PepsiCo kick starts UCL renewals for 2024-27 cycle
June 22 – PepsiCo has renewed its UEFA Champions League partnership for the 2024–27 cycle the first partner to do so the next three-year cycle.
Europe
Ronaldo hits 200 caps, scores 123rd goal, and sends Portugal to top of Euro 2024 qualifying
June 21 – Cristiano Ronaldo became the first men’s player to make 200 international appearances and celebrated the milestone by scoring the winner in the 89th minute as Portugal beat Iceland 1-0 on Tuesday to make it four wins from four in European Championship qualifying.
Germany’s Euro 2024 prep in ‘confidence’ crisis after Colombia loss
June 21 – The sense of crisis surrounding Euro 2024 hosts Germany has intensified after they fell to a second straight friendly defeat in a 2-0 home loss to Colombia on Tuesday, the latest setback less than a year before the tournament.
Bormans quits Belgian Pro League board saying big clubs have too much control
June 21 – Union St Gilles CEO Philippe Bormans has stepped down from the board of directors of the Belgian Pro League, claiming that the smaller clubs are not being properly represented.
Euro 2024 qualifiers: England goal hungry, France and Mbappe roll on, Swiss stumble
June 20 – England and France made it four straight wins in European Championship qualifying on Monday while Switzerland dropped its first points.
US player agency CRD Sport buys Bulgaria’s Beroe promising €5, and Ronaldinho
June 20 – American player agency CRD Sport is the new owner of Bulgarian top tier club Beroe Stara Zagora. CRD has acquired 100% of the club’s shares from the ‘Football Support Association – Beroe’.
Courtois denies he walked out of Belgian camp over not being given captaincy
June 20 – Belgian goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois (pictured) has denied claims by national team coach Domenico Tedesco that he walked out on the team training camp after being passed over for the captaincy against Austria. Real Madrid’s number one says he has a knee problem.
James Dostoyevsky: Straight talking, misleading reporting
Sometimes you say something and it turns out that the something you’ve said is something you never said … But then this something that you’ve never said finds itself (re-)published in an “independent Indian medium”, as is the case here, in India’s ‘Morning Express’.
Luis de la Fuente says Nations League is the start of new era
June 19 – Spain coach Luis de la Fuente has said his team’s Nations League victory, the first international title in a decade, could prompt more Spain triumphs in the future.
Euro 2024 qualifiers: Scots stun Norway, Belgium draw, England and Portugal roll on
June 19 – Manchester City star Erling Haaland scored on his return to the Norwegian national team but it wasn’t enough as Scotland came back to win 2-1 on Saturday and keep a perfect record in qualifying for next year’s European Championship.
Ceferin tells Saudis that developing domestic players is best route to sustainability
June 19 – UEFA chief Aleksander Ceferin has warned Saudi Arabia that splashing out eye-watering sums of money on ageing superstar players is a mistake in terms of developing the game.
Spain return to top of Europe with penalty shoot out win over Croatia
By Samindra Kunti in Rotterdam
June 19 – Spain won the Nations League for the first time, 5-4 on penalties, to add to their trophy cabinet and break Croatian hearts.
Italians cruise past Dutch for Nations League third place
June 18 – The Netherlands are no match for the European elite. After shipping four goals against Croatia in the last four, the Nations League hosts also lost the third-place match 3-2 against Italy.
Croatia eye-up first major title, Spain hunt return to winning elite
By Samindra Kunti in Rotterdam
June 17 – On Sunday, the third edition of the Nations League will reach its climax with both finalists Spain and Croatia seeking the win the tournament for the first time.
Manchester political blames UEFA for being political over Istanbul travel chaos
June 16 – The mayor of England’s Greater Manchester area, Andy Burnham (pictured), says it was a “disgrace” that Manchester City fans had to walk miles to get to the stadium for last Saturday’s Champions League final in Istanbul.