The Colchoneros reach this stage after a gritty quarterfinal victory over Barcelona and a confidence-boosting 3-2 win against Athletic Bilbao this past weekend. However, Diego Simeone’s side has struggled for consistency lately, suffering through a stretch where they dropped seven of nine matches and lost the Copa del Rey final to Real Sociedad.

Arsenal arrive in Madrid after scraping past Sporting CP in a defensive quarterfinal battle that saw them advance 1-0 on aggregate. While Mikel Arteta’s squad recently regained their footing with a 1-0 win over Newcastle, the Gunners have faced their own hurdles, including a League Cup final loss to Manchester City and an early FA Cup exit.

On the injury front, Atletico recently lost Nicolas González, who joins Pablo Barrios and Jose Maria Gimenez on a crowded trainer’s table. Ademola Lookman has been cleared for a return, though he is only expected to feature as a sub. Meanwhile, Mikel Arteta confirmed that stars Bukayo Saka and Eberechi Eze are fit to play, while Kai Havertz and Jurrien Timber remain sidelined.

These two sides met earlier this season during the league phase of the Champions League, a contest where Arsenal cruised to a commanding 4-0 victory at the Emirates Stadium. However, both squads have evolved significantly since that October rout, and this semifinal opener is expected to be a much more tactical and balanced affair.

Coach Mikel Arteta confirmed that Saka will travel with the squad, though he didn’t include the English winger in the starting lineup against Atletico. Saka made his return from an Achilles injury last Sunday against Newcastle United, playing the final 10 minutes, being far from reaching top fitness against the Spanish side.

Beyond Saka, Arteta was also asked at Tuesday’s press conference about Kai Havertz and Eberechi Eze, both of whom were forced off during the Newcastle match. “Kai is out and Ebs is ready to go,” Arteta said, before elaborating on the German’s situation. “He had a little niggle. I don’t know how serious it is. It didn’t look too big. The action, the way he describes it, is not too sharp. But we have to wait and see.”

Alongside Havertz, Jurrien Timber remains another significant absentee for the Gunners, still not fully fit following his most recent groin injury. Saka, however, did participate in training at London Colney, and will be eager to make an impact after missing the entire quarterfinal series against Sporting CP.

Arsenal face a formidable challenge in Spain

Having reached the Champions League semifinal in back-to-back seasons, Arsenal now arrive in Spain at a moment when their form has dipped, and they face an Atletico Madrid side fresh off eliminating FC Barcelona, one of the competition’s most fancied contenders. While the two clubs met in the league phase earlier this season with Arsenal running out 4-0 winners, both teams have evolved considerably since that meeting.

Asked what he expects from the game, Arteta was generous in his praise of Diego Simeone’s legacy. “They are very strong at both ends, otherwise they would not be here. The energy they create in the stadium, how they believe in it. We have prepared the game to win it. I think a lot of the work he’s carried out, he has transformed the club in 15 years. The way he has done it, I have always had admiration for these kind of people. He is very connected to the club. He is an absolute role model,” the Arsenal coach said.

Confirmed lineups for Atletico Madrid and Arsenal

Atletico Madrid’s confirmed lineups (4-4-2): Jan Oblak; Marcos Llorente, Marc Pubill, David Hancko, Matteo Ruggeri; Giuliano Simeone, Koke, Johnny Cardoso, Ademola Lookman; Antoine Griezmann, Julian Alvarez.
Head coach: Diego Simeone.

Arsenal’s confirmed lineups (4-3-3): David Raya; Ben White, Gabriel, William Saliba, Piero Hincapie; Declan Rice, Martin Odegaard, Martin Zubimendi; Noni Madueke, Viktor Gyokeres, Gabriel Martinelli.
Head coach: Mikel Arteta.

Ahead of the 76th FIFA Congress, the FIFA Council convened for its 36th general meeting in Vancouver, Canada, where several significant decisions were made, including the introduction of red cards for players who cover their mouths during confrontations. The financial distribution announcement stood out as one of the most consequential items on the agenda.

FIFA released a statement detailing the increase. “Given the commercial success of FIFA’s flagship men’s tournament, the FIFA Council agreed to increase the resources to be distributed to all 48 participating teams by a further 15%, totaling USD 871 million,” the governing body confirmed.

The total pot is divided into three distinct components. The first is Preparation Money, an advance payment designed to help national teams cover the costs of training camps, friendly matches, travel to the host nations of the United States, Canada and Mexico, and the general logistics involved in preparing for the tournament, with the amount rising from $1.5 million to $2.5 million per team.

The second component is Qualification Money, which increases from $9 million to $10 million per team. This represents the guaranteed minimum prize money earned by every nation that qualifies for the final tournament, typically distributed after the competition concludes or paid in scheduled installments.

The third element consists of additional team contributions, which now total over $16 million per side. These are ongoing subsidies provided to cover daily expenses for official team delegations during the tournament, including accommodation and local transportation costs.

Infantino on FIFA’s announcements

With a record revenue of $7.6 billion reported back in 2023 and an even more ambitious budget of $14 billion projected for the 2027-2030 cycle, Infantino has set his sights on continued financial records for FIFA, driven in large part by the commercial momentum surrounding the 2026 World Cup.

In an Instagram post addressing Tuesday’s decisions, Infantino spoke directly to the significance of the increased distribution. “FIFA is proud to be in its most solid financial position ever, enabling us to help all FIFA Member Associations in an unprecedented way. Evidenced by the increase in financial contributions to the FIFA World Cup 2026 participating teams, this is one more example of how FIFA’s resources are reinvested back into the game,” he wrote.

Rummenigge served as Bayern‘s CEO from 2002 to 2021 and remains a key figure within the club’s structure under the leadership now overseen by Oliver Kahn. Under the current project with Vincent Kompany as head coach, Olise has emerged as an indispensable piece, currently standing as the most valuable player in the entire Bundesliga with a market value of €140 million according to Transfermarkt.

In a conversation with the portal t-online, Rummenigge was asked directly whether a €200 million offer would be enough to pry Olise away from Munich, and his answer left no room for ambiguity. “For a player like Olise, there is no price tag that would make us flinch,” he said.

To illustrate the principle at stake, Rummenigge reached back to one of Bayern’s most famous moments of resolve in the transfer market, drawing a parallel with another French winger. “In 2009, we had an incredible offer from Chelsea for Franck Ribéry. At the time, that would have been a new world transfer record. I went to our CFO at the time, Karl Hopfner, and Uli Hoeneß. We discussed what to do with this offer for two hours,” he recalled.

From that deliberation, Rummenigge said, came a guiding principle that has shaped the club’s transfer policy ever since. “On that day, we decided something fundamental: that in the future, we would no longer sell any player whose sporting presence we would miss. And this unwritten law still applies today,” he added.

According to Sport Bild, Olise has been linked with Real Madrid and Liverpool, the latter potentially looking for a successor to Mohamed Salah following his departure at the end of the 2025-26 season. With 20 goals and 29 assists across 47 appearances for Bayern, persuading either the club or the player to part ways would be an extraordinarily difficult task.

Bayern’s major business with Olise

It was Bayern Munich who ultimately won the race for Olise’s signature in the summer of 2024, fending off interest from clubs including Manchester United to bring the winger to Germany. The Bavarian side paid Crystal Palace €53 million for a player contracted through June 2029, and in less than two years, that investment has ballooned in value.

According to Transfermarkt, Olise’s current market value stands at €140 million, nearly three times the €55 million fee at which he departed Palace. Furthermore, should any club meet the €200 million threshold Rummenigge dismissed, Olise would become the second most expensive transfer in soccer history, overtaking Kylian Mbappe at €180 million and Ousmane Dembele at €148 million, with only Neymar’s record fee of €222 million remaining beyond reach.

According to Cadena Cope, Gonzalez sustained a muscle injury during Atletico’s training session on Tuesday, the day before the first leg against Arsenal. While the club has yet to release an official statement, the Argentine forward is expected to miss between three and four weeks, with his return projected for late May.

The injury also has contractual implications. As reported by Fabrizio Romano, Atletico Madrid will not be triggering their obligation to buy clause for González, as he will fall short of the minimum number of appearances required to activate it. However, a permanent move to the Spanish capital has not been ruled out, with the Colchoneros still in talks with Juventus over a reduced fee for an eventual full transfer.

The timing is particularly difficult given that his only realistic chance of returning to action before the summer would be in a potential Champions League final, scheduled for May 31. With his absence confirmed, Gonzalez joins Pablo Barrios and Jose Maria Gimenez on the injured list, with Ademola Lookman’s availability also uncertain due to a separate complaint.

Gonzalez and the shadow of 2022

The injury arrives at a painful moment for Gonzalez, who had been heading into the Arsenal tie in strong form after scoring two outstanding goals in the win over Elche, bringing his tally to five goals in 39 appearances for Atletico. It also draws an uncomfortable parallel to an episode that is still fresh in the memory of the Argentine

Just days before Argentina’s opening game at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, Gonzalez suffered a muscle tear during the team’s first training session in Doha, ruling him out of the tournament that ended with Argentina lifting the trophy. While the 2026 edition is still more than six weeks away and he is expected to recover in time, the memory of what happened almost four years ago will hang over his recovery process.

How would Argentina be affected?

Argentina still have much of the core that won the World Cup in Qatar, but nearly four years have passed, and time has begun to take its toll on some key figures. Captain Lionel Messi remains the centerpiece of everything the team does, but with the forward set to turn 39 during the tournament, the physical burden of covering ground when Argentina are out of possession must be carried by others, and that is precisely where Gonzalez’s value becomes critical.

Head coach Lionel Scaloni has settled the team in order for Messi to make the least amount of physical effort while the team is defending by bringing a mix of talented and physically gifted players. Nicolas Gonzalez is the type of player to be assigned with that task, covering the wing, either as a midfielder or as a full back, when the team is defending, and give support to the attack.

Giuliano Simeone fills a broadly similar role, a player whose inclusion in the squad is driven more by his exceptional physical attributes than his technical ceiling. While Gonzalez also provides cover at left back, having players of his profile available will be essential for Argentina to manage the physical demands of a grueling World Cup schedule, making a full recovery before the tournament begins all the more important.

The incident dates back to February, when Vinicius accused Benfica’s Prestianni of racial abuse. Because the young forward had covered his mouth during the exchange, UEFA was unable to gather sufficient evidence to substantiate the Brazilian’s claim. Prestianni was nonetheless sanctioned for “discriminatory conduct,” receiving a suspension that could extend to a maximum of six matches in the event of any further offense during his probation period.

On Tuesday, the International Football Association Board (IFAB), the body responsible for the laws of the game, convened a special meeting in Vancouver, Canada to consider several proposed rule changes, including one designed to prevent a repeat of the kind of incident seen in this season’s Champions League.

In a statement released following the meeting, FIFA outlined the new measure. “At the discretion of the competition organizer, any player covering their mouth in a confrontational situation with an opponent may be sanctioned with a red card,” the governing body confirmed.

As clarified in the statement, the rule will not apply in every situation where a player covers their mouth on the pitch, such as when speaking with a teammate or even an opponent in a non-confrontational context. The red card sanction will be reserved specifically for confrontational situations, though the precise role VAR will play in adjudicating these moments remains to be seen.

FIFA and IFAB stated that the measure was introduced to “address and conceal discriminatory and inappropriate behavior.” The governing body also confirmed that the new rules approved at Tuesday’s meeting will be in effect for the 2026 World Cup, meaning fans could see the regulation applied for the first time on soccer’s biggest stage.

What did Gianni Infantino say about players covering their mouths?

When the Vinicius-Prestianni incident first came to light, a number of high-profile voices weighed in on the matter. FIFA president Gianni Infantino was among the first to suggest that covering one’s mouth during a confrontation should carry severe consequences.

Speaking on Sky News in early March, Infantino made his position clear. “If a player covers his mouth and says something, and this has a racist consequence, then he has to be sent off, obviously. There must be a presumption that he has said something he shouldn’t have said, otherwise he wouldn’t have had to cover his mouth. Of course, when you deal with a disciplinary case, you have to analyze the situation, you have to have evidence, but we cannot just be satisfied with that going forward,” he said.

New rule implemented following AFCON episode

The most recent edition of the Africa Cup of Nations also contributed to Tuesday’s rule changes, after Senegal players walked off the field in protest following a penalty call that went in favor of Morocco, with some players apparently believing the decision meant the match had been awarded to their opponents despite winning the final 1-0. In response, FIFA and IFAB have introduced a new rule that will also result in a red card for any player who leaves the field of play in protest at a referee’s decision.

“At the discretion of the competition organiser, the referee may sanction with a red card any player who leaves the field of play in protest at a referee’s decision. This new rule will also apply to any team official who incites players to leave the field of play,” the FIFA statement read. Additionally, any team responsible for causing a match to be abandoned will, in principle, forfeit the game, with a 3-0 victory automatically awarded to the opposing side.

Currently in the UEFA Champions League semifinal, Alvarez has been one of the primary reasons the Colchoneros are just one step away from the final. But Atletico‘s inability to compete across all fronts has fueled interest from clubs eager to bring in one of the most complete players in the game.

At the pre-match press conference ahead of the semifinal against Arsenal, Simeone was asked directly about the possibility of his striker leaving at the end of the season. “I am not inside Julian Alvarez’s head. I understand it is normal for an extraordinary player like Julian to be wanted by Arsenal, Paris Saint-Germain, or Barcelona. It’s normal, because he is very good,” the Argentine coach said.

Simeone stopped short of either confirming or ruling out a departure, though extracting Alvarez from the Metropolitano figures to be a significant challenge for any suitor. With his contract running through June 2030, any club looking to sign him would need to surpass the €104 million Atletico paid Manchester City to bring him to Madrid.

According to reporter Ben Jacobs, Atletico will push hard to keep Alvarez beyond this summer, valuing him at a figure north of the €120 million Barcelona paid for Antoine Griezmann in 2019. While the striker has no intention of forcing his way out, he would be open to a move to Barcelona if the two clubs were able to reach an agreement.

Alvarez has already addressed his future

Reports linking Alvarez with Barcelona, Arsenal and PSG are nothing new, with those connections surfacing even during his time at Manchester City, largely centered on how the Argentine would fit into each club’s system. The striker himself, however, has made his current priorities crystal clear.

On Monday, Alvarez made it plain that his mind is firmly on the present and the challenges that lie ahead with Atletico. “I try not to give much importance to what they say, because the truth is that new things come out every week. I try not to waste energy on that. I try to focus on our situation here, with very important matches coming up. I want to be at my best to try and help the team and achieve great things here,” he said.

What is Alvarez’s price tag?

With four years remaining on his deal and a release clause set at 500 million euros, the scenarios in which Alvarez departs Atletico Madrid this summer are limited. FC Barcelona’s financial situation remains precarious, Arsenal have already committed enormous sums in recent windows, and PSG stand out as perhaps the most credible financial option among the reported suitors.

As revealed by journalist Jose Alvarez on El Chiringuito, Atletico Madrid have set an asking price of €120 million for the striker. Across two seasons with the Colchoneros, Alvarez has made 104 appearances, scoring 48 goals, though he has yet to lift a trophy with the club, a fact that could weigh on his thinking as he considers whether his ambitions are best served by staying or moving on.

Across the current season, Dybala has managed just 23 appearances, contributing three goals and four assists. Muscular injuries and knee surgery have kept him sidelined for 19 matches, leaving him well short of his best form and explaining his absence from Argentina’s most recent call-up lists.

In a conversation with Joaquin Alvarez on the Lo del Pollo YouTube channel, Dybala was candid about the challenge ahead of him. “We all want to be in the national team; it’s not going to be easy. I have to find my rhythm and get a consistent run of minutes at my club for that to happen. My goal is to be there with the national team, to be able to play in the World Cup. First, I have to be doing well at my club,” he said.

The numbers underline just how difficult this season has been physically. Dybala has played the full 90 minutes in a single game on just two occasions in 2026 and only five times across the entire campaign. He returned from his knee surgery on April 25 for a 13-minute cameo, his first action since January 25, meaning he had been completely sidelined for three months.

Despite his prolonged absence from the national team setup, Dybala was quick to make clear he holds no grievance toward head coach Lionel Scaloni. “It’s true that because of my injuries, I missed some call-ups, and in a national team like Argentina’s, you can’t afford to slow down. I don’t feel like I’m in a position to call the coach and ask him what’s going on or why I’m not there,” he said.

Refusing to write off his World Cup chances entirely, Dybala laid out what he believes he needs to do to earn a spot on the plane. “I have to show the coach that I’m doing well at my club, that I’m up to the standard of what he wants. He makes the decision on who are the best players to go and play a World Cup,” he added.

Will Dybala be at the 2026 World Cup?

Argentina’s final squad has yet to be officially announced, though reports from March suggested that 21 players have already effectively secured their spots. Dybala, however, remains well outside Scaloni’s current thinking, with his fitness concerns the most significant obstacle standing in his way.

In the attacking positions, the competition for the remaining spots has centered around the likes of Benfica’s Gianluca Prestianni, Real Madrid’s Franco Mastantuono, Palmeiras’ Jose Manuel Lopez and RC Strasbourg’s Joaquín Panichelli, all of whom had the advantage of featuring in the March international window. While Panichelli has since suffered an ACL injury, the others remain ahead of Dybala in the pecking order.

Dybala’s last appearance for the Albiceleste came on September 10, 2024, when he came off the bench in the second half of a 2-1 defeat to Colombia in Barranquilla. His most recent international goal predates that by four days, when he scored in a 3-0 victory over Chile at the Monumental, stepping up to wear the No. 10 jersey in the absence of Lionel Messi.

While his role in the 2022 World Cup was largely a supporting one, Dybala delivered in the biggest moment, clearing a gilt-edged Kylian Mbappe chance in extra time of the final against France before coolly converting his penalty in the shootout that decided the contest. Now, with his fitness far from guaranteed and time running short, securing a late ticket to the squad would require something of a minor miracle.

As reported by Dan Sheldon of The Athletic, a player’s disciplinary record would be wiped clean not only after the quarterfinals but also following the conclusion of the group stage. This shift is being considered primarily to account for the tournament’s expansion and the introduction of the new Round of 32.

Under current FIFA regulations, accumulating two yellow cards in separate matches results in an automatic one-game suspension. In previous World Cups, this accumulation remained active from the opening match through the round of 16, a system designed to maintain discipline during the shorter tournament format.

However, for the upcoming edition in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico, there will likely be two distinct reset stages. Players who advance to the knockout rounds would see their counts reset to zero; a second reset would then occur after the quarterfinals to ensure no one misses the final due to a minor booking in the earlier knockout rounds.

The move is intended to provide players with a fairer chance to participate in the expanded tournament, which now requires one additional game to reach the final. While not yet official, the change is set to be discussed and finalized during the FIFA Council meeting in Vancouver this Tuesday.

The evolution of the yellow card amnesty

Booking rules at the World Cup have long been strict, as a single mistimed tackle can often sideline a star player for a high-stakes matchup. It was during the 2010 World Cup in South Africa that the FIFA Executive Committee first agreed to implement an amnesty phase following the quarterfinals to protect the integrity of the final.

The 2026 tournament will feature a record 48 teams and rosters of 26 players, similar to the expanded squads seen at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. By reportedly introducing this second amnesty phase, FIFA appears eager to modernize its disciplinary code to better fit the demands of its new, larger format.

Last Saturday, Liverpool hosted Crystal Palace in Matchday 34 of the 2025-26 Premier League, with the Reds looking to secure their UEFA Champions League qualification for next season. In the 59th minute, with Liverpool leading 2-0, Salah pulled up with an issue and was replaced by Jeremie Frimpong.

With Salah visibly touching the back of his left leg on the touchline, coach Arne Slot was asked about the severity of the problem after the match. “We simply don’t know, but what we do know is the season is in four weeks over, so there are not a lot of games being played. We have to wait and see how his injury is and if he is able to return to play. Let’s hope for the best and that he is available in the last part,” Slot said at his post-match press conference.

However, Egypt national team director Ibrahim Hassan provided a more definitive update in comments to Reuters. “He has suffered a hamstring tear and will require four weeks of treatment,” the former right back confirmed, an assessment that would bring Salah’s time on the pitch for Liverpool to a close for the season.

Liverpool have not issued a formal update on Salah’s condition since the Palace match, treading carefully around what may well have been the final appearance of one of the club’s greatest ever players. With Liverpool’s last Premier League fixture of the 2025-26 season against Brentford scheduled for Sunday, May 24, only a rapid recovery against the clock could give Salah a farewell appearance at Anfield.

Salah expected to be fit for the 2026 World Cup

With Egypt’s director pointing to a four-week recovery timeline, Salah’s World Cup participation does not appear to be in jeopardy, even if his Liverpool farewell proves anticlimactic. Egypt are set to open their 2026 World Cup campaign against Belgium on June 15, by which point the Egyptian star is expected to have fully recovered from the hamstring tear.

The more pressing question surrounds the warm-up schedule ahead of the tournament. Egypt have a friendly against Brazil lined up for June 6, which could serve as a fitness test for Salah, though his involvement is likely to be carefully managed and limited to avoid any risk of aggravating the injury before the competition begins.

The Whitecaps have been wrestling with their stadium situation for some time, with their lease at BC Place expiring at the end of 2025 before receiving a last-minute extension through 2026 while negotiations continue. However, with revenue falling short of expectations despite Muller’s presence, the club remains up for sale and faces a stark choice between securing a new long-term deal at their current home or pursuing a move elsewhere.

As relocation reports began to circulate, the Whitecaps released a statement addressing the situation directly. “We are aware of today’s reporting. The club has faced well-documented structural challenges around stadium economics, venue access, and revenue limitations that have made it difficult to attract buyers committed to keeping the team in Vancouver,” the club said.

The statement made clear that the search for a solution has been exhaustive but has yet to yield results. “Over the past 16 months, we have had serious conversations with more than 100 parties, and to date, no viable offer has emerged that would keep the club here,” the franchise added.

With fans rallying behind a #SaveTheCaps campaign during last game against the Colorado Rapids, the ownership group stopped short of closing the door on a Vancouver future. “It remains the strong preference of this ownership group to find a solution in Vancouver. If there is a local ownership group with the vision and resources to chart a path forward, we urge them to come forward,” the statement concluded.

Las Vegas emerges as the leading relocation destination

In the wake of the fan movement and the growing media attention, the club’s board has moved to address the obstacles standing in the way of keeping the franchise in Vancouver. According to The Athletic‘s Paul Tenorio and Tom Bogert, a special committee of MLS owners convened earlier this month to discuss and evaluate the Whitecaps’ future, with Las Vegas taking center stage in those conversations.

The primary option on the table is a move to Las Vegas, where an investor group has unveiled a $10 billion development project on the Las Vegas Strip called Starr Vegas, which includes a dedicated soccer stadium with a capacity of 50,000.

The proposal has yet to gain traction with MLS leadership, however, and Las Vegas is not the only market in play. Indianapolis, Phoenix and Sacramento have also emerged as potential destinations for the franchise, a deeply unwelcome set of possibilities for the Whitecaps’ loyal fanbase.

The 2026 World Cup is set to kick off on June 11, bringing most active leagues to a temporary halt, including the Brasileirao. Brazil’s top flight will play its final round before the tournament on May 31, with action resuming on July 22, leaving clubs facing nearly two months without competitive football.

According to Globo Esporte, Santos are planning a European tour during the first two weeks of July, coinciding with the World Cup’s knockout stages. The idea is for the Peixe to use a series of friendly matches to keep the squad sharp and ready for the Brasileirão’s resumption.

No opponents have been confirmed yet, but the club’s directors are targeting three games in Portugal, using Lisbon as their base. The trip would tie into an agreement Santos signed last November to participate in the Vitoria Cup.

Brazil head coach Carlo Ancelotti is expected to announce his final World Cup squad on May 18, with Neymar doing everything in his power to be included. While his participation in the North American tournament remains uncertain, the Brazilian forward already has a contingency plan in place for what would otherwise be a lengthy competitive break.

Neymar traveling to Argentina despite viral infection

With just five games left before Ancelotti names his squad, Neymar has precious little time to make his case for a World Cup berth. His next opportunity comes on Tuesday, when Santos travel to Argentina to face San Lorenzo in the Copa Sudamericana group stage, though the star is not in ideal condition heading into the fixture.

Santos released an official statement addressing the situation: “The athlete Neymar Jr. presented symptoms of a viral infection on Saturday night; he was medicated, responded well, and continues to be monitored by the Santos FC medical department. Neymar is confirmed as part of the delegation traveling to Argentina for Tuesday’s match against San Lorenzo in the Copa Sudamericana.“

Alongside teammates Gabriel Brazao, Igor Vinicius, Willian Arao and Gabriel Barbosa, Neymar traveled to Argentina on Monday to join the delegation. Having completed training at Boca Juniors’ training complex, the Brazilian is now expected to be in the starting lineup as he continues his push to arrive at peak form ahead of Ancelotti’s selection deadline.

Following Saturday’s 1-1 draw against the New England Revolution at Nu Stadium, Messi has now appeared in 99 matches for the Herons. While teammate Noah Allen recently claimed the franchise record for most appearances, Messi continues to climb the club’s all-time list as he prepares for his 100th cap.

Inter Miami will host the next edition of the Florida Derby against Orlando City on Saturday, May 2, a matchup where Messi is expected to reach his centennial with the club. He will become the eighth player in franchise history to hit the mark, pulling level with Leonardo Campana on the club’s all-time appearances leaderboard.

Comparing the first 100: Barcelona vs. Inter Miami

After making his professional debut at age 17 in 2004, Messi spent nearly two decades at Barcelona, which remains the only other club where he has surpassed 100 appearances. During his two-season stint with Paris Saint-Germain, the star reached 75 games, a total that likely would have been higher had he not missed significant time due to injury and early tournament exits.

His early years in Spain provided a glimpse of the generational talent he would become. Messi reached his 100th appearance for Barcelona in February 2008 at just 20 years old, having tallied 41 goals and 15 assists for a total of 56 goal contributions during that span.

In the years immediately following that milestone, Messi would go on to set the world record with 91 goals in a single calendar year and claim his first Ballon d’Or at age 22. Despite arriving in MLS as a veteran in the twilight of his career, his clinical edge has remarkably sharpened rather than faded.

Through 99 games with Inter Miami, Messi has racked up 85 goals and 43 assists, bringing his total goal contributions to 128. That represents a massive 72-point gap over his early Barcelona numbers, proving that even as he nears his 100th game in North America, the World Cup winner is still operating at an elite level.

Despite a recent flu outbreak affecting several of the team’s top stars, Al Nassr are set to host Al Ahli this Wednesday. While the league leaders look to extend their advantage at the top of the table, Ronaldo finds himself once again on the verge of making history.

Ronaldo is currently just two goals shy of the century mark in the Saudi Pro League. Should he net a brace against Al Ahli, he would become only the sixth player to ever reach 100 goals in the history of the competition.

Furthermore, a brace would make him only the fourth player to achieve the 100-goal mark in the SPL with a single club. According to Transfermarkt, that elite list currently features Omar Al-Somah with Al Ahli (144 goals), Nasser Al-Shamrani with Al Shabab (101), and former Al Nassr standout Mohammed Al-Sahlawi, who tallied 103 goals for the club between 2009 and 2019.

During the current 2025-26 campaign, Ronaldo has racked up 24 goals in 25 games, currently sitting third in the Golden Boot race behind Julian Quiñones (26) and Ivan Toney (27). Since returning from a hamstring injury, the Al Nassr star has already found the net three times; with a chance to make history and inch closer to the SPL title, Wednesday’s match is a must-watch event.

Ronaldo’s legacy across multiple regions

Ronaldo recently surpassed 100 total goals with Al Nassr, joining Real Madrid, Manchester United, and the Portugal national team as the outfits where he has reached that milestone. However, when focusing on league-specific records, the striker is about to claim a feat entirely his own.

To date, no other player in soccer history has scored 100 or more goals in four different club competitions, a record Ronaldo is poised to secure. He has already registered 311 goals in La Liga, 103 in the Premier League, and 140 in the UEFA Champions League, with the SPL now expected to join that storied list.

During Sunday’s clash with Juventus, Pulisic headlined Milan’s frontline alongside Rafael Leao, but the star duo once again failed to deliver. The USMNT captain was subbed off for Niclas Fullkrug in the 62nd minute after failing to register a single shot and completing just one dribble.

Following the match, Costacurta, who spent two decades at Milan, slammed the forward’s performance on Sky Sports, calling it Pulisic’s worst match to date: “The two up front help each other and understand each other very little. Pulisic was the worst on the pitch today.”

The lack of a true central striker has forced both Pulisic and Leao to drift across the pitch, often failing to settle into dangerous positions. With only 22 touches on the ball, Pulisic looked like a shadow of the player who claimed Serie A Player of the Month honors back in September.

Costacurta also took aim at Leão, noting that the Portuguese winger continues to underwhelm him: “He continues to fail to convince me. I don’t know what else to add. Every now and then I see him try, but very few things come off—very few—and above all, we wonder why Milan has to drop so deep, why they don’t defend with all 11. When the opponents have the ball, not everyone runs, and Leao is the one who does it the least.”

Pulisic and a concerning lack of form in 2026

After a dominant first half of the season, injuries have derailed Pulisic’s momentum and he has been unable to regain his clinical edge. The most glaring impact is reflected in a scoring drought that has now spanned the entirety of the 2026 calendar year.

In 16 matches, including last night’s stalemate with Juventus, Pulisic has failed to find the net, equaling a career-worst dry spell dating back to his time at Chelsea. It has been 958 minutes since his last goal for the Rossoneri, which came on December 28, 2025, when he was still challenging Lautaro Martínez for the Serie A Golden Boot.

Speaking with DAZN after the game, head coach Massimiliano Allegri addressed the psychological toll the slump is taking on his winger: “He’s a very sensitive player, and not scoring affects him more. He struggles more in physical duels. Without a true striker, it’s harder for him I need to give balance to the team.“

Since the turn of the year, Pulisic’s only goal contribution was a single assist provided during a 3-2 win over Torino on March 21. As Milan slide out of the title race and fights to cling to a Champions League spot, fans are beginning to worry if this dip in form will carry over to the 2026 World Cup.

Hosting the Derby dei Campioni at San Siro on Sunday, Milan were unable to find a winner in a 0-0 draw that did little to help their Champions League qualification push. In the 80th minute, Modric went up for an aerial duel with Manuel Locatelli, with the Juventus midfielder’s head making violent contact with the left side of his face, forcing the Croatian off the pitch.

The club’s official statement confirmed the severity of the injury. “Diagnostic tests carried out today highlighted a fracture of the left cheekbone which will require surgical intervention, scheduled for the coming hours. Further details will be communicated following the operation,” the statement read.

With the fracture requiring surgery, the recovery timeline rules Modric out for the remainder of Milan’s domestic campaign. Expected to be sidelined until late May, the Rossoneri will be without their Croatian star for the final four games of the Serie A season.

AC Milan lose a key player in Champions League qualification push

In his first season at AC Milan, Modric established himself as the team’s standout performer. Despite modest counting stats of two goals and three assists in 36 appearances, his influence on the club has been far more profound, serving as the engine of the midfield with 60.3 passes completed per game at an efficiency rate of 91%, a level of quality that has kept Milan firmly in the mix for a return to Europe’s elite. His absence could not come at a worse time.

Milan currently sit third in the Serie A standings with 67 points, with Juventus breathing down their necks at 64, and both Como and Roma still in contention at 61 points apiece. With just four fixtures remaining in the 2025-26 season against Sassuolo, Atalanta, Genoa and Cagliari, seven points would see the Rossoneri secure Champions League play on their own terms, but coach Massimiliano Allegri now faces a significant challenge in filling the void left by Modric.

Modric expected to be fit for the World Cup

While both his season and his contract with AC Milan are drawing to a close, Modric has every reason to be optimistic about making it to the 2026 World Cup in North America. According to Croatian outlet Sportske Novosti, the midfielder is expected to be sidelined until late May but is on track to be fit for Croatia’s tournament opener against England on June 17.

His availability for the warm-up friendlies against Belgium on June 2 and Slovenia on June 7 will depend entirely on how his recovery progresses in the weeks ahead. What does appear increasingly likely is that Modric will be wearing a protective face mask for much of the tournament as he makes his return.

With the four-year deal Lewandowski signed with FC Barcelona expiring at the end of the 2025-26 season, the veteran has some significant decisions ahead of him. With Poland absent from the 2026 World Cup, he will have the summer window to weigh his options, whether that means accepting a heavily reduced salary to stay at Barcelona or entertaining offers from other clubs.

Chicago Fire had been among those clubs, going as far as holding preliminary discussions with the striker’s camp about a potential move. However, according to Tom Bogert of The Athletic, the Fire’s interest in Lewandowski appears to have dissipated, with the club having “changed their priorities.”

Hugo Cuypers’ form and a change of heart for Chicago Fire

On paper, landing Lewandowski made sense for Chicago Fire, with a Designated Player slot available and the marketing appeal of a high-profile European name arriving in the city. But the recent form of Hugo Cuypers, combined with the club’s efforts to secure him on a new deal, appears to have played a significant role in cooling their pursuit of the Polish striker.

Cuypers has been nothing short of sensational in his role as the team’s lead striker, finding the net in every match he has appeared in and sitting among the MLS scoring leaders with eight goals in six games, having missed three fixtures through injury. With the Fire sitting seventh in the standings with 17 points from nine games and Cuypers thriving in coach Gregg Berhalter’s system, the club’s front office has concluded that adding another striker to compete with the Belgian would disrupt rather than improve what is already working.

Where will Lewandowski go?

In the 2025-26 campaign, Lewandowski has gradually lost his grip on a starting spot at Barcelona, featuring in 23 of the club’s 41 games and rotating with Ferran Torres in a striker role that neither has fully made their own. Barcelona are reportedly open to keeping the veteran, but only under a significant wage reduction from what is currently the highest salary at the club, a condition that could push Lewandowski toward the exit door.

While AC Milan’s pursuit remains complicated by internal disagreements between the club’s board and coaching staff, Juventus have emerged as the frontrunners. According to Tuttosport, the Bianconeri are prepared to offer Lewandowski a one-year deal worth six million euros plus bonuses, along with the guaranteed starting role as the central striker in Luciano Spalletti’s system.

According to Diario Sport, Alvarez is currently managing a muscular complaint that limited his involvement in the weekend match against Athletic Club. The issue stems from the Copa del Rey final, the last game he played, in which he was on the pitch for the full 120 minutes, pushing his body to its limits.

Head coach Diego Simeone had hoped to give Alvarez some minutes against Athletic Club to keep him sharp ahead of the Champions League tie and ensure the Copa del Rey final would not be his last competitive action before the semifinal. Instead, the former Manchester City striker did not feature at any point, skipping the pre-match warmup, the halftime session and any touchline activity that might have allowed for a late substitution appearance.

The first leg against Arsenal is scheduled for Wednesday the 29th, with Atletico hosting at the Riyadh Air Metropolitano before the second leg at the Emirates Stadium. Even if Alvarez is cleared to play in the opener, he will do so having gone ten days without competitive action, which is far from ideal heading into a match of this magnitude.

The forward had already begun targeted treatment sessions with the club’s medical staff prior to the team’s departure for the weekend fixture, working to ease the discomfort and accelerate his return. According to Sport, the plan is to manage the muscular issue through rest and physiotherapy to ensure he is available as an option against Arsenal.

Pablo Barrios has already been ruled out with a muscular injury to his left thigh, effectively ending his involvement for the remainder of the season. David Hancko, Ademola Lookman and José María Gimenez are three other key starters working against the clock to be fit, but it is the uncertainty surrounding Álvarez that is generating the most concern within the club.

Alvarez: a key piece in keeping the Champions League dream alive

It has been a bittersweet season for Atletico Madrid overall, with a disappointing La Liga campaign that has seen them slip to fourth following Villarreal’s rise, and falling short in both the Spanish Super Cup and Copa del Rey. With the Champions League now their only remaining shot at a major trophy, getting Alvarez on the pitch has never felt more important.

While his numbers this season fall short of last year’s outstanding output of 29 goals and eight assists, his current tally of 19 goals and nine assists understates how influential he has been in the biggest moments. A brace that included a stunning free kick against Real Madrid, a goal in the Copa del Rey final and another crucial strike from a dead ball against Barcelona in the quarterfinal series all underline his value when the stakes are highest.

Alvarez currently ranks fourth among all scorers in this season’s Champions League with nine goals in 13 appearances, his best ever return in a single European campaign. With Arsenal having conceded just five goals across the entire competition, the least of any side remaining, having the Argentine available could prove to be the decisive factor in Atletico’s bid to reach the final.

As reported by Al Arriyadiyah on Sunday, a bout of influenza struck several first-team players during Al Nassr’s training session. The illness hit Mane hard enough that the Senegalese winger was unable to complete the session.

Beyond Mane, five other players have been impacted, with the team’s international stars bearing the brunt of the outbreak. The list of those battling symptoms includes Kingsley Coman, standout defender Mohamed Simakan, midfield engine Marcelo Brozovic, Ali Al-Hassan, and veteran right-back Sultan Al-Ghannam.

The outlook for that quintet remains more optimistic, as all five managed to finish the session led by manager Jorge Jesus at the “Dar Al-Nassr” training complex. As of Sunday evening, Mane was the only player forced to withdraw early.

According to the Saudi outlet, the likely cause of the outbreak is the change in weather conditions following the team’s return to Riyadh from Dubai, where they secured their place in the AFC Champions League Two final by eliminating Qatar’s Al Ahli.

Al Nassr looking for a quick recovery

The concern had already begun on Saturday when even Cristiano Ronaldo missed training due to what was reported as fatigue and exhaustion. While the Portuguese star has since returned to the group, the situation surrounding the flu-affected players remains a day-to-day assessment.

Al Nassr’s medical and technical staff are monitoring the six affected players closely in the days leading up to the match against Al Ahli, with none of them guaranteed to feature and their availability to be evaluated on a daily basis. Any significant absences would be a notable setback for a side chasing the league title at a critical stage of the season.

Currently riding a 19-game winning streak across all competitions, 15 in the SPL and four in the AFC Champions League Two, Al Nassr will host Al Ahli at Al Awwal Park in Matchday 30 of the 2025-26 Saudi Pro League. The hosts sit atop the table with 76 points from 29 games, while Al Ahli occupy third with 66 points from 28, making a home victory a potentially decisive step toward Ronaldo and company clinching the title.

As they did in the 2024-25 season, Al Ahli lifted the most prestigious club trophy in Asian football, this time defeating Japan’s Machida Zelvia 1-0 in extra time. The victory was all the more remarkable given that Mahrez’s side were reduced to ten men in the 68th minute when Zakaria Hawsawi was sent off for a headbutt on Tete Yengi, yet still found a way to claim the title.

In a statement collected by ESPN after the win, Mahrez was candid about the enormity of the achievement. “It’s amazing. It was difficult for us again. We like to make it difficult for ourselves. Ten against 11 is nearly impossible. I don’t know how we found the strength and the energy. After the red card we stuck together, we fought more, we ran more until we scored,” he said.

With the 2025-26 triumph secured, Al Ahli have become the first club in the modern era of the AFC Champions League Elite to win the competition in consecutive seasons. The only previous instance of back-to-back titles dates back to 2004 and 2005, when Al Ittihad claimed the trophy in what was then simply known as the AFC Champions League.

Low chances of an Asian Super Cup between Mahrez and Ronaldo

Cristiano Ronaldo still has the chance to claim his own continental honor, with Al Nassr set to face Japan’s Gamba Osaka in the AFC Champions League Two final. But the prospect of the two winners facing off in an Asian Super Cup appears remote at best.

According to Al Arriyadiyah, an official AFC source has confirmed that the idea of reviving the Asian Super Cup is not currently under consideration. The competition, which originally pitted the AFC Champions League winner against the Asian Cup Winners’ Cup holder, was last held in 2002 and has not been staged since.

Although the AFC Champions League Two was introduced in 2024, the notion of creating a Super Cup-style showdown between the winners of the two competitions has not been taken up by the AFC board. As the Saudi outlet reports, there is no official direction from the governing body to bring such a contest back to the calendar in any form.

The AFC Champions League Two final is scheduled for May 16 at King Saud University Stadium, where Ronaldo will be gunning for his first continental club trophy since 2018. Whether Al Nassr or Gamba Osaka lift the trophy on that night, the prospect of a European-style Super Cup to follow remains highly unlikely in the Asian football landscape.

Chasing Barcelona in the La Liga title race, Real Madrid traveled to Seville to face Real Betis on Matchday 32, a match Los Blancos failed to use to close the gap at the top, drawing 1-1 after the hosts found a last-gasp equalizer in stoppage time. The more concerning development, however, came in the 80th minute when Mbappe pulled up after a sprint and immediately signaled to the bench to be replaced.

According to Diario AS, initial assessments point to a muscle overload in his left hamstring, with a tear or more serious structural damage ruled out at this stage. However, further testing is still required to determine how long Mbappe will be sidelined and when he can realistically return to the pitch.

Barcelona have already confirmed that Lamine Yamal will miss not only El Clásico but the remainder of the season after sustaining a biceps femoris injury in his left hamstring. With the Blaugrana’s biggest star already ruled out, the prospect of Real Madrid also being without Mbappe would be a blow both to the team’s hopes and to the occasion itself.

The final El Clasico of the 2025-26 campaign is scheduled for Sunday, May 10, and could prove to be a defining moment in the title race. Barcelona currently sit atop the table with 85 points from 33 games, 11 clear of Real Madrid with 74, and a win for the Blaugrana next weekend would be enough to clinch the La Liga title.

Mbappe eager to avoid a repeat of the Militao situation

Mbappe’s injury is a cause for concern not only at Real Madrid but also for the France national team, with the 2026 World Cup now just 46 days away. The recent case of Eder Militao has put the club on high alert, with everyone determined to avoid any unnecessary risk.

After suffering a muscle injury in his left leg during a sprint against Deportivo Alaves last week, Militao aggravated existing scar tissue from a previous biceps femoris injury. The Brazilian was subsequently forced to undergo surgery, ruling him out of the 2026 World Cup with the Brazil national team entirely.

According to L’Equipe, Mbappe underwent an ultrasound on Saturday that ruled out any serious structural damage. An MRI is scheduled for Monday to provide a more detailed picture of the injury and give a clearer indication of his expected recovery timeline.

While the early indications are encouraging, Real Madrid’s medical staff follow a standard protocol of waiting at least 48 hours for swelling in the affected area to subside before committing to a firm diagnosis. With Militao’s situation serving as a stark recent reminder of how quickly things can escalate, exercising maximum caution with Mbappe will be the priority for both the club and the player himself in the days ahead.

Inter Miami traveled to Utah to face Real Salt Lake on Wednesday, securing a 2-0 victory behind goals from Rodrigo De Paul and Luis Suarez. Beyond the three points, the match was a historic one for Noah Allen, who started at left wing-back in manager Guillermo Hoyos’ 5-3-2 system.

With the start, Allen reached 119 appearances in an Inter Miami jersey, moving into sole possession of the club’s all-time games played record. The Greece international surpassed the previous mark of 118 held by goalkeeper Drake Callender, who set the standard before his departure from the club in 2025.

A product of the Inter Miami academy since 2019, Allen featured in 53 matches for the second team before making his first-team debut on February 26, 2022, against the Chicago Fire. Since then, he has avoided major injury and established himself as a fixture in the squad, contributing two goals and four assists over his record-breaking tenure.

Where does Lionel Messi stand?

Lionel Messi has already shattered a litany of records in South Florida, leading the franchise to its first trophies and serving as the all-time leader in goals (85) and assists (44). However, the all-time appearance list is one of the few leaderboards where the Argentine legend is still climbing his way toward the top.

Messi currently sits in eighth place on the club’s all-time appearances list with 98 games played. He is now just two matches away from the 100-game milestone, which would move him into a tie for seventh with Leonardo Campana.

Jordi Alba holds sixth place with 103 appearances, followed by Benjamin Cremaschi in fifth at 107, while the top four is rounded out by Robert Taylor and Sergio Busquets, both locked at 116, and Drake Callender sitting in second. Lionel Messi and Noah Allen are the only players in the top eight currently in a position to add to their totals, leaving the door open for Messi to continue his climb while Allen looks to pull even further away from the pack.

With roughly 30 matches remaining in the 2026 MLS regular season and the Leagues Cup, there is plenty of room for Messi’s tally to grow. Having featured in 49 games last season, Messi could realistically surpass Callender’s mark of 118 by the end of the year, though catching Allen will depend on the young defender’s continued role in the rotation.

A recent report from the Financial Times revealed that Paolo Zampolli, a top envoy to U.S. President Donald Trump, suggested to FIFA President Gianni Infantino and President Trump that Italy should step in for Iran. Zampolli, an Italian native, argued that Italy’s four World Cup titles justified handing the Azzurri the vacant slot.

The proposal took officials by surprise, as Infantino had previously treated Iran’s participation as a settled matter. “The Iranian team is coming, for sure,” Infantino stated Tuesday at CNBC’s Invest in America Forum in Washington, D.C. “They represent their people and they have qualified; the players want to play.“

Italian government discards potential 2026 World Cup lifeline

Friction between Middle Eastern authorities and tournament organizers fueled speculation that a powerhouse like Italy could serve as a contingency. However, less than 24 hours after Zampolli’s claims surfaced, the Italian government directly shut down the possibility.

Giorgia Meloni’s sports minister Andrea Abodi spoke with Sky Sports to dismiss the proposal entirely: “Italy’s possible re-qualification for the 2026 World Cup, which US President Donald Trump’s envoy, Paolo Zampolli, has reportedly proposed to FIFA, is firstly not possible, and secondly, not appropriate. I don’t know what comes first.“

The Italian national team failed to secure a 2026 World Cup berth after a devastating penalty shootout loss to Bosnia & Herzegovina in the UEFA playoff finals. Abodi remained steadfast that his country must rely on sporting merit rather than administrative handouts. “Qualification is earned on the pitch,” the minister concluded.

While FIFA and the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) have declined to comment on the Financial Times report, the issue is expected to fade quickly. Drawn into Group G, Iran is currently scheduled to open its tournament against New Zealand on June 15 in Los Angeles, followed by matches against Belgium and Egypt.

According to Sky Sports‘ Florian Plettenberg, an agreement in principle has been reached for a new long-term contract that Real Madrid offered Vinicius. While this represents a major step forward, several final details still need to be ironed out before the Brazilian officially puts pen to paper on his extension with Los Blancos.

The report also clarified that Mbappe will remain the top earner on the roster, a position he has held since his high-profile arrival during the 2024-25 season. This hierarchy was reportedly a point of contention that stalled negotiations, as Vinícius was initially eager to surpass his teammate’s earnings.

As previously reported by Diario AS, Vinicius Junior currently earns a net salary of approximately $11.7 million from the extension he signed in October 2023. By comparison, Kylian Mbappe secured a base salary of $17.5 million after joining the club as a free agent from Paris Saint-Germain.

With his current contract set to expire in June 2027, Vinicius’ camp reportedly demanded a salary in the range of $29 million to $35 million per year, including bonuses, during the early stages of renewal talks. After a lengthy stalemate, both sides now appear ready to move forward and secure the star’s long-term presence in the Spanish capital.

Real Madrid defuses the Vinicius standoff

Real Madrid have spent over a year working on this extension, facing numerous obstacles along the way. Doubts regarding his long-term stay began to surface after Vinicius claimed the FIFA The Best award, a milestone followed by a dip in form and a stretch of inconsistent play over the last two years.

The demand for a significant pay raise and the status of being the squad’s highest-paid player became a sticking point during this period. Furthermore, the Saudi Pro League made a heavy push for the winger, with reports suggesting a potential record-breaking transfer fee aimed at making Vinicius the new face of soccer in Saudi Arabia.

While those rumors eventually faded, the player’s recent friction with former manager Xabi Alonso briefly reignited speculation about an eventual departure. However, with the coaching change and a new agreement on the table, a resolution now seems closer than it was at any point last year.

A collapse in the Spanish Super Cup, a premature exit from the Copa del Rey, and a recent Champions League quarterfinal elimination have left the entire Real Madrid roster under heavy scrutiny. Despite racking up 41 goals in 40 games, Mbappe has not escaped the critics, with some questioning whether his individual brilliance is actually translating into team success.

Appearing on the Rio Ferdinand Presents YouTube channel, Pogba was asked if Mbappe could raise his game even further and finally secure the Ballon d’Or. “Ballon d’Or, I think it’s just timing. I think he deserved it in previous seasons, but it’s about the right moment. Now he’s scoring more than ever and has truly found his place in Madrid,” Pogba told the Manchester United legend.

Pogba specifically pointed to the historic numbers Mbappe produced during his 2024-25 debut season as a sign of things to come. “He scored more goals than Cristiano Ronaldo; he scored more than Ronaldo Nazário. When you produce like that in your first year, you can only go higher, and I am not surprised at all,” he added.

After arriving as a free agent from Paris Saint-Germain, Mbappe hit the ground running with 43 goals across all competitions in his first year in Spain. That tally allowed him to shatter the debut-season marks set by Ivan Zamorano (37), Cristiano Ronaldo (33), and the legendary Ronaldo Nazario (29).

Real Madrid’s struggle to unlock Mbappe

Speed and elite space interpretation remain Mbappe’s most lethal traits, allowing him to dismantle defenses in transition. However, his ability to exploit those gaps depends heavily on having a playmaker capable of delivering the right pass at the right moment, a profile that is currently missing from the Madrid midfield.

Pogba, who famously orchestrated the French midfield during their 2018 World Cup title run, reflected on his own chemistry with the striker. “We understand each other. I understand his runs and everything. He’s so fast that even if I slightly miss the pass, he will catch it. His movement is unbelievable.“

During their recent Champions League-winning runs, Real Madrid relied on the technical genius of Luka Modric and Toni Kroos to break lines and feed players like Vinicius Junior. Both legends have since departed, and while Arda Guler and Jude Bellingham have been tasked with those roles, the squad has struggled to find a creative hub that can truly maximize Mbappe’s vertical threat.

Reports from TEAMtalk revealed that Al Nassr have identified Salah as an absolute priority, driven in large part by his potential cultural impact and the commercial opportunities his signing would unlock, particularly around Egyptian television rights, a long-term strategic play for the league. While the Egyptian winger and Liverpool are expected to agree on a free departure at the end of the season, Al Nassr are not yet ready to open formal talks.

According to Saudi outlet Al-Wiam, Jorge Jesus has refused to allow negotiations over a potential Salah deal to begin until after the current season concludes. The Portuguese coach has applied that same policy to all potential transfer activity, with his stated priority being to “maintain the team’s focus” during the critical final weeks of the campaign.

Al Nassr have recently secured their place in the AFC Champions League Two final and currently sit atop the Saudi Pro League table. With the possibility of winning two trophies in the closing months of the season in his debut year at the club, Jesus is determined to keep any outside noise from disrupting the squad’s concentration at such a decisive moment.

The same outlet, which had previously reported on Al Nassr‘s plans to integrate Cristiano Jr. into the first team for next season, noted that Ronaldo holds Salah in high regard and believes the Egyptian could bring genuine value to the squad. That said, the Portuguese star’s position largely mirrors his coach’s, prioritizing the team’s focus above all else for now.

How would Salah fit into Al Nassr’s system?

On the financial side, a Salah move to Al Nassr appears workable. The club still has one foreign player slot available, remains backed by the Public Investment Fund, and with no transfer fee expected given Salah’s free agent status, his salary would be the primary figure to negotiate. The tactical fit, however, is a more complex question.

Jorge Jesus has predominantly deployed a 4-2-3-1 system in his first season at the club, built around Ronaldo as the focal point of the attack and anchored by a solid double pivot in front of a commanding center back pairing. As a secondary option, the Portuguese coach has also used a 4-4-2 to push more players into advanced positions while maintaining defensive structure.

Given Salah’s qualities and wealth of experience, he could be deployed as a winger or attacking midfielder on the right flank, or even as a center forward, a role he has filled effectively at Liverpool on numerous occasions. The challenge is that when everyone is fit, the frontline is already well stocked, with Sadio Mane on the left, Joao Felix as the No. 10, Kingsley Coman on the right and Ronaldo leading the line.

That reality suggests Salah’s signing may be more of a medium-to-long-term play. Next season, both Ronaldo and Mané will be entering the final year of their respective contracts at Al Nassr, with one turning 42 and the other 35 in 2027. In that context, Salah, one of the most recognizable and commercially powerful names in the Middle East, would be well positioned to step into a leading role and carry the club’s ambitions into a new era.

Hosting Matchday 33 of La Liga at Camp Nou, Yamal had put Barcelona ahead in the 40th minute by converting a penalty he himself had won, only to go down immediately after with an apparent injury to his left leg. The young star signaled to the bench to be replaced, and while Roony Bardghji came on in his place, Yamal headed straight to the locker room rather than taking a seat on the sideline, a sight that deepened the concern among fans and teammates alike.

According to Spanish outlet Mundo Deportivo, initial evaluations of Lamine Yamal’s condition point to a muscle tear in his left hamstring. That diagnosis would put him on a recovery timeline of approximately five weeks, effectively ending his 2025-26 campaign with Barcelona.

El Clasico between Barcelona and Real Madrid is scheduled for Sunday, May 10, at Camp Nou in Matchday 35 of La Liga. With the fixture arriving in less than three weeks, the reported severity of the injury would rule Yamal out of what could be a pivotal moment in the La Liga title race.

Despite the initial concerns, Yamal had not yet undergone formal medical testing at the time of the reports. According to Mundo Deportivo, the Barcelona star was set to have further examinations on Thursday to determine the true extent of the damage.

After the match, teammate Pedri addressed the injury with measured optimism. “I hope Lamine misses the fewest possible amount of time. He’ll undergo the tests tomorrow and we’ll see the nature of the issue. I wish him all the best, and that he stays calm because he’s still young,” the Barcelona captain stated.

Will Yamal arrive at the World Cup in form?

Although Barcelona’s final La Liga fixture is scheduled for May 24 against Valencia, a nine-point cushion over Real Madrid with six games remaining means the title is theirs to lose. The more pressing concern, however, has quickly shifted to Spain’s national team and whether Yamal will be fit in time for the opening stages of the World Cup.

Taking the most conservative timeline into account, a full five-week absence would see Yamal clear to return around Wednesday, May 27, just days after Barcelona wrap up their domestic season and with players expected to report for international duty shortly thereafter.

Spain’s June schedule includes two warm-up friendlies, against Iraq on the 4th and Peru on the 8th, before La Roja open their 2026 World Cup campaign in Group H on Monday, June 15 against Cape Verde. Even if Yamal is technically fit by that point, arriving at the tournament with minimal match fitness in the weeks prior will be a significant concern for both club and country.

Inter Miami are set to travel to Utah for their ninth game of the 2026 MLS season, the second under new head coach Guillermo Hoyos following Javier Mascherano’s dismissal. With America First Field offering just 21,000 seats, the limited availability combined with the draw of Messi’s presence has sent ticket prices soaring.

According to Miami Herald‘s Michelle Kaufman, citing data from TickPick, the average purchase price for a ticket to the Real Salt Lake vs. Inter Miami match sits at $468. The cheapest available ticket is listed at $419, nearly 14 times the price of Real Salt Lake’s upcoming home game against the Portland Timbers, which can be had for as little as $28.

Beyond being the most expensive MLS game of the 2026 season, the match will also set a new record for the priciest ticket in Real Salt Lake’s history at home. The previous benchmark dated back to 2017, when Manchester United visited for a friendly and secured a 2-1 win, with the average ticket price for that occasion coming in at $148.

Messi has already been at the center of two record-breaking attendance figures this season, first at the LA Memorial Coliseum for the MLS opener against LAFC and then at Empower Field at Mile High against the Colorado Rapids. In Utah, where the stadium’s limited capacity restricts access for fans eager to see him in person, it is the ticket prices rather than the attendance that are making history.

Messi’s record vs Real Salt Lake

The frenzy surrounding Inter Miami’s visit has been fueled in part by the fact that it will be Messi’s first trip to Utah to face Real Salt Lake in the MLS in nearly three years since his arrival in the league. The Argentine, however, already has a winning record against the Claret and Cobalt.

The two sides have met just once, with the Herons claiming a 2-0 victory in the opening game of the 2024 MLS season at Chase Stadium. In that match, Messi set up Robert Taylor for the opening goal in the 39th minute. Heading into Saturday’s rematch, he will be looking to score his first goal against Real Salt Lake while also extending his remarkable run of seven goals in seven MLS matches this season.

In a game Barcelona dominated with several clear-cut chances, many of them created by Yamal himself, the Spanish winger made the decisive contribution in the 39th minute when he cut inside from the right and was brought down by Yoel Lago. Referee Jose Luis Munuera Montero pointed to the spot without hesitation, and Yamal stepped up to take the kick.

In the 40th minute, he sent a composed crossed finish past Celta Vigo goalkeeper Ionuț Radu, who guessed the right corner but could not keep it out, putting Barcelona in front. The celebration was short-lived, however, as Yamal immediately signaled to the bench and dropped to the ground, clutching his left hamstring in visible discomfort.

Unable to continue, Yamal was replaced by Roony Bardghji in the 45+9 minute, with the substitution delayed by an incident in the stands that required medical staff from both teams to attend to. Rather than taking a seat on the bench to watch the remainder of the half, Yamal headed straight down the tunnel, an image that did little to ease the growing concern among the Barcelona faithful.

The Yamal scare was not the only injury worry for the Blaugrana on the night, as Joao Cancelo had already been forced off in the 23rd minute after feeling discomfort in his knee, replaced by Alejandro Balde. With the La Liga title race still far from settled, the two injuries in a single game have handed coach Hansi Flick a significant headache heading into the final weeks of the Spanish season.

Yamal and a poorly timed injury

Lamine Yamal has been unquestionably Barcelona’s best player throughout the 2025-26 season, leading the team in both goals and assists with 24 and 18 respectively across 45 appearances in all competitions. Losing him, even temporarily, would be a significant blow, particularly with the Blaugrana still needing to navigate several defining moments in the La Liga title race.

With six games remaining after the Celta Vigo match, Barcelona currently sit on 82 points from 32 games, nine clear of second-placed Real Madrid. However, La Liga has confirmed that the next El Clasico will take place at Camp Nou on Sunday, May 10 at 9:00 p.m. local time, giving Yamal fewer than three weeks to recover from his latest injury and be ready for the occasion.

While Barcelona’s points cushion still provides a comfortable buffer, dropping points or suffering a defeat at Matchday 35 against Real Madrid could breathe new life into Los Blancos‘ title ambitions. The full details of Yamal’s injury have yet to be disclosed, but pushing him to feature in the Clasico before he is fully fit risks a more serious setback that could ultimately threaten his participation in the 2026 World Cup.

Al Nassr faced Qatari side Al Ahli at Zabeel Stadium in a single-leg semifinal, following the AFC’s recent changes to the competition format. Although the visitors took the lead in the 10th minute, Kingsley Coman proved unstoppable, scoring a hat trick in the 12th, 45th and 63rd minutes, with Angelo and Abdullah Al-Hamdan also finding the net to complete a stunning 5-1 comeback and book Al Nassr’s place in the final.

Standing between Al Nassr and the AFC Champions League Two title is Japanese side Gamba Osaka, who came through the eastern side of the bracket. The final is scheduled for May 16, and in a significant boost for Ronaldo and his teammates, Al Nassr will have the advantage of hosting the match at Al Awwal Park in front of their own fans.

Cristiano Ronaldo’s last continental trophy at club level

Ronaldo has accumulated an extraordinary collection of goals and trophies across his career, but to find his last continental club honor, you have to go all the way back to 2018. That year, he claimed the 2017-18 UEFA Champions League with Real Madrid, his fifth in total, which remains his most recent international club trophy.

Since moving to Juventus in the 2018-19 season, then to Manchester United and now Al Nassr, Ronaldo has been unable to add another continental title at club level. He did win the Arab Club Champions Cup in 2023, though the trophy is not officially recognized by FIFA, making the AFC Champions League Two final a significant opportunity to end an eight-year continental drought with a club side.

Ronaldo thriving on the international stage with Portugal

While club glory has eluded him internationally for over eight years, the story with the Portugal national team has been a very different one. After delivering the country’s first major international trophy with the Euro 2016 title, Ronaldo has gone on to claim two more honors on the world stage.

Portugal lifted the UEFA Nations League in 2019 with a 1-0 victory over the Netherlands, and then repeated the feat most recently in 2025, beating Lamine Yamal’s Spain in a final decided by penalty shootout. Should Al Nassr fall short in the AFC Champions League Two final, Ronaldo will have yet another opportunity to add to his international haul when Portugal compete for the 2026 World Cup.

With the FA Cup semifinal on the horizon, City have scheduled their Matchday 34 Premier League clash against Burnley for Wednesday, April 22, at Turf Moor. Sitting just three points behind Arsenal at the top of the table with a game in hand, a victory would pile further pressure on the Gunners in the closing stretch of the season.

At Tuesday’s press conference, however, Guardiola confirmed that Rodri will not be available for the trip to Burnley due to a groin problem. “I think for tomorrow he will not be ready,” the City manager said.

The concern appears to stop there for now, with Guardiola suggesting Rodri could return either for the FA Cup semifinal against Southampton or the subsequent Premier League fixture. “We will see for the next games. Maybe against Southampton or maybe in 12 days,” he added.

Since returning from the ACL injury that ruled him out for the majority of last season, Rodri has featured in 31 matches across all competitions for City. His direct goal contributions have been modest, with two goals and no assists, but his presence in the engine room has restored the midfield stability that was so sorely missed in his absence, re-establishing him as the linchpin of Guardiola’s system.

Rodri and Bernardo Silva: the core of City’s win over Arsenal

City are in excellent form, with their recent momentum tracing back to a January 17 victory over Manchester United, a result that served as a turning point in the club’s season and reignited their title challenge. The game that truly shifted the tone of the race, however, was Sunday’s 2-1 win over Arsenal, in which Guardiola singled out both Rodri and Bernardo Silva for their leadership and composure in a high-stakes encounter.

“Both are experienced, they have a huge special personality,” Guardiola said. “They are not young guys anymore, experienced guys, but played a lot of this type of games and know how it must be played. They were exceptional,” the manager added. The praise comes at a poignant moment, with Silva set to leave at the end of the season when his contract expires, while Rodri’s own future is the subject of growing speculation amid reported interest from Real Madrid.

While Barcelona remain one of the most potent attacking sides in the world, a specific weakness has emerged at center forward. With Lamine Yamal firmly established on the right and Raphinha on the left, the wide positions are well covered at the highest level, but the striker role has become the club’s most pressing concern heading into the transfer window.

According to a report by Laia Cervello Herrero and Pol Ballus in The Athletic, both Lewandowski and Ferran Torres have failed to fully convince at Barcelona, casting serious doubt over their futures at the club. Despite being given equal opportunities, neither has established himself as a reliable and consistent goal threat in the 2025-26 campaign, a deficiency that has cost the team dearly in key moments throughout the season.

Against that backdrop, Julian Alvarez has been identified as Barcelona’s dream solution. The Argentine fits the tactical profile that coach Hansi Flick is reportedly looking for, and the striker himself has not closed the door when asked publicly about interest from the Blaugrana.

The primary obstacle standing in the way of a deal would be the fee Atletico Madrid would demand for a player under contract until June 2030. According to The Athletic‘s report, any offer would need to start at a minimum of €100 million, roughly $117 million.

That price tag represents a significant hurdle given Barcelona’s well-documented financial constraints. However, the potential savings from releasing Lewandowski’s substantial salary, combined with the cooling of the Marcus Rashford purchase option situation, are expected to give the Catalan club enough room to mount a serious push for the 26-year-old in the upcoming summer window.

Lewandowski and Ferran Torres facing uncertain futures at Barcelona

Lamine Yamal’s position as the team’s top assister with 18 underlines his role as the creative engine, but the fact that he also leads the scoring charts with 23 goals says as much about the underperformance of those specifically tasked with putting the ball in the net. Ferran Torres sits second with 19 goals and Lewandowski fourth with 17, numbers that fall short of what Barcelona requires from a lead striker at the highest level.

Beyond their performances, the contract situations of both players do little to support their long-term futures at the club. On Lewandowski’s side, Sky Sports‘ Florian Plettenberg has reported that president Joan Laporta is open to an extension but with a significant wage reduction on the table, while Saudi Arabia and MLS club Chicago Fire have both registered interest, though formal discussions have yet to take place.

As for Ferran Torres, his contract runs through June 2027 with no new deal in sight, and The Athletic reports that Barcelona would be willing to entertain offers for the forward. His inconsistency and inability to fully claim the starting striker role have only strengthened the club’s desire to bring in a more dependable option, making the pursuit of Álvarez all the more pressing.

According to a report by The Athletic‘s Adam Crafton and Henry Bushnell, a document distributed to local organizers in Los Angeles revealed that the United States vs. Paraguay game has lagged behind other fixtures at the venue. With SoFi Stadium’s listed capacity of 69,650, the document showed that as of April 10, only 40,934 tickets had been purchased, leaving nearly 30,000 seats still available.

As detailed in the report, when the first wave of World Cup tickets went on sale back in October, the USMNT opener was priced as the third most expensive game of the entire tournament, behind only the final and one of the semifinals. Despite that, Category 1 and Category 2 tickets, listed at $2,730 and $1,940 respectively, remained consistently available, a clear sign that fans have been reluctant to pay those prices.

Those ticket prices have remained unchanged, a notable anomaly given that most other events have seen their prices increase significantly over the past six months. With close to 30,000 seats still unsold and the match scheduled for June 12, the USMNT opener is not alone in facing a slow uptake.

Among the games with the highest remaining availability are matchups between lower-profile nations including New Zealand vs. Egypt, Uzbekistan vs. DR Congo, Saudi Arabia’s fixtures against Cape Verde and Uruguay, and three matches involving Austria, Jordan and Algeria. The fact that both the USMNT opener and Canada’s opener against Bosnia & Herzegovina also appear on that list suggests that fan reluctance is being driven not just by team selection, but by the price of entry.

FIFA to open new ticket sales phase

In an announcement released on Tuesday, FIFA revealed that additional tickets will be made available through a new initiative called the “Last-Minute Sales Phase.” Tickets will go on sale on April 22 and will be available across all 104 matches of the tournament.

The new phase moves away from the lottery system used in previous rounds, switching to a public purchase model on a first-come, first-served basis. Unlike earlier sales windows, tickets in this phase will continue to be released on a rolling basis through to the end of the World Cup, covering Categories 1 through 3 as well as front-row seat options.

FIFA’s official website states that more than five million tickets have already been sold, with cumulative attendance projected to surpass the record of 3.5 million set at the 1994 World Cup on U.S. soil. Whether that target is met will depend in part on how the market responds to the new sales phase, and whether FIFA is willing to reconsider its pricing structure for the games that have yet to find their audience.

The 2025-26 season has been a difficult one for Real Madrid, with the club struggling to find the right balance between a potent attacking line and an unsettled midfield. That imbalance has fueled talk of a possible return for the 36-year-old, but Kroos himself has been the one to shut it all down.

Speaking to reporters at the Laureus Awards Gala in Madrid, Kroos was asked directly whether a comeback had ever crossed his mind. “No, truthfully, I haven’t. I’ve never had that thought because I stopped exactly how I wanted to stop. I closed the book. Even if I thought about returning — though it’s already too late — I always believed it was impossible to finish on a higher note. Anything that came after would have been worse,” he said.

Kroos retired in 2024 at the very peak of his powers, capping his playing career with a UEFA Champions League title with Real Madrid in the 2023-24 season. With six UCL medals and a World Cup winner’s medal already in his collection, the former Bayern Munich and Real Madrid midfielder believes that anything following such a farewell could only diminish the legacy he worked so hard to build.

While recent reports have suggested Real Madrid are keen to bring Kroos into a prominent role within the club’s sporting structure, his days as a professional player are firmly behind him. “Now I have other motivations in my life and other projects. That stage ended well for me, and I was able to leave happy, without the feeling that something could have been done better. I was happy, and that’s that,” he concluded.

Kroos and the recognition from the Laureus Academy

The fact that Kroos is still being seriously discussed as a potential first-team solution for Real Madrid speaks to the scale of his influence at the club. It is also a fitting backdrop for the recognition he received on Monday night, when the Laureus Academy presented him with the Laureus Sporting Inspiration Award.

The honor has been bestowed only three times previously: first to the Refugee Olympic Team in 2017, then to NFL star J.J. Watt in 2018, and most recently to Mohamed Salah in 2021. Five years on, the German legend became the fourth recipient of the award, a fitting tribute to one of the most decorated and influential careers in the history of the game.

Having served as an assistant to coach Gennaro Gattuso within the Italy setup, Bonucci has retained his place on the federation’s staff. With the head coaching position now open, a number of names have been floated, including Antonio Conte and Massimiliano Allegri, but none has generated more buzz than the possibility of landing Guardiola.

Speaking at the Laureus Awards Gala in Madrid, Bonucci was candid about his preferred choice to lead the rebuild. “Following the list of names mentioned in recent days, if there is a true desire to start from zero, I would start with the possibility of having Pep Guardiola,” he said.

Italy’s overhaul extends well beyond the coaching vacancy, with the resignation of federation president Gabriele Gravina setting the stage for a broader cultural reset within the national team program. “Having him would mean a radical change from everything that has happened. I think it’s very difficult, but dreaming right now costs nothing,” Bonucci added.

After a turbulent 2025-26 season at Manchester City, speculation has grown in recent months about whether Guardiola might leave the club before his contract expires in June 2027. While the Spaniard has previously expressed an interest in managing a national team, with City just three points behind Arsenal in the Premier League, only a dramatic shift in circumstances would likely prompt an early departure from Old Trafford.

Italy and the urgent need to bounce back

As a four-time World Cup champion, Italy has become the first former winner to miss three consecutive editions of the tournament, a sobering reality for one of the sport’s most storied nations. Having earned 121 caps, lifted the Euro 2020 trophy and captained the side following Giorgio Chiellini’s retirement, Bonucci believes the raw materials for a comeback are firmly in place.

Tasked with serving as a liaison in the scouting of young talents and players who could be called into the squad for the upcoming June fixtures, Bonucci believes in the talents the current squad has “We are lucky to have many high-level young players and others in full development. I believe that with Donnarumma, Tonali, Bastoni, Calafiori, Palestra, Pio Esposito and Scamacca, we have the necessary talent,” he said.

Despite missing the World Cup, Italy still has meaningful football ahead in 2026. Beginning in September and running through November, the Azzurri will compete in the UEFA Nations League group stage, having been drawn into Group A alongside France, Belgium and Turkey, a demanding group that will serve as an early test of the national team’s renewed ambitions.

With fitness and mentality both key priorities for the squad going forward, Bonucci also identified what he believes the current generation still lacks. “Compared to our squad that won the Euros five years ago, the current national team is undoubtedly superior in technique and talent. What is missing is a bit of development in leadership and personality, because in the most important matches, that is what makes the difference,” the former defender said.

The Laureus World Sports Awards, which honor individuals and teams across a wide range of disciplines, held its 2026 edition with Yamal once again among the most prominent names on the night. This time, he was recognized with the Laureus World Young Sportsperson of the Year Award, presented by the Laureus Academy.

“I am very happy to be the first to receive this award for best young athlete. It is a source of pride,” Yamal said upon collecting the trophy, taking a moment to thank the Academy, the legends who voted for him, and his family and inner circle. He then turned his attention to the only soccer figure to have claimed the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year award.

“When you realize an athlete isn’t just a legend of their sport but of all sports — Messi, who for me is the best player in history, and if he isn’t the greatest athlete ever, he’s definitely in that conversation with all of them,” Yamal said. The Argentine icon first claimed the World Sportsman of the Year in 2020, sharing the honor with Lewis Hamilton, before claiming it again in 2023 following Argentina’s World Cup triumph.

Yamal also spoke to Messi’s status as a figure who transcends soccer altogether. “He’s more than an idol. I think everyone respects him for everything he’s done. He’s been part of the childhood of every kid when we played in the park or at school, and I hope I’ll be able to follow in his footsteps,” the teenager said.

Yamal’s second Laureus Award

After helping Barcelona claim La Liga, the Spanish Super Cup and the Copa del Rey in 2025 while playing a pivotal role in the club’s UEFA Champions League run, Lamine Yamal earned another nod from the Laureus Academy. It was not his first time on that stage, however, as the Spanish teenager had already made history at the ceremony the year prior.

For his starring role in leading Spain to victory at Euro 2024, Yamal was named Laureus World Breakthrough of the Year, an award that reflected the immediacy and magnitude of his impact on soccer and the broader sporting landscape. Since the award’s first edition in 2000, only Jude Bellingham had previously claimed it as a soccer player, in 2024, with Yamal following in his footsteps just one year later.

With two Laureus Awards now in his collection, Yamal closed with a forward-looking message about what the recognition means to him. “I am grateful that my contributions to our team in 2025 are being recognized with this Laureus. I believe that sport has the power to change the world. This statuette represents a new generation of athletes who can bring about that change. I am proud to be the first to receive this Laureus,” he concluded.

Inter Miami traveled to Empower Field at Mile High last Saturday, where the Colorado Rapids celebrated their 30th anniversary in front of a record-breaking MLS crowd. Messi opened the scoring from the penalty spot in the 18th minute, but the Rapids fought back to level the game twice, before the Argentine settled the contest in the 79th minute by cutting inside from the right and firing home to complete his brace and seal a 3-2 victory for the Herons.

Following that standout display, Messi was named MLS Player of the Matchday for the 14th time in his career, while also earning a place in the Team of the Matchday. It marked the second time this season he has claimed the honor, having previously won it on Matchday 2 after another brace, that one against Orlando City.

No player has come close to matching Messi’s rate of recognition since his arrival in the league. His 14 Player of the Matchday awards have come across just 60 MLS appearances, meaning he has claimed the honor in nearly a quarter of every eligible game he has played since joining Inter Miami.

Those 14 recognitions place Messi in a tie for second on the all-time list alongside Columbus Crew legend Jeff Cunningham, with only Landon Donovan ahead of them, having claimed the honor a record 19 times.

Could Messi surpass Donovan in 2026?

While Cunningham and Donovan each spent more than a decade in MLS, Messi has matched Cunningham’s career total in fewer than three seasons, a testament to the extraordinary consistency he has brought to the league. With 14 awards to his name, the question now is whether the Argentine can chase down Donovan’s record of 19 before the 2026 season is out.

The numbers suggest it is far from out of reach. Since his first full MLS season in 2024, Messi has claimed six Player of the Matchday awards in back-to-back campaigns, finishing 2025 with 12 total and becoming the first player in league history to achieve that feat in consecutive seasons.

It is also worth noting that the most games Messi has played in a single MLS regular season was 28, in the 2025 campaign. With the league running through Matchday 36 and Messi currently averaging roughly two honors every four games, picking up five more before the season closes is a realistic, if demanding, target, and one that would rewrite yet another chapter of MLS history.

Alarms went off last Saturday during Chelsea’s clash with Manchester United at Stamford Bridge when Estevao was forced off in the 16th minute with muscular discomfort in his right leg. While the injury sparked immediate fears that the 18-year-old might miss the World Cup, those concerns have largely been dismissed.

According to Cahe Mota of Globo Esporte, Estevao is expected to return to the pitch before Ancelotti names his final squad. Medical tests performed Sunday revealed a right thigh injury that should sideline the winger for only 15 to 20 days.

The update has provided much-needed relief, particularly given Estevao’s recent history with similar ailments. The teenager dealt with a nearly identical injury to his left thigh that kept him out of action for a month between February and March, missing Brazil‘s last two friendlies against France and Croatia.

Reports from the Brazilian outlet suggest the initial sensation was more akin to a severe cramp than a significant tear, though the winger will still undergo a formal rehabilitation process. Both Chelsea and the Brazilian medical departments are closely monitoring the situation alongside Ancelotti’s staff.

Given the 20-day timeline, Estevao will miss several key fixtures for Chelsea before Ancelotti announces his roster on May 18 in Rio de Janeiro. He is expected to sit out matches against Brighton, a FA Cup semifinal against Leeds United, Nottingham Forest, and Liverpool, with a potential return targeted for May 17 against Tottenham.

Estevao: The breakout star of the Ancelotti era

Carlo Ancelotti took over the Brazilian national team at a crossroads as the federation struggled to reclaim its world-dominant status while navigating Neymar’s long-term injury absence. While the search for a creative centerpiece continues, Estevao has emerged as the most prolific figure of the Italian’s tenure.

Estevao has appeared in seven matches under Ancelotti, totaling 417 minutes and netting five goals at a remarkable rate of one every 83 minutes. That production makes the 18-year-old the leading scorer of the Ancelotti era, a staggering achievement for a squad that features established superstars like Vinicius Junior and Raphinha.

Following Sunday’s AFC Champions League Two quarterfinal win against Al Wasl, where he netted a brace, Ronaldo secured a semifinal berth and his 100th victory since joining the club in December 2022. While some critics suggested the move to Al Nassr would be a lesser challenge than Europe, the statistics show his most efficient winning run actually occurred in Spain.

After arriving in Madrid in 2009, Ronaldo reached the 100-win milestone in just 127 games, 14 matches faster than his pace at Al Nassr. To put his Real Madrid dominance into perspective, the Portuguese icon collected all three points in 79% of his first 127 matches, a testament to his immediate impact on the pitch.

Ronaldo’s pursuit of 100 wins across different clubs

While his 100-win pace with Al Nassr fell short of his Real Madrid mark, it now ranks as the second-fastest century of victories in his legendary career. Third on the list is his tenure at Manchester United, where he reached 100 wins in 168 games, followed closely by his record with the Portugal national team at 169 matches.

The only two stops where Ronaldo did not reach the century mark are Sporting CP and Juventus. He appeared in only 31 games for his boyhood club, securing 13 wins, while he fell just short of the milestone with the Vecchia Signora by recording 91 wins in 134 appearances.

Ronaldo and Al Nassr’s prolific 2025-26 season

The current success serves as a major turnaround after a disappointing previous season where the team faded in the title race and suffered a heartbreaking exit in the AFC Champions League Elite semifinals. The arrival of high-profile reinforcements and manager Jorge Jesus has provided a massive boost for Ronaldo during this 2025-26 campaign.

Al Nassr are currently enjoying the longest winning streak in Saudi Pro League history at 15 games, part of a season record that includes 24 wins, two draws, and four defeats across all competitions. With a win percentage of 80%, Ronaldo is currently maintaining his best win ratio since arriving in Riyadh as the club chases both domestic and international glory.

In recent weeks, Allegri’s future in the Milan dugout had been called into question, with reports labeling him a top candidate for the Italy national team vacancy following their disastrous 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign. With the squad already struggling for consistency, the prospect of a mid-process coaching change threatened to derail Pulisic and the rest of the locker room.

However, during a post-match press conference following a narrow 1-0 away win over Hellas Verona, Allegri left no room for speculation when asked about his plans. “My thoughts are on Milan; we started a journey together and we will continue it together,” the Italian boss stated.

Sunday’s Matchday 33 victory snapped a two-game skid that saw Milan suffer back-to-back losses to Napoli (1-0) and Udinese (3-0), with the team currently sitting in second place with 66 points. While Inter Milan holds a commanding 12-point lead and could clinch the Scudetto as early as next week, the Rossoneri have pivoted their primary objective to securing a top-four finish and a return to Europe’s elite competition.

Allegri remained candid about Milan’s current state, acknowledging the team is far from its peak performance: “It was a complicated match because we were coming off two defeats, and because at this stage, there is much more pressure. We need to do better technically, but right now, we have to get straight to the point and bring home the results we need for the Champions League… This result doesn’t give us the guarantee of entering the Champions League, but we are quite a bit further ahead.“

Milan’s offensive struggles continue

Despite being in the hunt for the Serie A title for much of the 2025-26 campaign, the team has suffered a significant second-half regression. One of the most notable drop-offs has come from Pulisic himself who, after a blistering start that saw the USMNT star earn Player of the Month honors in September, his production has vanished in the new year; he has registered just one assist in 16 appearances during the 2026 calendar year.

Against Verona, Pulisic failed to record a single shot on target. Meanwhile, Rafael Leao, another superstar whose season has been hampered by injury, provided the crucial assist for Adrien Rabiot’s game-winner. Still, the statistics are alarming for Milan’s marquee duo: in 738 minutes played together, they have combined for just two goals, a damning lack of production for a pair expected to lead the Rossoneri frontline.

Speaking to SportMediaset, Allegri emphasized that injuries have taken a heavy toll on both playmakers: “Leao provided an assist. He did what he had to do, then I took him off because you can’t play with 12 players. Rafa has important qualities, so he must be decisive. Both he and Pulisic have had injuries this season. The important thing is to keep this attitude until the end.“

A move to Cincinnati remains far from imminent, with the MLS side still in the early stages of assessing the financial feasibility of any potential deal. Reports from ESPN Brasil indicate that Neymar’s father and agent is awaiting a face-to-face meeting with FC Cincinnati representatives to advance the conversation, while Santos are simultaneously working to secure his future at the Peixe.

Speaking at a press conference following Sunday’s match against Fluminense, Mattos made the club’s intentions clear: “The contract runs until the end of the year. Neymar and everyone else are focused on getting Santos out of this situation as quickly as possible. We have to separate Neymar (the player) from NR (Neymar’s brand/company).”

Mattos also spoke to the dual value Neymar brings to the club, both as a player and as a global commercial force. “He does everything he can to be at his best on the pitch. And NR has helped us significantly with structural issues and sponsorships. We are trying to keep things moving forward. But it depends on results. Santos will always want Neymar because of everything he has done and continues to do,” Mattos added.

While Neymar has indicated he intends to see out his current contract through December 2026, Santos are keen to open renewal talks sooner rather than later. “When he was sold to PSG, he said he would only go if they paid the youth club rights. And right now, he is trying to do what he wants most on the pitch. Together, we will do more and improve,” Mattos concluded.

Difficult moments at Santos for Neymar

While Santos are eager to extend Neymar’s contract beyond 2026, any renewal will depend on a number of conditions being met, with several off-field tensions already beginning to cloud the situation. Beyond his primary focus on making it to the World Cup, friction has been growing between Neymar and the Santos fanbase, including a recent on-camera altercation with a supporter at one of the club’s matches.

That tension shows no sign of easing, with Santos enduring another difficult stretch in the league and hovering dangerously close to the relegation zone. The team was roundly booed by their own fans at Vila Belmiro following a 3-2 defeat to Fluminense, a result that left Santos in 15th place with 13 points from 12 games, just one point above the drop zone.

Adding fuel to the fire, cameras captured Neymar walking off the pitch with his hands covering his ears, a moment that quickly spread across social media and drew the ire of fans. Neymar then broke his silence with a pointed response. “The day has come where I actually have to explain scratching my ear. People, honestly, you are taking things way too far and crossing the line. It is so sad to have to live with this. No human being can put up with this,” he wrote.

To make matters worse, members of an organized supporters’ group invaded the Rei Pelé Training Center just two days ago to demand accountability from the coaching staff, the squad and Neymar himself. With tensions running high both on and off the pitch, serious questions remain over whether Neymar is truly comfortable enough in his current environment to commit to staying instead of joining the MLS, despite the wishes of the club’s leadership.

On Sunday, Al Nassr dismantled UAE side Al Wasl 4-0 at Zabeel Stadium in Dubai in the quarterfinal round. Ronaldo opened the scoring in the 12th minute before Iñigo Martinez in the 24th, Abdulelah Al-Amri in the 26th and Sadio Mane in the 80th all added their names to the scoresheet, sending Al Nassr through to the semifinals, where they will face Qatari side Al Ahli of Doha.

According to a report from Asharq Al-Awsat, the Asian Football Confederation has designated Al Nassr as the host of the AFC Champions League Two final, scheduled for May 16. The match would be held at Al Awwal Park in Riyadh, but only on the condition that Al Nassr beat Al Ahli in the semifinal.

Should Al Ahli advance instead, the final would revert to Doha as originally planned. The semifinal between Ronaldo’s Al Nassr and Al Ahli is set to take place once again at Zabeel Stadium on Wednesday, April 22, in a single-leg format following the rescheduling imposed by the AFC.

Of the two remaining clubs from the western region of the AFC bracket, Al Nassr and Al Ahli are the last ones standing, while in the east, Gamba Osaka have already booked their place in the final, meaning the Japanese side will have to make the journey to the Middle East regardless of who they face.

Al Nassr keeping the double alive

With their next Saudi Pro League fixture against Al Ahli not until April 29, Al Nassr have been able to direct their full attention toward the AFC Champions League Two. Sunday’s match against Al Wasl was only Ronaldo’s second appearance in the competition this season, a calculated decision that reflects coach Jorge Jesus’ intention to push for the title on the continental stage.

Ronaldo’s goal against Al Wasl moved his career tally to 969, and Al Nassr’s winning streak shows no signs of slowing across all competitions. The club has now won 18 consecutive matches, 15 in the Saudi Pro League and three in the AFC Champions League Two, keeping alive the possibility of a historic double that has never been achieved in the club’s history.

The news broke on Thursday, March 16, when Cornella released a statement confirming Messi’s takeover of the club. “With this operation, Messi strengthens his close ties to Barcelona and his commitment to the development of sport and local talent in Catalunya,” part of the statement on the club’s official website read.

Before the announcement, Cornella’s Instagram account had amassed around 40,000 followers, a respectable figure for a fifth-tier side. In less than a week, however, that number had exploded past the half-million mark, with the account now sitting at 592,000 followers, more than ten times its pre-announcement total.

To put the scale of Messi’s digital impact into perspective, Cornella have already built a following larger than every club in the second tier and several teams currently competing in La Liga. The club has surpassed Deportivo Alaves (240K), Levante UD (371K), Rayo Vallecano (376K), Real Oviedo (388K), CA Osasuna (410K), Elche CF (472K), RCD Mallorca (489K), RCD Espanyol (549K) and even Getafe CF (565K), with only Celta de Vigo (669K) and Girona (1.1M) still ahead of them among the smaller La Liga clubs.

Top 10 most-followed La Liga teams on Instagram

1. Real Madrid — 182M
2. Barcelona —147M
3. Atlético de Madrid — 18M
4. Sevilla — 3.6M
5. Real Betis — 3M
6. Villarreal — 1.7M
7. Valencia — 1.4M
8. Athletic Bilbao — 1.6M
9. Real Sociedad — 1.2M
10. Girona — 1.1M

Media setting their eyes on UE Cornella

With just three games remaining in the regular season and currently sitting thrid with 56 points in 31 games, Cornella are expected to push for automatic promotion and a jump to the fourth division. But Messi’s involvement has also made the club a subject of significant media interest.

In the first match played since the announcement, a 1-1 draw against Fundacio Esportiva Grama at the Nou Municipal de Cornella this past Sunday, the club saw a noticeable uptick in both attendance and press coverage. According to Mundo Deportivo, the number of accredited media outlets present rose from the usual three to 15, a vivid illustration of just how dramatically Messi’s name has transformed the profile of this small Catalan club.

To celebrate the franchise’s 30th anniversary, the Colorado Rapids relocated their home match against Inter Miami from Dick’s Sporting Goods Park to Empower Field at Mile High, the home of the NFL’s Denver Broncos and the Rapids’ former home ground. In a 3-2 result that featured a Messi brace, the Herons secured all three points, but the occasion was equally notable as another landmark moment in the league’s ongoing growth.

A record crowd was anticipated well ahead of kickoff, and the fans delivered, with 75,824 spectators filling Empower Field at Mile High to watch the Rapids take on Inter Miami. The figure stands as the largest attendance ever recorded at a Colorado Rapids home match and vaulted the game to second place on the all-time list of highest single-game attendances in MLS history.

In a notable subplot, the crowd also surpassed the record set earlier this season when LAFC relocated their home match against Inter Miami to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. That Son Heung-min vs. Lionel Messi showdown drew 75,673 fans, a mark that has now been bumped to third on the all-time list.

The figure also came remarkably close to the all-time attendance record at Empower Field at Mile High across all sports. That benchmark belongs to an NFL game between the Denver Broncos and the Green Bay Packers on October 29, 2007, when the Packers claimed a 19-13 victory in front of 77,160 fans, just over 1,300 more than the crowd that packed the stadium last weekend.

Messi drawing fans beyond traditional soccer venues

Empower Field at Mile High is the latest in a growing list of non-soccer venues that have hosted Inter Miami specifically to accommodate the surge in demand surrounding Messi. Several MLS clubs have already made stadium moves this season to maximize their opportunity to host the Argentine superstar.

Beyond Colorado and LAFC, D.C. United and New York City FC have also relocated their home matches against Inter Miami to larger venues. The Black-and-Red moved their game to M&T Bank Stadium, home of the Baltimore Ravens, drawing a crowd of 72,026, while New York City shifted their match to Yankee Stadium, which attracted 45,845 fans.

Top 5 highest single-game attendances in MLS history

According to MLS, the five largest crowds in the league’s history are as follows:

1. LA Galaxy vs. LAFC (July, 2023) — 82,110 fans
2. Colorado Rapids vs. Inter Miami (April, 2026) — 75,824 fans
3. LAFC vs. Inter Miami (February, 2026) — 75,673 fans
4. Charlotte FC vs. LA Galaxy (March, 2022) — 74,479 fans
5. Atlanta United vs. Portland Timbers (December, 2018) — 73,019 fans

The match was played at a breathless pace from the opening whistle, with Rayan Cherki breaking the deadlock in the 16th minute with a stunning solo effort, only for Gianluigi Donnarumma to fumble a routine clearance two minutes later, allowing Kai Havertz to pounce for the equalizer. City then took control in the 65th minute when Nico O’Riley delivered a precise cross from the left and Haaland met it first time to fire home the winner.

The victory has allowed Manchester City to close the gap at the top of the table and puts them firmly in contention to overtake Arsenal in the closing stretch. The Gunners currently lead with 70 points from 33 games and a goal difference of plus 37, while City sit second with 67 points from 32 games and a goal difference of plus 36, meaning they still have a game in hand.

What does Arsenal need to win the Premier League?

With five fixtures remaining, Arsenal‘s path to the title is straightforward in theory: win every game left and continue to build on their goal difference advantage. Their current points cushion is enough that a perfect run would make it mathematically impossible for City to overhaul them, effectively forcing the Citizens to win every remaining game of their own just to stay in contention.

The Gunners’ remaining schedule features home games against Newcastle United next week, Fulham on May 2 and Burnley on the 17th, with away trips to West Ham United on the 10th and Crystal Palace on the 24th. Positioned as heavy favorites in each of those contests against teams scattered across the lower half of the table, several of them battling relegation, Arsenal’s domestic schedule is as favorable as they could have hoped for.

The wildcard remains the toll that the UEFA Champions League will take on their league campaign. Unlike City, Arsenal face a semifinal against Atletico Madrid on April 29 and May 5, with the Fulham match sandwiched in between, leaving coach Mikel Arteta with a difficult balancing act between rotating the squad and pushing his starters to their limits.

What does Manchester City need to win the Premier League?

City’s game in hand gives them a route to drawing level with Arsenal on points, but the path ahead is considerably more demanding, with no shortage of challenging fixtures standing between them and the title.

Pep Guardiola’s side face a grueling run that includes a midweek trip to Burnley on April 22, followed by away games at Everton on May 4 and Bournemouth on the 17th, home fixtures against Brentford on the 9th and Crystal Palace on the 22nd, and a final-day home clash against Aston Villa on the 24th. On top of that, City are also in FA Cup semifinal action against Southampton on April 25, adding yet another fixture to an already demanding schedule.

The compressed run of games is partly a result of the Crystal Palace match being rescheduled from its original date of March 21. With the Carabao Cup final between City and Arsenal falling on March 22, the fixture had to be pushed back, leaving the Citizens with tighter turnarounds and less recovery time as the season reaches its climax.

After returning from a hamstring injury in March, Ronaldo had been flawless, netting a brace against Al Najma and a clinical strike against Al Okhdood to keep Al Nassr’s title hopes alive. However, his impact against Al Ettifaq was far more subdued; despite registering seven shots, only two found the target, and he uncharacteristically squandered a golden opportunity in the 47th minute.

Ronaldo was eventually subbed off in the 89th minute for Abdullah Al-Hamdan, but rather than joining his teammates on the bench, the Portuguese icon headed straight down the tunnel. While his departure initially sparked speculation regarding his frustration with the substitution, Jorge Jesus was quick to clear the air during his post-match press conference.

When asked about his star player, the Portuguese manager admitted that Ronaldo was nearly omitted from the lineup entirely. “I considered leaving him out; he simply wasn’t in good shape,” Jesus said. “He was suffering from stomach pains and general fatigue. When I finally substituted him, he went straight to the dressing room and threw up.“

Jesus assured reporters that Ronaldo was recovering well after the match, explaining that his absence from the post-game celebrations following the 1-0 victory was simply because he was still indisposed. Although his scoring run has ended, the veteran striker is expected to be back in the selection for the club’s next fixture.

One step closer to the SPL title

Wednesday’s hard-fought victory moves Al Nassr within touching distance of the Saudi Pro League title. The club currently sits atop the table with 76 points through 29 matches, fueled by a staggering 15-game winning streak in league play. Al Hilal remains in second place with 68 points and a game in hand, but they now face a daunting eight-point mountain to climb.

Riding the momentum of 17 consecutive wins across all competitions, Jorge Jesus reflected on the culture shift he has implemented in his debut season. “Al Nassr are not used to competing for titles, but now the players feel they are close to winning the league. I have won 24 titles, so I consider myself among the best coaches in the world. We have a great feeling and sense that we’re close to the title, but our focus now is to take it one match at a time,” he stated.

Wednesday’s elimination via a 6-4 aggregate scoreline served as a crushing blow for a Real Madrid side that had pinned its primary championship hopes on Europe, with Barcelona currently the heavy favorites to secure La Liga. Despite Mbappe netting the third goal for the Spanish giants, he was unable to stave off elimination in what was statistically his most prolific individual scoring campaign in the competition’s history.

In his first public comments following the defeat, Mbappe took to Instagram to offer a candid self-assessment of the team’s current form: “We tried until the very end, but it wasn’t enough. It’s disappointing to be eliminated from such an important competition, but we have to look ahead. We need to take a hard look at ourselves to avoid this kind of disappointment again.“

After that wake-up call to his teammates, the French striker made it clear that the club expects to be back in the trophy hunt sooner than later. “We will never give up!!! In Madrid, failure has never been and never will be an option. But I promise you one thing: we will start winning again and very soon,” Mbappe concluded.

Mbappe’s individual impact during the 2025-26 Champions League campaign was undeniable, as he racked up 15 goals in just 11 appearances. While he reached the 70-goal milestone for his UCL career, his individual brilliance couldn’t mask the team’s lack of cohesion, a process hindered by significant organizational turmoil, including the dismissal of head coach Xabi Alonso back in January.

Real Madrid and a 2025-26 season to forget

With 40 goals and six assists across 39 games so far, Kylian Mbappe has indisputably been the lone bright spot for Real Madrid this season. However, questions regarding the squad’s over-reliance on the star striker have intensified, casting a spotlight on the fact that despite a roster full of superstars, this iteration of Los Blancos has failed to gel as a collective unit.

The 2024-25 season, the final chapter of the Carlo Ancelotti era, saw the club lift the UEFA Super Cup and the FIFA Intercontinental Cup while falling short of major domestic and European honors. While the appointment of Xabi Alonso initially sparked hope during the FIFA Club World Cup, a crushing defeat in the Spanish Super Cup proved to be the tipping point that led to his midseason exit.

Real Madrid Castilla coach Alvaro Arbeloa stepped in to lead the first team but has struggled to stabilize the ship. Under his watch, the club suffered a shock Copa del Rey exit to second-tier Albacete and the recent Champions League heartbreak against Bayern.

Currently, La Liga is being dominated by Barcelona, sitting at the top with 79 points in 31 games and a 9-point difference to second-placed Real Madrid. With just seven games remaining, Los Merengues are on the verge of their first trophyless season since 2020-21, the final hallmark of a campaign the club would rather forget.

In a press release issued on April 16, the PIF announced an agreement with Kingdom Holding Company (KHC) for the acquisition of a 70% stake in Al Hilal Club Company. The firm, led by Prince Al Waleed bin Talal Al Saud, will now serve as the club’s majority owner, while the PIF retains a 5% interest in the share capital.

As a cornerstone of Saudi Arabia’s “Sports Clubs Investment and Privatization Project,” the PIF became the majority shareholder of Al Hilal, alongside Ronaldo’s Al Nassr, Al Ahli, and Al Ittihad, in July 2023. This initial investment was designed to accelerate club growth and increase the sports sector’s overall contribution to the Saudi GDP.

A new strategy is now taking shape with the completion of the first of these four sales, as the PIF seeks to maximize returns and redeploy capital within the domestic economy. This gradual exit from majority ownership aims to guide the clubs toward financial sustainability while the PIF maintains a role as a minority shareholder or strategic partner.

In a statement released on PIF’s website, KHC Chairman Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud reflected on the landmark deal: “Al-Hilal is a national symbol and a source of pride for the Saudi people. This acquisition expresses our deep belief in the power of sports as a unifying force and a catalyst for national development. By applying our global investment standards and cultivating strategic partnerships, we will unlock Al-Hilal’s full potential while preserving its history and identity.“

Al Nassr, Al Ahli, and Al Ittihad up next

Al Hilal represents only the first phase of this divestment process. Following this precedent, the PIF will move forward with the sales of Al Nassr, Al Ittihad, and Al Ahli, seeking suitable suitors to continue the clubs’ professional development.

Reports have already revealed that, alongside a new contract signed in June 2025, Cristiano Ronaldo acquired a 15% ownership stake in Al Nassr valued at £50 million (approximately $66.7 million). As the PIF actively pursues new majority owners for the club, the Portuguese legend is positioned to assume an even more significant role in the organization.

According to journalist Ben Jacobs, Al Nassr is encouraging Ronaldo to increase his equity, further deepening his ties to the Saudi side’s ownership structure. With club sales expected to be phased over the coming years, the soccer icon could see his influence grow significantly in the near future.

As reported by The Athletic, the dispute stems from an agreement with VID Music Group, a Miami-based events company, which allegedly paid $7 million in August for the exclusive rights to Argentina’s October friendlies. The world champions were originally slated to face Venezuela on October 10 and Puerto Rico on October 14.

However, the international break clashed with a pivotal stretch of the MLS season. With Inter Miami chasing the 2025 Supporters’ Shield, a match against Atlanta United was rescheduled for October 11. Despite being officially “ruled out due to injury” for the national team’s clash with Venezuela, Messi started for the Herons against Atlanta just one day later, netting a brace and adding an assist in a dominant performance.

While Messi eventually joined the national team to play the full 90 minutes in a 6-0 rout of Puerto Rico at Chase Stadium, the damage was already done. His absence from the Venezuela fixture, where he was spotted watching from a VIP suite with his family, reportedly led to disastrous financial consequences for VID, triggering the multi-million dollar legal action.

AFA and the infringements of the original deal

According to The Athletic, the AFA and Messi are facing 10 different charges in the suit. A key stipulation in the contract, as reported by Diario Clarin, one of the most prestigious Argentine outlets, required Messi to play at least 30 minutes in both matches unless sidelined by a legitimate injury or illness, citing his massive commercial draw as the primary value of the deal.

The lack of star power for the Venezuela game resulted in a box-office catastrophe. Hard Rock Stadium saw a dismal turnout of approximately 15,000 fans, representing just 23% of the venue’s total capacity.

Furthermore, the relocation of the Puerto Rico match from Chicago to Miami reportedly dealt another financial blow to VID. The company claims it lost over $1.3 million in promotion and logistics costs for the original Chicago venue. Following the move to Chase Stadium, the promoters allege the AFA breached its contract by failing to refund a portion of the upfront payments as agreed upon.

In an attempt to salvage the partnership, reports suggest the AFA initially promised future U.S. matchups in June 2026 to compensate for the losses. However, those promises appear to have fallen through, and a third-party agent involved in the negotiations has also been accused of fraud.

The current counts against the AFA include negligent misrepresentation and multiple breaches of the $7 million contract, with the case currently filed in the 11th Judicial Circuit Court of Miami-Dade County. While the total damages sought by VID have not been fully disclosed, the company maintains that the fallout from the October window resulted in millions of dollars in lost revenue.

World Soccer Talk had the opportunity to sit down with Argentine youth developer Facundo Alvanezzi, who spent 11 years at Swiss club FC Basel between 2008 and 2019. Having trained in South America and studied the methods of some of Europe’s most renowned clubs, including FC Barcelona, AC Milan and Bayern Munich, Alvanezzi applied his knowledge to help produce elite talents such as Granit Xhaka, Xherdan Shaqiri and Fabian Schär, among others.

A former professional player in Argentina who also played in Italy, Alvanezzi began his coaching career at Aldosivi before departing for Basel in 2008. Moving from scheduled training sessions with limited soccer balls, “compensated by the amount of talent,” to an environment where every youth team trained on a heated pitch, had balls for every player, full kits and access to psychologists, nutritionists and other health professionals represented a dramatic shift in perspective.

FC Basel and a commitment to youth development

Already proficient in Italian from his playing days, Alvanezzi still had to immerse himself in the cultural and linguistic demands of his new environment, all in service of what he considers the cornerstone of his work: communication. In a single training session, he might move between Italian, French, and German while coordinating multiple groups of young players across state-of-the-art facilities designed to maximize their development.

“A club like Basel worked with all 14 or 15 age groups all at the same time. The First Division had its own separate pitch. But for everything related to the youth levels from U21 down, everyone had their own respective pitch. Even the littlest ones, the 5 and 6-year-olds, had their own synthetic fields with dimensions suited for 5 or 6-year-olds. Just to give you an idea—no time was wasted there. In other words, time is utilized in a way that enriches you instead of being a deficit that hinders the development of future players.“

Alvanezzi then put into context the remarkable achievement of a small nation punching well above its weight. “You can’t forget that Switzerland has a population of between 6 and 7 million inhabitants, so the emerging talent back then was very scarce. They did an extraordinary market study so that today they have 17, 18, 19, and 20-year-olds—which didn’t happen before—playing and qualified for the next World Cup in the US, Mexico, and Canada. So, basically, everything related to infrastructure and planning… whether you like it or not, having that entire grid set up allowed me—as someone passionate about football who loves being on the pitch—to work peacefully. I knew I had my designated pitch to work with the U15s, the U16s, the U17s,” he added.

The role of a youth developer and the cultivation of talent

A fluent Spanish speaker, Alvanezzi describes himself as a “formador de juveniles,” a youth developer rather than a coach, drawing a sharp distinction between the two roles: “The developer (formador) teaches and builds; they earn very little, if anything at all. In terms of titles—U14s, U15s, the Reserves… I don’t care about those. The coach (entrenador) is there to train, to play, to compete, to get points, to win a domestic league, a Libertadores, a Euros, a Champions League, or a World Cup. They are two completely different things. That’s why there aren’t many coaches developing players, and there aren’t many developers coaching elite teams.“

Another key principle in his approach is trusting the creative instincts of young players rather than issuing directives, recognizing that the youth phase is when information can have the most profound impact. He pairs this with a cosmopolitan perspective while never abandoning his own core beliefs.

“In other words: at no point do I impose. I don’t impose knowledge, authority, or didactics—nothing. I seduce. Those are two completely different things. And I try to seduce through knowledge. Because when you have knowledge, you can ‘disarm’ the player; when you explain the how, the when, the where, and the why. Of course, when I go somewhere else, I adapt, but I cannot renounce my genes.“

When he arrived in Switzerland, Alvanezzi found himself surrounded by cutting-edge technology, GPS tracking and gym equipment, yet he remains committed to the idea of developing players “with a ball.” “In player development, I adapted to the systems, but with my own imprint. I carry the Argentine imprint everywhere. It’s this: I watch a player—how he walks—a 5-year-old, a 10, 15, or 20-year-old. I watch him walk. I throw him a ball. I watch him make a couple of touches—juggling in the air, a change of direction. And right then, I realize what that footballer might be capable of. Or not,” he explained.

The value of mistakes in youth development

Elite clubs increasingly measure the success of their youth teams by silverware, mirroring the pressure placed on the first team. But for Alvanezzi, perfection is not the goal. Forcing young players into rigid systems, he argues, sends them to the first team with significant blind spots, and he views the ability to make mistakes as one of the most valuable learning tools available.

“Here are players I can ask to play a football of possession and position. And then there are footballers to whom I have to say, ‘You: control the ball, don’t carry it, and pass it to a teammate.’ Meanwhile, for another player—because I go against the establishment and the system—,” Alvanezzi said.

“I believe one of the virtues I have in this vocation of developing players is that I value the error. From the error, I create the virtue of the success. In the context of teaching, I don’t criticize the player; I seduce him. ‘But what if I struggle, I lose the ball, it’s hard for me, and they score on us?’ And what’s the problem? I don’t want my trophies and medals hanging in my house. What good are they to me? If, in the end, I didn’t get any player to move up to the First Division. If I didn’t develop a single player for the first team,” he added.

Alvanezzi, who says he has not a single medal or trophy displayed in his home, considers the players he has helped reach the elite level to be his true honors: “Now, my ‘medals’ are an average of 45 to 50 players who reached the top level. Especially at Basel. We had a coach like Thorsten Fink, who helped us a lot and used to play for Bayern Munich. He helped us bring up kids at 16 or 17 years old. I had the pleasure of training players like Yann Sommer, Granit Xhaka, Shaqiri, Breel Embolo, Noah Okafor, Fabian Schär , Eray Cömert, Neftali Manzambi, Raoul Petretta, Cedric Itten—an immense number of players. Those are the medals one gets to hang up.“

He then stressed that the developer’s job demands patience and an embrace of the mistake. “They need to learn to play with the right foot, with the left foot, and have a lot of contact with the ball. When I arrived at Basel and asked for—for example, the squads there are 18 players—I asked for no less than one ball per player. At first, they just looked at me. ‘Why one ball per player?’ Because, what did I achieve over the years? That in an hour and a half, the players went from an average of 200 touches in a standard session… once I integrated the technical and game-based training, that multiplied to 1,400 daily touches with the ball. The more touches you have, the more you polish the errors.“

In an environment dominated by innovation, Alvanezzi believes the fundamentals are often left behind, and his street soccer mentality changed the culture at Basel. “In Europe, ‘soccer practice’ (11v11) doesn’t exist. From Monday to Friday, it’s all small-sided games. Everything. So when I got to Basel, imagine the resistance from the other coaches. They told me, ‘No, Facundo, you’re crazy. The players will get injured; we don’t do that here; everything is small-sided.’

“And I told them, ‘The 11v11 is the symptom for Saturday or Sunday; it’s how you know which player you can count on and which one you can’t. You might think you can count on someone, but on a full pitch, it becomes too big for them, and they become completely disorganized. We need a parameter.’ Well, I implemented it at Basel until it became their own ‘modus operandi’ that on Thursdays, we did the 11v11 practice. The teams started improving exponentially because they were finally playing football not in a 20×20 or 30×30 space, but in 100×65—which is where real football is played,” he added.

‘Hunger’: the defining trait of the players who made it

Among the many stars Alvanezzi has helped develop, a common thread runs through the backstories of those who reached the highest level: adversity. Both Xherdan Shaqiri and Granit Xhaka were born and raised in a disintegrating Yugoslavia amid violence before finding asylum in Switzerland. Breel Embolo‘s path was similar, leaving Cameroon with his family before settling in France and eventually Switzerland.

That contrast between their upbringing and those of more comfortable peers is precisely what Alvanezzi calls “hunger,” the spark that gave them a decisive edge. “From an early age, when you watch them train—unlike the vast majority of Swiss youth developers who never experienced need—these were kids of struggle. They are born, raised, and developed out of hardship. So, the only possibility they had to emerge—unlike other great Swiss talents I had at Basel who didn’t make it—they weren’t going to make it because they lacked that ‘hunger.’ That potentiality of saying, ‘Through soccer, I am going to help my family; I am going to emerge; I am going to be somebody.‘”

Alvanezzi then reflected on the social realities that shaped Xhaka, Shaqiri and Embolo. “They lacked even the most basic conditions in an elite, first-world country. They were segregated because they weren’t Swiss. They are three starters for the Swiss national team who have played in World Cups, but Breel is from Cameroon, and the other two are Kosovar. When society wasn’t integrating them, but they were useful to the national team football-wise, they nationalized them.“

He then illustrated how that hunger translates into a measurable competitive advantage. “Genetically, all of that plays in their favor, 80 or 90% more than the well-off Swiss player… That “plus” works in your favor. While they came to training on foot or by tram, the vast majority of players of Swiss origin came every day with their fathers in a different car—a Mercedes-Benz, a Porsche… That factor of having nothing missing ends up working against you. Since you have everything, what am I going to be ambitious about? Playing in a World Cup? I’m not interested. Reaching the first team? If I make it, I make it, and if I don’t, I still have everything,” he stated.

A memorable trip to South Africa

In 2010, following the World Cup in South Africa, Alvanezzi traveled to the country for fifteen days representing the Swiss U15 national team with Basel at the Danone Nations Cup, competing against teams from Japan, Argentina, China, England, Italy and others. What left the deepest impression on him, however, was not the competition itself but the cultural awakening it triggered among his Swiss players and the youth developers around them.

“They didn’t know what it was like for a kid not to have a cell phone, or to walk around barefoot. They couldn’t understand why colored people sat at one table and white people at another because of the legacy of apartheid. All the Swiss kids traveled with the latest cell phones. They would leave half of their plates full of food. And 50 meters away, at the fence in a gated area of the complex, local kids would come to beg for food,” he recalled.

“Along with several other Latino coaches, I would gather the leftover food and give it to them. It reached the point where FIFA was going to fine me, because they said I wasn’t allowed to feed the people. And I told them: ‘Why not? It’s the most important thing; they’re hungry. The only one who understood it on that trip was Breel Embolo,” Alvanezzi added.

Talent, mentality and the cohesion of a group

One of the most enduring debates in sports is whether the right mentality can outshine raw talent through sheer hard work, or whether that notion is simply wishful thinking. For Alvanezzi, the two qualities are not in competition but are complementary, with every player on a team assigned a specific purpose that allows both to coexist.

Using the contrasting examples of Erling Haaland and Rayan Cherki, one a physical force of nature, the other a pure embodiment of technical brilliance, he illustrates how different profiles can coexist within the same system “They are complementary and different at the same time. You can link this to the aspect of mental construction. Mentality is also something you develop. If I convince you that in three years you have to improve your heading or your left foot, and you end up doing it in a match to stop a counter-attack… that is mentality,” Alvanezzi stated.

“When you see Haaland playing with his back to the goal, he looks like an average player; put him facing the goal, and he’s an animal. He hides his deficit in back-to-goal play—and tries to do it as little as possible—but he has an above-average mentality that allows him to fail ten times and try again. Cherki, on the other hand, relies entirely on his talent. He has a different mentality, but he understood that to stay at the elite level, he must not interpret that (reliance on talent) as a fragility,” he added.

While Alvanezzi acknowledged that mental strength is partly something “you bring it with you, but you can also incorporate it,” he was equally quick to point out that he has seen players with extraordinary talent but no capacity for hard work, and others with far less natural ability but the psychological resilience to make it to the top. Bridging that gap, he argues, is just as much the developer’s responsibility as any technical instruction.

“Mental construction is also developed. If I talk to you and try to seduce and convince you of your errors with respect, you will be more receptive. Today, kids are given 20 hours of leisure time outside of training, and we don’t teach them how to think. But to develop players, you must be emotionally well-constituted and rationally grounded. If you aren’t vocational and emotional, you cannot develop players; you should do something else.“

Beyond individual qualities, Alvanezzi insists that everything must be considered through the lens of the collective, where a single weak link can unravel even the most talented group: “The developer has to work with a clear idea and a common goal. The ‘mind’ of the team, 90% of the time, has to be uniform. If it isn’t uniform, the group disintegrates, no matter how much talent you have.“

“If mentally you are thinking ‘white’ and I am thinking ‘black,’ and we have to play with a red ball, but neither of us wants to yield, it means we aren’t complementary. Individualism and egocentrism generate a very large negative impact. We all row to reach the shore and save ourselves; it can’t be that one rows right and another rows left, leaving us in the high seas until a wave drowns us,” Alvanezzi concluded.

Stress: the invisible enemy of athletes

As in any high-performance discipline, stress management has become one of the defining challenges in modern soccer, a sport that has seen its fixture calendar grow to near-unsustainable levels. “Players today have an enormous match load. They play 80, 90, 100 matches a year. In my era, that didn’t exist. And that carries an enormous physical, mental, and psychological toll, which is one of the many reasons why footballers get injured. Everything is connected. And if the head isn’t right, the body will never be right,” Alvanezzi stated.

With stress affecting muscles, tendons and bones alike, conventional metrics like GPS data and weight measurements become meaningless when the mental aspect is ignored, he argues. “A player will always tell you they are at 100%. I liked, and I still like, for the player to train at 50% or 60%. If a kid trains at 100% five days a week and then tries to play at 200% on the weekend, they end up getting hurt. Sooner or later. It’s a universal law.“

These pressures are not confined to the professional game, extending deep into the youth system as well. “Let’s take away the weights, take away the GPS, work more on the mental side, and talk to the footballer. When a footballer tells you they want to stay 60 minutes longer after training… ‘No. Go home. Rest. Eat well. Take a nap. Look after yourself. Read, watch a movie. Relax. Do yoga. Meditate.’ But for all of that, you have to talk, and you have to be prepared,” he stated.

Alvanezzi also addressed the lack of preventive awareness he has observed at the youth level: “That’s why I like it when a player comes and tells me: ‘This and that is happening to me.’ ‘Don’t worry. You’re not playing this match; you’re going to train at 50%.’ I’d rather give you two weeks of rest than have it be six months of forced leave due to a ligament tear. Today, there is no prevention because we, the developers, aren’t prepared to prevent; we are competitive, egocentric beings who want to win everything, forgetting that we don’t play anymore.“

U.S. soccer and MLS evolution: the legacy of 1994

Through friends living and working in the United States, and despite acknowledging that his English is far from perfect, Alvanezzi has been able to witness a genuine transformation in the country’s soccer culture, one he traces directly back to the 1994 World Cup, when MLS was widely seen as nothing more than a retirement league. That perception, he says, has been thoroughly dismantled.

“Today, football in the US—I’m not saying it competes head-to-head with baseball, basketball, or ice hockey—but it has gained a very prominent position. It’s no coincidence that Lionel Messi, the most emblematic figure in world football today, is playing in MLS. Players who before, as you said, came perhaps for a final retirement to spend their last seasons in a low-caliber competition, find it’s a different world now. It has grown so much that renowned players prefer to come to MLS rather than go to a country in the Middle East or Asia.“

While acknowledging that MLS remains a league in the midst of its evolution, Alvanezzi offered a measured timeline for when it could fully establish itself at the highest level. “The evolution in terms of the training and qualification of the coaches and developers is very good. I have excellent references. Like any expanding football in a developmental stage, I think it will take them another 5 to 10 years to consolidate. It usually takes 10 to 15 years for a major league to stabilize and reach an international competitive level. They are currently in that developmental process from every point of view,” he stated.

The influence of Latinos in U.S. soccer

Once considered a secondary destination for professional development, the United States has transformed into a country that offers genuine, high-level opportunities for coaches and developers alike. That growth has been driven in part by soccer’s surging popularity, the influence of the Latino community, and high-profile figures like Lionel Messi and David Beckham, who have brought the sport to new audiences across the country.

“There are many Latinos and Argentines working in development at important clubs and academies. It is expanding in a very interesting way. They take the culture they don’t have—they are very pragmatic in that sense. Whatever they lack, they acquire it. Don’t ask me how, but they go after it. If they don’t have a qualified scientist, they go find one in Germany, Norway, or Sweden and bring them to their country to make it evolve. They do exactly the same with soccer.“

For youth coaches specifically, the shift in available resources has been nothing short of transformative. “They start from the foundation: youth development. And because of their immense purchasing power as a nation, they can leverage incredible infrastructure. Being in an academy there—even one not affiliated with a famous MLS club—means having 4, 5, or 6 pitches to train on. They have indoor gyms for “fast football” when the weather is bad. Material in abundance. For a developer like me, who dealt with hardships starting out in Argentina—not in terms of talent, but in terms of equipment and structure—imagine what that solves.“