GM football fans. It’s Wednesday, August. 20 - An iconic World Cup song is under the spotlight, a breakdown of the upcoming Leagues Cup quarter-final ties, and everything else you need to know. Forwarded this email? Sign up here.
KEY RESULT
La Liga: Real Madrid 1-0 Osasuna. Kylian Mbappe scored the only goal with a penalty as Real Madrid won their opening league game of the season in Xabi Alonso’s first domestic match in charge. The Frenchman has scored eight penalty goals in La Liga since the start of last season, no player has scored more in the competition since then. Trent Alexander-Arnold made his La Liga debut and received a standing ovation when Dani Carvajal replaced him in the 68th minute. Read the full match report here.
Results…
TOP TALKING POINTS
Waka Waka Controversy
Millions of dollars in charity money from Shakira’s iconic 2010 World Cup anthem “Waka Waka” have been unaccounted for since 2014, according to investigative football platform Josimar. Fifa and Sony Music pledged that “all proceeds” would go to African charities–specifically the ‘20 Centres for 2010’ project–the revenue stream to these causes reportedly dried up once the centres were built. Shakira and Sony have not yet responded to the allegations.
The song continues to generate substantial income through billions of streams and views. “Waka Waka” went platinum in the USA, diamond in France, Brazil, Germany and Sweden, and topped the charts in another eleven countries worldwide. It currently has 4.3 billion views on YouTube. Josimar claims that the publishing rights were split from the outset, with producer John Hill and Shakira retaining their rights, meaning both have earned “millions” from a track the public was told was purely for charity.
Controversy around the song occurred from its inception when Shakira used the chorus from the 1986 song "Zamina Mina" by a Cameroonian band called Zangalewa, causing outrage in Africa as the band were not initially credited.
Leagues Cup Quarter-Finals
All four Leagues Cup 2025 quarter-finals are being played on Wednesday, August 20. Four teams from MLS and four from Liga MX remain, with each knock-out round decided by a single game, and penalty shootouts if needed. See the bracket here.
MLS’s remaining sides are reigning champions LA Galaxy, Seattle Sounders, Orlando City, and Inter Miami. The Sounders were the only team to win all three group games and beat Cruz Azul 7-0—the club’s biggest ever victory and the largest margin of victory for an MLS side over a Liga MX opponent. Meanwhile, Inter Miami are chasing a second Leagues Cup title in three years but must overcome giants Tigres UANL in the quarter-finals.
Liga MX’s representatives are Tigres, 2024 Concacaf Champions Cup winners Pachuca, Clausura champions Toluca, and Puebla. Pachuca, who currently top the Liga MX Apertura table, are favourites against LA Galaxy, having already beaten them in this year’s group stage.
The closest tie looks set to be between Toluca and Orlando City. Toluca are coming off a superb Clausura campaign, while Orlando recently beat Miami 4-0 and are unbeaten in their last seven matches across all competitions.
Transfer Window set to Break Records
With two weeks to go until the summer transfer window closes, Premier League clubs have spent £2.26bn on players since June—up 12.7% on the £1.97bn spent last summer. The record remains £2.36bn, set in the 2023 summer window.
This summer’s Premier League spending has already exceeded the combined outlay of clubs in Serie A, the Bundesliga, Ligue 1, and La Liga. Outside England, Serie A has spent the most at £783m, though the league still holds a positive net balance with £830m in sales.
Sunderland’s £140m spend is the most of any promoted side in Premier League history–see the others here. Across Europe, only Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid have outspent Sunderland, while Juventus (£103m) and Bayer Leverkusen (£100m) are the only non-English clubs to pass the £100m mark this summer.
POLL
Do you think handballs must be intentional to concede a penalty?
ON THE BALL
Europe
> Liverpool winger Mohamed Salah has won the Professional Footballers' Association (PFA) men's player of the year award, with Arsenal Women midfielder Mariona Caldentey having won the Women's PFA Player of the Year (More); see the Team of the Year (More)
> Champions League qualifiers continue to Wednesday, including Celtic vs. Kairat Almaty & Fenerbahce vs. Benfica (More)
> Strasbourg became the first team ever in Europe’s top five leagues to start a match with an entire XI made of players born after the year 2000 (More)
> Ashvir Singh Johal, 30, has become the first Sikh to take charge of a professional British club with his appointment as Morecambe manager (More)
> The German Football Federation has opened an investigation into alleged racist abuse incidents at two German Cup matches (More)
Americas
> Mexico international Lizbeth Ovalle is in "advanced talks" to join an NWSL club for a world-record transfer fee in women's football at $1.5m (More) | Chicago Stars’ goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher scored her first NWSL goal in the final moments of stoppage time in a 3-3 draw with the Seattle Reign (More); watch the goal (More)
> Inter Miami forward Luis Suarez has said he wants to retire alongside longtime teammate Lionel Messi (More)
Rest of the World
> Global players’ union FIFPro has called for a swift resolution to the suspension of the 2025-26 India Super League (More)
ROUTERS’ VOICE
Yesterday’s Poll: Do you think a biennial Club World Cup is a good idea?
🟨 🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ 👍 Yes (27%)
🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🙅♂️ Nope (70%)
🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ✍️ Other (3%)
Your punditry takes:
👍 Z.H: “I loved it, and players seemed to value it. It's an amazing opportunity for European and South American clubs to reach an incredible peak, while other clubs around the world can make noise and compete against clubs in real matches they otherwise wouldn't have an opportunity to play in.”
🙅♂️ C.P: “It is sad that these clubs want this as a money grab. The season is just too long already, and these players need their rest as well during the off-season! Now pushing it to every two years and bumping it up to 48 teams just doesn’t seem smart. I did enjoy the competition this year with the expansion, but I would hope they would leave it at that size and continue the tradition every four years. The only thing I would consider is maybe putting it two years after the World Cup, not back-to-back like it is this summer and next summer with the World Cup.”
🙅♂️ J.P: “Absolutely not, it’s a glorified preseason friendly with no real accolades. It’ll simply add more to the players' plates, reducing recovery time and increasing injuries. You’ll see less of the big players, not more, as they’ll not have it in them to play at the top level for that long.”
EXTRA TIME
Every transfer in Europe’s top five leagues. (live tracker)
The Fifa rule that gives Isak leverage over Newcastle.
… and Isak releases his first statement on the saga.
How a Premier League kit is created.
… and Malaga drop bold new away kit.
Opta releases new Bundesliga predictions.
Everyone dreams of scoring a last-minute winner like this.
Carragher and Neville’s Premier League predictions. (video)
GAME FACE ON
Question: Can you place the following players in order from highest to lowest based on their combined career transfer fee?
Cristiano Ronaldo
Joao Felix
Romelu Lukaku
Ousmane Dembele
Neymar
Scroll below for the answer.
ON TODAY
Champions League Play-offs
Basel vs. Kobenhavn (20:00)
Bodo / Glimt vs. Sturm Graz (20:00)
Celtic vs. Kairat (20:00)
Fenerbahce vs. Benfica (20:00)
League One
Bolton Wanderers vs. Reading (20:00)
Brazilian Serie A
Juventude vs. Vasco de Gama (23:00)
*All times in UK. ET -5. CDT -6. PDT -8. MDT -7. CET +1.
Answer
Neymar (€400m), Romelu Lukaku (€369m), Cristiano Ronaldo (€247m), Ousmane Dembele (€233m), Joao Felix (€225m). Source: Transfermarkt.
Daily Wordle: Guess the football-related word, from player names to classic phrases, in six tries or fewer. Play it here.
The Ballon d’Or is commercial. Nobody understands the criteria. It’s part of football and also part of politics.
