World Cup's future

GM football fans. Route One here, and we’re covering travel injuries, the ‘Future City’ World Cup bid and much more.

It’s the editor’s mother’s birthday on Sunday. For some time now she’s been lobbying her way into the ‘Router’s Voice’ section, but you’ll be pleased to know the editor has maintained his editorial integrity - and she hasn’t yet made the cut.

Today, however, her thoughts have been included. Call us soft or perhaps it was one of her better comments - you decide.

STATS

Friendly: Liverpool 2 - 1 Arsenal

→ First-half goals from Mo Salah and Fabio Carvalho gave Liverpool a 2-1 pre-season win over Arsenal in Philidelphia.

→ Despite having 39 touches in the opposition box (compared to Liverpool’s 15), Arsenal had an xG of 0.

→ This match set a record attendance for a football (soccer) match in Philadelphia with a 69,879 sell-out crowd.

Friendly: AC Milan 1 - 0 Real Madrid

→ With victories over Manchester City and Real Madrid, AC Milan have won both preseason games on their tour in the United States.

→ Real Madrid’s new signing Endrick didn’t register a shot on target, lost possession three times and failed to complete a dribble in his 45-minute stint.

Plus…

• FIFA says it’s happy to discuss the football calendar with the bodies threatening legal action (More)

• Chelsea have agreed terms with Atletico Madrid for Conor Gallagher after the midfielder rejected a contract extension (More)

• Players at Scottish Championship side Hamilton Accies walk out over unpaid wages (More)

• Arsenal confirm Emirates Stadium renovations being discussed (More)

Breaking: Former Leicester City manager Craig Shakespeare has died at the age of 60 after an ongoing treatment for cancer back in October 2023 (Read more here).

PREMIER LEAGUE

Injury woes continue for Man United

Manchester United’s new signing Leny Yoro will be out for three months with a foot injury. But he’s not the only player that’s a concern ahead of the 2024-25 season:

• Rasmus Hojlund is out for six weeks with a hamstring injury.

• Marcus Rashford was subbed off hurt vs. Real Betis.

• Antony was also subbed off vs. Betis with an apparent injury.

This isn’t anything new… Last season, United were the most injured team in the Premier League - having picked up 45 ‘time-loss’ injuries.

It’s hard to blame just one thing that causes collective injuries. It could overtraining, nutrition, sleep, play style and just about everything else under the sun.

Too much travelling?

The clubs with the most injuries in the English top-flight last season - Man United, Chelsea, Newcastle, and Brighton - are also the clubs that are travelling the most during the preseason (excluding Spurs).

• Manchester United - 12,864 miles / 45 injuries

• Chelsea - 12,529 miles / 43 injuries

• Brighton - 11,976 miles / 41 injuries

• Newcastle - 11,576 miles / 41 injuries

It begs the question: If clubs have a culture of travelling long distances in preseason, does this have an impact on injuries during the season?

In general, the travel workload on some players clubs is gruelling. Over a five year period at Real Madrid and Manchester United, Raphael Varane travelled 229,244 miles, spent 324 hours flying and crossed 110 time zones.

While it could be a complete coincidence and have no impact on player injuries, a study of NBA travel schedules showed that even short-haul flights can “increase injury risk and reduce game performance”. Time zone transitions are particularly tough on players’ recovery - something common in the preseason travel arrangements.

Of course, the congested calendar also plays a factor. But with injuries surfacing during preseason, clubs should be looking at all possibilities.

POLL

Router’s Voice will be included in Monday’s edition.

HEAD START

🇨🇦 Canada progress at the Olympics despite their six-point deduction. Vanessa Gilles’ 62nd-minute winner gave Canada a 1-0 victory over Colombia, sending the reigning Gold medalists into the quarter-finals of the Paris Olympics. Earlier on Wednesday, Canada lost their bid to overturn the FIFA-ordered points deduction for spying on New Zealand’s training session. They face Germany in the quarter-finals on Saturday.

📺 DAZN secures broadcast rights to the English National League. DAZN will now show semi-professional fifth and sixth tiers of football in a new seven-year agreement coming into effect this season. This means that all 557 National League matches will be streamed to international audiences.

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Legal action against Rangers for £9.5mn will begin next week. Elite Sports Group Ltd claims Rangers breached a contract which allowed them to provide the Glasgow club with Hummel kits. The sportswear brand attributes Ranger’s contract breach to their demise into administration.

WORLD CUP

Saudi Arabia to build ‘Future City’ stadium as part of 2034 World Cup bid

It’s ten years away but Saudi Arabia have submitted their bid to host the 2034 World Cup.

At the time of writing, Saudi Arabia is the only country aiming to secure the hosting rights. And their proposal has everyone talking:

• Saudi Arabia will build 11 new stadiums - including the 92,760 King Salman International Stadium, which will host the opening and the final.

• But the flagship stadium will be the one that’s 350 metres above ground level - and built in Saudi Arabia’s yet-to-be-built ‘Future City’ Neom in the area which is part of ‘The Line’ project.

The 106-mile-long car-free project will only partially be built by the time of the World Cup

As you can imagine, this won’t be cheap… Qatar reportedly spent €220bn to host the 2022 World Cup, and it’s likely Saudi Arabia will spend hundreds of billions more.

The hosts are set to be confirmed by FIFA on 11 December.

Sportswashing concerns

Having invested more than £5bn in sport since 2021, critics have accused the Gulf kingdom of using investment in sports to improve its international reputation - a process known as ‘sportswashing’.

In May, a team of legal experts produced a document to FIFA that stated the governing body must deny Saudi Arabia the right to host if it doesn’t comply with human rights obligations.

The problem is… with Saudi Arabia as the only bidder and the deadline having passed in July, FIFA might be left with no other option.

AROUND THE FOOTBALL WORLD

🇯🇲 Jamaica: Former England manager Steve McClaren has been appointed as the new head coach of the Jamaica national team, leaving his role at Manchester United (More)

🇪🇸 La Liga: Barcelona have reached an agreement with Dani Olmo for €55mn guaranteed, until June 2030 (More)

🇫🇷 Ligue 1: Paris Saint-Germain have agreed a deal to sign Benfica midfielder Joao Neves in a deal worth €60mn (More)

🇩🇪 Bundesliga: Borussia Dortmund have completed the signing of Brighton midfielder Pascal Groß for an undisclosed fee (More)

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 National League: Southend United are on course to sell more season tickets (4,000) for the 2024/25 campaign than it has done since their 2006/07 season in the Championship (More)

🇵🇹 Primeira Liga: 37-year-old Nani who has won four Premier Leagues and one Champions League has signed for his hometown club Estrela da Amadora as a free agent (More)

OFF THE PITCH

📺 Squid Game season two release date announced by Netflix (More)

📱Released texts show law enforcement officers lost sight of Donald Trump’s would-be assassin (More)

🧠 Synchron’s brain implant now lets people control Apple’s Vision Pro with their minds (More)

🦜 An 84-year-old blind parrot finally finds his home in the Netherlands (More)

🏅 The relationship between 2024 GDP per capita and Olympic medal count (More)

PHOTO OF THE DAY

Foundations. Former Crystal Palace and Manchester United star Wilfried Zaha visited his non-league side AFC Croydon Atheltic Wednesday night on break from his Galatasaray playing duties. Zaha co-owns the club with musician Stormzy who was also raised in Croydon, South London. They aim to get the club to the English Football League. The team are currently in the seventh tier of English football after promotion last season and they require three promotions to make it to League 2.

ROUTER’S VOICE

Yesterday, we asked you: Are you for or against an independent football regulator?

The majority of Routers voted in favour of an independent football regulator.

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 💪For it (86%)

🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ ❌ Against it (14%)

Your punditry takes:

• 💪 CM voted ‘For it’: “A moderator of sorts would bring it back to the people’s game, where there needs to be more financial transparency. A lot of clubs are starting to forget about the significance of the fans.”

• 💪 DJ voted ‘For it’: “Clubs are too often being used as commodities by rich owners who couldn't care less about the game. This offers an opportunity to ensure players, fans, and the game are better protected.”

• ❌ NS voted ‘Against it’: “Government regulation is relentlessly seeping into our lives. Football should be a sanctuary where clubs are not governed by state edicts - after all, what does a government know about football? Government regulation and VAR will eventually sanitise the game.”

• ❌ Zach voted ‘Against it’: “There is enough motivation to stay financially afloat. We saw what just happened with Bordeaux. It should be a warning and motivation. But the government doesn't need to be involved. Politics and sports never mix. Maybe if there is a league that welcomes it, but never a good idea across the board.”

EXTRA TIME

The most expensive XI of all time… how many were a success?

Ligue 1 really set the standard for VAR transparency last season.

A map of host cities for the 2030 FIFA World Cup.

Liverpool trial an interesting new corner technique.

Which football squad has had the most future Premier League managers?

Christopher Nkunku channelling his inner Eden Hazard in preseason.

Roy Keane’s infamous first date with his wife revisited.

Leny Yoro in Simpsons form gives you Lenny Yoro.

Gateshead FC shows the rest of the football pyramid how to beat the press.

GAME FACE ON

Question: Which Brazilian has scored the most goals overall in men’s football at the Olympics on record (since 2012)?

Clue: There’s a skill named after him.

Scroll below for the answer.

ON TODAY

FOOTBALL

Friday 2 August

• Scottish Championship: Falkirk v Queen’s Park (19:45 BST)

• English FA Cup Extra Preliminary Round: all fixtures found here.

Saturday 3 August 

• Scottish Premiership and Championship: all fixtures here.

• English FA Cup Extra Preliminary Round: all fixtures found here.

Sunday 4 August 

• Friendly: Real Madrid v Barcelona (ESPN, 00:00 BST)

• Friendly: Manchester United v Liverpool (MUTC and LFCTV, 00:30 BST)

• Scottish Premiership and Championship: all fixtures here.

• English FA Cup Extra Preliminary Round: all fixtures found here.

PARIS OLYMPICS

Full schedule of events can be found here.

*EST -5. PST -8. CET +1. CST +8. JST +9.

Answer

Neymar (7 goals in 12 games).