FIFA has confirmed the 12 stadiums that will stage the inaugural Club World Cup in the United States next summer.

The Athletic reported last week that FIFA president Gianni Infantino had promised global broadcasters that the Club World Cup venues would be announced by the end of September. FIFA has not announced a broadcast partner for the tournament.

Infantino confirmed the full list of venues on Saturday evening at the Global Citizen Festival in Central Park, New York.

“Football is the most popular sport on the planet, and in 2025 a new era for club football will kick off when FIFA stages the greatest, most inclusive and merit-based global club competition right here in the United States,” Infantino said in a FIFA press release.

Lumen Field and the Rose Bowl are the only west-coast venues selected for next summer’s tournament. Lumen Field is the 68,000-capacity home of MLS side Seattle Sounders, NWSL club Seattle Reign and NFL franchise the Seattle Seahawks. The Sounders are one of the teams competing at the 2025 competition and are expected to play at least one game at Lumen Field.

Coming to the USA in 2025 #TakeItToTheWorld | #FIFACWC pic.twitter.com/ocAOgy87Fl

— FIFA Club World Cup (@FIFACWC) September 28, 2024

There are only two west-coast stadiums selected…

When Aitana Bonmati won the Ballon d’Or last year, it brought a global spotlight to a player whose genius was crying out to be recognised.

Even now, it would be hard to argue that there is a better female footballer on the planet.

Over the past 16 months, Bonmati has won the Champions League twice and the Spanish top-flight, Liga F, twice with Barcelona. With Spain, she lifted the Women’s World Cup in August last year before adding the inaugural Women’s Nations League in February. Her goals and golden touch make her a leading contender to win another Ballon d’Or this year. Those skills have also attracted interest from the game’s biggest clubs.

While rumours of interest from Chelsea and Lyon were growing, the midfielder was working with Barcelona to renew her contract — one that makes her the highest-paid player in women’s football history.

This week in Barcelona, she spoke in depth with The Athletic, just a few days after signing a deal until the summer of 2028.

We met at Barca’s sports complex on the outskirts of the city, in a small room in the media centre. She arrived at lunchtime, hastily explaining she hadn’t yet had a chance to eat after a morning of training sessions and meetings.

Now 26, this has been Bonmati’s routine for a few years now: non-stop….

Manchester City forward Khadija Shaw will miss Wednesday night’s Champions League qualifier against Paris FC due to a visa issue.

The Jamaica international was unable to travel to France for the first leg of the round two qualifier, despite efforts to secure the necessary paperwork.

While the issue has prevented her from featuring in the match, it is expected that there will be no further visa complications for future fixtures.

Shaw’s absence is a significant setback for City, as the 27-year-old has been one of Gareth Taylor’s most vital players.

GO DEEPER

Khadija Shaw: My Game In My Words

She was the Women’s Super League (WSL) top scorer last season, netting 21 goals in 18 games, matching Sam Kerr’s tally from 2020-21. Only Vivianne Miedema and Rachel Daly, with 22 goals in the 2018-19 and 2022-23 seasons, have surpassed that mark.

Shaw’s outstanding form earned her the WSL player of the season accolade, as well as the Professional Footballers’ Association and Football Writers’ Association Women’s footballer of the year awards.

City finished second in the WSL last season, with only the winners, Chelsea, securing automatic Champions League qualification.

(Naomi Baker/Getty Images)

Arsenal head coach Jonas Eidevall has called the UEFA Champions League qualification phase “a relic of the past” amid concerns about fixture scheduling in Europe and the Women’s Super League.

Eidevall’s side beat Rosenborg 1-0 on Saturday to reach the second round of qualifiers for this season’s Champions League group stages. The win was Arsenal’s second in a mini-tournament that included a 6-0 triumph over Rangers three days prior.

The turnaround for round two of qualifiers changes to a week, with fixtures played on September 18-19 and September 25-26. Arsenal, however, have their Women’s Super League opener against Manchester City sandwiched between them on September 22.

On making it into the draw for the second round of qualifiers, which takes place on Monday, September 9, he said: “That was massively important. We knew straight away that this was a really big test, playing two competitive games, the turnaround time is so short.

“Now we’re through it, I can say it’s lucky an English team will not have to play in these mini-tournaments again. For all the excitement that there is, it is a relic from the past. This is just done from a budget perspective, and that’s why they (UEFA) don’t even extend it to be played on Sundays. That’s why they cram it in…

The Premier League, EFL, FA, and Women’s Super League (WSL) have announced a new code of conduct for gambling-related agreements in football.

The code, which will be implemented at the start of the 2024-25 season, is designed to regulate gambling sponsorships across the professional game, emphasising four key principles: protection, social responsibility, reinvestment, and integrity.

A key aspect of the code is its emphasis on reinvestment. Revenue generated from gambling sponsorships must be redirected into football-related infrastructure and community programmes. This includes improvements to stadiums and training facilities, as well as investments in grassroots football and local community participation.

Under the new code, gambling sponsorships will also be required to target their marketing efforts more carefully to avoid reaching children and individuals at risk of gambling-related harm. Additionally, any gambling-related sponsorship must include educational initiatives and awareness campaigns designed to promote responsible gambling practices.

GO DEEPER

‘Some players bet on football – they know it’s breaking the rules but still do it’

The importance of maintaining the integrity of football competitions is also stressed in the code, adding that gambling sponsorships must…

The Champions League final is the biggest club game on the calendar and the climax of the football season.

On June 1, Real Madrid, the 14-time winners of Europe’s elite club competition, will play German club Borussia Dortmund at Wembley Stadium in London. According to UEFA, the game will be shown in more than 200 territories and will reach 450million people worldwide, with an estimated global average viewership of around 145m.

The most ardent of football supporters, be it in the United States or the United Kingdom, will devour any match if it is on TV, whether that is the Premier League, Ligue 1, Major League Soccer (MLS) or the Women’s Super League (WSL).

Fortunately for fans, most games are now available on TV — but just how much do those in the U.S. and the UK pay to tune in?

As part of TNT Sports’ deal with UEFA, the broadcaster has to make the Champions League final free to view in the UK, giving supporters a small reprieve from the monthly costs associated with watching football on TV.

Regular fixtures, however, are seldom made available for free, and following your team on TV, or another league, is not cheap.

For the figures in this article, the platform’s baseline cost is not factored in. For example, the cost of basic cable in the U.S. is not included in the…

Alexia Putellas took a left-footed shot and after she saw the ball go in, she took off her shirt in an act that came from her soul.

She ran towards the right corner, straight towards her fans. She started screaming, venting all her rage. It was an uncharacteristic act for Putellas, who tends to play with a captain’s composure.

But she needed it. She went to the stands and bowed, evoking memories of the first Clasico that Barcelona women played at Camp Nou in front of 90,000 fans. Lucy Bronze picked up the shirt that Putellas had thrown away and showed it to the crowd.

Aitana Bonmati was the first to embrace Putellas. She had scored Barcelona’s opener in the 63rd minute, advancing past Lyon defender Vanessa Gilles after a great assist from Mariona Caldentey.

It felt fitting; the last two winners of the Ballon d’Or, Putellas and Bonmati, making the difference in the most important match in Barcelona’s history. The relationship between the two has experienced some low moments, so the fact that Bonmati was the first to hug Putellas was significant.

“Alexia and Aitana are FC Barcelona’s heritage,” Xavi Puig, the Barcelona board member in charge of the women’s team,…

Barcelona beat Lyon 2-0 in the Women’s Champions League final, roared on by 40,000 fans in the northern Spanish city of Bilbao, to complete a magnificent 2023-24 quadruple and win this competition for the third time in four years. 

Aitana Bonmati put them ahead in the 63rd minute after linking brilliantly with Mariona Caldentey, and Lyon could find no way past goalkeeper Cata Coll. Ada Hegerberg, who has only just returned from two months lost to injury, had a chance to draw Lyon level in the closing stages but the top-scoring player in tournament history could only head Selma Bacha’s excellent cross over the crossbar. And then up stepped Alexia Putellas, a 92nd-minute substitute, to put the result beyond doubt with a powerful finish from close range.

Charlotte Harpur, Michael Cox and Laia Cervello Herrero analyse the key talking points from the San Mames stadium…

---

A changing of the guard?

Barcelona had never beaten Lyon, ever. This victory also means they have now won three of the past four Women’s Champions League finals. There is no denying Lyon’s dominance on the European stage, eight Champions League titles since 2011 is frankly ridiculous and pales in comparison to Barca’s total of three.

From 2016 to 2020, Lyon won five in a row but it was Barcelona who…

When Barcelona lost the 2022 Women’s Champions League final to Lyon, one player’s face stood out among her team-mates’ anguished expressions.

Aitana Bonmati took her silver medal, gave it a kiss and went to thank the travelling Barca fans. As she applauded those supporters, she made a promise to them: “We’ll be back.” Sure enough, the next year, Barcelona won their second Champions League title with a fine comeback against Wolfsburg.

After Barca lost the first leg of this season’s Champions League semi-final at home against Chelsea, Bonmati once again fronted up to the media. The midfielder was angry about how Emma Hayes’ visiting side had played, especially when it came to running the clock down to protect their 1-0 lead.

“To me, that’s playing dirty,” she said. Her anger was shared by Barcelona’s staff and fans.

It produced a similar result. With a player of the match performance in Saturday’s second leg at Stamford Bridge, Bonmati carried Barca to their fourth consecutive Champions League final and fifth in six years. She levelled the tie with her 25th-minute goal and won the penalty from which Fridolina Rolfo sealed the win with 15 minutes of the 90 to go.

GO DEEPER

Aitana Bonmati exclusive interview: ‘There’s no hiding. It’s what comes naturally to…