Ronaldo could miss two World Cup games after red; qualifying latest: football news – live | Soccer ستاديوم بوست
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Former England captain Millie Bright has been getting her chat on with Suzanne Wrack. The Chelsea defender talks Barcelona, the benefits of taking a breather and joining a campaign to tackle winter loneliness.
Thanks Alex. Excellent win there for Curaçao. Fun fact: they’re 82nd in the Fifa World Rankings, nine spots above Bulgaria. Stoichkov won’t be happy.
It’s not just European qualifiers going on right now, naturally, results in Concacaf World Cup qualifying today include Guatemala 2-3 Panama, Haiti 1-0 Costa Rica, Nicaragua 2-0 Honduras, Bermuda 0-7 Curaçao and, vitally, Trinidad and Tobago 1-1 Jamaica – a game which pitched Dwight Yorke against Steve McClaren in a managerial showdown. Honours even!
And, on that bombshell, I’ll hand you back to David Tindall.
Cristiano Ronaldo’s red card and possible suspension from two World Cup games for Portugal (note: I, perhaps cynically, believe this is unlikely) has me thinking about star players suspended for the start of major tournaments.
Wayne Rooney missed England’s opening two games of Euro 2012, of course, after being sent off in England’s draw with Montenegro. Before that, in Euro 2008, Russia were without a suspended Andrey Arshavin for two group games, before he returned and helped his side to the semi-finals. I’m sure there are simply loads I’m missing …
Unsurprising news: Marc Guéhi has now officially withdrawn from the England squad due to his foot injury. An FA statement has trumpeted: “Crystal Palace’s Marc Guéhi has left the England camp and will not travel to Albania for Sunday’s 2026 Fifa World Cup qualifier.
“The defender joined up with the Three Lions at Tottenham Hotspur’s training ground earlier this week but has returned to his club to continue his rehabilitation.”
Palace go to Wolves next weekend so the club will be hoping to get their captain fit for that.
Thomas Tuchel has given more feedback on his England players after the win against Serbia. The gist: stand down John Cena, because none of them require an attitude adjustment. “I’m very happy with the attitude again of the team,” said Tuchel. “I don’t see any change of attitude in training because the game doesn’t mean anything, or is a dead-rubber as you call it, or is a friendly.”
England go to Albania in their last qualifier aiming to make it a perfect eight wins from eight. “I’m pretty sure we will be ready and the team will have the right spirit, to do it hopefully again in Albania, with all the respect,” added Tuchel. “It will be not easy and from there we go.”
Scotland visit Greece tomorrow in a vital Group C match – Ewan Murray is in Athens, surrounded by ancient wonders, and he’s supplied his preview.
“It appears you can be on the brink of reaching your holy grail without many people paying sufficient attention. Scotland’s opportunity for World Cup qualification is their best since 1998, when they last performed on that scene. Theirs is also a scenario that would have been widely welcomed before a ball was kicked. On the basis Denmark will defeat Belarus, Scotland must take at least a point from Saturday’s clash in Greece.”
Group G’s fixtures tonight are Finland v Malta and the big one: Poland v the Netherlands. The Dutch are three points ahead of Poland with a far better goal difference, so it isn’t exactly a top-spot showdown, but nothing is settled yet. Finland could still sneak into second if it all goes wrong for Poland in their last two fixtures.
Group L has Croatia v Faroe Islands (on a three-game qualification win streak!) later today. Plus Gibraltar v Montenegro. Croatia will qualify for the World Cup if they pick up a point.
World Cup qualification action tonight is brought to you by the Groups A, G and L (note: for me, Group L just sounds too far into the alphabet but there we go).
Group A features Slovakia v Northern Ireland and, while the latter are guaranteed a playoff spot after topping their Nations League group, they could do Germany a favour(!) by taking at least a point off Slovakia. Germany face Luxembourg this evening, but the final match is Germany v Slovakia in a likely playoff for top spot. A reminder that Germany lost the first fixture between those two sides, 2-0 in September.
Thanks David – on the subject of England World Cup songs: I’m obviously partial to the epic 90s duo of my youth (World in Motion/Three Lions).
However I also have a guilty soft spot for Ant and Dec’s We’re on the Ball and I can recite the entire passing sequence – “it’s Neville to Campbell, Campbell to Rio, Rio to Scholsey” etc, etc – from start to finish off by heart. Yet I can remember next to nothing of my GCSE French. How useful.
Right, time for me to hand you over to Alex Reid while I head out in the pouring rain for supplies.
Here’s Portugal coach Roberto Martinez defending Cristiano Ronaldo for the elbow on the Republic of Ireland’s Dara O’Shea that could lead to the skipper missing the first two group games of the 2026 World Cup finals.
FIFA’s disciplinary code states violent conduct should lead to a suspension of at least three matches, as should any offence of assault, including “elbowing, punching, kicking, biting, spitting at or hitting an opponent”. Ronaldo will definitely serve a one-match ban for his red card in the 2-0 defeat in Dublin, meaning he misses Portugal’s final qualifier against Armenia on Sunday, but then it’s in Fifa’s hands as to whether that suspension is increased to three games.
Martinez said of Ronaldo: “The red card is just a captain that has never been sent off before in 226 games – I think that just deserves credit – and today, I thought it was a bit harsh because he cares about the team.
“He was 60 minutes or 58 minutes in the box being grabbed, being pulled, being pushed and obviously when he tries to get away from the defender. I think the action looks worse than what it actually is, I don’t think it’s an elbow, I think it’s a full body, but from where the camera is, it looks like an elbow. But we accept it.
“The only thing that leaves a bitter taste in my mouth is at the (pre-match) press conference, (the Ireland) coach (Heimir Hallgrimsson) was talking about the aspect of the referees being influenced, and then a big centre-half falls on the floor so dramatically at the turn of Cristiano’s body.”
An e-mail from Kieran McHugh.
“We all know that the best World Cup song is This Time by the 1982 World Cup squad. Whether it’s comb and paper or a kazoo may never be known, but it’s a cracking song and the video demonstrates Shilts’ lip syncing is up there with Milli Vanilli. However as a resident of Loughton, Essex I have further information that may be of interest. News in fact of a blue plaque in Loughton that celebrates the former home of Ron Greenwood. The house number? 22. Of course!”
A song now to hopefully inspire the Republic of Ireland to World Cup qualification. Remember this? Mick McCarthy on drums after 31 seconds. Produced by U2’s Larry Mullen.
Exciting news from Norway where Erling Haaland was seen coming out of a local restaurant with a massive stash of cheeseburgers after scoring a brace in the 4-1 win over Estonia. Experts reckon the celebratory haul was significant, with claims of “60 to 70 cheeseburgers” in some outlets. Haaland, age 25, was still wearing his Norway training gear when emerging from the fast food establishment. More when we have it.
Shall we have some World Cup songs? Let’s start with England. This is often forgotten and overshadowed by 1970’s ‘Back Home’ and 1982’s ‘This Time (We’ll Get It Right)‘ but I rather like 1998’s ‘(How Does It Feel to Be) On Top of the World’. I mean, the Spice Girls are in the video, it was written by Ian McCulloch, Johnny Marr and the fella out of Ocean Colour Scene. Released on Juxtaposition Records. Didn’t get to No.1. Good, didn’t want it to. Next.
A brief departure from international musings. Then again, not quite as two England starters from last night appear in this list curated by Danel Harris.
England analysis. Five pointers from the Wembley win, courtesy of Jacob Steinberg. Nico O’Reilly and Marcus Rashford both feature.
“The dream scenario is Marcus Rashford becoming England’s Son Heung-min. Kane loved dropping off and releasing Son when they were teammates at Tottenham.”
Some Thomas Tuchel quotes from England’s 2-0 win. The German was delighted with the impact of his substitutes which included Jude Bellingham and Phil Foden.
“This is not about building a starting XI, it’s about building a team. And that means that sometimes, they’re all big players in their club, they’re all used to play, they’re all disappointed. This is normal, but they buy into this idea of building a team and this is what we want, this is what we need, there is no other way around it.”
You want content? How about this for content, then: Luis Rubiales having eggs flung at him during during the presentation of his new book in Madrid. Not only that, the disgraced former Spanish football federation president claimed the flinger was his uncle.
Zapruder footage here. You have to say that the disgraced former Spanish football federation president takes the second egg well. Quite the spin to catch it on his cool jacket, ensuring the egg doesn’t strike his cool white t-shirt and cool light blue jeans. Would disgraced presidents from other football federations have shown such mobility in a tight area?
A reminder that Rubiales was convicted of sexual assault for a forced kiss on the player Jenni Hermoso after Spain won the Women’s World Cup.
Here’s Barney Ronay’s take on last night’s game at Wembley and the big talking point: England’s No 10.
“Tuchel has been very clear. He wants a structure not a group of the coolest guys, a selection by aura. And in many ways it worked here as on 65 minutes, with England already 1-0 up, we finally got it, the shootout of the No 10s. We got energy, mood-shift, a four-man blazing squad entering the field of play: Jude, Phil, Eberechi Eze and, er, Jordan Henderson.”
The World Cup starts in 209 days. It seems quite a while yet but if you’re thinking about committing to the 2026 Panini sticker album, it’s probably worth putting aside some cash now. With 48 teams involved, this ain’t going to be cheap.
I’ve asked AI to run the numbers. “It will likely cost well over £1,000 to fill the 2026 Panini World Cup sticker album, potentially reaching as high as £1,500, due to the increase in the number of teams and general inflation. While the theoretical minimum cost, assuming no duplicates, is much lower (around £120-£130), the practical cost is much higher because of the high probability of getting duplicate stickers.” Quote this to your football-mad 10-year-old nearer the time.
In related news, I had a rummage the other night and found three spare Robertos from the 1978 World Cup collection. Does anyone know if the Brazilian striker is worth much?
A World Cup qualifying quiz question. In the European section, only one other team apart from England have gone through qualifying with a perfect record so far? Don’t look down if you want to try and make a guess.
A clue: they haven’t played in the finals since France ‘98.
A second clue: they have a big lad up front.
Yes, the answer is Norway, who have won seven out of seven after beating Estonia 4-1 in Oslo last night. Erling Haaland helped himself to another couple and now has 14 goals in qualifying.
Technically, they haven’t yet qualified as Italy, who they play away in the final game, could still join Norway on 21 points. However, check the goal difference: Norway +29, Italy +12. So just a 17-goal swing then.
Not wanting to spoil the party but it’s a still a big ask for the Republic of Ireland to qualify for the finals. To secure a play-off spot they need to secure victory over Hungary in Budapest on Sunday. Hungary stayed ahead of the Irish in Group F after Barnabás Varga headed home Dominik Szoboszlai’s cross to secure a 1-0 win in Armenia.
The last time Hungary took part in a World Cup play-off they lost 12-1 on aggregate to Yugoslovia in 1997. What?! 12-1!!
Which countries have qualified for the 2026 World Cup and how did they do it? Here’s a very handy ‘Explainer’ from Andy Martin. Twenty-nine of the 48 places have now been filled but some big names – Cameroon and Nigeria for example – will need to come through a playoff.
Ronaldo could be suspended for World Cup group games
That red card for Ronaldo against the Republic of Ireland was his first in 226 appearances for Portugal. And the man himself certainly didn’t see it coming having come out with these famous last words before the match. “I really like the fans here. The support they give to their national team is lovely. For me, it’s a pleasure to come to play here again. I hope they don’t boo too much to me tomorrow. I swear that I’m gonna try to be a good boy.”
There could be some serious ramifications for Ronnie after his flailing arm on Dara O’Shea. The red means he’s automatically banned for Portugal’s home game against Armenia on Sunday. But if judged as “serious foul play” by Fifa, that suspension would double to two matches and if classed as “violent conduct” the ban would be extend to three.
That, of course, would mean Ronaldo missing one, or even two, of Portugal’s opening group games in the 2026 finals. I’m going to make a wild guess here… I don’t think that will happen.
Back to England v Serbia and some player ratings. We have a ‘9’ and a couple of ‘8s’. Press here to reveal Ed Aarons’ scores on the doors from Wembley.
Republic of Ireland 2-0 Portugal. While England winning 2-0 generated nothing much more than a shrug around the football world, another qualifier ending in that same scoreline raised lots of eyebrows. Fantastic stuff from the Irish as two goals from Troy Parrott secured a famous win in Dublin and kept their playoff hopes alive. And just for extra craic for the home fans filing out of the Aviva, Cristiano Ronaldo was sent off! More details here on the best sporting performance from a Parrott since John beat Jimmy White 18-11 in the final of the 1991 world snooker championship.
Good morning! Before the deep dive, let’s start with the bread and butter: David Hytner’s match report of England 2-0 Serbia.
“Too often, the final pass was missing. But what the manager did get was another win and another clean sheet. Count seven of each from seven qualifiers. The final one is against Albania in Tirana on Sunday. And, also, two lovely goals.”
Preamble
International breaks seem to go on for ages and we’re not even halfway through the latest one. Still, matters are being resolved and the picture of just who will be at next summer’s 2026 World Cup finals is becoming clearer.
England had already qualified ahead of last night’s 2-0 win over Serbia but that didn’t stop the forensic analysis of Thomas Tuchel’s latest selection and England’s Wembley performance.
We’ll bring you all the fallout from last night’s game and also a round-up of events elsewhere where it was quite the night for the Republic of Ireland. For Cristiano Ronaldo, not so much.
And beyond World Cup qualifying, there appears to have been a family feud in Spain involving eggs. More on that shortly.
Righty, let’s get this thing going!
