USA 2 Costa Rica 2 (USA win 4-3 on pens)
June 29 – You’d hate to use the word ‘sterile’ to describe a Concacaf Gold Cup quarter-final, but following the drama and passion of Guatemala versus Canada, it all felt a little flat as the United States Men’s National Team (USMNT) and Costa Rica kicked off for the right to face Guatemala in St. Louis. After 90 minutes and the drama of penalty kicks,
By Andrew Warshaw
May 18 – Two-time FIFA presidential candidate Prince Ali bin al-Hussein of Jordan has angrily condemned Gianni Infantino for a “complete betrayal” of FIFA’s membership following Infantino’s controversial power grab at last week’s Congress in Mexico.
May 18 – The Barcelona trio of Messi, Neymar and Suarez fill three of the top four best performing big-5 league strikers, according to the CIES Football Observatory. The surprise is that Suarez, who has had a storming goalscoring end to the season is the fourth ranked striker.
By Samindra Kunti
May 19 – Brazilian club Corinthians are closing in on a naming rights deal for their stadium, but which could maintain the name ‘Arena Corinthians’.
FIFA picks its jury for first Diversity Award
May 18 – The last jury members have been named for the first FIFA Diversity Award, which will be presented in July 2016. US World Cup winner Abby Wambach, former captain of the German national team Thomas Hitzlsperger, and former Dutch international Clarence Seedorf are the big name players to join the 11-person jury.
By Samindra Kunti
May 17 – Nationwide strikes in France against the ‘Loi Travail’ labour laws threaten to disrupt the smooth running of the Euro 2016 Championship this summer, particularly when it comes to travelling around the country.
By Andrew Warshaw
May 17 – FIFA’s first ever female secretary general, Fatma Samoura, has vowed “to help football restore its tarnished image” and says she should be given time to make her mark despite having negligible footballing experience.
May 17 – Italian national coach and incoming Chelsea manager Antonio Conte says he feels “stronger” after being cleared of any wrongdoing in a match-fixing scandal.
By Paul Nicholson
May 17 – Seemingly at the centre of everything FIFA president Gianni Infantino did during the FIFA Congress in Mexico City last week were his band of legends. Whether it was accompanying him on his whistle stop visits to confederations, being introduced one-by one and embraced at the opening ceremony, sitting in the front row of the Congress itself, or Infantino sitting on the bench while the icons played 9-a-side knockabout matches in the iconic Azteca Stadium,
May 17 – The fledgling Sport Integrity Global Alliance (SIGA) has signed its second country and the first in North America to its membership.
May 17 – Manchester United’s 18-year-old striker Marcus Rashford (pictured) is the surprise selection in England manager Roy Hodgson’s initial 26-man squad for next month’s European Championship finals in France that will be trimmed to 23.
By Samindra Kunti
May 17 – Club Brugge have been crowned Belgian champions for the first time since 2005 after hammering arch-rivals Anderlecht 4-0 with two match days to spare.
By Andrew Warshaw
May 16 – FIFA have gone into overdrive in an attempt to play the victim following the rift between Gianni Infantino and his independent financial watchdog Domenico Scala that led to Scala’s dramatic resignation less than 24 hours after the FIFA Congress in Mexico.
May 16 – Indonesia’s suspension from international football over government interference in the country’s national federation has ended after almost a year.
By Andrew Warshaw
May 16 – Kosovo and Gibraltar seem certain to be fast-tracked into the 2018 World Cup qualifying campaign starting in September after being accepted as the 210th and 211th members of FIFA even though Serbia says it will fight Kosovo’s entry by legal means.
May 16 – The head of the European Union’s police agency says he is “extremely concerned” about a possible attack on Euro 2016 in France, saying the tournament is an “attractive target” for terrorists.