France score four goals in the last 13 minutes to come from behind to beat Belgium, while Italy beat Turkey and Northern Ireland daw with Georgia

It really is ridiculous how many good players France have. But can Zidane find the balance Deschamps could not against Spain? The answer, perhaps, might lie with Eduardo Camavinga, left out of the World Cup squad but whose quality and athleticism could make the difference in future.

Tonight’s a big night for the aforementioned Yoro, who’s shown his quality since joining Man United from Lille, but not consistently. Moreover, he doesn’t seem to have improved his weaknesses all that much: he’s still prone to losing men at set-pieces and his passing should also be better, faults thrown into sharper clarity by how well Jacquet has settled at Liverpool. United have been conceding goals, and the way Michael Carrick wants to play suits him, in theory – pace is essential with a high line. But, so far, he’s not shown enough to force his way into the starting XI ahead of Harry Maguire or Lisandro Martinez.

Cody Gakpo’s injury-time equaliser earned Xavi’s Netherlands a draw with Jürgen Klopp’s Germany, while Portugal beat Wales 1-0

Robert Earnshaw is in the BBC studio wearing the same rig he was in on Sky this morning. The thing with red and blue is you leave yourself open to accusations of dressing like Mario.

I can’t say I love the look of Xavi’s Netherlands outfit. The front three might be a handful, but there’s a severe lack of quality in midfield and the centre of defence is short of pace. For a coach used to Barcelona quality and principles, this is a tough gig.

• Champions League updates from the 8pm BST kick-off

• Live scoreboard | Disney+ criticised | And Email Daniel

I’m not sure we’ll see Chelsea play 3-5-2 that often this season. It makes sense tonight because Vienna are playing it and, if teams match up, the better one tends to win; it also make sense given the players Sonia Bompastor has available.

Against Birmingham at the weekend, Chelsea set up in a 3-4-3 and there are three changes made to that XI: in net, Livia Peng replaces Hannah Hampton; at the back, Katie McCabe is on for Lucy Bronze; and up front, Melvine Malard comes in, with Wieke Kaptein dropping into midfield and Lexi Potter dropping to the bench.

• Updates from 2pm (BST) kickoff at the Vitality Stadium

• Get in touch: contact Daniel via email

I don’t imagine Rose spent too long sweating over his team. Kluivert is a miss, and of course Junior Kroupi is long-term injured, but otherwise, his team is pretty settled. Adam Scott, who we might’ve thought would leave in the summer, stayed, and has started the season in excellent form. His ball-carrying is exceptional and he offers height in both boxes; if he can develop his passing, especially shirt, punched through the lines, he might develop into an all-round monster.

But back to our game, let’s have a closer look at our dramatis personae.

Goals from Matheus Cunha, Bruno Fernandes, Benjamin Sesko and Lisandro Martínez gave United a comfortable victory in their opening game

It’s also worth noting that Patrick Dorgu starts at left-back tonight, for the first time under Carrick. Bought for Ruben Amorim, really he’s a specialist wing-back – not a defender because his awareness isn’t great, nor his ability to pass the ball out from the back, nor a winger because he lacks finesse and one-on-one ability – he starts at the back tonight mainly because Shaw is rested and there’s no better option. But if he’s to have a future as a starter, it feels much more likely it’ll be at the back than in attack – though, as we’ve seen he’s got a worldie in him.

Thinking more about that United defence, this is a big evening for Leny Yoro. He was pretty good in his first season at Old Trafford, but didn’t get to play much last; ultimately, Carrick couldn’t afford to risk him because he had a formula that worked – Maguire and Martinez, plus fast counters – with points to win and a job to secure.

⚽ Champions League and Carabao Cup match updates
⚽ Live scoreboard | Read Football Daily | And mail Daniel

Nope, the Feyenoord goal has been chalked off for offside, early in the move.

Right, let’s get the teams in our 8pm games – though Feyenoord have just pulled a goal back.

• Champions League: Lille v Betis, Dortmund v Villarreal

• Carabao Cup: Palace v Middlesbrough, Sunderland v Hull

• Live scores | Read Football Daily | And email Daniel

Inter, meanwhile, look solid. They’ve won three from three in Serie A, and will, I think, look to clutter the centre of the pitch. That’s another reason I’d like to have seen Diomande on from the start, but Mourinho has – unusually for him – done without a defensively-minded midfielder. I’m looking forward to seeing how Curtis Jones does, as I think he’s a good player who’ll thrive with regular selection and greater responsibility. And there’s no disputing the danger Inter offer up front; I don’t fancy either Madrid centre-back against Thuram and Martinez.

Our main focus here, though, will be on Madrid v Inter. Mourinho’s men lost at Betis last weekend, and are without the suspended Eduardo Camvinga, Bernardo Silva and Arda Guler. As such Trent Alexander-Arnold comes in on the right of the central three – a move I doubt Aurelien Tchouameni likes all that much. I can’t say I think Alexander-Arnold is much use in that position – as Gary Neville once noted, most right-backs are failed midfielders – but he’s capable of creating something from nothing. I guess I’d quite like to see Yan Diomande on the right, but i’m not surprised Mourinho wants the extra body in midfield that Brahim Diaz can become.

Qinwen Zheng comes from 0-5 down in the first set to beat Iga Swiatek in two, while Mirra Andreeva, Elena Rybakina and Alexander Blockx also make the last eight

Back on Armstrong, we’re still level but at 4-4, Potapova playing with confidence and poise. She holds to 30, and Andreeva must now serve to stay in set one.

Zheng and Swiatek are out on court; Zheng, the Olympic champion, had to come through qualifying after missing time with an elbow injury, but two weeks of competition have brought her into the main event nicely loose. I’d be surprised if she finds a way to win here, but she did at those Olympics, so knows she can.

• The latest fourth-round updates from Flushing Meadows

• You can mail Daniel and follow us on TikTok and Bluesky

We’re 4-4 in the doubles and knocking up on Ashe. Thinking more about the match, I’d expect Townsend to use top spin to hit cross at Sabalenka’s backhand, taking her outside the lines if possible. She’ll also try and slow the game down, I think, and frustrate the champ, who doesn’t enjoy the wind-ups.

Townsend comes out wearing a coat that wouldn’t be out of place in the Night’s Watch, photo to follow but, in the meantime:

The latest updates from Flushing Meadows on day five
You can mail Daniel and follow us on TikTok and Bluesky

It feels rather odd saying this, given that Osaka is a two-time former US Open champion, but she’s something of a wildcard contender this fortnight, having not won a title since 2021. But over the past year she’s been building momentum, after returning from her maternity leave in 2024, and there were plenty of green shoots on the grass at Wimbledon, where she beat Aryna Sabalenka en route to the quarter-finals. And Osaka has started strongly today, leading Siniakova 3-1 and serving at 40-15. Make that game, as the 13th seed’s pace is too much for the Czech to handle.

Swiatek is serving for the first set at 5-3. And on her second set point, at her advantage, she takes it, when Podoroska prods a return wide. After starting with three holds to love, the set got closer, but the eighth seed found a way through and she’s skipping to the back of the court to start the second set. She looks up for this – and most importantly, more confident than she has done for so much of this year.

Sabalenka made quick work of Iatcenko in the second round, while Tiafoe, Tsitsipas, Pegula and Muchova were among the other notable winners

And Nakashima breaks too – he’s hitting it hard off both wings and I wonder if he’s in the process of finding a new level. The first few times I watched him, I thought he had a bit of something and, real talk, I thought he’d be better by now than he is. But I really like what I’m seeing from him and, as we know, progress isn’t always linear.

It’s a good start for Medvedev, Gorzy – who saved five match points in round one – tamely ceding serve to 15.

Fery could not repeat his Wimbledon odyssey as he lost in the first round to Musetti, while Fritz, Rybakina and Andreeva advanced in straight sets and Cobolli fought back to win in five

Nothing’s going Cobolli’s way at the moment, as he thwacks his own leg with his racket while trying to hit the ball, as he’s taken to deuce once more on his serve. He recovers to get to his advantage, but then balloons another errant forehand well long, before finally getting on the board to reduce his deficit to 3-1.

It was also a day when Stan Wawrinka played his final grand slam match, Carlos Alcaraz made his return from injury and Aryna Sabalenka, after a shaky summer, started her title defence with a comfortable victory.

Manchester City spent £190m on two deadline-day signings while Tottenham brought in two Chelsea players, but Everton’s Folarin Balogun move collapsed

A lot of people are highly invested in people moving companies and changing jobs. You do not get this with accountancy or waste management.

In case any players do not get a move today and are desperate to get out of their club, there are options. Not all country’s celebrate deadline day on 1 September, so there is still hope of heading off to Turkey or Portugal.

England, France, Germany, Italy, Spain – 1 September

Argentina, Netherlands - 2 September

Scotland - 3 September

Turkey - 4 September

Russia - 10 September

Brazil - 11 September

Portugal - 15 September

UAE - 28 September

Saudi - 12 October

Director Joe Pearlman says he expected Real Madrid manager to ‘try to manipulate us’ in making of Netflix series

Even in the hyperreal world of football, there are few characters more compelling, more polarising, or more everything than José Mourinho, the best and worst of public him on full display in a new three-part Netflix series. “It reminded me how good he was,” says Joe Pearlman, who directed Mourinho, and the actual Mourinho is, believe it or not, keen to communicate the same. As he puts it in the show: “I look, you look, I see more than you.”

Making documentaries, though, is often about taking people to the places they’re most skilled at avoiding. “I knew the interviews were going to be very intense,” says Pearlman, “and he was going to try and control the narrative and manipulate us. Everything bad is everyone else’s fault and everything he’s done is validated by winning. Because that’s all that’s important.”

• Action, news and reaction on opening weekend

• 10 things to look out for at Glasgow 2026 | Mail Rob

I posted the Ramsay-Peaty report from last evening a few minutes ago, an d he’ll need to have recovered quickly, as he goes in the 50m breaststroke heats in this morning’s sesh. Back with the weightlifting final, meanwhile, Mboya goes for 115kg … and it’s up, but Chananbam of India just about gets there with 116 and takes the lead.

Our first netball match is over, Scotland beating Wales 56-47; they lost to NZ yesterday, but will hope to finish second in Pool B. In Pool A, England beat Norther Ireland 83-34, while Australia thumped Tonga 99-38.

⚽ Latest World Cup news as tournament comes to close
⚽ Player guide | Golden Boot | Follow on TikTok | Mail us

Back to the action on the field, or rather slightly adjacent to it. A lacklustre “closing ceremony” in which Tom Cruise was drowned out by the crowd got proceedings under way in New Jersey. A half-time show no one asked for filled the gap in the middle that didn’t need to be plugged. And finally, having kept his physical distance all tournament, US president Donald Trump tried to steal the show just as the curtain was falling.

“I think I heard a match commentator say that the last team that beat Spain was Scotland. Does that mean Scotland have won the World Cup?!” asks Peter Oh.

Our writers reacted to all the news ahead of the 2026 World Cup final between Spain and Argentina

Watching England against France – though, of course, defensive intensity was lower – it was still noticeable how dangerous Saka and Marcus Rashford were on the counter. Had Tuchel sent them on against Argentina soon after England scored, Lionel Scaolini’s men would’ve had to respect it and might well have feared it, forced, at the very least, to leave defenders back to mark them, while their own team would’ve had out-balls and a serious threat, meaning when they cleared their lines, it wouldn’t have simply been to face yet another attack.

It find it strange that, given his team struggled for control and also to break down tight defences, Tuchel didn’t give Mainoo a single second on the pitch – and seemed to have decided as much by the Panama game, when he brought on Henderson in preference. England desperately lacked midfield balance, control, poise and craft, a problem that eventually cost them – and is the main reason I’d have given them little chance of beating Spain had they made the final. Anderson and Rice are fine players, but given Bellingham is essential, I’d want only one, with the trio completed by a more technical and cerebral type – which needn’t be Mainoo, he was just the only one in the squad.

⚽ Latest news in aftermath from dramatic day in Atlanta
⚽ Tuchel takes blame | Player guide | Golden Boot | Mail us

Thomas Tuchel had already shown this week he’s not someone who is prone to mere pleasantries after a game. The head coach shouldered the blame for England becoming too passive after taking the lead against Argentina, but at the same time said he had “no regrets”.

I don’t believe so much in an English thing and a curse or whatever. It’s repeating itself in different moments. It’s different coaches, different players, different situations.

What cost us today was that we were not active enough in any structure. I can understand these discussions are out there and of course a million coaches after the game know it better. You can discuss this with a million coaches. I have to make a decision on the pitch. It’s how I analyse the match and I take the responsibility.

⚽ All the latest news from a huge World Cup Wednesday
⚽ Spain reach final | Player guide | Golden Boot | Mail us

Over the next three hours – and when I’m subbed off thereafter – we’ll reflect on France 0-2 Spain, and look forward to England v Argentina. England v Argentina in the semi-finals of the World Cup, oh my complete and utter daze days.

Greetings one and all. Anyone got any plans for later?

The preparations for the semi-finals gathered at a pace, while Slaven Bilic is back in charge of Croatia

I mean, just look at him.

In which regard, here are some words on the great man.