GM football fans. It’s Friday, June. 27 - The Club World Cup last 16 fixtures are (nearly) locked in, Aston Villa considers selling its women’s team to comply with financial rules, and everything else you need to know. Forwarded this email? Sign up here.
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KEY FIXTURES
Club World Cup, Round of 16: Palmerias vs. Botafogo, Saturday 28, 17:00 / 12:00. This is only the second all-Brazilian clash in Club World Cup history. While Botafogo are unbeaten in their last five competitive matches against Palmerias, they go into the fixture as underdogs, according to Opta’s prediction model. Benfica vs. Chelsea, Saturday 28, 21:00 / 16:00. Chelsea have won all three previous meetings between the two sides, and have been in good form, having won 16 of 22 in all competitions, scoring 38 goals and keeping 12 clean sheets. The last time Benfica beat a Premier League side was in 2014, and they’ve gone winless in seven such games since. PSG vs. Inter Miami, Sunday 29, 17:00 / 12:00. Inter Miami impressed in the group stage, going undefeated in Group A while becoming the first-ever MLS team to reach the Club World Cup knockout rounds. However, tournament favourites PSG have won all but one of their last eight matches in all competitions. See every last-16 fixture here.
Results…
Club World Cup: Juventus 2-5 Manchester City (Report) | Wydad AC 1-2 Al Ain | Al Hilal vs. Pachuca & RB Salzburg vs. Real Madrid to be concluded shortly after publication (See Results)
TOP TALKING POINTS
Club World Cup Last 16
The Club World Cup Round of 16 begins on Saturday (28 June) following the conclusion of the group stage. Group H matches will conclude shortly after publication (see results), with everything still to play for between Real Madrid and RB Salzburg, who are both on four points and face each other, and Al Hilal, who sit on two points. See the Club World Cup bracket here.
All four Brazilian teams have advanced to the last 16, with Flamengo and Palmeiras topping their groups. At the time of writing, only Atletico Madrid have failed to qualify among the European teams, with six already through and two awaiting their fate. Meanwhile, only two CONCACAF teams remain: Inter Miami and Monterrey. All teams from Asia (AFC), Africa (CAF), and Oceania (OFC) have been eliminated.
According to Opta’s prediction model, Paris Saint-Germain are 20.8% favourites to win the competition, up from 18%, despite their 1-0 group stage loss to Botafogo. Manchester City follow with 17%, then Inter Milan (15%), Bayern Munich (11%), and Chelsea (10.8%).
Ronaldo Extends Contract
Cristiano Ronaldo, 40, has agreed a new two-year contract with Saudi Pro League (SPL) club Al Nassr, which will run until 2027. The announcement ends speculation that Ronaldo was planning on leaving once his contract expired at the end of June.
The five-time Ballon d’Or winner moved to Saudi Arabia at the end of 2022 in a deal reportedly worth up to $200m a year. Early reports, not yet verified, suggest his new contract could now be worth up to $240m a year, with equity in Al Nassr included.
Ronaldo scored 35 goals in 41 appearances across all competitions last season and was the SPL’s top scorer for the second consecutive year. He has netted 99 goals in 111 games for Al Nassr. The Portuguese forward has set his sights on reaching 1,000 career goals, with a current total of 938 for club and country.
Villa Considers Women’s Sale
Aston Villa are the latest club considering (paywall) selling their women’s team to help comply with the Premier League’s profitability and sustainability rules (PSR). Reports suggest the club have recorded losses of £195m over the past two years, well beyond the PSR limit of £105m over a rolling three-year period.
To comply with the rules, Chelsea previously sold their women’s team to the club’s sister company, effectively to themselves, generating a paper profit of nearly £200m. Earlier this month, a proposal to close this loophole was considered, but it failed to gain sufficient support to even go to a vote at a Premier League meeting.
Both Aston Villa and Chelsea are already set to be fined by Uefa next week for breaching the governing body’s financial rules. Uefa’s stricter regulations did not recognise Chelsea’s internal sale as valid profit, and any similar sale by Villa would also not count toward their European compliance. It remains unclear whether Villa would sell their women’s team internally or to external investors.
POLL
The MLS announced its All-Star team this week. Should European football introduce an annual All-Star match?
ON THE BALL
Europe
> Kylian Mbappe has reportedly sued Paris Saint-Germain for moral harassment—or non-physical harassment at the workplace (More)
> England U21 and Germany U21 face off in the 2025 Under-21 Euro final on Saturday (June 28) as England look to become the first team since Spain in 2011 and 2013 to win back-to-back tournaments (More)
> Liverpool have now spent £170m in the summer transfer window with the signing of left-back Milos Kerkez from Bournemouth in a deal worth £40m (More) | Birmingham City will open the Championship season by hosting Ipswich Town, and Wrexham’s first second-tier match for 43 years will be at Southampton (More)
> Luis Rubiales, the former president of Spain's football federation, has lost an appeal against his sexual assault conviction (More)
> Average broadcast audiences for the Women’s Super League have dropped by 35% year on year, a new report has found (More)
Americas
> Lionel Messi and seven players from the U.S. men’s national team are among 26 players named MLS All-Stars (See Full Roster)
> 18-year-old Argentine midfielder Camio Nuin has died during knee surgery, with the cause of the death not yet disclosed (More)
> NWSL’s expansion club Boston Legacy has hired Benfica’s Filipa Patao as their new head coach (More)
Rest of the World
> Saudi Pro League side Al Hilal are set to get a deal done for AC Milan’s Theo Hernandez, with formal steps to be completed by next week (More)
ROUTERS’ VOICE
Yesterday’s Poll: Have you enjoyed the Club World Cup group stage?
🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🤩 Yes... (54%)
🟨 🟨 🟨 🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ 🙅♂️ Nope... (41%)
🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ✍️ Other... (5%)
Your punditry takes:
🤩 W.W: “It has been so much fun to watch! We even flew to Charlotte to watch Bayern vs Benfica. Even with temps and humidity flirting with 100, it was one of the best days ever!”
🤩 B.V: “It has really been fun to see the different parts of the world compete against one another. Brazil has been a very pleasant surprise.”
🙅♂️ N.A.S: “Too many teams that can’t compete with the better, higher profile teams, which is making the group stage as it exists mostly pointless. It’s kinda like the Champions League, but global, and completely washed down.”
🙅♂️ L.J: “Haven't watched a single match. Weird start times and a lot of teams I do not know much about. If this was Fifa’s big shot to make the CWC relevant, the group stage has been anything but.”
✍️ K.C: “I would have, if I could have watched it. The idiotic decision to give exclusive broadcast rights to DAZN has rendered me unable to watch the vast majority of them. I've managed to catch only two games (on TNT) in the entire tournament. FIFA needs to think things through.”
EXTRA TIME
Who has the toughest fixture start in the Championship?
Spurs launch new all-black away shirt.
An interactive player guide for the Women’s Euro 2025. (best on desktop)
Dumfries and Acuna battled against each other—all game.
Where do Trent and Robertson rank among full-back duos?
Neymar shows he’s still got it—even as a keeper.
GAME FACE ON
Question: Who are the only two players to have scored a hat-trick of headers in a single Premier League game?
Clue: They both played for Everton and Newcastle during their careers.
Scroll below for the answer.
ON TODAY
UEFA Women’s Under-19 Championship, Final
France U19 vs. Spain U19 (19:00)
*All times in UK. ET -5. CDT -6. PDT -8. MDT -7. CET +1.
Answer
Duncan Ferguson (for Everton vs Bolton on 28 December 1997) and Salomon Rondon (for West Brom vs Swansea on 14 December 2016). Source: Opta.
Daily Wordle: Guess the football-related word, from player names to classic phrases, in six tries or fewer. Play it here.
It’s still going to be months until I reach my level.
