GM football fans. It’s Monday, May. 19 - Fifa struggle to sell tickets for the Club World Cup, Ronaldo wipes the floor in athletes’ pay, and everything else you need to know. Forwarded this email? Sign up here.

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KEY RESULTS

FA Cup Final: Crystal Palace 1-0 Manchester City. Palace have won their first ever major trophy, and have qualified for next season’s Europa League–it will be their first ever appearance in major European competition. Meanwhile, City have now lost the FA Cup final two years in a row. Dive deeper into the match stats here.

Women’s FA Cup Final: Chelsea Women 3-0 Manchester United Women. The Blues have clinched an unbeaten domestic treble, having won the WSL and Women’s League Cup earlier in the season. This is their first Treble since 2021 under former manager Emma Hayes, while it extends their record over United, winning 14 of their past 16 meetings now. Read the match report here.

Results…

• Premier League: Everton 2-0 Southampton | West Ham 1-2 Forest | Brentford 2-3 Fulham | Leicester 2-0 Ipswich | Arsenal 1-0 Newcastle (Table)

• Serie A: Inter Milan 2-2 Lazio | Parma 0-0 Napoli (Table)

• La Liga: Barcelona 2-3 Villarreal | Sevilla 0-2 Real Madrid | Atletico 4-1 Betis (Table)

• MLS (results) | NWSL (results) | USL (results)

TOP TALKING POINTS

Fifa’s Ticket Dilemma 

Fifa has again reduced ticket prices for next month’s Club World Cup, introducing a new, lower-priced tier. The cheapest tickets for several group stage matches–featuring the likes of Manchester City, PSG, and Inter Milan–are now around $30 or less.

Fifa is reportedly betting on the US being a late-buying market for sports events. In any case, fans may receive partial refunds if prices for equivalent seats have dropped since their purchase.

In related news, The Athletic reports that Canadians and Mexicans “in the corridors of power” are becoming disgruntled with Fifa president Gianni Infantino. Neither country—co-hosting the 2026 World Cup with the US—had representatives in Doha when Infantino met with President Trump and the Qatari emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani last week. While it was not an official World Cup handover, it’s reported that the visit wasn’t received well.

Ronaldo Tops Forbes

For the third year in a row, and the fifth time overall, Cristiano Ronaldo is the world’s highest-paid athlete, according to Forbes. Over the past 12 months, Ronaldo earned an estimated $275m before taxes and agent fees. See the full list here.

Ronaldo’s total is $119m more than second-place Stephen Curry, whose $156m marks the highest-ever earnings for a basketball player, surpassing LeBron James’ previous NBA record of $128.2m. Amongst the top ten, fifth-place Lionel Messi and eighth-place Karim Benzema are the only other football players–earning $135m and $104m, respectively.

Combined, the ten highest-paid athletes earned $1.4bn, a slight increase from last year’s $1.38bn. It is also only the second time, after 2024, that every member of the top ten earned at least $100m.

Farewell, Goodison Park

Everton said farewell to Goodison Park, its home for 133 years, with a 2-0 win over Southampton in the Premier League. Iliman Ndiaye will go down as Everton’s final scorer in the stadium after netting a brace.

Goodison, which witnessed eight of Everton’s nine league titles, boasts many firsts in its history, including becoming the first purpose-built football stadium in England, the first with dugouts and the first to have undersoil heating. The club’s new ownership has reversed plans to demolish the ground and will instead retain it as the permanent home of Everton Women.

Everton’s new stadium will be named the Hill Dickinson Stadium, after the Liverpool-based legal firm secured naming rights. Reports suggest the deal is worth £10m per year.

Dive deeper into Goodison’s best Premier League moments here.

POLL

ON THE BALL

Europe

> Jamie Vardy reaches 200 goals for Leicester City on his 500th and final appearance for the club (More)

> Sporting CP have been crowned the Liga Portugal champions; striker Viktor Gyokeres finishes the season with 39 goals in 34 games (More)

> PSV Eindhoven won the Eredivisie title; Ajax gave up a nine-point lead with five matches to play (More)

> Harry Kane wins Bundesliga top scorer with 26 goals (More) | Borussia Dortmund have qualified for next season’s Champions League (More), and the club’s admin jokes about their qualification (More)

> Real Madrid have confirmed the signing of Bournemouth centre-back Dean Huijsen for £50m (More)

> Henry Ford’s great-great-grandson, Calvin, has completed the takeover of Scottish club Livingston, acquiring 100% of the club (More) | Rangers have confirmed Barry Ferguson will not be the club's head coach (More)

Americas

> Los Angeles FC and Club America will compete in a one-off ‘play-in’ game on May 31 to determine the final team at this summer’s Club World Cup (More)

> Philadelphia Union go top of the MLS Eastern Conference by goal difference following a 1-0 away win at Atlanta United (More) | Vancouver Whitecaps drop points but remain top of the Western Conference by three points, with a game spare (More)

> NWSL’s KC Current beat Orlando Pride 1-0 to stay top of the table; Pride drop to third and San Diego Wave rise to second (Highlights); Full NWSL round-up (More) 

> Toluca have advanced to the Liga MX final with a 3-0 home win over Tigres UANL (More)

Rest of the World

> Al Ittihad have been crowned Saudi Pro League champions over defending champions Al Hilal (More) | Al Nassr and Cristiano Ronaldo have failed to qualify for next season’s AFC Champions League Elite (More)

> The Central Coast Mariners are the women’s A-League Champions for the first time after beating Melbourne Victory 5-4 on penalties (More)

ROUTERS’ VOICE

Friday’s Poll: Do you think Player of the Season awards should go to players from teams that win the title?

🟨 🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ 🏆 Absolutely... (10%)

🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🙅‍♂️ Nope... (85%)

🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ✍️ Other... (5%)

Your punditry takes:

• 🙅‍♂️ N.A.W: “It should go to the player most deserving of the award, regardless of where their team finishes the season. More often than not a player on a good team will have better stats so they may be more likely to win an award. But individual stats should not be merited on team performance.”

• 🙅‍♂️D.J: “Plenty of players have an amazing season, but for lots of reasons outside of their individual control, they don't win the league. This award helps to recognise their efforts and improves transparency and perception of the league.”

• ✍️ E.W: “League winners will have stars, but if someone from mid-table scores 34 goals and 19 assists, who else could it be? No contest.”

EXTRA TIME

Why Crystal Palace can now have triangular corner flags.

Messi reflects on his rivalry with Cristiano.

Which PL teams are qualifying for Europe?

Chelsea unveil new home kit for next season.

Frankfurt celebrate UCL qualification at a petrol station.

Cristiano Jr scores his first goal for Portugal u15s.

GAME FACE ON

Question: Eleven players have scored in the Premier League for both Chelsea and Arsenal. How many players can you name?

Scroll below for the answer.

ON TODAY

Premier League

• Brighton vs Liverpool (20:00) (Sky Sports / USA)

*All times in UK. ET -5. CDT -6. PDT -8. MDT -7. CET +1.

Answer

Cesc Fabregas, Ashley Cole, David Luiz, Emmanuel Petit, Nicolas Anelka, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Olivier Giroud, William Gallas, Willian, Kai Havertz, Yossi Benayoun.

Want more? Try our daily football Wordle – guess the name of a current or former player in six tries. Play it here.