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West Ham United v Leeds United: FA Cup – live | FA Cup
Key events
45+1 min Four minutes of added time. Leeds are well worth their lead.
45 min “Iced coffee?” sniffs Tim Woods. “Iced coffee??? After Matt Dony’s recent hot-tub revelation, I’m beginning to feel the MBM isn’t the bitter-swilling collective of 1990s refugees I’d imagined.”
Not sure why it autocorrect to ‘iced coffee’ from ‘Special Brew’.
44 min A nice effort from Castelannos, who cushions a ball in from the left on the volley and screws a half-volley over the bar.
40 min Nmecha is booked for a late challenge on Disasi.
39 min: Leeds substitution Brenden Aaronson replaces the injured Anton Stach. I guess he’ll play as the No10 and Tanaka will drop into midfield.
38 min As I contrive to pour iced coffee all over my trousers, Adama volleys high and wide from an impossible angle beyond the far post.
37 min Ampadu’s long throw is nodded on and volleyed over by Nmecha, a tough chance under pressure from Walker-Peters.
36 min Stach is limping round the touchline and doesn’t look in great shape. Kilman was sliding to make a tackle, got their a split-second after Stach and caught him on the ankle.
36 min “Ao Tanaka is such an electric player,” writes Kári Tulinius. “When he’s on the ball there’s always a possibility something brilliant happens. At the very least he’ll cause chaos for the opposing defence. That Hajime Moriyasu only used him as a substitute against England shows how strong Japan are in attack. That Farke doesn’t consider him an automatic starter for Leeds baffles me.”
Japan could/should/will be so much fun at the World Cup.
35 min Stach is still down and receiving treatment to his right ankle.
33 min Leeds break menacingly through Okafor, who runs 40 yards and plays in the onrushing Stach to his right. His shot on the run is pushed round the post by the falling Areola. It’s an excellent save but Stach might have done better.
Stach was wiped out by Kilman after hitting the shot. There was a VAR check but it’s been cleared.
30 min No response to speak of from West Ham, who have looked good on the counter-attack but less incisive when they have the ball for a sustained spell.
Tanaka’s finish took a big deflection but he worked the space superbly. He started the move himself on the halfway line with a ball out to Justin on the left. Justin found Okafor, who slid an early ball towards Tanaka in the area.
Tanaka shaped to shoot with his right foot, dragged his studs over the ball to beat Magassa and struck a left-foot shot that hit Disasi and ricocheted over Areola.
GOAL! West Ham 0-1 Leeds (Tanaka 26)
Ao Tanaka fires Leeds in front!
23 min The lively Okafor runs at Walker-Peters to win a corner. It’s swung in and punched away, effectively if not entirely convincingly, by Areola. Doesn’t matter: the referee had blown for a free-kick to West Ham.
21 min Bogle’s shot on the turn is blocked by Diouf.
21 min Leeds have been the dominant team in open play yet Lucas Perri has had to make two important saves to Areola’s one. It’s complicated.
20 min Nmecha turns Kilman smartly and is pulled back. Stach has a pop from 40 yards, an ambitious effort that is booted away on the edge of the area.
13 min There’s the proof, a terrific West Ham counter-attack that almost leads to the opening goal. Adama goes on a barnstorming run from the right and finds Bowen, who fizzes a low shot from the left side of the area. Lucas Perri gets down smartly to his left to push it away.
I forgot to say that Bowen has started on the left with Adama on the right.
11 min Leeds are dominating possession – 66 per cent the last time I checked – though a Nuno Espirito Santo teams are often most dangerous when they don’t have the ball.
7 min That Lucas Perri save looks better every time you see it. The reaction time was almost non-existent.
6 min: Brilliant save by Lucas Perri!
Bowen gets away on the left side of the area and slides a low cross that is poked towards goal by Castellanos, four yards out. Lucas Perri gets down to his left to make an outstanding reaction save.
3 min Leeds have made a flying start. Areola dithers in possession and is dangerously close to being sacked by Okafor.
2 min: Fine save by Areola!
A long throw from Ampadu is only partially cleared. Okafor collects on the edge of the area and shapes a curling shot towards the far corner, forcing Areola to dive low to his left and fingertip the ball round the post. That’s a cracking save, especially so early in the game.
2 min “Any news on why Callum Wilson isn’t in the West Ham squad?” asks Ian Sargeant.
Fraid not.
1 min West Ham kick off from left to right as we watch. You’ll be pleased to hear that national treasure Danny Dyer is in attendance at the London Stadium.
“If he organisers are trying to recapture some of the long-faded ‘magic of the cup’, they’ll need to turn the pitch at Wembley into a quagmire for any potential meeting of Chelsea and Leeds,” writes Justin Kavanagh. “The 1970 FA Cup final was famously played the day after the Horse of the Year Show, and looked more suited to WWI trench warfare than a football match, even one in the 70s. May I suggest that England’s national stadium offer to host Ireland’s National Ploughing Championships on the same week?”
Nuno Espirito Santo’s pre-match thoughts
Unfortunately we had some issues during the international break – we have some players who are not available or still recovering – but we are positive. At this stage of the season all the players are important.
It’s a big game for all of us, for our fans. We are positive – the players want to play the game.
Plenty going on elsewhere today, including a mighty shock in the Women’s FA Cup and another twist in the Scottish title race.
Pre-match quiz
Daniel Farke’s pre-match thoughts
At this stage of the season it’s never healthy for a group if you have three weeks without a competitive game. We had some players in action during the international break so it makes sense to rest all the others [who haven’t been playing].
It’s more than two decades since Leeds were in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup so we take this game very seriously.
[On Leeds’ failure to score in four of the last five games] For a newly promoted we have scored a lot of goals overall. We’ve also had three clean sheets in a row which is also important to me. During a long season it’s normal to have a period when you score goal after goal and sometimes you are struggling a bit.
“If ‘both teams could arguably do without this game’, then the FA Cup has fallen in importance even more than I thought,” writes Gary Stover. “Would the fans like to see a Leeds-Chelsea rematch at Wembley even if only a semi-final? Would the Southampton followers rather finish sixth in the Championship or go back to a final at Wembley? Hopefully the players of all five teams left will simply try to do what they do best and win whatever game is before them. I actually think that’s what will happen.”
Why Football Sucks in ‘26.
Team news
Both managers have picked but not full-strength XIs, with five changes for West Ham and three for Leeds.
West Ham bring in Alphonse Areola, Kyle Walker-Peters, Max Kilman, Soungoutou Magassa and Adama Traore for Mads Hermansen, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Kostas Mavropanos, Tomas Soucek and Pablo.
Lucas Perri, Ao Tanaka and Noah Okafor start for Leeds in place of Karl Darlow, Brenden Aaronson and Dominic Calvert-Lewin.
West Ham (4-2-3-1) Areola; Walker-Peters, Kilman, Disasi, Diouf; Magassa, Potts; Bowen, Fernandes, Traore; Castellanos.
Subs: Herrick, Pablo, Lamadrid, Soucek, Scarles, Kante, Golambeckis, Mayers, Ajala.
Leeds United (3-4-1-2) Lucas Perri; Rodon, Bijol, Struijk; Bogle, Ampadu, Stach, Justin; Tanaka; Okafor, Nmecha.
Subs: Darlow, Byram, Bornauw, Longstaff, Gruev, Aaronson, Gnonto, Piroe, Calvert-Lewin.
Referee Craig Pawson.
Louise Taylor
As Leeds travel to West Ham for an FA Cup quarter-final both teams could arguably do without, one thing is not in doubt: Daniel Farke knows how to read a balance sheet. As the holder of an MA in economics and a diploma in sporting directorship, the Leeds manager needs no reminders that, financially, avoiding relegation is infinitely more important than trying to win the FA Cup. “The Premier League’s our bread and butter,” he said on Thursday . “It’s our priority.”
There is, though, another side to Farke. Away from the training pitches at Thorp Arch, one of the German’s preferred ways of switching off is to spend hours reading on his sofa, transported to different worlds through his love of literary fiction. His favourite novels include Gabriel García Márquez’s One Hundred Years of Solitude.
Given Farke fully appreciates the best managers are, in a different context, similarly expert storytellers, can he resist pursuing a plot line that may just conclude with a survival and Cup glory double? Achieve that and the Elland Road hierarchy would find it very hard to resist furnishing the 49-year-old with the new contract he craves.
Preamble
And then there were five. Manchester City, Chelsea and Southampton are through to the FA Cup semi-final; either West Ham or Leeds will join them this evening.
There’s been a slightly strange build up to this game, with the focus as much on the Premier League – both teams are in a relegation battle and will meet on the last day of the season – as the FA Cup.
When the game starts, that should all go out the window. The historical context makes this a seriously big game. West Ham haven’t played in an FA Cup semi-final since 2006, Leeds since 1987. In that context, this match is kind of a big deal.
Kick off 4.30pm.
The family of Shaun Burton, say they are “devastated” by the loss.
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Key events
In the opening half an hour against Cape Verde, Mikel Oyarzabal, the centre-forward, did not get a single touch.
Kyle Green gets in touch: “Your highlighting of Lalas and his absurdity is something that has prevented me from wanting to watch the coverage on Fox. While every channel has its pros and cons I just can’t.
“I’m 45 and probably the youngest of anyone who remembers him as a player instead of an opinionated insert insult here. As for the match this could be more competitive than it looks on paper Spain need a win the pressure is on them. Saudi Arabia could hold out for a draw and see what happens in their last match. “
News from the England camp, and it seems to be good news on Declan Rice.
“I’m ready and fit, raring to go. I was feeling a little bit of neural pain in my hamstring, which I was managing from after Christmas with Arsenal for a very long time. Obviously, not a lot of people would have known that. It was all behind-the-scenes stuff but it was a smart decision.
“In the end, that last 20 minutes is probably where you pick up the most, and it’s where you play a 70-minute match. But that last 20 is where you really feel your body going for it. And I think it was a smart decision because the last few days I felt really, really good.”
Alex Reid has penned today’s weekend special Football Daily.
Portugal v Uzbekistan on Tuesday enticingly pits the incredibly nice, incredibly 41-year-old-superstar-tolerant Roberto Martínez against Fabio Cannavaro, who’s won a Ballon d’Or as a player and the Chinese Super League as a coach. While the fixture following that game really does see the dream of Thomas Tuchel – in his first international job with England – taking on Queiroz, who is in charge of his ninth national side with Ghana.
The expected formations are 4-2-3-1 for Spain, and 5-3-2 for the Saudi Arabians.
The Saudi team features two Donis changes: Ali Lajami, a defender, and Nasser Al Dawsari, a midfielder, are preferred to Mohammed Abu Al Shamat and Mohamed Kanno. You may recall Salem Al Dawsari, the Saudi captain, as the man who scored the winner against Argentina.
An entertaining read, even for those of us who have just seen the clips.
In a conversation where his co-panelist is casually reminiscing about his days playing alongside Messi or exchanging shirts with Ronaldo Nazário at the World Cup, what exactly is Lalas going to talk about – coming on as a second-half substitute for Earnie Stewart in a friendly against Scotland in 1998? Helping the Kansas City Wizards finish last in the 1999 MLS Western Conference? Did Lalas enjoy an elite playing career? No. But does he do the background reading that could compensate for his relative lack of standing in a conversation with titans like Henry and Zlatan? Also no. But is he charming or funny or charismatic or otherwise magnetic on screen? Eh, no.
For the record, I once interviewed Alexi Lalas on the challenge of playing against Romario in the 1994 World Cup. He had this to say:
“He could kill you in so many different ways. If you remember from that World Cup, he scored so many types of goals. That ranged from solo adventures to an outside-of-the-right-foot half-volley off a corner kick. Romario was both the most difficult to play against and the best that I have faced.
“Roberto Baggio was doing his thing, but in terms of consistency and living up to the hype, he [Romario] was the best. As with all stars, there was a moment when the fans sit up in their seats, and that was a feeling I got with Romario. When it got close to him and the potential for his involvement in a play was there, everybody sat up in their seat. They knew that something spectacular would be happening.”
Saturday’s match reports here.
The Saudi Arabia coach, and Blackburn legend, Georgios Donis, spoke about the challenges facing his team: “Spain is not the same team when Yamal or Williams are on the bench.
“While they still have plenty of possession, they lack the individual one-on-one penetration when these two are missing. I’m not saying it’s a problem for Spain, but when those players are missing, they play in a different way. We saw this very clearly against Cape Verde.
“We are playing against one of the best teams in the world, and it’s very important that when you play against these kinds of teams, you should enjoy the experience and respect the opponent, but not too much.
“It is very hard for any team playing against Spain to have any time in possession. So what we must do is to be more in control of our movement and compact, and when the ball goes through the lines, be able to defend dynamically.
“It’s nice to see miracles in football, and we’ve seen favourites losing against underdogs. Of course, it’s great for Saudi football to have a great memory of the result against Argentina, but we aren’t drawing anything from that.
“I think we’ll feel more pressure in that [Cape Verde] game than we will against Spain.”
The Spain coach, Luis De La Fuente had this to say in his Saturday press conference: “This generation of footballers is highly competitive and really fired up… It’s going to be a completely different story,” he said at his pre-match press conference on Saturday. There is no drama or crisis. The bottom line is simply that we need to win tomorrow.”
Four changes for Spain: Lamine Yamal, Pedro Porro, Dani Olmo and Alex Baena also come into the side with Marcos Llorente, Fabian Ruiz, Ferran Torres and Gavi dropping out.
The teams – Lamine Yamal starts
Spain: Simon, Porro, Cubarsi, Laporte, Cucurella, Gonzalez, Rodri, Yamal, Olmo, Baena, Oyarzabal. Subs: Raya, Joan Garcia, Pubill, Grimaldo, Eric Garcia, Llorente, Merino, Torres, Fabian, Gavi, Pino, Williams, Zubimendi, Munoz, Iglesias.
Saudi Arabia: Al Owais, Abdulhamid, Tambakti, Lajami, Al Amri, Al Harbi, Nasser Al Dawsari, Al Khaibari, Al Juwayr, Al Buraikan, Salem Al Dawsari. Subs: Al Aqidi, Al Kassar, Majrashi, Yahya, Al Shehri, Al Boushal, Kadesh, Al Johani, Al Ghannam, Al Hajji, Al Hamdan, Mandash, Kanno, Thakri, Abu Al Shamat.
Referee: Raphael Claus (Brazil)
Perhaps one of the Saudi -players can write themselves into this high-grade selection?
Perhaps it can be their goalkeeper.
Madrid screening of Spain v Saudi Arabia cancelled due to heat
The public screening of Spain’s World Cup match against Saudi Arabia in Madrid on Sunday has been cancelled because of extreme heat forecast for the Spanish capital, officials said.
The match, due to kick off at 6pm local time on Sunday, had been scheduled to be shown on a giant screen installed by the Spanish football federation (RFEF) at a fan zone in Plaza de Colón in central Madrid.
Madrid city council and the federation decided to cancel the screening after national weather agency AEMET issued an orange heat warning – the second-highest level – for the Madrid region, with temperatures forecast to reach 40C.
“The decision has been taken with the aim of protecting the health of attendees, event staff and support services involved in the event,” Madrid city hall said in a statement, apologising for any inconvenience.
Officials urged supporters to watch the match indoors in air-conditioned spaces and avoid prolonged exposure to the heat.
Large parts of Spain are experiencing unusually high temperatures for June as a mass of hot air from North Africa moves across the Iberian Peninsula.
A total of 13 of Spain’s 17 regions are on orange alert for heat on Sunday, while the northern Basque Country bordering France is on red alert, the highest level.
Authorities advised residents and visitors to take precautions during the heatwave, including drinking water regularly, staying in cool environments, limiting outdoor physical activity during the hottest hours of the day and taking extra care of vulnerable people. AFP
Can Saudi Arabia repeat the magic of 2022?
Argentina arrived in Qatar on a 36-game unbeaten run. When Lionel Messi opened the scoring from the penalty spot after 10 minutes, a comfortable afternoon seemed in the offing. Saleh al-Shehri and Salem al-Dawsari had other ideas, Argentina had three goals disallowed for offside in the space of 13 minutes and the greatest comeback in Saudi Arabia football history was made. Argentina went on to lift the trophy, while defeats to Poland and Mexico meant the Saudis did not reach the knock-out stage.
Unai Simon over David Raya is a controversial choice for De la Fuentes. The Arsenal keeper could lay claim to being Europe’s best this season.
“Those at the Champions League final had a few more days, so I got there on the Wednesday night,” Raya says. “I arrived a bit before Fabián [Ruiz]. I was saying hello to some of the others in reception when he arrived. I went to say congratulations; that was almost the first thing I did. I couldn’t really talk [to him] after the final; I just didn’t have it in me. The next day we talked about the game properly. Just two mates chatting … I was happy for him that he could lift the trophy for a second time.”
A high pressure game for the European champions, as Sid Lowe reports.
“If we had scored one, the game would have changed,” Martín Zubimendi said. Immediately after the game, De la Fuente had offered a simple analysis: when the ball doesn’t want to go in it doesn’t want to go in, he insisted. Spain had racked up 27 shots, after all. Ferran Torres had hit the bar and seen another clear opportunity saved. Vozinha, the 40-year-old goalkeeper who stopped that, saved six more and was named the man of the match. “There’s nothing to reproach the team for,” Rodri said. “We generated chances but couldn’t put it away; the good thing is they created almost nothing.”
We wait to see what role Lamine Yamal will play today. His coach would surely like to be able to use him.
The worst mistake we could make would be to compare him to anyone. He is the midst of a process. He has exceptional footballing maturity and lives it all with total naturalness. He has great serenity and strength. We have to let him follow his path but those players who have something different are ready for that. They’re geniuses, like Dalí [who] can paint a picture, or Michelangelo. They’re different. What is exceptional to us, isn’t to them. In those extremes, they feel comfortable. Why? Because they are different. What we think is exceptional, they consider normal.
Preamble
Spain’s campaign did not get off to a flying start, and Luis de la Fuentes may wake up in the night to visions of Cape Verde’s Vozinha. He will have Georgia on his mind ever since Monday. Saudi Arabia are no pushovers and gave Uruguay a scare in their opening match. Memories of downing Argentina four years ago still abound, and so Spain might beware. They can ill afford to go into the final game with Uruguay at a disadvantage. All eyes on Lamine Yamal, whose fitness situation remains opaque, though Spain need their other forwards to come to the party.
Kick-off 5pm UK, 1pm ET, 2am AEST. Join me.
A topless man can be seen driving erratically in Edinburgh before abandoning his car and attacking a black man and a delivery rider.
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