International Football
Kylian Mbappe steps out of Lionel Messi’s shadow
Cameroon born French player, Kylian Mbappe may not have emulated his hero, Pele as back-to-back winner of the World Cup, he was a hero in the 2022 World Cup final with Argentina.
That was a match that will not easily fade from memory. Had France won, it would have been the first time in 60 years that a defending champion achived success.
Brazil in 1962 were the last successful defending champions.
All the same, Mbappe’s s great show in Sunday’s final match leaves many to desire as the young France striker continues his blossom career after the duo of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo finally fades out.
Having been on the losing side in PSG’s final match of the UEFA Champions’ League to Bayern Munich three season ago, Sunday night at the Lusail stadium in Doha was another opportunity after a wonderful into the final match.
Lionel Messi and Neymar lighting up Ligue 1, the forward hasn’t been the club’s main superstar in the way he wanted to be and hasn’t been pleased with the role he’s been forced to play to facilitate the South American duo.
Things have been different with France though. Didier Deschamps has given him the status he wants on and off the pitch, and that had brought the best out of him in Qatar – prior to the final, he’d looked happier and better than ever.
Going up against Messi in football’s biggest game, Mbappe had the chance to firmly step out of his teammate’s shadow and cement his status as the world’s best, and while he may have ended up on the losing side, boy did he take it.
As has been the case at their club, Messi hogged the spotlight that Mbappe so craves heading into the final, with the fact that it was the Argentine’s last chance to win a World Cup overshadowing the fact that the Frenchman could win his second at the age of 23.
That remained the case when the ball get rolling with him having just five touches before the 35-year-old gave his team the lead from the penalty spot.
He then got on the ball just four more times before former teammate Angel Di Maria made it 2-0, giving the South American team a comfortable lead that they fully deserved.
Along with being in the shadow of Messi and Neymar, another thing that has upset Mbappe at PSG has been the fact that he’s been used as a lone striker rather than being given a role allowing him more creative freedom.
Given that, things went from bad to worse for him when Didier Deschamps made him Les Blues’ centre forward before the first half was over, taking off Olivier Giroud. The match that every player dreams of playing in was fast becoming a nightmare.
It looked more and more like that would be the story of his second World Cup final as the second half went on. And then he decided to write a new one.
He gave his country a glimmer of hope when he made it 2-1 from the spot with 10 minutes remaining and turned that glimmer into so much more with a moment of magic a minute later.
What says just as much about how obscenely good he is as his stunning finish is the fact that you could see it coming as soon as the ball fell to him on the edge of the box. There are precious few players that wouldn’t surprise you by scoring such a goal, and he’s already one of them.
Unfortunately for him, another plays for Argentina, and Messi looked to have broken French hearts when he got his second of the game, scoring what looked set to be arguably the most significant goal of all time.
Once again though, Mbappe had other ideas, staying remarkably cool when handed another penalty.
He then made it three from three when he stepped up to take the first in the shootout that followed. His job was done, and he now had to rely on his team-mates.
They couldn’t come through, with the two that followed him failing to score, but that didn’t take anything away from his own heroics.
On the biggest of stages, he went toe to toe with the greatest player of all time and was every bit as good, at the ripe old age of 23.
Messi is magnificent, but so too is Mbappe, and he’s only getting started.
In a compelling twist of football destiny, Davide Ancelotti is stepping into his own spotlight as he begins his first head coaching role at Brazilian club Botafogo—just months after parting ways with his legendary father, Carlo Ancelotti, at Real Madrid.
The 35-year-old has been appointed as Botafogo’s new manager, the club announced on Tuesday, following the sacking of Renato Paiva. Davide, who has spent the last decade working alongside his father at some of Europe’s top clubs—including Bayern Munich, Napoli, Everton, and Real Madrid—has signed a one-year deal with the Rio-based team.
This marks a significant milestone for the younger Ancelotti, whose career has long been shaped by his father’s influence, but who now faces the challenge of carving his own identity on the touchline.
The move comes shortly after both father and son departed Real Madrid at the end of last season, with Carlo taking over the Brazilian national team. Now, in a poetic alignment, father and son find themselves on different paths within Brazilian football—one leading the Seleção, the other steering the fortunes of a storied domestic club.
Botafogo’s decision to appoint Davide follows a controversial parting with Paiva, who was dismissed just days after their exit from the Club World Cup. Though he oversaw a stunning win over Champions League holders Paris Saint-Germain, a 1-0 extra-time loss to Palmeiras in the round of 16 proved to be his final act after just four months in charge.
As Davide Ancelotti begins this new chapter, all eyes will be on whether the son of one of football’s most decorated managers can step out from his father’s shadow—and perhaps, in time, build a legacy of his own.
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International Football
Players’ union, FIFPRO, wants 20-minute halftimes, more cooling breaks amid extreme heat
Global players’ union FIFPRO is exploring whether extending halftime to 20 minutes and introducing more frequent cooling breaks could better protect players from extreme heat.
Nine of the 16 host cities for the 2026 World Cup face conditions considered “extreme risk” for heat-related illness.
Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Guadalajara, Houston, Kansas City, Miami, Monterrey and Philadelphia are expected to face dangerous levels of heat and humidity, posing player safety concerns and fuelling calls for mandatory cooling aids or schedule changes.
FIFPRO’s heat risk assessments are based on wet bulb globe temperature (WBGT), a measure combining temperature, humidity, solar radiation and wind speed to estimate how environmental conditions affect the body’s ability to cool itself.
Under FIFPRO guidelines, a WBGT reading above 28 degrees Celsius indicates conditions in which matches should be postponed or rescheduled to protect players’ health.
By comparison, world soccer governing body FIFA’s own guidelines set the extreme risk threshold higher, at 32 degrees Celsius WBGT – but even by that standard, six of the nine cities are still projected to exceed safe limits.
Major League Soccer in the U.S. has a threshold of 29 degrees Celsius WBGT.
“Cooling breaks at the 30th minute and 75th minutes are quite traditional, but from a physiological point of view it does not make sense,” said Vincent Gouttebarge, FIFPRO’s Medical Director.
“Even if you ingest more than 200 millilitres of fluid, you already cannot take it all. So I would definitely like to see some project where we look at the efficacy of perhaps more frequent but shorter cooling breaks – every 15 minutes, rather than only one during each half.”
LONGER HALFTIMES
Gouttebarge also questioned whether the traditional 15-minute halftime interval is sufficient when matches are played in extreme heat.
“You can imagine that halftime of 15 minutes might not be enough in order to decrease the core temperature,” he said.
“It could be a halftime of 20 minutes which would be significant. That has been shown in the laboratory and FIFPRO, together with the national union in Portugal in August, we are going to test this kind of mitigation strategy.”
The urgency of stronger heat protocols became clear at this month’s Club World Cup where two matches — Benfica-Bayern Munich in Charlotte and Chelsea-Esperance in Philadelphia exceeded the WBGT threshold FIFPRO considers unsafe.
“According to our position, those games should have been postponed later that day or rescheduled,” Gouttebarge said.
FIFPRO officials acknowledged that FIFA has responded constructively during the tournament by lowering thresholds for mandatory cooling breaks and improving pitch-side hydration, but stressed that proactive planning is critical.
“FIFA have been quite responsive once the tournament was under way,” said Alex Phillips, FIFPRO General Secretary.
“They have actually modified how they’ve been dealing with heat during the matches based on FIFPRO’s input, which is credit to the work of the team. Obviously, it would have been better if that happened in advance, but it’s better that they have adapted.”
FIFPRO warned that the risks highlighted at the Club World Cup are a preview of what players could face at the expanded 2026 World Cup.
“This is not just affecting the Club World Cup, but also future tournaments either in the U.S. or elsewhere in the world,” said Alexander Bielefeld, FIFPRO Director of Policy & Strategic Relations.
“We need a better balance between commercial interests and the health and safety of players,” he added, referring to earlier kick-off times to accommodate European television audiences.
-Reuters
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Former Manchester United and England midfielder Paul Ince has been charged with drink-driving, police said on Monday.
Ince, who earned 53 caps for England and won two Premier League titles during his six years at United, has been released on bail and will appear in court on July 18.
“The incident involved a black Range Rover which had collided with the central reservation barrier. Officers attended the scene and arrested a 57-year-old man,” the Cheshire police said in a statement.
“Paul Ince, of Quarry Road, Neston, has since been charged with drink-driving.”
Reuters has contacted Ince’s representative for comment.
After retiring as a player, Ince led Milton Keynes Dons to a League Two title in 2007-08. He most recently managed Reading during 2022-23.
-Reuters
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