a day ago
Busy season of world footy heats up
Opinion
Sometimes it seems so much is going on that you don't stand a chance of keeping track of it all. World football's tournament season certainly has this effect, what with men's and women's competitions in just about every configuration and age group crowding the international calendar.
But it can also be a whole lot of fun, provided you can focus on your favourite events and put the rest to the side.
For our purposes, in these pages, we'll be following a number of tournaments into and through the summer. They'll take us around the world and involve many of the sport's top players. They'll also contain surprises — which has happened already — and introduce storylines we've not yet considered.
MARTIN MEISSNER / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Spain's Lamine Yamal smiles after scoring his side's third goal against France during Nations League semifinal action Thursday. The 17-year-old phenom is set to battle against Portuguese veteran Cristian Ronaldo in the all-Iberian Final on Sunday.
By narrowing our focus we'll be able to indulge our interests, maximize our enjoyment and come out of the summer with our sanity intact.
Here's what we'll be watching.
UEFA Nations League Final (Sunday, 2:00 p.m., DAZN)
Forty-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo put Portugal into a second Nations League Final when his winner stunned ascendant Germany on Wednesday. A day later, 17-year-old Lamine Yamal scored twice as Spain won a 5-4 thriller against France. The two superstars, representing two distinct generations of international football, will now square off in an intriguing all-Iberian Final. It may be the only time they face one another for either club or country.
FIFA World Cup Qualifying (Ongoing on DAZN and FUBO TV)
The 2026 World Cup kicks off in one year and four days, and 38 spots remain up for grabs. As qualification enters its final stretch the 46-team field is starting to take shape. Already, we have two debutantes. Jordan's 3-0 win over Oman on Thursday secured a first-ever berth for The Chivalrous Ones, and Uzbekistan's scoreless draw in Abu Dhabi punched a maiden ticket for The White Wolves. Elsewhere, Brazil only managed a nil-nil in Carlo Ancelotti's first match as manager while Paraguay stunned Uruguay 2-0 on Thursday. Europe resumed its campaign on Friday, and today Albania will host Serbia (1:45 p.m., DAZN) in a qualifier charged with ethnic and political tension. A 2014 match between the two countries was abandoned when a drone carrying the Albanian flag flew low over Belgrade stadium, causing an all-out brawl.
CONCACAF Gold Cup (June 14-July 6, FUBO TV)
In a Monday interview with TSN, Canada manager Jesse Marsch remarked that he and his players would view the upcoming Gold Cup as a disappointment if they didn't end up winning it. 'That's just the reality of how we feel internally about where we are as a team,' he said. The Canadian men will face Ukraine Saturday afternoon in a Canadian Shield match (2:30 p.m., FUBO TV) and Côte D'Ivoire Tuesday (7:30 p.m., FUBO TV), after which they'll head to Vancouver where they'll open the Gold Cup against Honduras (June 17, 9:30 p.m., FUBO TV). Assuming they finish atop a group that also includes Curacao and El Salvador, a tricky quarterfinal against one of Panama and Jamaica will likely await them. From there, they could face either Costa Rica or the United States in a semifinal. The U.S. and Mexico have traded championships since Canada last lifted the Gold Cup in 2000.
UEFA Women's European Championship (July 2-27)
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In 2017, the Netherlands ended Germany's run of six straight European championships. In 2022, the most recent competition, England beat Germany after extra time in the final. That's a down-cycle by the Frauenteam's standards, but it looks to have ended with last summer's Olympic bronze medal win over World Cup winners Spain. Since then, they've beat England in London, the Netherlands home and away, and are unbeaten in 2025. Striker Lea Schuller, midfielders Sara Dabritz and Lena Oberdorf, and defender Giulia Gwinn have this Germany team primed and ready to roar back to the European summit.
FIFA U-20 World Cup (September 27- October 19)
International football's equivalent to the World Junior Hockey Championship is taking place a lot later than it should be — the result of FIFA's attention being fixed elsewhere, where it shouldn't. As a result, this typically compelling tournament will extend between two international breaks and be of even less interest to European participants who tend to favour the U-21 category. Even so, the U-20 World Cup is a high-profile event for teenage stars from everywhere else, especially South America. Chile are the 2025 hosts and will feature Atletico Mineiro defender Ivan Roman and Udinese striker Damian Pizzaro. Other youngsters to keep an eye on, assuming they're released by their clubs, will include Ecuador midfielder Kendry Paez, Argentina playmaker Franco Mastantuono and Brazil winger Estevao.
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