In partnership with
Good morning football fans. It’s Wednesday, May. 27 - Cristiano Ronaldo ranks as the highest-paid athlete in the world for the fourth-straight year, Mauricio Pochettino has announced his USMNT squad for the World Cup, and everything else you need to know. Forwarded this email? Sign up here.
Editor’s Note: As our team prepares for the World Cup, we’ll be taking a short break ahead of the tournament. We will also use the time to plan new content we will bring you for the rest of the year, and we’re excited to share more updates on this soon. In any case, our mini break means this will be the last Route One edition you receive until we return on Thursday, June 4. We miss you already!
In the meantime, don’t forget that the Champions League final between Paris Saint-Germain and Arsenal is on Saturday (May 30) at 17:00 BST / 12:00 ET. Find a full preview of the match here.
KEY FIXTURE
UEFA Conference League final (May 27): Crystal Palace vs. Rayo Vallecano, 20:00 BST / 15:00 ET. Both sides are entering their first major European final, and for Vallecano, it’s their first major final in any senior competition. In the run-up to the fixture, Palace have failed to win any of their last four Premier League matches following their Conference League semi-final win, and have finished 15th in the English top flight. Meanwhile, Vallecano enter the final on a nine-match unbeaten run, having won six of those matches. See a preview of the Conference League final here.
TOP TALKING POINTS
Ronaldo Leads Most-Paid
Cristiano Ronaldo is the highest-paid athlete in the world for the fourth straight year, according to Forbes. The 41-year-old’s estimated earnings of $300m (£222m) over the past 12 months tie him with boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr’s record, set in 2015, for the largest earnings ever recorded by Forbes for an active athlete. Ronaldo has led the rankings six times and has now been at the top of the list across the last four years.
The top 50 athletes collectively earned $4.1bn, with seven of the list coming from football, down from 13 in 2025. Football is the third-most-represented sport on the list, while the NBA leads with 20 athletes and the NFL has 9. Lionel Messi ($140m) and Karim Benzema ($104m) are the only other footballers in the top 10.
Among those under 25, Manchester City’s Erling Haaland was the highest-earning athlete, with an estimated $80m ($60m on-field and $20m off-field). Real Madrid’s Vinicius Jr., who earned $60m, is fourth on the list and the only other footballer in the top five.
USMNT World Cup Squad
Mauricio Pochettino has announced his 26-man United States men’s national team (USMNT) roster for the 2026 World Cup. Thirteen players from the 2022 World Cup squad who made the round of 16 are returning, while the remaining 13 will be making their World Cup debuts. See the USMNT squad here.
The squad featured few major surprises, with Weston McKennie, Christian Pulisic, and Tyler Adams headlining the group. The main omissions were Lyon midfielder Tanner Tessmann, who had missed the final several weeks of the club season with a muscle strain, and Real Salt Lake forward Diego Luna, who had earned the second-most minutes of any attacking player during Pochettino’s tenure. Perhaps the most controversial, though unsurprising, selection was Gio Reyna, who has played just 163 minutes across eight appearances for his club since the start of the calendar year.
Each of Pochettino’s forward selections has scored over 17 goals in their respective domestic leagues: Folarin Balogun has scored 19 goals and assisted four for AS Monaco, Haji Wright scored the second-most goals in the Championship with 17 for champions Coventry City, and Ricardo Pepi scored 19 goals for PSV Eindhoven.
In Fifa’s updated men’s rankings in April, the USMNT dropped to 16th, swapping places with co-host Mexico, after a 5-2 loss to Belgium and a 2-0 defeat to Portugal in March. The USMNT will play their World Cup opener on June 12 against Paraguay in Inglewood, California, followed by a match against Australia on June 19 in Seattle.
See the USMNT 2026 World Cup kits here.
World Cup (Alternative) Projections
A German economist who has successfully predicted the last three World Cup winners has chosen the Netherlands as his favourites leading up to this summer’s tournament. Joachim Klement’s calculations, which blend economic, demographic, and geographic variables with sporting data, successfully predicted Germany as the winners of the 2014 World Cup and then forecasted France’s victory in 2018 and Argentina’s success four years later. The model looks at GDP per capita, population size, and average national temperature, and accounts for about 45% of luck and random fluctuations.
In his detailed write-up, Klement projects that the Netherlands will defeat Spain in the semi-finals and meet Portugal, which he predicts will overcome England to reach the final. Interestingly, the write-up concludes that the “model does not predict either the Netherlands or Portugal to be exciting to watch,” suggesting that both nations will be tactically rigid, physically spent, and naturally risk-averse in order to make the final in New Jersey. Klement’s model also projects a mundane final, with the Netherlands winning 1-0.
Klement recognises that these predictions are “very much tongue in cheek” and acknowledges that “neither of these teams features typically among the conventional favourites to win.”
POLL
Do you like the idea of a half-time show at the World Cup final?
FROM OUR PARTNERS
What happens when you throw out the GTM playbook
That investor was wrong. Gamma is now worth $2B, with 50M users and more than half their growth driven by word of mouth.
They're one of 6 AI-native startups in HubSpot for Startups' free Bold Bets Playbook. Replit grew revenue 50x after half the team pushed back on the strategy. Ramp generated 100M+ views from a single stunt. Clay's co-founder wouldn't hang up a sales call until the prospect DMed him in Slack.
Each one took a GTM risk most founders would never greenlight. Each one paid off.
ON THE BALL
Europe
> More than 200 managers and coaching staff have lost their jobs last season in English football, with managers staying in their role the shortest time in history in the top two divisions (More)
> Bruno Fernandes says Roy Keane lied about his pursuit of the Premier League assists record, after the former Man United midfielder accused Fernandes of prioritising individual accolades (More); Keane responded with an Instagram story that read “too much attention makes a donkey think he’s a lion” (More)
> Barcelona Femeni midfielder Alexia Putellas has announced she will leave the club after 14 years, 507 games, 232 goals, and 38 trophies (More) | Real Madrid and Toni Rudiger have reached a verbal agreement on a new contract valid until June 2027 (More)
> AC Milan have approached Andoni Iraola’s representatives about becoming their head coach next season (More) | Juventus are reportedly trying to hijack Andy Robertson’s move to Tottenham, who already have an agreement in principle with the Scotsman (More)
> VfL Wolfsburg have been relegated to the German second division after losing to Paderborn in the Bundesliga relegation play-off (More); read more on how the Bundesliga relegation play-off works (More)
Americas
> All 48 World Cup base camps have now been finalised; see every nation’s base camp (More) | FIFA have officially confirmed that Iran have moved their World Cup training base to Mexico, moving away from their original base in Tucson, Arizona (More)
> Palmeiras coach Abel Ferreira has been fined $15,000 by Conmebol for showing his middle finger to one of his own players during a Copa Libertadores game (More); see the Copa Libertadores group tables (More)
> Inter Miami confirm that Lionel Messi suffered from “overload associated with muscle fatigue in his left hamstring” as his recovery timeline remains unknown (More)
> Canada manager Jesse Marsch signed a four-year contract extension with Canada through the 2030 World Cup (More)
Rest of the World
ROUTERS’ VOICE
Yesterday’s Poll: Who do you think will win the Champions League final?
🟨 🟨 🟨 🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ 🏴 Arsenal (41%)
🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🇫🇷 Paris Saint-Germain (59%)
Your punditry takes:
🏴 A.D: “After winning the Premier League, both the team and the manager will be playing freely. That will bring an intensity to the game, especially defensively, that PSG isn’t used to. Offensively, they’ll be running at PSG from the first whistle.”
🏴 B.E: "Our players will be desperate to become the first team to win the Champions League without losing a game… I can feel the momentum is with us… COYG.”
🇫🇷 W.D: “PSG has been virtually unstoppable. Arsenal will only be able to hold them in check for so long before the goal barrage begins. Arsenal has had trouble scoring of late. I think they will just be outgunned in the end.”
🇫🇷 L.J: “Being able to rest players against Crystal Palace will boost Arsenal's chances, but I still think PSG, along with the pressure of winning the Champions League for the first time, will be too much for them.”
EXTRA TIME
Why is football called soccer in the US?
The new Premier League ball for next season has been released.
… and the 2025-26 Premier League season in alternative tables.
New York to have $26 restaurant specials during the World Cup.
NWSL owners invest in new fair-trade football boots.
Sweden’s World Cup kit revives an old classic.
The best RefCam in the 2025-26 season.
Ranking Guardiola’s 18 seasons across his managerial career.
GAME FACE ON
Question: Pep Guardiola has the best points-per-game (2.28) rate of any manager to take charge of 20+ games in the Premier League’s history. Can you name the rest of the top five managers?
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.
I came here to keep Hull in the Championship. I failed.
Answer
Alex Ferguson. Jurgen Klopp. Roberto Mancini. Antonio Conte.
