Walking into Brighton’s Elite Football Performance Centre, I was swiftly approached by a member of the club’s communications team. “Have you got the frames?” he asked this bemused writer, who only had his phone, laptop and notepad with him. It turns out he was after a different Will; not from The Independent, but from Guinness World Records. We were both here for James Milner.
For Milner, his record-breaking 654th Premier League appearance was just another game. “Massive victory on the road, delighted for the boys and travelling fans, thanks for the support,” read his very ordinary Instagram post, with the comments limited, after Brighton’s hard-fought win at Brentford. No self-congratulations, no fuss. It was very run-of-the-Milner.
The 40-year-old had his priorities straight. “I’ve always just tried to get on with my job and keep my head down really,” Milner said, ironically surrounded by journalists – and the aforementioned GWR dignitary, adorned in the trademark blue blazer and tie – who had all congregated on the south coast to discuss his remarkable milestone. “I know obviously there’s been a lot of talk around this sort of thing, but for me, I just want to do my job and [was] especially pleased to get the win, that was so important for us at the weekend. So to contribute to that, that’s always number one.”
Milner receives three Guinness World Records after notching his 654th Premier League appearance (Brighton & Hove Albion)
Of course, Milner meant no disrespect and emphasised he was incredibly grateful for the tidal wave of congratulations that had come his way. “I’ve had so many amazing messages, you want to thank people and there’s nice posts like the clubs have done,” he stressed. But it was Gareth Barry, the man whose record Milner had surpassed, who seemed to really get the “no biggie” vibe.
Advertisement
“He sent me a message after the game and then it was his birthday yesterday, so I sent him a message saying happy birthday,” Milner said. “He just said congrats, and he said he’s going away and golfing somewhere, so that sounded good to me.”
You don’t get many football bingo cards more filled out than Milner’s (and that’s not a quip at his age).
Across a Premier League career that has spanned 23 years, 109 days and counting, the Englishman has won every trophy under the sun, including three Premier League titles and one Champions League during his glory-laden stints with Manchester City and Liverpool. He even has an Intertoto Cup to his name with Newcastle.
Advertisement
James Milner has won every trophy under the sun, including a Champions League title with Liverpool in 2019 (Getty)
He’s been deployed in every outfield position possible. “I’d say I needed goalkeeper to play every single one,” he joked.
Milner collected three framed world records on the day of our visit: one for most Premier League appearances (654), another for longest time between first and last Premier League goal (22 years and 248 days), and a third for most consecutive Premier League seasons of any player (24). He’ll get a fourth in 217 days, at the time of writing, if he surpasses Teddy Sheringham as the oldest outfield player in Premier League history. But while that box remains one of the few unmarked, so does another: retirement.
“I think things change very quickly in football, and I think when you get to my age, things change very quickly as well,” Milner admitted when asked if he will be around long enough to become the top flight’s eldest ever statesman.
“When I look at where I was last year, not being able to lift my foot for six months, to where I am this year, it’s easier to turn around and say, ‘Yes, I’d love to do another year.’
Advertisement
“I’m pretty open at this moment in time – whether I will or whether I won’t, I’m not sure. We haven’t had any conversations, so obviously the club have to be interested as well. It’s all right me saying I want to play another year if the club don’t want you.”
Whether it’s sooner or later, and whether it’s his decision to make or Brighton’s, Milner is under no illusions: “I know the end’s getting closer.” The veteran, however, asserts that he doesn’t “fear” retirement, even if the question of “when’s the right time?” does play on his mind. “I feel like I still can do it now, but do you go to the point where you can’t? Is that too long?”
As such, Milner is in the thick of considering his life after football, all while keeping a piece of advice from former boss Jurgen Klopp in the back of his mind. “Jurgen always said, whenever you finish, you need to have a rest and a break straight away,” he reflected. “I think that’s pretty appealing at this moment in time.”
Advertisement
Jurgen Klopp has advised Milner to take a break when he hangs up the boots (PA Wire)
The workhorse deserves his break, but knowing his character, it will only last so long.
“I think most people say you miss the structure and what you’re training for every day. You’re going in the gym and it’s hard, it’s for a reason, it’s for the next game and things like that,” Milner said with a sense of pre-emptive nostalgia, before reassuring that his world-class engine will not be detuned in retirement.
“When you haven’t got that, I think I’d probably look towards doing marathons or something like that to give me something to go for again.”
Advertisement
Milner says he will ‘probably look towards doing marathons’ once he retires (Getty)
Milner will leave football with arguably the most fabled work ethic in the English game. At Liverpool, the yearly pre-season lactate test under Klopp – which tasked players with doing laps of their training ground – came with an award named after him, having won it at a canter for every season he was at Anfield, even into his mid-thirties.
He boasts longevity that with the modern fixture schedule will be nigh-on impossible to replicate, fuelled by a drive to prove his doubters wrong – something his dad used to play on.
“He knew what I was like and he used to say, ‘you don’t work hard enough, you’re not gonna make it’,” Milner remembered. “He knew what he was doing and it [his drive] probably comes from that, to be fair.
“He’d never say it in a horrible way or anything like that, but he knew what I was like, and he’d be like, ‘you’ve got no chance of scoring the goal from there’, and then like two shots later it’s in the top corner. He knew how to get the best of me.”
Advertisement
Silencing the sceptics is part of the reason Milner is still going today. “Some things don’t change,” he laughs.
Milner has been motivated from childhood to prove people wrong (Peter Tarry/PA Wire)
It’s that burning desire to push himself that has him now pondering a career in management. Milner has been earning his coaching badges but knows the hellfire that the job can pose.
“There are some times I think it’d be great and I’d love to put my stamp on a team, and I think I could do this and that,” he says. “But it’s such a hard gig, isn’t it? It’s so hard. Even the amount of press you’ve got to do to be honest – press conference before the game, after the game, like eight times a week.
Advertisement
“It’s one that the competitive guy in you thinks, ‘yeah, I wouldn’t mind giving that a go and taking on’. I know it’s difficult but… and I feel like I’ve got a fantastic knowledge of people I’ve worked under, from back to your Terry Venables and your Sir Bobby Robsons, and then you go through to the current manager now.
Milner made his Premier League debut under the legendary Terry Venables at Leeds (Getty)
“I’ve got a great array of different managers from different countries and different personalities to lean back on, so in one way I think it’d be a big shame to lose all that knowledge and experience I’ve built up, to not be able to use that.”
There are no guarantees on next steps from Milner, who wants to focus on the present. But incredibly, his career could yet be charged with some footballing firsts.
JOHANNESBURG — When Jon Rahm found his opening tee shot in the left rough in the third round of LIV South Africa, he called in a rules official to confirm that his ball had embedded in its own pitch mark, a scenario by which the rules would grant him free relief.
The official, Grover Walker, who has three decades of refereeing experience for the USGA, arrived and, in short order, agreed with Rahm and Rahm’s caddie, Adam Hayes: the ball was embedded. Hayes noted that it was “down past the root system.”
That the ball had plugged was no surprise. The Club at Steyn City has been drenched by rain this week, and Rahm had tried driving the green, some 330 yards away on a hole with more than 100 feet of vertical drop. His shot landed in a low area not far from a creek bed. Just moments before Rahm had let his tee ball fly, the ball of his playing partner, Dean Burmester, also had plugged, albeit in the fairway.
Less clear, however, was whether Rahm’s ball had embedded in its own pitch mark, which is a requirement for relief.
Advertisement
The LIV broadcast appeared to show something different: Rahm’s drive hitting the ground and bouncing forward about two feet in the air before disappearing into the thick Kikuyu rough. Could the ball have landed in another player’s pitch mark, unbeknownst to everyone on the ground? Absolutely. Pitch marks don’t have initials. Could the ball, after bounding, have sunk into it own second pitch mark? That’s possible but far less likely. Complicating matters further was that Rahm, given his obscured vantage point from the tee, couldn’t see his ball land, meaning all he could do was exactly what he did: assess his lie as he found it and follow the guidance of the referee.
“At the start of Round 3, Jon Rahm’s tee shot on Hole 1 came to rest in the rough. Rahm sought the advice of a referee to see if his ball was embedded. After consulting with the referee, it was determined that the ball was embedded and he received relief before hitting the second shot.
Advertisement
“Per Rule 16.3, a ball that bounces can still be embedded in its own pitch mark and does not automatically negate the possibility of relief.”
LIV’s rules officials come from across the golf industry — with experience monitoring USGA, LPGA and state golf association events. They are empowered to lean on LIV’s “Any Shot, Any Time” replay technology to gain more information than what might be available on the scene of a ruling but do so only when there are questions or uncertainty about a ruling. If there is no doubt, the official makes the call and the group moves on. In this case, Rahm and Walker agreed upon what most likely had happened, as did Brett Rumford, the walking broadcaster in the group.
While the Rules of Golf are mostly airtight, there is still gray area and need for judgment calls, especially on a wet course. The replay casts doubt on whether Rahm’s ball embedded in its own mark, but how quickly could that information have been relayed to the rules official? It doesn’t take much for a ball be considered “embedded,” as evidenced by this diagram from the USGA. Also, eyewitnesses were scant given Rahm’s ball landed on the far side of the hole, maybe 70 yards from any fans.
As Rahm was getting his ruling, LIV commentator David Feherty reviewed a replay on the broadcast and offered his own assessment.
Advertisement
“Ah, no, that didn’t bury,” Feherty said to his booth mate Nico Colsaerts. “Interesting, Nico, that he’s getting a drop there. That ball obviously looked like it had buried, and it can do that in this Kikuyu grass.”
“Yes, but the referee stands,” Colsaerts said. “He’s the one giving the ruling.”
After taking his relief, Rahm pitched to three feet and made the ensuing putt for one of his eight birdies on the day.
“Took advantage of a good break,” Feherty said.
Advertisement
Rahm signed for a seven-under 64 Saturday to move to 18 under for the week. He is three back of Bryson DeChambeau with 18 holes to play.
The $5.50 elect Roulette King, piloted by Jamie Mott, stormed home late to pip $81 hope Savisanta by a head, leaving Kaye Jay ($21) to fill third a further three-quarters of a length adrift.
Advertisement
“This was his Grand Final. This was the race we set him for,” Rogers said.
“We’ll get him home and see what happens, but he’s a horse for the future so we won’t go knocking him around.
“A Derby, they are things we will talk about with Jamie and the owners and how the horse pulls up, but I’ve got no doubt the horse will pull up well.
“He’s just one of those horses. He gets home and just wants to eat, which is a big plus.”
Advertisement
Having tracked Roulette King from foalhood, Rogers held his nerve as Mott held the gelding in the latter stages of the field.
“I was never worried because Jamie has had a lot to do with the horse,” Rogers said.
“When he went out, I said to ride him how you see fit, because you know what you’ve got.
“I could see him over the back that he had a handful of horse, and he was waiting for a bit of clear air down the running and with the turn of foot he’s got, he was always going to be a chance.”
Advertisement
Sports betting enthusiasts enjoyed the action in the Alister Clark Stakes, with top racing odds available through online bookmakers.
No. 12 High Point put everyone on notice for the second time in as many games this March Madness, but could not find the same success.
After advancing to the Round of 32 following an upset victory over No. 5 Wisconsin, the Panthers’ season ended after No. 4 Arkansas ran away from them late Saturday night.
High Point led by as many as five early in the game, and they were up 56-52 with 14:17 to go after going on a 12-2 run.
Advertisement
Both teams exchanged buckets for several minutes, with no one expanding their respective leads by more than three points for a little while.
High Point Panthers head coach Flynn Clayman and guard Rob Martin (3) react in the second half against the Arkansas Razorbacks during a second round game of the men’s 2026 NCAA Tournament at Moda Center.(Craig Strobeck/Imagn Images)
With 7:04 to play, the Panthers took a 72-71 lead, to which the Razorbacks responded with a 10-2 run, putting them up by seven and giving them their largest lead of the night.
The game was then quickly tied at 83 after a wild run by High Point, but over the final 3:19, Arkansas outscored High Point, 11-5, to snatch the victory, despite a valiant effort from the Panthers.
Advertisement
High Point Panthers forward Terry Anderson (5) drives against Arkansas Razorbacks forward Malique Ewin (12) and forward Billy Richmond III (24) in the second half during a second round game of the men’s 2026 NCAA Tournament at Moda Center.(Craig Strobeck/Imagn Images)
Arkansas was favored by 11.5, and while they couldn’t cover, it was another Sweet 16 appearance for legendary head coach John Calipari.
Two Panthers, Rob Martin (30) and Cam’Ron Fletcher (25), combined for 55 points, but Darius Acuff Jr. of Arkansas trumped everyone by dropping 36.
Arkansas will face the winner of No. 1 Arizona and No. 9 Utah State in the Sweet 16.
Advertisement
High Point Panthers head coach Flynn Clayman and forward Braden Hausen (15) react in the second half against the Arkansas Razorbacks during a second round game of the men’s 2026 NCAA Tournament at Moda Center.(Craig Strobeck/Imagn Images)
Manchester United had six players in loan action on Saturday afternoon.
To find out where all of Manchester United’s loanees are plying their trade this season, click here
Ethan Ennis
Ennis played the full 90 minutes of Fleetwood Town’s 1-0 win over Crawley Town.
Advertisement
Advertisement
He made one key pass and connected with three of his crossing attempts in an impressive display of traditional wing play. Ennis also completed 81% of his passes during the match.
The young winger also completed one successful dribble and came out on top in three duels.
Radek Vitek
The Czech goalkeeper made five stops in Bristol City’s 0-1 defeat to West Bromwich Albion.
He made one high claim and one clearance for his side. Vitek also won his only aerial duel in a strong performance despite the loss.
Advertisement
Jacob Devaney
The young Irish midfielder played 80 minutes of St Mirren’s 2-1 win away to Falkirk.
He made two key passes and completed an impressive 85% of his passing attempts. Devaney was also a menace in the middle of the park, winning three of his four tackles and five of his six ground duels in a tenacious effort.
Advertisement
Jacob Devaney stats vs Falkirk
Dan Gore
Gore played the final 25 minutes of Rotherham United’s 0-3 defeat to Lincoln City.
Advertisement
He made one key pass and completed 79% of his other passes. He also won his only aerial and ground duel of the match.
Gabriele Biancheri came off the bench for The Millers for the second half. He had zero shots on goal and could not provide any key passes in a disappointing display.
The young striker did win his only tackle and also two out of four ground contests.
Ethan Wheatley played the final 45 minutes of Bradford City’s 1-2 defeat to Burton Albion.
Advertisement
He failed to have any shots on goal or provide any key passes during his time on the pitch.
Manchester City will not be able to call on Marc Guehi in the Carabao Cup final against Arsenal despite fellow January signing Antoine Semenyo being available
Pep Guardiola doesn’t like it and many can’t understand it but Manchester City will not be able to call on Marc Guehi for their Carabao Cup final against Arsenal. Nearly two months after joining the club, the former Palace defender will have to sit out the match despite the fact fellow January signing Antoine Semenyo can play.
Semenyo’s involvement caused confusion and controversy when he lined up for Guardiola’s side in their semi-final against Newcastle United. Eddie Howe was not happy that Semenyo was able to play even though he had already featured in an earlier round for Bournemouth before his £62.5m winter transfer.
Advertisement
Not only did he play but the Ghana international was instrumental in City’s 2-0 win at St James’ Park in the first leg of their semi-final, helping the Blues back into their first League Cup final since 2021 when they beat Aston Villa to win the trophy for the fourth consecutive time. Guardiola will be able to call on Semenyo for Sunday’s game with Arsenal thanks to that tweak to the rules to allow players to feature in the same competition for two different teams.
Get MEN Premium now for just £1 HERE – or get involved in our City WhatsApp group by clicking HERE. You can also join our City Facebook page by clicking HERE and don’t miss out on our brilliant selection of newsletters HERE.
Guehi will not have that chance though – not because of his prior involvement with Crystal Palace but because he was not a City player before the first leg of their semi-final with Newcastle. The new rules of the competition as of this season mean that a new signing has to have joined before that date if they want to play in either the semi-final or the final.
That effectively makes Guehi the only cup-tied player in the competition this season, an unusual quirk that left Guardiola baffled after their place in the final was confirmed. “Hopefully we can convince the Carabao Cup (EFL) that Marc can play the final,” he said.
Advertisement
“I don’t understand why he cannot play the final. Hopefully we make a letter. You buy a player for a lot of money and he is not able to play for a rule I don’t understand. Hopefully they can change it. It is difficult to understand.”
City’s hopes of repeating their 2023 European success were ended this week as the Spanish giants completed a 5-1 aggregate success in the last 16.
The setback has not discouraged City manager Guardiola, who has seen enough in recent months to be optimistic even if he accepts there remains a gap to bridge at the very highest level.
City have a chance to win the first major trophy of the season on Sunday as they face Arsenal in the Carabao Cup final and they have not given up hope of catching the Gunners in the title race.
“I have the feeling that in many things it is just underneath, it will flourish,” said Guardiola, whose side are also through to the FA Cup quarter-finals. “I have the feeling that it is close.
Advertisement
“In other things we need a little bit more time to realise, and for the players to realise what we need to be a strong team in many departments, but in most of the things we are close.”
Guardiola feels City’s progress this season has already surpassed that of their underwhelming 2024-25 campaign, regardless of how it now ends.
He said: “Last season we arrived in the final of the FA Cup against Crystal Palace. We played really well but there were many things behind the scenes we could not control and the season was not good.
“Even if we had won against Crystal Palace, the season had not been good. Many things happened that were not what a team should be.
Advertisement
“I don’t know what’s going to happen but this season has been more than decent. Most of the time we have been a team that is not perfect but is good.”
The next step, he believes, is to find consistency throughout a full season.
Guardiola said: “The other things to be aware of, maybe for the type of players that we have, is to do what we need to be consistent for 11 months in important games.
“The gap is a little but in many aspects we are an extraordinary team.”
Advertisement
Pressed on what was still missing, Guardiola said at a press conference: “I won’t tell you but I know it and the players know it.”
Out here, losses grow on trees, and playoff berths fall from the sky.
Out here, it’s Oprah country: You get a first-round series! And you get a first-round series!
“It’s a bit of a pillow fight right now,” admitted Oilers captain Connor McDavid, on a night where six Pacific teams played and six Pacific teams lost in regulation.
Advertisement
“We’re fortunate to play in this division. A lot of teams are fortunate to play in this division,” McDavid said. “We’re thankful not to have lost any ground. That being said we have to find a way to win some games here on the road. We have to make up some ground.”
As the Oilers fell to a Florida team for the second straight game on home ice, this time a 5-2 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning, they looked at the standings to see that they hadn’t lost any ground to anybody on another Softball Saturday night in the Pacific.
The same thing happened two nights before, if you can believe it.
“We’re very fortunate. The teams that we’re battling with are losing,” said head coach Kris Knoblauch. “These last two nights in a row that we’ve lost, everyone else we’re battling with are not gaining any ground on us.
Advertisement
“We’ve got a lot of games against those teams, so we’re going to need to win those games. But, it’s nice that we lost a game on our schedule and we didn’t lose any ground. Certainly, it was a good opportunity for us to win and really move ahead.”
Every Pacific team that played Saturday lost in regulation: Vegas lost 4-1 in Nashville, L.A. lost 4-1 at home to Buffalo, San Jose lost by the same score at home to Philadelphia, Seattle dropped a 5-2 decision in Columbus and Vancouver lost 3-1 at home to St. Louis.
Then Edmonton got bested by the Lightning, yet held tight to second place in the Division despite a two-game losing streak.
Six Pacific teams played games on Thursday. Three of them were shut out that night, while the six teams combined for six goals — three by the Kings and two by the NHL’s last place team, the Vancouver Canucks. Together, they earned one measly loser point out of a possible 12.
Advertisement
It is a cyclical phenomenon, and while the Pacific is rightly targeted for being “a pillow fight” this year, other Divisions take their turn.
The Atlantic Division has been home to four separate rebuilds among its eight teams over the past decade, though their top teams — Florida, Tampa and Boston — have all helped to prop up the division.
The Metropolitan’s Carolina Hurricanes have been a great regular-season team, but they play in a division that houses a wholly average group in recent years. Neither very good nor very bad, the best teams in the Atlantic have held sway in the East for some time.
Few, however, have been as bad a collection as the Pacific in 2025-26, where the first-place Anaheim Ducks’ 80 points would have them four points and three teams removed from a wild-card spot out East.
Advertisement
Edmonton, it seems, just doesn’t beat many of the NHL’s top teams anymore. On Saturday against Tampa, their top unit got caved in by the Lightning’s top group in a mismatch that decided the game.
Edmonton’s top unit of McDavid, Zach Hyman, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Evan Bouchard and Mattias Ekholm combined to go minus-14. Edmonton’s top line had a 26 per cent shot share on a night where Nikita Kucherov danced his way to another four points.
“They have a great system, they’re perfectly coached. They all know what they’re doing all over the ice. They’re a great team,” complimented McDavid, whose team hung in there but just couldn’t handle the Lightning.
McDavid’s praise for his Olympic coach Jon Cooper was effusive.
Advertisement
“They’re extremely well coached, they’re extremely well organized,” he said. “They’re very rehearsed in everything they do. It’s very impressive. And when you do break them down they have a heck of a goalie to backstop them.”
With 11 games to play, Edmonton is fine as far as a playoff berth goes.
The race to complete the lineup for the historic 48-team FIFA World Cup 2026 is reaching its climax. Six remaining spots will be decided through the FIFA Play-Off Tournament and the UEFA play-offs. Alongside confirming the final participants, this decisive window will also lock in the tournament schedule for the competition in North America.
With high stakes and intense matchups ahead, 22 teams across continents are preparing for defining moments that could secure their place on football’s biggest stage.
Advertisement
FIFA Play-Off Tournament
Path 1 Showdown
FIFA World Cup playoffs Path 1 schedule
Stage
Date
Match
Stakes
Semi-final
26/03/26
New Caledonia vs Jamaica
Winner advances to final
Final
31/03/26
Winner of Semi-final vs DR Congo
Winner qualifies for FIFA World Cup 2026
New Caledonia will take on Jamaica in the semi-final on 26 March. The winner advances to face DR Congo in the final on 31 March. New Caledonia are chasing a historic first-ever World Cup qualification. Jamaica last featured in the tournament in 1998. DR Congo, formerly known as Zaire, made their only appearance back in 1974.
Advertisement
Path 2 Battle
FIFA World Cup playoffs Path 2 schedule
Stage
Date
Match
Stakes
Semi-final
26/03/26
Bolivia vs Suriname
Bolivia chasing 4th WC; Suriname aiming for debut
Final
31/03/26
Winner of Semi-final vs Iraq
Winner qualifies for FIFA World Cup 2026 (Iraq last appeared in 1986)
Bolivia, aiming to return to the World Cup for the fourth time (after 1930, 1950, and 1994), must first get past Suriname, a team hoping to qualify for the very first time.
The winner of this encounter will then face Iraq in the final. Iraq’s only World Cup appearance came in 1986.
Advertisement
UEFA Play-Offs
Path A: Italy’s Redemption Quest
FIFA World Cup playoffs (UEFA) Path A schedule
Stage
Date
Match
Stakes
Semi-final 1
26/03/26
Italy vs Northern Ireland
Italy aiming to avoid third straight WC absence
Semi-final 2
26/03/26
Wales vs Bosnia and Herzegovina
Winner advances to final
Final
31/03/26
Italy/Northern Ireland winner vs Wales/Bosnia and Herzegovina winner
Winner qualifies for FIFA World Cup 2026
Advertisement
Italy, looking to avoid missing out on a third consecutive World Cup, begin with a clash against Northern Ireland on 26 March. If they progress, they will face either Wales or Bosnia and Herzegovina in the decisive match.
Path B: Fierce European Rivalries
FIFA World Cup playoffs (UEFA) Path B schedule
Stage
Date
Match
Stakes
Semi-final 1
26/03/26
Sweden vs Ukraine
Winner advances to final
Semi-final 2
26/03/26
Poland vs Albania
Albania chasing first-ever World Cup spot
Final
31/03/26
Sweden/Ukraine winner vs Poland/Albania winner
Winner qualifies for FIFA World Cup 2026
Advertisement
Sweden will battle Ukraine in one semi-final, while Poland, led by star striker Robert Lewandowski, take on Albania. Notably, Albania are the only team in this group yet to qualify for a World Cup.
Path C: Long-Awaited Returns
FIFA World Cup playoffs (UEFA) Path C schedule
Stage
Date
Match
Notes
Semi-final 1
26/03/26
Norway / Austria / Scotland vs Türkiye
Teams aiming to return after long absences (Norway, Austria, Scotland since 1998; Türkiye since 2002)
Semi-final 2
26/03/26
Slovakia vs Kosovo
Kosovo aiming for historic World Cup debut
Final
31/03/26
Winner Semi-final 1 vs Winner Semi-final 2
Winner qualifies for FIFA World Cup 2026
Advertisement
Several teams are eyeing a return after long absences. While Norway, Austria, and Scotland have not featured since 1998, Romania must also first overcome Türkiye, who last appeared in 2002.
In the other tie, Slovakia face Kosovo, with the latter hoping to secure a historic debut qualification.
Advertisement
Path D: One Last Chance
FIFA World Cup playoffs (UEFA) Path D schedule
Stage
Date
Match
Stakes
Semi-final 1
26/03/26
Denmark vs North Macedonia
Denmark seeking another chance after missing direct qualification
Semi-final 2
26/03/26
Czechia vs Republic of Ireland
Ireland aiming to return to World Cup for first time since 2002
Final
31/03/26
Winner Semi-final 1 vs Winner Semi-final 2
Winner qualifies for FIFA World Cup 2026
Denmark, who narrowly missed direct qualification after a defeat to Scotland, get another opportunity as they face North Macedonia. Meanwhile, Czechia will go up against the Republic of Ireland, who are aiming to end their World Cup drought dating back to 2002.
Teams already qualified for the FIFA World Cup 2026
Carl Froch has proposed Anthony Joshua vs Moses Itauma as a possible heavyweight clash, believing that one man has a psychological advantage over the other.
The two-time world heavyweight champion then joined forces with Team Usyk, training alongside Oleksandr, before orchestrating a sixth-round finish over Jake Paul last December.
Advertisement
Shortly after that, though, it came to light that Joshua had been involved in a tragic car crash, where two of his closest friends ultimately lost their lives.
It then became increasingly unclear whether the 36-year-old would resume his career, but he has since returned to the gym ahead of what many suspect will be a tick-over fight this summer.
As for Itauma, it must be said the 21-year-old is gearing up for his toughest assignment thus far, against Jermaine Franklin, who he will face at Manchester’s Co-op Live Arena on March 28.
After that, Froch has suggested a potential showdown between Itauma and Joshua, with the Hall of Famer telling NewBettingSites.uk that he would favour the younger man to do the business.
Advertisement
“Out of any of the heavyweight ex-champs, I think ‘AJ’ would be Itauma’s best pick to look good against, because I think ‘AJ’’s not the force he was.
“Psychologically and mentally, he is not there anymore. He’s been banjoed a few times. I don’t think his heart’s in the fight game anymore. So, it’s a bad fight for ‘AJ’, yeah, and I think that Itauma probably beats him.”
While many are predicting Itauma to become the next dominant force in heavyweight boxing, he is ultimately yet to face any fighter of Joshua’s calibre.
;)
You must be logged in to post a comment Login