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A World Cup group-stage exit, the resignation of head coach Hong Myung-bo and a federation president under a cloud: South Korea have handed the rebuild to 48-year-old Robert Moreno, Luis Enrique's long-time right-hand man at Barcelona and with Spain. Based on the 30-man squad announced on 14 September and the 4-4-2 he confirmed at his press conference, we set out two predicted line-ups — a first-choice A-team for Ecuador on 24 September and an entirely rotated B-team for Uruguay on 28 September.

Beaten by Norway in the World Cup round of 16 — Brazil's first exit at that stage in 36 years — Carlo Ancelotti has kept his job and launched a "new cycle", leaving out 17 of his 26 World Cup players and calling up eight uncapped names in a squad averaging around 24 years old. Based on the 26 players named for two games against Australia on 25 and 29 September and a first-ever meeting with India on 3 October, we predict a first-choice A-team for the opening Australia match and an entirely rotated B-team for the second, played just three days later.

La Liga's fourth round was played between 3 and 7 September, the first week of the season in which all 20 clubs lined up on level terms. We took every starting eleven from that round — 220 players — and worked out each club's average height. The division averages 181.12cm: 2.81cm below the Premier League and, more surprisingly, below the Eredivisie's 181.96cm too. Real Madrid top the table on 184.73cm with the 201cm Thibaut Courtois behind them; Levante are bottom on 176.18cm, a spread of 8.55cm. And at 178.69cm, La Liga's forwards are the shortest of the four leagues — shorter even than J1's. Whatever height this division has sits with the goalkeepers and the centre-backs, and nowhere else.

The Premier League began its 2026-27 season on 21 August. We took the starting eleven each of the 20 clubs named for round one and worked out their average height. The division averages 183.93cm — 1.97cm above the Eredivisie and 4.88cm above J1 on the same starting-XI basis. Leeds United top the table at 186.45cm and Bournemouth sit bottom on 181.27cm, a spread of just 5.18cm — and even bottom-placed Bournemouth would out-measure the tallest club in J1. The Premier League's height is built not on outliers at the top but on a floor that never drops.

The Eastern Conference summit meeting went emphatically to Nashville. Playing his first match since the passing of his father, Lionel Messi saw his penalty saved, and Miami's third straight defeat left them stuck in second place.

The Eredivisie began its 2026-27 season on 8 August. We took the starting eleven each of the 18 clubs named for round one — 198 players — and worked out their average height. The division averages 181.96cm. Fortuna Sittard top the table at 186.27cm and NEC Nijmegen sit bottom on 177.73cm, a spread of 8.55cm, with four clubs level to the centimetre in the middle. Break it down by position and the most interesting line is the one usually assumed to be the smallest.

Japan's top flight kicked off its 2026-27 season on 7 August, the first campaign played on an autumn-to-spring calendar. We took the 20-man matchday squads from round one — 11 starters plus 9 substitutes — and calculated the average height of all 20 clubs. The tallest are Kashima Antlers at 181.15cm, the shortest Kawasaki Frontale at 176.15cm. The gap is only 5.0cm, but break it down and two distinct philosophies emerge: clubs that put their height on the pitch, and clubs that keep it on the bench.

FC Tokyo announced Yuto Nagatomo's contract renewal minutes before kick-off and led inside five minutes. They finished with ten men and five goals conceded, one of them scored by Takahiro Akimoto on his Machida debut.

A record J.League crowd of 63,960 watched Yokohama F. Marinos lead 3-1 with an hour gone — and lose 4-3. Substitute Aleksandar Cavric scored twice deep into stoppage time.

Valencia CF, six-time champions of Spain, now have the first Japanese player in the history of their men's first team. Ryunosuke Sato, the 19-year-old midfielder signed permanently from FC Tokyo, has started three consecutive pre-season matches, and lined up on the left wing in the final friendly that Spanish daily AS described as “a lineup that could well be used on the opening day.” Carlos Corberan's football, last season's extraordinary split personality — 18th in the first half of the campaign, 3rd in the second — this summer's recruitment and Sato's fight for a place: we read the club's last full season at the 103-year-old Mestalla through its predicted starting XI.

With Messi rested after the World Cup final, Miami edged Chicago 3-2 on Lewandowski's MLS debut; Luis Suárez was the star with a penalty and a slick second.

We re-tallied the goals of World Cup 2026 by the “club and league” of the player who scored. The tournament has now concluded, and this is the final tally: the sample covers 294 goals, and the leading league is the Premier League (76 goals). Which leagues and which clubs “supplied” the goals?

Note: Substitute Ferran Torres scored his first goal of the tournament in extra time to decide the final. Unbeaten Spain, having conceded just one goal in eight matches, won the World Cup for the second time and first in 16 years. Argentina—held to zero shots on target and reduced to ten men after Enzo's dismissal—were denied back-to-back titles.

Note: The 39-year-old Messi delivered back-to-back assists in the 85th and 90+2nd minutes. Argentina, trailing 0-1, snatched a late comeback to reach a second consecutive final, now just one win from back-to-back titles.

“Real Madrid buys him back, then immediately resells him to Como”—a complex deal rarely seen in Japan is now stirring up Serie A. We break down, one step at a time, how the “buyback clause” surrounding Argentine prodigy Nico Paz works, following the flow of money. Along the way, we also probe the true nature of Como 1907, the “8-trillion-yen-asset” club that lifted a fourth-tier lakeside side to the Champions League in five years.