Inside World Football

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.

Asian Cup 2027

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.

Finance

Forget spygate, the play-off final is all about the money. That’s the real target for Middlesbrough

May 21 – The intensity around the Championship Play-off Spygate furore is almost certainly more about the money rather than the principals of whether you can observe another team’s training session within 72 hours of a match (essentially ‘spying’ is not illegal under EFL’s rules). What is really at stake here is the £205 million revenue uplift for the club and its owner.

Analysis from Deloitte’s Sports Business Group shows the uplift of £205 million across the next three seasons could rise to more than £365 million if the club avoids relegation after their first season in the Premier League.

Premier League

Man Utd hand Michael Carrick a two-year contact

May 22 – Michael Carrick has been appointed Manchester United’s permanent head coach on a two-year deal running until 2028, with the 44-year-old saying he is determined to “challenge for the biggest honours again”.

Carrick took charge on an interim basis in January, stepping in for Ruben Amorim with United sitting seventh and already out of all cup competitions. In a short spell that quickly changed the mood around the club,

World Cup

FIFA calms down the World Cup overload with sensory spaces across all 16 venues

May 22 – With the FIFA World Cup 2026 now less than three weeks away, FIFA has announced a new off-pitch initiative. The tournament, which will span 104 matches across 16 host cities in the United States, Canada and Mexico, has become the first global sporting competition to receive Sensory Inclusive certification from non-profit organisation KultureCity.

The move means every World Cup stadium will include dedicated sensory spaces for supporters who experience sensory overload,