GM football fans. It’s Tuesday, Dec. 16 - FIFA’s Best Awards will be announced today, AFCON’s pre-tournament projections, and everything else you need to know. Forwarded this email? Sign up here.
KEY FIXTURE
English League Cup, Quarter-Final (Dec 16): Cardiff vs. Chelsea, 20:00 GMT / 15:00 ET. Although underdogs, Cardiff will go into the fixture with some confidence as they sit at the top of League One with six wins in seven and are on a four-game win streak across all competitions. Cardiff's last win over Chelsea coincidentally also came in the League Cup, but that was all the way back in 1986. Since then, the Blues have prevailed in each of their last five meetings. See the remaining EFL Cup quarter-final fixtures here.
Results…
TOP TALKING POINTS
The Best Awards
The winners of The Best Fifa Football Awards 2025 will be revealed on Tuesday (Dec 16) at 12:00 ET / 17:00 GMT. The ceremony will announce the Best Player awards, as well as the winners for 2025's best coach, goalkeeper, and the top goals in both the men's and women's categories. Dive deeper into who decides the award winners here.
Ousmane Dembele and Lamine Yamal lead the 11 nominees for the men's award, having finished first and second at September’s Ballon d’Or ceremony, respectively. Dembele is joined on the shortlist by three Paris Saint-Germain colleagues in Achraf Hakimi, Nuno Mendes, and Vitinha. Elsewhere, Harry Kane, Kylian Mbappe, Cole Palmer, Pedri, Raphinha, and Mohamed Salah make up the rest of the shortlist–dive deeper into each player’s season here.
For the women’s prize, Aitana Bonmati is widely considered the front-runner after she scooped up the Ballon d’Or three months ago. She’s one of five players from Barcelona on the shortlist. WSL players are well represented on the list, with Arsenal and Chelsea providing eight nominees, including Ballon d'Or runner-up Mariona Caldentey, Chloe Kelly, and Lucy Bronze. See the women’s shortlist here.
The awards will also reveal the winners of the Puskas and Marta awards for the year’s best goal for the men’s and women’s game. See every goal nominated for the Puskas award here and Marta award here.
AFCON Projections
The African Cup of Nations hosts Morocco are 19.2% favourites to win the tournament, according to Opta’s prediction model. Morocco are on an 18-game winning run, taking the international record that had been held by Spain since 2009 (15). They have scored 50 goals during this streak, only conceding four. Plus, they boast the 2025 African Player of the Year in Achraf Hakimi.
Egypt, who have won seven Afcon tournaments, are given a 12.4% chance. Despite winning the most Afcon titles, they have gone seven editions without lifting the trophy and have been beaten in the final in both 2017 and 2021. It’s Mohamed Salah’s fifth Afcon, and with seven goals in 19 games, he is five goals away from Hassan El-Shazly’s Egyptian record at the tournament.
Senegal (12.3%) and Algeria (12%) trail closely behind Egypt in the projections. Meanwhile, defending champions Cote d’Ivoire are given a slightly less favourable 6.7% chance due to their chaotic road to the trophy in 2023. They reached the last 16 as the fourth-best third-place finishers, and a mid-tournament management replacement led them to the trophy.
See all the Afcon fixtures here.
Toluca’s Liga MX Victory
Toluca won their second straight Mexican league title after beating Tigres UANL 9-8 in a penalty shootout, after the two-legged Apertura tournament final ended 2-2 on aggregate. With this win, Toluca claimed their 12th league championship, tying them with Chivas for the second-most championships in Liga MX history—only behind Club America’s 16.
The win caps a historic 2025 for Toluca. The club secured first-place finishes in the regular season for both the Clausura 2025 and Apertura 2025, followed by playoff victories in both tournaments. They’re the first club to complete a perfect year in the era of short tournaments, topping the table and lifting the trophy in back-to-back seasons. Dive deeper into why Mexico’s league is split into two seasons here.
Toluca's success is widely attributed to heavy investment in players and infrastructure, including the establishment of the first player care department in Liga MX. Some analysts claim that the traditional “Big Four” in Mexico—America, Chivas, Cruz Azul, and Pumas—is now effectively a “Big Five,” signalling a major shift in the country’s club landscape.
POLL
Do you think individual awards are important to the game?
ON THE BALL
Europe
> The man who ploughed a car into Liverpool fans at a Premier League victory parade "lost his temper in his desire to get to where he wanted to get to" and "intended to cause people within the crowd serious harm", his sentencing hearing was told (more)
> Tottenham manager Thomas Frank has been given the backing of the club following discussions at the top (More)
> Steve Clarke plans to see if Harvey Barnes will switch allegiance to play for Scotland at the World Cup (More) | Kilmarnock have sacked manager Stuart Kettlewell following a 10-match winless run, including eight defeats (More)
> Former Arsenal defender Takehiro Tomiyasu is set to join Eredivisie side Ajax with a contract valid until June 2026 (More)
Americas
> The Brazilian Football Confederation is in advanced talks with men’s head coach Carlo Ancelotti over extending his contract through to 2030 (More)
> Former Real Madrid and Tottenham defender Sergio Reguilon is joining MLS Cup champions Inter Miami (More) | Former U.S. captain Michael Bradley has become the New York Red Bulls’ 21st coach in 31 seasons, taking the job his father held two decades ago (More)
> Goalkeeper Casey Murphy has signed one of the most lucrative guaranteed deals for a goalkeeper in NWSL history with Boston Legacy FC, worth $1.5m (More)
> Canada’s top-flight women’s league, the Northern Super League, has appointed Tyler Kurz as Vice President, Club and League Services (More)
Rest of the World
> Brendan Rodgers has become the new manager of Saudi Pro League side Al Qadsiah (More)
ROUTERS’ VOICE
Yesterday’s Poll: Does it matter what managers wear on the sideline?
🟨 🟨 🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ 👔 Yes (27%)
🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🙅♂️ Nope (71%)
🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ✍️ Other (2%)
Your punditry takes:
👔 D.M: “I’ve seen this casualisation trend in the NBA, and it’s terrible. You’re going to work on an important, high-profile job. You’re not there to play the game. Dress the part.”
🙅♂️ M.B: “What managers choose to wear on the sidelines reflects their approach to each match - some matches need hands-on attention from the manager, so track suits fit that occasion. Some matches call for less technical management and a more powerful leader presence, where a suit or jacket is appropriate. The best coaches know the difference.”
🙅♂️ D.J: “During a game, a manager is there to provide motivation, tactical instruction, and overall game management. None of this necessitates any particular clothes or 'uniform'; in fact, the only clothing requirement really should be what feels comfortable. A manager's success (or failure) will never come down to what they're wearing.”
✍️ M.B: “I love that each manager shows off his or her own style. While I'm more a fan of the business-casual Pep than the tracksuit Nuno, each manager should be able to choose.”
EXTRA TIME
The price of each World Cup match.
How the Bosman rule changed football–30 years on.
Cameroon names two Afcon squads as manager refuses sack.
What's gone wrong of late at Celtic?
The Premier League’s biggest game changers. (stats)
Why Roy Keane is underrated.
U.S. soccer’s new mascot is called Banner.
Uruguay’s Black Panther-inspired World Cup kit.
GAME FACE ON
Question: What do the following managers have in common?
Jose Mourinho. Rafael Benitez. Giovanni Trapattoni. Louis van Gaal. Bob Paisley.
Scroll below for the answer.
Daily Wordle: Guess the football-related word, from player names to classic phrases, in six tries or fewer. Play it here.
We must have had 99% of the game. It was the other three percent that cost us the match.
Answer
They’ve won the Champions League (or European Cup) and Europa League (or Uefa Cup) as managers.
