#OTD in 1975 Malcolm Macdonald scored five goals for England against Cyprus in a European Championship qualifier — with four of them headers.
It is the last time anyone got five in a game for England, with Macdonald scoring just six goals overall in his international career.
Harry Kane has now scored 50 club goals this season — a superb achievement that has come in just 42 games.
I've broken his feat down and placed it in an historical context: how many other Englishmen have done it? What's the world record? Free to read:
www.nytimes.com/athletic/718...
Kylian Mbappé is now exactly halfway to Cristiano Ronaldo’s all-time European Cup/Champions League goals record (70 vs 140).
Could Kylian Mbappé break Cristiano Ronaldo's record for the most goals in a European Cup/Champions League season?
He needs to score four more to overhaul his Real Madrid predecessor, so I've explored the numbers behind their two amazing campaigns here:
www.nytimes.com/athletic/719...
Casemiro has scored more Premier League goals than Erling Haaland in 2026 (four vs three).
That was the first goal Harry Kane has ever scored from outside the box in the Champions League.
The 2026 World Cup will be the first in which four of the countries competing lie on the equator:
Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador and DR Congo
Italy are the first former champions to ever miss three World Cups in a row.
More than 20% of the people in the world were not alive when Italy last played at the World Cup.
The defeat by Japan means that England have now lost to a country from every continent.
First loss to a country from:
Europe: Scotland in 1874
North America: USA in 1950
South America: Uruguay in 1953
Oceania: Australia in 2003
Africa: Senegal in 2025
Asia: Japan in 2026 🆕
Jordan Henderson tonight becomes just the fourth man to have had an England career last longer than 15 years:
Stanley Matthews: 22 years & 229 days
Peter Shilton: 19 years & 225 days
Wayne Rooney: 15 years & 277 days
Jordan Henderson: 15 years & 131 days
Uruguay are one of just three countries that England have lost to more often than they have beaten:
Brazil 🇧🇷: Won 4, Lost 12
Uruguay 🇺🇾: Won 3, Lost 5
Italy 🇮🇹: Won 10, Lost 11
#ENGvsURU
Roy Hodgson was born closer in time to the invention of the Periodic Table than the present day.
The 1986 World Cup will remain the most recent in which three teams from the United Kingdom competed.
Albania’s defeat means that Algeria will remain the country from the earliest in the alphabet to ever play at the World Cup.
Robert Lewandowski has now scored 89 times for Poland, leaving Cristiano Ronaldo as the only European man to have ever scored more international goals:
Cristiano Ronaldo (🇵🇹): 143
Robert Lewandowski (🇵🇱): 89
Romelu Lukaku ( 🇧🇪): 89
Ferenc Puskás (🇭🇺): 84
Harry Kane (🏴): 78
Here's my look at the 22 teams battling for the last six spots at this summer's World Cup, with five having never played at the tournament before and one hoping to become the side from the earliest in the alphabet to ever qualify:
Mohamed Salah has scored more goals for Liverpool than anyone has ever scored for any of Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea, Leeds, Newcastle, Aston Villa, Milan, Borussia Dortmund, Atletico Madrid, Napoli, Lazio, Marseille, Feyenoord, Fiorentina, Sevilla and Valencia.
Pep Guardiola has now won the English League Cup more times than Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsène Wenger combined (five vs four).
Tottenham have gone 13 games without winning in the league for the first time since driving tests were made compulsory in the UK.
I've explored the numbers behind Lionel Messi's 900 career goals — looking at his best scoring streaks, favourite opponents and 'keepers, the goals he's scored with his chest, hand and hip and how he compares to both Cristiano Ronaldo and Kevin Nolan:
www.nytimes.com/athletic/684...
If he plays this month Jason Steele will become England’s oldest debutant since Leslie Compton in 1950.
I've explored the numbers behind Lionel Messi's 900 career goals — looking at his best scoring streaks, favourite opponents and 'keepers, the goals he's scored with his chest, hand and hip and how he compares to both Cristiano Ronaldo and Kevin Nolan:
www.nytimes.com/athletic/684...
Lionel Messi has scored the 900th goal of his career, reaching the landmark against Nashville SC.
He has scored the most goals against Sevilla (38 times).
There are 46 clubs and countries that Messi has only scored once against - including Portugal, Cadiz, and the United States.
The last of two first-class cricket matches in the 1880s between Smokers v Non-Smokers got underway #OTD in 1887 in Melbourne. The match was drawn with the captain of the Non-Smokers, Arthur Shrewsbury, hitting the top score (236 in the 1st innings). 🏏
www.espncricinfo.com/series/other...
Premier League assists in 2026:
Bruno Fernandes: Nine
All 26 Tottenham players combined: Nine
#OTD in 1892, Aston Villa became the first side to score 12 goals in an English top-flight game. It's happened just twice since, with one of them occurring 23 days later:
Mar 12, 1892: Aston Villa 12-2 Accrington
Apr 4, 1892: WBA 12-0 Darwen
Apr 21, 1909: N Forest 12-0 Leicester
Mohamed Salah has now scored more goals for Liverpool than anyone has ever scored for Manchester United.
Tottenham's last relegation is closer in time to the Wall Street Crash than it is to today.