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GM football fans. It’s Monday, July. 14 - Crystal Palace plan to appeal their demotion from the Europa League, mandatory rest periods for players will be introduced, and everything else you need to know. Forwarded this email? Sign up here.
KEY RESULTS
Club World Cup final: Chelsea 3-0 Paris Saint-Germain. Chelsea are the fifth team, and first from England, to win multiple Club World Cup titles. Cole Palmer, who recorded two goals and an assist, becomes the second Chelsea player in the Premier League to record multiple goal contributions in multiple finals, after Didier Drogba. Around 81,118 people were in attendance, including U.S. President Donald Trump, as Chelsea took their earnings to about $125m (£90m) for participating in and winning the tournament. Read the full match report here.
Results…
TOP TALKING POINTS
Palace Appeal Against Demotion
Crystal Palace have been demoted to the Conference League next season, as American businessman John Textor owns a stake in the Eagles and is the majority owner of French club Lyon, who have also qualified for the Europa League. The FA has reportedly written to Uefa in support of reinstating Palace in the Europa League following the club’s expulsion for breaking multi-club ownership rules.
Uefa set a deadline of 1 March 2025 to show proof of multi-club ownership restructuring, a deadline which Palace missed. Nottingham Forest, who could take Palace’s spot in the competition, put their owner’s shares in a blind trust before the deadline to ensure they would be able to join Olympiakos, another of Evangelos Marinakis’ clubs, in the Champions League in case they qualified.
Palace are now expected to appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), sport’s highest court. The South London club’s chances of winning an appeal could be boosted as Textor’s sale to fellow American businessman Woody Johnson was approved by the Premier League last week, though it’s yet to be publicly announced.
Mandatory Rest Introduced
Mandatory rest periods will now be implemented to protect players following an agreement made between Fifa and players’ union FIFPro. The breakthrough came during a meeting in New York over the weekend, where both sides agreed on the urgent need to introduce standardised breaks for players.
Players will now be guaranteed a minimum 72-hour gap between matches and a three-week continuous rest period during the off-season. In the 2023-2024 season, England recorded the highest number of domestic back-to-back matches among top European leagues, with Premier League clubs averaging the shortest recovery time of 67.3 hours between games.
In related news, Real Madrid’s request to postpone their opening match of the new season to allow more rest time for their players has been denied. Madrid were knocked out of the Club World Cup on Wednesday, 40 days before their league opener against Osasuna. Spain is one of the only countries to already guarantee three weeks of uninterrupted holiday per year, leaving Madrid with just 18 days for pre-season—six to eight weeks is the norm.
WC26 Indoor Stadiums
Fifa has promised to use stadiums with roofs and air-conditioning during the 2026 World Cup after criticism of the heat during the Club World Cup in the United States. There are 16 total venues for the competition, across Canada, Mexico, and the USA, but only four of the 16 currently have both roofs and air conditioning.
During the Club World Cup, players’ unions stated that at least three matches should have been postponed or delayed due to heat concerns. This included Chelsea’s semi-final with Fluminense, which saw the temperature rise to 96°F (35.5 °C) at kick-off. It led to midfielder Enzo Fernandez urging Fifa to reassess the schedule for next year's World Cup, saying the heat made him "dizzy" and was "very dangerous."
Speaking on multiple topics in Manhattan, Fifa president Gianni Infantino called the Club World Cup a huge financial success, claiming the revamped 32-team tournament generated over $2bn in revenue—about $33m per match. He also said Fifa sold 2.5 million tickets, averaging 40,000 per match. Dive deeper into whether the format has been successful or not here.
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POLL
Do you think Crystal Palace should have been demoted from the Europa League for missing Uefa's restructuring deadline?
ON THE BALL
Europe
> England go through to the knockout stage of the Uefa Women’s Euro 2025 following a 6-1 rout of Wales; France top the group, Group D, with a 5-2 win over the Netherlands (Group Standings)
> Liverpool have officially retired the number 20 shirt across all levels of the club in memory of Diogo Jota (More); see a list of other retired shirt numbers (More) | Qatari private investors have bought 100% of Dagenham & Redbridge, a club in England’s sixth tier (More)
> Viktor Gyokres, linked with Arsenal, is facing disciplinary action by Sporting CP for not reporting to pre-season training (More)
> Santi Carzola, 40, has signed a contract extension with La Liga side Real Oviedo after helping the club reach Spain’s top flight for the first time in 24 years (More)
Americas
> Lionel Messi extends his MLS record with another brace in Inter Miami’s 2-1 win over Nashville, making it five successive matches that he’s scored 1+ goal (More); See MLS results (More)
> Liga MX Apertura kicked off this weekend (See Standings); Pachuca vs. Monterrey & Leon vs. Atletico de San Luis to conclude shortly after publication (See Results)
> A Canadian Football League game between the Saskatchewan Roughriders and Calgary Stampeders in Regina was rescheduled due to poor air quality caused by heavy smoke from wildfires (More)
> USL Championship Eastern Conference leaders Charleston Battery beat New Mexico United and now have a one point lead over Louisville City, who have a game in hand (More) | A 90+5 minute winner from Luke Haakenson gave Western Conference leaders San Antonio FC the win over Tampa Bay Rowdies (More); see conference standings (More)
Rest of the World
> India’s top-flight league has been suspended as negotiations for a contract renewal with their commercial partners have stalled (More)
> Roberto Firmino is set to leave Saudi Pro League side Al Ahli to join Qatari side Al Sadd (More)
ROUTERS’ VOICE
Friday’s Poll: Has the Club World Cup been a success in your view?
🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 👏 Yes (54%)
🟨 🟨 🟨 🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ 🙅♂️ Nope (39%)
🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ✍️ Other (7%)
Your punditry takes:
👏 K.F: “Some of the best clubs in the world have come with the best players and played in some very competitive football. As a viewer of many of the games, it was very successful.”
👏 D.F: “The knock-out matches have been very exciting and somewhat unpredictable. Plus, it’s great to see global teams face each other in meaningful matches.”
🙅♂️ J.P: “Not at all. Mostly empty stadiums, viewing numbers most likely not great and teams whose seasons will probably now differ as a result of no rest. However, no doubt Fifa will fleece fans and say it was a resounding success and start cherry-picking teams for the 2029 tournament. The teams playing are not the best teams in the world, far from it in some cases.”
✍️ W.N: “I'm not sure if the first edition of the World Cup or any tournament was fully embraced from the get-go. This could grow to be an important competition over time. It's clear this means a lot to teams outside of Europe, seeing how Brazilians and Argentinians have travelled in large numbers, even for Japan and the North African teams, and this is their chance to showcase against the Europeans.”
EXTRA TIME
Liverpool & Preston honour Jota in a pre-season friendly.
Fifa debuts its new anthem...
… and Cucurella’s half-time interview during the CWC final.
Player sent off for throwing ball at fan.
Which PL clubs are racking up the air miles?
Pep Guardiola really loves Oasis.
Snoop Dogg unveils Swansea City’s new kit.
The 20 best free kicks of all time—ranked.
GAME FACE ON
Question: Seven players have registered more than 100 goal contributions (goals + assists) in the Premier League in the 2020s. Who are they?
Scroll below for the answer.
ON TODAY
Brazil Serie A
Juventude vs. Sport (00:00)
*All times in UK. ET -5. CDT -6. PDT -8. MDT -7. CET +1.
Answer
Mohamed Salah (185). Son Heung-min (125). Bruno Fernandes (113). Ollie Watkins (109). Kevin De Bruyne (103). Harry Kane (103). Erling Haaland (101). Credit: The Athletic.
Daily Wordle: Guess the football-related word, from player names to classic phrases, in six tries or fewer. Play it here.
I'm going to be 60 in two years. When I see that I can't do it anymore, I'll stop. But I admit, I would love to continue until I'm 80.
