Brazil and Ecuador book their ticket to the 2026 World Cup
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With the World Cup just one year away, the list of qualified countries is growing. In South America, Brazil and Ecuador will be taking part. Ancelotti scores his first win with his new team.
And then, from one World Cup to the next, clubs from all over the world arrive in the United States for Fifa's brand new competition. Barely crowned European champions, PSG already have their eyes set on a new trophy.
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France 24
3 hours ago
- France 24
With Kane's curse broken, Bayern eye Club World Cup treasures
Long on the receiving end of jibes about not winning a team trophy in his 15-year career despite a glittering array of individual honours, the 31-year-old striker finally broke through when Bayern won the Bundesliga this season. Besides adding another title to Bayern's bulging trophy cabinet, a Club World Cup win would be incredibly lucrative for the German giants. In a bid to boost club buy-in for the expanded tournament, FIFA has put together a whopping $1 billion prize money pool, with the winner expected to pocket $125 million. As with most of the big European sides competing in the tournament, Bayern have been handed a relatively simple task in the group stages. Bayern face Auckland City in Cincinnati on Sunday, before rounding out the group stage with matches against Boca Juniors in Miami and Benfica in Charlotte. 'One of the favourites' Member-run Bayern may dwarf all but a handful of European rivals financially, but the Club World Cup money could make an important difference at an uncertain time. Despite winning back the Bundesliga title this season after Bayer Leverkusen broke an 11-year Bavarian streak last term, Bayern are facing a rebuild this summer. Normally the one and only destination for top German talent, in-demand midfielder Florian Wirtz spurned their advances and looks set for a move to Premier League side Liverpool. With veteran Thomas Mueller leaving after the Club World Cup and wingers Leroy Sane and Kingsley Coman also reportedly headed for the exit, Bayern will need to bring in more attacking talent this transfer window. In defence, Eric Dier has left while Kim Min-jae, Dayot Upamecano and Hiroki Ito have all nursed long-term injury complaints of late. The free-agent signings of Germany duo Jonathan Tah, a centre-back, and midfielder Tom Bischof have however helped tackle two problem areas for the German giants -- and at a fraction of the cost. Both players were released early by former clubs Leverkusen and Hoffenheim respectively, with Bayern paying nominal fees to allow them to make the trip to the US. After recently scoring two goals in two games for England against Andorra and Senegal, Kane heads to the US optimistic of a further taste of silverware. "We're certainly one of the favourites. I think this season has shown what kind of a team we are," Kane told Germany's TZ newspaper on Wednesday. "On a good day, we can beat any opponent in the world." Kane said the players were "taking the tournament seriously and preparing well", despite the long season behind them. "It's a new format with the best teams in the world competing. I'm happy to be part of it because it's an exciting opportunity." 'Ready to rumble' While Kane may now have just a solitary team title, his strike partner Mueller is bidding to become the most decorated German footballer ever. Mueller is equal on 34 team trophies with retired Real Madrid midfielder Toni Kroos, but can inch past his former team-mate by lifting what would be his third Club World Cup. The veteran's two previous victories, in 2014 and 2021, came in the previous scaled back version of the competition. Mueller, 35, made clear he wanted to stay at Bayern after 25 years with the club. In April, he said the decision to part ways was made by the club and the club alone, but has not allowed the issue to spoil his farewell. In a social media video as Bayern took off for the United States, Mueller said: "Of course we want to win this thing.
France 24
4 hours ago
- France 24
From samurai threat to Asian Games as Japan cricket fights obscurity
But Japan's cricket association, which operates out of a disused school near a wooded mountain, says the sport is slowly gaining popularity and hopes next year's home Asian Games and the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics can take it to a new level. "My whole 11 years here have been about trying to provide people with opportunities to play," said Englishman Alan Curr, Japan Cricket Association's chief operations officer. "That's a lot easier if they know the sport exists. Ultimately, you can't be what you can't see." Curr says cricket is growing annually in Japan with more than 5,000 adults and children playing the game regularly and about three times as many having tried it in some form. That is still a drop in the ocean compared to Japanese baseball, which is played by millions and produces global superstars such as the Los Angeles Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani. The two sports arrived in Japan at roughly the same time, although cricket's origins were slightly less auspicious. A samurai threat to kill all foreigners who refused to leave Japan prompted a group of European residents to seek protection from the British navy in Yokohama. They had a game of cricket to pass the time, playing with loaded guns tucked into their belts to guard against possible attack. A Scottish tea merchant founded the first cricket club in Japan five years later but it failed to catch on beyond expatriate circles. Fast forward to the late 1980s and several universities began playing -- "students were looking for something unique", according to global governing body the ICC. Spreading the word The sport has maintained a niche presence, although rising numbers of South Asian residents in Japan have boosted the playing population. Japan's national teams reflect the sport's Commonwealth roots, featuring several players with parents from cricket-playing countries. The JCA, founded in 1984, has worked hard to introduce cricket to people with no previous experience, concentrating their efforts on selected hubs around the country. Japan women's Twenty20 captain Mai Yanagida told AFP she "knew the name but didn't really know what kind of sport it was" until she took up cricket at Waseda University in Tokyo. "I played softball and baseball before that, but in cricket you can hit the ball 360 degrees," she said at the Women's Sano City International Trophy this month. "I think it's more a sport where you need to play together as a team." The Sano City tournament was played at Japan's cricket headquarters about 100 km (60 miles) outside of Tokyo, on the playing field of a high school that closed its doors more than a decade ago. After losing their opening game, Japan went on to lift the trophy, beating Hong Kong in the final of a tournament that also featured fellow cricketing minnows China, the Philippines and Mongolia. The win came weeks after Japan's men qualified for next year's Under-19 World Cup in Zimbabwe and Namibia. From baseball to cricket Cricket will feature at next year's Asian Games in Japan before it returns to the Olympic programme for the first time since 1900 at the Los Angeles Games. Japan's women won bronze at the 2010 Asian Games and the men made their debut at the 2023 edition, finishing with one win and one defeat. The men's team featured former professional baseball player Shogo Kimura, who took up cricket in 2017 after a 14-year career with some of Japan's biggest teams. Yanagida believes the Asian Games in Nagoya-Aichi and the Olympics can "have a really big impact" on cricket's profile in Japan. "It will be in the news as an Olympic sport so the media can help the name cricket become more widely known," she said. Qualifying for LA will be a tall order for Japan, whose men's T20 team are ranked 42nd in the world, with the women 43rd. All the players are amateurs and Curr says organising games against teams from outside Asia can be difficult. He concedes that there is "no silver bullet" to make cricket genuinely popular in Japan but that will not stop those who love the sport from trying. "You're not an overnight success, there's always a lot of stuff that goes on behind it and we're in that phase now," said Curr. © 2025 AFP
France 24
6 hours ago
- France 24
Club World Cup marks 'new era' for football: Infantino
In an interview with AFP, Infantino also took aim at critics of FIFA's ticketing policy and said that skeptics who had questioned the need for the tournament would quickly change their minds. The 32-team competition, with clubs from all continents, gets under way with Inter Miami facing Egyptian club Al Ahly at Hard Rock Stadium. "It starts a new era of football, a new era of club football. A little bit like when, in 1930, the first World Cup, right, started," Infantino told AFP. "Everyone today speaks about the very first World Cup. That's why it's also, this World Cup here is historic." The first World Cup was held in Uruguay in 1930 and Infantino noted that only European and South American teams took part, adding that the Club World Cup would give a chance to clubs from outside of football's traditional heartlands to play on the global stage. "We want to be inclusive. We want to give opportunities to clubs from all over the world," he said. "It's really to globalise football, to make it truly, truly global. Because when you scratch the surface, we say it's the number one sport in the world, and it is but then the elite is very concentrated in very few clubs, in very few countries," he said. The Swiss official, who was general secretary of European body UEFA before taking the helm at FIFA in 2016, said that the club tournament also offered chances to players from over 80 countries. "Countries who would never have a chance to play in a World Cup are suddenly part of a World Cup and they feel to be part of it, the fans of these players and of these clubs," added Infantino, who noted several great players of the past who never played in a World Cup, "A very good friend of mine is George legend, great player, Ballon d'Or winner, only African player who ever won the Ballon d'Or, by the way. He never played in a World Cup. He would have been playing in a Club World Cup and made not only his club and also his country proud," he added. 'Something special' Infantino dismissed concerns that the tournament added to fixture congestion but acknowledged that some fans were yet to be sure of the value of the tournament, saying though that would quickly change. "I believe, I'm convinced that, you know, as soon as the ball starts rolling, the whole world will realise what is happening here. It's something special," he said. Reports of low uptake of tickets for same games has led to criticism of FIFA's ticketing policy with 'dynamic pricing', increasingly common in the United States, allowing for prices to rise and fall according to demand. But Infantino defended the approach and the decision to offer heavy discounts to students in Miami. "I'm a positive person generally, but they criticise FIFA if the prices are too high, then they criticise FIFA if the prices are too low. "Then they criticise FIFA if we make ticketing promotions with students. Students! I mean, when I was a student and I didn't have money, I would have loved FIFA to come to me and say, you want to come and watch a World Cup match?" "We don't want to see empty stadiums. I believe the stadiums will be pretty full," he said. The FIFA president said that the tournament, which secured a global broadcasting deal with DAZN reported to be worth $1 billion, was already an economic success and stressed that all the money generated from commercial deals would be ploughed back into the game. Asked how he would judge whether the tournament had been a success, Infantino said he would feel it in his 'heart' but said he was confident. "In terms of inclusivity, in terms of economy, in terms of fan interest, you take all of these criteria, we'll speak again at the end of the club World Cup, but already now, I (feel positive), when I look at the number of tickets sold, and I look at the TV rights," he said, noting that the games were available on DAZN's streams for free. "Tell me one top competition today, where you can watch football for free?" he asked. The Club World Cup has also been caught up in the US's fierce debates over immigration control with games being held near Los Angeles, scenes of violent clashes between protestors and immigration officers. "Security for me and for us is a top priority, always. So when something is happening, like in Los Angeles we are obviously monitoring the situation, we are in constant contact with the authorities, we want fans to go in games in a safe environment," he said.
