May 15 – Spanish giants FC Barcelona won their 27th league title after two first-half goals from Robert Lewandowski led the club to a 4-2 victory against crosstown rivals Espanyol. It’s Barcelona’s first title in four years and comes at a welcome time with major financial problems and the shadow of a refereeing scandal off the pitch.
May 15 – With a 1-0 victory against RSCA Futures, RWD Molenbeek ensured their return to the Belgian topflight after a 21-year absence.
May 15 – Having signed a development agreement with Botswana last week, the Saudi Arabian FA has now taken a step further up the football’s political ladder in Africa, with a memorandum of understanding with the regional governing body, the Confederation of African Football (CAF).
May 15 – Turkey’s Bursaspor has sold the naming rights to its stadium to Turkish company Sütaş.
May 15 – A total of 39 member associations committed to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC)’s Grassroots Football Day, taking place today (May 15).
May 15 – FIFA has turned up the promotion for the hastily re-organised U-20 World Cup whose hosting was moved at the last minute from Indonesia to Argentina.
How they qualified
The Croatians did not qualify the easy way for the finals. In a tough group, they struggled with an opening defeat at home to Austria, 3-0. A 1-1 draw with France kept the East Europeans in the race and with perseverance two wins against Denmark as well as a victory in Paris proved to be decisive. They edged the team of Kasper Hjulmand Danish team for the top spot by a single point.
How they qualified
Mexico only just squeezed past Jamaica to top their group, drawing with the Reggae Boyz 2-2 in the final group game, but they had to come from behind twice to win the point needed to qualify. Bobby De Cordova-Reid opened the scoring in the 8th minute for Jamaica before Orbelín Pineda levelled on 17 minutes. Jamaica were ahead again 16 minutes later when a ball from De Cordova-Reid bounced off the left thigh of Edson Álvarez for an own goal.
How they Qualified
The USMNT secured their qualification for the 2023 Concacaf Nations League Final Four with a 1-0 win against El Salvador on March 27 at the Exploria Stadium in Orlando. The US had gone into the game needing just a point to qualify. Ricardo Pepi was the saviour for the US, coming off the bench in the second half against El Salvador to score with his first touch. Three days earlier the US had demolished Grenada 7-1,
How they qualified
Like the other finalists, Spain were inconsistent in the group stage with a home defeat to Switzerland and a draw against the Czech Republic. Alvaro Morata got his team across the finish line with a late strike in a 1-0 win away to Portugal.
Tournament record
Spain didn’t make the finals in 2019, finishing runners-up behind England in their group, but they came close in the last edition.
How they qualified
Los Canaleros (the Canal Men) qualified at the expense of fellow Central Americans Costa Rica who they have been battling with for qualification Panama clinched their spot with a 1-0 win over Costa Rica in San José. The Panamanians needed a draw or a win to qualify with Jose Fajardo’s solitary goal in the 77th minute proving to be sweet revenge for missing out on Qatar 2022 World Cup qualification to Costa Rica.
How they qualified
The 2022 World Cup finalists had to wait until the final two rounds of qualifying to top their group and book a ticket for Las Vegas. Going into the last round they were behind group leaders Honduras, having lost earlier in the group stage away from home. A 4-1 win over the Hondurans in the final game sealed qualification after a 2-1 win over Curacao had pushed them to the top of the group.
How they qualified
En route to the Netherlands, they were beaten 5-2 by Germany, but Roberto Mancini’s came good with back-to-back wins against England and Hungary to top Group 3 on 11 points, one more than the Eastern Europeans.
Tournament record
Italy staged the last edition of the final four in Torino and Milano and suffered defeat at the hands of Spain in the semi-finals 2-1.
May 12 – While the Manchester United sale process closes in on naming a preferred bidder another of Europe’s biggest clubs looks to be readying for a sale of stock.
By Samindra Kunti in Doha
May 12 – Qatar will kick off the 2023 Asian Cup on January 12 at the Al Bayt Stadium as the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) released the matched schedule for the tournament. The same venue will stage the final on February 10.