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Trent Alexander-Arnold scored a stunner and sparkled in midfield as England continued their march to Euro 2024 with a comprehensive victory against minnows Malta. The talented full-back has rarely looked like the player that shines for Liverpool when donning a Three Lions shirt, with the immense competition at right-back also restricting his opportunities. Alexander-Arnold won just his 19th England cap on Friday night against Malta and impressed in a midfield role, helping to inspire Gareth Southgate’s side to a straightforward 4-0 victory. The 24-year-old made an impact from outset at the sold-out Ta’ Qali National Stadium, with this exceptional early pass putting Bukayo Saka behind to produce a cross that Ferdinando Apap turned into his own goal. Alexander-Arnold continued to star and produced a moment of magic in the 28th minute, taking aim from 23 yards as he curled home just his second England goal. The midfielder also had a hand in England’s third goal, winning the ball high up the pitch at the start of a move that ended with Harry Kane scoring a penalty. There was a far better mood in the away section than the last trip to Malta in 2017, when Southgate’s side were jeered off after a scoreless first half as many travelling fans made an early exit. Large numbers of England fans again departed at half-time this time around, but it was to toast a job well done rather than to grumble over beers like six years ago. In truth, they missed little aside from substitute Callum Wilson converting a late penalty as Southgate’s men continued their 100 per cent start in Group C. Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live

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England resume their Euro 2024 qualifying campaign on Friday night as they face Malta away from home with the plan of maintaining their winning start. Gareth Southgate’s side defeated both of their most likely rivals for a top-two finish, Ukraine and Italy, in their opening two matches in this qualifying campaign while Malta have lost to Italy as well as North Macedonia - who the Three Lions will face next week. This round of fixtures is quite forgiving for England, especially after such a long season, and Southgate will be expecting his side to take a big step closer to qualifying for the next summer’s finals in Germany. The England boss will need to make some key decisions in terms of personnel, especially when it comes to his Manchester City stars who only ended their season last week. Eberechi Eze is in mind to make his debut and many of the squad’s fringe or inexperienced players could get the nod in a game England should dominate. Follow all the action as Malta host England: Read More Gareth Southgate facing ‘complicated’ decision on Man City stars for Malta game England’s future is about to be defined – and it’s out of Gareth Southgate’s control Marcus Rashford reveals pain that is ‘relighting the flame’ inside him

Equal prize money at the 2026 and 2027 men’s and women’s World Cups has to happen “no matter what”, according to world players’ union FIFPRO. Gianni Infantino, the president of football’s global governing body FIFA which organises the tournaments, said in March it was his ambition for there to be equal prize money after this summer’s Women’s World Cup. He has said sponsors and broadcasters must play their part in helping to achieve that, something FIFPRO general secretary Jonas Baer-Hoffmann agrees with. Qatar." data-source="FIFA"> However, Baer-Hoffmann insisted on Friday that equal prize money must not just be a goal – it was essential. “It is not wrong from FIFA to actually call all the other economic contributors to the tournament to the table,” he said. “You can say whatever you want about how footballing institutions have probably massively under-invested in the game and have not done enough to develop it. “At the same time, so have many other stakeholders, whether they are broadcasters or sponsors. “So while we think this prize money equalisation has to happen in 26-27 no matter what, we also are looking to work with FIFA to make sure that the economics of this tournament continue to develop because it shouldn’t just be a prize money equalisation on the back of a political commitment.” Infantino had been especially critical of broadcasters in some of the big European markets, including the United Kingdom, for offering a tiny fraction of the money they had put forward for the 2022 men’s finals compared to this summer’s women’s tournament. However, a deal for the tournament to be screened on the BBC and ITV was announced earlier this week. FIFA has confirmed a record prize money pot will be distributed for the tournament in Australia and New Zealand, with 270,000 US dollars (around £216,000) earmarked for each member of the winning squad. Every player involved in the tournament is guaranteed to receive at least 30,000 US dollars (just over £24,000), at a time when the average salary in the women’s game worldwide is 14,000 US dollars (£11,000), according to last year’s FIFA benchmarking report. World players’ union FIFPRO has praised FIFA “for listening to the voice of players” on the issue of pay, and for ensuring equal conditions in terms of training facilities and transport for players at this summer’s finals compared to the men’s tournament in Qatar late last year. A group of 150 players from 25 national teams – including players from England, Scotland, Wales and the Republic of Ireland – had written to FIFA in October last year calling for equal conditions and for a guarantee that at least 30 per cent of prize money would be allocated to players. Previously, there was no requirement for national associations to distribute a minimum amount of World Cup prize money to participating players. The overall performance-based fund for the finals is 110million US dollars (£88.1m), more than three times what was on offer at the 2019 World Cup in France, with the players sharing more than 44 per cent of that between them. FIFPRO said on Friday that the money earmarked for players would go into designated accounts audited by FIFA to ensure it got to them. There remain issues globally regarding the conditions for players, with the Jamaican squad publishing a statement on Thursday criticising their country’s federation for how it has resourced and handled the team’s World Cup preparations. Their complaints include a failure to pay agreed compensation or provide sufficient resources for team preparation in some areas, including food, training and travel. Sarah Gregorius, FIFPRO’s director of global policy and strategic relations for women’s football described the plight of the Reggae Girlz as “completely unacceptable”. FIFPRO also confirmed FIFA had presented its proposed approach regarding armbands to a players’ group at a meeting on Thursday. A group of seven European nations were threatened with sporting sanctions starting with a yellow card for their captains if rainbow-coloured ‘OneLove’ armbands were worn at the men’s World Cup in Qatar last year. Discussions are ongoing with other stakeholders on the issue, with the Football Association understood to be in almost daily written contact with FIFA regarding this topic. Baer-Hoffmann said feedback from the players’ group would be passed to FIFA in due course. Infantino said in March that all sides had learned lessons from what happened in Qatar and was confident “a solution” would be agreed for the Women’s World Cup. Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Kim Huybrechts and Dimitri Van den Bergh put on united front after ‘differences’ Zak Crawley sets the tone for England before Australia hit back in Ashes WRU criticised for ‘serious failure of governance’ over misconduct allegations

England resume their Euro 2024 qualifying campaign on Friday as they face Malta away from home. Gareth Southgate’s side have made a great start by beating both their most likely rivals for a top-two finish, Ukraine and Italy, while Malta have lost to the latter as well as North Macedonia - who the Three Lions will face next week. Come the end of this round of fixtures, Southgate will be expecting to sit on 12 points and be a big step closer to qualifying for the next summer’s finals in Germany. But the first part of that job is to be professional and claim victory in Malta, even though the game comes at the end of another long season which ran up until only a few days ago for some of the squad’s stars. Here’s everything you need to know. When is Malta vs England? The Euro 2024 qualifier kicks off at 7:45pm BST on Friday 16 June. Where can I watch it? England’s Euro 2024 qualifiers are free-to-air after Channel 4 secured the rights for all Three Lions games for two years. Fans can stream the match via Channel 4’s app and desktop website. What is the England team news? It’s not yet clear whether Man City’s stars will feature in the match given their Champions League exertions - and subsequent celebrations - but it’s likely Gareth Southgate will offer a chance to a few players who are not habitual starters. Marc Guehi could be in line to win just his fourth cap in defence and Crystal Palace teammate Ebe Eze is hoping for his senior debut with the national team. Jude Bellingham has just completed his transfer to Real Madrid but will not be playing in this break as he recovers from injury. Predicted lineups MAL - Bonello, Attard, Borg, Apap, Corbalan, Muscat, Guillaumier, Yankam, Mbong, Jones, Satariano ENG - Pickford, Trippier, Guehi, Maguire, Shaw, Rice, Gallagher, Eze, Saka, Kane, Maddison Odds Malta 66/1 Draw 18/1 England 1/20 Prediction No contest in terms of the outcome of course, so it’s about how clinical and intense England can be in the humid conditions. Malta 0-4 England. Read More Southgate makes call over Man City stars and warns of ‘line’ in celebrations How to watch Malta vs England Euro 2024 qualifier online and on TV today Malta vs England team news and predicted line-ups for Euro 2024 qualifier England’s future is about to be defined – and it’s out of Gareth Southgate’s control One year to Euro 2024: Who is on the plane for England? Rashford underlines commitment to England after missing recent games

England are back in action on Friday and resume their Euro 2024 qualifying campaign with a trip to the National Stadium in Ta’Qali. There, Gareth Soughate’s side are in action against Malta in Group C - a meeting off top against bottom in the early stages of this series. Two wins over Ukraine and Italy have put the Three Lions well and truly in the driving seat to comfortably qualify for the finals, given the top two in each group will head through to play in Germany. Malta, meanwhile, have lost both their games against Italy and North Macedonia. Key decisions in terms of the team will come over whether to hand a debut to Eberechi Eze and how many of the fringe or inexperienced players get the nod in a game England should be far too strong for their opponents in. Here’s everything you need to know. When is Malta vs England? The Euro 2024 qualifier kicks off at 7:45pm BST on Friday 16 June. Where can I watch it? England’s Euro 2024 qualifiers are free-to-air after Channel 4 secured the rights for all Three Lions games for two years. Fans can stream the match via Channel 4’s app and desktop website. What is the England team news? It’s not yet clear whether Man City’s stars will feature in the match given their Champions League exertions - and subsequent celebrations - but it’s likely Gareth Southgate will offer a chance to a few players who are not habitual starters. Marc Guehi could be in line to win just his fourth cap in defence and Crystal Palace teammate Ebe Eze is hoping for his senior debut with the national team. Jude Bellingham has just completed his transfer to Real Madrid but will not be playing in this break as he recovers from injury. Predicted lineups MAL - Bonello, Attard, Borg, Apap, Corbalan, Muscat, Guillaumier, Yankam, Mbong, Jones, Satariano ENG - Pickford, Trippier, Guehi, Maguire, Shaw, Rice, Gallagher, Eze, Saka, Kane, Maddison Odds Malta 66/1 Draw 18/1 England 1/20 Prediction No contest in terms of the outcome of course, so it’s about how clinical and intense England can be in the humid conditions. Malta 0-4 England. Read More Southgate makes call over Man City stars and warns of ‘line’ in celebrations How to watch Malta vs England Euro 2024 qualifier online and on TV today Malta vs England team news and predicted line-ups for Euro 2024 qualifier England’s future is about to be defined – and it’s out of Gareth Southgate’s control One year to Euro 2024: Who is on the plane for England? Rashford underlines commitment to England after missing recent games

Norway manager Stale Solbakken joked that if Jack Grealish could train for England then he has no cause to worry about Erling Haaland’s treble celebrations ahead of Saturday’s clash with Scotland. Solbakken understood the need for Haaland to revel in his success with Manchester City after last weekend’s Champions League final. Solbakken has taken it easy with Haaland this week, more concerned with ensuring the striker recharges, and believes a homecoming welcome will lift his star man during the Euro 2024 qualifier in Oslo. City celebrated in Ibiza after their Istanbul success against Inter before continuing the party on a bus parade in Manchester on Monday with Grealish throwing himself wholeheartedly into the fun. When asked what the Norwegian people made of the scenes ahead of a big international, Solbakken said: “I think everyone understands that and I also think it’s a good idea to do that. “Because, no matter how good you are, if you say (Pep) Guardiola is the best manager in the world and he has managed to do this treble once in Spain, once time in England, even when he had the best players representing the biggest clubs with the biggest budgets, you could think this would happen more often. But it doesn’t because it’s so, so difficult. “And I don’t think you can postpone a celebration like that. You can’t say ‘let’s meet up in the summer when these national games are over and we party’. It’s not the same because the excitement is a little bit out of your body and you have to do it then. “When he came here, he didn’t look like he had gone the Grealish way. If Grealish managed to train for England the first time, he should also manage to do it for us.” Only one of Haaland’s 53 goals this season has come on the international stage but the 22-year-old has not played for his country since September and Solbakken believes an excited home crowd will help him overcome his heavy schedule. “The biggest gift in that is the love the crowd will give him because it’s a long time since he has played in Norway and he didn’t participate in the two internationals earlier this year,” the former Wolves and Copenhagen manager said. “Obviously the Norwegian people have seen him on telly for a long time without seeing him live. I think he has had one game here in a year. “So that will probably pump him up and give him the five to 10 per cent he probably lacks due to the programme he has been through and all the feelings and emotions he has been through as well.” Haaland was missed in March as Norway took one point from their opening two Group A games against Spain and Georgia, while Scotland sealed maximum return. On the game, Solbakken said: “It’s more crucial for us than Scotland of course but no matter what, before the group started, this would always have been a key game. “But it’s more that Scotland have had a really great start. I think we played two really good games but what messed it up a little bit, even though we only got one point, is that Scotland beat Spain. “That means it looks much better for us if we can beat you and everyone is beating each other. If we win, also Spain are in trouble, because it’s two teams who can catch them.” Read More City soak it in and Nuggets strike gold – Tuesday’s sporting social Cadan Murley suspends loyalty to Man Utd to analyse Erling Haaland’s finishing Jack Grealish revels as Manchester City parade treble Manchester City’s trophy parade in pictures The sporting weekend in pictures Man City match-winner Rodri named Champions League player of the year

When asked by fans if he would expand his tour, Suga said Korean artists 'can't perform in China'.

England boss Gareth Southgate admits there is a line his players cannot cross following Jack Grealish’s treble celebrations. The manager stopped short of criticising the forward after his partying grabbed the headlines. Grealish joined his Manchester City team-mates for a night in Ibiza – following Saturday’s 1-0 Champions League win over Inter Milan which sealed the treble – before they returned on Monday ahead of their trophy parade. The 27-year-old, Phil Foden, Kalvin Phillips, John Stones and Kyle Walker linked up with the England squad on Tuesday ahead of Friday’s Euro 2024 qualifier in Malta. They will not start and Southgate insisted any celebrations should not go over the top. He said: “There is a line but in our head we weren’t thinking of including the City players for this game. “I have spoken with the players. We have talked about where the focus needs to be, where we need them to be and acknowledged what they have experienced and that’s for me to manage. “A few of our players would be teetotal. What is different is that everyone posts everything. I wouldn’t have liked a few of my nights out to be posted publicly. My generation would have a lot more problems. “We know, talking to Hendo (Jordan Henderson), Harry Kane, Tripps (Kieran Trippier) what that game takes out of you. “It’s a huge occasion and we needed to give those guys the time to take everything in but, point number one, they all wanted to come in to be with the group, which is fantastic. “I don’t think they would have felt anything unusual about how we have dealt with this and how we have embraced the players back in to the group. “We have also got the dynamic that while they are chuffed to bits and we are proud of them, a few others are pretty p****d off that they have won it at their expense. You are always really conscious of that.” England’s last trip to Malta – a World Cup qualifier in 2017 – ended with a 4-0 victory but only after three goals in the final five minutes from Kane, Ryan Bertrand and Danny Welbeck. It saw fans turn on the team, who were drawing 0-0 at half time, and Southgate remembers the atmosphere, with the squad abused on the coach driving to the stadium, during and after the game. “Myself and Steve (Holland) were talking about it as we landed because it wasn’t a pleasant journey to the stadium and it was less pleasant going home,” he said. “I’m not sure everyone knew we had won 4-0, because they were in the bar at 1-0, some at 0-0. “For us it was a good reference to how far the relationship with the fans has come. The performances of the team are going to ebb and flow, the connection with the fans feels completely different now. “It doesn’t matter what we have done in the last few years, last few games, we have to go again tomorrow night and make sure that we give our fans something to be excited about.” Meanwhile, Kieran Trippier believes the squad needs to embrace their final games of the season. England, top of Group C, also host North Macedonia at Old Trafford on Monday aiming to solidify their lead following March’s wins over Ukraine and Italy. It will cap a season which also saw the first winter World Cup in November and December with the Premier League having finished three weeks ago. “It’s difficult. It has been a tough season for myself and obviously the lads in Europe as well,” said Newcastle defender Trippier. We know at the end of the day we are coming away with England and they are two massive games. We want to be going to Germany next year. Kieran Trippier “We know at the end of the day we are coming away with England and they are two massive games. We want to be going to Germany next year. “We know the challenges but for me it is easy to flip the switch and get back into that mode again. “It’s been a good week of training. Everyone is buzzing to be back together and hopefully we can get the result. “You have to be professional in terms of not doing too much and overloading. It’s about ticking over and just getting yourself in the best possible shape to be with England.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live England Under-21s defender Jarrad Branthwaite was close to giving up on football Rickie Fowler and Xander Schauffele set record-breaking pace at US Open Joselu fires Spain to Nations League final with late winner against Italy

Joselu came off the bench to grab a late winner as Spain snatched a place in the Nations League final with a 2-1 win over Italy in Enschede. The former Newcastle forward pounced two minutes from the end of a tight encounter on Thursday after a shot from Manchester City’s Champions League final match-winner Rodri was deflected into his path. Spain had taken a third-minute lead through Yeremy Pino but Italy soon levelled with a penalty from Ciro Immobile. Italy’s Davide Frattesi then had a goal chalked off for a narrow offside and Joselu had the final say, just four minutes after coming on. The game was largely played at a slow pace but it got off to a lively start. Pino gave Spain an instant advantage after robbing Italy captain Leonardo Bonucci on the edge of the area and firing past Gianluigi Donnarumma. It was a lead that was soon erased as Italy were awarded a spot-kick seven minutes later after a shot from Nicolo Zaniolo was blocked by the arm of Robin Le Normand. Immobile made no mistake from 12 yards. Italy were unfortunate not to be in front soon after as Frattesi finished superbly from a lofted Jorginho pass but VAR intervened. Italy went close again before the break when Rafael Toloi volleyed just over and Spain had another chance when Alvaro Morata shot straight at Donnarumma. The second half lacked dynamism but both sides had opportunities. Rodri, fresh from his winner in City’s Istanbul triumph on Saturday, tried to catch Donnarumma out with an overhead kick that dropped over before Zaniolo forced a good save from Unai Simon at the other end. Rodri was involved again for what proved the winner when his shot was blocked and Joselu calmly dinked past Donnarumma. Spain will now play Croatia in Sunday’s final with Italy facing the Netherlands in the third-place play-off. Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Rickie Fowler and Xander Schauffele set record-breaking pace at US Open Rickie Fowler hits 62 at US Open to equal lowest score in men’s major history Gareth Southgate facing ‘complicated’ decision on Man City stars for Malta game

England boss Gareth Southgate confirmed Manchester City’s treble winners are available to face Malta, but he is yet to decide if they will play. Jack Grealish, Phil Foden, Kyle Walker, John Stones and Kalvin Phillips only linked up with the squad on Tuesday after Manchester City completed the treble by beating Inter Milan 1-0 in the Champions League final on Saturday. Grealish’s celebrations have made the headlines, but Southgate is happy to consider the group for selection for Friday’s Euro 2024 qualifier. “We are going to have to take it bit by bit and see how they are,” he said. “They are all available for tomorrow but I’ve yet to decide if that’s a good decision. “I spoke to them when they arrived, firstly to say what an incredible achievement. We said we are heading into the unknown, there is no way of knowing individually how they are going to react and respond to what they’ve been through. “Everybody is fit. We have got a lot of considerations, particularly the boys who arrived later and are coming off the back of a massive emotional high with the game at the weekend. “It’s always complicated, the decisions you have to make. The team has trained really well, the focus has been excellent and we are looking forward to the game.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live

Michael O’Neill has told his young Northern Ireland players to embrace the challenge of taking on Denmark in Copenhagen on Friday night. O’Neill said this Euro 2024 qualifier was not only the hardest fixture on paper but the “hardest fixture full stop” as Northern Ireland travel to take on the top seeds in Group H at the always noisy Parken Stadium. Jamal Lewis has been added to an already lengthy injury list which has robbed O’Neill of half a dozen of his most experienced players, and with Shane Ferguson also out there is a shortage of left-sided players. O’Neill will try to get as much experience as he can into his starting 11, but there will be no option but to rely on younger players too, with Conor Bradley and Shea Charles among the contenders to start. “This is a good game for us,” O’Neill said. “It’s a young squad, we’ve got seven under-21 players with us. We’ll rely heavily on our experienced players as well. It’s a game we can only gain from really. “Obviously we were disappointed with the home game against Finland (a 1-0 defeat in March), we felt we deserved more than we got, so we’ve got to try and make up points somewhere along the line. This is a hard place to play, but we’ll go with the intention of trying to find something from the game.” The 38,000-seater Parken Stadium can become an intimidating place for visiting teams, but while it might be unlike anything Northern Ireland’s younger players have experienced before, O’Neill does not want them to shy away. The thing I've enjoyed in working with the younger players is I see their attitude to the game, it's very positive, I don't think they'll have a fear Michael O'Neill “I think they should embrace it really more than anything else,” he said. “The message will be go out and enjoy playing in a stadium like this… “The thing I’ve enjoyed in working with the younger players is I see their attitude to the game, it’s very positive, I don’t think they’ll have a fear. “There’s a lot of self-belief and abilities in the likes of Shea Charles, Isaac Price, Conor Bradley, Trai Hume, they play in games where they’ve a lot of expectancy where they’re currently playing their football. “I think we have to have that mindset that we’ve got everything to gain from Friday night and not fear the atmosphere but look forward to it.” One key challenge for Northern Ireland will be limiting Manchester United midfielder Christian Eriksen’s ability to dictate play from the centre of pitch. “We understand we are dealing with a top level player here,” O’Neill said. “It’s brilliant seeing him back playing international football. “The days of man marking players is more difficult now but as a team we have made the midfield players in particular very aware of the Danish midfield and Christian Eriksen is the major player in that midfield. He is a hugely experienced player at international level. “I think to deal with players at that level it’s more about what we do as a collective as opposed to possibly that designated player to deal with that situation.” Both sides come into the game nursing disappointments from the last round of fixtures in March. Denmark suffered a shock defeat to Kazakhstan, blowing a 2-0 lead as their unfancied hosts scored three in the last 20 minutes, while O’Neill’s first game back in charge at Windsor Park ended in that loss to Finland. O’Neill insisted he was not interested in making any sort of statement by claiming a big scalp on Friday, but his mind is on making up for what he sees as lost points. “It would give us six points and it would make up for the disappointment of Finland,” he said. “I don’t think it’s about sending out a statement. I think this group could be very tight. Results have demonstrated that. “If you can take anything off the number one seed in the group it is a massive achievement.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Republic boss Stephen Kenny hopes to exorcise ghost of Cristiano Ronaldo Ashes rivals unite in honour of Nottingham victims on opening day of series Ben Stokes urges his England players to become a part of Ashes folklore