GM football fans. It’s Friday, June. 20 - Juventus’ White House meeting, French football clubs are at odds over TV rights distribution, and everything else you need to know. Forwarded this email? Sign up here.
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KEY FIXTURE
Club World Cup: Flamengo vs. Chelsea, 19:00 / 14:00. Flamengo are coached by former Chelsea left-back Filipe Luis, who has made a remarkable start to his senior managerial career, having overseen 32 wins, 11 draws and three defeats in 46 competitive matches since he took over the reins last September. Chelsea have won nine of their last 10 competitive matches, with three clean sheets in their previous four outings. Flamengo are also in brilliant form, having won their last nine matches and have four successive clean sheets. See all Club World Cup fixtures here.
TV Channels: Channel 5 or DAZN (UK) | DAZN (US) | DAZN (Canada)
Results…
TOP TALKING POINTS
Juventus’ Presidential Meeting
Juventus players and staff visited the White House as part of their Club World Cup tour, where President Donald Trump asked for their views on transgender women in sport. Trump, who signed an executive order in February banning transgender participants from women’s sports, asked the players lining up behind him: “Could a woman make your team fellas?” Watch the interaction here.
Although Trump encouraged questions about the World Cup, the room was largely filled with political reporters. Juventus players stood behind the 45th and 47th U.S. president as he addressed broader geopolitical topics.
USMNT midfielder Weston McKennie, who shook the president’s hand during the meeting, criticised Trump in 2020. In the wake of the Black Lives Matter Protests during his first term, McKennie told German outlet Bild: “I don’t think that Trump is the right one for the job as the president… I believe he doesn’t understand the responsibility he has for the entire country. I think he’s ignorant.”
French Football Feud
A Senate-passed bill aims to reform French football by reducing financial disparity in the distribution of TV rights revenue. If approved by the National Assembly, the bill would enforce a more equitable split of broadcast income among clubs.
Reports in France claim that some clubs are unhappy with the proposed bill and have attempted to lobby against this measure. French outlet L’Equipe says that the bill is creating tension between big and small clubs in Ligue 1 and Ligue 2.
French Football Federation president Philippe Diallo has been accused of pushing the bill due to his “closeness with senators.” He’s also allegedly behind a proposed amendment to reduce professional players’ voting share at general assemblies from 33% to 25%.
Earthquakes For Sale
MLS side San Jose Earthquakes is up for sale, with investment bank Moelis & Co. appointed to manage the process. Sportico valued the franchise at $600m in January, ranking it 20th in MLS. It was also absent from the 19 MLS clubs listed among the world’s 50 most valuable football teams.
The Earthquakes, who share a football-specific stadium with NWSL’s Bay FC, had the third-lowest attendance in the league last year.However, despite having one of the league’s lowest revenue streams, the team’s value increased due to the demographics of the Bay Area and its collection of billionaires.
Owned by John Fisher since 2008, the club has reached the MLS Cup playoffs five times and won the 2012 Supporters’ Shield. The sale is reportedly intended to help fund Fisher’s share of the $1.75bn Las Vegas ballpark for his MLB team, the Oakland Athletics.
POLL
Should domestic league broadcast revenue be evenly distributed amongst clubs?
ON THE BALL
Europe
> Kylian Mbappe is in hospital with gastroenteritis after missing Real Madrid’s Club World Cup opener against Al Hilal (More) | Barcelona have reached a verbal agreement with Athletic Bilbao’s Nico Williams, and do not view the forward’s €60m release clause as an obstacle (More)
> The club-record transfer of Florian Wirtz is expected to be completed from Bayer Leverkusen to Liverpool on Friday (June 20) (More) | The PFA Young Player of the Year award shortlist has been released; Delap, Huijsen, Kerkez, Lewis-Skelly, Nwaneri, and Rogers (More)
> The youngest European manager is now former Arsenal assistant coach Carlos Cuesta, 29, who takes over at Serie A side Parma (More)
> Scottish Premiership 2025-26 fixtures will be released on Friday (June 20) (More)
Americas
> United States face Saudi Arabia in the Concacaf Gold Cup; the result will be decided shortly after publication (See Here) | Mexico have advanced to the quarter-finals after a 2-0 win against Suriname in Group A (More); see group stage standings (More)
> Argentina legend Hernan Crespo has returned to Brazilian club Sao Paulo as head coach, four years after leading them to the Serie A championship (More)
> Nominees for USL Championship’s Goal of the Week have been released (Watch)
Rest of the World
> A derby in Libya’s Premier League was suspended after fans stormed the pitch and a Portuguese referee was injured (More)
ROUTERS’ VOICE
Yesterday’s Poll: Are you confident with your team's opening fixtures for the Premier League 2025-26 season?
🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🥳 Yes... (61%)
🟨 🟨 🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ 🙅♂️ Nope... (35%)
🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ✍️ Other... (4%)
Your punditry takes:
🥳 J.D: “I expect Tottenham to get at least three wins from their first five games, but I don't expect much against Brighton and City. I feel confident that Frank will win over the players and the fanbase throughout the season, but I'm excited to see if he sticks to his word of the high-profile football he promises to play.”
🥳 J.L: “Playing at United, at Liverpool, at Newcastle and City at home in the first six weeks of the season will be a great test of what Arsenal does in the transfer window and the fitness of Arsenal's squad. But those are four very tough matches right off the bat. I always have great confidence in my side.”
🙅♂️ L.J: “No way. West Ham opens against newly promoted Sunderland, but at the Stadium of Light, and that is a game which the Irons can easily lose. Then they play Chelsea, Forest, Spurs, and Palace. At best, we will end up with 4 points out of 5 games. They could easily have 0 points.”
✍️ T.S: “Assuming Man United do the building they should do in the offseason, the first five fixtures should be relatively simple going’s if not, well…”
EXTRA TIME
Messi’s freekick winner for Inter Miami.
… and why he misses so many games for Miami.
Visualising the Club WC’s empty seats.
Trent’s Real Madrid debut analysed.
Women’s Euro 2025 team-by-team preview.
Club World Cup clubs by market value–highest to lowest.
Thomas Frank’s first interview as Spurs manager. (video)
Barcelona’s 25-26 home kit leaked.
GAME FACE ON
Guess the players, currently playing, by their career path:
RB Salzburg (2019), Borussia Dortmund (2020), Manchester City (2022)
Hellas Verona (2010), Napoli (2014), Chelsea (2018), Arsenal (2023), Flamengo (2025)
PSV (2011), Manchester United (2015), Lyon (2017), Barcelona (2021), Atletico Madrid (2023), Corinthians (2024)
Scroll below for the answer.
ON TODAY
Club World Cup
PSG vs Botafogo (02:00)
Benfica vs Auckland (17:00)
Flamengo vs Chelsea (19:00)
LAFC vs Tunis (23:00)
Concacaf Gold Cup
Saudi Arabia vs United States (02:15)
*All times in UK. ET -5. CDT -6. PDT -8. MDT -7. CET +1.
Answer
Erling Haaland. Jorginho. Memphis Depay.
Daily Wordle: Guess the football-related word, from player names to classic phrases, in six tries or fewer. Play it here.
When he started talking about politics and everything, it kind of like, I just want to play football, man.
