Sunday Fulham Stuff - 30/05/26...

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Seven Fulham players called for World Cup duty

Seven Fulham players have been called up to represent their nations at the 2026 World Cup.

🇳🇴 Sander Berge (64 caps, 1 goal) & Oscar Bobb (18 caps, 2 goals)

    Iraq v Norway – Tuesday 16th June (11pm), Boston
    Norway v Senegal – Tuesday 23rd June (1am), New York
    Norway v France – Friday 26th June (8pm), Boston

🇧🇪 Timothy Castagne (62 caps, 2 goals)

    Belgium v Egypt – Monday 15th June (8pm), Seattle
    Belgium v Iran – Sunday 21st June (8pm), Los Angeles
    New Zealand v Belgium – Saturday 27th June (4am), Vancouver

🇨🇦 Luc De Fougerolles (11 caps)

    Canada v Bosnia & Herzegovina – Friday 12th June (8pm), Toronto
    Canada v Qatar – Thursday 18th June (11pm), Vancouver
    Switzerland v Canada – Wednesday 24th June (8pm), Vancouver

🇲🇦 Issa Diop (2 caps)

    Brazil v Morocco – Saturday 13th June (11pm), New York
    Scotland v Morocco – Friday 19th June (11pm), Boston
    Morocco v Haiti – Wednesday 24th June (11pm), Atlanta

🇲🇽 Raúl Jiménez (125 caps, 44 goals)

    Mexico v South Africa – Thursday 11th June (8pm), Mexico City
    Mexico v Korea Republic – Friday 19th June (2am), Guadalajara
    Czechia v Mexico – Thursday 25th June (2am), Mexico City

🇺🇸 Antonee Robinson (52 caps, 4 goals)

    United States v Paraguay – Saturday 13th June (2am), Los Angeles
    United States v Australia – Friday 19th June (8pm), Seattle
    Turkey v United States – Friday 26th June (3am), Los Angeles

All times are listed in BST.



https://www.fulhamfc.com/news/2026/may/30/seven-fulham-players-called-for-world-cup-duty/

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Diop Tom Boom: Fulham defender opens scoring before club skipper's beauty seals points against Newcastle
STARTING the final game of the Premier League season equal on points, both Fulham and Newcastle United knew that no combination of results would allow either to qualify for European football next season.

Temperatures at Craven Cottage tipped into the low-30s, so it was not surprising that the game had an end-of-season feel to it. However, Fulham had more about them over the 90 minutes, and deserved the three points after goals from Issa Diop and substitute Tom Cairney.

The hosts were certainly the better side in the first quarter of an hour with Alex Iwobi involved in a lot of their best moves. He had their first goal attempt with a shot that was blocked to send it over. Antonee Robinson then tried his luck but his shot from 25 yards was deflected wide.

In the nineteenth minute, Marco Silva's side went ahead. Kevin's superb free-kick from 30 yards cleared the two-man wall and struck the bar, with Diop the quickest to react to head nto the empty net.

Emile Smith Rowe then burst forward for the Cottagers but couldn't get any power on his shot allowing former Charlton Athletic and Welling United goalkeeper Nick Pope to gather.

At the other end, Joe Willock, who was a late inclusion in Eddie Howe's starting line-up after Sandro Tonali was injured in the warm-up, gave Fulham a scare with a low diagonal cross that was just out William Osula's, and Timothy Castagne was able to hack it clear.

Two half-chances came and went for the hosts' front man Rodrigo Muniz, first a diving header from Kevin's dinked cross that Pope stopped, then a first-time effort wide of the near post after Castagne had done well to pull it back from the byline.

For the first and only time in the afternoon, Fulham goalkeeper Bernd Lemo was called into action when saving a Willock shot with his right leg after the midfielder had been played in by Nick Woltemade.

However, the hosts continued to have the better of the possession without finding the clinical final pass to create clear-cut chances.

Fulham went close early in the second period when Muniz rose to meet an Oscar Bobb corner but it hit his shoulder and went past the near post.

Attacking the end that housed their supporters, the Magpies started to lift their game without looking threatening and Fulham made a first change on the hour-mark when 35-year-old Cairney replaced the injured Kevin.

Players requiring treatment, yellow cards, drink breaks, and substitutions meant that the game became scrappy. Cairney went close with a 20-yard shot that whistled inches wide after Iwobi's cross was headed out.

Having not learned from their previous scares, Newcastle again allowed Cairney far too much space on the edge of the area and this time he made them pay with a brilliant 25-yard strike into the top-left corner that gave Pope no chance.

Fulham almost added a third after Josh King burst through the middle. Pope made a good save from his shot, but the bal landed at the feet of Harry Wilson who dragged his low effort wide.

To their credit, Newcastle kept going and Lewis Hall had a shot deflected wide by a team-mate before Harvey Barnes went close with a header that was off-target from an Anthony Elanga free-kick

Iwobi curled an effort beyond the far post in stoppage-time before the referee's whistle brought the 2025-26 season to a close with Fulham finishing in eleventh place and Newcastle three points back in twelfth.



https://southlondon.co.uk/sport/football/fulham/diop-tom-boom-fulham-defender-opens-scoring-before-club-skippers-beauty-seals-points-against-newcastle/

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Marco Silva has 'requested evaluations' on player – Belief he's on Fulham manager's shortlist
Famalicão defender Ibrahima Ba could be a name to keep an eye on if Marco Silva remains at Fulham this summer.

Jornal de Noticias report that the Fulham manager has 'requested evaluations' on the 21-year-old this summer.

Marco Silva interest
The newspaper explains that signing a centre-back has become a priority objective for Benfica. Nicolas Otamendi departed the club this week to return to Argentina.

Any signing will need a stamp of approval from their new coach. Jose Mourinho  is expected to return to Real Madrid.

Marco Silva is the leading candidate to replace him. Sport Witness have been covering various reports from Portugal on that matter over the last fortnight.

And while Benfica's defensive targets aren't known yet, the Fulham manager does have one name on his list. According to Jornal de Noticias' information, he has requested evaluations of Famalicão defender Ibrahima Ba.

Fulham or Benfica
The Portuguese boss is interested in taking him to Craven Cottage. It remains to be seen if that interest would persist should he move to Benfica. Either way, the defender is on his list and a player that he's is seemingly keen on.

The youngster joined Famalicão's U21 side on a free transfer in 2024 after coming through the ranks at Senegalese club AJEL Rufisque.

He played on loan at Valenciennes in 2023 but has established himself in Portugal. So far he's made 27 appearances to date for Famalicão's first team and 12 in their U23s. This season he played in 54% of the available minutes in Liga Portugal across 21 games, scoring once and assisting once.

His current deal with the Portuguese side runs until 2030 after they handed him a new deal at the end of March.

He's valued at €12m, but Famalicão would surely look for more than that, particularly if a Premier League side like Fulham come calling. That might depend on Marco Silva, and what he does himself this summer.



https://sportwitness.co.uk/marco-silva-has-requested-evaluations-on-player-belief-hes-on-fulham-managers-shortlist/

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Cardiff City will have looked at Leeds United with envy after £11m Fulham transfer
Back in 2010, Cardiff City were reeling from their failure to reach the Premier League via the play-offs.

The Bluebirds finished fourth during the 2009/10 season under Dave Jones, losing to Blackpool in the final at Wembley 3-2.

As Cardiff began to rebalance the squad in order to have another crack at promotion, they waved goodbye to forward Ross McCormack, who had undergone quite an underwhelming term in front of goal by his standards during his final season in South Wales.

The Glaswegian originally arrived from Dundee United in the summer of 2008 and hit the ground running in spectacular fashion.

The frontman went on to net 21 times in the 2008-09 season from 38 appearances, most notably scoring 11 of those strikes in his opening 15 second-tier outings.

McCormack did miss eight games of that season due to injury, but continued to consistently find the back of the net, scoring braces in back-to-back games towards the end of the campaign against Crystal Palace and Burnley, although the Bluebirds finished narrowly outside the top six.

However, in the 2009-10 term, McCormack would have a dismal goalscoring return, netting just four times from 34 games. An influx of goals from the Scotsman could have been the difference maker to Cardiff securing a place back in the Premier League.

After an opening season of promise, McCormack's disappointing second season saw his value diminish, and with the frontman unable to add anything substantial to the Cardiff attack from his first two games in 2010-11, he was sold to Leeds United, with the Whites paying a reported fee of £300,000 for his services.

Looking back, Cardiff will be extremely disappointed at how this deal turned out, with McCormack able to get back on the goalscoring trail in Yorkshire and eventually making a big-money move to Fulham, which led to Leeds making a massive profit on their small investment.

Ross McCormack's spell at Leeds United
 Despite Leeds United getting the successful end of the deal, Ross McCormack's first season at Elland Road didn't go according to plan.

With Luciano Becchio the man trusted up front in that moment in time, McCormack was reduced to a number of bit-part appearances while he still got to grips with his new surroundings, but that lack of game time resulted in him failing to make an impact.

In fact, it took until the final two matches of the season for him to finally get off the mark in a white shirt, with goals against Burnley and Queens Park Rangers being his only strikes of the campaign.

However, his second season at the club would see him get much more regular minutes, with the frontman turning into a prolific and reliable option when leading the line.

McCormack started the next season on fire, as he netted ten times in his first 13 matches of the season in all competitions.

Vital strikes against Crystal Palace, Brighton and Hove Albion and Bristol City saw him win the fans over in Yorkshire, and before long he was a much-loved figure at Elland Road for his clinical nature in front of goal.

In total, the Scot finished with 18 strikes in his second season at the club, with the Leeds faithful excited over what he could produce in his third term.

However, similarly to his time at Cardiff, McCormack suffered inconsistencies and only netted five times from 32 games between 2012-13, although he did pick up 13 assists.

But the 2013-14 term would really see the Glasgow-born forward thrive. McCormack scored a whopping 28 Championship goals, including an incredible four-goal haul against Charlton Athletic as he featured in every one of their 46 games.

Such a sensational return led to Fulham swooping in for the now 38-year-old, who had just been relegated from the Premier League.

The Cottagers paid a reported fee £11 million as they chased an instant return to the big time, with Leeds receiving such a significant profit on the small investment they made to Cardiff four seasons ago.

Cardiff City will look at Leeds United with envy from Ross McCormack sale
Despite adding on a 15% sell-on clause when they sold Ross McCormack to Leeds United, Cardiff City would still have been very jealous that the Whites made such a significant sum of money from his sale.

McCormack had made a promising start during his time in Wales too, but a poor second season drove down his price, with many believing he was a one-season wonder at Championship level.

Even Leeds wouldn't have expected too much from him for the fee they paid, but the Whites' gamble paid off, leading them to make such a profit and having a second-tier marksman on their books.

McCormack's underwhelming second season at Cardiff was to blame for the club selling him for only £300,000. If the Scotsman could have replicated his debut campaign, then the club could have received a similar fee to what Leeds did.

That kind of money could have been imperative to Cardiff possessing a much stronger squad than what they did back in 2010, and even though they achieved promotion eventually in 2013, they could have secured a top-flight place much sooner and established themselves as a Premier League club.

A big-money sale of McCormack could have transformed Cardiff's fortunes as a football club, and we'll never know what the impact could have been had he maintained his shooting boots for the entirety of his stay with the Bluebirds.



https://footballleagueworld.co.uk/cardiff-citys-leeds-united-envy-after-ross-mccormack-transfer/