FIFA have named the 12 venues for the controversial 2025 Club World Cup, a 32-team competition that will take place between June 15 and July 13 2025 in the United States. The final will be played in New Jersey, but the other venues will be in Atlanta, Cincinnati, Miami, Nashville, Charlotte, Orlando (2), Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Seattle and Washington. The 32 teams will include 12 from UEFA, six from South America, four from both Asia and Africa, five (including a host) from CONCACAF, and one from Oceania. Thirty of the 32 clubs have already qualified, with three from both Mexico and Brazil, two from England (Chelsea and Manchester City), Spain (Real and Atléti), Italy (Inter and Juve), Germany (Bayern and Dortmund), Portugal (Benfica and Porto) and Argentina (Boca and River).
MAJOR League Soccer is approaching its play-off stages with 12 of the 18 teams already confirmed. The latest batch of qualifiers include New York City, New York Red Bulls, Orlando, Houston, Los Angeles and Seattle Sounders. Holders Columbus Crew have already qualified. The presence of Lionel Messi at Inter Miami, while raising the profile of MLS, has not had a big impact on attendances. The average this season is 22,952 versus 22,111 last season and 21,265 in the pre-covid 2018-19 campaign. Messi has played only 15 MLS games this year, scoring 14 times.
CHELSEA have renewed their interest in a possible move away from Stamford Bridge as they strive to expand their matchday earning potential. The club is lagging behind rival clubs, notably in London where Arsenal, Tottenham and West Ham all have 60,000 capacities at their stadiums. Chelsea has around 20,000 fewer fans at their home games and they are somewhat constrained when it comes to making Stamford Bridge bigger. They are interested in the Earls Court area and a site that is big enough to build a modern, 60,000-seater ground. While some fans will undoubtedly protest about a possible relocation, the club does need a bigger arena – Chelsea home tickets are among the hardest to source, aside from the secondary market. The company responsible for managing the development of the Earls Court site is gradually changing its view on a football stadium being constructed. Chelsea’s biggest hurdle in acquiring the £ 500 million plot may well be the internal conflict at the club.
THE third qualifying round of the FA Cup delivered a big shock with Gorleston of the Isthmian League North beating National League South St. Albans 4-2 in Great Yarmouth. It was the first time in 46 years that Gorleston have made it to the fourth qualifying round. The man of the match was Christy Finch, who scored a 21-minute hat-trick and took his total for Gorleston to 129 goals in 178 games. The win, which takes Gorleston to within one game of the first round proper of the competition, will provide a big lift for a club who lost their ground in 2022.
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