Guatemala 0-1 Panama:
June 20 – Friday night at Q2 Stadium bore no resemblance to the venue that hosted football just 24 hours earlier. The transformation was complete, and the catalyst was simple: unbridled passion provided by the hordes of Guatemala supporters who descended on Austin. Stark contrast to the lack of interest shown by US fans on Thursday.
February 9 – An economic impact report on the potential hosting of the 2026 World Cup in the three North American markets of Canada, Mexico and the US, reckons the event would create $5 billion in economic activity and a net benefit of $3-4 billion after taking out potential public costs.
February 9 – FIFA has agreed the match schedule for the Women’s World Cup France 2019 which will see the competition open in Paris on June 7 with the final in Lyons, the hotbed of French and European women’s club football, on July 7.
By David Owen
February 9 – FIFA is moving closer to taking action on overly aggressive play by goalkeepers. The organisation’s Medical Committee this week decided to send what chairman Michel D’Hooghe describes as a “strong” letter on the issue to colleagues on the Referees’ Committee.
By Paul Nicholson
February 8 – Manchester United have announced revenue of £163.9 million and operating profit of £28.7 million for its 2018 second quarter financial results ending December 31.
February 8 – Russia’s Sports Ministry is suing companies building World Cup stadiums for 2.9 billion rubles ($50.8 million) over delays in constructions schedules.
February 8 – Two former members of the Under-21 Maltese national team have been declared guilty of match-fixing after a Maltese court of appeal overturned the original judgment that had cleared them.
February 8 – LaLiga’s Integrity and Security director Alfredo Lorenzo Mena has confirmed he will be speaking at the Tackling Matchfixing conference in London, March 9-10. He will join a panel examining what Europe’s biggest leagues are doing to combat and defend themselves against match fixers.
February 8 – Manchester City has signed a new multi-year regional partnership with online trading broker AvaTrade who will become the club’s Official Online Trading Partner for China, Asia and Latin America.
By Mark Baber
February 8 – Football in Ghana, including the Ghana Premier League, First Division and the Ordinary Congress of the Ghana Football Association (GFA) has been put on hold as Accra Great Olympics, one of the teams relegated at the end of last season, won an injunction on Monday delaying kick off of the new season until their appeal against relegation is heard.
February 8 – The 2022 World Cup venue designed by Iraqi-British architect Zaha Hadid will be finished by the end of 2018, according to those responsible for the project.
February 8 – Coca-Cola has announced that its eCOPA Coca-Cola tournament will be an official EA Sports FIFA 18 Global Series qualifier event as part of ‘The Road to the FIFA eWorld Cup 2018’ that will be played in August.
February 8 – How are the mighty fallen. As a former president of Barcelona and a key figure in the European Clubs Association, Sandro Rosell was used to the high life. Not any longer.
February 8 – Not for the first time, Premier League champions Chelsea have been condemned over the use of anti-Semitic language by a section of their fans.
February 7 – Despite Australia’s bitterness at not winning the rights to host the 2022 World Cup still seemingly burnt deep into the psyche of the nation, its government and federation have not been put off bidding for FIFA events.
By Andrew Warshaw
February 7 – FIFA’s obsessive attempt to ensure the 2026 World Cup bid process is fair and clean has blown up in its face following the revelation that Morocco was gagged from making a presentation to its own African region last week.