Lionel Messi, Inter Miami and Club Leon
Wednesday

Lionel Messi returned as a half-time substitute for Inter Miami only days after his father’s death, but the club lost 3-2 to Leon and were eliminated from the Leagues Cup during the tournament’s opening phase.

Messi had travelled to Argentina for Jorge Messi’s funeral and missed Miami’s previous match. His return could not prevent the club’s earliest Leagues Cup exit since the competition expanded in 2023, when Miami won the tournament.

Malawi Women and Algeria Women
Wednesday

Malawi defeated Algeria 3-1 to reach the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations final in their debut tournament. Sisters Tabitha and Temwa Chawinga scored all three goals as the competition’s lowest-ranked remaining nation continued an extraordinary run in Morocco.

Both sides had a player sent off before half-time, but Malawi retained control after Algeria briefly reduced the deficit. Already qualified for their first Women’s World Cup, the Scorchers will now face Morocco or Cameroon for the continental title.

Paris Saint-Germain and Aston Villa
Wednesday

Paris Saint-Germain beat Aston Villa 2-1 in Salzburg to win a second consecutive UEFA Super Cup. Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Desire Doue scored for PSG, while 17-year-old Brian Madjo temporarily levelled for Villa before half-time.

Madjo became the youngest player to score in a UEFA Super Cup final, but Doue’s second-half goal settled the match. Luis Enrique’s side added another European trophy after entering with only a short preseason following their Champions League campaign.

Scottish Premiership clubs and the SPFL
Wednesday

The Tennent’s Soccer Sixes will return in October as a legends tournament featuring teams from all 12 Scottish Premiership clubs. The revived indoor event will take place at Braehead Arena on 3 and 4 October and air on Premier Sports.

Three regional groups of four teams will feed into an eight-team knockout stage, with every match producing a winner and penalty shootouts carrying a bonus point. The original Soccer Sixes ran from 1984 until its final edition in 1993.

Chelsea, Real Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain and UEFA
Tuesday

Chelsea, Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain learned their opponents in the Women’s Champions League third qualifying round. Chelsea drew Real Sociedad, Real Madrid face Ajax and PSG meet Eintracht Frankfurt, with each tie deciding a place in the league phase.

The two-legged qualifiers will be played on 26 August and 2 September. Chelsea enter qualifying after finishing third in the WSL, while the draw also creates difficult routes for several established European clubs seeking entry to the main competition.

Chelsea, Tottenham, Newcastle and other Carabao Cup clubs
Monday

The Carabao Cup second-round draw paired Chelsea with Luton, Tottenham with Charlton, Newcastle with West Brom and Nottingham Forest with Leeds. Several ties also created scheduling complications because Premier League and League One fixtures surround the midweek round.

Fulham and Chelsea were both drawn at home, creating a policing and scheduling problem because their league commitments already restrict available dates. Moving either cup tie could also force lower-league opponents to rearrange weekend and following midweek fixtures.

Mexico Under-20s and United States Under-20s
Sunday

Mexico beat the United States 2-0 at the Estadio Azteca to win a second consecutive Concacaf Under-20 Championship. Cristobal Alfaro scored both goals, while the Americans played much of the match with ten men after Chris Applewhite’s disputed dismissal.

The victory gave Mexico a record-extending 15th regional Under-20 title and secured qualification for the 2028 Olympics. Both finalists had already earned places at the 2027 Under-20 World Cup after reaching the tournament’s semi-finals earlier in the competition.

Cameroon, Malawi and Morocco women’s national teams
Sunday

Cameroon, Malawi and Morocco have qualified for the 2027 Women’s World Cup by reaching the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations semi-finals. Algeria had already secured its place, completing Africa’s four automatic qualifiers from the tournament’s quarter-final stage.

Morocco beat South Africa 2-1, Cameroon edged Nigeria 1-0 through Myriam Nyadjou’s long-range free-kick, and 153rd-ranked Malawi shocked Ghana 2-1. The four losing quarter-finalists still have another route through continental and intercontinental play-offs later this year.

Algeria Women and Ivory Coast Women
Saturday

Algeria beat Ivory Coast 2-1 in Casablanca to become the first team to reach the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations semifinals. Goals from Inès Khiri and Amira Ould Braham overturned Inès Konan’s opener after Ivory Coast went down to ten players.

The victory also made Algeria the first African nation to qualify for next year’s Women’s World Cup in Brazil. Ivory Coast remain alive through the playoff route after a match featuring two goalkeeping errors, a red card and a missed penalty.

The English Football League and participating Championship, League One and League Two clubs
Thursday

The EFL Cup will begin before the league season, with 33 of its 34 first-round ties scheduled between Friday and Monday. Bristol City’s match against Walsall starts the competition on Thursday, creating the first full weekend round this century.

The EFL consulted its clubs and moved the round forward to provide players with more recovery time. Previously, opening cup fixtures were usually placed between two league matches, sometimes forcing teams to play three times within a short period.