Innehållsförteckning för July 2022 från World Soccer

UNRIVALLED AUTHORITY ON THE GAME OF SOCCER. Don’t miss this special offer – just £2 per issue Pay just £12 for your first 6 issues of World Soccer – saving 67% Continue to Save 36% after your trial – save on newsagent prices! Never miss an issue with FREE UK delivery direct to your door • Our World Cup 2022 special will go on sale in October• You’ll get the expert guide to all 32 teams including squad pen pics, tactics, opinion & interviews• The bumper edition will also come with a massive World Cup 2022 wallchart Subscribe online now shop.kelsey.co.uk/WSCP722 or call 01959 543 747 quote code WSCP722 Calls charged at your standard network rate. Lines are open 8.30am-5pm Monday to Friday. *You will receive the World Soccer World…

Ecuador’s place at the 2022 World Cup could be under threat after allegations about the eligibility of one of their players. The Chilean Football Federation (FFC) demanded the investigation after claiming that full-back Byron Castillo used a false birth certificate to register for Ecuador. “There are innumerable proofs that the player was born in Colombia, in the city of Tumaco, on July 25, 1995, and not on November 10, 1998, in the Ecuadorian city of General Villamil Playas,” said an FFC statement. According to the FFC, the eight qualifiers that Castillo played in should be forfeited by Ecuador and their opponents awarded three points. This would see seventh-placed Chile leapfrog Colombia, Peru and Ecuador into fourth place and World Cup qualification. “FIFA has decided to open disciplinary proceedings in relation…

THE INSIDER So, in the end, the ill-conceived European Super League did serve a purpose, albeit not the one intended by the “dirty dozen” – Milan, Arsenal, Atletico Madrid, Barcelona, Chelsea, Internazionale, Juventus, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Real Madrid and Tottenham Hotspur. The panic induced by the chaotic launch in April last year drove UEFA and the European Club Association (ECA) to end their tedious diplomatic dance and nail down the Champions League of tomorrow. This means expansion. More teams. More matches. More money. The relentless march of grandiosity is common across all of football. FIFA’s World Cup has led the way, fattening up to 48 teams in Canada, Mexico and the United States in 2026. Hence UEFA, from 2024-25, will ramp up the Champions League group stage from…

Boubacar KAMARA (Aston Villa) The 22-year-old is as interesting for who he will not be playing for as who he will. After joining Aston Villa following the expiration of his Marseille contract, Kamara prompted disappointment from Atletico Madrid, who thought that they already had an agreement with him. So too did Senegal coach Aliou Cisse, who it was reported had reached an “agreement in principle” for the French youth international to join the African champions’ squad for this year’s World Cup, before Kamara instead accepted a call-up for France’s senior squad in June. Spanish media later reported that Atleti had, in fact, turned Kamara down rather than the other way round, after the youngster allegedly greeted sporting director Andrea Berta for discussions wearing shorts and no shoes. The veracity of…

After being beaten by Eintracht Frankfurt in the Europa League semi-finals, a crestfallen Declan Rice said: “Forget me, forget the lads, I only really wanted to win this for Nobes, to be honest with you. That was on my mind throughout this whole tournament.” From the man who has taken over the captaincy on many occasions this season, it was a clear display of how loved and respected Mark Noble is at West Ham United, who made his debut in claret and blue in a League Cup tie back in 2004. Following that game against Southend United, the then fledgling 17-year-old walked straight home from the stadium, having grown up in the shadow of Upton Park, underlining his status as West Ham through and through. The 18 years that have…

Decades before the arrival of the mega-rich Qataris at Paris Saint-Germain, the French capital was home to another football club that had their sights set on European domination. Under businessman Jean-Luc Lagardere, Racing Club de France recruited stellar names such as Enzo Francescoli, Pierre Littbarski and Luis Fernandez, and adopted a new name: Matra Racing, after Lagardere’s Matra conglomerate. It was a short-lived experiment. The club, which is the seventh-most decorated in the country, collapsed in 1989 and reverted to their previous incarnation. But now they are gradually rising back up the country’s football pyramid. Racing, who were Ligue1 champions in1936 and who have won the French Cup on five occasions, are set to benefit from a shake up by the French Football Federation that will see the country’s two…

It may not have been a great game, but it was a great occasion – and that is at least as important. There have been times when the Europa League has felt like a consolation, the competition the big teams don’t really want to win but will accept as mitigation for a poor season. Not this year in Seville. Eintracht Frankfurt and Rangers are not clubs already sated on European success. For both, reaching the final was a success, for their fans being there an adventure that might not be repeated any time soon. Predictions that as many as150,000 supporters might descend on southern Spain turned out to be exaggerated, but the city was still full. There were some violent clashes, but they were relatively limited and for the most…

JOSE MOURINHO (Roma coach) “Winning is very difficult. You need many ingredients. Our team has played 55 games. We reached the final being tired, but we kept it hidden. This is a fantastic group of players; that makes me emotional. We struggled in the second half; our opponents played well and they forced us to make defensive changes.” TAMMY ABRAHAM (Roma striker) “I said when I came here that I’m going to help my team get to the final and one day I want to win a trophy. In my first season, I’ve achieved that. Credit to my team-mates for excellent performances. We’ve deserved it; we worked hard all year.” CHRIS SMALLING (Roma defender) “We knew how much it would mean to everyone in Rome and you can see how…

“Karim, Ballon d’Or”, were the chants from the Real Madrid supporters inside the Santiago Bernabeu, with the striker applauding in response. He’d just scored what would turn out to be the winner against Athletic Bilbao to put his side seven points clear at the top of La Liga. The date was December 1, 2021; two days earlier Lionel Messi had been awarded his seventh Ballon d’Or, and the chants weren’t a celebration but an act of defiance. A protest against a result they deemed unjust. The France forward had just been involved in his 19th goal from his 14th league game of the season. In the eyes of the fans, the best footballer on the planet was standing in front of them. Real Madrid, looking to make up for their…

Despair and jubilation were oddly inverted at the top of Ligue1 this season. For champions Paris Saint-Germain, their tenth title (a joint record), underwhelmed. Dreams of Lionel Messi combining with Kylian Mbappe and Neymar to produce flowing, continent-beating football were never realised, while PSG’s latest Champions League capitulation to a 16-minute Karim Benzema hat-trick in Madrid defined their year. Often fortunate to snatch more points than they deserved, PSG never truly convinced domestically and were carried by Mbappe who became the first player to top both the goal (28) and assist (17) charts in Ligue 1. It was Mbappe’s strongest season to date. Aside from his prolific numbers, the 23-year-old played with unerring consistency and authority, and was usually comfortably the standout player in any PSG game, despite the illustrious…

Lyon meant business. That was clear from the moment the Women’s Champions League final kicked off on a steamy evening in Turin in front of a passionate, largely Barcelona-supporting crowd of 32,257. Pressing high and in packs they disturbed the customary élan and poise of the defending champions, penning them back, forcing mistakes, and scoring goals – three in the opening 33 minutes. That was, at least, an improvement on the last time the teams met, in the 2019 final, when Lyon were four up in 30 minutes. But unlike in Budapest it was completely unexpected. Since then Barca had beaten, well, everybody, including Chelsea 4-0 in last year’s final, Arsenal 4-0 and 4-1 in this year’s group stage, and Wolfsburg 5-1 and Real Madrid 5-2 in the knockout stages.…

1 Ella TOONE England How much of a role Toone plays for the lionesses at the euros is likely to depend on the fitness of Fran Kirby, but concern over the chelsea creator’s readiness is alleviated by Toone’s excellent form for club and country First capped in February 2021 – against Northern Ireland where she scored a penalty on her debut – Toone has been a regular under Sarina Wiegman, making and scoring goals as if a seasoned international. A tally of ten goals in her first13 appearances makes her extremely hard to ignore. A Manchester United youth player, she returned to the club when it formed an adult women’s team in 2018 following spells at Blackburn rovers and Manchester city, and has been a fixture ever since. The 22-year-old…

A tough group for Switzerland and Portugal, who find themselves paired with two of the top-five ranked teams in the world and the two best European finishers at the 2019 World Cup. The Netherlands, ranked fifth in the world, were finalists, while No.2-ranked Sweden came third and followed that up by winning silver at last year’s Olympics in Japan. The Dutch are the defending European champions and while they no longer have Sarina Wiegman at the helm they have the same squad core and a good coach in Mark Parsons, the Englishman who led Portland Thorns to considerable success in NWSL. Parsons only took charge of the Netherlands in September so has been trying to get to know his players and build for the European Championship while also pursuing qualification…

The impressive Seattle skyline loomed in the background as a record crowd watched the Sounders make history in the CONCACAF Champions League. It was a grand scene for a grand achievement. The Sounders became the first team from the United States to win CONCACAF club football’s top honour since the tournament was renamed in 2008, defeating UNAM Pumas of Mexico City in a two-legged, home and away final. Prior to Seattle’s triumph, Mexican teams had dominated the competition, winning the previous16 continental titles and all13 since it was reformatted. To put the achievement of Brian Schmetzer’s side into perspective, the last club from the US to claim the region’s biggest prize were LA Galaxy way back in 2000. On paper, 2022 always looked like a good opportunity for Major League…

LEAGUE A GROUP A Jamaica Mexico Suriname GROUP B Costa Rica Martinique Panama GROUP C Canada Curacao Honduras GROUP D El Salvador Grenada United States LEAGUE B GROUP A Antigua & Barbuda Barbados Cuba Guadeloupe GROUP B Bermuda Guyana Haiti Montserrat GROUP C Bahamas Nicaragua St. Vincent & Grenadines Trinidad & Tobago GROUP D Belize Dominican Republic French Guiana Guatemala LEAGUE C GROUP A Bonaire Sint Maarten Turks & Caicos Islands US Virgin Islands GROUP B Aruba Saint Martin St. Kitts & Nevis GROUP C Anguilla Dominica St. Lucia GROUP D British Virgin Islands Cayman Islands Puerto Rico…

(All kick-off times, if stated, are BST) Friday June 10 EUROPE: The Nations League continues, with Austria v France and Denmark v Croatia the standout fixtures. KOSOVO: England’s Under-21s travel to Kosovo for a qualifying match for the European Championship. The remaining qualifiers take place over the following week, ahead of next year’s finals. Saturday June 11 EUROPE: England’s clash with Italy will take place behind closed doors at Molineux Stadium as a punishment for fan disorder at the Euro 2020 final. Elsewhere, Republic of Ireland take on Scotland and Hungary face Germany. AUSTRALIA: Brazil take on Argentina in a friendly at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Sunday June 12 EUROPE: Switzerland take on Portugal and Spain face Czech Republic, while Scandinavian neighbours Norway and Sweden also meet. Monday June 13…

Well, there it is – another season done and dusted. No season goes by without any drama at all, but this one managed to pack plenty in, and nowhere more so than in the Champions League. It all seems so long ago now that Real Madrid were stunned by the virtually unknown Sheriff Tiraspol, as the Moldovan champions snatched a 2-1 victory at the Bernabeu. The journey of both clubs since that September evening goes a long way to illustrating how extraordinary a season this has been – both on and off the pitch. While Madrid went on to win the trophy in seemingly impossible circumstances, producing astonishing comebacks against the French champions, last season’s European champions and the English champions, Sheriff’s season was transformed in an altogether different way,…

In a landmark moment in the battle against homophobia in football, Blackpool forward Jake Daniels became the first player in the men’s professional game to come out as gay since Justin Fashanu in 1990. The 17-year-old only signed his first professional contract in February, and was on loan at non-league side Bamber Bridge last season. “Since I’ve come out to my family, my club and my team-mates, that period of overthinking everything – and the stress it created – has gone,” he told Sky Sports. “Now I am just confident and happy to be myself finally.” Daniels received overwhelming support from large swathes of the football community, who praised his courage, honesty and maturity.…

THE CUP By Richard Whitehead (Pitch Publishing, £25) For150 years the FA Cup has been at the heart of English sport. From Stanley Matthews to Arsene Wenger, Ronnie Radford to Billy the white horse – its heroes, myths and legends form the fabric of our national game. The Cup celebrates the story of the world’s greatest football competition with more than 100 stunning and evocative photos. THE LAST BUSBY BABE By Wayne Barton (Pitch Publishing, £19.99) Sammy McIlroy had one of the most memorable careers in football. After all, who else can say they played with George Best, Denis Law and Bobby Charlton, experienced relegation, won trophies and played under six different managers at Manchester United? With more than 400 appearances, McIlroy – the last player signed by the legendary…

IN EUROPE Aston Villa completed the permanent signing of on-loan midfielder PHILIPPE COUTINHO from Barcelona, while they also agreed a £26m deal for Sevilla and Brazil defender DIEGO CARLOS. Bayern Munich signed Moroccan right-back NOUSSAIR MAZRAOUI on a free transfer from Ajax. After winning League Two with Forest Green Rovers, ROB EDWARDS took charge of relegated Watford to replace the retired Roy Hodgson. Former Celtic skipper SCOTT BROWN began his managerial career with League One side Fleetwood Town. Wimbledon appointed JOHNNIE JACKSON shortly after he was sacked by Charlton, while Reading confirmed that PAUL INCE will remain as permanent manager. Former Sunderland and Bristol City manager LEE JOHNSON took charge of Scottish Premiership side Hibernian. In Germany, Wolfsburg hired former Bayern Munich and Monaco coach NIKO KOVAC, EDIN TERZIC took…

Robert Lewandowski has held onto the European Golden Shoe, having won it for the first time in 2020-21. Although the Pole fell short of last season’s tally of 41 league goals, a Bundesliga record, he was still comfortably ahead of his nearest competitors, in spite of the fact that the German league plays four fewer games than Europe’s other major leagues. With rumours swirling over the striker’s future, winning this trophy could be his final act as a Bayern player. The top five was completed by France forwards Kylian Mbappe (second), Karim Benzema (third) and Wissam Ben Yedder (fifth), and 2019-20 Golden Shoe winner Ciro Immobile (fourth). Norwegian forward Ohi Omoijuanfo finished sixth, netting 27 goals for Molde before Christmas, then adding to his tally after joining Serbian giants Red…

Sunk without trace in 2017, seasiders FC Koper were revived to claim three straight promotions, then take the title race to the wire this May. In Slovenia’s own mini-version of the final-day drama that played out in England, Koper had to go to midtable Bravo and win – and hope that leaders Maribor would slip up at bitter local rivals and last year’s champions, Mura. It wasn’t to be. Slovenia’s record champions claimed their 16th crown with a 3-1 win, while Koper were held to a goalless draw. Frustratingly for the runners-up, they could have gone into the last game without having to depend on favours from Mura. With the title in sight in the previous round of fixtures, Koper only needed to beat lowly Radomlje to open up a…

Hala Madrid, indeed. No denying their right to parade a record-extending 14th Champions League trophy. Victory over Liverpool in the Stade de France climaxed a sequence of footballing assassinations. They unleashed a minimum of shots against Paris Saint-Germain, Chelsea, Manchester City and the Reds and made them all count. Ruthlessly. Coach Carlo Ancelotti and his team turned club history on its head. Alfredo di Stefano’s original giants were demolished in 1964 by the ruthless hold-and-hit strategy of Internazionale. Now Madrid took “their” cup home by restraining magical Luka Modric, “Sir Toni” Kroos and Casemiro to smother and conserve energy while unleashing counter-attack precision. Karim Benzema ended the campaign with a remarkable 15 goals (44 in all competitions, a personal best) for a 34-year-old who had been written off years ago…

OLIVER GLASNER (Eintracht Frankfurt coach) “There is no next level, it’s impossible. This year started difficult, but the players kept believing in themselves, in what we told them, what we trained. That shows the character and mentality that they have. The spirit developed – today we had players who weren’t eligible for Europe but they were never negative, they were not selfish, they did everything for success. That’s why I wasn’t surprised that even when it was difficult, our fans were louder than Rangers’ and they pushed us forward.” GIOVANNI VAN BRONCKHORST (Rangers manager) “If you play in a final and lose it hurts. It went all the way to penalties and it’s a big disappointment. You’re so close to winning a trophy but that’s football. If you play finals…

There were 84 minutes on the clock and Mohamed Salah had just put Liverpool 2-1 up against Wolverhampton Wanderers, when an extra wave of celebration began to spread around Anfield. Aston Villa, it was said, had just equalised against Manchester City to make it 3-3, and Liverpool fans had the Premier League trophy in their sights. Except, they didn’t. Whether it was a false rumour or a misunderstanding that had gotten out of hand, the dream of Manchester City conceding again to hand the Reds the title was just that, a fantasy. In reality, Pep Guardiola’s side were still riding the wave of momentum that had seen them score three goals in a crazy five-minute spell – two from substitute Ilkay Gundogan either side of a cool Rodri finish –…

As relentless and voracious as ever, Bayern Munich recorded their tenth straight Bundesliga title, an achievement which, according to one’s viewpoint, can either be attributed to the Bavarian behemoth’s vastly superior finances and squad, or the distinct lack of strength in depth in the German top flight. In the 59th running of the Bundesliga marathon, the Bayern fraternity had plenty to celebrate. A glorious autumn in which the Reds struck a record 56 goals in the opening 17 fixtures; the team’s infallibility in big games, picking up 16 out of 18 points in their clashes with top-four rivals (in descending order, Dortmund, Leverkusen and RB Leipzig) and the goalscoring feats of star striker Robert Lewandowski, whose 35 Bundesliga goals propelled him to his fifth consecutive marksman of the year award,…

Porto’s imperious march to the Portuguese championship – the Dragons’ third title in five seasons with Sergio Conceicao at the helm – owed much more to the technical excellence, tactical astuteness and front-foot football than the vigour and hard running that had characterised the two previous conquests of the Primeira Liga under their firebrand manager. Previous incarnations of Conceicao’s league-winning sides were personified by the man mountains that were Moussa Marega and Tiquinho Soares up front, and efforts to physically overwhelm their opponents. This time around, the driving force of the team comprised Vitor Ferreira (aka Vitinha) and Otavio, two slender, slivery, clever midfielders whose performances were so consistently outstanding they both forced their way into Portugal’s senior team and could well feature in Qatar. Both players stand at just…

Ada Hegerberg’s return to the Norwegian fold adds spice to a group that otherwise looks very familiar. England, Austria and Northern Ireland are currently in the same World Cup qualifying group, England knocked Norway out of the last two World Cups, and Norway shared a Euros qualifying group with Northern Ireland, winning both matches 6-0. Northern Ireland have also lost thrice in 18 months to England, 4-0 at Wembley and 5-0 in Belfast in World Cup qualifying, and a 6-0 friendly defeat with a weakened team at St George’s Park. These results are unsurprising given the bulk of Kenny Shiels’ team are part-time, most playing in the domestic league and others in England’s second-tier Championship. However, since January they have had the benefit of training full-time thanks to support from…

Since the change of format in 2017, when the competition began to be stretched out over the year, South America’s Copa Libertadores has been almost entirely dominated by Brazil and Argentina – and this pattern was clear in the 2022 group phase. Twelve of the teams who go into the last16 are drawn from the big two. Both Brazil and Argentina have six representatives each. Of the favourites, only two had to break sweat. Corinthians of Brazil and Argentina’s Boca Juniors, who met in the final a decade ago, were in the same group, could only manage five goals each and were forced to chew their fingernails until the final whistle of the sixth game. Elsewhere, though, the big guns came up against little opposition. Palmeiras, champions in both the…

PLAYER OF THE SEASON Jake Brimmer (Melbourne Victory) The 24-year-old midfielder got seven goals and seven assists as he became the first Australian to be crowned the A-League Men’s best player in seven years, and the youngest since Mark Viduka was winner in1995. COACH OF THE SEASON John Aloisi (Western United) The former Socceroos striker overcame the odds to guide Western United to the A-League title, the first honour of his career after previous spells in charge of Melbourne Heart and, more recently, Brisbane Roar. RISING STAR Garang Kuol (Central Coast Mariners) The17-year-old Egyptian forward only made his A-League debut in April, and went on to score four goals in his first seven matches.…

EUROPE 2021-22 UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE Semi-Finals –1st leg April 26 – Manchester Manchester City 4 (De Bruyne 2, Gabriel Jesus11, Foden 53, Bernardo Silva 74) Real Madrid 3 (Benzema 33, 82 pen, Vinicius Junior 55) April 27 – Liverpool Liverpool 2 (Estupinan 53 og, Mane 55) Villarreal 0 Semi-Finals – 2nd leg May 3 – Villarreal Villarreal 2 (Dia 3, Coquelin 41) Liverpool 3 (Fabinho 62, Diaz 67, Mane 74) Liverpool win 5-2 on aggregate May 4 – Madrid Real Madrid 3 (Rodrygo 90, 90+1, Benzema 95 pen) Manchester City1 (Mahrez 73) AET. Real Madrid win 6-5 on aggregate 2021-22 UEFA EUROPA LEAGUE Semi-Finals –1st leg April 28 – Leipzig RB Leipzig1 (Angelino 85) Rangers 0 April 28 – London West Ham United1 (Antonio 21) Eintracht Frankfurt 2 (Knauff1, Kamada…

2 Two countries – Zimbabwe and Kenya – will not take part in the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers after failing to overturn their FIFA bans. 6 Mauritius will compete in the group stage qualifying rounds of the AFCON for the first time in six years after their preliminary round opponents Sao Tome e Principe were kicked out for fielding an ineligible player. 344 Number of games that it took for Pep Guardiola to reach 250 Premier League wins – the fastest manager to do so in the league’s history. 101 Yellow cards shown to Leeds United in 2021-22, a new Premier League record for a single season. 17 Teams that will take part in the 2022 Chinese Super League campaign after Chongqing Liangjiang Athletic became the country’s latest…

TECHNICALLY SPEAKING Everybody agrees Carlo Ancelotti is one of the most likeable men in football. His touchline demeanour is calm, his press conferences feel relaxed and his players clearly love him, as the various photographs that emerged of him on Real Madrid players’ social media accounts after this season’s league title was confirmed demonstrated. He is the only manager to win a championship in each of Europe’s top five leagues and he is the only manager ever to reach five Champions League finals. An indication, then, that nice guys can win? It might not be quite so simple as that. In the wake of Real Madrid’s league title this season, there was a widely expressed view that Ancelotti perhaps doesn’t get the credit he deserves. To succeed in five different…

Ivica OSIM (1941-2022) Bosnian Osim was a fine player, winning 16 caps for Yugoslavia – including playing at Euro1968 – and scoring eight goals; alongside a club career with the likes of Zeljeznicar, Strasbourg, Sedan and Valenciennes. Yet it is his managerial career that he is most renowned for. After leading Zeljeznicar to a UEFA Cup semi-final, he took charge of Yugoslavia in 1986 and four years later took them to the quarter-finals of the 1990 World Cup, where they were defeated on penalties by Argentina. His side may well have been a threat at the Euros two years later, too, but he resigned ahead of the competition after the outbreak of civil war and the nation’s eventual barring from the tournament. He went on to win trophies at Partizan…

In the end, Trabzonspor capturing their seventh Super Lig title was a question of when not if. Having been top virtually all season, the tangible reward was made mathematically certain after a 2-2 draw with mid-table Antalyaspor on April 30. The record books will mark this date as when Trabzonspor ended their 38-year wait for a league championship. It is only the second time in nearly four decades that the title has left Istanbul but, as with pretty much everything in Turkey, it is not that simple. In 2010-11 Trabzonspor missed out on the title to Fenerbahce by virtue of goal difference. Their opponents were later withdrawn from Europe by the Turkish Football Federation amid an investigation into match fixing. Trabzonspor took their place in the Champions League group stage,…

For the first time in their history, Sudtirol have been promoted to Serie B, the second level of Italian football, after topping Serie C with 90 points from their 38 matches, five more than second-placed Padova. Fussball Club Sudtirol is based in the city of Bolzano, in the South Tyrol autonomous province from which they took their name. Together, South Tyrol and Trentino form the Trentino-Alto Adige region of Italy, an area that was disputed by Austria and Italy for many years, while North Tyrol lies on the other side of the border. As a result, around 62 per cent of the population speak German as their first language, compared to 23 per cent speaking Italian, primarily in the two major cities of Bolzano and Merano. After securing promotion, Sudtirol…

CARLO ANCELOTTI (Real Madrid manager) “We deserved to win this competition in every sense. We had to dig in from the last16 until tonight and we never gave up. We managed the game very well. They found it hard to play behind us. When we kept possession better in the second half that changed the game. I think it is easier to win the Champions League with Real Madrid than another club because of the history and the fans’ connection. They are born with this passion. I am very pleased to win this trophy four times but I am even more thrilled to have come back to Madrid and to have had such a spectacular season. As for Thibaut Courtois, I can’t believe what he did. Unbelievable.” JURGEN KLOPP (Liverpool…

From Mourinho to Mourinho. The Italian football season ended on a massively positive note as Roma lifted the first edition of UEFA’s new tournament, the “third-tier” Europa Conference League, by beating Dutch club Feyenoord1-0 in Tirana, Albania, in the final. This, of course, is the first Italian club victory in Europe since Internazionale triumphed in the 2010 Champions League. Then, as now, the man who masterminded this anxiously anticipated triumph was the Special One himself, 59-year-old Portuguese maestro Jose Mourinho. Watching the chaotic scenes of post-match celebration both in Tirana and Rome (50,000 plus fans watched the game on giant screens at the Stadio Olimpico), you might have imagined that Italy had just won a fifth World Cup. The reality is that this has been a topsy-turvy12 months in Italian…

After a decade in the wilderness, Milan are back. When they beat Sassuolo 3-0 on the very last day of the season on May 22, the club was winning its19th league title, its first since 2011. The scenes of wild, all night celebrations by Milan fans that greeted their title win say something about the sense of relief. Significantly, for the second time in two seasons, “foreign” ownership has triumphed in Serie A. Last year, it was the Chinese electronics giant Suning, owners of city cousins Internazionale, who lifted the title. This year, it was the turn of US investment giant, Elliott Management, who have owned Milan since July 2018. After a decade that sawJuventus win nine straight titles, the pendulum would seem to have swung from Turin to the…

Ajax clinching the title means that the pre-season predictions came true. However, the manner in which they did it was far from comprehensive. Winning the league – for the 36th time – is always a joy, but this title was hardly convincing. Still, Manchester United-bound Erik ten Hag was able to say goodbye with his third consecutive title, but there were some controversial moments to overcome before eventually getting his hands on the trophy. Basically, Ajax’s season was a tale of two stories. Before the winter break they were on track for every piece of silverware available to them; soon afterwards, however, their cup hopes had been ended and they struggled to reach the finish line in the league. After some dazzling football and impressive results in the Champions League…

In April, giant table football figurines, of feminine design, were suspended five metres above London’s Carnaby Street. Once the heart of the swinging sixties, Carnaby Street is more of a tourist trap than an iconic address these days, but that perhaps made it the perfect choice to publicise ticket sales for the women’s euros, taking place for the second time in England. The stunt underlined how much the women’s game has grown since the previous hosting, in 2005. Back then, the competition was held exclusively within the traditional boundaries of the northwest county of Lancashire, more than 200 miles from the capital, which largely ignored it. it opened at Blackpool’s Bloomfield road and closed at Blackburn rovers’ ewood Park. England’s first match at what is now the etihad Stadium drew…

In the August issue of World Soccer, we take a first look at the World Cup with a special focus on all 32 qualified teams as we begin our countdown to Qatar 2022. Plus, don’t miss updates on the UEFA and CONCACAF Nations League campaigns, the latest qualifiers for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations and 2023 Asian Cup, and exclusive reports from Qatar, Cyprus, Brazil, Japan and Papua New Guinea. You’ll also find all of our regular features including in-house columnists Keir Radnedge and Jonathan Wilson, face to face interviews, World Service, Talent Scout, Global Diary and more. Print £5.99 Digital £3.99 ORDER NOW shop.kelsey.co.uk/WSC22 Or Call: 01959 543 747 You may have missed… SAVE10% when you spend £25 or more VOUCHERCODE: WSCSHOP22 Also from the publishers of World…

There is nothing more exciting for a club fan than to see their team breaking a curse – to leave behind a drought without titles and finally celebrate a victory on the most important of occasions. But when a second championship arrives, the feeling is different. It’s the certainty that the drought is over once and for all and that the good times are here to stay. That’s how Atlas supporters feel, the same ones who suffered for 70 years the ridicule of the rest of the Mexican fans and who, just six months after having won their first title in those seven decades, are celebrating again, having won two titles in a row for the first time in the club’s long history. Although it wasn’t as unexpected as the…

The first edition of the CONCACAF Nations League produced one of the most dramatic finals that any competition has seen in recent years, as USA and Mexico served up a five-goal thriller in Denver in 2020. Christian Pulisic netted the winning penalty in extra-time for the home side to seal the inaugural trophy, yet, for the vast majority of the teams involved, simply taking part was the reward. In Europe, the Nations League was partly introduced to stop teams playing meaningless friendlies. But in the CONCACAF region, the introduction of the tournament was for totally different reasons. Some members barely played at all, with national associations unwilling to divert funds into playing games that inevitably produced one-sided encounters and humbling defeats. The Nations League changed all that. “It’s brilliant for…

Lesotho’s 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying programme promises to be an arduous affair as the southern African nation is likely to have to play all six matches away from home. Lesotho have been drawn in Group H with Ivory Coast, Zambia and Comoros after beating the Seychelles in the preliminary round. Both of those games had to be played at neutral venues as neither side had a ground that meets FIFA’s stadia rules. Seychelles hosted Lesotho in Mauritius for the first leg, which finished 0-0. The return was at the Dobsonville Stadium in Soweto where Lesotho won 3-1 with a brace from Katleho Makateng and a goal from Sera Motebang. The win was a positive start for Serbian Veselin Jelusic, who beat more than 100 other applicants to the…

Romania 4 Yugoslavia 6 World Cup qualifier, 1977, Bucharest Before the modern, Qatar-owned era, Safet Susic was widely considered the finest player in Paris Saint-Germain’s history. Before making his name in France though, he was on his way to becoming a legend of Yugoslavian football – starting with a hat-trick on the road to the1978 World Cup in Argentina… “I must admit that I have forgotten many games and goals from my career. I guess it’s normal, as it was quite a long time ago. But that game against Romania cannot be forgotten. I remember everything, as if it was played last week, rather than 45 years ago. It was not a good moment for our national team. After two defeats in the first two games of that campaign [1-0…