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,
August 21 – New Barcelona head coach Ronald Koeman says he does not know if he can convince Lionel Messi to stay after the Argentine superstar reportedly threatened to quit following last week’s 8-2 Champions League humiliation at the hands of Bayern Munich.
August 21 – FIFA is not stepping back from its own statutes and rules of law and is maintaining that the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) is the correct forum for the ousted former Trinidad and Tobago FA leadership who have complained against their replacement by a Normalisation Committee.
August 21 – The European Clubs Association (ECA), the body representing more than 200 European clubs, has joined forces with world players’ union FIFPro to announce fresh guidelines on player health protection during the newly announced international calendar caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
August 21 – Free-to-air broadcast matches will not take place routinely when the new English Premier League season begins, giving rise to concerns over how fans – especially season ticket holders – can watch games.
By Paul Nicholson
Turkeys don’t vote for Christmas. FIFA’s ethics folk don’t do much that isn’t in their own interest either.
By Andrew Warshaw
August 19 – FIFA’s ethics body today stood firm behind Gianni Infantino in the wake of the much-publicised Swiss criminal investigation into his conduct, refusing to suspend him by arguing the allegations did not “ justify the adoption of any kind of measure”, yet seriously calling into question its credibility and so-called independence.
By Andrew Warshaw
August 20 – They weren’t at their best and were never going to deliver another eight-goal blitz. But Bayern Munich, 8-2 quarterfinal conquerors of Barcelona, duly booked their place in Sunday’s Champions League final with a hard-fought 3-0 semi-final over Lyon on Wednesday to set up a dream climax against fellow big-hitters Paris St. Germain.
August – UEFA has decided no fans will be able to attend Nations League matches in September, confirming a report by the Scottish FA earlier this week.
August 20 – FIFA has suspended two more Haitian football officials and has extended a 90-day provisional ban meted out to federation (FHF) president Yves Jean-Bart while it investigates allegations of teenage girls being sexually abused at the national training centre, built with a FIFA grant.
August 20 – Concacaf teams learned their pathway to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar after the preliminary draw paired 2026 tournament hosts Canada in Group B with Suriname, Bermuda, Cayman Islands and Aruba.
August 20 – Switzerland has dropped impeachment proceedings against Michael Lauber after the attorney general agreed to quit office early amid persisting accusations of misconduct during an investigation into FIFA.
August 20 – New England women’s head coach Sarina Wiegmann (pictured) believes she will be working with a “world-class team” when she takes over the role in September next year.
August 20 – Ligue 1’s AS Monaco have signed online bookmaker VBET as a partner in a two-year deal.
By Samindra Kunti
August 19 – In the latest modification to the international match calendar, FIFA has replaced the September fixtures window with a new window at the end of January 2022 for all confederations with the exception of UEFA.
August 19 – Ronald Koeman has quit as boss of the Netherlands to become the new head coach of Barcelona two days after the club sacked Quique Setien following that humiliating 8-2 Champions League drubbing by Bayern Munich that stunned world football.