Daily Archives: July 10, 2025

2025 Club World Cup final: All you need to know, tactical analysis of both teams and how to watch

“The final for the inaugural FIFA Club World Cup is set. After a valiant fight from teams across the globe, from South America, to the Middle East, to Africa, East Asia and Oceania, it is two European titans who collide in the showpiece final on Sunday, July 13. Much has been made of the gruelling calendar the summer tournament has thrust upon its participants, but Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain have outlasted the rest in the searing American heat in their hunt for the trophy — and healthy prize fund on offer. …”
NY Times/The Athletic

Does the football season ever really end?

“‘Let’s hear it for the boys — make some noise!’ cries the voice over the public address system at Park Hall Stadium on a beautiful summer evening. It’s July 8, in Oswestry, an English market town that’s only three miles from the Welsh border and where the whistle has just sounded to start a Champions League first qualifying round first-leg tie between The New Saints (TNS), the Cymru Premier title winners, and KF Shkendija of North Macedonia. Typically, the kick-off in these early Champions League fixtures is regarded as the curtain-raiser to the new season and a sign that club football is finally back. Except club football never went away this summer. …”
NY Times/The Athletic

It is now blindingly obvious that PSG are the world’s best football team

“Sixty-two games down, one game to go, 192 goals scored and almost 2.5million people through the turnstiles. The Club World Cup has thrown up more questions than answers, but when it comes to identifying the best team on the planet, there is surely no debate. Any lingering doubts were blown away in the stifling heat of East Rutherford, New Jersey, as Paris Saint-Germain stunned Real Madrid and their vast ranks of supporters by rushing into a 2-0 lead inside the first nine minutes of Wednesday’s semi-final. The piece de resistance came in the 24th minute, a flowing move that ended with Achraf Hakimi charging down the right wing and finding Fabian Ruiz for a sublime third goal. …”
NY Times/The Athletic