Wrexham fans dreaming of European football one day returning to the Racecourse can already find a documentary about the last time it happened – by the man who helped keep their ground. The Ne…

Rog and Rory Smith break down a dramatic end to qualifying across the globe. They start with Italy’s stunning playoff collapse and what it says about the future of one of football’s traditional powers, before turning to Turkey’s growing threat and what it means for the USA ahead of their group stage meeting. From there, the focus widens to stories like Iraq’s emotional return and DR Congo’s breakthrough underline both the chaos and meaning of qualification. Plus, England’s attacking questions and whether Max Dowman could factor into the squad. Presented by Christopher Ward. To celebrate our partnership with Men in Blazers, Christopher Ward is giving one lucky soccer fan the chance to win any Trident watch of their choice. CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Australian import Williams marks his India debut with a strike in the fourth minute; Akash also finds the mark as Jamil’s men finish their Group C campaign on a fine, promising note

Max Rushden is joined by Barry Glendenning, Lars Sivertsen and Nicky Bandini as Italy suffer World Cup heartbreak once again and England play out yet another disappointing friendly. Subscribe to The Guardian Football Weekly ► https://www.youtube.com/@FootballWeeklyPodcast?sub_confirmation=1 Chapters: 00:00 - Coming up... 00:54 - Italy are NOT on the plane 16:25 - Sweden ARE on the plane 20:00 - Czechia beat Denmark 21:14 - Turkey, are they dark horses? 00:23:13:00 - Ad break 23:15 - Tuchel loses to another good team 33:30 - World Cup round up inc. Iran and Iraq 00:36:42:14 - Ad break 2 36:44 - Spurs appoint De Zerbi Support the Guardian ► https://support.theguardian.com/ Guardian Football Weekly podcast: Apple ► https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/football-weekly/id188674007 Spotify ► https://open.spotify.com/show/6w8qWe0kjgHEHSWDSDGoLW?si=231c666f7f5a4453 Follow Guardian Football Weekly: Instagram ► https://www.instagram.com/guardian_footballweekly/ TikTok ► https://www.tiktok.com/@guardian_footballweekly #italy #england #worldcup

On Wednesday's Football Daily, Phil Egan rounds off all the international action as Ireland’s campaign ends with a 0-0 draw with North Macedonia at the Aviva Stadium. Troy Parrott has two goals ruled out for offside, with the second likely standing if VAR had been available. Senior debuts for James Abankwah and Bosun Lawal, while Harvey Vale makes his first Dublin appearance. Mark Travers replaces Caoimhin Kelleher at half-time; Seamus Coleman receives a standing ovation on what could be his final Ireland outing. A total of 17 substitutions made, with Johnny Kenny going close late after Adam Idah’s flick. Head coach Heimir Hallgrimsson describes the game as “strange” after the stalemate. Bosun Lawal reflects on a proud moment making his senior international debut. Nearly 40,000 fans attend; Jayson Molumby praises the continued support. Assistant coach John O’Shea calls working with Ireland a privilege amid contract uncertainty. Finn Azaz impresses in attack, with Hallgrimsson highlighting his growing importance. Ireland U21s beat Kazakhstan 1-0, and the U17s qualify for another World Cup after a 7-0 win over Slovakia. League of Ireland coverage returns with Drogheda United hosting Bohemians. Italy miss a third straight World Cup after losing on penalties to Bosnia-Herzegovina. Sweden, Türkiye, DR Congo, Czechia and Iraq confirm World Cup qualification. Scotland lose to Côte d’Ivoire, England fall to Japan, and Northern Ireland draw with Wales in friendly action. Become a member and sign up at offtheball.com/join

Australia will face a stern test in their first match of the tournament after beating Curacao 5-1 in Melbourne on Tuesday night.

Hello Rank Squad! This international break gave us what we've been waiting for - the final names locked in for this summer's World Cup field. 48 nations have locked and loaded their spots in the biggest tournament in world football. Perhaps the biggest one missing though, once again, is Italy - with the Azzurri beaten on penalties by Bosnia & Herzegovina to make it three World Cups in a row that they have now missed out on qualification for. We break down that game, as well as Czechia's penalty shootout win over Denmark; Sweden's dramatic late show against Poland; and Türkiye's ground out 1-0 win over Kosovo; as the final European nations booked their places, before heading onwards to take a look at some of our favourite things from the now-set group stages. We take a peek at where the biggest upsets could come, the Group of Death, the Group of Life, where the goals will come, where the chaos will come and who has the most to lose, within the 12 groups of four; before rounding things off with the games you cannot miss in that first round of fixtures. It's Ranks! And remember, if you’d like more from the Rank Squad, including extra podcasts every Monday and Friday (including our weekly Postbox taking a look at the whole weekend of football) and access to our brilliant Discord community, then why not join us here on Patreon? (http://patreon.com/ranksfc) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com (https://pcm.adswizz.com) for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Australia beat Curacao 5-1 on Tuesday night as they prepare for the World Cup in the summer

Fans in Australia adore the Matildas and Socceroos - but they've been given good reason to drop off the sport when there isn't a World Cup on.

Arsenal's Viktor Gyokeres scored a late winner to send Sweden to the World Cup with a 3-2 win over Poland on Tuesday night.