September 16 – Belgium remain top of the FIFA world ranking with Brazil a close second and England a newcomer on the podium, moving into third, following matches played in September’s international window.
September 15 – PSG has topped a ranking of teams according to the number of passes made per match during current season. The data is pulled 36 leagues worldwide – 32 in Europe and 4 in the Americas.
By Samindra Kunti
September 14 – Chelsea open their defence of the Champions League tonight at home to Zenit St Petersburg, kicking off the European club season in earnest. The question in Europe is whether Chelsea and their English counterparts will also be kickstarting an age of Premier League dominance in the European Cup?
September 10 – Lionel Messi has surpassed Pelé as the leading South American men’s goal scorer in international matches with 79 goals, following his hat-trick in Argentina’s World Cup qualifiing win against Bolivia.
September 9 – Egypt have hired Carlos Queiroz as their new manager to steer the Pharaohs to the World Cup in Qatar. The Portuguese will succeed Hossam El Badry.
September 2 – Cristiano Ronaldo became the all-time leading scorer in men’s international football with two last-gasp goals for Portugal in a dramatic World Cup qualifier against the Republic of Ireland on Wednesday.
September 1 – The date a player is born can still have a defining effect on whether a young footballer will have a professional career, or not.
By Samindra Kunti in Reims
August 29 – On Sunday, Lionel Messi took his first steps in the shirt of Paris Saint-Germain, but it was Kylian Mbappe who stole the show with a brace in a 2-0 victory over Reims.
August 27 – Having failed in a bid to lure England captain Harry Kane, English champions Manchester City are reportedly poised to pull off a sensational coup by signing Cristiano Ronaldo from Juventus.
August 26 – Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has indicated that he will leave the Premier League champions in 2023 when his contract expires, and wants to venture into international football in the future.
August 23 – Three Premier League players make up the shortlist for the UEFA Men’s player of the year awards, while three Barcelona players make up the Women’s shortlist.
August 18 – Louis van Gaal doesn’t do modest. The new Dutch head coach has said he would have picked himself for the role and added that he wants to lead Oranje to the world title.
August 16 – Paris St Germain presented Lionel Messi to fans inside the Parc des Princes stadium ahead of their Ligue 1 clash with Strasbourg on Saturday but the Argentine, as expected, was not included in the squad for the match.
By Andrew Warshaw
August 13 – The English Premier League season kicks off this weekend with the usual suspects likely to fight it out for the spoils – along with some intriguing sub-plots.
August 12 – Redemption comes in many forms. The 119th-minute substitute goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga led Chelsea to victory in the European Super Cup with two saves in the penalty shout-out to see off Villarreal following an entertaining 1-1 draw.