Inside World Football - Page 7 of 2481 - For the Business of Football

Jesse in it for the long march with Canada as he aims to make World Cup history

May 26 – Jesse Marsch’s success as team boss of Canada has earned him a contract extension through the 2030 World Cup. The 52-year-old American’s original deal was set to expire after this summer’s finals.

During Marsch’s two-year tenure, he has overseen 29 matches, winning 14, drawing seven, and losing eight, while instilling the full-throttle, pressing identity he became known for at Red Bull Salzburg, RB Leipzig, and Leeds United.

“I believe Canada has tremendous potential with this generation of players and look forward to seeing the development of soccer across the country,”

The people’s World Cup? NYC mayor secures $50 tickets for 1000 local residents

May 26 – New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani has secured a rare concession from FIFA, negotiating 1,000 World Cup tickets priced at $50 to be distributed by ballot exclusively to local residents, making it the only citywide access programme of its kind at the tournament.

The tickets cover seven matches at MetLife Stadium in neighbouring New Jersey, including five group-stage fixtures, a R32 and R16 tie, but not the July 19 final. At $50, they are the cheapest seats available on FIFA’s primary market,

Cherries on the cake for Bournemouth with stadium revamp and a debut in Europe

May 26 – AFC Bournemouth have underlined their ambitions with a double boost. First, the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP) Council unanimously approved the Premier League club’s plans to increase the Vitality Stadium’s capacity to more than 20,000 seats.

Then, to match having a bigger stadium, the south-coast club confirmed their first-ever season in European football by qualifying for the UEFA Europa League.

Both events mark a major step in the club’s long-term infrastructure strategy under owner Bill Foley.

Europe

Pressure mounts on Belgrade stadium project with Europa League final a target

May 26 – The Serbian government is pressing ahead with the construction of its ambitious new National Football Stadium in Surčin, a southwestern suburb of Belgrade. Intended as the future home of the Serbian national team, the massive infrastructure project is currently facing significant delays and shifting timelines.

Initial official announcements confidently stated that the stadium would be completed by the end of 2026. However, that has now been pushed back to 2027. This shift is crucial,

Broadcast

A galaxy of stars and Zlatan vs Brady as Fox Sports hits the road

May 26 – Fox will take “the studio on the road” for this summer’s World Cup, mirroring its Big Noon Kickoff college football format, in an effort to bring the full spectacle to the tournament.

Fox VP of Production Zac Kenworthy described the scale of the undertaking saying: “This is, just as a starting point, the biggest production Fox Sports has ever put on in our company’s history… And these three U.S. [game] days in the group stage,

Football Marketing

American World Cup fans can tap into AI under new Google-USSF partnership

May 26 – US Soccer (USSF) is continuing its aggressive commercial drive, signing global technology giant Google as a sponsor of its national teams.

The multi-year agreement spans a remarkable window of marquee events including this summer’s Men’s World Cup finals, the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup, and the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics.

At the centre of the partnership is Google’s consumer AI brand, Gemini. Fans will be able to use Gemini’s text-to-image model,

Legal

Op-ed: Sir Nicholas Mostyn. Southampton FC – Admiral Byng is shot again

Dans ce pays-ci, il est bon de tuer de temps en temps un amiral pour encourager les autres. Voltaire: Candide (1759) Chapter 23

The EFL has said that the dismissal of Southampton’s appeal is final and no further appeal can be lodged. I am not convinced that this is correct.

Under the EFL regulations, section 9, the appeal is a form of arbitration governed by the Arbitration Act 1996.

Qatar venue named for postponed Lebanon-Yemen Asian Cup 2027 qualifier

May 26 – The final qualifying match between Lebanon and Yemen for the last slot in the Asian Cup 2027 Saudi Arabia, will be played June 4 at Grand Hamad Stadium in Doha, Qatar.

Originally scheduled for March 31 in Beirut, Lebanon, the final group game was postponed following the unrest in the region and Israel’s escalation of its bombing of the country and its Hezbollah militants. The Israelis were responding to an escalation of Hezbollah’s rocket and drone attacks.

Competitions

North Korea’s Naegohyang beat Tokyo Verdy Beleza to win AFC Women’s Champions League

May 26 – The power of North Korea’s women’s football ecosystem was demonstrated again in the final of the AFC Women’s Champions League last weekend with Naegohyang Women’s FC beating Japan’s Tokyo Verdy Beleza 1-0 at the Suwon Sports Complex in South Korea.

A Kim Kyong Yong strike in the 44th minute was enough for Naegohyang – the first women’s club team from North Korea to compete at the continental level – to secure the title and a spot at FIFA Women’s Champions Cup 2027.

Football Marketing

Chinese car maker Changan plugs in Portugal’s national team for the long road ahead

May 26 –Chinese car maker Changan Automobile has become an Official Global Partner of the Portugal National Football Team in what is described as a “long term strategic partnership”.

The deal with the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF) was announced at a ceremony at the Cidade do Futebol in Lisbo with senior representatives from Changan and the FPF.

The announcement was accompanied by the unveiling of the brand collaboration film ‘Sounds Like Changan’,

Competitions

Imperious Barcelona glide past Lyon to win women’s UCL final 4-0

By Samindra Kunti in Oslo

May 23 – FC Barcelona clinched a fourth Women’s Champions League with a resounding 4-0 win against OL Lyonnes with two goals apiece from both Ewa Pajor and Salma Paralluelo.

It took Barcelona 55 minutes to find their first attempt on target but when Pajor raced into the right-hand channel of the Lyon box she dispatched the ball with a sharpness and finality that her team had so been lacking.

Competitions

Barca and Lyon set stage for fourth meeting in Women’s Champions League final

By Samindra Kunti in Oslo

May 22 – In a new chapter of their European rivalry, FC Barcelona will seek to reclaim their European crown against Olympique Lyon in the final of the Women’s Champions League.

Last season, Barcelona lost the Women’s Champions League against Arsenal 1-0, but in their sixth consecutive Champions League final they will have the opportunity to stamp their authority on the European game after a season in which they demonstrated their customary control,

World Cup

Ebola outbreak fears force Congo to move World Cup training camp; US tightens border controls

May 21 – The Democratic Republic of the Congo has cancelled its pre-World Cup training camp in Kinshasa due to the Ebola outbreak sweeping the country, relocating instead to Belgium ahead of a June 3 friendly against Denmark.

The World Health Organization has declared the outbreak “a public health emergency of international concern,” with the BBC reporting 139 suspected deaths and over 600 cases.

A FIFA spokesperson said: “FIFA is aware of and monitoring the situation regarding an Ebola outbreak and is in close communication with the Congo DR Football Association to ensure that the team is made aware of all medical and security guidance.”

Concacaf

América and Spirit renew Mexican-US rivalries in W Champions Cup final

May 22 – Club América Femenil and Washington Spirit will meet in the final of the 2025/26 Concacaf W Champions Cup Final on Saturday May 23 at Estadio Hidalgo in Pachuca, Mexico.

The semi-finals, played as a double header, also in Estadio Hidalgo, saw Club América’s women go two stages further than their men’s team in the Champions Cup who were knocked out in the quarter finals.

It was an impressive performance by América who had reached the semi-finals via an unbeaten group stage run that saw them top Group A with three wins and one draw.

World Cup

FIFA partner Aramco slammed for abuse of workers’ rights in FairSquare report

May 22 – In a new report, NGO FairSquare has detailed abusive working conditions at sites of Aramco, Saudi Arabia’s state oil company and a global partner of FIFA.

FairSquare has released a report titled ‘Blood, sweat and oil’ that investigates working conditions at Aramco and reveals that workers in its vast supply chain are exposed to extreme heat, subject to excessive working hours and forced to reside in slum housing.