Puma bounces Mitre out the game with official ball deal in Scotland
May 24 – Scotland’s top men’s and women’s leagues have appointed Puma as the official match ball provider in a multi-year deal starting with the 2023/24 season.
Istanbul warms up for final with UEFA Champions Festival
May 24 – UEFA has launched detail of its Champions Festival that will run alongside the Champions League Final between Manchester City and Internazionale at Atatürk Olympic Stadium in Istanbul on Saturday June 10.
USA
What to expect
The US were the strongest of the four nations in Las Vegas in the CONCACAF Nations League beating Mexico 3-0 in the first semi-final and Canada 1-0 in the final with an exciting brand of football driven by a young team of extremely talented players who visibly grew in confidence. They come into the Gold Cup having dropped the bulk of that squad and are relying more on the MLS and LigaMX players.
Mexico
What to expect
Mexico come into the tournament with a win, having beaten Panama 1-0 in the third place play-off at the Nations League finals a week ago. But Mexican fans demand more and so does a federation in presidential flux. With the US having made wholesale changes this Mexican team should be good enough to go all the way and they will have packed stadia driving them on. However, they are in the group of death with a fast improving Honduras with all their stars fit,
Canada
What to expect
Canada on their day can be the most exciting football team in the region going forward. They will be anxious to put the disappointing Nations League final loss behind them as well as three losses at the Qatar 2022 World Cup – they gained prose for their performance in Qatar, but praise doesn’t win games. The key thing for the Canadians is not losing games that they should win,
Honduras
What to expect
Honduras are making their 16th appearance at the Gold Cup only having missed one final in 2002. They made the final in 2002 and have been semi-finalists in 2009, 2011 and 2013. They are a very proud footballing nation and have a strong and vocal supporter base in the US that expects their team to be better than they have shown in recent years. With the changing of the old guard this could be their time but the are in the group of death with Gold Cup royalty,
Panama
What to expect
Panama are a team looking to transition and under Christiansen have maintained momentum since their qualification for the 2018 World Cup in Russia, however, they just missed out on 2022 qualification to Costa Rica and that hurt. They struggled at the Nations League finals in Las Vegas a week ago but will be stronger at the Gold Cup with players returning from injury.
Star players
Right back Michael Murillo who plays his club football at Belgium’s Anderlecht has the ability to get forward and score.
Jamaica
What to expect
Jamaica come into the Gold Cup on a mission. They have twice made the Gold Cup final in 2015 and 2017. In 2015 they beat the US to get there, and in 2017 they beat Mexico. They are in a group with the US, Trinidad and Tobago and St Kitts and Nevis. With their Premier League looking forward line they will expect to qualify from the group. If that frontline start to find the back of the net then they could go all the way.
Costa Rica
What to expect
Costa Rica, playing in their 16th Concacaf Gold Cup, are in a battle not just for the Gold Cup but for bragging rights in South America. Having led the way in the region they are now challenged by Panama who beat them to qualify for the Nations League finals. Once again they are in a group with Panama and the winner of this match looks likely to be the group winner.
More monkey chants at Vinicius sparks wider racism row over LaLiga’s failure to act
May 23 – Real Madrid star Vinicius Jr has said La Liga is a league of racists, but Javier Tebas has vehemently defended the way the Spanish topflight deals with racism.
Salman outlines pathway for Syria to return to hosting international matches
May 23 – AFC president Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifi has said that he feels comfortable that the security situation in Syria is now safe and that the AFC and FIFA can work toward allowing international football to again be played in the country.
Juventus hit with new 10 point penalty, pushing them out of European club qualification slots
May 23 – Juventus have been pushed back down the Serie A table after an Italian tribunal made a ruling to dock them 10 points for the current season. The points loss puts them outside European club competition qualification with two games left to play.
Newcastle secure Champions League slot, Leicester, Leeds and Everton in final day dogfight
May 23 – Newcastle United secured qualification for next season’s Champions League and Leicester City kept their hopes of remaining in the Premier League alive following a 0-0 draw last night at St James Park.
Midea plug in for another year of Man City promotion
May 23 – Manchester City have extended their global partnership with home appliances producer Midea into a fourth term.
Levi’s Stadium, Santa Clara, CA
Levi’s Stadium, Santa Clara, California
Situated just west of the much larger city of San Jose in the San Francisco Bay Area, Levi’s stadium has been the home of NFL team San Franciso 49ers since 2014, when the stadium first opened.
The stadium is 40 miles south of San Francisco.
Levi’s Stadium will host multiple matches during the 2026 World Cup.
Designed as an open stadium with a natural grass field,