Innholdsfortegnelse for June 2024 i World Soccer

“With Marcus, I just feel that other players in that area of the pitch have had better seasons, it’s as simple as that…Hendo’s a fantastic professional. That was a really difficult call to make”England manager Gareth Southgate explains the omissions of Marcus Rashford and Jordan Henderson from his Euro 2024 squad “It’s something different to play every three days or four days during a tournament, so this is the last information that we took into consideration, that he is not ready for the Euros”Belgium head coach Domenico Tedesco explains the omission of goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois from his squad FRANCE One of the biggest surprises of all the Euro 2024 squad announcements was N’Golo Kante being recalled after last playing for France back in June 2022. PSG youngsters Warren Zaire-Emery and…

The rule of thumb suggests that most managers can survive around a decade at the highest level. There are some exceptions – notably Alex Ferguson and Valeriy Lobanovskyi – but they are rare. It’s an exhausting job. There is constant pressure. But it’s also intellectually demanding. A manager will have his approach but he constantly has to tinker with it as opponents get used to it and as the wider game evolves. Nothing in football ever stands still, which is why the tendency for managers to lapse into self-parody can be so damaging. It happened to Brian Clough, it happened to Arsene Wenger and it has happened to Jose Mourinho. Eventually managers are ground down to the point that they lack the capacity to ask what the best solution to…

“It’s my last year at Paris Saint-Germain. I will not extend and the adventure will come to an end in a few weeks”Kylian Mbappe finally confirms that he will leave Paris Saint-Germain this summer EUROPE TONI KROOS The Germany and Real Madrid midfielder announced that he will retire after the Euros. ARNE SLOT Liverpool confirmed that the Dutchman will replaceJurgen Klopp as their manager. MAURICIO POCHETTINO The Argentine manager left Chelsea by mutual consent at the end of the season. ROBERTO DE ZERBI The Italian stepped down asBrighton boss at the conclusion of the Premier League campaign. JULEN LOPETEGUI The former Wolves and Spain boss replaced David Moyes as manager of West Ham United. TOMMY DOYLE Wolves made the Manchester City midfielder’s loan into a permament deal for £4.3 million.…

“I doubt how much Rooney can give to the England team,” France defender Lilian Thuram told the English media in the lead-up to the 2004 European Championship. “He is very young – too young for such a hard competition like this.” Any remaining doubts that Thuram had over Rooney’s readiness for such a high international stage would have been eradicated 73 minutes into the first match of France’s title defence at the Estadio da Luz in Lisbon. The 18-year-old England striker had looked completely at ease throughout, despite sharing a pitch with the likes of Zinedine Zidane, Thierry Henry and Patrick Vieira, not to mention the more established members of the Three Lions’ so-called Golden Generation. His touch was immaculate, his passing precise and his physicality domineering. But with17 minutes…

1 RODRYGO BRAZIL Given his senior Brazil debut at the tender age of18, Rodrygo has been a great Brazilian hope for many years. So far in the national team, though, he has not quite taken on the burden of responsibility – the missed penalty in the 2022 World Cup quarter-final shootout against Croatia perhaps gave a hint that maybe it had all come too soon. But his time could be now. The squad is packed full of wingers, but if deep opposing defences are able to nullify their pace then patience and guile will be needed. Rodrygo could be the man to supply it. Such a gifted all-round footballer, with a clear capacity to think under pressure, it might be up to him to link the attack together. Capable of operating…

“You left Celtic in 2020 to join Inter Miami for their inaugural season in Major League Soccer. How did that transfer come about? I hadn’t really thought about moving to MLS. It wasn’t something that was at the forefront of my mind. It was just something that my agent brought to me and said that there was interest from Miami’s side in bringing me over for their inaugural season. I’d heard about interest pretty early, then it got to our Christmas break when I was in Dubai with Celtic at a training camp, and then it just went from 0-100 really quickly. What’s it like joining a brand-new football club? How do you build team spirit with a completely new set of players? I joined MLS at a weird time…

Until the last day of March, Emma Hayes had been hoping to sign off on a remarkable12 years as manager of Chelsea with the quadruple, something only previously accomplished in the English game by Arsenal in 2007, when she was assistant manager to Vic Akers. By the first day of May, though, it looked as if she would be heading to the US national team this summer off the back of a rare trophyless season. Beset by injuries, Chelsea had lost the League Cup final to Arsenal, the FA Cup semi-final to Manchester United and the Champions League semi-final to Barcelona, and a 4-3 defeat at Liverpool left them trailing Manchester City in the Women’s Super League with two fixtures left. Four days later, Arsenal’s Stina Blackstenius scored in the…

Hernan Crespo had a smile as wide as a Buenos Aires boulevard on May 25 as he lifted the AFC Champions League trophy. His Al Ain team from the United Arab Emirates had just defeated Yokohama F. Marinos 5-1 in the second leg of the final to take the trophy 6-3 on aggregate. “I am not a genius,” said the 48-year-old. “What is most important is the players. They played with great heart. Doing it in a final is not easy but the players did it. I am so proud to have won the AFC Champions League.” It was the second time the Asian crown had come to the UAE club and the second continental title Crespo has won after leading Defensa y Justicia from his home country to the…

There is a debate in India as to which is the better, or bigger, prize to win: the Indian Super League (ISL) shield, which goes to the number one at the end of the 22 regular games, or the ISL Cup. The latter is a knockout contest featuring the top six teams with two emerging to play in the final. Most go with the former, especially as the shield winners go into the Asian Champions League. That will suit Mohun Bagan, who dramatically beat Mumbai City in the final game of the regular season to move above them to take first. The roles were reversed in the ISL Cup final as Mumbai won 3-1. Both came so close to doing the double, but both can look back with plenty of…

In over 50 years, just11 editions of the OFC Nations Cup have been staged and this year’s event will be the first since 2016. Oceania’s premier international tournament was first held in1973, but struggled to become a regular event and all the early titles were won by either New Zealand or Australia. In 2004, the tournament became quadrennial and that was the last edition won by Australia, who joined the Asian Football Confederation two years later. Tahiti were shock winners in 2012 and qualified for the FIFA Confederations Cup the following year, but normal service resumed in 2016 with New Zealand edging past Papua New Guinea on penalties after a goalless draw. The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic led to the cancellation of the 2020 event, which was due to…

EUROPE 2023-24 CHAMPIONS LEAGUE Quarter-Finals – 1st Leg Apr 9 – London Arsenal (Eng) 2 (Saka12, Trossard 76) Bayern Munich (Ger) 2 (Gnabry18, Kane 32 pen) Apr 9 – Madrid Real Madrid (Spa) 3 (Dias12 og, Rodrygo14, Valverde 79) Manchester City (Eng) 3 (B. Silva 2, Foden 66, Gvardiol 71) Apr 10 – Madrid Atletico Madrid (Spa) 2 (De Paul 4, Lino 32) Borussia Dortmund (Ger)1 (Haller 81) Apr 10 – Paris Paris Saint-Germain (Fra) 2 (Dembele 48, 51) Barcelona (Spa) 3 (Raphinha 37, 62, Christensen 77) Quarter-Finals – 2nd Leg Apr 16 – Dortmund Borussia Dortmund (Ger) 4 (Brandt 34, Maatsen 39, Fullkrug 71, Sabitzer 74) Atletico Madrid (Spa) 2 (Hummels 49 og, Correa 64) Borussia Dortmund win 5-4 on aggregate Apr 16 – Barcelona Barcelona (Spa)1 (Raphinha 12)…

Save up to 56% Don’t miss this special offer… • Pay just £24.99 every 6 months* • Big savings – save up to 56% on the full price • Receive both the print and digital editions • You’ll also receive the World Soccer e-newsletter STAY INFORMED STAY INSPIRED. Receive both print and digital editions 3 EASY WAYS TO SUBSCRIBE: 1 VISIT shop.kelsey.co.uk/WSCEURO24 2 CALL 01959 543 747 QUOTE CODE WSCEURO24 3 SCAN THE QR CODE Calls charged at your standard network rate. Lines are open 8.30am-5pm Monday to Friday. Terms and conditions: *The £24.99 offer is only available for UK delivery, paying by 6 monthly Direct Debit. Savings are based on the standard cover price of £5.99 plus postage. For overseas rates, please visit shop.kelsey.co.uk/world-soccer-magazine. Overseas discounts are calculated on the…

51 Matches Bayer Leverkusen went unbeaten in all competitions, a run brought to an end by Atalanta in the Europa League final. 16 Years and180 days, the age of Everton’s Issy Hobson when she became the youngest goalscorer in Women’s Super League history. 66 Career hat-tricks scored by Cristiano Ronaldo after he netted a treble for Al Nassr against Al Wehda in the Saudi Pro League. 2 Times Australia will have staged the Women’s Asian Cup after they were awarded the hosting rights for the 2026 edition. 11 Consecutive years Bayern Munich’s Kingsley Coman had won a league title before Bayer Leverkusen’s 2023-24 Bundesliga victory. 104 Premier League goals conceded by Sheffield United in 2023-24, a new league record. 63 Premier League games it took striker Erling Haaland to score…

Nothing to see here. That was the message emanating from the 74th FIFA Congress in Bangkok. FIFA talked to itself through its press releases and social media channels, but no one in world football’s super-glued governing body dared an official face-to-face engagement with the outside media world. Hence, fans may have missed the event. Its debates and decisions did not make waves around the world, not even the sporting world and barely even the football world. This is partly because no debates of any significance took place. No FIFA president has ever enjoyed such power as Gianni Infantino Debates, under the presidency of Gianni Infantino, are not needed. After all, who would dare show any sign of dissent, particularly among the 70 per cent of national associations who depend entirely…

Ryan CHRISTIE (Scotland) The Bournemouth midfielder is living proof you can teach an old dog new tricks. Before this season, the 29-year-old from the Scottish Highlands had made his name as a cultured, inventive playmaker or occasionally an inverted winger. However, all that was to change last summer when new Bournemouth manager Andoni Iraola laid out his plans to use Christie in a box-to-box role at the Vitality Stadium. Ostensibly, it seemed a strange call. But what a success the Scotland international, fast approaching 50 caps, has made of his revised brief. While the classy touches, eagle-eyed vision and eye for goal remain, the former Inverness Caledonian Thistle, Aberdeen and Celtic star has transformed himself into a Marathon Man in the middle of the park, full of energy, commitment and…

GROUP A ARGENTINA (15 Copa wins, last in 2021) Might Argentina be about to discover that if getting there is hard, staying there is even harder? Lionel Scaloni’s team are reigning Copa and world champions and lead the field a third of the way through the qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup. A sense of renewal is in the air. This tournament marks the end of the international career of Angel Di Maria, scorer of the goal that won the last Copa and hero of so many big matches, while there is also the ongoing question of how long Lionel Messi will be around. Admittedly not fully fit, he was ineffective in November’s historic victory away to Brazil – and the prospect of building a team without him may well…

“You look settled now at Mamelodi Sundowns after two seasons at the club… It has been challenging. It has been tough, because it’s a massive club, but they made it easy for me to settle down. That was the most important thing, for me to settle as early as possible, as quickly as I could. Settling down quickly helped me enjoy and show my worth. What is it like playing for such an all-conquering club? It’s the attention to detail. They check for the smallest detail, that extra 0.01 per cent to make you a better player. That’s how we are at the club, always looking to do better, even though we’ve been winning and haven’t lost many times. We analyse everything. They ask us to watch soccer all the…

We look back at the big stories and talking points of 2023-24, provide analysis on Europe’s top leagues, and review the UEFA Champions League, Europa League and Europa Conference League finals. Plus, don’t miss our CONCACAF Champions Cup wrap-up; overviews of the Libertadores and Sudamericana group stage; reviews of Mexico’s Liga MX Clasura, Australia’s A-League and the Saudi Pro League; and the latest 2026 World Cup qualifiers across Asia, Africa and CONCACAF. Print £6.99 Digital £4.99 ORDER NOW shop.kelsey.co.uk/WSC24 Or Call: 01959 543 747 You may have missed… March 2024 April 2024 May 2024 Euro 2024 Special Also from the publishers of World Soccer Presents As Messi mania swept football, we were there every step of the way to track Leo’s epic journey. We assess the most famous teams the…

The end result was more predictable than ever as Auckland City beat their Tahitian hosts AS Pirae to claim a record12th OFC Champions League crown, but the earlier stages showed further signs of the gap closing. New Zealand’s grand final runners-up have now won the last three OFC titles and ten of the last12 dating back to 2011, but only won Group A on goal difference after being held 2-2 by Fijian side Rewa in their opening game. Auckland captain Cam Howieson put his team ahead before the game took a dramatic turn in a crazy six-minute spell. Two goals in three minutes from Josaia Sela briefly put the Fijians ahead, before Ryan de Vries equalised for Auckland in the 67th minute. The New Zealanders had to settle for a…

For the second successive time Uzbekistan lost out in the final of the Under-23 Asian Cup in May, with Japan winning1-0 in Qatar and taking the crown from Saudi Arabia. It was harsh on the Central Asians who had the better of a hard-fought match, but a fine 91st-minute strike from Fuki Yamada, stroking home from outside the box after a delightful backheel from Ryotaro Araki, settled the game. That wasn’t the last of the action though, as there was still time for an Uzbekistan penalty. The effort from Umarali Rakhmonaliev wasn’t a bad one, but Benfica goalkeeper Leo Kokubo guessed right and pushed the ball out for a corner and that was that. There was considerable consolation for the defeated White Wolves: a first appearance at the Olympics. The…

Measuring just 21 square kilometres, only the Vatican and Monaco are smaller than Nauru, which has a population of around10,000 that mainly plays Australian Rules football and rugby league. But that is set to change since the formation of the Nauru Soccer Federation (NSF) and with Kaz Cain installed as president. The catalyst for the NSF’s emergence lies in a meeting in 2019 between Cain and Gareth Johnson, an English travel agent based in Cambodia who runs Young Pioneer Tours. “We run a least visited countries trip that started in 2017 and top of that list was Nauru,” explains Johnson. “Everything in the Pacific needs to be done face to face and I met Kaz in 2019. Then COVID struck. We met again in January [2024] and he’s given me…

When Harry Kane reflects on his career thus far, he does so with a tinge of regret. As England’s all-time record goalscorer prepares to captain his country at the Euro 2024 finals, he looks back on the biggest games he’s played in… “I’ve been lucky enough to play in the Champions League final and a major final for England at the Euros, but they didn’t end as I would have wanted. When you get that close to something special, it is hard to come away and not get over the line and that may be why I look at other matches in my career as being the most memorable. It’s hard to pin it down to one match and I’d probably pick out three. The first would be my England…

Every so often, something happens in European football that makes the rest of the continent sit up and take notice. This year, that thing was Bayer Leverkusen. When we profiled their coach Xabi Alonso in our September 2023 issue, and then placed the focus on the club itself in March, it was with a degree of scepticism as much as admiration. As well as praising the Basque coach and his team, we wanted to pinpoint exactly when and how the wheels would fall off. After all, in a league that had been won by the same team 11 years in a row, it was surely only a matter of time before they were reeled in by Bayern Munich. The idea that Leverkusen might go all the way to the Bundesliga…

There are two names on the list when Pep Guardiola identifies the greatest influences on him as a manager. One, unsurprisingly, is Johan Cruyff. The other is Carlo Mazzone. Outside his native Italy, the likely response of most football fans to that name would be: “Carlo who?” Yet, in his own country, and for players like Guardiola, Andrea Pirlo and Roberto Baggio, there is no doubt: Mazzone is one of the legendary coaches. Mazzone didn’t win any big trophies, nor did he claim any personal prizes. But he does hold the all-time record of 792 matches as a manager in Serie A, working at12 different clubs between 1968 and 2006, and guiding some of the greatest stars of his day. When he died last year, Guardiola spoke with rare emotion…

IT’S COMING HOME (PROBABLY) ByJohn McNicoll (Pitch Publishing, £12.99) You’re almost there, 90 minutes away from a major final. Italia ’90, Euro ’96, Russia 2018. Or you’re in a major final at Wembley, just like the boys of1966. “It’s Coming Home” echoes across England. Surely the trophy drought is coming to an end this time. Except it doesn’t…and you’re back to square one. From Gazza’s tears in 1990 through to penalty heartbreak once again under the Wembley arch at Euro 2020. It’s Coming Home (Probably) is one man’s many years of hurt. WE’RE GOING TO WEMBLEY ByJohn Bleasdale and Neil Doherty (Pitch Publishing, £18.99) We’re Going to Wembley is the fascinating tale of how a team that were written off after failing to qualify for USA ’94 came roaring back…

“Some of the best moments I had with Wales and the goals I scored were because of Leighton. He was some talent…one of the best two-footed players I’ve ever played with or seen”John Toshack pays tribute to former Wales team-mate Leighton James Karl-Heinz SCHNELLINGER (1939-2024) Schnellinger was one of the world’s finest left-backs during his playing days, going to four World Cups in a row between 1958 and1970. The first of those came when he was only19 and had yet to play in the German national championship, but that changed when he was signed by Cologne after the finals. Four years later, he was named German Footballer of the Year as the club won their first league title, and took that form into that summer’s World Cup, earning a spot…

Ecuador was due to host the 2024 Copa America. Under pressure, it pulled out – probably for the best given the country’s explosion of drug-related gang violence – giving the United States the opportunity to step in. And so, for the second time, the Copa moves out of South America. Just like 2016, the USA will stage a16-team tournament, with the ten South Americans joined by six nations from CONCACAF. A sprawling tournament will take place in14 stadiums across13 cities – clearly designed as a test run for the 2026 World Cup, with eight of the giant stadiums also set for use in two years’ time. But there is no place for Boston or Philadelphia – two World Cup venues that were employed in the 2016 Copa – while Seattle,…

After a vote that was more of a coronation than an election, Brazil will host the 2027 Women’s World Cup, making it the second successive southern hemisphere women’s finals and the first in South America. The decision had been widely expected once the joint USA-Mexico bid withdrew18 days prior. Though always unlikely to win given the finals were sandwiched by the 2026 men’s World Cup co-hosted with Canada and the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, the late withdrawal suggested they had been given the word. That left only the joint Belgium-Netherlands-Germany (BNG) bid as Brazil’s competition, but rumours quickly spread that they were also wasting their time – and that seemed to be confirmed when FIFA’s evaluation report unexpectedly scored Brazil higher. Sure enough, the Brazilian bid claimed the win with…

There was an overwhelming sense of familiarity about this season’s Champions League campaign – not only in the identity of the winners, as Egypt’s Al Ahly won the title for the fourth time in five years, but also in the measured way in which they went about their business, again not overtly impressive in the group stage but still qualifying comfortably before surging through the knockout stages to take the trophy. They edged Esperance from Tunisia by a lone, scrappy goal over the two legs of the final, but it was a deserved success – their12th in total, extending their record as the competition’s most successful team, far in excess of the next best clubs, Egypt’s Zamalek and TP Mazembe of Democratic Republic of Congo, on five each. Captain Rami…

Argentina’s Copa de la Liga delivered a thrilling final, the drama culminating with Estudiantes de La Plata defeating Velez Sarsfield in a penalty shootout. For Estudiantes it was a second title in the space of a few months, having won the Copa Argentina in December. Coach Eduardo Dominguez now takes his place in the pantheon of the club’s legends alongside the likes of Osvaldo Zubeldia, Carlos Bilardo, Diego Simeone and Alejandro Sabella, although the 45-year-old dismissed any similarities to his predecessors: “It is impossible to compare me to Sabella,” he said. The club’s lineage was central to their success after over a decade without silverware: from the 2006 league title-winning side were captain Jose “The Prince” Sosa and Pablo Piatti, both back after long spells in Europe; from Alejandro Sabella’s…

CONCACAF qualifying for the 2026 World Cup will take on a different feel during this cycle. With the finals set to be co-hosted by Canada, Mexico and the United States, three of the region’s leading nations will bypass qualification altogether, opening up huge opportunities for the rest. Since the United States hosted the World Cup in1994, the USA and Mexico have only failed to qualify once between them, with the US missing out on Russia 2018. The absence of these two giants, as well as that of CONCACAF 2022 World Cup qualifying table-toppers Canada, leaves an unusual void in the region’s tournament this time around, which will be relished by the nations of Central America, the Caribbean and the CONCACAF countries on the northern coast of South America. With three…

Tournament warm-ups There is still time for some last-minute friendlies for those teams preparing for this summer’s major tournaments in Europe and South America. Canada have opted to ready themselves for the Copa America with a trip to Europe, lining up friendlies against the Netherlands in Rotterdam before travelling to Bordeaux to face France, while the United States will take on South American opposition in the shape of Colombia and Brazil. The Brazilians will also face Mexico in Texas as part of their Copa preparations. Elsewhere, Germany’s final game before hosting the Euros will be against Greece, Portugal will take on Croatia and Republic of Ireland, Spain play Northern Ireland, while England and Scotland’s preparations conclude at home against Iceland and Finland respectively. 2026 World Cup qualifying While Europe and…