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
Costa Rica stun Suriname with added time penalty in a Gold Cup classic
Costa Rica 4 Suriname 3
June 15 – With the baking sun of a sweltering San Diego day in Southern California giving way to a cool evening, Costa Rica went from red hot to freezing cold as they threw away their lead and had to battle back to win with 10 men and a penalty more than 10 minutes into added time.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
CIES report puts Brazil top of new table for players playing abroad
May 22 – Brazil remains the undisputed powerhouse in global football exports, with over 3,000 Brazilian players having featured in foreign leagues since 2020, according to the latest report by the CIES Football Observatory.
Villa eye commercial growth with new Birmingham retail space
May 22 – Aston Villa have opened a new 10,000 square-foot retail space in Birmingham’s Bullring shopping centre, marking a significant commercial milestone for the club as they look to capitalise on recent on-pitch success with stronger off-pitch positioning.
Morocco launches construction tender for 2030 World Cup showpiece stadium
May 22 – Morocco has launched the construction tender for the Grand Stade Hassan II, a centrepiece of its 2030 World Cup ambitions and a strong contender to host the tournament’s final.
FIFA under fire over for failing to act over Israel
May 22 – Human rights research and advocacy NGO Fairsquare has accused FIFA of “ad hoc and selective enforcement of its rules” following the world governing body’s failure to act against the Israeli Football Association (IFA).
McLaren faces crucial month with Jamaica with Gold Cup and World Cup qualifiers
May 22 – June 2025 is set to be a huge month for both Jamaican men’s football and the country’s head coach Steve McLaren, who is nearing one year in charge of the national team.