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NEW SEASON SPECIAL!

Premier League, EFL & Scottish Premiership
How your team will do, best and worst moments, new half-time entertainment, who deserves a statue?
WSL
Can Manchester City retain their title?
National League
Will last season’s excitement be matched?

Features
Up all night The BBC’s World Cup pundits enjoy their home comforts; heat-induced delirium on the waterfront with ITV
Not in Kansas any more How England’s passive tactics rapidly unravelled; end of the road for Steve Clarke and Scotland; anger in Brazil at a premature exit; diminished returns for France; Argentina’s emotional rollercoaster; a deserved Spanish triumph built on formidable defence
Loved it Skilled and committed, Kevin Keegan was the role model for a generation
July crisis Our 2026 writers’ competition winner on the sick compulsion of pre-season
Forever fixated Our writers’ competition runners-up: the nostalgia of Championship Manager; inside the head of a football obsessive
Object lessons A moment of connection between an Evertonian and a Ukrainian

Regulars
Editorial By caving to the US government’s demands, FIFA have damaged the World Cup forever
Sidelines Ireland prepare to face Israel; Andy Burnham’s football credentials; a Scottish leagues shake-up; dementia support at Sunderland’s Fans Museum; Spain’s Under-19s show their skills in north Wales
Shot! England fans’ nerves and joy in Bradford
Harry Pearson column Spotting familiar faces at the World Cup
The perfect shot Cameroon pile on at Italia 90 Books Gianluigi Buffon makes his point; lesser-known stories from Spain; the impenetrable world of Kylian Mbappé
Letters I’ve got three daughters and I’ve been married twice, so I know a thing or two about love, joy and heartbreak…
Season in brief A title tussle for the Nottingham clubs in the 1949-50 Third Division (South)