Sports
The race to the 2026 World Cup: 25 teams have qualified, 20 to go
Qualifying for the 2026 FIFA World Cup began on Oct. 12, 2023, when countries from the Asian confederation played their first round of matches. Myanmar’s Lwin Moe Aung scored the very first goal in a 5-1 win over Macau.
All confederations are drawing to a close, but we’re still a long way from discovering the full list of 45 nations that will join hosts United States, Mexico and Canada to make up the field of 48.
Japan were the very first country to qualify on March 20.
QUALIFIED (25/45): Japan, New Zealand, Iran, Argentina, Uzbekistan, South Korea, Jordan, Australia, Brazil, Ecuador, Uruguay, Colombia, Paraguay, Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Algeria, Ghana, Cape Verde, South Africa, Qatar, England, Saudi Arabia, Ivory Coast, Senegal
What was decided in October?
Europe and Concacaf: Qualifying doesn’t end until November, but we did see England become the first European country to book their place.
Africa: The final two rounds of the group stage were played, when we discovered the seven nations that joined Morocco and Tunisia, plus the interconfederation playoff contenders.
Asia: The fourth round was played, when we will found out the final two automatic qualifiers, along with the two interconfederation playoff contenders.
South America and Oceania: Qualification complete.
There were 54 FIFA-affiliated nations in the draw. However, Eritrea subsequently withdrew.
Round 1: The teams were in eight groups of six nations, and one group of five (with Eritrea removed).
The nine group winners qualified for the World Cup.
This stage began in November 2023 and was completed in October 2025.
QUALIFIED (9/9): Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Algeria, Ghana, Cape Verde, South Africa, Ivory Coast, Senegal
How teams qualified as the group stage ended
Group A: EGYPT (23) qualified with a 3-0 win over rock-bottom Djibouti (1), on the back of two goals from Mohamed Salah. Burkina Faso (21) put themselves in with a strong chance of one of the playoff spots with a 3-1 win over Ethiopia but were edged out on goal difference.
Group B: SENEGAL (24) beat Mauritania (7) 4-0 to qualify. Second-placed DR Congo (22) beat Sudan (13) 1-0 and take a playoff place.
Group C: Benin (17, +1) had qualification in their own hands, but lost 4-0 in Nigeria (17, +7). That enabled SOUTH AFRICA (18) to qualify for the World Cup with a 3-0 win at home to Rwanda (11). Nigeria finished second and scored their fourth in the final minute, a goal which guaranteed a place in the playoffs.
Group D: CAPE VERDE (23) eased to a debut World Cup appearance by winning 3-0 at home to Eswatini (3) on Monday. Cameroon could only draw 0-0 at home to Angola, but they are through to round two in November.
Group E: MOROCCO (21) qualified. Niger (15) confirmed second place by winning in Zambia on Sunday, but missed out on a playoff on goal difference.
Group F: IVORY COAST (26) beat Kenya (12) 3-0 to confirm their place at the World Cup. Gabon (25) have to settle for a playoff route.
Group G: ALGERIA (25) qualified with a 3-0 win over Somalia (1). Uganda (18) took second place despite a late 2-1 defeat in Algeria on Tuesday, but it’s not good enough for a playoff.
Group H: TUNISIA (28) have qualified. Namibia (15) took second place but they have the worst record of all the runners-up and will not be in the playoffs.
Group I: GHANA (25) won 1-0 at home to Comoros (15) to become the 18th team to qualify. Madagascar (19) suffered a damaging 4-1 defeat to Mali (15), and that cost them a best runners-up spot.
Final ranking of second-placed teams:
NB: To determine the best second-place teams, the results of the team to finish sixth in the six-team groups were removed.
1 Gabon — Played 8, Points 19 (GD +6)
2 DR Congo — 8, 16 (+5)
3 Cameroon — 8, 15 (+9)
4 Nigeria — 8, 15 (+7)
———-
5 Burkina Faso — 8, 15 (+6)
7 Niger — 8, 15 (+1)
7 Madagascar — 8, 13 (0)
8 Uganda — 8, 12 (+2)
9 Namibia — 8, 9 (-2)
– Check out the latest fixtures and results here | Latest tables
Round 2: The four best runners-up will enter CAF playoffs (two semifinals and a final) to decide which one country will go to the interconfederation playoffs. This stage will be played on neutral ground in Morocco in November 2025.
The fixtures will be created using the FIFA World Ranking, and we know them now. The highest rank will play the lowest rank, and second faces third. The winners of those two ties will then meet to move on to the March playoffs.
Nigeria (current World Ranking 41) vs. Gabon (77)
Cameroon (54) vs. DR Congo (60)
There are 55 European nations, although 54 will compete as Russia remain suspended due to the invasion of Ukraine.
There are 12 groups of four or five teams, playing home and away matches. The group stage qualifying process ends with a double-header in November.
The 12 group winners will qualify directly for the World Cup, with the 12 runners-up entering the playoff system.
Qualifying began in March 2025 when most of the European teams who were not in UEFA Nations League (UNL) action played their first matches.
QUALIFIED (1/12): England
What happened in October?
The teams that were in the UNL finals only played their first games in September so we’re still a way off from discovering all the qualifiers.
Group A: Germany (9, +5) and Slovakia (9, +3) are in the box seat, and Northern Ireland (6, +1) will surely have to win in Slovakia on Nov. 14 to stay in contention. The final group game between Germany and Slovakia in Leipzig on Nov. 17 looks like being the decider, though. If Northern Ireland miss out on the top two, they are almost certain to get a playoff through the Nations League route. Luxembourg (0) are out.
Group B: Switzerland (10, +9) hold a lead over Kosovo (7, -1) and their goal difference is worth an extra point. In effect, it means the Swiss will have qualified in all but name if they win at home to Sweden (1) on Nov. 15. If they don’t, it could open the door to Kosovo, who are away to Slovenia (3) before hosting Switzerland in what could be a decider on Nov. 18. Slovenia must beat Kosovo to keep alive their hopes of a playoff. Sweden are all but out of it but are set to get a playoff route through the Nations League.
Group C: Denmark (10, +11) and Scotland (10, +5) are the only two teams left in contention. On Nov. 15, it’s Denmark vs. Belarus while Scotland go to Greece. As long as Scotland avoid defeat, the group is set up for a decider between the top two in Glasgow on Nov. 18; that looks like being must-win for Scotland as their goal difference is not as good. Greece and Belarus are eliminated.
Group D: France (10, +6) still have work to do to hold off Ukraine (7, +1) in second. On Nov. 13, it’s France vs. Ukraine and Les Bleus will qualify with a victory. Even if France lose, goal difference means they are in strong position with a home game against Azerbaijan (1, -9) to finish up on Nov. 16. Iceland (4, +2) will hope that France get the win, as if Iceland beat Azerbaijan they will move into the playoff place on goal difference. And that sets up a huge final day-game between Ukraine and Iceland in Warsaw. Azerbaijan have only a mathematical chance of a playoff.
Group E: Spain (12) are top with a 100% record with Turkey (9) the nearest challengers. Spain have a goal difference advantage of 12 over Turkey, so they will qualify in all but name with a victory in Georgia (3) on Nov. 15 (and it will be certain if Turkey do not win at home to Bulgaria). Turkey look set for the playoffs, while Bulgaria (0) are out.
Group F: Portugal (10) are close to qualification but a late Hungary (5) equaliser in Lisbon meant they must wait until November to seal it. A win in Republic of Ireland (4) on Nov. 13 seals it for Portugal, but the Irish need results in the race for second place. On the same day it’s Armenia (3) vs. Hungary, with the away team able to seal second place with a win if Ireland lose to Portugal. On the final day on Nov. 16, it’s Hungary vs. Ireland and Portugal vs. Armenia.
Group G: Netherlands (16, +19) sit top ahead of Poland (13, +4), who do still have to host Netherlands on Nov. 14 but their goal difference is 13 worse right now — so the Dutch know they can afford to lose that and as long as they win at home to Lithuania (3) on Nov. 17 they’ll still top the group. With a game in hand on Finland (10, -5) and far superior goal difference, it looks like Poland will be in the playoffs. Lithuania and Malta are out.
Group H: A surprise win for Romania (10) at home to Austria (15) has reignited the group, but Austria remain favourites to top it.
Nov. 15: Austria will qualify with a win in Cyprus (8) if Bosnia and Herzegovina (13) draw or lose at home to Romania, who must at least avoid defeat to stay in contention for a playoff spot (though they will get a route as a UEFA Nations League group winner regardless). Romania finish up at home to San Marino, so if they can beat Bosnia they will be odds-on to finish at least second, and that would benefit another country through the Nations League route.
Nov. 18: If Bosnia and Austria both win (or results to keep the two teams in touch), then they meet each other in Vienna to decide who qualifies automatically.
Cyprus are out and San Marino have only slim hope of a playoff through the Nations League route.
Group I: Norway (18, +26) are in control ahead of Italy (15, +10) and it’s Norway’s vastly superior goal difference which means a win at home to Estonia (4) on Nov. 13 should effectively do the job, even if Italy win away to Moldova (1) that day. On the final day, it’s Italy vs. Norway; if Norway go into it three points ahead then Italy would need a huge win to avoid the playoffs.
Group J: Belgium (14, +15), who moved back to the top of the table with a 4-2 win in Wales, finish up against two eliminated teams — away to Kazakhstan (7) on Nov. 15 and at home to Liechtenstein (0). As North Macedonia have only one fixture to play, Belgium need three points to qualify, so they will do it by beating Kazakhstan — though the second game against Liechtenstein means it’s effectively a formality. North Macedonia (13, +9) will look to hold off Wales (10, +3) for second. Wales go to Liechtenstein first up, before a huge game against North Macedonia in Cardiff. Wales need to win by six goals in the first game to go into the match in second on goal difference, which would mean a draw would be enough in the last game. While both North Macedonia and Wales are guaranteed a playoff route through the Nations League, finishing in second gives a better seeding — and for Wales a home semifinal.
Group K: ENGLAND (18) have dominated the group, qualifying with a 100% record without conceding a goal. It was sealed with a 5-0 win in Latvia. Albania (11) hold the playoff place over Serbia (10), and both play England in November. As Albania’s other game is vs. Andorra (1) they are favourites to finish second.
Group L: Croatia (16, +19) now look locked for the World Cup and need just one point from games in November at home to Faroe Islands (12) and away to Montenegro (6). Even if they lost both matches, their goal difference is far better than that of Czechia (13, +4), who have one game left. A shock win for the Faroes at home to Czechia is unlikely to mean they can gatecrash the playoff place, because Czechia’s last remaining game is at home to Gibraltar on Nov. 17. Faroe Islands are away to Croatia on Nov. 14, and Czechia will be assured of second if the Faroes lose. Montenegro and Gibraltar are eliminated.
– Check out the latest fixtures and results here | Tables
PLAYOFFS
The final four places at the World Cup will be determined via the UEFA playoffs, to be played in March 2026. There is no path to the World Cup through FIFA’s interconfederation playoffs.
The UEFA playoffs involve 16 teams: the 12 group stage runners-up plus the four best-ranked group winners from the UNL, who did not finish in the top two in World Cup qualifying. This creates four routes, each with four teams featuring a one-legged semifinal and a final for a place at the World Cup.
The priority order for the four World Cup playoff places through the UNL is: Spain, Germany, Portugal, France, England, Norway, Wales, Czechia, Romania, Sweden, North Macedonia, Northern Ireland, Moldova, San Marino.
Of the 14 teams to win their UNL groups, 10 of those were in Pot 1 or 2 for the World Cup qualifying draw — so on ranking would finish in the top two of their group. If that comes to pass, North Macedonia, Northern Ireland, Moldova and San Marino would get a playoff place. However, that now appears unlikely with Romania and Sweden struggling to finish in the top two.
Seeding:
Pot 1: Four World Cup qualifying group runners-up with the best FIFA World Ranking
Pot 2: As above, teams fifth to eighth in the FIFA World Ranking list order
Pot 3: As above, teams ninth to 12th in the FIFA World Ranking list order
Pot 4: UEFA Nations League teams
Semifinals:
Pot 1 vs. Pot 4
Pot 2 vs. Pot 3
This is by some distance the most complicated route to the World Cup, with a layered qualifying process featuring a dual group stage to find the eight automatic qualifiers. But the main part is now done and dusted.
Round 1: The 20 lowest-ranked nations played two-legged ties in October 2023. Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Singapore and Yemen advanced.
Round 2: Those 10 winners joined the 26 best-ranked nations. The 36 teams were drawn into nine groups of four teams, with the top two nations going through to Round 3. This stage began in November 2023 and was completed in June 2024.
Advanced: Australia, Bahrain, China, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Japan, Jordan, Kuwait, Kyrgyz Republic, North Korea, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan
Round 3: We were left with 18 nations, drawn into three groups of six teams. Matches began in September 2024 and the round is completed on Tuesday.
The group winners and runners-up took the first six places at the 2026 World Cup and their campaign is complete.
Japan became the first team to qualify for the World Cup on March 20, followed by Iran, Jordan, South Korea, Uzbekistan and Australia.
– Check out the results | Final tables
Round 4: The six teams in this stage were drawn into two groups of three. They played each other once, so two matches in total per team, in one host country in October.
QUALIFIED (8/8): Japan, Iran, Uzbekistan, South Korea, Jordan, Australia, Qatar, Saudi Arabia
What was decided in October?
We found out the final two automatic qualifiers, plus the teams that will battle it out for a playoff in round five.
Group A: Qatar (hosts), United Arab Emirates, Oman
Wednesday: Oman 0-0 Qatar
Saturday: United Arab Emirates 2-1 Oman
Tuesday: Qatar 2-1 United Arab Emirates
Qatar won the final group game 2-1 and qualified for the World Cup, while UAE are in the playoff.
Group B: Saudi Arabia (hosts), Iraq, Indonesia
Wednesday: Indonesia 2-3 Saudi Arabia
Saturday: Iraq 1-0 Indonesia
Tuesday: Saudi Arabia 0-0 Iraq
A goalless draw meant the two hosts of the playoffs both qualified, Iraq move into the playoffs.
Round 5: A two-legged tie in November 2025 to earn the place in the interconfederation playoffs.
UAE will play Iraq.
Usually, Concacaf would have six automatic places in qualifying — but for the 2026 finals three of the six are taken up by the hosts. That leaves three places to be won, plus two spots in the interconfederation playoff path.
Concacaf saw 32 nations enter the race to make the finals.
Round 1: The four lowest-ranked Concacaf nations battled it out in two-legged ties. Anguilla and British Virgin Islands eliminated Turks and Caicos Islands and U.S. Virgin Islands respectively, both on penalties.
Round 2: The top 28-ranked nations, plus the two winners from Round 1, were drawn into six groups of five teams. Teams played each other only once, rather than home and away. This stage was played in two blocks, in June 2024 and June 2025.
The six group winners and six group runners-up moved on to Round 3.
Advanced: Bermuda, Costa Rica, Curaçao, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Nicaragua, Panama, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago
Round 3: The 12 remaining teams were drawn into three groups of four teams.
This phase started in September and will be completed in October and November.
The group winners will qualify for the World Cup, with the two runners-up with the best record going on to take part in the interconfederation playoffs.
– Check out the fixtures and results | Latest tables
QUALIFIED (0/3):
What was decided in October?
Group A: Panama (6) and Suriname (6) drew 1-1, with a 1-0 win for Guatemala (5) in El Salvador (3) leaving the group wide open — and it’s guaranteed to go to the last day. On November, 13 it’s Suriname vs. El Salvador and Guatemala vs. Panama. The group finishes up on Nov. 18 with Guatemala vs. Suriname and Panama vs. El Salvador.
Group B: Jamaica (9) moved top of the group with a 4-0 thrashing of Bermuda (0), who are now eliminated. Closest challengers Curaçao (8) drew at home to Trinidad and Tobago (5). Jamaica can qualify on Nov. 13 with a victory in Trinidad & Tobago if Curaçao fail to win in Bermuda. The last-day showdown between Jamaica and Curaçao in Kingston looks decisive, however.
Group C: Honduras (8) are in a good position after they beat Haiti (5) on Monday. The nearest challengers are Costa Rica (6), who thrashed Nicaragua (1). Nov. 13 sees Honduras go to Nicaragua, and a win will send them to the World Cup if Haiti vs. Costa Rica is a draw. On the final day on Nov. 18 it’s Costa Rica vs. Honduras, which could yet be a decider for the automatic qualification place.
As in recent qualifying competitions, all 10 nations played each other home and away. The top six nations qualified directly to the finals. The seventh-placed team goes into the interconfederation playoffs in March.
The first qualifiers took place in September 2023, with the league phase completed in September 2025.
QUALIFIED (6/6): Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador, Uruguay, Colombia, Paraguay
Bolivia are in the interconfederation playoffs.
– Check out the results | Final table
All 11 members of the OFC region took part. Round 1: The four lowest-ranked nations played a knockout format (two semis and a final) in Samoa in September 2024. American Samoa, Cook Islands, Samoa and Tonga were in this round. Samoa beat Tonga 2-1 in the final to advance. Round 2: Samoa and the seven top-ranked nations were drawn into two groups of four nations, with matches played in October and November 2024. Games were held in Fiji, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu. The top two countries in each group — New Caledonia, Tahiti, New Zealand and Fiji — went on to Round 3. – Check out the results here | Final tables Round 3: The four remaining countries then played a one-legged knockout format (two semis and a final) in New Zealand in March 2025. Semifinals, March 21 Final, March 24 QUALIFIED (1/1): New Zealand As winners of the final, New Zealand qualified for the World Cup, with losers New Caledonia moving onto the interconfederation playoffs. The playoffs, to be held in March 2026, will determine the final two qualifiers. Six countries will take part. Each of the five confederations (apart from UEFA) will provide one country. The host confederation (so for this edition Concacaf) receives a second slot. 1 Africa (Cameroon, DR Congo, Gabon or Nigeria) The two nations with the best FIFA World Ranking will be seeded and go straight into one of the two finals. The four other countries will be drawn to play a semifinal, feeding through to play a seed for one of the two places at the World Cup. The playoffs are due to be held in one of the World Cup host nations as a test event.
New Caledonia 3-0 Tahiti
New Zealand 7-0 Fiji
New Caledonia 0-3 New Zealand
Interconfederation playoffs (2 places)
1 Asia (Iraq or UAE)
2 Concacaf
1 Oceania (New Caledonia)
1 South America (Bolivia)
Liverpool have completed the signing of North Carolina Courage captain and Republic of Ireland international Denise O’Sullivan, the clubs announced Saturday.
The 31-year-old midfielder departs as the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) club’s all-time appearance leader after playing in 186 games during her nine seasons in North Carolina.
O’Sullivan now joins a Liverpool team that sits bottom of the Women’s Super League (WSL), without a win in 12 matches.
“It means a lot. It’s a very proud moment for myself and also for my family, who are now only a 40-minute flight away,” O Sullivan told Liverpool’s website.
“Liverpool is a massive club and I think when you join a club as big as Liverpool it comes with massive responsibility and I can’t wait to get to work and to give 100 per cent every day.”
After joining North Carolina in its inaugural NWSL season, O’Sullivan played a part in winning seven league trophies — three Shields, two Championships and two Challenge Cups.
She had been named captain ahead of the 2023 season.
“It’s hard to put into words what this club has truly meant to me,” O’Sullivan said in a statement from the Courage. “North Carolina will always be my home, and I’m forever grateful to the Club, my teammates, and the incredible fans who supported and believed in me every step of the way,”
“I’m on to a new challenge now, but I’ll always be a part of Courage Country. From the bottom of my heart, thank you for everything.”
The arrival of O’Sullivan, who has won 128 caps with Ireland, comes a day after Liverpool announced the loan signing of Martha Thomas from Tottenham.
The Scotland international, who joined Spurs from Manchester United in 2023, has agreed to move to Liverpool for the remainder of the season.
PA contributed to this report.
After delivering a sweeping indictment that led to the arrest of 26 individuals and busted open a college basketball point-shaving scheme that tainted dozens of games over the past two seasons, U.S. Attorney David Metcalf delivered some perspective.
“There has been a spate of these gambling cases recently,” Metcalf said. “I will say that the evidence in this case shows that the monetization of college athletics, through the liberalization and proliferation of sports betting markets, as well as the normalization of compensation in athletics, furthered the enterprise …
“But it’s complicated, right?” Metcalf continued. “As we allege in the indictment, certain players were targeted because they were somewhat missing out on NIL money and they were being targeted so they could supplement their NIL compensation.
“Whether or not they would have done or not done a particular crime based on whether other athletes were being paid, I don’t know.”
Metcalf and his colleagues out of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, not to mention the FBI, appear to have done stellar work here.
Each defendant is presumed innocent in a court of law, but anyone from the court of public opinion who reads the 70-page indictment would likely concede that evidence of malfeasance is strong.
Too many participants to maintain a conspiracy, too much money wagered on obscure games to remain under the radar and way, way too many incriminating text messages.
Some of the athletes might have had their priorities warped by legalized sports wagering and the fact that college athletes can cash in on big bucks these days through name, image and likeness.
As Metcalf smartly noted, though, it’s complicated.
And not an excuse.
If what the indictment alleges is true, then every athlete involved deliberately violated well-known laws, instinctual competitive concepts and the core bonds of team play that are present from D-I basketball down to a random 2-on-2 game at the park.
You don’t need to receive the extensive education that the NCAA provides, lectures from coaches or posters in the locker room to know what’s right and what’s wrong here.
No one should try to cry that they are a victim of a changing society. The proliferation of gambling apps or the fact that some kid at Duke or Kentucky is making millions doesn’t justify bricking a bunch of shots in the first half for a kickback.
NIL gets blamed for nearly everything in college sports these days. Can we spare it from this at least?
This is about personal accountability. This is about consciously choosing alleged criminal behavior.
That’s it.
While it is likely easier to rope in a player who doesn’t have a lucrative NIL deal, recent gambling scandals have caught up NBA and MLB players making millions as well.
That’s just society — there are more than a few doctors and lawyers and Wall Street types shuffling around the prison yard.
And yes, legalized sports wagering is prevalent these days, in your face everywhere you turn, including on ESPN.
So what?
Whether legalized betting is helping or hurting here is, in Metcalf’s terms, complicated.
The increased outlets for placing bets certainly help central figures such as Shane Hennen or Marves Fairley to allegedly wager major sums on minor games — such as $458,000 across multiple sportsbooks on a 2024 Towson-North Carolina A&T contest.
In the old days, you had to walk into a Las Vegas sportsbook to make that bet. It would have been immediately rejected. Whatever amount would have been allowed, probably wouldn’t have been worth rigging the outcome.
That said, the ever-increasing integrity efforts of sportsbooks, not to mention sophisticated state and federal regulators, no doubt played a role in flagging these schemes and then leading authorities to the charges.
Point shaving isn’t new. It was just traditionally done by organized crime to impact illegal, underground betting. That operated largely in the dark, with no protections and few prosecutions.
Legalized betting may have made these schemes easier to pull off, but also easier to bust. It, in turn, should serve as a cautionary tale.
This case isn’t about legalized sports wagering or NIL deals.
It’s about, per the feds’ narrative, a clumsy group of game-fixers convincing individual players to selfishly betray their common sense, their education on existing laws, their teammates, coaches and parents and a dream opportunity to play scholarship basketball in an effort to make a quick extra buck.
They screwed up a great deal to chase a bad one.
That part isn’t complicated.
LIVERPOOL, England — Arne Slot said he “completely understands” the frustration of the Liverpool fans who booed the team following Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Burnley in the Premier League.
Florian Wirtz gave the hosts the lead at Anfield before Marcus Edwards levelled the scoring in the second half.
The result means Liverpool have now failed to beat any of the league’s three newly promoted sides at Anfield this term, with just one win in their last four league games. While they remain fourth in the table, they are now just one point above fifth-placed Manchester United.
“Yeah, in my head it wasn’t booing but in my head it was frustration as well,” Slot said when asked about the reaction of the Anfield crowd.
“So if we are Liverpool and we play against Burnley, who we have to give credit to for defending, clearing balls off the line, all the things you want to see if you are the Burnley manager, trying everything to prevent us scoring.
“But if you, as Liverpool, are not disappointed by having a draw at home to Burnley, then something is completely wrong. I completely understand the frustration. I have the same frustrations, and the players definitely have the same frustrations, as the fans.”
Saturday’s result was the third time Liverpool have dropped points from winning positions in the Premier League this season. It came despite Slot’s side registering 32 shots at goal, including 11 on target, and an expected goals (xG) total of 2.95 — their highest in the league this season.
Liverpool also had 73% of possession against a Burnley side languishing in 19th position with just 14 points from 22 games.
Slot added: “It’s not for the first time, it is usually frustrating. They come in different fashions. Sometimes it is that we are scoring a goal in stoppage time and you expect to win the game and then you concede another goal in stoppage time.
“I think these games we have played quite a lot [nine in 19 from September to November] — where we are the team creating more than the team we face — but then we were losing those games.
“Then we have started to become a team that was a bit more careful in conceding chances, and that led to the fact that it made it also more difficult to create a lot.
“As a result of that, we have been in a lot of games where we haven’t lost, and I think today was a game where I liked seeing us have even more possession than we would usually have, generating a lot of chances, and usually that comes with, if you take more risk, it comes with the other team counterattacking you, but we controlled that really well.”
Information from ESPN Research was used in this report.
Liverpool sign North Carolina Courage legend Denise O’Sullivan
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