HOW confusing is the relationship between the US and Mexico? On one hand you have the US president calling for a wall to be built that would keep out the “criminals” and on the other hand, the three amigos, US, Canada and Mexico are co-hosting the 2026 World Cup. Given the US will host 60 […]
TORONTO and Seattle Sounders go head-to-head in the 2019 Major League Soccer (MLS) final, the third time in four seasons the two clubs have played each other in the season’s finale. MLS is growing in popularity and media prominence. Although attendances at games seem to have plateaued and are still relatively modest in some cities, […]
LOOSEN-up Lioness fans, Alex Morgan was merely poking fun, not hurling an insult to a nation. Football is a game that provokes such gestures of mockery, cricket thrives on “sledging” and players lift t-shirts to reveal messages after they score. It’s a product for the masses, a simple game that has no halfway measures in […]
FOOTBALL’s principal emerging nations, the US and China, have almost arrived, with the top divisions of their leagues in the top 10 in terms of spectator interest. According to CIES Football Observatory’s latest report, China and the US are sixth and eighth respectively over the past five years by average crowds. The German Bundesliga has […]
IT has, in relative terms, been a quiet summer in the Turkish transfer market. The country’s major clubs, usually active traders, are less able to flex their wallets due to Financial Fair Play and the Turkish Football Federation’s ruling over holding clubs and their owners accountable for over-spending. At the last count, around € 23 […]
THE 2018 Major League Soccer season gets underway on March 3 and the reigning champions Toronto are widely tipped to challenge for the title once more. They will face stiff competition from ambitious Atlanta United, who have been very aggressive in the transfer market signing promising South American talent, as well as Seattle Sounders and […]
THE extension of the World Cup to 48 teams has, effectively, killed off the single host structure for future World Cups, certainly in Europe. With the exception of Germany, no individual nation in the old world can realistically hope to stage the competition – it is just too damn big. But we think there’s more […]
A 0-0 DRAW and a penalty shoot-out, the scourge of the modern game, demonstrated that Major League Soccer is no different than its more celebrated counterparts – in other words, it ended in anti-climax. But a new name is on the MLS Cup – Seattle Sounders, the best supported club in the competition with an […]
NO MATTER how much activity seems to be coming out of emerging market football nations, not many people are prepared to consider that the United States, India and China will ever be serious football powers. You cannot deny, however, that interest in the game in these markets is booming, with India and China particularly growing […]
