Category: Football

  • ‘Playing perfectly’ – how does Alcaraz rank v men’s Football legends at 22?

    ‘Playing perfectly’ – how does Alcaraz rank v men’s Football legends at 22?

    When Carlos Alcaraz won his sixth Grand Slam title on Sunday, he did so by thoroughly outclassing the world’s number one player in probably the best performance of his career so far.

    Defending US Open champion Jannik Sinner – whose record on hard courts over the past two seasons is among the most imperious of any player on any surface in tennis history – was induced into a timid display in which he was overawed by the Spaniard.

    The quality of Alcaraz’s performance in his 6-2 3-6 6-1 6-4 victory led to something of an existential crisis in Sinner, who insisted afterwards that he needs to revamp game in order match Alcaraz’s level.

    For his part, Alcaraz believes he is reaching new heights.

    “I played perfectly,” he said after lifting the trophy. “This is the best tournament so far that I have ever played. The consistency of my level has been really, really high – it’s something I’ve been working on.”

    At age 22, Alcaraz is already talked about among the sport’s greatest ever players. But just how well does he rank against them so far?

    BBC Sport has examined how he compares against the men’s game’s legends at the same stage of their careers.

    Speed and surface mastery put Alcaraz on a pedestal already

    Media caption,How does Alcaraz rank against tennis legends at his age?

    Since Alcaraz joined the ATP Tour as a 16-year-old, he has been lauded for the variety of his play, being able to combine cutting low slices with ferocious forehands and deft drop shots to consistently catch opponents off guard and win points in breathtaking ways.

    But his ability to stitch together that kind of all-around quality on any surface is what is already setting him apart from anybody else.

    Alcaraz has now won two Grand Slams on each of the hard, grass, and clay surfaces – only Rafael Nadal (when aged 24), Mats Wilander (aged 24), and Novak Djokovic (aged 34), have ever achieved the same feat in the men’s game.

    The speed at which Alcaraz is racking up the majors is astonishing, too – he has taken only 19 tournaments to win six slams, second only to the record of 18 set by Bjorn Borg in 1978.

    Only Borg has won six slams at a younger age than Alcaraz, doing so by winning three on clay at Roland Garros and three on grass at Wimbledon.

    At 22 Nadal also had six (but won the last of those when he was a few months older than Alcaraz), while Pete Sampras was on five, and Wilander four.

    The likes of eight-time Wimbledon winner Roger Federer (three) and 24-time Grand Slam champion Djokovic (one) were way behind the pace of Alcaraz at his age.

  • Man City & Premier League end sponsor rules dispute

    Man City & Premier League end sponsor rules dispute

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  • Unbeaten Tunisia join Morocco at 2026

    Unbeaten Tunisia join Morocco at 2026

    Tunisia qualified for the 2026 Fifa World Cup after scoring a dramatic stoppage-time winner away against Equatorial Guinea.

    The North Africans came under pressure for most of the game in Malabo, with the hosts needing victory themselves to keep alive their own hopes of reaching the finals.

    Tunisia had goalkeeper Aymen Dahmen to thank for a string of saves in the second half as he acrobatically kept out efforts from Saul Coco, Emilio Nsue and Alejandro Masogo.

    With Equatorial Guinea pushing forward in search of a goal, the Carthage Eagles won the match from a counter attack in the last of four added minutes.

    Firas Chaouat dispossessed Coco, advanced into the box and unselfishly squared for Mohamed Ben Romdhane to score past Jesus Owono.

    Tunisia are assured of top spot in Group H with two games to spare, and have reached Canada, Mexico and the United States without conceding a goal in their eight qualifiers to date.

    It will be the seventh time the national side – who have never progressed past the group stage at a World Cup – will feature at the finals.

    Meanwhile, Equatorial Guinea’s hopes of a first ever World Cup qualification appear distant as only the four best-ranked second placed sides in Africa will enter the continental play-offs.

    The National Thunder are fourth in Group H, two points behind second-placed Namibia having played a game more.

    However, the Equatoguinean federation has lodged an appeal against a decision by world governing body Fifa to impose two forfeits against them for fielding an ineligible player earlier in the qualifying campaign.

    Should they be successful, they would climb back to second in the table.

    Tunisia become the second African side to qualify for the 2026 World Cup after North African rivals Morocco sealed their spot on Friday.

    Elsewhere, Morocco extended their 100% record as goals from Youssef En-Nesyri and Hamza Igamane gave the Atlas Lions a 2-0 victory in Zambia.

    Algeria can move to the brink of a place at the finals with an away win against Guinea later on Monday (16:00 GMT), while Egypt will qualify for the finals on Tuesday if the Pharaohs secure all three points in Burkina Faso.

  • When was the last enjoyable England World Cup qualifier?

    When was the last enjoyable England World Cup qualifier?

    England’s deadly dull World Cup qualifying victory against Andorra had a Groundhog Day feel for long-time followers of this particular bandwagon.

    Routine win. Comfortable qualifying. And then this formality is often followed by disappointment when the serious business starts at a major tournament.

    I’ve been fortunate enough to have covered England for almost a quarter of a century.

    While this is a huge privilege I enjoy immensely, games like Saturday’s do make make you reflect on World Cup qualifiers and ask “when was the last time one was really good?”

    A shortage of qualifying memories for England fans

    OK, first of all some context and stats.

    England have only lost four World Cup qualifiers in the past 30 years.

    They are currently unbeaten in these matches since 2009.

    To compare, in Europe only Spain (one) and Germany (three) have lost fewer during that period.

    Adding European Championships, since qualifying for Euro 2004 England have played 108 qualifiers, winning 84 and losing only six. They have scored 292 goals and conceded just 51.

    That is a points-per-game ratio of 2.5. In other words, if it was a Premier League season over 38 games, that would yield 95 points, enough to win the title in all but three seasons.

    So you would think there would be lots of good memories – but qualifiers rarely produce raw excitement. They are usually the means to an end. In England’s case an unfulfilled struggle to win the World Cup which has eluded the men’s team since 1966.

    England’s first international at Villa Park for 20 years, a 2-0 win on Saturday, ended in front of thousands of empty seats as Andorra mounted a damage limitation exercise in the face of inevitable defeat.

    There are outliers, such as captain David Beckham’s sensational last-minute free-kick against Greece at Old Trafford in October 2001 that gave England a 2-2 draw and sent them to the following summer’s World Cup in Japan.

    And in April 2003 when a stunning full debut from the 17-year-old Wayne Rooney helped England beat Turkey 2-0 in a Euro 2004 qualifier at the Stadium of Light in Sunderland.

    One searing memory is the ill-fated Euro 2008 qualifier against Croatia at Wembley in November 2007 when Steve McClaren’s England, needing only a draw, lost 3-2 to a nation who had nothing to play for having already qualified.

    It was the night McClaren left out goalkeeper Paul Robinson for Scott Carson, the replacement fumbling Niko Kranjcar’s early shot to gift Croatia the lead.

    This writer, contributing to an early iteration of BBC Sport’s live text commentaries, offered up these words when watching Carson warm up in a Wembley deluge before kick-off.

    “As he [Carson] looks dubiously at the penalty areas, he may just be thinking these are nightmare conditions for any keeper.”

    And indeed they were.

    The Wembley downpour also produced the defining image of McClaren’s time as England manager as he sheltered under an umbrella, meaning he will forever be known in that particular context as the ‘Wally With The Brolly’ – and the label stuck via a national newspaper headline.

  • Nottingham Forest sack boss Nuno

    Nottingham Forest sack boss Nuno

    Nottingham Forest head coach Nuno Espirito Santo has been sacked after 21 months in charge.

    The position of the Portuguese coach had been uncertain for two weeks since he publicly declared his relationship with owner Evangelos Marinakis had deteriorated.

    Talks are under way over Nuno’s replacement, with an appointment imminent and former Spurs manager Ange Postecoglou a contender.

    In a statement released after midnight, Forest thanked Nuno “for his contribution during a very successful era at the City Ground” and said he would “always hold a special place” in their journey.

    The 51-year-old took charge of Forest in December 2023 after the dismissal of Steve Cooper and helped them preserve their top-flight status.

    Last term he guided the club to seventh in the Premier League – their highest finish since 1994-95 – as they qualified for Europe for the first time in three decades.

    His success saw him sign a new three-year deal in June.

    Forest currently sit 10th in the table after suffering a 3-0 home defeat by West Ham before September’s international break.

    Internal tensions with Marinakis force Nuno out

    Despite the club’s success on the pitch during Nuno’s time as manager, his relationship with Marinakis became increasingly strained.

    In August, Nuno revealed he feared for his job.

    Internal tensions at the club were believed to centre around disagreements over their transfer business.

    Previously, Nuno had criticised the club’s activity in the summer transfer window, saying they had wasted a good chance.

    Edu was appointed as Forest’s global head of football earlier in the summer and has taken firm control over the club’s recruitment operation.

    “I always had a very good relationship with the owner – last season we were very close and spoke on a daily basis. This season it is not so well,” Nuno said.

    “Our relationship has changed and we are not as close. Everybody at the club should be together but this is not the reality.”

    In total, Forest have made 13 signings for about £196m based on reported initial fees.

    As for the outgoings, Anthony Elanga, Danilo and Wayne Hennessey were all among the players whose Forest careers ended this window.

    In May last season, Marinakis appeared to confront Nuno on the pitch following a 2-2 draw against Leicester at the City Ground.

    Forest later said the incident was because of the owner’s frustration that striker Taiwo Awoniyi had continued to play following an 88th-minute injury, which subsequently required what was described as “urgent” surgery.

    The club said there was “no confrontation” and it was “fake news” to suggest otherwise.

    However, those missed points against an already-relegated side were part of a run that saw Forest – who had been in contention for Champions League qualification – only pick up eight points from their last eight matches of the 2024-25 campaign.