Rayan Cherki is just a magical "make an attack occur" button on a football team
Ben Wylie
@plottheball.com
Using data to tell better stories about international sport at Plot the Ball https://www.plottheball.com ben@plottheball.com Data journalist at Insurance Insider in my day job https://www.insuranceinsider.com ben.wylie@insuranceinsider.com
Japan Rugby League One has announced revisions to its player registration rules for 2026-27, and will treat naturalized Japanese players the same as Japanese-born players - a massive victory for the players who sued.
日本国籍取得者への例外を認める ラグビーリーグワン、選手側と和解：朝日新聞
ラグビーの国内最高峰、リーグワンは28日、2026～27年シーズンから導入される選手登録の新制度を見直し、日本国籍を取得した海外出身選手について日本出身選手と同じ扱いにすると発表した。不公平だとして…
asahi.com
Dan Orlowitz@aishiterutokyo.bsky.social · last mo.Japan Rugby League One is in settlement negotiations with players who were seeking an injunction over new eligibility rules that would have seen foreign-born players with Japanese citizenship treated as internationals if they hadn't completed at least six years of compulsory education in Japan.
Seems a poignant time to repost this blog post with all the chat around 'conditions' at the toss for the #EngVsPak Test today: swingdoctor.substack.com/p/look-up-no... #cricket 🏏
'Look Up, Not Down' - The Cost of Trusting Clichés
A discussion of overhead conditions, inefficient decision making, and the advantages of breaking away from status quo thinking
swingdoctor.substack.com
An observation and a preview ahead of tomorrow's Black Fern match against the Aussies alices-soapbox.ghost.io/trusting-the...
Trusting the Process
First up an apology for being missing from your inbox last week. The Black Ferns and Black Ferns XV match being played at 3.30pm landed right on top of my writing time. So I made the executive decisio...
alices-soapbox.ghost.io
Will flag football just be two automatic gold medals for the USA at the 2028 LA Olympics? Not on current evidence. That and more in this week’s edition of the newsletter — read and subscribe below!
Ben Wylie@plottheball.com · 2w ago
Malawi lost to Cameroon in the WAFCON final, but still qualified for the World Cup for the first time. Led by the Chawinga sisters, it's hard to understate how incredible it is that the WAFCON debutants ranked No. 153 in the world made the final. Ed Dove dove in on ESPN:
Is Malawi's WAFCON run the most remarkable major tournament performance ever?
Malawi, ranked 153rd in the world, have reached the 2026 WAFCON Final in their tournament debut.
espn.com
Will flag football just be two automatic gold medals for the USA at the 2028 LA Olympics? Not on current evidence. That and more in this week’s edition of the newsletter — read and subscribe below!
Ben Wylie@plottheball.com · 2w ago
TODAY! IN! SPORTS! 📈💸🏀 what's going on with the Lakers getting sold twice in a year? 🇺🇸🏈 Team USA heads to the flag football world championships 💫⚾️ a women's baseball star is born
Today in Sports! Sell Time Lakers
The Lakers have been sold twice in 10 months, what's going on? PLUS, Flag Football World Championships are here, the Women’s Pro Baseball League has its breakout star, and more!
sports.beehiiv.com
Rodger Sherman@rodger.bsky.social · 4mo agook here's my pitch: —you open your inbox —you get an email from me, Rodger, about the biggest sports story of the day —you scroll down a bit and learn about 5-ish sports stories you weren't paying attention to at all —it's free sports.beehiiv.com/subscribe
MALAWI ARE THE FIRST DEBUTANTES TO REACH THE WAFCON FINAL! The Scorchers have beaten Algeria 3-1 to continue one of the most incredible tournament runs we've ever seen. #MWIALG
What happens when everyone starts chasing the same thing? What happens when the means start becoming less relevant? What happens when everyone, everywhere, is working in shades of Anthropic orange? In today's PMR: what it means to build a post-match report (this isn't about post-match reports).
August 5: Sameness
Lake Como, anyone?
post-match-report.leaflet.pub
The new AFLW season begins in three days. Ahead of it kicking off, I spoke to the excellent @glbastiani.bsky.social about the progress that's been made in 10 years, the progress that's yet to be made, and whether anyone can lay a glove on North Melbourne. www.onepercenters.net.au/p/a-league-o...
A League of One's Own
I speak with Gemma Bastiani about 10 years of the AFLW, the progress that’s yet to be made, and whether anyone can lay a glove on North Melbourne.
onepercenters.net.au
new @doublepivotpodcast.bsky.social the FIFA-UEFA cold war, how Infantino's private equity bungle created an opening for change at FIFA, and what that change actually might look like: www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHJg...
FIFA vs. UEFA: The cold war behind Gianni Infantino's downfall
YouTube video by Double Pivot Podcast
youtube.com
I really enjoyed putting this week’s special edition of the newsletter on the Commonwealth Games together — even though team ball sports were significantly impacted by the decision to reduce the scope of the 2026 event.
Ben Wylie@plottheball.com · 4w agoI really enjoyed putting this week’s special edition of the newsletter on the Commonwealth Games together — even though team ball sports were significantly impacted by the decision to reduce the scope of the 2026 event.
Ben Wylie@plottheball.com · 4w ago
Cavan Sullivan has to keep it up but his developmental curve is thus far unprecedented in MLS.
This week's newsletter is out now! This edition covers the end of the men's FIFA World Cup, some age-grade men's rugby union and much more.
Ben Wylie@plottheball.com · last mo.This week's newsletter is out now! This edition covers the end of the men's FIFA World Cup, some age-grade men's rugby union and much more.
Ben Wylie@plottheball.com · last mo.
Did not expect to write another version of this, four years later, but I'm even more convinced now: Lionel Messi is the greatest male athlete of all time. www.espn.com/soccer/story...
Messi is the best player at the World Cup, and the best male athlete of all time
Lionel Messi has long been considered the greatest soccer player ever, but he's so much more than that. He's the best male athlete, in any sport, in history.
espn.com
The self styled 'Home of Cricket' status of Lord's is easy to scoff at (and you should tbh), but the amount of mainstream coverage this win has generated from non-cricket specialist outlets shows how important it is that women's Tests have finally been played there.
If Argentina win you can all learn about a little known missed call from Argentina and England’s history. At the time it was called “the hand of god” but nobody really remembers it anymore because in the pre-VAR era the beauty of a fluid game without stoppages meant fans didn’t dwell on blown calls.
Colombia’s doing some mad scientist shit in possession and it’s working
