During the first of their two pre-World Cup friendly matches, England faced New Zealand on Saturday. It was a match of little incident as Thomas Tuchel gave 22 players game time to help his squad acclimate to the US weather and pitch conditions.
In the end, a single goal from Harry Kane, who headed in a winner moments before half-time, was enough to settle things. As it was more of a training exercise than a real match, Tuchel seemed mostly happy that his players had come through the 90 minutes unscathed.
However, fans watching at home could not help but notice the lively cameo from Liverpool youngster Rio Ngumoha. He isn’t in the Three Lions squad for the World Cup, and will not feature even if injuries force Tuchel into making a change from his original 26-man team.
Rio Ngumoha Among Four Youngsters In England Supplementary Group
It’s not uncommon for a handful of players to travel to a World Cup despite not being in the actual playing squad. This is to help make up the numbers during training and is particularly useful for Tuchel right now as Arsenal contingent Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka, Noni Madueke, and Eberechi Eze have arrived at the camp later than the rest of the team due to their participation in the Champions League final.
Goalkeeper Dean Henderson will also join them, delayed after winning the Conference League with Crystal Palace. With those men absent, Ngumoha is among a small group – along with Alex Scott, Josh King and Ethan Nwaneri – who have travelled as supplementary members of the England squad.
Against New Zealand, Ngumoha, aged 17 years and 281 days, became the fifth-youngest player to debut for the England men’s team. On what was a pretty drab affair, he was arguably the brightest player on the pitch during the second half. He was even named as the Man of the Match.
As such, some fans were pleading with Tuchel to call him into the senior squad as a late addition ahead of the World Cup. However, this is not a possibility, and so the Liverpool starlet will fly home with the other youngsters after the final warm-up match against Costa Rica on 10 June.
Of course, it would be very harsh to suddenly drop a player in favour of Ngumoha. But many may hope for an injury to open up the door for a teenager. Even if this were the case, Tuchel would still have to look elsewhere for a replacement. This is because he was not called into the provisional 55-man squad submitted to FIFA by England. As per the Mirror, the strict FIFA eligibility rule explain:
“Under World Cup regulations, teams can call up a late injury replacement up to 24 hours before their opening match. However, the player must come from the provisional 55-man squad submitted to FIFA.”
As Ngumoha was not included on that initial 55-man list, he cannot be added to the tournament squad under any circumstances. The same goes for Fulham and Arsenal duo King and Nwaneri. In fact, there is only one player from the group of four youngsters who could make it in at this late stage: Bournemouth star Alex Scott. He was named in the preliminary 55-man party, making him eligible for a late promotion should injury occur.
England have until 24 hours before their opening match against Croatia to make any changes should injury or illness befall anyone in the 26-man squad. After the tournament begins, FIFA rules state that only goalkeepers can be replaced in the event of an emergency.
Chelsea are plotting a surprise move to sign a Brighton forward in the summer transfer window.
The Blues have been incredibly active in the summer market, which certainly isn’t out of the ordinary for a club like Chelsea.
The capital club are looking to back new manager Xabi Alonso in the transfer window as they aim to steer themselves back in the right direction after missing out on Europe.
So far in the Summer transfer window, Chelsea have spent significantly, bringing in Morgan Rogers and Marco Palestra.
The Blues also have new additions Geovany Quenda and Emmanuel Emegha join the club, but those deals were finalised previously.
Their business certainly doesn’t appear to be finished there, though, as they continue to look for reinforcements for Alonso.
Chelsea eyeing Brighton man
According to a report from journalist David Ornstein, Chelsea are interested in a surprise move to sign Brighton striker Danny Welbeck.
Chelsea’s recruitment strategy over the last few years has been to bring in young talents from around the world. It would certainly be a surprise to see them sign a 35-year-old Welbeck.
The report from The Athletic does claim that Alonso is looking to add more experience and leadership to his squad, and there is optimism on all sides that a deal can be done.
Did you know that it was once possible to hit a 240-point shot in darts? Sixteen-time world champion Phil Taylor, now 64, was responsible for the remarkable score which is now impossible to achieve in the sport 33 years later.
Regarded as one of the greatest darts players of all time, if not the greatest, Taylor has an impressive total of 85 major titles to his name. Known as ‘The Power,’ the Englishman holds multiple records, including the most televised nine-dart finishes with 11, and being the first player to hit two nine-darters in a single match.
Much of his success came during an era when darts was less popular than it is today. Thanks to Luke Littler’s recent rise to stardom, the working man’s javellin is now one of the most popular spots in the UK.
However, this also means many newcomers may not fully appreciate the brilliance of past players. Nevertheless, rare footage of Taylor’s 240-point shot will certainly help demonstrate just how extraordinary these players were.
The 1993 UK Matchplay was held at the Aquarius Club in Chesterfield and was broadcast by ITV’s Yorkshire television. In a first for the competition, Taylor scored 240 — the highest possible score achievable with three darts. This remarkable feat was made possible by the introduction of the ‘Quadro’ board the previous year by Harrows Darts Technology.
The Quadro board featured an additional ring between the double ring and the outer bullseye, allowing players to hit quadruples as well as trebles. The highest possible checkout was 210, achieved by hitting two quadruple 20s followed by the bullseye. However, Taylor surpassed this by scoring the maximum 240 against Jocky Wilson, who eventually reached the final but lost to Dennis Priestley.
The announcer shouted “240!” in the same way they now do for 180s. Taylor’s shot is considered the second-ever 240 recorded on camera, with Wilson, Shayne Burgess, Bob Anderson, and Peter Evison later achieving the same feat during the event.
As the caption of the viral tweet reveals, the Quadro board was in play for a few years but, according to Patrick Chaplin, darts players were often left confused by the fact there were so many combinations that were tough to remember. Referees and callers also had great difficulty having to quickly work out the scores.
In 2000, the decision was made to discontinue it, and it hasn’t been used professionally for quite some time. However, a 2025 version has now been released, offering a more contemporary twist on the classic design. On this non-standard board, an eight-dart finish from 501 is achievable.
Jose Mourinho has returned to the Bernabeu and Real Madrid, judging by their activity in the summer transfer window, mean business ahead of the 2026-27 season.
The Spanish giants suffered a rare trophyless season last term, with Xabi Alonso and his replacement Alvaro Arbeloa both struggling to get the best out of the club’s star-studded squad.
A season without silverware is an unmitigated disaster for Real Madrid, the 15-time European champions, and the club’s president Florentino Perez was always going to do everything in his power to get the team back to winning ways.
His first move was to contact Mourinho, the legendary Portuguese coach who’s back for his second spell in the Spanish capital after previously leading the club between 2010-2013.
The 63-year-old will be desperate to prove that his best days aren’t behind him after slightly underwhelming spells with Manchester United, Tottenham, AS Roma, Fenerbahce and Benfica since leaving Chelsea in 2015.
But in order to compete with Barcelona domestically, and the likes of Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich in the Champions League, Mourinho requires a squad that’s capable of challenging on multiple fronts – and that’s precisely what Perez is providing.
Several players have already departed, including David Alaba, Dani Ceballos and Dani Carvajal.
And a handful of top players have arrived, including Bernardo Silva, Marc Cucurella and Denzel Dumfries.
Real Madrid’s Potential 2026-27 Starting Line-Up
REUTERS/Kacper Pempel
Real Madrid aren’t finished yet. More top players are expected to arrive before the transfer window closes. Let’s take a closer look at their frightening potential starting line-up:
Goalkeeper and Defenders
Thibaut Courtois; Denzel Dumfries, Ibrahima Konate, Antonio Rudiger, Marc Cucurella
Thibaut Courtois turned 34 in May but the Belgium international is still the world’s best goalkeeper. The 6ft 7in shot-stopper has been worth his weight in gold for Los Blancos since joining the club in 2018.
Real Madrid have strengthened their full-back positions with the acquisitions of Denzel Dumfries and Marc Cucurella from Inter Milan and Chelsea, respectively. Mourinho is likely to prefer Dumfries over Trent Alexander-Arnold as his first-choice right-back, but the Englishman will still get plenty of minutes over the course of the season.
Ibrahima Konate is a shrewd purchase after the France international left Liverpool, while Antonio Rudiger will compete with Dean Huijsen for the other centre-back spot.
Federico Valverde was outstanding last season and will retain his place in midfield as the team’s captain. The arrival of Rodri would free up Jude Bellingham, magnificent for England in North America this summer, to fly forward and cause far more damage than he did last season.
Forwards
Yan Diomande, Kylian Mbappe, Vini Jr
Real Madrid have won the battle for Yan Diomande’s signature. The Ivory Coast international, 19, is one of the most exciting young talents in world football and will compete with the likes of Arda Guler, Endrick and new signing Bernardo Silva, who can also play in midfield, for a spot on the right wing.
And then there’s Kylian Mbappe, the 2026 Golden Boot winner and arguably the best player on the planet. With a stronger team behind him, who knows how many goals the prolific Frenchman will finish the 2026-27 season with.
