The use of video technology was all over the place at the 2026 World Cup and a major review is needed to clarify what FIFA is trying to achieve with it.

A complete lack of clarity and consistency on what constituted the line for video assistant referee intervention dogged the tournament from its opening game, when the review team recommended a red card — one of three dismissals in that match between Mexico and South Africa.

Football’s global governing body must decide whether it wants VAR to be reserved for irrefutable consequential errors, as originally devised, or continue down the road of ever-more interference in pursuit of ‘perfect’ outcomes that are often far from that.

There are lessons for the Premier League, and other club competitions around the world, to learn from the officiating we’ve seen over these past six weeks in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

For example, video officials have been overturning yellow cards, checking corners and rewinding the tapes further than ever after an apparent goal is scored, so goodness knows where it will end. Many predicted this sort of mission-creep when VAR was in its infancy, and those warnings have proven well-founded.

At the World Cup, there were at least six examples of incorrect or — to be generous — highly dubious interventions that made reasonable on-field decisions worse across the 104 matches.

Contrast that with the Premier League, in which there were three such errors in the 380 games last season, only one of which materially affected a match result. That came in the Chelsea-Fulham game at Stamford Bridge in August, where a goal was disallowed when a home player accidentally stood on an opponent’s foot in the build-up. The VAR’s decision was treated with derision in England at the time, yet lesser offences in the World Cup saw both Egypt and Spain have knockout-phase goals chalked off against Argentina.

Over these six weeks, the standard of on-field refereeing was predictably unpredictable, given the wide range of views that exist in different countries on what constitutes a foul, caution or red card. The game’s laws are vague and open to interpretation, making such inconsistency across the planet inevitable.

Referees did their best to keep games flowing, supported by new rules to speed up throw-ins and other restarts. This is an area where the Premier League could take note as it worked well, even if the drive for continuity was then disrupted by the mid-half hydration breaks (something I imagine nobody will be pushing to be introduced in domestic leagues).

But the scattergun decisions emerging from the VAR centre in Dallas led to goals being disallowed for minor ‘offences’ that would never lead to the award of a penalty had the players’ roles been reversed. There have always been different thresholds for attacking and defensive fouls, and understandably so, but the gap has become too wide, and VAR is making it worse.

Some important, correct interventions should be acknowledged, including the penalty awarded to France against Paraguay and the red card for Jarell Quansah in England’s match with Mexico.

England defender Jarell Quansah was rightly given a red card for this challenge against Mexico (Michael Steele/Getty Images)

The technology used to establish factual decisions proved effective, notwithstanding the complaints from Croatia and Norway about whether the ball had indeed brushed a strand of hair against Portugal or hit an overhead cable against England.

Routine offside decisions were cleared up quickly, except for one aberration in Switzerland vs Qatar, and for once there were no major handball controversies. Sometimes the speed of offside decisions can cause confusion and frustration in the Premier League, while handball decisions have also led to controversy, so these too would be areas for the English top flight to study.

The furore over Folarin Balogun’s red card for the United States against Bosnia and Herzegovina was primarily focused on whether he would serve a suspension for it but started with a decision that deserves calm debate now the tournament is over.

Do we want to see players sent off for accidentally injuring or endangering the safety of an opponent, when it is clear they are innocently competing for the ball? It doesn’t feel right to me, especially when deliberate foul play sometimes leads only to a free kick.

FIFA’s position is unclear, given Balogun was let off his ban two weeks after Assim Madibo of Qatar was given a five-match suspension for a similarly inadvertent tackle against Canada that broke Ismael Kone’s leg.

As it showed with the Balogun suspension, FIFA retains the right to make up rules as it goes along. Another example came in the United States’ opening match with Paraguay, when the VAR protocol on mistaken identity was rewritten in real time by the match officials.

Everyone was happy to see Tim Ream excused his yellow card and Miguel Almiron cautioned for diving, including me. Similarly, there were few complaints from neutrals when the already-booked Breel Embolo of Switzerland got his comeuppance for the latter offence against Argentina. But with the precedent now set, it will be difficult to turn back, and the inevitable consequence will be every yellow card being checked, not only those handed out wrongly when an opponent has dived.

Further, in the Ream/Almiron incident, play had restarted before the cards were switched, opening up the possibility of similar VAR interventions at any given time.

The solution to me seems obvious: follow other sports by introducing a challenge system, so it is left to head coaches and managers to decide quickly what is ‘clear and obvious’.

We would benefit from less confected rage on the touchlines, fewer players feigning injury in the hope that the VAR crew gets busy, and a game that is not continuously interrupted by reviews that, frankly, could go either way.

World Cup VAR errors: Graham Scott’s top 10

1. Red card to Themba Zwane (for South Africa, vs Mexico)

Zwane was being blocked illegally by opponent Roberto Alvarado and used his arm to get past him. There was contact across the Mexican’s face, but nowhere near enough to justify a red card for violent conduct. The referee’s initial decision to play on should have stood.

2. Penalty not awarded to Prince Adu (for Ghana, vs England)

An illegal challenge by Ezri Konsa went undetected on-field, which was forgivable, and then unpunished by VAR, which wasn’t. It was as clear and obvious a foul as you will see, and the lack of an intervention is inexplicable.

3. Goal scored by Vinicius Junior is disallowed (for Brazil, vs Scotland)

The referee had a good view of this incident, in which Scott McKenna was caught in possession by Vinicius Jr, who went on to score. Nobody expected an intervention, but the VAR’s forensic check spotted minor contact by the Brazilian and he sent the ref to the screen.

4. Goal allowed to stand despite foul by Aleksandar Pavlovic (for Germany, vs Ecuador)

Pavlovic raised his boot so high in playing the ball that, in his follow-through, he caught Pedro Vite on the side of his head. Contrast that with the decision to disallow a DR Congo goal against Uzbekistan two days later (below).

(Patrick Smith – FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images)

5. Goal scored by Nathanael Mbuku is disallowed (for DR Congo, vs Uzbekistan)

Around 70 yards from goal, Mbuku was being pursued by Sherzod Nasrullaev and reached back with an arm to protect his space, which he was entitled to do. He made light contact with Nasrullaev around his neck and the side of his face, but enough for VAR to disallow the ensuing goal? Surely not. The threshold in such circumstances should be much higher, so the VAR only intervenes if the challenge merits a yellow or red card.

6. Penalty not awarded to Richie Laryea (for Canada, vs South Africa)

Defender Khuliso Mudau challenged for the ball, which was in Laryea’s possession, but only succeeded in bringing the Canadian forward down. Presumably, the officials at the match in Los Angeles and the team back in Dallas decided between them that Laryea initiated the contact, or it was a natural coming-together, but it should have been a penalty.

7. Goal scored by Jonathan Tah is disallowed (for Germany, vs Paraguay)

The world appears united in wanting to see less holding, grappling and wrestling at set plays, but some level of contact should still be allowed. The VAR intervention here was an example of the pendulum swinging back too far, as Paraguay goalkeeper Orlando Gill fell to the ground after a minor bump with Waldemar Anton.

8. Penalty awarded to Youri Tielemans (for Belgium, vs Senegal)

Late in extra time, Tielemans and opponent Lamine Camara converged on the ball. Neither played the ball, but neither committed an offence either: it was a natural coming-together that the referee read correctly in real time. Only when viewed in slow motion, with the context stripped away, would anyone consider it a foul. An eight-minute delay later, Tielemans scored from the penalty spot to send Belgium through and Senegal home.

9. Goal scored by Mostafa Ziko is disallowed (for Egypt, vs Argentina)

I cannot see a foul at the change of possession here, but accept I could be in the minority. Football needs to decide whether it is an offence to stand accidentally on an opponent’s foot when two players are competing for space — see Spain’s disallowed goal in the final as another example — but I think this was normal contact. Nonetheless, the incident is 100 yards from goal and Argentina had 10 players behind the ball.

10. Penalty not awarded to Kylian Mbappe (for France, vs Senegal)

This was an outlier, as the VAR did all he could to persuade the referee he had dropped a clanger by failing to spot a clear foul by Sadio Mane. Even after watching replays, the ref stuck with his original call that Mbappe had initiated the contact, which was palpable nonsense.

The final round of the Premier League season in May gave the Stadium of Light one of its great days.

Sunderland’s 2-1 victory over Chelsea lifted Regis Le Bris’ side to seventh in the table at the last moment, bringing European football back to Wearside for the first time in more than half a century. Within the celebrations, though, one supporter old enough to remember that 1973-74 Cup Winners’ Cup campaign approached Sunderland’s director of football Florent Ghisolfi with a furrowed brow.

“He came to me and said: ‘Is this really a good thing?’,” says a smiling Ghisolfi, the man tasked with overseeing the next steps in Sunderland’s rapid evolution. “He was saying it will be tough, but I said to enjoy it! It’s a historic situation for Sunderland. We can’t have fear. Only conviction that we will be ready.”

Sunderland supporters have seen enough false dawns to be excused that nagging concern. A club that dramatically won the Championship play-off final as recently as May 2025, ending eight arduous years out of the top flight, must now plan for the Europa League and its additional demands this coming season. At least eight more games will be added to Sunderland’s calendar when UEFA’s draw is made in Nyon on August 28.

This great, once improbable, step into the unknown has the potential to bring tests against Milan, Juventus and Bayer Leverkusen, and nights like never before at the Stadium of Light.

“I can’t wait to see it,” adds Ghisolfi, who joined Sunderland last summer after previously working for Lens, Nice and Roma. “It’s an opportunity for the club to continue to grow. We want to be the best version of ourselves, all together. We believe in the strength of the organisation, and we don’t want to talk about fear of playing in four competitions. We just want to be ready to compete.”

Florent Ghisolfi, with Jim Ratcliffe in the background, while working for Nice in May 2024 (Nicolas Tucat/AFP via Getty Images)

That messaging ran through Sunderland’s return to the Premier League last season. At least a point was taken from every opponent barring Fulham in a campaign that offered no indication of the time Sunderland had spent away from English football’s elite. The final standing of seventh has not been bettered since 1954-55. It matched the best achievements of Peter Reid’s side in 1999-00 and 2000-01.

Sunderland’s unity allowed them to capitalise on the failings of the Premier League’s European regulars to join Bournemouth as unlikely debutants in the Europa League.

Both thrived on the back of excellent recruitment and astute coaching, but now comes the challenge of backing it up. This summer will not repeat the last, where 14 new players arrived at a cost of £170million ($228m) to ruthlessly overhaul a promotion-winning squad. Belgium international defender Thomas Meunier, signed on a free transfer from Lille, is the only new face to date, but the coming weeks promise to be busy.

“For sure we need more quality, but our foundation is the same,” says Ghisolfi, speaking to The Athletic in a restaurant overlooking the River Wear at the Stadium of Light. “Our foundation is the mentality in the group, the cohesion we have in the team and the connection we have at the moment.

“The only pillar we have to protect is to keep this mentality. If someone is coming into the team now, it has to fit with what we are today.

“This summer will be different. Last summer we needed to increase the quality and numbers of players who could compete in the Premier League. It was a rush, it was a sprint. This one, because of the World Cup and our philosophy being about stability, this summer will be more of a marathon.”

And the byproduct of Sunderland’s success?

“We are more attractive now,” he adds. “This last season confirmed that Sunderland is a huge club and is able to be sustainable in the Premier League.”

Granit Xhaka leads Sunderland out at the Stadium of Light for the Chelsea match at the end of last season (George Wood/Getty Images)

Sustainability has always been a keyword for Sunderland under their owner Kyril Louis-Dreyfus, still only 28.

The purse strings were loosened 12 months ago to strengthen in the weeks that followed the Championship play-off final victory, but only after selling Jobe Bellingham to Borussia Dortmund in a package worth up to £32m and letting Tommy Watson join Brighton & Hove Albion for £10m. The previous summer it was Jack Clarke sold to Ipswich Town; the one before, Ross Stewart to Southampton. All outgoings to facilitate spending.

Sunderland’s excellent season saw several newcomers to the Premier League swell their stock, such as goalkeeper Robin Roefs, midfielder Noah Sadiki and forward Brian Brobbey. They will have eyes tracking their progress but, so far, it has only been Chelsea’s failed bid to sign Granit Xhaka, Sunderland’s captain and talisman, that has been a test of resolve.

The hope is that fringe players can be the ones sold off. Eliezer Mayenda, the young Spanish forward who scored Sunderland’s first goal of their Premier League return in a 3-0 win over West Ham United last August, has already been sold to Rennes for £21.5m. Promotion winners Dan Neil (Rangers) and Dennis Cirkin have also left on free transfers.

“The plan is that we want to keep every important player in the team, but also we will see what happens,” says Ghisolfi. “You know the football industry. We want to be a sustainable club and, on the sporting side, I am not afraid to sell a good player because I am confident we can replace him and refresh the team.”

European qualification, though, brings its own impact. UEFA’s squad cost ratio (SCR) limits clubs to spending 70 per cent of their revenue on wages, transfers and agents’ fees. The Premier League adopts the same finance control framework this season, but clubs not in European competitions will instead work to an 85 per cent cap.

Tom Burwell, Sunderland’s chief executive, is alongside Ghisolfi in planning the next steps. “We recognise the challenges that two forms of financial regulation bring so we need to be astute,” he says.

“The reality is that we have to work to UEFA rules and that’s new to us this season. I come back to the fact we’re built on really strong foundations, and we’ll make decisions from a position of strength. We do have headroom to spend this summer.”

The world in which Sunderland operate now is very different to that upon Louis-Dreyfus’ arrival in February 2021. They were League One’s underachievers, struggling to shift the decay that had taken hold with back-to-back relegations.

Turnover was just £25m in Louis-Dreyfus’ first full season at the club (2021-22) but that has increased eight-fold, with a return to the Premier League bringing in more than £200m. It has been forecast that £168m came in prize money alone.

Sunderland owner, Kyril Louis-Dreyfus (Andy Buchanan/AFP via Getty Images)

It has made Sunderland a more attractive proposition for investment and brought noises of a possible sale of the shares owned by Louis-Dreyfus (64 per cent) and Uruguayan businessman Juan Sartori (36 per cent).

“There’s probably two lenses we look at this through,” says Burwell. “From a day-to-day, Flo and I’s alignment with Kyril is as definitive as it’s always been. Kyril is a hands-on, pretty inspirational owner who has a really clear vision for where this football club is going. He’s put people in place who can help him do so. He’s also shown a mid-term commitment to this by investing again through a capital investment programme this summer.

“We’re not naive enough not to recognise that the Premier League is the No 1 league in the world and there is a scarcity to the assets that sit within that. We’ve seen rumours around Crystal Palace and clubs will always be spoken about in that nature.

“With that, people knock on our door. But what I can do is speak of the reality of where that’s playing out and there’s a complete commitment from the ownership and board to continue on chapter two with plenty of work still ahead of us.”

Regis Le Bris led Sunderland back to the Premier League and, now, to UEFA competition (Andy Buchanan/AFP via Getty Images)

Sunderland’s attempt to broaden its bottom lines takes them across the Atlantic on Wednesday for a three-game tour of the United States. Liverpool will be their first opponents on Saturday in Nashville, where they will hold fan events, a business breakfast and coaching clinics.

There will also be games against Leeds United at the Sports Illustrated Stadium in New Jersey, and against Wrexham in Chester, Pennsylvania. The last of those games has been dubbed the “documentary derby” internally.

“We have to recognise that there’s only so much value you can create within the 30-mile radius of the Stadium of Light,” says Burwell. “You can’t continually go back to that same well.

“What we have here is an incredibly unique story. There are not 20 unique stories in the Premier League, so we have to be relevant nationally and internationally, and those things can only be created if we get it right locally. Retaining that deep connection we have with our fanbase locally will give us the opportunity to monetise globally.

“The U.S. tour is an incredibly exciting opportunity. We’re able to do it in the right way in the U.S. There are commercial opportunities for sure, but it’s also about having the best preparations for another season in the Premier League.”

Growth is a buzzword for Sunderland, a club that has looked in a hurry over the last 12 months. A season-ticket waiting list now stands at 15,000 supporters and hospitality areas are also heavily oversubscribed. One solution would be a relatively simple expansion of the southern end of the Stadium of Light to mirror the height of the west and north. The latter was extended to meet demand back in 2000 after Sunderland’s home had been opened at an initial capacity of 42,000.

“We are exploring options but we have to be a 365-days-a-year operation and ensure the Stadium of Light can drive people into the footprint all year round,” says Burwell.

“We would love to (extend) but if we did it on the south or the east stands, the cost would be circa £150m for 5,000-8,000 new seats. Is that the best use of £150m when trying to commercialise this particular building?”

Sunderland’s immediate priorities are on growth of a different kind. European football is the next frontier ahead.

The World Cup has come to an end, so the focus for fans immediately switches back to transfers and domestic football.

Arsenal are gearing up for their first season as Premier League champions for more than 20 years, but preparations will look slightly different in the wake of a major international tournament.

This is our chance to look at what to expect from the players who represented their countries over the past six weeks in the United States, Mexico and Canada, as well as those who got some rest ahead of a new season. Here is what the north London club have planned between now and their opening league game on August 21.

How many Arsenal players were at the World Cup?

Arsenal had 15 players involved in the World Cup.

These were Mikel Merino, Martin Zubimendi and David Raya for eventual champions Spain, Bukayo Saka, Declan Rice, Eberechi Eze and Noni Madueke as their England representatives, while Gabriel and Gabriel Martinelli were also together for Brazil. The six players who were the sole Arsenal players for their nations were Martin Odegaard (Norway), Kai Havertz (Germany), Viktor Gyokeres (Sweden), Piero Hincapie (Ecuador), William Saliba (France) and Leandro Trossard (Belgium), who has since joined Besiktas for €20million (£17.1m, $22.9m).

Outside the trio of Spanish champions, the English quartet also made it to the final weekend of the tournament, winning the third-place play-off against France on Saturday, July 18. Saliba was injured and missed that match. Odegaard and Trossard reached the quarter-finals, Martinelli and Gabriel exited in the last 16, and Havertz, Gyokeres and Hincapie went out at the round of 32.

Mikel Merino was among three Arsenal players who won the World Cup with Spain (David Ramos/Getty Images)

Did any pick up injuries?

Saliba did not play in France’s 6-4 defeat against England due to a back injury that flared up in their semi-final defeat to Spain. The 25-year-old admitted he had been “gritting his teeth” through minor niggles for months, but without much rest, he reached breaking point, stopping the match of his own accord to be replaced. The extent of the injury and how long he will be sidelined are not yet known more than a week later.

Rice (hamstring) and Saka (Achilles) were Arsenal’s other fitness concerns heading into the tournament. Both needed managing by England coach Thomas Tuchel, missing some training sessions and matches, but were able to feature and score in that last game against France.

Saliba left the pitch due to a back issue in the semi-final (Franck Fife/AFP via Getty Images)

When will World Cup players return to pre-season training?

All players who have been involved in the World Cup receive a mandatory three weeks off after the end of their country’s involvement before they need to report for pre-season training. How they are integrated back into sessions and the warm-up matches will then be down to manager Mikel Arteta and his staff.

That three-week period comes to an end for those who were eliminated at the round of 32 (played between June 29 and July 3) this week. Brazil’s round-of-16 exit to Norway was on July 5, so Gabriel and Martinelli could report before Arsenal’s first official pre-season match away to Spanish side Girona on August 1. Odegaard should be expected back just after that trip, since the Norwegians were eliminated by England in the last eight on July 11.

Arsenal’s third and penultimate friendly, at home to Borussia Dortmund on August 9, is three weeks after the World Cup’s final weekend, so the eight players who made it that far can return after that fixture.

Following the 2024 European Championship, when England reached the final, Rice and Saka returned for Arsenal in the final pre-season friendly before starting in their opening Premier League fixture a week later. Whether Arteta decides to do the same with them this time, given the amount of football they have played in the past few years, will be a point of interest.

What about the rest of the squad?

For those not at the World Cup, Arsenal’s pre-season officially began this Monday, July 20.

Some players were involved in a training camp in Marbella, Spain, the previous week, which has become customary at Arsenal in recent years for players to start building their fitness early.

The players who did start their pre-season on Monday include Riccardo Calafiori, Cristhian Mosquera, Gabriel Jesus, Ben White, Jurrien Timber, Ethan Nwaneri, Myles Lewis-Skelly, Kepa Arrizabalaga, Illan Meslier, Christian Norgaard, Max Dowman, Marli Salmon, Reiss Nelson and Fabio Vieira.

Max Dowman in training on Monday (Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)

White’s 2025-26 season ended in early May with a medial cruciate ligament knee injury; he told Arsenal’s social channels: “I’ve been training every day. Knee’s all good. Started training with the team last week.”

Timber, who missed out on a World Cup squad place with the Netherlands after being absent for almost all of the club campaign’s final two months because of an ankle issue, said: “Getting there slowly. (I was) rehabbing during the summer, hopefully back soon.”

When are the first pre-season friendlies? Is there a tour?

The World Cup ending on July 19 has left little room for a pre-season tour. The number of Arsenal players at the tournament not only makes travel across the world less worthwhile, but has also contributed to a truncated pre-season.

So, in a somewhat old-school manner, Arsenal will be playing two warm-up matches elsewhere in Europe as well as their usual two at their Emirates Stadium. They are as follows (kick-offs are UK time):

• Girona (away). Saturday, August 1 (7pm)
• Real Betis (neutral — Aviva Stadium, Dublin). Wednesday, August 5 (7.30pm)
• Borussia Dortmund (home). Sunday, August 9 (2pm)
• Como (home). Wednesday, August 12 (7.30pm)

The Premier League champions then face FA Cup winners Manchester City in the Community Shield on Sunday, August 16 (3pm). It will be played at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff rather than at Wembley this season because of concerts at England’s national stadium.

For the third time in six seasons, Arsenal will then play the Premier League’s first game of the season on a Friday night (August 21, 8pm). They are hosting 2025-26 Championship winners Coventry City, having previously travelled to Brentford in 2021 (a 2-0 loss) and Crystal Palace in 2022 (a 2-0 win).