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12 CommentsTunisia have sacked head coach Sabri Lamouchi following the side's defeat in their opening World Cup 2026 fixture.Sweden inflicted a heavy 5-1 defeat on Tunisia in Sunday's Group F tie at the Estadio Monterrey in Guadalupe, Mexico.Reports after that loss suggested Lamouchi had been immediately sacked but sources told BBC Sport that the 54-year-old took training on Monday.However, the Tunisian Football Association has now confirmed that the Frenchman's contract has been terminated by "mutual agreement"."Plans are under way ‌to appoint ‌Mondher Kebaier as the national team ‌coach," the Tunisian FA said in a statement.Lamouchi's departure means he is the first manager in World Cup history to be sacked after just one game.The former Nottingham Forest boss was only appointed in January replacing Sami Trabelsi, who left his role following a last-16 defeat to Mali at the Africa Cup of Nations.Speaking after the defeat by Sweden, Lamouchi said the loss was "painful"."Starting the competition with this bad of a loss is indeed difficult," Lamouchi said."We made too many mistakes, and this is not something that we can do. We are shooting ourselves in the foot, we are hurting ourselves."The 54-year-old won just one of his five games as Tunisia head coach - a 1-0 victory over Haiti in his first game in charge.In their two warm-up games for the World Cup earlier this month, they lost 1-0 to Austria before suffering a 5-0 thrashing by Belgium.Tunisia face Japan and Netherlands in their remaining Group F fixtures.Play BBC Sport's new World Cup predictor gameEverything you need to know about the World Cup

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Max Rushden is joined by Barry Glendenning, Barney Ronay, Dan Bardell and Sid Lowe as debutants Cape Verde earn a draw against the favourites SpainRate, review, share on Apple Podcasts and join the conversation on email.On the podcast today: their first ever game at a World Cup and Cape Verde hold Spain to a 0-0 draw after an utterly heroic defensive effort. Sid Lowe joins us to ask if this is just an early blip or if Spanish fans should be concerned.Elsewhere in Group H, Saudi Arabia cling on to claim a point against Uruguay. Marcelo Bielsa looks on ruefully from his bucket as his side missed several chances in the second half.In Group G, Belgium need Romelu Lukaku to help them procure a point against Egypt, while New Zealand’s Elijah Just gives them the lead twice but they can’t hold on against Iran.All that, a preview of Tuesday’s action and your questions answered.You can also find Football Weekly on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube.

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Manchester United reporterPublished43 minutes agoMarcus Rashford didn't give the impression of being consumed by concerns about his future as he trained in heat that climbed above 30C in Kansas City.In fairness, now is not the time to have attention diverted by club matters. For the next month or so, Rashford's concentration is on England.On Sunday, at least for the 15 minutes when cameras were allowed in to film training, that meant linking up with Jude Bellingham, Ivan Toney, Djed Spence, Eberechi Eze and Anthony Gordon in a passing drill before Wednesday's World Cup Group L opener against Croatia in Dallas.The onus is on keeping the focus there. It was not as if Monday would bring any news Rashford was unaware of anyway.The deadline Barcelona agreed with Manchester United to trigger a £26m clause to turn Rashford's loan into a permanent deal passed without it being activated.On 1 July, when Rashford will hope to be preparing for a last-32 encounter in Atlanta, he will officially return to being a Manchester United player, with a £325,000-a-week contract that still has two years to run.In theory, Rashford could return to his boyhood club and resume his career there.Head coach Michael Carrick knows him well. Carrick has been a team-mate, coach and - for three games following Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's dismissal in 2021 - hands-on manager of one of the recent star graduates of United's academy.When Carrick was asked about Rashford in April, he said no decision had been made about the attacker's future.He added: "Whoever's here, I want to work with them and help them to improve."Minority owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe wants to bring wage costs down and that is not simple when the highest earner is on such a huge sum.In addition, United gave Rashford's number 10 shirt to Matheus Cunha last season and are hardly likely to take it off the Brazilian.The summer squad rebuilding plans are being pieced together in the belief Rashford will not be part of them.Yet it is tricky. Twelve months ago, Ruben Amorim placed Rashford in his 'bomb squad' and told him to train at different times to the main group. He did the same with Jadon Sancho, Alejandro Garnacho, Antony and Tyrell Malacia.Last week, world governing body Fifa announced a memorandum of understanding with global players' union Fifpro. Within the detail, it was confirmed any player exiled from the main group can demand to be released – and to have their contracts paid up.It is fair to assume ostracising Rashford this season is off the agenda.How Sancho's dream Man Utd move ended as a nightmareThat would increase the number of clubs who are interested in him and widen the options of a deal.Yet, as with any contractual situation of this nature, United cannot sell Rashford to a club he does not want to play for.He has just won the Spanish title with Barcelona and reached the last eight of the Champions League.Rashford clearly believes he can have a significant impact at the highest level of the game.Bayern Munich were suggested as having an interest. And what about Aston Villa, where he spent the second half of the 2024-25 campaign? They have also qualified for the Champions League.After staying at Manchester United, this is the option favoured by bookmakers.Rashford scored 14 goals and claimed 14 assists during his season at Barcelona. He might not have started every week but he did make a significant contribution.It is England team-mate Gordon's arrival at the Nou Camp for £69.3m from Newcastle United that seems to have eased Rashford out. Yet, if Thomas Tuchel can find a space for both players in his national team squad, why can the same not be true of Hansi Flick?Clearly, Barcelona are unwilling to pay £26m for him.As it stands, United have no interest in negotiating a different deal.That will only come in the three-week gap between England's World Cup campaign reaching its conclusion and Rashford's return to pre-season training. By then, goalkeeper Andre Onana, another player on a big contract United do not want, will have returned for pre-season and a template will potentially have been created that Rashford might follow.Beyond that, the transfer window closes on 1 September.At that point there will have to be a resolution for Rashford's future.For now, he can continue focusing on England.Pre-match, post-match and topical United contentListen on SoundsSubscribe and listen for everything you love about the Red DevilsLatest Manchester United news, analysis and fan viewsAsk about Man Utd - what do you want to know?

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The rules are simple. Each day there's a new footballer and the challenge is to guess who they are in as few attempts as possible.After each wrong guess you unlock a new clue. But, if you get your answer in as few guesses as possible, you get more points.Three is a good score, four or five points is exceptional.So, take part in quiz number one and return for more tomorrow.Today's player and clues are set by BBC Sport's Huzaifah Khan.After more quizzes? Go to our dedicated Football Quizzes and Sports Quizzes pages and sign up for notifications to get the latest quizzes sent straight to your device.What information do we collect from this quiz?More 'Who am I?' quizzesWho am I? Guess World Cup star No 8Quiz: Name every nation at the 2026 World CupCan you name every player with 100 Premier League goals?Can you name the 10 Lionesses with most England caps?

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Ghalenoei claims team told to ‘leave immediately’‘We were supposed to stay here tonight to recover’The Iran captain Mehdi Taremi, midfielder Mohammad Mohebi, and head coach Amir Ghalenoei hit out at Fifa and hinted at resentment toward the US government after being told they needed to leave Los Angeles immediately after Monday night’s 2-2 draw against New Zealand in the World Cup.“Everything is like disaster, actually, for us,” said Taremi, who added that Fifa president, Gianni Infantino, visited the team in the dressing room and they expressed their concerns to him directly.Ghalenoei said the way they have been treated by Fifa makes them “the most oppressed” team at the tournament.“After the game today they said to us, ‘You have to leave immediately,’” Ghalenoi said. “Whereas today it’s very important for us to have recovery.“We’ve been asked to get on a plane and return to our camp in Tijuana and we are really troubled by that. They are forcing us to go back early. They are making the situation more and more difficult, more hurdles, but we’re not going to let that stop us from doing our best.“We don’t know why they’re returning us, to be honest. I think it’s very strange. It seems like others are doing the planning for us … We were supposed to arrive two nights before the game but they didn’t permit [it]. We were supposed to stay here tonight to recover and return tomorrow lunchtime.“I think our team is the most oppressed one in the whole World Cup. Our federation isn’t here, our media isn’t here, our management isn’t here.”Infantino went into the Iran dressing room after the game and a video of his message to the squad was shared online, in which Infantino and Ghalenoei exchanged words, via a member of staff translating.“You showed to your families, friends, to your people, to the world, that you’re in the World Cup, that you perform and you have two more games to go,” Infantino said. “In these two games, you will make again everyone in the world proud of what you do. Thank you for being here.“It is also a big, big emotion. I know what you go through, I understand, but you are stronger than everything. You send a strong message to the entire world. Like tonight you united the whole stadium here, you united the whole stadium behind you, behind Team Melli. You are sending such a strong message to the world.“Let me say one more thing: this is just the beginning of the World Cup. You are writing history, the whole world is watching you. Continue to play with your heart, for your people, your families, for your fans and for everyone in the world that is falling in love with Team Melli. You are stronger than everything.”Taremi criticised a logistical situation that has seen the team forced to abandon their planned training base in Tucson, Arizona weeks before the tournament, instead training across the border in Tijuana, Mexico and flying in to the US shortly before games.The team moved its training base to avoid immigration concerns that turned out to be well founded – after arriving in Mexico, 15 of the team’s support staff were denied visas to enter the US, where all of Iran’s group stage games are taking place. That number was later reduced to 11 after some visas were approved.The team still arrived in Los Angeles minus both of their media officers, some analysts, and federation president, Mehdi Taj. Another analyst for the team served as a stand-in media aide for Taremi and Mohebi’s appearance, which a Fifa official repeatedly attempted to stop as both players continued answering questions.“I think it’s not good for the football,” Taremi said. “In [the] World Cup, you have to prepare good for the next game, which is a lot of stress for the players and the staff and everyone. But we don’t have that support, and I think Fifa have to help us more than this. Let’s see what’s going to happen in the future.”Iran faced delays in their travel from Tijuana to Los Angeles, a short trip that Taremi said took five hours. He did not specify what caused the delays, but it was understood that the immigration process was the main cause.Taremi and Mohebi said being forced to leave immediately afterward would negatively affect the players’ performance at the tournament.“It’s supposed to be: tomorrow morning recovery, then we fly to Tijuana, then we return to LA again, but right now we have to go back,” Taremi said.Mohebi added: “Yesterday we came, started the trip in the morning, and we arrive [in the] afternoon, and we directly go to train, and we get tired, you know? I think [it wa] supposed to be, we come here two days before the game. This kind of deal, I think, is not fair … we’re going to get fatigued – hamstring, lower back, glutes …”By contrast, Ghalenoei praised the warmth of co-hosts Mexico and many Mexicans were in attendance supporting Iran at the Los Angeles Stadium.“The Mexican people, the Mexican government, especially the people in Tijuana, made us feel at home,” he said.

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2 CommentsWhen we were both back at Chelsea after we had won the World Cup together with France in 2018, N'Golo Kante said to me, "Oli, I think I am going to retire from the national team."I told him, 'no NG, look, you are top of the world. I can understand why you are saying this, but you need to carry on. You are too young to stop.'That was eight years ago, and NG - which is what all his friends and team-mates call him - is still going for France, and is still a crucial player for Les Bleus.He is 35 now, but as I say whenever I am asked about him being in in the France squad, NG is NG. You might have not seen him in the Premier League for a few years because he has been playing in Saudi Arabia and, since February for Fenerbahce in Turkey, but he has not changed.Back in the day, if you were playing outside the top leagues in Europe, it might have meant Didier Deschamps would not pick you for France.For example, Andre-Pierre Gignac was already in Mexico when he played in the Euro 2016 final, but Deschamps told him that if he stayed in a championship like that, and not at the best level in Europe, then he would not have the chance to come back into the national team.Deschamps has evolved in his thinking since then, because he knows he needs to adapt, and a lot of those leagues are stronger now.But he also used to still call up N'Golo when he was in Saudi Arabia because he knows that, as long as he is delivering his game, you can always count on him to bring what he does best.I actually expect Deschamps will put N'Golo on the bench at first, and pick Aurelien Tchouameni and Adrien Rabiot together in France's midfield.They started in the team that played against Northern Ireland last week, and I think that team is going to start the tournament against Senegal on Tuesday.But you cannot play a whole World Cup with just two midfielders, especially because France will probably have four such attacking players in front of them in Michael Olise, Ousmane Dembele, Desire Doue and Kylian Mbappe.You need balance between attack and defence, and N'Golo always brings that to every team he plays in.Even if Deschamps does not play him from the start, he will be happy and he will help in every game anyway. In some of them we will really need him.When I played with him, for club or country, I used to say we played with 12 men because he can do two jobs - and he has not changed there. I was always glad when he played alongside me, for the same reasons I am glad he is in the squad again now.His energy is incredible, and his mentality is contagious. When you see him running everywhere, it gives you some strength to do the same, no matter how tired your legs are.N'Golo will be massively important, especially if we need to hold a lead or defend a result, like we did for the whole competition at the 2018 World Cup, when we were only behind for nine minutes - in the last 16 against Argentina - out of the total of 630 minutes we played across seven games.We had a strong balance then, with Paul Pogba and N'Golo at the base of our midfield. Blaise Matuidi would drop back too, along with Antoine Griezmann and myself, when we needed to.I especially remember that happening in the semi-final against Belgium, when we went ahead at the start of the second half. They had a really talented team and we had to just defend.This time, if France at some point play against a strong team and Deschamps adopts a more defensive position, or if we need to keep the result when we are ahead, then I am sure N'Golo will play his part.I would also not be surprised if, in the later stages of this competition, he is starting games for us.There is another reason Deschamps has selected N'Golo. In any squad, he is like the mascot, you know? Everyone loves him, because he is such a nice guy.He is quiet, and can be a bit timid - you could even say he is shy - but that is not a criticism because N'Golo brings the sunshine when he is smiling - and he is always smiling.Harmony is important for any camp and N'Golo and I have travelled together a lot. I know he is someone who is very good to have around.He is not someone who will suggest we all go to a pub for some beers together. That is not his way - he doesn't drink and he is quite reserved.In France we would call him a 'casanier', or someone who prefers to stay at home and chill, on his Playstation or by playing chess on his phone - he really loves chess.There was a time when N'Golo and I were together a lot on a coach or on a plane for Chelsea and France and we would play a lot. Along with American Christian Pulisic, who I wrote about in my last column, we had a kind of Chelsea Chess Club together.I would say N'Golo and and I were quite level in our ability at first, but it is also true there was a point where he had more wins than me.He was a bit better than me at the end, so I decided to propose a different game - Scrabble. I killed him at that, until he just didn't want to play me any more. It was very funny. He is so nice but people need to know that he hates losing - like me, he is very competitive!He will influence the younger players in the France squad in lots of ways, because he is so humble, and always happy.It's going to be important to have him around, for his personality as well as his experience - he is now the oldest player, instead of me.And for the kids around him, he will have the same effect he had on me during games. If they see how much he runs on the pitch, then what do you think they are going to do?They will run too - they will follow him, like we all did back in the day.Like I said before, balance was so important to our success in Russia. I described our France team then as 'complete' because we had flair but also we were solid.Is this France team the same? We will have to wait to find out.All the components are there but will it all come together on the pitch? They have got everything they need, in defence, midfield and attack, but now they just need to write their story, their history.We have done our part, in 2018. Now they need to do theirs.It is a new generation and they are so talented - but with that comes so much expectation, and pressure too. And in football, anything can happen.At the 2002 World Cup, we arrived as the holders and the European champions. We had an amazing team but our tournament was a mess and we did not make the knockout stage.The first game is always very important. It does not matter that much how you play - in 2018 we needed a lucky goal to beat Australia - but the important thing was that we won.This time we begin against the same team we lost to at the start of that 2002 World Cup, Senegal.We know them well and we know we will have to start strongly to beat them on Tuesday. Next is Iraq, and we should win that, but we will need to have six points before we play Norway, who are a dangerous underdog for me, so there is not too much pressure on us then.It is a tricky group and while one win is probably enough for us to get through in third place if we needed it, come on - we all know France needs to do much more than that.We need to finish top, to set the pace, make a statement and find the level we will need later on. Our journey starts now, and I can't wait.Olivier Giroud was speaking to BBC Sport's Chris BevanThe World Cup is bigger than ever - and BBC Sport has an app to matchPlay BBC Sport's new World Cup predictor game

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On the tickets and in the listings, this match was billed as Iran v New Zealand.But in the stands and chanting outside the stadium, it was not the Kiwis who were Iran's most vocal opponents - it was their own dissidents.Time and again, Iranian team officials have said they want football to unite people.Outside the Los Angeles Stadium, the atmosphere was politically charged.Hundreds of Iranian flags were flying. The most visible were the pre-revolutionary flags bearing the Lion and Sun emblem.For many Iranian-Americans, the flag has become a symbol of opposition to the regime in Tehran. Fifa has banned it inside stadiums as a political symbol.But it was flying inside nonetheless and emblazoned on t-shirts.A few hundred protesters gathered outside, angry at Fifa's decision and at what they see as a national team that represents the Islamic Republic rather than the Iranian people."Mullahs' team is not my team," one group chanted. "Regime change in Iran," sang another.Then they broke into song - Iran's pre-revolutionary national anthem.A young man, when asked to translate, smiles."It means freedom and pride," he says.The soundscape changed dramatically inside the stadium.Just scores twice but New Zealand held by spirited Iran'I'm here to support Iran, not the regime'Outside, chants against the regime and the team. Inside, roars of support for the players. Cheers when Iran scored to twice come from behind to draw 2-2 with New Zealand.There were thousands of Iranian flags in the stands. From a distance they looked identical. Up close, they told a different story.Some carried the official flag of the Islamic Republic. Others displayed the Lion and Sun. All were dressed in Iran's colours.This is what the footballers were up against: Iran versus Iran."It's complicated," says Samaneh, an Iranian-American who has lived in the United States for a decade."I'm here to support Iran, not the regime. I miss my country."She said she cried when Iran's national anthem played."My dad is here, but my mum is stuck in Iran because of paperwork and President Trump's travel restrictions. I'm worried about her all the time. I'm also scared to go back and visit."The contradictions were visible throughout the match.When New Zealand took the lead, some anti-regime spectators celebrated, waving Lion and Sun flags.Outside the stadium, the politics quickly came back into focus."We don't want a deal," says Nini, referring to the latest agreement between Washington and Tehran to end the war between the US and Iran."The people of Iran deserve regime change. People were slaughtered on the streets of Tehran.""We can't normalise what happened in January through a sporting event," says Farimah, who is wearing a T-shirt bearing the Lion and Sun emblem."This team doesn't represent the people of Iran."Nearby, Kourosh stands with a makeshift noose around his neck."It's a symbol to stop the execution of brave and innocent people in Iran," he says.Like many here, he says the players on the pitch represent the regime, not the people.The players reject that characterisation.Before the match, striker Mehdi Taremi said the team plays for all Iranians, at home and abroad, and does not get involved in politics.Some supporters heading into the stadium agreed.Despite the tensions between his adopted and native countries, Iranian-American Mostafa believes football should unite people."Soccer is about friendship, cultural connections and putting politics aside," he adds on his way into the stadium.Pourmand travelled from San Diego to Iran's training camp in Tijuana, Mexico. He also attended the past two World Cups in Qatar and Russia.Dressed head to toe in Iran's colours, he says the players are not political."The people of Iran are represented by these players," he says. "They're here to show we're worthy of being here - a message of friendship and human values."Iranian-American Elika also feels torn. She says she is able to separate the team from the government.Her father died in 2020, and watching Iran at the World Cup was something they always did together."I felt compelled to come in honour of my dad, and in honour of Iranians who just want peace and the chance to enjoy a game like this," she says."I try to separate the regime from the team."Even without the protests, politics has overshadowed Iran's World Cup campaign.Visa problems forced the team to move its base camp from Arizona to Tijuana, meaning the players are competing in the United States while staying across the border in Mexico.A deal to halt hostilities may have reduced fears of further escalation, but tensions remain high.All of that is playing out as the players try to focus on football.Standing outside the stadium, it was hard to see how football and politics can be separated here.The Iranian team may want to unite people through the game.What this opening match revealed is just how divided many Iranians remain.2,500 passes since Spain's last World Cup goal - key stats as Cape Verde earn pointThe 40-year-old keeper who inspired Cape Verde's historic debutWorld Cup hydration breaks - who are the winners and losers?

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World Cup to generate about 9m tons of carbon dioxideGianni Infantino is planning to attend two World Cup games each day where possible for the rest of the tournament despite the huge distances involved.The Fifa president has access to a private jet provided by Qatar Airways as a value-in-kind element of its sponsorship deal with the world governing body, which will come in useful as Infantino journeys across the United States, Canada and Mexico.After attending the opening game of the tournament in Mexico City last Thursday, Infantino immediately flew on to Guadalajara for South Korea’s victory against Czechia. The next day he was in Los Angeles for the USA’s 4-1 win against Paraguay, before taking in games in San Francisco and Vancouver on Saturday between Qatar and Switzerland and Australia and Turkey respectively.Infantino did not attend a game on Sunday because he was in Miami to host a Fifa summit attended by representatives of their 211 member associations before returning to LA that evening to attend Iran’s first game of the tournament against New Zealand.The current World Cup finals tournament spans four time zones and three countries, with the 16 stadiums up to 2,800 miles apart.Infantino will travel far further than anyone else involved in the tournament. Of the teams, Bosnia and Herzegovina face the most arduous schedule during the group stage, travelling 3,144 miles from Toronto to Los Angeles to Seattle, as well as returning between games to their training camp in Salt Lake City.As a result of the huge distances the New Weather Institute has described this World Cup as “the most polluting event ever”, estimating that it will generate about 9 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent. Air travel is responsible for about 7.7 million tons of that carbon estimate, more than four times that of the average for World Cups held from 2010 to 2022.

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Bobby Robson employed a head of human performance for the World Cup and, despite wariness, the players got on boardThe eve of Italia 90. Gazza’s tears, England’s heartache, and the cascading emotions of a World Cup that sang and ultimately stung still lie ahead. For now, the sports scientist tasked with acclimatising Bobby Robson’s side to the Italian summer is using cutting-edge technology to assess each player’s fitness: a BBC microcomputer, a dot-matrix printer, and a few clunky Polar heart-rate monitors.Some in the England setup initially regard Prof John Brewer, the Football Association’s first head of human performance, with suspicion. But after monitoring the squad with a bleep test at Lilleshall before they fly to Italy, again when they arrive, and for a third time after a fortnight’s training in the hottest part of the day, Brewer can prove to the players they have adapted to the heat, and can play their familiar high-tempo game.What Brewer helped to pioneer 36 years ago now feels like something from the dark ages. In 2026 England’s players have super-light wearables to track their blood oxygen levels, skin temperatures and sleep, and use hyperbaric chambers for recovery. Yet speaking to Brewer is to relive not just a thrilling World Cup but the moment that English football began to move towards the light.Not that things went entirely smoothly. Before Italia 90, Brewer persuaded Robson that his players needed more carbohydrates before games. Yet he remembers getting a shock when the chef wheeled out a trolley of swordfish steaks hours before their World Cup opener against Ireland.“Bob and I looked at it and said: ‘What on earth is that?’” Brewer recalls. “But the England doctor, John Crane, stood up and said: “I want to give the boys what they want.’ We told him that it was not the time or the place. But the attitude from the medical team was to ignore the evolving sports science. It had been accepted in other sports, particularly running, but football saw itself as different.”That attitude applied to alcohol, too. Robson banned booze from two weeks before Italia 90, but allowed players the odd drink on occasions. But that didn’t stop a couple of stars – Brewer refuses to name them – breaking curfew and drinking far more than allowed.According to Brewer most of the England players who had played abroad, including Chris Waddle and Trevor Steven, were more receptive to nutritional advice. Surprisingly Paul Gascoigne, who got down to around 10% body fat for Italia 90, was also a temporary convert. “I think he probably was the fittest he was in his career,” he says. “Gazza was quite stocky in build and there’d been a bit of criticism about his weight. But when he came to Lilleshall, I measured his body fat, and the results spoke for themselves. He didn’t have a high body-fat percentage compared to the rest of the squad.”Brewer also remembers having lots of one-to-one conversations with Gascoigne because he needed reassurance about his diet. “Yes, he was the life and soul of the party and the other lads used to play up to that, but he was fully professional – football was everything to him,” he adds.Brewer’s background working with high-level athletes at Loughborough, including the double Olympic champion Seb Coe, meant that Robson and his coaches largely bought into his suggestions about training. At the time they were unusual. Now, though, they are commonplace. They included getting players to warm up without the ball at first to raise body temperature and increase muscle flexibility. “Because at the time it was a case of: ‘Let’s just knock the ball about a bit and then do a few little doggies’ – as they liked to call them – ‘or sprints and we’re ready to go,’” he says.Brewer also suggested getting substitutes to stretch and warm up at regular intervals, rather than sitting down all game. And he also wanted squad players to train harder between matches to maintain their fitness – something from which David Platt benefited when he replaced the injured Bryan Robson. Sometimes Brewer’s suggestions were even more basic: when he first joined, England players tended not to drink anything on the bus back from training. So he would mix up electrolyte drinks and give it to them in plastic cups.However, Brewer’s fondest memories are for Bobby Robson, whom he admired deeply as a person and a manager, and brought him into the England setup. This was the era where the FA’s director of coaching Charles Hughes was pushing for England to play a more direct style based on research showing most goals were scored after fewer than five passes, yet Robson had the reputation and smarts to follow a more enlightened path.“It was a strange dynamic between them,” he says. “Charles was very much into his statistical analysis about the need to play a long‑ball game, which I think was quite flawed, but while Bobby listened and took on board the stuff around preparation, fitness, training and nutrition, he did his own thing when it came to football.“In the end Charles left the FA as a frustrated, disillusioned character. I’m sure to his dying day, he believed that had his ideas been fully accepted England would have won a World Cup in 1994, 1998 or 2002.”Brewer is now retired but still follows football and sports science closely. “Players are fitter nowadays. They have to pay even more attention to their training and diet because the frequency of high-intensity games is much higher than it ever has been.”But as he notes, they have a lot more help too. “When I set up the FA human performance centre, clubs used to send their players to us for their pre‑season sport science and fitness testing. From July onwards we would get three or four teams a week, including the likes of Liverpool. Obviously that would never happen today because they’ve got their own teams of people.”“And when it came to testing, I had a BBC microcomputer, a dot-matrix printer, and a couple of very ancient Polar heart-rate monitors that I had to download individually in order to get the data. We thought it was cutting edge. But compared to today it was pretty basic stuff.”