Indholdsfortegnelse for January 2026 i World Soccer

This first issue of 2026 is a combination of reflecting and looking ahead. We take a look back on the stand out players, managers and teams of 2025 in our annual awards – with the race for the men’s Player of the Year as close as ever – plus the Copa Libertadores final, the Under-17 World Cup and domestic leagues from around the world. And there is plenty to look forward to in 2026, starting with the Africa Cup of Nations, which kick-starts a huge year for international football. The World Cup is inching ever closer, and we sent Samindra Kunti to Washington D.C. to witness the good, the bad and the ugly from the draw.…

World Cup countdown begins World Cup angst is nothing new, but concerns over the 2026 finals look set to linger Welcome to 2026 and the World Cup that will cost many fans the earth to attend, all overseen by FIFA president Gianni Infantino. Build-ups to World Cups are frequently fraught with fear. Take the past 20 years. The 2006 tournament opened to screaming headlines about English hooligans running riot through the Ruhr and ruining the event, but banning orders and Germany’s intelligent policing contributed to a peaceful World Cup. Ills before the thrills: that’s the standard rhythm before a World Cup. In the run-up to South Africa 2010, there was high anxiety of the tournament being engulfed by crime. I was sent on a hostile environment course and taught how…

SEASON RANKINGS Cumulative votes through the season GOALKEEPERS David Raya (Arsenal) 12 Mike Maignan (Milan) 4 Gianluigi Donnarumma (Man City) 2 Mile Svilar (Roma) 2 Alisson (Liverpool) 1 Lucas Chevalier (PSG) 1 Thibaut Courtois (Real Madrid) 1 Peter Gulacsi (RB Leipzig) 1 Dean Henderson (Crystal Palace) 1 Luiz Junior (Villarreal) 1 Emiliano Martinez (Aston Villa) 1 Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich) 1 Geronimo Rulli (Marseille) 1 Yann Sommer (Internazionale) 1 DEFENDERS Gabriel (Arsenal) 15 Nuno Mendes (PSG) 10 Achraf Hakimi (PSG) 7 Konrad Laimer (Bayern Munich) 7 Jurrien Timber (Arsenal) 7 Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool) 7 Alex Grimaldo (Bayer Leverkusen) 6 William Saliba (Arsenal) 4 Alessandro Bastoni (Internazionale) 3 Riccardo Calafiori (Arsenal) 3 Marc Cucurella (Chelsea) 3 Jose Maria Gimenez (Atletico Madrid) 3 Marc Guehi (Crystal Palace) 3 Gianluca Mancini (Roma)…

Jose Araquistain Real Madrid’s goalkeeper in the victorious1966 European Cup final. ▸ Peter Rufai Legendary former Nigeria goalkeeper who won 65 caps for the Super Eagles, including at their1994 AFCON win. ▸ John Clark One of the “Lisbon Lions”, starting in central defence for Celtic’s 2-1 win over Internazionale in the 1967 European Cup final. ▸ Matt Beard Former manager of Liverpool Women in two separate spells, leading the club to back-to-back WSL titles in 2013 and 2014 and then returning to guide them back to the top flight in 2022. ▸ Milan Mandaric Yugoslav-born Serbian-American businessman who owned or partowned a number of football clubs including San Jose Earthquakes, Standard Liege, Charleroi, Nice, Portsmouth, Leicester City and Sheffield Wednesday. ▸ Ove Kindvall One of Sweden’s greatest-ever attackers and an…

It will not be the first time in recent editions that Morocco are hot favourites for success at the Africa Cup of Nations finals, but the continental championship is a tournament where the form book is often way off the mark. Morocco’s status as the team tipped to win is enhanced not only by the fact that they are the hosts of the 24-team extravaganza, but also because they are the top-ranked team on the continent, have gone through their last two qualifying campaigns unbeaten, and set a new world record for successive wins. Their victory over Congo in October was their16th in a row and broke Spain’s record for successive wins by a national team – and they extended that to18 with two more victories in November. Morocco have…

GROUP A COMOROS (0 AFCON wins) The Indian Ocean island nation return for only their second finals appearance after a shock win over Ghana in Cameroon 2021 and an unexpected place in the round of 16 at the first time of asking. They qualified unbeaten at the top of their group, beating Tunisia into second place with a surprise1-0 away triumph and overcoming the disadvantage of not being able to play at home because their stadium was in need of renovating. Their home games were hosted in Ivory Coast and Morocco, but this proved no hindrance. It did not go as smoothly in the subsequent World Cup qualifiers, although there they also made a nuisance of themselves and were in contention for a while in a group containing Ghana, Mali and…

In a sure sign of impressive continuity at the highest level, Europe’s three best performing sides from the last two World Cups were the quickest in the qualification stakes for next summer’s FIFA jamboree. England were so dominant in their group that they had top spot sewn up with two games to spare, while Croatia and France both sealed the deal in the penultimate round of fixtures. New England head coach Thomas Tuchel, as abrasive and uncompromising as ever, has assembled a well-balanced winning team in quick order and though he never would doubt that there is work still to do, the German must be delighted with his side’s flawless numbers in Group K: eight wins out of eight, 22 goals scored and not one conceded. England are the first…

There was drama everywhere in November’s qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup but while there was only one head-to-head in Asia, it didn’t disappoint. Iraq and the United Arab Emirates met in the two-legged fifth round and it went right down to the wire – the 17th minute of added time in the return match. That was when, somehow, Amir Al Ammari kept his nerve from the penalty spot to give Iraq a famous win. The 62,000 fans in Basra celebrated, not a place in North America – though you may have thought that was the case given the delight and excitement in the southern port city – but progress to the inter-confederation play-off round in March. On this showing, a return to the global stage for the first time…

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1 POYET LEADS JEONBUK BACK TO THE TOP IN SOUTH KOREA’S K-LEAGUE Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors won their first title in 2009 and then proceeded to win eight more by 2021. In recent years, however, the crown slipped. Second in 2022 was okay but that was followed by fourth, then tenth (in a12-team league) in 2024 and a surprise relegation scrap. In came Gus Poyet12 months ago. The Uruguayan’s coaching career has been long and varied in terms of countries – Brighton, Sunderland, AEK Athens, Real Betis, Shanghai Shenhua, Bordeaux and Universidad Catolica – winning trophies in England (the League One title with Brighton in 2010-11) and Chile (the Supercopa with Universidad Catolica in 2020). Now there’s more. This emphatic league title win, clinched with games to spare, was built on a…

Liberian football is finally looking forwards after a tumultuous period wracked by changes in coaching personnel. The Lone Star failed to qualify for the upcoming Africa Cup of Nations finals in Morocco but finished strongly in 2026 World Cup qualifying, only missing out on second place in their group on goal difference. That seemed unlikely this time two years ago, when head coach Ansumana Keita left after a run of six consecutive defeats led to death threats from angry supporters. His replacement was Romanian Mario Marinica, who had led Malawi to the last16 of the 2021 AFCON in Cameroon and brought in his former assistant, British coach Clwyd Jones. “The Liberians said in no uncertain terms that we need to get beyond the preliminary stage of the AFCON,” Jones, who…

Putting Pachuca back on the map Meet Jesus Martinez Patino, the owner of Grupo Pachuca and the man behind the International Football Hall of Fame Never mind the ever-evolving Ballon d’Or. Forget FIFA’s The Best. In Mexico, at least, the only awards ceremony that matters sees the annual inductions to the Salon de la Fama del Futbol in Pachuca. The Cornish tin miners who brought their footballs with them to the North American country in the late19th century would be astonished. The Salon, a Latin American hall of fame, is the brainchild of multi-millionaire businessman Jesus Martinez Patino and is only one corner of his Grupo Pachuca empire that also owns six clubs, a university of sports science, high-quality training centre and medical centre of excellence. Yet Pachuca is more…

“Billy Bonds epitomised everything that West Ham United Football Club stands for. Honesty, integrity, commitment, courage and character. He was a gentleman off the pitch and a warrior on it”Another former West Ham United captain, Mark Noble, pays tribute to Hammers great Billy Bonds Billy BONDS (1946-2025) Billy Bonds embodied the ethos of West Ham United, admired for his determination, leadership and loyalty. He began his playing career at Charlton Athletic, making his league debut in1965, before being sold to West Ham for £47,000 two years later. He made a club record 799 appearances (61 goals), initially at right-back and then in the so-called “silk and steel” midfield alongside Trevor Brooking. Bonds captained the Hammers to FA Cup success in1975 and 1980 then, as manager, led them to promotions in1991…

“I made that call as a coach, not as a dad, because we needed a goal. Shaqueel is a player who can score a goal from all angles”Feyenoord head coach Robin van Persie after handing his son, Shaqueel, his senior debut in a Europa League clash with Celtic 4 Goals that Leicester City’s Hamza Choudhury scored in his first year for Bangladesh, including a bicycle kick in his team’s 2-2 friendly draw with Nepal in November. 2027 Year that Major League Soccer will change its calendar to align with other leagues around the world. The US top flight will switch to a summer-spring format instead of the February-December routine that it currently operates with. 150,000 Approximate population of Dutch Caribbean island nation Curacao, making it the smallest country to ever…

There has rarely been a better illustration of how success in elite sport often comes down to moments, and how players and coaches react to them, than England’s Euro 2025 triumph. Were England the best team of the year? Many would argue not, given that they lost to Belgium, Spain, France and Brazil in 2025. Even at the Euros they only won two of their seven games inside 90 minutes, and in six hours of knockout football they led for just four minutes. But when it mattered they stood up and performed, showing a resilience that has often eluded England teams – men and women – in the past. Much of the credit for that must go to a Dutchwoman, their coach Sarina Wiegman, whose calmness percolated onto the pitch…

“Just how hard has it been to qualify a team whose country is locked in such a brutal war? It has been a really difficult situation because of the war, but the real problem has been trying to keep the players motivated when they have not been paid their allowances and bonuses and those kinds of things. If players don’t get that, [they] have no motivation to play. And in the national team, that has been one of the major obstacles. But I’ve tried to change their mentality, not to think about money now, but to look at the way forward, what they can also get from qualifying for the Cup of Nations. That is something that I’ve put in their heads, so their focus was not on the disadvantages…

1 Brahim DIAZ MOROCCO Morocco’s new superstar is the 26-year-old Real Madrid attacking midfielder, despite him playing (and scoring) once for Spain in 2021. Atlas Lions coach Walid Regragui courted Brahim assiduously before finally convincing him to switch allegiance, though it was agreed that he could sit out the last Cup of Nations finals, with his delayed debut for Morocco coming in a friendly against Angola in March 2024. He scored seven goals in just four games in the AFCON qualifiers between September and November 2024 and also helped Morocco to an unbeaten 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign. Regragui failed in another bid to entice Lamine Yamal but in Diaz, who has also spent time with Manchester City and Milan, he has a player of genuine flair playing at Spain’s other…

Momentum represents a huge factor in football, and it will be no different as European nations do battle in the 2026 World Cup play-offs in the spring. Group stage runners-up who ended their respective campaigns with a flourish should start the win-or-bust encounters with a marked psychological advantage; those who suffered late heartbreak or humiliation possibly have a mental mountain to climb. Take Wales. Buoyed by their 7-1 thrashing of North Macedonia in the final group game, Craig Bellamy’s side will be bursting with confidence when hosting Bosnia & Herzegovina in their play-off semi-final. And the same goes for the Republic of Ireland who, after claiming the scalp of mighty Portugal and winning in Hungary with a last-gasp Troy Parrott goal, will travel to the Czech Republic very much on…

Who were the best team in the National Women’s Soccer League in 2025? The answer is surely Kansas City Current, the team that wrapped up the regular season Shield with weeks to spare, creating new records for most points, most wins and most clean sheets. The team that produced the top scorer and five of the eight MVP nominees. The team that finished a massive 21 points clear in a 26-match season with a +36 goal difference. The record books though, despite the many new entries the Current made in it, say otherwise. The NWSL 2025 champions are Gotham FC, who beat Washington Spirit in the Championship match in San Jose. Kansas City? They didn’t even make the best four. Play-offs carry a considerable risk of failing to reward the…

1 ACOSTA’S BLUSHES SPARED Briefly an Argentina international in 2017, attacking midfielder Lautaro Acosta has spent much longer in the maroon shirt of Lanus. He started there back in 2006 and, after five years away, returned in 2013. Acosta has played more games than anyone else for the self-styled “biggest neighbourhood club in the world” and has been part of many of their titles, including the Copa Sudamericana win of 2013. He will retire at the end of 2025, and had the perfect chance to sign off in style. With the 2025 Sudamericana final against Atletico Mineiro goalless, Acosta came on in the119th minute, just for the shootout, and took the fifth penalty. If he scored, Lanus would be champions. It was a huge moment. With the adrenalin pumping, the 37-year-old…

Forge FC have dominated the Canadian Premier League (CPL) since its launch in 2019, winning the North Star Cup as league champions four times and reaching the play-off final on two other occasions. The 2025 season kicked off in April and when Forge began the campaign with a record 20-match unbeaten run – the first of their two losses came at the end of August – it looked like it would be seven out of seven CPL finals for the club from the steel city of Hamilton, Ontario. But Forge peaked too early and lost to Atletico Ottawa (owned by Atletico Madrid of Spain) 2-1 in the play-off semi-finals, and their reign of league domination came to a screeching halt. It has to be said that Forge’s absence from the…

MIRASSOL’S METEORIC RISE The last few years have been a whirlwind for Brazilian side Mirassol, who as recently as 2020 were playing in the fourth tier but are now flying high in the top flight. Tipped by pundits and fans alike as relegation candidates in 2025 (their centenary year), Mirassol exceeded even their own wildest expectations in their debut top-flight campaign by securing a top-four finish and qualifying for next season’s Copa Libertadores. Their rise can be traced back to the sale of Luiz Araujo to Sao Paulo in 2013. By including a 30% sell-on fee as part of the deal, they secured a windfall when the winger departed for Lille four years later and shrewdly reinvested the funds in professionalisation, infrastructural improvements and youth development. Ironically, in the greatest…

World Cup draw turns into the Trump show At the end of a dramatic afternoon at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., the 42 finalists and play-off contenders finally knew their World Cup fate. After hundreds of qualifiers, the tournament came into view. It was also the moment that the three host nations presented themselves to a global audience. Mexico’s Claudia Sheinbaum and Canada’s Mark Carney attended, even drew a ball, but the entire draw got a MAGA makeover – or rather, FIFA did everything possible to flatter US President Donald Trump. The line-up included Andrea Bocelli, who sang at the White House in October; NFL great Tom Brady and ice hockey legend Wayne Gretzky, guests in Trump’s VIP suite at the Club World Cup final; and the Village People…

More set-plays, less fluency; more target-men, fewer poachers How VAR has fundamentally changed the way that football is played Football is a complex game. An action taken in one area to rectify one issue will almost certainly have a knock-on effect elsewhere, which is why any change to the laws of the game should be undertaken with great caution. Take, for example, the introduction of three points for a win, implemented in the English leagues from1981-82. The theory, set out by Jimmy Hill, was that it would make football more attacking. In fact, it led to teams with a lead fighting harder to retain it: what went up was not the number of goals but the number of fouls and bookings. VAR, inevitably, has had its own impact. Discussion tends…

“This will be the first time that ‘The Red Wall’ – our passionate Wales fans – will experience a major international tournament on home soil. It’s a truly historic occasion”Football Association of Wales chief executive Noel Mooney confirms that Cardiff will host the first game of Euro 2028 TRANSFERS * LOANS * SACKINGS * HIRINGS * SWITCHES * RETIREMENTS Wilfried NANCY Highly rated for the entertaining brand of football that his Columbus Crew side played in MLS, Nancy was hired by Celtic five weeks after the resignation of Brendan Rodgers. Per Mathias HOGMO Perennial Bulgarian champions Ludogorets hired the Norwegian coach after a disastrous start to the season. Hogmo took charge with the team in fifth,11 points off top spot. Rudolph SPEID After Steve McClaren’s exit, Jamaica hired Speid for…

Brazil’s finest Flamengo become Brazilian and South American champions in the same week Back in 2019, Flamengo began the era of Brazilian domination in the Copa Libertadores, snatching two late goals to beat Argentina’s River Plate in the final in Lima. Six years later, the same city, and the same stadium, played host to another Flamengo triumph, as they overcame Palmeiras1-0 in the duel of the titans, the race to become the first Brazilian side to accumulate four Libertadores titles. Filipe Luis was the team’s experienced left-back in 2019. Now he was the relatively inexperienced coach, savouring the most important win of his young career. As Flamengo turned the Peruvian capital into a Pacific version of Rio de Janeiro, Filipe Luis spoke of his satisfaction at “increasing the mystique of…

When the last of the Galacticos, Kylian Mbappe, departed Paris Saint-Germain, Luis Enrique insisted that he had been replaced by “16 stars”: the starting XI and the five substitutes that he was able to bring on. That discourse was consistent throughout last season, frequently mimicked by club president Nasser Al Khelaifi. “The star is the collective,” Al Khelaifi would frequently proclaim. But it wasn’t just the “stars” on the pitch that took Les Parisiens to their historic Champions League success. The collective that took PSG to the European crown, the Ligue1 title for the fourth successive season (and at a canter), the French Cup, and the Trophee des Champions, included not just the players but the manager, the assistants, the sporting director and the medical staff. All played a role…

HONOURABLE MENTIONS Erling HAALAND Scored a record-equalling16 goals in qualifying to send Norway to their first World Cup since1998. Honourable mention to Troy Parrott, whose five goals in the last two games fired Republic of Ireland to the play-offs. Fiston MAYELE An extraordinary year for club and country – led Pyramids to their first CAF Champions League crown with six goals, then scored in the penalty shootout win v Nigeria as DR Congo made it to the World Cup play-offs. Timur KAPADZE Stepped up from assistant to lead Uzbekistan to their first World Cup after Srecko Katanec had to step down due to illness, then reverted back to his old role after the Italian Fabio Cannavaro was appointed. MARTA Her status as Brazil’s most iconic female player was already secured,…

“Did you dream of winning this Golden Boot since you were a child? Do you see it as the first of many? Of course. Since you’re a child, you always dream of scoring goals. I think every kid who starts playing football dreams of scoring – and doing it often. In the end, it’s a very important award and it makes me very happy, but everyone knows that team achievements are the most important. I hope to win another Golden Boot in the future but, above all, I hope we win the league. Since I won the Golden Boot thanks to my goals in La Liga, my goal this year is to keep going in the same way with the team. If we win the league and I win another…

“What are your impressions of the group you’ve been drawn into with Morocco, Zambia and Mali? It’s definitely a tough group because all the teams, including us, finished top of their qualifying group. That said, if we’re at the Africa Cup of Nations, we’re not there by chance. We’ll fight to the end. Which opponent do you fear the most? They’re all strong, each for different reasons. Morocco is one of the best teams in the world, not just in Africa. We’ve faced Mali twice and lost both times quite clearly. Zambia, by tradition, is always a strong side. There isn’t one opponent I fear more than the others, but I have full confidence in my players. In big matches they always rise to the occasion, so I’m expecting surprises…

The final round of 2026 World Cup qualifying in North, Central America and the Caribbean more than matched the drama elsewhere in the world, producing one tournament debutant, a long-time absentee returning despite not being able to play any games at home, and a high-profile managerial resignation. There was plenty at stake in the last game of each of the three third round groups. Three teams secured qualification for the final tournament, joining hosts Canada, Mexico and the United States as CONCACAF’s representatives at the first 48-team World Cup, while two more entered the perilous inter-confederation play-offs. It just so happens that the two best qualification stories from the region were linked by a shared home ground in the Curacao capital, Willemstad. The Ergilio Hato Stadium served not just as…

1 RECORD CHAMPIONS The League of Ireland’s most decorated club with 22 titles, Shamrock Rovers claimed their fifth domestic crown in the last six seasons. So dominant were Stephen Bradley’s side that they could even afford a late blip of three straight defeats before hauling themselves over the line thanks to a1-0 home win over Galway United in their penultimate league fixture of the season. Flora Tallinn, the most successful side in the history of Estonia’s Meistriliiga, struck gold for the16th time – though it was nip and tuck throughout, with closest rivals FCI Levadia breathing down their necks right until the end. Full marks to Flora boss Konstantin Vassiljev in what was his debut season as head coach. Once a fine attacking midfielder and captain of the Estonia national team,…

Forty-eight teams came together in Qatar to participate in the biggest-ever edition of the Under-17 World Cup. The expansion was a part of wider changes to the tournament format, most notably involving a shift from being a biennial competition to an annual event. FIFA’s desire to grow their footprint on the global match calendar – be it through the expansion of the senior World Cups or the introduction of expanded new tournaments like the Club World Cup – has been met with a degree of criticism. However, the change in the Under-17 World Cup’s schedule received a universally positive response from those involved in youth football. The reason behind that is simple: the biennial format left players born in the odd years at a disadvantage as they were less physically…

Nigeria v Ivory Coast 2023 AFCON final, Abidjan, Ivory Coast The Player of the Tournament at the last edition of the Africa Cup of Nations looks back on the final and how close he came to becoming a champion with Nigeria “AFCON is the pride of the continent. It’s such a competitive tournament that’s had so many different winners. I vividly remember watching Nigeria win in 2013 and seeing what that meant to the country. When I became part of the squad, I’d hear stories from Ahmed Musa and Kenneth Omeruo about how that impacted their lives. Reaching the final is the pinnacle of my career so far, but before the tournament I was even debating whether to continue with the national team. I’d fallen out with the coach, Jose…

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