Inside World Football - For the Business of Football

Pulisic, Musah and Robinson out of US team for Gold Cup; McKennie, Weah and Reyna to play CWC

May 22 – When Mauricio Pochettino (pictured) unveiled his 27-player United States Men’s National Team (USMNT) roster for the upcoming Concacaf Gold Cup, the conversation inevitably centered on who wasn’t there rather than who was. In an era where player welfare collides head-on with international ambition, the Argentine manager finds himself navigating perhaps his most challenging selection dilemma yet.

Qatari organisers hike Arab Cup 2025 prize money to $36.5m

May 23 – The Qatar Local Organising Committee (LOC) for the 2025 FIFA Arab Cup, to be played December 1-18, has unveiled a total prize pool of $36.5 million, an $11 million increase on the reported 2021 prize pool of $25.5 million.

South America

Brazilian clubs to boycott CBF presidential elections; players lobby for change

May 23 – Brazilian football clubs will boycott the CBF elections to protest against what they claim is an unbalanced power structure in the domestic game with Samir Xaud (pictured), president of the Roraima Football Federation, poised to become the organisation’s new president.

Concacaf

Canadians lure James Johnson from Australia to head CSB

May 23 – Departing Football Australia CEO James Johnson is changing country and continent to take on the role of CEO at Canadian Soccer Business (CSB), the independent sports rights agency that handles all commercial and media rights to Canada’s men’s and women’s national team as well as the Canadian Premier League.

OpEd: Class enemy Wenger’s comments highlight FIFA-UEFA disconnect

By Andrew Warshaw

When Tottenham Hotspur lifted the Europa League trophy in Bilbao on Wednesday to end the club’s 41-year quest for European silverware, penny for the thoughts of a certain Arsene Wenger.

Europe

Luka Modrić to leave Real Madrid after 12 trophy-laden seasons

May 23 – Luka Modrić will bid farewell to Real Madrid this summer, with the Club World Cup marking the final chapter of his glittering 12-year career in the Spanish capital.

Gold Cup 2025

Renard resets Saudi for 2026 WC qualifiers and planning for a deep run in Gold Cup

Saudi Arabian coach Hervé Renard has returned to Saudi Arabia for a second term in charge of the national team that has faltered in 2026 World Cup qualification, but where the expectations of a football-loving nation are sky high.

Gold Cup 2025

Pochettino feels the pressure but says time together will heal his team’s Nations League wounds

Mauricio Pochettino needs to put the disastrous performances of the Nations League in March behind him and his team. The Gold Cup is the perfect opportunity but with key players resting or not being released how will be adapt a year out from 2026.

Europe

Women’s Super League attendances drop 5%, finds data report

May 23 – Women’s professional football is growing like crazy – it must be because everyone is saying it is. So a sobering piece of analysis by Sportscasting.com that finds England’s Women’s Super League matches showed a 5.1% drop in attendances over the 2024/25 season statistically flies in the face of accepted wisdom.

esports

Rematch video game to launch in June with 2.5m users signed up

May 23 – Rematch, a new video gaming football title is set to launch June 19, offering an alternative take on the genre with a third-person, player-controlled format that is based on stripped-back, skill-based gameplay.

Broadcast

Disney+ wins Women’s Champions League TV rights from DAZN

May 23 – The UEFA Women’s Champions League has found a new home in the UK with Disney+ clinching a landmark five-year deal to broadcast European women’s football’s premier club competition, wresting the rights from DAZN who had held them for the past four seasons.

Football Marketing

Hertha’s 26-year Nike kit deal to end this season

May 23 – Hertha BSC will bring its 26-year partnership with Nike to a close at the end of the 2024/25 season, ending one of the Bundesliga’s longest-standing kit supply deals.

Football Marketing

Online bookie Tipico extends sponsorship in Germany’s third tier

May 23 – Tipico and the Deutscher Fußball-Bund (DFB) have confirmed the extension of their ongoing partnership.

Football Marketing

Liga Portugal agrees league-wide kit name and patch deal with Avery Denison

May 23 – Liga Portugal has confirmed a new multi-year partnership with ‘materials science’ and branding giant Avery Dennison, naming the US-based firm as the exclusive supplier of player names, numbers, and sleeve badges across the country’s top two professional divisions.

Football Marketing

Brentford swap Umbro for holistic Joma deal

May 23 – Spanish sportswear company Joma Sport has pulled off something of a masterstroke, securing a multi-year partnership with Brentford that will see them become the Premier League’s only Spanish kit supplier from July 2025.