The race for automatic promotion to the Premier League will go down to the final day of the regular season after second-placed Ipswich were held to a thrilling 2-2 draw at Southampton on Tuesday that ended the hosts’ bid for a guaranteed return to the top flight.

Ipswich’s Wes Burns opened the scoring early in the second half but the visitors’ lead lasted just 10 minutes, with Southampton, fresh from their FA Cup semi-final defeat by Manchester City, equalising through Ryan Manning’s free-kick.

And home fans at St Mary’s had even more to celebrate when Cyle Larin put the Saints ahead with 10 minutes of normal time remaining.
But Ipswich were back level in the 87th minute when, following a corner, substitute Jack Clarke drilled a left-footed shot from the edge of the area past Saints goalkeeper Daniel Peretz into the bottom left corner.

Only the top two at the end of the regular season are guaranteed places among the lucrative elite of English football, with leaders Coventry already assured of the Championship title.

Clarke, Ipswich’s leading scorer this season, almost sealed victory two minutes later when his shot hit the base of the post, ricocheted past Peretz and then rolled past the post for a corner.
And in the third of five minutes of added-on time, Ipswich put the ball into the net again only for the effort to be rightly ruled out for offside before Peretz denied Clarke with a superb save.

Had Ipswich — like Southampton relegated from the Premier League last season — won they would have been three points clear of Millwall and all but guaranteed promotion such is their vastly superior goal difference.
But the draw means they must win at home to Queens Park Rangers on Saturday to assure themselves of second place, with Ipswich now a point ahead of Millwall and two clear of fourth-placed Middlesbrough, both of whom could finish runners-up to Coventry.

Millwall are at home to already-relegated Oxford, while Middlesbrough travel to Wrexham, who need a good result to secure a place in the play-offs.
 
‘Love where we’re at’
“You probably can’t come much closer to getting promoted than we were at the end,” Ipswich manager Kieran McKenna told Sky Sports.
“It was a matter of inches from the ball going in the net, but I loved where were at and I looking forward to Saturday now.”

The draw extended Southampton’s unbeaten run in the league under Tonda Eckert to an impressive 18 games but ended their hopes of automatic promotion.

The Saints, however, will be involved in the play-offs, featuring the teams finishing third to sixth, that will determine which other team enters the Premier League.

“I would have enjoyed the game if we got the three points but if you want to make an advertisement for the Championship I think that was the game to watch,” said Saints boss Eckert, adding: “We have clarity now and we need to get ready for the play-offs.”

Following a lacklustre first half, Ipswich went ahead in the 48th minute when Burns powered a shot to Peretz’s left and into the top corner, via a slight touch off the keeper’s fingers.

But Southampton hit back 10 minutes later through Manning’s powerful free-kick from the edge of the box.

Michigan’s men’s basketball team secured its first national title in more than 30 years earlier this month. One day earlier, UCLA’s women’s team claimed its first NCAA Tournament crown.

Michigan and UCLA powered through a 64-team bracket to hoist their respective championship trophies, but an expanded bracket could make repeat runs more difficult next season. ESPN reported Tuesday, citing sources, that the NCAA is moving forward with plans to expand both tournaments to 76 teams.

Expansion has been on the table for more than a year, but this latest step could pave the way for formal approval, with an announcement possible as soon as next month. The larger field could be in place before the 2026-27 season.

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Though several hurdles remain with NCAA committees before any changes can become official, a source told ESPN the remaining steps are merely “formalities.”

Media rights deals remain unfinished, and signed contracts will likely be needed before the men’s and women’s basketball committees, oversight groups and other parties move forward. ESPN reported that NCAA officials have recently engaged in discussions with key media partners.

NCAA TOURNAMENT IS GOING TO EXPAND, UNFORTUNATELY. JUST WHAT WE NEED, MORE TEAMS

While the financial framework for expansion is still unclear, costs are expected to rise with more teams traveling and competing. A source told ESPN the plan could still ultimately produce profit and a “modest financial upside.”

A game ball with the March Madness logo is shown during the first round of the 2025 NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament at Pete Maravich Assembly Center in Baton Rouge, La., on March 22, 2025. (Beau Brune/NCAA Photos)

Expansion discussions appear to be fueled more by the push for at-large bids for power conferences than by financial considerations. Many leagues have added a considerable number of schools under the current agreement.

“Expanding the basketball tournaments would require approval from multiple NCAA committees, including the men’s and women’s basketball committees, and no final recommendations or decisions have been made at this time,” an NCAA spokesperson told OutKick’s Trey Wallace.

Currently, the First Four features eight teams across four games. Under expansion, that would grow to 12 games involving 24 teams, with the men’s tournament adding eight at-large bids.

The NCAA basketball goes through the net during the SEC women’s college basketball tournament at Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville, S.C., on March 8, 2025. (John Byrum/Icon Sportswire)

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Overall, the proposal would mean the First Four would see 24 of those 76 teams competing Tuesday and Wednesday. Eight teams that once would have been in the customary bracket would now face eight new at-large teams. The main 64-team bracket would still tip off Thursday with little change.

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FIFA on Tuesday boosted overall World Cup cash distributions to nearly $900 million following concerns over the spiraling costs for teams taking part in the tournament.

Football’s global governing body said in a statement that money shared between the 48 teams taking part in the finals in Mexico, Canada and the United States would now total $871 million, up from an initial figure of $727 million announced in December.

The cash injection was announced following a meeting of FIFA’s ruling council ahead of the body’s Congress taking place in Vancouver on Thursday.

The hefty increase comes after several FIFA members reportedly argued that the high cost of travel, tax and overall operations could result in them losing money from taking part in the tournament.

FIFA has now moved to alleviate those concerns, hiking an award of $1.5 million for “preparation costs” to $2.5 million for each of the qualified teams.

A payment of $9 million for qualifying for the tournament has also been increased to $10 million.

Further contributions for team delegation costs and increased team ticketing allocations are also part of the overall increase.
“FIFA is proud to be in its most solid financial position ever, enabling us to help all our member associations in an unprecedented way,” FIFA President Gianni Infantino said in a statement.

Read: Vancouver hosts FIFA congress

“This is one more example of how FIFA’s resources are reinvested back into the game”.

FIFA is projected to earn around $13 billion from the current four-year World Cup cycle, which concludes with this year’s tournament, the largest World Cup in history.

FIFA’s prize money for the 2026 tournament announced last year had already shattered the cash handed out at the 2022 World Cup, increasing by 50 percent.

The increase in cash payments comes with FIFA increasingly under fire for the high cost of tickets to the tournament, while some local authorities in the United States have dramatically raised transport costs during the event.

Mouth-covering crackdown

FIFA, meanwhile, also confirmed law changes which will be rolled out at the World Cup, which kicks off in Mexico City on June 11.

From now on, players who cover their mouths during confrontations with opponents will face a red card as part of a new initiative aimed at combating racism.

In a statement following a meeting of the International Football Association Board (IFAB) in Vancouver on Tuesday, FIFA confirmed that the rule was one of two law changes that would be introduced at the World Cup.

“At the discretion of the competition organiser, any player covering their mouth in a confrontational situation with an opponent may be sanctioned with a red card,” FIFA said.

The new rule follows controversy earlier this year when Benfica winger Gianluca Prestianni was accused of racially abusing Real Madrid star Vinicius Junior during a Champions League game in February.

Prestianni was accused of calling Vinicius a “monkey” repeatedly while covering his mouth. Prestianni denied racially abusing Vinicius but was later banned for six matches — with three of those suspended — for “homophobic conduct”.

Read more: World Cup last-minute ticket sales phase re-opens 50 days from kick-off

In a separate law change announced on Tuesday to be enforced at the World Cup, FIFA said that red cards would also be introduced for players leaving the field of play in protest at a referee’s decision.

FIFA also said a team causing a game to be abandoned will forfeit the match.

The move follows the uproar at this year’s final of the Africa Cup of Nations, when Senegal’s players, head coach Pape Thiaw and his staff walked off the pitch in Rabat after Morocco were awarded a penalty in added time, which forward Brahim Diaz ultimately missed.

Senegal went on to win the final 1-0 in extra time, but were sensationally stripped of the title by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) in a bombshell decision issued last month.

FIFA has also approved a change to the way sanctions are enforced during the World Cup.

From this year’s tournament, single yellow cards issued to players in the group stage will be cancelled after the first round, and then again after the quarter-finals.

The move is aimed at ensuring that star players do not find themselves suspended for crucial games in the tournament after collecting two separate yellow cards.