Top games to watch during the 2022 festive period
Monday, December 26
Brentford vs Tottenham (English Premier League)
Crystal Palace vs Fulham (English Premier League)
Everton vs Wolves (English Premier League)
Leicester vs Newcastle (English Premier League)
Southampton vs Brighton (English Premier League)
Aston Villa vs Liverpool (English Premier League)
Arsenal vs West Ham (English Premier League)
Tuesday, December 27
Chelsea vs Bournemouth (English Premier League)
Manchester United vs Nottingham Forest (English Premier League)
Wednesday, December 28
Leeds vs Manchester City (English Premier League)
Portimonense vs Casa Pia (Primeira Liga)\
Auxerre vs Monaco (Ligue 1)
Clermont vs Lille (Ligue 1)
PSG vs Strasbourg (Ligue 1)
Brest vs Lyon (Ligue 1)
Thursday, December 29
Girona vs Rayo Vallecano (La Liga)
Real Betis vs Atheltic Club (La Liga)
Atletico Madrid vs Elche (La Liga)
Porto vs Arouca (Primeira Liga)
Reims vs Rennes (Ligue 1)
Nice vs Lens (Ligue 1)
Marseille vs Toulouse (Ligue 1)
Sassuolo vs Inter Milan (Friendly)
Most watched football games in the United States - Dec.12-18, 2022
The 2022 FIFA World Cup came to a spectacular end on Sunday, and fans across the United States were able to watch Lionel Messi triumph over the opposition in what turned out to be an electric match that gathered entire families of fans around their TV sets to follow the clash.
In fact, the game between La Albiceleste and Les Bleus became the most-watched game of the tournament and, needless to say, it also became the most-followed game of the year. The tie had over seven rating points and over 16,7000,000 average viewers.
The runner-up spot this time went to France, who claimed that place after their semifinal clash against Morocco earned over 6.5 million viewers. The third place went to the first semifinal, where La Albiceleste claimed a 3-0 win over Croatia en route to the final.
In terms of Spanish-speaking audiences, Telemundo scored big time with the defining games of the competition, earning over 5.5 million viewers during the title match, and closing in on 3 million viewers during the semifinal clash between Argentina and Croatia. The channel was also successful with its repeat broadcast of the final, which earned them almost a million viewers.
What are this week's must-watch games?
Brentford vs Tottenham and Arsenal vs West headline the Premier League's Boxing Day fixtures on December 26
The Premier League is set to return! The 2022/23 season in the English top-flight resumes on Boxing Day, with seven games set to take place on December 26. Kicking off the action is one of this round's most exciting clashes: Brentford vs Tottenham. Spurs visit the London side in the early fixture as Conte's men look to overcome Thomas Frank's tricky team, who beat Man City at the Etihad in their most recent outing. Harry Kane should start following England's disappointing FIFA World Cup exit, with the Three Lions captain missing a crucial penalty, as he will aim to shake off his Qatar 2022 heartbreak. Catch this tie live on USA Network, Univision, and Telemundo Deportes.
Later that day, North London rivals Arsenal will take to the field, with Arteta's men hosting West Ham in what should be a difficult tie. The Gunners are top of the league, sitting five points ahead of the Cityzens after their impeccable start to the campaign. However, with the injury to Gabriel Jesus and the six-week break, the question on everyone's mind is whether Saka and Co. will maintain their momentum or drop off. Tune in to Peacock to find out!
Leeds vs Man City live this Wednesday at 3 p.m. ET on USA Network, Univision, and Telemundo Deportes
Defending champions Manchester City are back in action this midweek, with Guardiola's men visiting Leeds on Wednesday. The Cityzens enter this clash on the back of their thrilling 3-2 win over Liverpool in the Carabao Cup, with Kevin de Bruyne and Erling Haaland shining once again for the English giants. Leeds, meanwhile, look to return to winning ways, having lost back-to-back games in the league just before the World Cup break. However, with the Elland Road crowd behind their back, Man City might find them a tough cookie to crack.
PSG vs Strasbourg live this Wednesday at 3 p.m. ET on beIN Sports
Ligue 1 is another major European league resuming this midweek, with the action returning to the French top-flight this Wednesday. PSG will take to the field on that day, with the league leaders hosting Strasbourg during the midweek. The visitors are currently battling relegation and were initially set for a huge boost due to the predicted absence of Neymar, Kylian Mbappe, and Lionel Messi — the latter two featured in the FIFA World Cup final. However, bar Leo, the other two could feature after returning early to Paris. Will Galtier's men pick up right where they left off? Don't miss this clash.
Biggest stories of the week
Lionel Messi reportedly makes strange request to PSG following Argentina's FIFA World Cup win
According to several fans and pundits, Lionel Messi has finally established himself as an equal alongside Pele and Maradona following his FIFA World Cup win, but the Argentine's success in Qatar has led to a strange request to his club PSG.
The 35-year-old captained La Albiceleste in what was his fifth and final tournament. Fortunately for the seven-time Ballon d'Or winner, things went perfectly, as the South American giants progressed all the way to the final, where they beat France, netting a brace in that dramatic penalty-shootout victory.
Not only did La Pulga finally get his hands on the most prestigious title in the beautiful game, but the Barcelona icon also enjoyed a wonderful tournament, scoring seven goals and assisting an additional three.
As a result, Messi and Co. received a heroes' welcome back home as he brought the trophy to Buenos Aires for the first time in 36 years. However, Argentina isn't the only place Leo plans on presenting the title.
According to Goal, the iconic forward has requested a presentation at PSG in order to share this moment with his fans in Paris. However, this raises a number of issues for the top flight leaders.
While Messi has presented his achievements, namely the Ballon d'Or, at both PSG and Barcelona before, the context surrounding this latest feat is totally different. The biggest problem is the most obvious one: it was the French who lost the final to Scaloni's men, meaning this might not go down well at the Parc des Princes.
Speaking of Les Parisiens' home ground, Leo also shares a dressing room with Kylian Mbappe, the man who was left heartbroken after losing the final despite netting a historic hat-trick. As a result, the Ligue 1 champions are reluctant to grant the seven-time Ballon d'Or winner's wish as this could spark anger from their 24-year-old talisman.
Regardless of whether this request is accepted or not, Leo has enjoyed the title parade back in Argentina. The Albiceleste skipper is currently in his hometown of Rosario after being congratulated by the entire sports world, ranging from Brazilian icons Pele and Ronaldo to tennis royalty Roger Federer.
World Cup final referee launches scathing dig at France after their complaints about his job
It is not usual to see a referee defending his work on media outlets, but the man in charge of seeing all rules on the pitch being followed during the FIFA World Cup final did not hold back when speaking about his work on December 18.
Referee Szymon Marciniak held a press conference to discuss some of the controversial decisions he made during the match between Les Bleus and La Albiceleste, and the Polish match official did not hold back when asked his opinion on certain matters. In fact, he revealed that if he had decided to disallow Messi's third goal of the evening, then he should have done the same with Kylian Mbappé's equalizer.
"The French media did not show this picture, where you can see up to seven Frenchmen on the pitch when Mbappé is about to score. In the first place, to disallow that goal based on that evidence, those players needed to have an effect on the game. What was the impact on the game with those guys jumping on the pitch?", the ref questioned while showing a picture of the incident on his cell phone.
The ref also indicated that there was one more play that caused controversy in France regarding a penalty during the final moments of regulation. The referee stated that VAR technology advised him to check the foul, but after looking at all angles, those in charge of watching the monitors supported his decision.
"VAR officers, led by Tomasz Kwiatkowski, told me that the team looked at the incident involving Thuram and decided to overturn my decision on the pitch, but after looking at several replays, they came to the decision to keep the game going," Marciniak added.
Marciniak later admitted that in the end, the thoughts of the players after the game are the only ones that matter to him, as they all praised their job during the highly contested clash.
"What the players told us is what really matters. The French team thanked us after the game, they were satisfied with our work. Everyone got close and shook hands, they even exchanged a few words with us. I spoke to Lloris and Giroud, and then Kylian Mbappé came to give me an unexpected hug. He was really disappointed with their loss, and I think it was such a human gesture. I hugged him back and tried to comfort him, I told him how great a player he was and that he had won four years ago," the ref concluded.
Emiliano Martinez taunts Kylian Mbappe again by holding baby doll with French star's face at Argentina parade
Argentina goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez continued his trolling of French star Kylian Mbappe following his side's World Cup win on Sunday. The 30-year-old added more salt to the 24-year-old winger's injury by carrying a baby toy with the face of the latter on it during the Albiceleste's victory parade on Tuesday.
It has been an eventful week for the Argentina national team who returned to their homeland from Qatar after their historic win over France in Sunday's World Cup final. The 26-man squad together with the coaches and technical team received a heroes welcome, with an estimated four million supporters meeting their parade bus in Buenos Aires to celebrate.
While the bash was ongoing, a shirtless Emiliano Martinez was - at some point - spotted with a doll that had a cut out of Mbappe's face on it while standing next to Lionel Messi. It was not the first time that the Aston Villa goalkeeper had trolled Mbappe following Argentina's triumph. The Albiceleste's penalty hero against France had led a "minute of silence" for Mbappe while they celebrated the win in the dressing room on Sunday.
Some fans have been irked by the shenanigans of Martinez but his antics are said to be a counter-reaction to comments Mbappe in May which fans of Argentina deemed as disrespectful. Speaking on the difference between European and South American football, the Frenchman stated that European nations are usually the favorites in tournaments because they are used to playing high-level matches against one another. On the contrary, he opined that teams like Argentina and Brazil do not face the same competition because "the football is not as developed" in the South American continent, which is "why the most recent World Cup winners have been Europeans."
Despite scoring a hat-trick and his kick in the shoot-out, Mbappe has not been exonerated from being trolled by Martinez. One would think that the former Arsenal shot-stopper will also let things slide after showing sportsmanship by being among the first individuals to console the young attacker after the loss but that has been far from the case.
FIFA announce planned changes to Club World Cup
Although most eyes were on the 2022 FIFA World Cup, FIFA were also busy with other plans as well.
Namely, the world football organizing body has been focused on overhauling the Club World Cup. Currently, the annual competition, which was created in 2000, features seven teams from six different confederations. Six of the teams are the respective winners of the UEFA Champions League (Europe), the CAF Champions League (Africa), the CONCACAF Champions League (North America, Central America, and the Caribbean), the AFC Champions League (Asia), the CONMEBOL Libertadores (South America), and the OFC Champions League (Oceania). The seventh side is whichever country is serving as host for that year, and the last iteration, which took place in February 2022 after being rescheduled, was won by Chelsea, who defeated South American outfit Palmerias 2-1.
However, reports indicate that current FIFA boss Gianni Infantino is keen to expand the field, from the current seven to 32. This expansion will go into effect starting from 2025, and while it is not clear how many teams from each confederation will feature, it is safe to assume that if the FIFA World Cup is a marker, then UEFA sides will be given the largest representation.
Some other reports claim that UEFA will receive 12 slots, so just under half, while Africa and Asia will get six each. Interestingly, CONCACAF and CONMEBOL will have to share only six places, and the remaining two will be given to two other sides that receive a special invitation.
Other key headlines from the world of soccer
Richarlison's stunning bicycle kick for Brazil voted 2022 World Cup Goal of the Tournament
Richarlison's scissor kick for Brazil against Serbia has been named the best goal of the 2022 FIFA World Cup. The decision to confer the honor on the player was made following a vote by fans.
The goal by the Tottenham forward sealed a 2-0 victory for the South American team in the 73rd minute of their opener. According to FIFA, the effort was chosen as the finest goal of Qatar 2022 by the audience. In what was Brazil's first game at the World Cup against Serbia, Richarlison sealed a 2-0 victory for the Selecao inside the 73rd minute with a stunning strike. Earlier, the Tottenham Hotspur striker had opened the scoring for the South Americans with a fine effort but only stole the spotlight after smashing home his second.
The moment arrived when Vinicius Jr sent a sweet outside-the-foot cross from the left flank into the penalty area of the Serbs. Richarlison, who was about 12 yards away from the goal, used his first touch to flick the ball up in the air before swiveling and acrobatically hitting a volley. The ball went past Serbian defender Milos Veljkovic in his attempt to block it before evading the outstretched arm of keeper Vanja Milinkovic-Savic.
Benfica name Enzo Fernandez's asking price after rejecting huge bid for the World Cup winner
According to Portuguese news outlet Record, Benfica have already received a huge bid for the 2022 FIFA World Cup Young Player of the Tournament Enzo Fernandez. That offer, worth a whopping €100M, was swiftly rejected by the Primeira Liga leaders though.
While Benfica are facing an uphill battle to keep ahold of the former River Plate talent, the UEFA Champions League side will not budge on their asking price. Roger Schmidt's men want nothing less than the player's €120M ($127M) release clause.
Liverpool have been linked heavily with the 21-year-old but that offer did not come from Klopp's side. Additionally, recent rumors claim that English rivals Manchester United are stealing a lead over the Merseyside club in the race to land the Argentine.
Mourinho set to have meeting with Portuguese Federation over A Selecao gig
The Portuguese national team is without a manager since they decided to part ways with Fernando Santos, the only man in history capable of leading them to an international title. Santos won the 2016 UEFA Euro and the 2019 UEFA Nations League as A Selecao's tactician, but his recent performances at the helm led to his sacking following their 2022 FIFA World Cup quarterfinal exit at the hands of Morocco.
Their search turned out to be pretty quick, as Mourinho was immediately named as the top candidate for the job, and while he is still under contract with Roma, the Special One has already shared his interest in taking the managerial job at a national team.
With those words in mind, FPF executives have agreed to meet with Mourinho on December 26 to discuss the possibility of coaching A Selecao for the 2024 UEFA Euro and beyond. According to Portuguese media outlet A Bola, the Portuguese Football Federation would be open to satisfying Mourinho's needs to take the job, starting with how he wants to handle the possibility of coaching both Roma and the National Team, something that only coach Guus Hiddink has done in the past.
