#world-cup-qualifiers

#world-cup-qualifiers

Manchester United midfielder Ella Toone has returned to the England squad for the crucial Women's World Cup qualifiers against Spain and Ukraine. The 26-year-old has not featured for the Lionesses since November because of a hip issue that ruled her out for the second half of the Women's Super League season. Chelsea defender Lucy Bronze is also included despite missing Saturday's WSL win over United and having been seen wearing a protective boot.

They are paying the consequences of the lack of leaders, players with good technique and confidence in the youngsters. In Italy, Lamine Yamal and Musiala would probably play in Serie B to gain experience. And that can't be.

The national team will depart at the end of the week to Mexico via a private plane. [Fifa president Gianni] Infantino directed [Fifa secretary general] Mattias Grafstrom... to follow up and help overcome all difficulties to facilitate the departure of our national team to Mexico.

Liverpool right-back Conor Bradley has confirmed he has undergone successful surgery on the knee injury that has ruled him out for the remainder of the season. The 22-year-old was forced off during Liverpool's 0-0 Premier League draw away to Arsenal last week and will not feature again this campaign. Bradley confirmed the operation in a post on Instagram, sharing an image of himself being carried off the pitch on a stretcher at the Emirates Stadium.

"Everyone expects us to win here comfortably, but that's not how football works any more,"

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!

"Once resolution is found we will be the first to confirm," Super Eagles centre-back and captain William Troost-Ekong said in a post on X.

"If you look at my career before [I played for] Northern Ireland I didn't score many goals at all," Price told BBC Sport NI. "I had 18 months or so where I only scored one goal and I probably played a little bit deeper and probably didn't believe that I had the goals in me. "Michael told me he thought I'm an attacking threat, I should get in the box and then I had 12 months where the ball wouldn't stop going into the net. "I think it's the freedom that the manager gives me. I'm in a position where I'm always in and around the box and I get a lot of chances."

Trevoh Chalobah is set to join up with the England squad to replace injured Crystal Palace defender Marc Guehi. The 26-year-old Chelsea defender is due to link up with the squad for England's final World Cup qualifiers against Albania and Serbia, but it has yet to be officially announced. The Three Lions have already qualified for next summer's tournament. Chalobah earned his first call-up under England manager Thomas Tuchel in May and then made his debut against Senegal.

Gattuso hinted that the player is dealing with problems' when asked about the Italian's decision to snub the Italy call-up. He said (via Daily Mail): I often talk to him. We have to respect the decisions and problems that each of us has. We know well what we tell each other, and I must respect what the player tells me. I can't say anything else.

Former Celtic midfielder Joe Ledley believes fellow Welshman Craig Bellamy is "a perfect fit" to be Parkhead manager, who would be "very interested" in doing so either later this season or in future. Ledley is still close with the Wales manager and believes his "aggressive, front-foot" style with the national team would transfer well to Celtic and that the only thing stopping the move could be timing.

Yeah, absolutely. That's the manager's call. I just go there and be the best that I can be and see what happens. I can just be myself, do what I normally do, train as well as I possibly can. It's an unfortunate situation that we're in at the moment where there's not many goalkeepers playing first-team football.

Kante, who plays for Saudi Pro League side Al-Ittihad, has not appeared for France since November 2024, in a 0-0 draw with Israel in the Nations League. It is not the 34-year-old's first long lay-off, having been absent from the squad for two years prior to returning for Euro 2024, when he helped the team to the semi-finals. And he is joined in the squad by Kolo Muani, who has missed the last two camps,