“The pressure is growing on the Fifa president, Gianni Infantino, with many countries withdrawing their support following the bungled World Cup sell-off. However, how key is Infantino’s relationship with each confederation and is it likely that an election contest will actually happen? We look at the key considerations, confederation by confederation. 1) How does each confederation view Infantino’s re-election? Uefa (Europe) has firmly led the moves under way to achieve Infantino’s removal. The threat last week to boycott all Fifa competitions if the Fifa Forward Enterprise scheme was not scrapped contributed hugely to its failure. In a scathing statement on Saturday, Uefa said the current Fifa leadership had “not only lost Uefa’s confidence, but also that of many other members of the football family”, and pledged to push for change. Some Uefa member associations, including the English and Welsh FAs, have withdrawn their letters of support for Infantino’s re‑election and efforts are continuing to ensure others follow suit in a bid to weaken his position irretrievably. … Reports of AFC (Asia) support for Uefa are premature; the confederation is divided. The AFC has spoken out, strongly in relative terms compared to its usual pronouncements, against the proposed World Cup deal and has called for reform of Fifa. The AFC has been a staunch supporter in the past but if it looks as if Infantino is in trouble the AFC leadership, which was genuinely angry at how the proposal was made (probably more so than the actual details of the deal), could switch sides, which would probably confirm Infantino’s downfall if Uefa and Concacaf oppose but it is not a foregone conclusion – some in Asia are not convinced that Uefa has the numbers. The big problem is that, while the AFC leadership may want Infantino out, most individual Asian federations do not want him to be replaced. The AFC president, Sheikh Salman, has ambitions of his own and has been historically successful at preserving AFC unity but this will be tricky especially as west Asian nations such as Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia support Infantino and are influential in Asia. …”
***Guardian***
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The Fifa family: which confederations could support Infantino or turn against him?
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Lise Klaveness (left) and Laura McAllister were instrumental in stopping Gianni Infantino’s plan to sell off stakes in FIFA competitions 
“There is no time to dance around the subject. 
Dominik Szoboszlai is among the favourites to become Liverpool vice-captain
“FIFA has insisted ‘nobody is selling football’ after criticism of its decision to launch a consultation on selling stakes in a World Cup commercial entity to private investors. The world governing body of football stopped short of saying it would be withdrawing the plan and instead reaffirmed its commitment to press ahead with the consultation period. It comes as the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) joined the European confederation UEFA and Concacaf, the confederation of North, Central America and the Caribbean, in rejecting FIFA’s notion of selling stakes in the World Cup. 
“Fifa’s justification for its proposed plans to sell stakes in the World Cup to private investors is about giving the 211 member associations more money to develop football. It’s safe to say that in the past, funds have done more developing in some places than in others, with millions either going missing or not being used for their original purpose and 
“He is very online but does not like the media. He flies all over the world in a fancy private plane provided by Qatar. He presides over a large organisation, with committees and a big rulebook, but makes all the key decisions and only tells a few people what he is doing. He loves shiny things and fireworks. He wants to do more business with the Kushner family and believes he is underpaid. His preferred strategy is to double down, flood the zone and ask for more — it is an approach that has worked well for him so far. Some people think he is amazing, some do not. Can you tell who it is yet? No, not him, the other one. Yes! It’s FIFA president Gianni Infantino, who is back in the news again after a break of… 24 hours? 
“The 2026–27 Bundesliga will be the 64th season of the 
“As everyone knows, the best way to let everyone know that you’re absolutely fine and that the haters and the losers definitely haven’t got under your skin is to post an 887-word statement, 
“The 2026–27 Eredivisie, also known as VriendenLoterij Eredivisie for sponsorship reasons, will be the 71st season of 
“
“The 2026–27 Premier League will be the 35th season of the 
“How was soccer invented? There are many conflicting beliefs concerning how the sport came to be. Known as football in most of the world, it is undeniable that this is one of the most popular sports today. Let’s explore how soccer was invented and spread over the years. … Regarding how soccer was invented in modern times, the codification of the sport began in the public schools of Britain at the beginning of the 19th century. Within the private school system ‘football’ was a game in which the hands were used during periods of play and grappling allowed, but otherwise, the modern shape of soccer was being formed. …”
“Like everywhere, the world’s smallest island nation has been gripped by football fever for the past six weeks. But once Spain lifted the World Cup trophy on Sunday, almost every trace of football on Nauru stopped. Football is almost non-existent on this Pacific island. Nauru has never fielded a team in an official international match and it has just one – hard sand – pitch. … But things may be slowly changing as a group of volunteers – led by British former academy player Charlie Pomroy – seek to introduce the game to what was once the world’s richest nation per capita but is now heavily reliant on foreign aid and has one of the highest obesity rates in the world. … A social media post from the Nauru Soccer Federation congratulating the new world champions and setting out a dream that ‘one day we hope to be in Spain’s position’ may have been fanciful, but the groundwork is real in what it says is the last country not to have had a senior international side. …”
Lautaro Martinez nods Lionel Messi’s cross into the net to send holders Argentina into the World Cup final
“… But Spain’s World Cup-winning side of 2026 should be considered among the most convincing winners in the history of this competition. In eight games, they only conceded one goal, never trailed at any stage, and controlled matches in midfield without being negative or unambitious. By the end — 
“Perhaps it’s too early, with the shreds of gold tape still fluttering through the New Jersey sky, to make a proper assessment. That will only come when everything has sunk in properly, when memories have had the chance to settle and shape themselves, when the consequences of certain events have become clear. But let’s try anyway to make some sort of assessment of where the World Cup that ended with 
“… 
“… Standing off to one side, his arms tightly folded across his chest, Kylian Mbappe wears a face like thunder. As he paces across the room to join his team-mates’ huddle, they abruptly fall quiet. The clatter of his studs across the floor ruptures the silence. Reaching Dembele, Mbappe puts his hand on his team-mate’s shoulder and says: ‘Good job.’ Then, leaning in and lowering his voice to a menacing whisper, he adds: ‘Never do that again.’ A look of horror flashes across Dembele’s face. The scene — it should be said — is a work of pure fiction. …”
“Football’s greatest prize is up for grabs at MetLife Stadium on Sunday. It is Spain vs Argentina in the World Cup final. Europe’s champions take on their South American counterparts. Lionel Messi, 39, faces 19-year-old Lamine Yamal — perhaps the 
“By late Wednesday afternoon, the roads in Barcelona had begun to empty. I was still an hour from the place where I planned to watch the Argentina-England semifinal, checking the dashboard clock, afraid I would miss the beginning and more afraid that this beginning might be Lionel Messi’s last. On the indoor, air-conditioned field in Atlanta, under a roof closed against the Georgia heat, Messi wasn’t hurrying. The semifinal began as a rock fight: churning legs, desperate tugs, lunging tackles, the ball repeatedly disappearing beneath the urgency of reaching it. England’s younger players pressed and collided and chased. Inside all that motion, Messi walked. …”
“As Cristian Romero readied to receive a pass 10 yards from his goalline, Jude Bellingham and Anthony Gordon sensed a mistake in the making. The center-back’s posture was not ideal after he took a scoot backwards to collect, facing the left sideline as his opponents lustily converged. He would only have half a second to settle a bouncing ball, shift his momentum, and find a passing lane in the rapidly closing seam between the England duo. Easier said than done on most days, but this particular Wednesday was not most days. First touch: ball settled. Second touch: right foot shunting the ball to his left. Third touch: left foot, ball coolly slotted to an awaiting Nahuel Molina. …”
“Four teams remain at this summer’s World Cup, and that means our rankings odyssey is almost over. But not quite yet! With the quarter-finals in the books, it’s time to update our rankings of the top 50 players at the tournament. These are informed by The Athletic’s player ratings model, which provides an objective assessment of each player’s contribution in a match. The list will stay at 50 names and players will not simply vanish as their teams are eliminated in the knockout rounds, though they may well be leapfrogged by others who get more time to show what they can do on the World Cup stage. …”
“Spain defeated France, 2-0, in the World Cup semifinal on Tuesday, first scoring off a penalty kick. The second goal came following a breakdown in France’s defense in the 58th minute. Here’s a 3-D view of Spain’s second goal. …”
“World Cup games mean more. England have only ever played 80 games in the finals, which is to say, not much more than two Premier League seasons in the 76 years since they first entered. Those games draw huge audiences: more than 17 million in the UK watched Saturday’s win over Norway, even though it was after midnight by the time it finished. In most countries, 
“A fresh row over racism towards the 
Ghana’s Inaki Williams celebrates after a scoreless draw against England in the World Cup in Foxborough last month.
“Fifa match officials’ novel use of the term ‘mistaken identity’ reared its head again in sensational circumstances during 
“Lionel Messi and Argentina are in the World Cup semi-finals — but, once again, not without controversy. A breathtaking goal from Julian Alvarez in the 112th minute, curled into the top corner from just outside the penalty area, and a late third from Lautaro Martinez ended Switzerland’s resistance to seal a 3-1 win and set up a mouthwatering semi-final against old enemy England on Wednesday. But a bizarre sending-off for Switzerland’s Breel Embolo, moments after Dan Ndoye had cancelled out Alexis Mac Allister’s opener, was the main talking point. Embolo was dismissed after a VAR review for ‘mistaken identity’, with footage proving he dived after a challenge from Leandro Paredes. …”
A HYDRATION BREAK DURING NETHERLANDS VERSUS TUNISIA AT THE 2026 WORLD CUP. 
Bellingham scored twice, though Norway were furious about his first
Uzbek referee Ilgiz Tantashev holds France star Kylian Mbappe during a match against Paraguay at Philadelphia Stadium on July 4
At Habana Outpost in Brooklyn, Wednesday was, finally, just another day.
Brooklyn Public House provided a quiet setting for lunch for the first time in weeks.
“It has been a busy few days for World Cup conspiracy theorists. First came the decision to suspend Folarin Balogun’s red-card ban for USMNT’s round-of-16 match against Belgium. That unprecedented act would inevitably have attracted raised eyebrows, but the fact that U.S. President Donald Trump telephoned FIFA president Gianni Infantino to raise objections to the red card immediately sparked speculation about nefarious motives. … This is, however, typical for football’s biggest tournament, where the high stakes, global audience and potential for political interference all offer the perfect environment for conspiracy theories to flourish. We’ve put on our tin foil hats and discovered some declassified documents to bring you the best of the World Cup conspiracy theory, past and present. …”
“>We assess the teams who played in the tournament’s last 16 before the next round of games begins. 1) France (no change 
“Sections of Egyptian and Cape Verdean fans have accused their Argentinian counterparts of violent behaviour during the past two matches played by the reigning champions at the World Cup. The accusations, coupled with at least 
Ruben Vargas scores Switzerland’s winning penalty
“Lionel Messi inspired Argentina to one of the great World Cup comebacks as they came back from two goals down to beat Egypt 3-2 and seal their place in the quarter-finals. Argentina had found themselves behind at half-time in the tournament for the first time in 16 years after Yasser Ibrahim’s 15th-minute header and a Messi penalty saved by Mostafa Shobeir. The reigning champions appeared on the brink of elimination when Mostafa Ziko put Egypt 2-0 up in the 67th minute, after already having seen a goal ruled out for a VAR intervention on a challenge in the build-up. Lionel Scaloni’s side had other ideas, though. …”
“Chris Richards keeled over, and Tyler Adams sobbed. Weston McKennie slumped in a chair, mind spinning, stare blank, while Matt Freese wandered and Tim Ream pondered the end. They, the U.S. men’s national soccer team, had just been banished from their home World Cup, 
“The whiff of unfulfilment lingers around 
Mbappe described Celeste Amarilla as “despicable” after her multiple social media posts following France’s World Cup win over Paraguay on Saturday.
Scissors Kick 