume than Jason Crowe Jr. at Missouri, and while his high-volume style can be polarizing, he has the type of touch, scoring instincts, and playmaking ability that are, at least in part, natural. It’s also possible that someone emerges ahead of schedule, like Arkansas’ Abdou Toure, UConn’s Colben Landrew or Villanova’s Luigi Suigo.

The bottom line is this draft looks like it will have more depth than was initially forecasted.

3. The NIL market still looms large

Of course, that depth is dependent on players staying in the draft. The 2026 draft was supposed to have star power and depth alike. The latter didn’t come to fruition, though, as the NIL market was the biggest draw pulling players back to college. The reality is that for anyone who wasn’t essentially a guaranteed first-round pick, college offered both more security and earning potential, and there’s no reason to expect anything different this cycle.

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Last spring, the top bigs in the portal, most of whom were unlikely first-round picks, were earning around $5 million to go back to college. Conversely, that’s a number that an NBA rookie doesn’t earn unless they are a top-ten pick.

This fall, we’re seeing NIL dollars only go up in high school recruiting relative to a year ago. If the portal market rises in correlation, or even stays flat, it will inevitably impact just how much of that theoretical depth opts to stay in the draft.

Now, last year showed us that some players are actually willing to take less to chase the NBA dream. That’s a statement that sounds extremely counterintuitive, and yet players like Koa Peat, Meleek Thomas, and Henri Veesaar were all examples. So, there is still a push-pull even with extreme money being spent in the college ranks.

4. The best prospects might not be the best players

Boozer was the clear Player of the Year in college basketball last season. Dybantsa was the leading scorer in Division I. When Peterson and Wilson were healthy, they were dominant. Those four were the top four picks in the draft. This year, there may be more of a disconnect.

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It’s not just the lack of star power atop the class, although it’s certainly a factor. It’s that many of college basketball’s best players are going to be upperclassmen. In many cases, they’re still in college, precisely because their NBA upside is less clear. Or, with the dozens of fifth-year players now returning, they are very literally only able to do so because they’re not currently on an NBA roster.

So it’s very possible, and even probable, that some of the most impactful college players in the country won’t be great NBA prospects, and conversely, there may be some youngster with a potentially bright upside who is worth the risk in a class like this. The prototype here is someone like Peyton Watson, who played less than 23 minutes per game in his freshman season at UCLA, but was still a one-and-done first-round pick and signed a four-year $88 million contract this summer as a 23-year-old.

Could Maryland’s Baba Oladotun, Illinois’ Quentin Coleman, or Baylor’s Dylan Mingo intrigue NBA executives long-term, even if they don’t put up gaudy numbers this year?

Or conversely, could players like Michigan State’s Jeremy Fears, Miami’s Malik Reneau, or Texas Tech’s JT Toppin dominate the college ranks and yet not move the needle much for scouts? The answer to both is yes, and there are plenty of names that can be interchangeable in those spots that wouldn’t change it.

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The lack of certainty is going to make the scouting process more important than ever. The bottom line is that the art of evaluating is always about forecasting future probabilities, and that may be particularly true this year.  

5. The very best prospects aren’t eligible yet

It’s very possible that college basketball’s best NBA prospect won’t be eligible to declare for the draft for another two years. Duke’s Joaquim Boumtje Boumtje, a super-skilled southpaw listed at 7-foot-2, is the early favorite to be the top pick in 2028. If he were eligible in 2027, he’d probably be the early favorite now too.

He’s also not alone. UCLA freshman Nikola Kusturica is also 17 years old and won’t turn 18 until 2027, and thus not eligible for the draft until 2028. He too is expected to be a very high lottery pick if everything goes according to plan.

There’s even an example from the high school ranks. Marcus Spears Jr., who was previously the No. 1 ranked rising senior in the country, reclassified up and committed to Texas in early July, despite being too young to be one-and-done eligible.

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The reality right now is that those three players are the early favorites to go atop the 2028 draft. In other words, we have less clarity about the top of the 2027 draft than we do about the draft twelve months later.

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The first extended international break of the 2026-27 season has drawn to a close, and instead of the rested, refreshed squads organisers hoped for, clubs are counting the cost in strapped hamstrings, thigh knocks and anxious medical updates. For the first time, the Premier League and Championship paused for three weeks rather than the usual two, with players due back in domestic action from Friday. The question now being asked across the football world is simple: did it actually work?

FIFA introduced the longer gap with player welfare explicitly in mind. In recent seasons there were typically five international windows scattered through the calendar – March, June, September, October and November – each lasting two weeks. The new system trims that down to four windows but stretches the September-October break to three weeks. Part of the thinking was logistical: the 2026 World Cup final is scheduled for 19 July, the latest date for a summer World Cup since 1966, which forced a rethink of the wider calendar. Cutting the number of breaks was also meant to reduce the amount of long-haul travel facing players, particularly those from Africa and South America who are based at European clubs and otherwise shuttle across continents multiple times a season.

Has the extended international break delivered on player welfare?

On paper, fewer disruptions and more recovery time between matches sounds like a win for player welfare. In practice, this fortnight has produced an unusually long injury list involving some of the sport’s biggest names. Manchester City’s Erling Haaland asked to be substituted after 67 minutes and later limped out of Norway’s game against Portugal before leaving international duty altogether. His City team-mate Nico O’Reilly was sent back to the club for further assessment.

Bournemouth’s Alex Scott withdrew from the England squad with a thigh problem, a situation the Cherries are reportedly unhappy about given how it was handled. Liverpool’s Cody Gakpo pulled out of the Netherlands squad with an ankle injury, while his club team-mate Alexander Isak withdrew from Sweden duty with a minor thigh issue. Real Madrid’s Kylian Mbappe picked up an injury on France duty, and Barcelona winger Raphinha returned from the Brazil camp nursing a thigh problem of his own. Portugal boss Jorge Jesus even revealed that Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes had been playing through pain, while Sunderland pair Dan Ballard and Brian Brobbey both suffered hamstring injuries.

England manager Thomas Tuchel had already lost five players – Tino Livramento, Kobbie Mainoo, Cole Palmer, Marcus Rashford and Declan Rice – before his squad even assembled for this window. It leaves domestic managers nervously checking medical bulletins with three more days of fixtures still to play out before players return to their clubs.

Workload concerns beyond the extended international break

The injuries have reignited a long-running argument about how much football the modern elite player is actually being asked to carry. The Norwegian players’ union, NISO, responded directly to Haaland’s injury, with chief Kristoffer Vatshaug warning that “the burden on top players has become far too high” and calling for clearer rules on workload, recovery time between matches, travel strain and rest after a long season.

Tuchel himself has been openly critical of the new format, describing the three-week block as “more challenging” than previous breaks because of travel demands and players sometimes getting only two days of rest between international fixtures. Speaking before England’s meeting with the Czech Republic, he insisted “player welfare is priority number one” but acknowledged that different training schedules, altered training times and unfamiliar positions can all raise injury risk. Asked directly whether the extended international break had led to more injuries than usual, he was cautious, saying officials “need to get the numbers right” before drawing firm conclusions.

That caution is echoed by the wider difficulty in judging the experiment fairly. Because this break is longer and features more matches than previous windows, simply counting injuries this fortnight against past breaks risks an unfair comparison. A genuine verdict on whether the extended international break has reduced harm or simply redistributed it may only be possible once the full calendar of 2026-27 international windows has played out.

What happens next

For now, Premier League and Championship clubs are bracing for returning squads that look rather different to the ones they released three weeks ago. Some players will walk back into training fully rested; others will be nursing fresh problems picked up thousands of miles from home. With domestic football resuming from Friday, managers will spend the coming days assessing fitness, managing minutes and hoping the extended international break hasn’t cost them key players for the run of fixtures ahead.

Whether FIFA’s reshaped calendar ultimately proves kinder to players’ bodies than the old system remains an open question. What is clear after this first instalment is that a longer gap between club games has not, by itself, been enough to prevent a wave of high-profile injuries – and that debate over player workload is unlikely to quieten down any time soon.

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Golf instruction is ever-evolving, but the best advice stands the test of time. In GOLF.com’s new series, Timeless Tips, we’re highlighting some of the greatest advice teachers and players have dispensed in the pages of GOLF Magazine. Today, we look back at our July 1998 issue for tips from Fred Couples on hitting crisp iron shots.

If there’s one person in golf that’s worth modeling your swing after, it’s Fred Couples. With a move looks both beautiful and effortless, it’s hard to argue against Couples’ place among the all-time smoothest swingers.

Over the course of Boom Boom’s PGA Tour career — which featured 15 wins and a green jacket — the now-67-year-old made birdies in bunches. And many of those circles on the scorecard can be attributed to his pinpoint accuracy with his irons from the fairway.

For recreational players, the easiest way to make more birdies is to be like Couples and knock your approach shots close. And for help with that, we turn the pages of GOLF Magazine back to 1998, when Couples shared five tips for hitting crisp iron shots.

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Couples’ 5 keys for iron accuracy, by Paul Marchand

Fred Couples is famous for his long blasts from the tee, but incredibly accurate iron play has been a keystone of his career. Throughout the 1990s, Fred’s name has peppered the top of the PGA ‘Tour’s year-end stats not only for driving distance but for greens in regulation, low scoring average, and eagles and birdies, all products of his laser-like precision with his irons.

Case in point: At last year’s Players Championship, he aced the fearsome par-3 17th at the TPC at Sawgrass. Later in the year, he holed approach shots at the Open Championship, PGA Championship and Ryder Cup. And at this year’s Masters, Couples led the field in driving distance, but more importantly, set up four under-par rounds with iron shots that appeared as if they were fired with the aid of a lens and crosshairs.

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These kinds of results certainly involve some good fortune, but ball-striking skill is the backbone of any game that produces as many “lucky” shots as Fred’s has. In this article, I’ll explain the five accuracy keys that I’ve watched Fred masterfully execute since we were teammates at the University of Houston. As Fred’s coach, I’ve found that when all of these keys are working, Fred is tough to beat. His accuracy skills give him the ability to hit the ball where he wants, when he wants.

Whatever your ability, increasing your accuracy is a sure path to lower scores.

1. Freedom of motion

Fred’s mental and physical approach to golf can be summed up in three words: freedom of motion. It’s also the chief characteristic of his swing. He doesn’t force any movements or manipulate the club through impact. Fred understands that the great paradox of the swing is that the more you try to control the club through impact, the less control you have over the shot.

Trying to steer the club into impact is an epidemic flaw among amateurs, sometimes even among those with strong swing mechanics. Mechanics are certainly the foundation, but playing golf requires a swing that goes beyond positions. It needs to be a free-flowing motion to be effective.

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Working on positions has its place: the practice range. When practicing your mechanics, don’t worry too much about where the ball goes. Your goal should be to develop a feel for the skill you’re trying to learn. Before you end a practice session though, it’s vital to add freedom of motion back into your swing by trusting the new feeling you’ve been working on.

2. Rhythmic transition

Fred has a very long swing that gradually, almost imperceptibly, builds acceleration in the downswing. His trademark look of effortlessness is the result of rhythmic motion in the transition area, where the backswing ends and the downswing begins.

It’s in this transition area that most amateurs fall victim to “hitting from the top,” swinging the club out and away from the body while trying to rush the club back to impact. Fred does just the opposite: As the club reaches the top of his swing, he starts the downswing by moving his hips and his left leg diagonally right of the target line. Simultaneously, his right elbow starts to drop quickly, albeit smoothly, to his side and then his torso unwinds powerfully.

These synchronized movements result in a very shallow clubhead path from slightly inside his stance line. This path promotes a full release of the clubhead through impact, a consistent low point at the bottom of the swing, and the ability to repeat and control the speed of his swing.

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3. Clubface (and body) rotation

The ability to to consistently square the clubface at impact is the essence of accuracy, but conscious manipulation will never get the job done. In the hitting area, the clubface should rotate on an arc from open to square to closed relative to the target line. ‘Trying to force this action, with your hands or right shoulder, will lead to wild inconsistency.

As the club swings through the hitting area, the clubface rotates at a rate similar to the amount the body is rotating — if you let the club swing freely. The more the two rotations match, the more accurate you will be. This takes the obligation of squaring the clubface literally out of your hands.

‘To understand how the clubface moves in harmony with the body, make a full practice swing, stopping the club at waist-high on the backswing and waist-high on the through-swing. At both points, the toe of the club should be pointing upward, and the shaft and clubhead should be in front of your body and parallel to the target line: If so, your swing is squaring the clubface through impact and your body is rotating in sync with it.

4. Develop feel

Good mechanics and feel are like the chicken and the egg: It’s a puzzle to figure out which came first.

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You should have some understanding of how your swing works mechanically, but you must know what it feels like when it is working. A popular term for this is “muscle memory.” Scientists might argue whether or not this term is accurate, but it does convey the notion.

To best execute your swing on the course, you need to be confident that you can repeat the feeling of a good swing from memory. Then the mind is free to let the body go. This is an intangible feeling that Fred trusts and relies on heavily, and you should too. Golf may be a thinking person’s game but trusting your swing and letting it happen is where golf becomes a sport.

One of the best ways to develop this feel is to hit shots of different distances with the same club. Start with a 6- or 7-iron, making a full turn and complete motion but swinging so smoothly and slowly that the ball flies half its normal distance. See how many balls you can hit solidly and that same abbreviated distance. Then vary the distance by gradually changing the speed of your body rotation.

The ultimate test is a favorite of Fred’s: hitting a driver or 3-wood to a short par-3. As an example, Fred is hitting a 3-wood from 147 yards, about half his potential with this club. The only change he makes is slowing his body and keeping the club moving in sync with the slower rotation.

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Learning to vary the speed of your swing will give you a great feel for the club. This awareness will breed confidence in your ability to repeat the motion without thought, an instinct that leads to more consistent ball-striking.

5. Consistent pre-shot routine

One trait that all professionals share is a commitment to their pre-shot routines. Fred is no exception. Amateurs, on the other hand, rarely have a routine, which is puzzling since it is the easiest “pro move” to imitate. 

Once over the ball, a pre-shot routine triggers the mind and body to swing from memory, not from a list of mechanical instructions. Performed correctly, a routine will clear your mind of everything except target visualization and a confident anticipation of how it will feel to execute the shot.

Fred confines swing thoughts to the practice tee. And when he’s working on something, he doesn’t care where the ball goes. He just concentrates on his mechanical thought until it becomes part of his feel. Once that is accomplished, he switches his focus back to the target with the help of his routine and lets go of the swing thought. In addition, Fred often rehearses key shots he’ll need on the course while on the practice tee, complete with his pre-shot routine.

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Throughout this article, Fred and I have defined key concepts like freedom, rhythm and feel that can make your swing more accurate. These keys, once a part of your golfing instincts, will combine to improve your accuracy. Use them in your next round and you might knock one in the hole like Fred.

GOLF Top 100 Teachers Summit

The 2026 GOLF Top 100 Teachers Summit is set to take place Nov. 1-4 at Omni La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad, Calif.

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Juja Kibo has edged closer to a Melbourne Cup start following a handicapping reassessment after its commanding win in The Metropolitan last Saturday.

The Ciaron Maher-trained stayer was handed a 2kg penalty by Racing Victoria’s chief handicapper David Hegan for the $10 million event, in recognition of its dominant 1-3/4-length victory over Aethelwulf in the 2400-metre Randwick race, carrying 56.5kg.

This revised weight for the 2026 Melbourne Cup now stands at 53.5kg, positioning Juja Kibo 34th in the order of entry for the 24-horse field.

A 1kg penalty was also applied to Juja Kibo for the Caulfield Cup, accounting for the different weight scales of the major spring features.

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“Juja Kibo’s Metropolitan performance was worthy of a handicap reconsideration after strongly defeating several key Cups rivals in impressive fashion and thus he advances 2kg in both races against both the weight for age scale and a number of runners from Saturday,” Hegan stated.

He elaborated, “Due to the different weight scales in the Cups, he takes a 1kg penalty in the Caulfield Cup and a 2kg penalty in the Melbourne Cup.”

“In the Caulfield Cup, he moves from a true weight of 50kg to 52kg, which is an actual weight penalty of 1kg above the minimum, and he will now carry 52kg.”

“In the Melbourne Cup he rises from 51.5kg to 53.5kg which puts him 0.5kg below The Euphrates, who conceded him 2.5kg on Saturday when finishing third.”

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“Juja Kibo progresses significantly in the order of entry for both races, climbing 11 places to 30th in the Caulfield Cup and 12 places to 34th in the Melbourne Cup.”

Mr Monaco, another stayer trained by Maher, also had his Melbourne Cup weight updated, now slated to carry 52.5kg in the 3200m Group 1 race on November 3.

This adjustment signifies a 1.5kg penalty for the imported son of Territories, who is already exempt from the Melbourne Cup ballot following his strong win in The Bart Cummings (2520m) last Saturday.

“Mr Monaco was previously weighted in the Melbourne Cup at 1.5kg below fellow competitor Valiant King who ran third in the Bart Cummings, but now meets him on level terms with that 1.5kg increase,” Hegan remarked.

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Mr Monaco’s Caulfield Cup weight remains unchanged at 51kg, placing him 33rd in the updated order of entry after the weekend’s racing. Check out the latest Australian betting sites for all the Cup action.

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