Eight more teams began their 2023 Women's World Cup campaigns on Saturday including the USA, England, Japan, Vietnam, Zambia, Haiti, Denmark & China. Read on to find out what happened and how social media reacted to the big moments.

A review of how VAR is used in the English game is under way after miscommunication between officials led to a Liverpool goal being wrongly disallowed on Saturday. Here, the PA news agency provides an update on where we are. What happened? On-field referee Simon Hooper and his assistants flagged Luis Diaz offside after he fired in what would have been the opening goal in the Reds’ Premier League match at Tottenham on Saturday. Crucially, VAR Darren England thought the on-field decision had been onside. So although he followed the correct procedure in drawing lines and identifying that Diaz was onside, by telling the on-field officials “check complete” they thought their decision to give offside had been upheld by the check. Only in the seconds which followed did the VAR operators realise their error, by which time play had restarted. Current protocols do not permit a decision to be revisited once that has happened. How did Liverpool react? The club issued a statement on Sunday night saying that sporting integrity had been undermined by the error and that they would “explore the range of options available given the clear need for escalation and resolution”. The club requested – and were sent – the audio of the incident before it was released publicly on Tuesday evening. What happens next? The first thing to say is that Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) admitted on Saturday evening that a “significant error” had occurred. As well as standing down England and the assistant VAR Daniel Cook for duties on Sunday and Monday, plus the weekend to come, it has identified some “key learnings” from the incident. These include the development of a new communications protocol to enhance clarity between referees and VARs. Phil Bentham has been brought into PGMOL from rugby league to improve communication between officials and will no doubt be key to this work. VARs will now also confirm the outcome of their check with their assistants in the booth, before relaying the final decision to on-field officials. PGMOL and the Football Association will also review the policy allowing officials to be involved in domestic league matches overseas, after England and Cook were part of a team which oversaw a game in the United Arab Emirates last Thursday, arriving back in the UK on Friday morning. What has the Premier League said? The league issued a statement saying that the Diaz incident highlighted “systemic weaknesses” in the VAR process and said a wider review to seek consistently-higher standards would now take place. Besides improving communication between officials, what else could change? The incident has led to renewed calls from fans and pundits to allow the conversations between VARs and referees to be broadcast live. Eighty per cent of fans supported this being introduced in a Football Supporters’ Association survey published in the summer and the boss of TNT Sports – one of the league’s key broadcast partners – said in July it was a “huge missed opportunity” not to have such a system in place. While the Premier League has never publicly given its view on live audio, it was part of a World Leagues Forum poll published in June which found 25 out of the 41 leagues surveyed supported its introduction. Crucially though, the International Football Association Board (IFAB), which sets the game’s laws, is understood not to have received any requests so far in the current cycle to trial a live audio system. What about in-stadium announcements like we had at the Women’s World Cup? To date this has been a FIFA-only trial, but IFAB is prepared to open it up to allow other competitions to take part. However, the announcements are limited to decisions where an on-field review is conducted by a referee at a pitchside monitor. Offside decisions such as the Diaz incident are not checked in this way. What about semi-automated offside? This is in operation in a number of major competitions, having first been trialled at the men’s World Cup in Qatar. However, the Premier League has so far opted not to introduce it. It can also be argued that it would not have helped in a situation like Diaz – the existing technology was used to identify that Diaz was onside, the mistake was human error, pure and simple.

Strange words to hear about this head coach.

Two of the hottest teams in the NFL are set to put their winning streaks on the line on Sunday Night Football.

UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin fired a warning to Saudi Arabia over its pursuit of players.

Thanasi Kokkinakis knocked 38-year-old Stan Wawrinka out of the French Open on Wednesday in a five-set rollercoaster to book a third round place at Roland Garros...

New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy would love to bring competitive Premier League and Champions League matches to the state. Football is thriving in North America right now, with Lionel Messi joining Major League Soccer side Inter Miami three years out from the USA, Mexico and Canada hosting the World Cup. The so-called ’39th’ Premier League game has been discussed before and UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin recently hinted that a Champions League final could one day be played in the US. “I know that the clubs have not been wild about that in Europe but I’d love to think that it would happen,” Murphy said. “You would have Barcelona playing Real Madrid in New Jersey at some point in a regular season or in a Champions League game. I would love that. “I would just appeal either to the Champions League, if that’s UEFA, and play a game here. “I can say unequivocally, we would die to have a real competitive game anywhere in America. If it was in New York-New Jersey, you wouldn’t get near that game. “It would be overwhelming. To have a Champions League game, you wouldn’t be able to get near it.” I can say unequivocally, we would die to have a real competitive game anywhere in America Phil Murphy Murphy was speaking in a media briefing on Saturday before cavernous MetLife Stadium recorded its highest ever attendance for a club football match. There were 82,262 in attendance for Manchester United’s 2-0 friendly win over Arsenal at a stadium that Murphy believes should host the 2026 World Cup final. New York-New Jersey is also among the host cities and Murphy believes the showpiece should come to East Rutherford. “We’re fighting like heck to get the final, which is to be determined,” Murphy said. “I think LA and Dallas’ names come up from time to time. I think Miami comes up. “Messi may be single-handedly recalculating the odds for Miami but we think when you add everything up we have got the winning package, but we’ll see. We’re not taking anything for granted. “When people think of America, I think New York and Los Angeles are the two communities that rise above everyone else. “I think the logic tells me you go to one of those two cities and with all due respect to them, we think we play a stronger hand. “We think for time zone and stadium size we’re bigger. I assume the decision gets made at the highest levels. They love what they see here.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Review process will lead to a better Cricket Scotland – Pete Fitzboydon Ben Earl commends England coach Steve Borthwick’s tactful approach with squad Ponting discusses uncanny resemblance with Harman – Tuesday’s sporting social

Derek Jeter privately welcomes baby no. 4 with wife Hannah Jeter

The 2023 French Open gets underway at Roland Garros in Paris on Sunday without defending champion Rafael Nadal and with two-time winner Novak Djokovic...

Nolan Arenado homered, Jack Flaherty pitched shutout ball for his second straight start and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Miami Marlins 3-0 to avoid a series sweep

South Africa has reverted to its strongest starting lineup to face top-ranked Ireland in a crunch pool game at the Rugby World Cup in Paris on Saturday

Tottenham playmaker James Maddison has allayed fears over a potential right ankle injury by telling reporters he was wearing a protective boot for “precaution” after the 2-0 victory over Manchester United. Maddison starred in midfield to help Ange Postecoglou claimed a maiden Premier League win, with Pape Sarr’s first Spurs strike and an own goal by Lisandro Martinez handing the hosts a fine first victory of the season. Summer signing Maddison completed 90 minutes but was spotted leaving Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on crutches and in a protective boot on Saturday night. England international Maddison did suffer a blow to his right ankle during the second half of the United clash when Antony tackled him inside the area. It was not enough to prevent him finishing the match, but Maddison tried to play down concerns by revealing to the assembled media the protective boot was for “precaution” and he will now aim to recover in time for Saturday’s trip to Bournemouth. Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live