England’s Brave Thomas Tuchel might be starting to understand why they call it “The Impossible Job”. On a balmy evening by the River Trent, it took Harry Kane just eight minutes to score against Senegal, and surely leave the edgy disquiet of Saturday’s 1-0 win over Andorra behind. The fun summertime vibes didn’t last long: three Senegal goals later, the final whistle was met with a volley of boos and jeers, England coming up distinctly second best to their opponents.
England’s men’s side had never lost to an African nation before, but a record that probably should have fallen at Italia ‘90 was finally claimed in June 2025 – and deservedly so. Senegal may have benefited from funky interpretations of both the handball rule and VAR intervention when Jude Bellingham’s equaliser was chalked off, but this was their night. “I want to congratulate my players for the tremendous performance and mindset they showed out on the pitch today,” manager Pape Thiaw said afterwards. “From the very beginning, they showed they wanted to win.”

Ever the diplomat, Thiaw also offered some encouragement to Senegal’s beaten hosts. “Well done to England as well, they showed some good form in certain periods of the game,” he said. The Daily must have drifted off for those bits, presumably somewhere between the visitors’ three quickfire goals, each smashed at speed past a leaden-footed defence. Cheikh Sabaly’s stoppage-time goal was exactly the kind of emphatic exclamation point that will empty a home stadium with maximum efficiency, leaving Senegal’s players to celebrate with their fans in a sole joyous corner of the City Ground.
As the dust settles and Tuchel takes a sledgehammer to his big tactics board at St George’s Park, we face a tricky balancing act when it comes to England’s conquerors. Senegal are recent Afcon champions, ranked in the world’s top 20 (and second only to Morocco in Africa), and have reached the World Cup’s knockout stages twice this century. This is not a side that should be patted on the head for winning a friendly; on the other hand, the gap in resources, status and personnel between the two sides should not be overlooked either. To give just one example, Thiaw’s contract is reportedly worth about £13,000 per month, while Tuchel trousers north of £400,000.
End-of-season tiredness was floated as a weak excuse for England’s performance, but their opponents had endured long seasons too. Ismaïla Sarr had just won the FA Cup with Crystal Palace while Sabaly earned promotion via the playoffs with Metz. Thiaw could not even call upon his nation’s best player, Sadio Mané, but no matter: one team in Nottingham looked like a cohesive unit with the energy and strategy to go far in next year’s World Cup, and it wasn’t England.

And so the Lions of Teranga march on, unbeaten in 22 matches and atoning for their meek last-16 exit to England at Qatar 2022, where they failed to meet expectations. Tuchel must surely fear a rematch next summer, but Senegal are far from assured of their place. They currently sit second in their group, sandwiched between DR Congo and Sudan, with only the winner guaranteed to qualify. “We have two big, big qualifying games coming up so our focus is now going to be on those games,” Thiaw concluded, putting England firmly in their place as the warm-up act before the real main event.

We, as players, have little to say about [Ange Postecoglou’s sacking]. Of course, he is the first coach in a long time who has won a trophy, has had success at Spurs. So if you look at it that way, it is of course a strange choice. I think many of the players got along with [Postecoglou] well. And of course, what I say, he is the first coach who has brought success to Spurs in a long time. That also shows that he has a certain quality. That also means that he has a winning mentality – 100%” – Micky van de Ven has a bit more to say about Tottenham’s decision to give their Big Vase-winning manager the boot than he first hinted at.

Re: Spurs (yesterday’s Football Daily). Yes, the club have no idea what or who they want as manager. But that narrative excludes the fans. And they have a very clear idea of what they want. No more Daniel Levy … please!” – Christophe Brown.

I didn’t mind when Spurs hired José Mourinho. I didn’t mind when they hired Antonio Conte. And, despite firing Big Ange, I don’t think the club broke him. But I fear what the Tottenham Sadness Machine will do to Thomas Frank. I fear it” – Mike Wilner.

We’re just a few days out from the latest shiny new distraction generator from the people who bring you All The Football™, and it strikes me that it’s time for the Football Daily hive-mind to come up with an appropriate name. Given the heated discussion that led to Tin Pot being named, well, Tin Pot, the general lack of enthusiasm for this one leads to an obvious suggestion. Big Deal, anyone? No? Perfect” – Mike Slattery.

Does the social media disgrace spat between Landon Donovan and Mark Pulisic really rise to the level of ‘drama’ (yesterday’s Still Want More, full email edition)? Surely this is just a bunch of nonsense between a has-been and a never-was. I will leave it to the reader to decide which is which. I believe that it isn’t a true drama until the squawking Maga hat that is Alexei Lalas gets involved” – Pat Condreay.

If you do have any, please send letters to [email protected]. Today’s winner of our prizeless letter o’ the day is … Christophe Brown. Terms and conditions for our competitions, when we run them, can be viewed here.

Things are going from bad to worse for Mauricio Pochettino’s USA USA USA, who were thumped 4-0 by Switzerland in Nashville last night. In a shambolic display, the home side shipped four goals in the first 36 minutes and produced enough bloopers to make Danny Baker consider updating his collection of Own Goals and Gaffs. The USMNT have now lost four in a row for the first time since 2007. Way to go! It’s not the ideal way to prepare for the Gold Cup and long run into the Geopolitics World Cup next year. It didn’t stop Pochettino spinning the horror show into a win of sorts, mind. “I think we’re much better players, a much better team and much better coaches after a defeat like this,” parped the head coach. “You learn. If you’re intelligent, you learn”. It doesn’t look like Spurs are going to rescue him does it?

Fifa will hold a consultation about expanding Gianni’s big Club World Cup jamboree to … wait for it … 48 teams in 2029 if this summer’s edition is successful, after lobbying from clubs who failed to qualify for the new $1bn (£740,000) tournament.

Manchester City’s 2025 transfer splurge shows no sign of abating with Lyon’s Rayan Cherki and Milan’s Tijjani Reijnders hoovered up in the past 24 hours. Cherki arrives on a five-year deal for an initial £30.5m while Reijnders cost a cool £46.6m. Both are cleared to play in Gianni’s big Club World Cup jamboree.

Meanwhile, City fans have taken legal action against the club over a policy that now requires season-ticket holders to attend at least 10 league matches to retain their ticket for the following season.

David Moyes is now David Moyes OBE.

Brazil have booked their place at next year’s Geopolitics World Cup after a Vinícius Júnior goal brought Carlo Ancelotti’s new charges a 1-0 win over Paraguay. Ecuador are also through after digging in for a 0-0 draw in Peru with 10 men.

Australia have also qualified for the flamin’ World Cup after coming from behind to beat Saudi Arabia and the Netherlands hammered Malta 8-0 and Finland beat Poland 2-1 in European qualifying.

In other international news, Republic of Ireland boss Heimir Hallgrimsson did well to keep himself awake during a 0-0 draw with Luxembourg that he called “boring”.

Hull have appointed Sergej Jakirovic as their new head coach. The 48-year-old Bosnian arrives at the Championship club on a two-year deal, with the option of a further 12 months, after the Tigers agreed a deal with Turkish side Kayserispor. Jakirovic has previously led Dinamo Zagreb to Bigger Cup qualification and succeeds Ruben Selles, who was bundled through the door marked Do One last month.

And some Liverpool fans might want to book last-minute flights to Madrid so they can boo Trent Alexander-Arnold when he is unveiled at the Bernabéu on Thursday.

Eberechi Eze’s bright spark was on display for England despite the tired legs and loose passes of Senegal defeat, writes Jonathan Liew.

Nick Ames reckons Lee Carsley’s new England generation can seize the narrative in their bid to retain the European Under-21 crown despite the Club World Cup hubbub.

John Duerden has the story on Jordan’s long road to World Cup qualification since Harry Redknapp and Ray Wilkins’ short spells in charge.

Meanwhile, Joey Lynch was at the King Abdullah Sports City Stadium to report on the Socceroos’ flamin’ comeback from the brink to qualify for the World Cup with five wins and three draws.

Jonathan Liew ponders Ange Postecoglou’s fluctuating fortunes at Spurs and how they expose how much football has become an act of persuasion.

It is deadline day 1.0! The Rumour Mill has the latest on Leroy Sané’s possible Premier League return and the Florian Wirtz saga.

And which regular runners-up have suffered the most heartbreak in football? The Knowledge knows.

7 July 1999: It was a busy summer transfer window for Gérard Houllier before his first full season in charge of Liverpool. He needed the help of his assistant Phil Thompson to help unveil six new signings (left to right): Sammi Hyypia, Vladimir Smicer, Sander Westerveld, Erik Meijer, Stéphane Henchoz and Titi Camara.