The 2026 World Cup Groups

I did not watch the draw event. It was bound to be an extravagant and irrelevant event, and it appears it was since what everyone is talking about seems to be Mr. Trump. So let me start by congratulating Mr. Trump for achieving that everyone is talking about him, and not about the football draw, which is what interests me, and not all the other stuff.

The final setup of the groups still depends on the remaining playoff matches that will take place in March. I include the teams that I think will qualify in parenthesis:

Group A: 

• Mexico
• South Corea
• South Africa
• (Czech Republic)

The Mexican hosts drew a group where they should qualify, although they will have to play better than in their latest friendlies. The opening match will be a repeat of the 2010 opening match in South Africa in an upgraded Azteca stadium. South Corea is probably the other team to watch, although an UEFA side is set to qualify: Czech Republic, Ireland, Denmark or North Macedonia. Although I hope it will be Denmark, I think it will be either the Czechs or Irish, who have the spirit and commitment to qualify in what will be a final at home for each of them.

Group B:

• Canada
• Qatar
• Switzerland
• (Italy)

The Canadian hosts will be looking to progressing from a difficult group, perhaps in a third spot they will have to fight for against Qatar. In the meantime I think Switzerland will be group winners, even though it seems that the last team will be Italy, or maybe, Wales, Northern Ireland or Bosnia-Hercegovina. But another World Cup without Italy...?

Group C:

• Brazil
• Morocco
• Scotland
• Haiti

One of the most interesting groups, in particular because giants Brazil will be facing the African powerhouse, Morocco, who in 2022 were the first African team to make it to a World Cup semifinal and were recently crowned U-23 World Champions. Probably these two sides will play for the first spot, but will also face two teams that will attract a lot of neutral support: the Haitians who are back in a World Cup for the first time since 1974, and the charming Scots whose fans are some of the best in the world.

Group D:

•  USA
• Paraguay
• Australia
• (Turkey)

The North Americans are probably optimistic in this group, but may struggle because of arrogance. Although none of the other teams appear as the best, they are certainly strong. Australia have shown they are competitive and an always-fighting Paraguay are both teams that can defeat anyone on a good day. In the meantime we are looking at a UEFA team to qualify among Turkey, Kosovo, Slovakia and Romania.

Group E:

• Germany
• Ecuador
• Curacao
• Cote d'Ivoire

On paper this should be an easy group for the Germans, and if they do not win it, it will be a surprise. Ecuador and Cote d'Ivoire seem to be the teams that will fight to be runner-ups, and perhaps take a third place to go to the last-32. In the meantime small Curacao is playing its first World Cup, and there will be limited expectations, although if they pull a surprise, it will surely make them the darlings of the tournament.

Group F:

• Netherlands
• Japan
• Tunisia
• (Poland)

The two sides to watch in this group are the Netherlands and Japan, although Tunisia are certainly a competitive side that could also make it to the next round. In the meantime the last team is to be found among Poland, Ukraine, Sweden and Albania, where all, except Sweden, appear as strong sides. On paper the Dutch are favourites, but I think this will be one of the closest groups.

Group G:

• Belgium
• Egypt
• Iran
• New Zealand 

A group where the Belgians enter as big favourites, and anything but them winning the group would be disappointing. That said, Belgium has disappointed before, and in particular Iran and Egypt will be sides with a lot of spirit and strong players, and could surprise. New Zealand I do not expect much from; I may be wrong.

Group H:

• Spain
• Saudi Arabia
• Uruguay
• Cape Verde

Spain and Uruguay are huge favourites in this group, and the match between these two former World Champions will be one of the most expected matches in the group stages. In the meantime Saudi Arabia have already shown before that they are able to pull a surprise (they memorably defeated Argentina in 2022), while Cape Verde will be playing their first World Cup ever, and can only surprise, but it will be great if the do!

Group I:

• France
• Senegal
• Norway
• (Bolivia)

This could be the "group of Death". France may be slight favourites, but they are facing Senegal, who with a lot of French-born and -based players will be eager to repeat their legendary 2002 victory against the then-World Champions. In the meantime Norway are considered one of the Dark Horses this year having qualified in style. The last team will be found among Bolivia, Surinam and Iraq, all sides that should be capable of pulling a surprise.

Group J:

• Argentina
• Algeria
• Austria
• Jordan

The defending World Champions have pulled what on paper appears to be a very easy group. But it is becoming a tradition that the defending champions do bad in defending the title, and the Argentineans will also struggle against their own arrogance, in particular against Algeria and Austria, two competitive sides that may surprise. In the meantime Jordan, in their first World Cup ever, can only surprise.

Group K:

• Portugal
• Colombia
• Uzbekistan
• (RD Congo)

Portugal and Colombia will be one of the most awaited matches in the first round, with both teams being huge favourites in a group that count the debutantes of Uzbekistan, as well as one of the following: Jamaica, New Caledonia and RD Congo. I think the Congolese will make it, although appears to be a final against Jamaica.

Group L:

• England
• Croatia
• Ghana
• Panama

A quite exciting group with Croatia and England as favourities, but (my dear) Ghana will also be a side to watch, and magnificent to have their great fans back in the World Cup. Panama are playing their second World Cup ever, and seems like it could be a repeat of 2018 when they were trashed by England.  

Cruz Azul-Chivas

Last night Cruz Azul faced Chivas Guadalajara at home in the second leg of the Liga MX championship quarterfinals. The first match had ended 0-0 and there was a great atmosphere at the Estadio Olimpico Universitario with at least as many Chivas as Cruz Azul fans in what turned out to be a great match, but which also included the usual suffering that Cruz Azul is so known for.

In fact, Cruz Azul was dreadful in the first half. After only 8 minutes poor marking  following a corner kick gave Cade Cowell a chance he could not miss, and brought Chivas ahead. Only 6 minutes later the home team equalized by the Uruguayan striker Gabriel Fernandez in what was effectively their first attack. Despite this, Chivas continued a high pressure that made the Cruz Azul look shaky and full of mistakes, and Bryan Gonzalez brought Chivas ahead again following poor Cruz Azul defending.

There was not reason to be happy about Cruz Azul's first half, and while they came out with more pressure in the second half one still had the feeling that Chivas stood well as they pulled back. It was only in the 72nd minute, after steady Cruz Azul pressure, that Jeremy Marquez sneaked in the ball via the post and an equalizer that put Cruz Azul in the semifinals (because the team that ended higher in the league phase passes in case of a tie).

Cruz Azul is expert in suffering, and the following 20 minutes were suffering as Chivas put pressure on Cruz Azul. There were some close calls, but the event of the match came in the 86th minutes when Chivas was awarded a penalty. 

The veteran ex-Manchester United player, ex-Real Madrid player, Javier Hernandez ("Chicharito") was selected to take the penalty that would put Chivas with one leg in the semifinals. But as happens to any player, and to the delight of the suffering Cruz Azul fans, Chicharito completely overshot the goal, instead sending the ball into the stars above Mexico City.

Chivas continued attacking as the match went into 7 minutes of painful extra time. But exactly in the 97th minute Cruz Azul caught Chivas off guard, and the experienced Mexican midfielder Carlos Rodriguez lobbed the ball over the Chivas goalie to give Cruz Azul the 3-2 victory.

The semifinals will be interesting. Monterrey eliminated America in an intense match and will be facing the defending champions of Toluca in one semifinal, while Cruz Azul will face another Monterrey team, namely the Tigres of UNAM. Tigres progressed after coming from a 0-3 defeat to Tijuana to win 5-0 at home. 

Probably more suffering for Cruz Azul. 

 

The fury and the dream

In 1982, Northern Ireland arrived at their second ever World Cup. Despite the country’s rich footballing tradition, expectations were modest as the small British possession prepared to face Yugoslavia in their opening match. A hard-fought 0–0 draw offered a glimmer of hope: with a win over the unfancied Honduras, a place in the next round seemed possible. 

But a frustrating 1–1 left them on the brink. 

Their final match would be against the hosts — Spain. Back then, Spain were not celebrated for their style, but for La Furia — “The Fury.” 

Backed by passionate crowds and, at times, sympathetic refereeing, the home side were overwhelming favourites against the modest Irish team. Even Northern Ireland’s own players had little faith; they confirmed their plane tickets and checked out of their hotel before the match. 

But football thrives on disbelief. Against the odds, Northern Ireland stayed — not only in the tournament, but in history — when Gerry Armstrong, Watford’s tireless striker, scored the decisive goal in a 0–1 victory. Spain’s fury could not overcome Irish heart.

Scandinavian delight and dismay

With 48 teams in next year's World Cup it should be assumed that some Scandinavian team will qualify, and indeed, the first qualified team has been Norway, who will return to the World Cup for the first time since 1998. Norway has been awesome in a qualification group that included Italy, and have sealed their qualification with a 1-4 away victory to the Italians. Norway has built up a strong side with a lot of young players, and I already predict that they will be one of the teams to watch out for in the World Cup. 

Italy in the meantime is going to the play-offs and is in risk of losing its 3rd World Cup in a row. In this context Gennaro Gattuso's complaint sounds hollow: "It's not fair that six teams qualify in South America and the seventh plays a playoff, while here the groups are so tight", because they way Italy has played, getting beaten twice by Norway and struggling to defeat Israel, they would surely not have pulled a result in La Paz, 7th team in South America....

Good luck to the Italians in the play-offs, but it is only up to themselves to qualify.

For another Scandinavian side Denmark it was also up to themselves to qualify in all but theory by defeating Belarus at home. Denmark had already won 0-6 away, and it was perhaps arrogance or exaggerated optimism that meant that Brian Riemer decided to play without some of the best Danish players. 

But you do not qualify if you do not take every game seriously. Denmark was ahead 1-0 at halftime but went down 1-2 in the second half, and barely managed to get 2-2. The biggest concern for Denmark appears to be mental. Even though the Danes dominate and are favourites they are clearly shaken when the opposition appears to play against them, including Mr. Riemer, who seemed in dismay when Belarus scored the second goal. 

Now the Danes will face a nerve-wrecking final in Scotland. Scotland needs to win to qualify directly, but they will be at home with massive support, while the Danish team is better on paper, but lacks the mentality to fight.

The Danish manager of Sweden, Jon Dahl Tomasson, may be a candidate for Denmark manager if Riemer fails to qualify, despite his massive flop in Sweden. One would have expected Sweden to be competitive in a group with Switzerland, Kosovo and Slovenia, but after five matches Sweden are at the bottom with only one point. That said, strangely (and here Gattuso's criticism of South America rings even more hollow), Sweden could still qualify through their Nations League performance, that will give them a chance in the UEFA play-offs.

Sweden lost to Kosovo and Slovenia while Bolivia defeated Brazil. 

Who deserves a World Cup play-off?

Super Doku

Today I watched the Manchester City-Liverpool match in the English Premier League. A lot will already be written by the defending champions from Liverpool, who look to be struggling to defend their title. But let us focus on Manchester City: after missing a penalty, Erling Haaland made it 1-0 on a rather lucky header, and Nico made it 2-0 right before halftime. 

Jeremy Doku: the 23-year old Belgian was simply unstoppable, an extraordinary player who scored a fantastic third goal to crown what was in essence a perfect performance. If Jeremy Doku can continue developing and show more performances like today, he will be one of the best players in the world, and I have become a fan today.

Seen in Mexico

 A great homage to Diego Maradona, seen in Mexico on occasion of Day of the Dead celebrations.

Mexico Exhibition

Mexico is preparing for the World Cup. A World Cup that given its ticket prices is only to be witnessed by the wealthiest people... 

This World Cup is the third one to take place in Mexico, and a beautiful exhibition on Avenida Reforma, alongside the Chapultepec Park in Mexico City, shows this history through images by the outstanding artist Cynthia Saide. 

 

The 1970 World Cup in Mexico was historical in many ways, but notably on one technological improvement: it was the first World Cup to be transmitted to the World in colour TV. 

The images of Pele, The King,  celebrating his third World Cup title in the mighty Azteca stadium after thoroughly defeating Italy in the final, were seen in colour across the World, and surely led to more of globalizing football.

But it was not only Brazil, Pele and colour TV (as well as some fantastic matches and a marvelous atmosphere) that made the 1970 World Cup special. The tournament also saw the introduction of one of the rules that we take for granted today: the use of yellow and red cards.

After the violence and questionable decisions of many matches in the 1966 World Cup, the introduction of this system was to try to curve the violence and give the players a warning before being sent off.

The first red card was awarded by the Turkish referee Dogan Babacan to the Chilean player Carlos Caszely in the first round match between Chile and West Germany.

And thus a rule was born on Mexico.

The 1986 World Cup in Mexico was not supposed to have been. The tournament had been awarded to Colombia, but Mexico stepped in when Colombia was unable to go ahead with the organization.

Despite a horrible earthquake barely a year before the tournament, Mexico stepped in to organize what to many people who lived it has been one of the best World Cups ever (and totally subjectively I include myself, thanks to the performances of Argentina and Denmark); many fantastic matches and some of the best collection of players, overshadowed by the most extraordinary of them all: Diego Maradona, who in Mexico reached heights perhaps never seen in a World Cup. At the Azteca Stadium, against England in the quarterfinals, he scored two of the most memorable goals in history (for good and for bad), and was eventually crowned World Champion with Argentina beating West Germany in a very exciting final.

Legends were made in Mexico in 1986.

The exhibition by Ms. Saide includes many other fantastic pieces, and I would recommend anyone in Mexico City to see it.

That said, my last picture, here to the right, has a more personal character. It shows the clock counting down to the World Cup, and in the background you can see a large building, which is a large hotel in Mexico City. In 1986 I was in Mexico as an 11 year old kid before the World Cup, and enjoyed the same type of warm-up to the tournament as I am seeing now, 40 years later, when I am again living in Mexico, and looking forward to what will hopefully be another historic tournament, notwithstanding the fact that it has 48 teams, takes place in three countries, and that ticket prices are completely overblown.

But ok, such is the world of today. 

Morocco World Champions!

 Morocco has been crowned World Champions at the U-20 World Cup in Chile. In the final they faced a confident Argentina side, but the Moroccans sealed the match in the first half. Yassir Zabiri scored the first goal on a splendid free kick in a situation that perhaps should have been a penalty, but in the end it did not matter... Zabiri himself made it 2-0 on a great volley following a great pass from the tournament's best player, Othmane Maama.

After this Argentina pushed forward but without patience or a cool head. A lot of shots outside of the target and corner kicks that led to nothing. In the meantime the Moroccans let the Argentines have the ball, but stood back solidly and with a cool head. 

In every way Morocco deserves this great title, and adds to Morocco's extraordinary strides in world football, and they will be a country to watch in the World Cup next year, when we will hopefully be able to see some of these great youngsters that won the title today. 

Cruz Azul victory

The late game tonight in Mexico was the classic between Cruz Azul and Club America, second and third in the league, and working to keep pace with the defending champions of Toluca on top.

And I was happy to see Cruz Azul triumph 2-1 after going behind in the first half on a goal by Brian Rodriguez. But it was two Uruguayans, Gabriel Fernandez and Ignacio Rivero who scored the two blue goals, the second a fantastic strike by the captain.

Cruz Azul are now on second spot three points behind Toluca and one point ahead of Club America and Monterrey.

Bad day for Mexico

Yesterday I decided to relax with some beers and football, as Mexico were playing two matches. Firstly, the young Mexicans were facing Argentina in the quarterfinals of the U-20 World Cup. The Mexicans were not bad, they tried to play the Argentineans, but Argentina went ahead by Maher Carrizo, who caught a rebound from the Mexican goalkeeper after only 9 minutes in what was effectively Argentina's first shot on goal. The rest of the game Argentina were in control despite Mexico playing well. In the second half the new Inter Miami player Mateo Silvetti completely outran two Mexican defenders to make it 2-0 and seal the match. It was a pity that two Mexican players got red cards in the dying minutes of a match they had already lost; but Mexico had a great tournament and can hold their heads high.

Argentina will face Colombia in the semifinals. Colombia defeated Spain 3-2. 

The bar I was at slowly filled out with Colombians, who came to watch the friendly match between Mexico and Colombia. These friendlies should be important for Mexico, who has not gone through qualification, as they try to find a squad for the World Cup here in Mexico. In the meantime, Colombia have qualified strongly and by far outplayed the Mexicans: 4-0, with goals by established players Luis Diaz and Jefersson Lerma, but also Bologna's defender Jhon Lucumi scoring his first goal for Colombia, and Internacional's Johan Carbonero scoring in his debut for Colombia.

Colombia is looking strong (and look at their strong u-20 side), but Mexico is hopefully going to improve before they receive the world in 2026.

 

U20 World Cup in Chile

The U-20 World Cup is taking place in Chile. A group with Spain, Brazil, Mexico and Morocco should be considered a group of death at any level, and yesterday I watched the final group match between Morocco and Mexico. Morocco have been flying and defeated Spain and Brazil 2-0 and 2-1 respectively, and before the match against Mexico were sure to win the group no matter the result as Mexico arrived in the match with two 2-2 ties. 

Mexico ensured the second spot by winning 1-0 on a penalty goal by the 16-year Tijuana player Gilberto Mora (also the youngest goalscorer in the history of the Mexican top league). In the meantime Spain won 1-0 against Brazil, who are surely disappointed to be eliminated in the group stage.

Morocco and Mexico are through, and so are Argentina and Japan, with three victories, as well as Ukraine, Chile, Paraguay and Italy. There are still matches left in the last groups before we have all the teams in the last-16 of a very interesting tournament.

Technology to save the Ballon d'Or

The Ballon d'Or is considered the main individual award in football (as silly as it is to have an individual award in a team sport), even more important than the FIFA player of the year award (FIFA used to participate in the Ballon d'Or award, but created its own, something that powerful people always do if they cannot have it their way). Over the 2010s the award was largely a competition between two of the most gifted players of all time, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. But as they have entered the winters of their careers the prize is now open for competition among many great (but not the greatest) players, and this year it was PSGs Ousmane Dembele who took the title that is decided among a vote from football journalists from all over the world.

In my personal and deeply subjective opinion, Ousmane Dembele is the correct winner in 2025; he has been on fire for PSGs Champions League and French champions, and has also become an important player in the French national team, finally showing the quality he was only able to show sometimes in FC Barcelona. He is a great player - but not one of the greatest, as were none of the other candidates to the title.

Of course, in a world of narcissists and sore losers nobody congratulates the winner but rather bitches that they should rather have won it, and invent conspiracy theories about the voting and the "objectivity of the voting journalists.

As if there was such a thing called "objectivity" when it comes to football...

So I have a proposal for everyone: why not let AI choose the best player in the world? We feed it all information of all players in the world for a year, and based on number of goals, passes, touches, minutes played; and partly on tournaments won and ranking of the teams played for and against, the AI could find a completely objective winner of the Ballon d'Or that you can not argue against!

Just as objective as VAR! 

Firpo

In 1923, Argentine boxer Luis Ángel Firpo faced heavyweight champion Jack Dempsey in what many hailed as the fight of the century (little did they know greater spectacles were still to come). All of Latin America rallied behind the powerful Argentine, who even managed to knock Dempsey out of the ring in the first round. Yet, in a controversial decision, Firpo ultimately lost the match. 

Just months earlier, in the small Salvadoran town of Usulután, a football club named Tecún Umán had been founded. Inspired by Firpo’s epic bout, its members voted overwhelmingly to rename the team Club Deportivo Luis Ángel Firpo. Along with the new name came new identity: the club adopted the red, white, and blue colors of Firpo’s beloved Argentine side, San Lorenzo de Almagro, and chose as its emblem a bull, honoring the boxer’s nickname—El Toro de las Pampas (The Bull of the Pampas). 

During the 1980s and 1990s, Firpo became one of the most successful teams in El Salvador’s top division, where it still competes today, proudly carrying forward the fighting spirit of the legendary Argentine whose name it bears.

New CL season

Yesterday was Mexico's independence day, so after seeing the parade I took advantage of my day off to see the start of a new Champions league season with Real Madrid facing Olympique Marseille over a few beers.

It was a good match with Real Madrid winning 2-1, after going 0-1 down on a great goal by Timothy Weah (whose father George had incidentally scored for PSG against Real Madrid in 1994). Real Madrid equalised on a penalty kick taken by Kylian Mbappe. A correct penalty in my view, but a pity for a well-playing Marseille. In the second half Real Madrid put more pressure, but Marseille held well, and it was only a penalty gift from the referee, on one of those "handballs" that should never have been given. Kylian Mbappe made it 2-1 again, and Real Madrid starts with a win with referee help... 

Euro qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup

This weekend In have watched a couple of European World Cup qualifiers. Denmark and Scotland tied 0-0 in a match where Denmark had the ball all the time but there was as much passion and wish to score as in a funeral. Scotland defended, Denmark had the ball, and nothing happened... They are in a qualifying group with Greece and Belarus; one of these teams will qualify straight to the 2026 World Cup, and although I support Denmark, I have my doubts whether any of these sides are good enough to be in a World Cup; they will just defend and not try to win a match.

Alongside Argentina, Spain are surely the best team in the world right now, and they gave a class act in Turkey, winning 0-6 and hardly sweating. The Spaniards were impressive, with Pedri in particular directing the orchestra with two goals, but also Arsenal's Mikel Merino scoring three goals, one better than the other. Spain is in a group with Turkey, Georgia and Bulgaria, and after tonight's trashing they are surely on the way to a World Cup where they will be among the favourites. 

Angels with Dirty Faces

I just finished the book "Angels with Dirty Faces", by Jonathan Wilson. It is the footballing history of Argentina, and it is told vividly and in fascinating detail, from the early days of football in Argentina, brought over by the British, and in particular Alexander Watson Hutton, a Scottish teacher who was the spearhead in setting up the Argentinean league and founding the Football Association in 1893. It is indeed fascinating how the love-hate relationship of Argentina with England appears as a recurring theme, from the early adoption of the game to the legendary 1986 World Cup quarterfinal when Maradona scored his two most memorable goals, which are very much put in context in the book; the boy from the poor South American background who could do magic with the ball: "...a pibe with a dirty face, a mane of hair rebelling against the comb; with intelligent, roving, trickster and persuasive eyes and sparkling gaze that seem to hint at a picaresque laugh that does not quite manage to form on his mouth, full of small teeth that might be worn down through eating yesterday's bread. His trousers are few roughly sewn patches; his vest with Argentinian stripes, with a very low neck and with vmany holes eaten out by the invisible mice of use. A strip of material tied to his waist and crossing over his chest like a sash serves as braces. His knees covered with scabs of wounds disinfected by fate; barefoot or with shoes whose holes in the toes suggest they have been made through too much shooting. His stance must be characteristic; it must seem as if dribbling with a rag ball. That is important: the ball cannot be any other. A rag ball is preferable bound by an old sock. If this monument is raised one day, there will be many of us who will take off our hat to it, as we do in church".

This was written by a journalist in 1928 describing the ideal of a "criollo" footballer, made not by the British, but in the Argentinean "potreros", born in the street with cunning and magic. The book dwells a lot into Maradona, but does not fail to mention many of the legendary players that preceded him, from Guillerom Stabile, Luis Monti, Roberto Cerro, Bernabe Ferreyra, Antonio Sastre, Omar Corbatta, Jose Sanfilippo, and many others. 

The book puts all the history of Argentinean football in the context of the Argentine society, from its early days as a magnet for European migrants and growing rich amid the problems in EUrope, and also the time when Argentine football started to grow its own identity, not only in relation to the British, but also in relation to its little neighbour, Uruguay, who was the first seeing international success, and winning the first World Cup against an Argentina side who had many clashes against the arch-rivals, a rivalry that was later replaced by Brazil, something that also gets some great stories in the book.

In the 1940s Argentine football, and particularly club football, was perhaps the best in the World, but the national team did not perform, and strangely the political winds under Peron did not allow Argentina to play the 1954 World Cup. And in the 1958 World Cup when Argentina was humiliated 6-1 by Czechoslovakia, a wave of so-called "anti-football" went through Argentina, the first hints of the footballing schizophrenia of "Mennotism" versus "Bilardism" (style versus result) that becomes a theme in the book from the 1960s, and Estudiantes de la Plata victorious but largely hated team, for its football. In parallel with this, Argentina is going from crisis to crisis, economically, socially and politically.

The 1978 World Cup of course gets special mention, as it was held under a violent military dictatorship that wanted to win the cup at home, despite a Menotti who was largely seen as against the dictatorship. And even the reflection of how many political prisoners celebrated the victory against the Netherlands; as it was more than about a political victory for the regime, but more a victory for all Argentines in a country of paradoxes.

The book ends in 2016, shortly after the defeat in the 2014 World Cup final and the 2015 Copa America, when hopes were being put into a young Lionel Messi, who many still criticised for not being from the "potreros", and perhaps didn't fit in the Argentinean ideal of their players (and never having played in Argentina). The book is therefore not as optimistic when it ends; but it would be interesting to hear about the changes that led to the 2022 World Cup with Messi as its architect, and the enormous political changes that led to the election of Milei in 2023. A more cosmopolitan Argentina relying on players playing in Europe? Because while more and more Argentinean players were going abroad the quality of Argentinean clubs was decaying, with hooliganism rampant, something that sadly seems to be more the case today.

So even though the book ends some ten years ago, it is perhaps one of the best books to learn about the fascinating  history of Argentinean football, and in the context of the complex schizophrenia of Argentinean society. So I highly recommend it.

Savages

Sad images from the Libertadores match in Buenos Aires between Independiente de Avellaneda and Universidad de Chile where savages entered into a massive fight in the stadium. It looked like scenes from Mad Max as fans attacked one another, notably Independiente fans who stormed the stands of the away side. Not that the savage away fans were innocent: from the upper decks they had been burning seats and throwing bottles, rocks at the home fans below, leading to the other savages attacking the stands. Most appallingly, as you see in the images, police was nowhere to be seen as the savages from both sides were allowed with impunity to commit their crimes.

The authorities who let this happen are as guilty as the savages themselves. 

CONMEBOL cancelled the match and the clubs are looking at "harsh" penalties. I say "harsh" because the most likely is a fine and maybe play a few matches without fans. But if anything is to be done about this the message must be stronger, and must include the local authorities. To the clubs I would recommend forceful relegation and suspension from all international tournaments for 10 years. Or harsher still: What about teams from both countries get suspended from all international tournaments? Or that all clubs from either country are not allowed to play any home matches, including national teams?

I know many will say that it is not the clubs' fault or that many fans are innocent. 

But are they? Don't they pour gasoline onto the fire that drives the savages? Are they not standing behind those savages to protect the fraught tribal image of their second-rate football club? 

Galaxy still alive

At my office we are doing a small pot on the League Cup. Eight of us drew a random team of the eight left in the quarterfinals and in the end the winner get the pot if your draw wins the tournament. Happy to say that I am still in the competition as I drew LA Galaxy, who defeated the current Mexican champions of Toluca 2-1, with the new signing Marco Reus scoring his first goal for the Californians. 

It was all in all a dreadful day for the Mexican sides, who were all eliminated. I watched Inter Miami eliminate Tigres of UANL 2-1. Luis Suarez´s scored both Miami goals on penalty kicks, both called for handball. I personally think they were both very weak calls, specially the second penalty, which came at the end of the match when Tigres were dominating following Angel Correa´s equaliser for the Monterrey side. Not that it was undeserved that Miami won; they had a good first half, but with Tigres´strong second half the match could have gone to either side, and it is a pity it is decided on a penalty kick that should not have been given as it was not a danger situation and the ball hit the player´s arm in a random situation. But in VAR times any handball is defensible, no matter the intention or situation. 

I guess now to support LA Galaxy, who will face Seattle Sounders!

What country to represent

What are we? Where are we from? From where we are born? Where we grew up? The fact is that most people tend to put you in boxes according to how they see you, most often a “nationality box” that is fixed and closed. 

But they could not be more wrong; there is no box; identity is open, flexible, and in constant movement. 

The footballing world provides an interesting insight into this apparent nationality paradox. According to FIFA rules, footballers are only allowed to play for one national team at Senior level. This means that while they may have played for a different youth national team, they eventually must select the side they will play for the rest of their footballing lives. 

Recently Diego Luna, a young player of Mexican background said he preferred to play for the USA rather than Mexico: “Nací y me crie aquí, este país me dio lo que tengo ahora. Creo que es justo jugar para el país que me hizo quien soy” (“I was born and raised here [USA], this country gave me what I have today. I think it is fair to play for the country that made me who I am”). Some people may call him a “Mexican playing for the USA”, but this ignores the diversity of backgrounds that is the reality in this world with more people of diverse backgrounds than not. 

Alfredo Di Stefano is considered one of the greatest footballers of all time and may be the reason that the eligibility rules were changed. During his career Alfredo di Stefano played for three different national teams: Argentina, Colombia and Spain. The issue never became major as he made his career in Real Madrid, but his changes of teams would never have been possible today, and other players have had to choose their national teams. 

Owen Hargreaves was a one of the most important players of the English national team and Bayern Munich in the early 2000s. He was born in Canada to a Welsh-English couple, and could have been eligible for Canada and Wales as well. In fact, he played for Wales youth sides, but in the end chose England, playing the 2002 and 2006 World Cups, something that would not have been possible with Wales or Canada. Ben Breterton is another English player, born and raised, but with a Chilean mother. He played for England at youth level, representing them at U-17 and U-19 tournaments. But never having made his debut at Senior level he was called up by Chile, and made his debut in 2021, despite of the fact that he did not speak Spanish. He nevertheless became a popular addition to a team that took him to a Copa America, something that would surely have been impossible with England. 

The many migrations between Europe and Africa have meant that there are many players with mixed identities. France is often accused of playing with “non-French” players, but the truth is that this is much more nuanced, and players' choices of national team depend on a wide range of individual circumstances. Before Ngolo Kante became one of the world’s best footballers he had played a few years at lower level French sides Boulogne and Caen. Born in France to Malian parents he was approached by the Mali football federation, but said he preferred to wait for a possible call-up from France. In 2015 Kante changed to Leicester, becoming one of the best players in the world, and never looking back. He was called up for France and became one of the most important players in the World Champion side of 2018 with the country where he was born and grew up. 

Yacine Brahimi was also born in France and played consistently for all French youth national teams from the age of 15 to 20. Born to Algerian parents he was contacted by the Algerian football federation in 2010, but turned them down, expecting to be called up for France at Senior level. When this did not happen, Brahimi opted for Algeria, and in 2014 represented the North African side in the World Cup. The Moroccan star, Achraf Hakimi was born in Spain to Moroccan parents, and was spotted early on by the Real Madrid youth academy, who immediately took him in alongside other future Spanish stars. He was offered to play for Spain’s youth side, but he rejected it, and went on to play for Morocco youth teams, and was a key player in Morocco’s historical semifinal side at the World Cup in 2022. 

Germany is unlike France not often accused of using “foreigners” in their national team, but have a history of players with diverse backgrounds as well. Miroslav Klose, the most scoring player in World Cup history, was born in Poland (his mother represented the Polish national handball team). Klose arrived in Germany as a child speaking no German, and was raised in the country he came to represent, although he later stated that he would have liked to play for Poland. The large Turkish diaspora in Germany have provided players both for Germany and for Turkey. A notable case is the great Mesut Ozil, born and raised in Germany, he has stated that it was a dilemma for him who to choose to play for. He ended having a successful career with Germany, winning the World Cup in 2014, but has also faced a lot of controversy following his involvement in Turkish politics, showing the complex diversity of his background. 

Another interesting case is that of Kevin Prince-Boteng who was born and raised in Germany to a Ghanaian father and a German mother. Alongside his brother Jerome, he played on German youth national teams, but after some disciplinary problems he chose to play for Ghana at Senior level, stating that he felt more Ghanaian, despite the fact that he had never lived in the West African country. In the meantime Jerome became an important player in the German national team, and in the 2010 World Cup the two brothers faced one another when Ghana and Germany clashed in the first round. 

These are just some example, but there are so many more: Thomas Christiansen (Denmark-Spain), Valon Berisha (Sweden-Kosovo), Gonzalo Higuain (France-Argentina), Timothy Weah (Liberia-USA), Diego Costa (Brazil-Spain), Jorginho (Brazil-Italy), etc. 

It is simplistic to assert that a certain national team has “foreigners” on their side; the fact that players are “forced” to choose a national team does not take away the fluidity of multiple identities that is a reality in a world of fluent borders and identities.

Results in a strange tournament

The 2025 League Cup is happening, and I have been watching some of the matches in a strange tournament that officially is a "friendly" tournament, but the winner qualifies for the CONCACAF Champions Cup, also despite the fact that the tournament is not sponsored by CONCACAF.

The tournament started in 2019 as a confrontation between the MLS and the Liga MX. 18 teams from each league participate and only play teams from the other league, three matches, with three points for a win, two points for a win on penalty kicks (it goes straight to penalty kicks if it ends in a tie), and one point for a tie (so you keep it if you lose on penalty kicks). The top eight teams, four from each league, then progress to play-off quarterfinals.

Yesterday the league stage ended with two top teams, firstly the Mexican champions from Toluca, and secondly Seattle Sounders, who won three straight matches, one a 7-0 destruction of the CONCACAF Champions Cup winners Cruz Azul. Besides Toluca, Pachuca and Tigres the Mexican sides have appeared very weak indeed; mighty America only managed three ties against Real Salt Lake, Minnesota United and Portland Timbers, while other sides than Cruz Azul also suffered big defeats to MLS sides such as Necaxa, Atlas and Santo Laguna. Regarding the latter I watched their 0-4 defeat against an LA Galaxy side with the German veteran star Marco Reus in midfield, and frankly 0-4 was too little in a match where Santos Laguna looked more like a Danish 3rd division side, and on top of that got two well-deserved red cards.

What Santos Laguna showed was perhaps the worst side of Mexican football.

While MLS sides did well overall, there was not much difference between the top four teams, amongst which Messi's Inter Miami ended on second place. In their last match they also proved better than the Mexico City side Pumas UNAM, who may have gone ahead, but then were vastly outplayed by a Miami side with Luis Suarez and Rodrigo de Paul as goalscorers and architects of the goals. I must admit that I have had reserves against Miami, but this was one of the best matches I have seen them play, and are really worth following.

The quarterfinals are in a couple of weeks, and fully replace the league matches in both leagues. All this said, it is more a comparative tournament between two leagues, perhaps more valuable for MLS to show the significant advances that the league is going through. 

The Great Alphonse Davies

The Budumburam refugee camp in Ghana was a refuge for thousands and thousands refugees from Liberia, who fled the bloody civil war that destroyed the country in the 1990s and early 2000s. The squalid conditions of the camp were better than the utter destruction that the Liberians had fled, and many stayed in the camp for years, even decades, trying on the one hand to move somewhere else, or on the other hand to create a new life in Ghana. 

In 2000 a baby was born in the camp’s basic clinic run by UNHCR. The baby’s parents had fled the violence of Monrovia, and had applied for asylum in North America. The little family nevertheless stayed five year at Budumburum before being able to relocate to Canada and start a new life. 

The little boy, Alphonso Davies, would go on to be the youngest player to sign an MLS contract, the youngest player to debut and score on the Canadian national team, and the scorer of Canada’s first World Cup goal ever. He was signed by mighty Bayern Munich where he became the first Canadian to win the Champions League. Widely hailed as one of the best left-backs in the world, Alphonso Davies life started in the most difficult conditions imaginable, but he brought glory to his adopted country.

Countdown

Near my house in Mexico City they recently set up a clock counting down to the opening match of the World Cup, which will take place on June 11th 2026 at the legendary Azteca Stadium.

The stadium is now being refurbished to accommodate this great event as if it were the first time it hosts a great event...

But with this, starts my own countdown, and should perhaps try to relate some of the impressions of living in a country that will host the Mens' Football World Cup for the third time ever, but this time alongside Canada and the United States of America.

Chelsea the World Champions

At least it was not Tottenham that won the very first World Club Cup and went into the history books. It was another London club, namely Chelsea, who just needed one half to secure the title against the favourites from Paris St. Germain. Two splendid strikes from Cole Palmer in the lower right side of the Paris goal and one strike from the new Chelsea revelation Joao Pedro, and the final was decided against a disappointing PSG side that lost with no honour as Joao Neves was shown a red card for a distasteful pulling Cucurella's hair, and as the game ended, instead of congratulating the winners, PSG players entered into an ugly brawl led by manager Luis Enrique.

Extremely disappointed about the Spanish manager and PSG as a whole for contributing to making it into an ugly event.

Probably we will see more of this in the future as honour disappears from football.

In the meantime the Chelsea celebrations were awkward as the US president stood in the midst of the players as they were handed the trophy.

The entire thing was more awkward than historical. A pity for a tournament that I think was an overall success.

The Club World Cup finalists

Unfortunately Fluminense were unable to defeat Chelsea to make it to the Club World Cup. The English side were better, but it is worth noting that the player who scored both splendid Chelsea goals in their 2-0 victory, Joao Pedro, scored them against the team that made him. The 23-year old striker, who scored his first Chelsea goals following his transfer from Brighton & Hove Albion, did not celebrate the goals against his childhood club.

He will be a player to watch next season as Chelsea try to get back to the top of the Premier League.

All this said, Chelsea will have a difficult time in the final where they will face an extraordinary Paris St. Germain side. The Parisians won a memorable Champions League final on June 1st, and in the semifinal against Real Madrid were as deadly: 4-0 against the Spanish giants with two goals by Fabian Ruiz, and Ousmane Dembele and Goncalo Ramos each scoring one. The victory could surely have been bigger, but in the heat and considering the final, Luis Enrique decided to let the foot of the speeder in the second half.

In the midst of this a thought to Kylian Mbappe: the great Frenchman last season changed from PSG to Real Madrid in order to win titles, but since he left PSG has won it all, and Real Madrid has won nothing....

PSG-Chelsea in the final. As everyone says, anything can happen in a final, but it appears likely that this "anything" is tipped heavily in favour of the great Parisians, who will be delighted to be officially crowned as the world's best team. 

Value for money

Chelsea Manager Enzo Maresca illustrated European arrogance or ignorance when he had to explain why European sides were not performing in the Club World Cup. According to the Italian it was because European sides play more matches, and said that his own team, Chelsea, had played 63 matches this season, and asked (rhetorically?) how many matches the Brazilian teams had played this season.

"70 matches", was the reply from a Brazilian journalist.

Indeed, the playing calendar of most South American sides is packed with matches in a lot of tournaments because they fight with a problem that European sides, specially Chelsea, don't have: they need money. 

So when Mr. Maresca wants to justify that Brazilian sides are doing well in the Club World Cup he very conveniently ignores that he has a squad of 46 millionaires valued at USD 1 billion, while Fluminense has a squad of 36 players valued at USD 86 Mio. 

Surely the Brazilians under their manager Renato Gaucho are more value for money, and today Fluminense will hopefully again defeat Chelsea and European arrogance.

At least we now know that Chelsea have not studied Fluminense!

Mexico Gold Cup Champion

I am currently in Denmark, so I was unable to watch the CONCACAF Gold Cup final between USA and Mexico. Despite making the final both sides have been looking shaky lately, with particularly the USA appearing weak under the leadership of Mauricio Pochettino. That said, the arch-rivals were now in their 8th final after difficult matches against Guatemala and Honduras respectively. Of the previous finals Mexico have won five, and the USA two. 

USA opened the scoring on an early header by the Crystal Palace striker Chris Richards, with the Fulham striker Raul Jimenez equalizing for Mexico (and dedicating the goal to his former teammate Diogo Jota). Second half it was another PL player, Wast Ham's Edson Alvarez, who scored the winner for Mexico, giving them their 10th Gold Cup title of 18 possible.

RIP Diogo Jota

 I was at the Roskilde Festival when I heard of the sad passing of the Liverpool and Portugal player Diogo Jota in a car accident at the too-young age of 28. He passed away alongside his brother Andre Silva, and the grief has been enormous in both Liverpool and Portugal, two teams where he had meant a lot.

A sad reminder of how fragile life is. 

Europeans defeated

In 1930 many European countries looked down on the initiative to hold a World Cup in Uruguay, and many European nations decided simply not to participate; some because of the costs of sailing halfway around the globe, but many more because they considered it beneath them to participate in a tournament where their superiority would be questioned by so-called “inferior sides”.

There is an echo of this today as some arrogant Europeans are complaining of the sporting value of the Club World. While it is true that players in European teams have crowded calendars, they are all highly paid professionals, winning more than overworked doctors, nurses, teachers… who in fact contribute much more value to society than the little rich boys, who are increasingly difficult to feel sorry for (and none of whom we hear complaining about other things than the referees when they lose). 

Although I still believe that the tournament will be won by a European side, two fantastic results yesterday underlined that the quality of football is global, and does not just belong to European clubs: firstly, Brazilian Fluminense defeated CL finalists Inter Milan 2-0 in a good match where both teams had their chances, but Fluminense were simply better when it counted, and won on goals by the Argentine striker German Cano and the strongly named Hercules. 

On the day’s second match it was “not-so-mighty-any-longer” Manchester City to be defeated by the Saudi Arabian side Al Hilal in a thrilling match, where Bernardo Silva, with good help from his hand, brought the English side ahead early on, leading everyone to believe in a walkover. 

But by early in the second half Al Hilal were ahead 1-2 with two goals by Brazilians Marcos Leonardo and Malcom, before Erling Haaland equalised to 2-2 in a match that then had to go into extra time. 

Are Manchester City too tired after a long season where they reached only the FA Cup final? Or were they simply unable to match the Saudi side as the Senegalese veteran Kalidou Koulibaly brought them ahead? In fact, Phil Foden equalised but it was the young Brazilian Marcos Leonardo who with a strike in the 112th minute brough the final victory to Al Hilal. 

Note that Marcos Leonardo is only 22 years old, played one season in Benfica, and could still return to Europe sometime! 

All this said, it is refreshing to see European arrogance vanquished, and in my view the tournament has already showed its great value and potential for the future. Whoever wins it will go over in history, just like Uruguay in 1930.

Boca-River to the airport

Sometimes, as much as you like a team, you can be happy that football remains unpredictable and that arrogance is punished. As Boca Juniors went into the last round of the group stages in the Club World Cup they were to faced the unassuming Auckland FC, who had lost their first two matches 10-0 and 6-0 against Bayern Munich and Benfica respectively. Boca Juniors entered the match full of arrogant expectation, where they should rather have been hoping to play well against an amateur side.

Boca's awful arrogance was punished when the PE teacher, Christian Grey, equalised Boca's first half lead and gave the Kiwis an unexpected and delightful 1-1 and a rightful elimination of the Argentine giants, who appear to have forgotten that humility is the first step to greatness.

All in all a bad tournament for both Argentine clubs, as River Plate were also eliminated after losing 0-2 to Inter Milan, falling without grace against a far superior side. Two River players received red cards and just like Boca, River will not be missed in the Club World Cup.

Instead of meeting on the pitch, the two Argentine clubs will be in the airport. 

The World Cup underway

The Club World Cup is well underway in the USA. I have not been able to follow sufficiently, just seeing highlights, and watched the 1-1 between Real Madrid and Al Hilal and last night’s surprising and happy 2-1 victory of Inter Miami over FC Porto, with a victory goal by Lionel Messi on one of his signature free-kick goals. 

The idea of a Club World Cup is good; club football is much better than the national team football that suffers from excessive nationalism, while seeing how clubs across continents do against one another at the highest level has been something we have been waiting for, and which has been refreshing. Besides Bayern Munich’s 10-0 thrashing of Auckland, the level has been quite high and European sides have not been able to dominate as expected, and last night Europe’s best side, Paris St. Germain, lost 0-1 to Brazil’s Botafogo in yet another upset for European arrogance. 

All this said, the tournament also has problems: the opaque qualification process and playing times to fit TV viewing, but not the health of the players, who are playing in excessively hot weather (also, coming at the end of the season for many teams, the players arrive tired at the tournament). Also, we see the tournament take place in a non-footballing country where stadiums have been only half-full for many matches, and only many of the Latin American fans create anything that feel like a passionate atmosphere.

All this said the tournament appears here to stay, and I hope that FIFA will think about this tournament not only as a money machine, but also as a new scenario to get the best clubs to face one another. 

I hope.

Portugal`s second Nations League title

The UEFA Nations League started as a boring tournament to replace the many friendly matches in the national team calendars, and it has grown to become a tournament that teams look forward to winning, so it was with expectations that Spain and Portugal faced one another in the fourth final of the tournament.

Spain were favourites and dominated the first half of the first half. Real Sociedad's Martin Zubimendi brought the Spaniards ahead expectedly after 20 minutes, but only five minutes later the outstanding PSG player Nuno Mendes equalised for the Portuguese on a great play. 

But another real Sociedad player, Mikel Oyarzabal, brought Spain ahead yet again. 

40-year old Cristiano Ronaldo may not have the physical strength he once had, but he remains a marvelous footballer, and in his 221st national team appearance he scored his 138th goal when he deservedly equalised for Portugal in the second half. 

Shortly after Ronaldo had to leave the pitch though, much against his will, having to watch a strong Portugal side put pressure on the Spaniards. 

2-2, and after extra time the match had to go into a penalty shootout that Cristiano Ronaldo could hardly watch, but it was the veteran striker Alvaro Morata whose penalty was saved by Diogo Costa, giving Ronaldo and Portugal their second Nation League title. UEFA Nations League may not be the most prestigious tournament, but it was certainly an exciting final worth watching.

PSG Champions

The Champions League title has eluded Paris St. Germain for a long time, but now that it finally came it certainly came with style. 5-0 is the greatest difference in a European final ever, and it was not too little as the Parisians were far superior to the disappointing Milanese.

Perhaps it was as expected that Inter came out with a defensive attitude, but this was clearly not working as a highly motivated Parisian side tore apart a shaky defense after 12 minutes with the Moroccan Achraf Hakimi scoring the opening goal after 12 minutes against his former club, and the young Desire Doue scoring a second for PSG after 20 minutes. Inter really had no response, and in the second half one would have expected them to move forward but a far more intelligent PSG side again went a ahead 3-0 on a brilliant counter-attack where Doue scored his second at the greatest stage.

After this is was really over. PSG were clearly enjoying the match while Inter clearly just wanted the match to end. Kvisha Kvaratshkelia made it 4-0 and Senny Mayulu made it 5-0.

Despite it all it is worth congratulating Inter's players who took the heavy defeat with dignity, while for PSG it was particularly fantastic to see Luis Enrique lift the trophy. 

It is in place to congratulate PSG fans, although at the same time it is a shame that the celebrations in the French capital turned violent, when all most fans really want to celebrate is the great victory of a great football team.

Grandisimo Napoli

Today Napoli did not disappoint when they had it everything in their own hands to take the Serie A title at home. The Neapolitans defeated Cagliari 2-0, firstly on a splendid half-bycicle kick by Scott McTominay at a moment when Napoli had started to feel that the Cagliari, and in the second half Romelu Lukaku made it 2-0 on a typical "a-devil-in-him" goal.

Grande Napoli! My favourite Italian side! And Maradona is celebrating as well!

Crappy final

This year's Europe League final was a bore between two teams who have been playing so badly this year that had it not been for their historical names, the final would have not been watched by anyone. The final was crowned by one goal that was so full of mistakes and coincidences that had it been a Sunday-match in the park, it would have been transmitted again and again on TikTok as a ridiculous play.

Yet, it was Tottenham's only "shot" "on target" the entire match, and enough to make them the most boring champions in world football ever, I dare say. 

Ange Postocoglu's Tottenham has finally proven that you do not need to try to score to win a tournament.

It was Tottenham's first title in 40 years (it appears that this year will be remembered as the-year-those -who-never-won-finally-win: like Crystal Palace and Harry Kane...), which is a sad irony considering the much better Tottenham sides in those 40 years.

Congratulations to their fans. 

What a shame for the rest of us.

The football Pope

When Jorge Bergoglio had just become Pope Francis I in 2013 I was at a diplomatic reception in Monrovia, Liberia, and came across a young Argentine priest who worked at the Holy See’s representation in Monrovia. He confirmed he knew the Pope, and we then proceeded to discuss football, focusing on the coming 2014 World Cup. Confessing my own support for Argentina, we were interrupted by a Frenchman who overheard our conversation: “Of course, France also has a great team that could win”.

“Excomulgated”. The Argentine priest replied in good humour. 

It was the same good-natured approach of his Argentine boss, who after having passed away, has been given many tributes by the football community. 

Because Pope Francis may have been the popular leader of the Catholic Church, one of the most important religions in the world, but he was certainly also a follower of the quasi-religion of football. It might have been obvious given that Pope Francis was born in Argentina, and grew up in a society where the religion of football means a lot in every layer of society. 

The Pope was a fan of the club from the neighbourhood of Almagro, in Buenos Aires, San Lorenzo, a club that has incidentally been founded by a Priest. When the club miraculously won the Copa Libertadores in 2014, a year after he had become Pope, the club went to the Vatican to give the Pope a copy of the trophy, in gratitude for the Pope’s near-divine support. 

And the Pople met many footballers who have also paid tribute to him, just as the fans of many teams, including those of Olympique Marseille: 

 

The mighty Crystal Palace

The oldest existing football tournament in the world, the FA Cup, is great because it is still a tournament where anything can happen, and this year another great surprise happened when underestimated Crystal Palace defeated mighty Manchester City 1-0 on a lone goal by the English striker Eberechi Eze, and a brave and fair fight by the entire team and a fantastic goalkeeper in Dean Henderson, who even saved a penalty.

Crystal Palace was founded 120 years ago, and the club had never won an important title. It was their third FA Cup final, and when the referee ended the match after scandalous and nerve-wrecking 10 minutes of added time, the fans, unused to winning, erupted in delight and tears of joy.

The victory is so much sweeter as it was against a Manchester City side who, since they became of the top sides in the world, have lost every sense of humility and dignity, something that is a pity for club that only in 2012 won a spectacular league, and entered a new phase after so many years as a secondary team. Today, Manchester City appears entitled, and nothing symbolized it more than Pep Gurdiola's refusal to shake hands with Crystal Palace's goalkeeper after the match. 

At these moments one loves football and wish Crystal Palace fans days of fantastic celebrations!

Barca champion!!!

I am so, so happy, that FC Barcelona has won the Spanish championship! 

Because if they had not we would have had to listen to a bunch of entitled millionaires bitch about how unfair life is and how unjust the system treats them.

Frankly enough, just not listening to that shit, makes me support them!

New Managers in Real Madrid and Brazil

It was a change foretold: Xabi Alonso, the former Real Sociedad, Liverpool and Real Madrid successful manager of Bayer Leverkusen was going to manage Real Madrid one day. After Carlo Ancelotti's meager season that appears to end with no titles, Xabi Alonso will now try to bring the unlikely success he brought to Leverkusen (giving them their first Bundesliga title ever), to Real Madrid.

Despite the poor season Carlo Ancelotti leaves Madrid with three Champions League titles in his two stints as Real Madrid manager, as well as two league titles, a Copa del Rey and a Club World Cup title since his second stint started in 2021. 

While Ancelotti is surely one of the most successful managers in the world, he is taking on a huge challenge, perhaps the biggest in world football: he will be the new manager of Brazil!And the first non-Brazilian ever to manage Brazil, so all eyes will be on him as Brazil tries to get up again from Dorival Junior's disastrous stint and humiliating defeat to Argentina in the World Cup qualifiers. 

All eyes will surely be on Ancelotti, much more than on Xabi Alonso!

Happy Day to all Mothers

Silvija Greko’s son Nickollas became a Palmeiras fan after meeting Neymar, who had been a Palmeiras fan as a child. When Nickollas was five years old, Silvija took him to Palmeiras' stadium to his first match, although Nickollas was born blind. Initially, she gave him a radio to listen to the matches, but Nickollas wanted to listen to the atmosphere and sounds of the Allianz Parque stadium in Sao Paulo, home of Palmeiras.
Today, Sivija narrates every detail of the match to her son, a fan who lives the marvel of football through the words of his mother.

The sad world of sore losers

The saddest thing about football today is that there are players and managers like those from FC Barcelona (as well as all those privileged rich boys from all other great clubs). Because they do not appreciate the playful and irrelevant beauty of football.

Yesterday football fans were gifted with a fantastic semifinal match in the Champions League between Inter Milan and FC Barcelona. 4-3 after extra time, a match full of drama, tactical finesse, technique, great goals, great saves, mistakes and controversy. All the ingredients that have made football great over so many years. A home side going ahead 2-0, then FC Barcelona leading 2-3 and some fantastic saves by an incredible veteran Swiss goalkeeper Yann Sommer that kept the Italians in the match, and then a dramatic last minute equalizer and a victory goal by Davide Fratessi and dramatic last-ditch attacks by Barcelona.

The match could have gone to either side because both sides were great: if Yann Sommer had not made two fantastic saves against Lamine Yamal, it would have ended differently. If Gerard Martin had not fumbled in defense against Francesco Acerbi, Inter would never have equalised in the last second. If Dani Olmo had not lost the ball, Lautaro Martinez would never have scored the opening goal. If Robert Lewandowski had not missed an open header in the dying minutes of extra time, the match would have gone into penalty kicks.

So much could have happened. 

That is football.

Yet, Barcelona's players, manager and leadership are a bunch of sore losers entitled millionaires who have never faced a real challenge in life. Instead of recognising a great match, they just blame the referee. Believe me, if they had won, we would not have heard a word... But they are small people in a world where too many people never takes responsibility, never face defeat with dignity and recognition of others' efforts....

Sad sad sad, and although I would have been very happy to see Barcelona in the final, because they are a great side, I can only be delighted not to see them there when they behave like that.

I have no expectations that an Inter Milan side are any different, so that said I will support Paris St. Germain in the final, because of their manager Luis Enrique (a former Barcelona player). I know that he has gone through very difficult things in his life, and that he knows football is just that: football, important but irrelevant, and that there is always space to better yourself rather than blame others.

Concacaf Champions Cup semifinals

My favourite Mexican side, Cruz Azul, are in the final of the CONCACAF Champions club for the first time since 2014. The match that took them to the final was a 1-0 victory in a nervous and tactical match against the Tigres of UANL, winning on a late handball penalty (quite harsh) scored by Angel Sepulveda (the top scorer of the tournament). 

Great for a club whom success often eluded (but I bring good luck), although the final will not be easy. They will face the MLS side Vancouver Whitecaps, who already eliminated the Pumas of UNAM in the quarterfinals, and basically destroyed Lionel Messi's Inter Miami in the semifinals with a total of 5-1 (underlining that a football team is not made by stars and names). The Vancouver side is managed by the ex-Brøndby and Silkeborg Manager, Jesper Sørensen, who is looking for the Canadian side's first continental title (it would indeed be the first for a Canadian side, and the fourth for an MLS side, in the sad case that they win).

The final will be on June 1st in Los Angeles.

Liverpool champions

I was on a flight from Bogota to Mexico, so did not get to see Liverpool's magnificent 5-1 trouncing of Tottenham (and the fact that it was against despicable Tottenham just makes it more delightful) to take their 20th English championship title and their first since 2020, with four matches to go in the league.

A splendid result for a cosmopolitan side whose goals were scored by a Colombian (Luis Diaz), an Argentine (Alexis MacAllister), a Dutchman (Cody Gakpo), and Egyptian (Mo Salah) and the Italian Destiny Udogie scoring an own goal to seal the title for Liverpool.

I am happy for my many friends who I know are very happy right now, and congratulate all Liverpool fans.

Independiente Medellín-Once Caldas

I happened to be passing through Medellin, Colombia,  and decided to go to watch football. The local side Independiente Medellín was playing the team from Manizales, Once Caldas.

Great atmosphere in the stadium, fantastic fans and a home team that pressured from early on, completely dominating, and leading 2-0 at half time on excellent strikes by Leider Berrío and Francisco Chaverra.

Second half was frankly boring as Medellin pulled back and Once Caldas had little to offer.

But some fantastic fans did have a lot to offers and I had a great time in Medellin.

Remontada?

Real Madrid put too much pressure on themselves and that was one of the reasons of their surprising elimination from the Champions League at the feet of Arsenal. After a 3-0 defeat in London the entire Madrid machine was talking about how they would win it in Madrid with limited thought that the team currently appears unbalanced and that the rout in London was no coincidence. The players may have been psyched as much as the fans but this was not obvious on the pitch as Arsenal were organised and level-headed, something that they kept even as Bukayo Saka missed a penalty to a save from the great Van der Saar.

It was 0-0 late in the match with little prospect for a Real Madrid goal when Saka himself made it all good and brought Arsenal ahead. Vinicius Jr. equalized shortly after following a gift from the Arsenal defense giving the locals a bit of hope, but their attacks were feeble, and in the dying seconds of the match Gabriel Martinelli scored the winner for Arsenal.

A lot will likely change in Real Madrid the coming weeks as it appears that Carlo Ancelotti will leave and with him many players, and many new signings may happen.

No matter what, there is one thing that may be forgotten as everyone talks about Real Madrid: Arsenal are splendid! They will now face PSG in the semifinals, a strong side yes, but also one that could shake under pressure, and Arsenal have demonstrated that they can put anyone under pressure.

A lot of America-Cruz Azul

The two great clubs of Mexico City have met three times in the last 10 days. Firstly, they faced one another home and away in the quarterfinals of the CONCACAF Champions Cup. The first boring 0-0 at America (which was ironically played in Cruz Azul's stadium, which has been taken over by America as the Azteca Stadium is being rebuilt, and Cruz Azul plays at the Olympic Stadium) was replaced by a tense 2nd leg, where the veteran Mexican striker Angel Sepulveda was the star: he scored after only 12 minutes, as well as the victory 2-1 goal in the 85th minute following Alvaro Fidalgo's equalizer for America.

Sepulveda is presently the top goalscorer in the CONCACAF Champions Cup ahead of one Lionel Messi (whose team, Inter Miami, is also in the semifinals, facing Vancouver Whitecaps), and will look to score more as Cruz Azul faces the UANL Tigres in the semifinals.

Yesterday Cruz Azul faced America in the Clausura league. A victory to America could have put them in first spot, while a Blue victory could have put them on second spot. But it ended 0-0, and Toluca, who defeated Atlas 2-3 are now leaders. That said, there are two matches left, and the top 6 teams go into the quarterfinals, and it seems that both America and Cruz Azul will be there (unless they totally mess it up). 

The return of Valencia

 In December it looked as though the (former?) great club of Valencia was on its way down. They were in relegation spots in the league, and were playing awful. But how things can change with a new manager! Ruben Baraja was fired and on Christmas day Carlos Corberan was brought to his home town from West Bromwich Albion, where he had been coaching for 2 years.

And in his first few months Carlos Corberan has changed the team, which now seems to have faith in its qualities. Slowly but steadily the team moved above relegation, and last weekend they defeated none other than Real Madrid 1-2 at the Santiago Barnabeu. This victory was notable for being their first away victory in the league for nearly a year, as well as the first time they won at Chamartin since 2008. And just yesterday they pulled an important 1-0 victory at home against Sevilla, and the team is now on 13th place, safely above relegation.

Valencia will not be playing in Europe next season (although some are dreaming of this unlikely prospect), but the revived Valencia also has some fantastic youngsters like Javi Guerra, Christian Mosquera and Diego Lopez, that hopefully will help build a new and great Valencia.

The World Champions have qualified

Argentina has been awesome in terms of defending their title in the World Cup qualifiers, and last night they could seal their mathematical qualification against none other than their arch-rivals of Brazil in front of a home crowd in Buenos Aires. 

Brazil, on the other hand, have been a shadow of themselves in these qualifiers, lingering on 4th-5th place, which may be sufficient to qualify, but is not where we expect to see the great Brazilians, who at least in social media were eagerly pumping up the atmosphere before the match.

 Perhaps a little air went out of the balloon as Argentina´s qualification was sealed before the match, when Bolivia tied Uruguay at home, but this was not obvious as the match started with a highly motivated Argentina who was leading 2-0 after only 12 minutes on excellent strikes by Julian Alvarez and Enzo Fernandez, and it seemed it could be a total trashing until Cuti Romero gave away the ball to the Wolverhampton striker Matheus Cunha, who scored easily in what was one of Brazil´s few shots in the match. For a short period Brazil seemed optimistic, but it quickly faded as Alexis MacAllister scored a splendid third for Argentina, first-timing a perfect pass from Enzo Fernandez. 

It is always a shame in these matches that players spend as much time bitching and crying as they do playing, and the first half ended in disgraceful arguments and fights between the players. 

Well, they may be great footballers, but they are not upstanding citizens. 

Second half was dominated by Argentina, who could have scored more, but Giuliano Simeone´s marvelous strike was the only goal amid many chances, and Argentina sealed a memorable victory, and appears as a serious contender for the title, even without a certain Lionel Messi….

Nations League Quarterfinals

 If UEFA had wanted a good publicity for the Nations League, they could probably not have fixed the matches to be so perfect as they were yesterday in the second leg of the quarterfinals: full of goals, drama and excitement.

• Portugal defeated Denmark, perhaps not so surprising overall, but certainly in a dramatic fashion after losing 0-1 in Copenhagen. Ronaldo missed a penalty early in the match, but Joachim Andersen equalised via an own goal, before my namesake Rasmus Kristensen equalised for Denmark. In the second half Cristiano Ronaldo finally scored, before Christian Eriksen again equalised for the Danes, and in was only a late strike by Francisco Trincao that brought the match into extra time, and Portugal finally winning 5-2. But credit to the Danes!
• Germany appeared to have it all after winning 1-2 in Italy, and winning 3-0 at half time on goals by Kimmich, Musiala and Kleindienst. But in the second half Italy was reborn, and managed to equalise to 3-3 on two goals by Moise Kean and a late penalty equaliser by Giacomo Raspadori. It was all too exciting for the Germans who are nevertheless through
• Croatia had won 2-0 in the first leg against France, and held in the first half. But in the second half the French equalised the tie on goals by Bayern Munich's Michael Olise and PSG's Ousmane Dembele. It was sufficient to take the match to extra time and penalty kicks, where the French stood tall and won 5-4, as expected, but to great disappointment by the always great Croatians.
• Spain versus Netherlands was probably one of the most expected matches after the first leg between the two rivals ended 2-2 in Amsterdam. The Real Sociedad striker Mikel Oyarzabal gave Spain an early lead on a penalty kick. It held until the second half when Memphis Depay equalised on another penalty, but Mikel Oyarzabal again brought Spain ahead, before Ian Maatsen equalised again, and the match ended 2-2. In extra time the young superstar Lamine Yamal scored a splendid goal to bring Spain ahead 3-2, but again the Dutch equalised to 3-3 by Xavi Simons on a penalty. There had thus been plenty of penalties as the match went into penalty kicks. Despite the fact that the young Lamine Yamal missed for Spain, the Spaniards still managed to pull a 5-4 victory.

So yes, these were very exciting matches for a tournament that most people do not care much about.

At least it is better than boring friendlies.

Internationals

Thursday and Friday there have been a lot of internationals. In Europe the UEFA Nations League quarterfinals kicks off with the first legs, and Denmark defeated Portugal 1-0 on a goal by the young Manchester United player Rasmus Højlund. More surprising perhaps than the victory was that Denmark outplayed the classy Portuguese who are managed by Roberto Martinez, who for six years managed the best Belgian side ever, but never gave them any titles. The Portuguese were bad against Denmark, who may now eye a surprise semifinal?

In other matches Germany defeated Italy, Croatia defeated France and Spain and the Netherlands tied 2-2.

Nearer to home the CONCACAF Nations League semifinals took place. Mexico defeated Canada 0-2 to make it to yet another final, but the real surprise came in the USA-Panama match, where a last minute strike by the Coquimbo Unido striker Cecilio Waterman, gave the Panamanians the victory. The result may nevertheless not be surprising since the Panamanians have the screws on the arrogant North Americans: the have defeated USA in four of the last five matches, among them the 2023 Gold Cup.

Panama will face Mexico in the final on Sunday.

In South America the World Cup qualifiers are heading into the last phase. Brazil and Colombia played, and Brazil got a last second 2-1 victory on a strike by Vinicius Jr. and are third in the qualifiers behind Argentina and Ecuador. That said, Colombia is also likely to qualify as six out of ten teams qualify directly.

In the meantime the Argentine World Champions are all but certain to qualify after having defeated Uruguay 0-1 in Montevideo, on a fantastic long-range strike by the young Lyon player Thiago Almada. Argentina just have to not lose their next match (against Brazil), and will be assured qualification.

Why Darwin?

I did not watch today's Champions League matches because I was working. But as I was heading home in the afternoon I followed the penalty kicks between Liverpool and PSG, following the Parisians surprising 0-1 victory. 

I have never been a fan of Darwin Nuñez; I am surprised he should be the best attacker from a great football nation as Uruguay. When he signed for Liverpool I thought that maybe, just maybe, Liverpool would be the right club for him, but I do not think it has been. So when he went up to strike Liverpool's second kick, I felt he might miss, and I think most people feared or hoped he might (depending on who you support).

And indeed he missed, starting Liverpool's defeat, as Curtis Jones also missed the next shot, while the Parisians scored on all their kicks. 

I know penalty kicks are a high level lottery, and that a defeat cannot be blamed on one penalty miss, but at the same time I wonder why Darwin Nuñez had to take a penalty in such an important match.

PSG are now through having defeated one of the favourites in this weird-format CL, and expect to see all big teams through...

Suffering with Cruz Azul

Here in Mexico they say that being a Cruz Azul fan is to suffer, and yesterday I suffer.

Cruz Azul has not been convincing under their new Uruguayan manager Vicente Sanchez, and they were hosting the Rayados of Monterrey with their new signing in central defense, the former Real Madrid player and all-time record-holder for most red cards in the Spanish League, Sergio Ramos.

Cruz Azul started a bit nervous, and it was none other than an unmarked Sergio Ramos who scored on a header after only 12 minutes, following a corner kick.

After this it was Cruz Azul dominating, and it seemed that Mr. Ramos and company had their problems with in particular Angel Sepulveda and the Polish Cruz Azul player Mateusz Bogusz. And in fact Nacho Rivero's equalizer came from a perfect pass from the Pole in between the two Monterrey central defenders.

1-1 at halftime and Cruz Azul came out with everything in the second half, and within the first fifteen minutes had 4-5 great chances to score, but this is where one suffers, as the strikers were too forgiving. Ten minutes before time, when it felt that Cruz Azul's dominance had to give a goal the Cruz Azul Argentine defender Gonzalo Piovi, who had played a fantastic match, received a direct red card, and this took the air out of the home side. That said, the Greek striker Giorgios Giakoumakis had a chance to win the match for the home team, but in the most shameful way missed.

So it ended 1-1 for Monterrey and Sergio Ramos, and they can only be satisfied, although Ramos was widely booed by the fans for his constant complaining during every situation, and should probably have received a yellow card.

But he will eventually.  

A new record for Salah

Watching the top team in the Premier League, Liverpool, play against the bottom side, Southampton, should not be an interesting match, and it wasn't, despite Will Smallbone bringing the visitors ahead 0-1 just before halftime. In the second half Darwin Nuñez scored one of his rare non-misses to equalize and then Mohammed Salah sealed the victory with two penalty goals.

What was special about the match is that with his two goals the great Egyptian Mohammed Salah sealed his position as top-scorer of the Premier League, and equalized Sergio Agüero's record as the foreigner with most goals in the Premier League, a record he is very likely to get in the next matches. He also became the third all-time Liverpool scorer behind Ian Rush (who was among the spectators today) and Roger Hunt.

Mohammed Salah is already a Liverpool legend, and today just seals it as Liverpool is almost sure to take the title this season. But with a spectacular season the Egyptian seems like the best player in the world at the moment. 

A true star and a true legend.

Coming to Mexico

The Mexican league is an interesting league, partly because of intense historical rivalries, the passionate fans, the quality of Mexican players, as well as many interesting players from specially South America, but also from Europe; either players who made the change unexpectedly and have had great success such as the former Marseille striker Andre-Pierre Gignac, who has played for Tigres for nearly ten years, as well as the Greek striker Giorgios Giakoumakis, who joined Cruz Azul last year. 

Colombian player and journeyman James Rodriguez joined Leon this year, and started well with a goal in his first match in a side that is currently top of the league, and today it was announced that the Rayados of Monterrey have signed former Real Madrid star Sergio Ramos in a very interesting move. Monterrey already have former Sevilla star Lucas Ocampo, as well as Sergio Canales, with a long career in Spain, including the national team.

While it is interesting to play in Mexico, and surely to live in this beautiful country, there is another draw for these recent signing: both Monterrey and Leon will be playing the highly touted FIFA World Club Cup this June in the USA, and for these old stars it is an opportunity to shine late in their careers. But it will also be interesting to see how they fare in Mexico.

The confusing Champions League

The money making machine of the Champions League is over with its new format, with eight teams going through directly to the knock-out, and a further 16 teams going through to the play-off knockout. It did not seem to matter to most teams; the objective was not to end among the bottom twelve where there were not really many surprises.

Surprises perhaps in the top eight: Liverpool, Barcelona, Arsenal, Inter, Bayer Leverkusen and Atletico Madrid were accompanied by Aston Villa and Lille. The latter was the best French side, but with favourites PSG, Brest and Monaco all going through to the play-offs. Other big teams made it through to the play-offs too: Borussia Dortmund, Bayern Munich, Juventus, Benfica, Real Madrid.... In my view the problem is that none of the teams really cared that they did not end in the top-8, but that they were able to "relax" some matches without never really putting in doubt that they would progress. And two matches more? They are confident enough to win and make more money on it....

The only big team that really seemed to struggle was crisis-hit Manchester City, who until the last match could have been eliminated but won 3-1 over Club Brugge (who also made it through), and appear likely to be a hard nut to crack for anyone in the play-offs (and more money because it could be a big match!).

The draw for the play-offs will be on Friday.

Debacle

I was almost going to watch Barcelona-Valencia, but decided to do something else as expectations on Valencia doing anything are very low. And thankfully I did not watch a debacle where a team of washed-out veterans and youth players lost 7-1 to FC Barcelona.

Valencia is on its way to be relegated, being second to last, only ahead of hapless Valladolid. Perhaps it is time for Valencia to be relegated following the many years of Telenovela ownershipo by Peter Lim, and ever increasing debt, and all the most talented players being sold (one of the products of Valencia's youth academy, Ferran Torres, scored for Barcelona today). It has been painful to be a Valencia fan during Lim's ownership, and all the club needs is some stability, and perhaps this will be found in Segunda Division...

The worst Manchester United side ever

 It is not the fans, not a journalist or pundit who recently called the current Manchester United side "maybe in the history of Manchester United". No, the one who said it was none other than the current Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim who said it following another Manchester United defeat in the Premier League, 1-3 at home to Brighton.

This is quite an incredible remark from a manager who only joined the side in November 2024, but who has not had the success that was hoped for (or expected). It was also a strange change for Mr. Amorim, who came from success in Sporting Lisbon, and joined a club who was already in an enormous crisis and it did indeed look that Mr. Amorim had to do something superhuman to change what was happening. 

And now it looks that Amorim has realised the truth: that the crisis in Manchester United is deep, very deep, and that it is about the entire club, not just the manager. 

Does his comment help?

I do not think it is wrong to say what many fans and journalists are already saying, and surely many in Manchester United thinking, specially after another loss, and it is a wake-up call to a group of still-highly paid footballers who are clearly not delivering on the pitch. Manchester United looks less as a team than a group of offended rich kids.

Mr. Amorim may be a great manager; at least he speaks truth, but what he will do about it, remains to be seen.