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Inter Miami Forward Lionel Messi controls the ball during the first half of an MLS match against the Philadelphia Union at Subaru Park in Chester, Pennsylvania, on May 24, 2025.
Hard Numbers: It’s called soccer now
The FIFA Club World Cup kicks off on Saturday, with the United States acting as hosts for a competition of the top local teams on the globe, like Real Madrid and River Plate. The expanded tournament will act as a dress rehearsal for next year’s World Cup, the country-on-country tourney that will take place across North America. However, political issues, as well as concerns about audience numbers, are putting a cloud over the competition.
32: There will be 32 football clubs from six continents competing in the Club World Cup, including 12 teams from Europe and six from South America. Inter Miami, a team that counts Lionel Messi in its ranks, earned a free slot as host.
25: The Club World Cup has been running on-and-off for 25 years, dating back to the first competition in 2000. However, this is the first time the tournament will be of such a large magnitude – it usually just comprises seven teams and lasts 10 days. The last seven Club World Cups were hosted in the Middle East and North Africa.
$1 billion: The streaming platform DAZN – owned by former oligarch Sir Len Blavatnik – paid $1 billion for the rights to broadcast the tournament. In an effort to maximize the audience, the platform will air the games for free. $1 billion is, incidentally, also the amount of prize money that will be split among the participants, double the kitty from the last World Cup.
0: US President Donald Trump’s new travel ban, which covers 12 countries, won’t affect any of the players, after the White House made an exemption for athletes and coaches. Admittedly, very few of the players are from one of the countries on the banned list – Mehdi Taremi, Inter Milan’s Iranian striker, is the highest-profile player from a banned nation. Yet Trump’s order defies FIFA President Gianni Infantino’s declaration, made during a White House meeting in May, that “the world is welcome in America.” There’s no exception for the soccer fans from these 12 countries.
People gather next to covered bodies, following shelling by the Rapid Support Forces, in Omdurman, Sudan, December 10, 2024.
Hard Numbers: Sudan world’s worst crisis, NYC shutters shelters, Haiti reels after massacre, FIFA awards Saudi the Cup
25: New York Citywill close 25 asylum shelters in two months, including one housing 2,000 people, as Mayor Eric Adams seeks to align the Big Apple’s immigration priorities with those of the incoming Trump administration. The closures, which will save NYC $2.3 billion, will see the number of asylum-seekers in city shelters drop to their lowest level in 17 months – a policy that’s being severely criticized by refugee advocates.
180: Over 180 people were massacred last weekend in Haiti's Cité Soleil after gang leader Micanor Altès blamed Voodoo adherents for the illness and death of his son. Micanor shot and killed at least 60 elderly individuals and, together with gang members, killed at least 50 more with machetes and knives, “who, in [Micanor’s] imagination, would be capable of casting a bad spell on his son,” according to local authorities. Haiti’s government has promised to hunt down the perpetrators of the massacre.
300: FIFA on Wednesday confirmed Saudi Arabia as the sole host for the 2034 World Cup, sparking accusations of “sportswashing.” Through its Public Investment Fund, Saudi Arabiahas spent billions on international sports in recent years, including golf, boxing, esports, and Formula One. Critics argue FIFA is prioritizing financial and political goals over human rights, ignoring the fact that a record 300 people have been executed in the Kingdom this year.Atletico Madrid players and staff hold a banner in support of Spain's Jennifer Hermoso before the match as FIFA suspend President of the Royal Spanish Football Federation Luis Rubiales after the Women's World Cup Final.
Was Rubiales’ kiss sexual assault?
The scandal involving Spanish football federation president Luis Rubiales continues to deepen. More than a week after he planted a kiss on the lips of star forward Jenni Hermoso following Spain’s World Cup win over England, federal prosecutors have launched an investigation into whether the kiss constituted sexual assault.
Since Spain's victory, Rubiales has claimed that it was simply a “peck between two friends celebrating something,” before changing his tune and saying it was “probably a mistake.” Then, on Friday, Rubiales again defended his actions, and the RFEF, Spain’s soccer governing body, issued a statement supporting him and accusing Hermoso of distorting reality.
Rubiales has been suspended for 90 days by Fifa, pending a disciplinary committee probe. Nearly a dozen Spanish coaches have quit, and some of Spain’s players are refusing to play. Meanwhile, Rubiales’ mom, distraught by the allegations against her son, has locked herself in a church and launched a hunger strike amid growing demands that her son be fired.
Jenni Hermoso is kissed by the president of the RFEF Luis Rubiales during the presentation ceremony of the FIFA Women's World Cup 2023 at Stadium Australia in Sydney, Australia.
Will a kiss kick off Spain’s #MeToo?
FIFA has benched Spanish soccer federation president Luis Rubiales for 90 days pending a disciplinary committee investigation of his conduct following Spain’s World Cup victory over England. Rubiales was suspended after he kissed star forward Jenni Hermoso on the lips during the presentation ceremony, provoking a storm of reaction from Hermoso, her team, the sporting world, and politicians.
While Rubiales initially claimed the kiss was consensual, “spontaneous” and “without any intention of bad faith,” last Monday he called it “a mistake.” That didn’t satisfy Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, who said the apology for an “unacceptable gesture” was “not enough.” Yolanda Díaz, acting second deputy prime minister, called for Rubiales to resign. Spanish men’s international striker Borja Iglesias said he will not play for the national team “until things change,” and Hermoso’s teammates vowed not to play any more games as long as Rubiales remains as president.
But Rubiales then changed his tune. On Friday, he defended himself before an Extraordinary General Assembly of FIFA and refused to quit. The next day, Spain’s football federation accused Hermoso of lying and backed up Rubiales’ version of events, threatening to sue the star forward if she did not play.
In response, Hermoso issued a lengthy post to X, formerly known as Twitter, writing that “I felt vulnerable and a victim of an impulse-driven, sexist, out-of-place act without any consent on my part,” and that she had been pressured to issue a statement “to justify Mr. Rubiales’ actions.” In solidarity, 11 coaches and technical staff resigned and released a joint statement condemning Rubiales’ conduct. FIFA has ordered both Rubiales and the Spanish football federation to refrain from contacting Hermoso and those close to her.
This leaves everyone wondering, will this be Spain’s “Me Too” moment? So far, the score appears to be Hermoso 1, Rubiales 0.
The McDougall Creek wildfire burns next to houses in the Okanagan community of West Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada.
Hard Numbers: Canada fires, Israelis killed, Nicaraguan visas, Niger junta's plans … and where was William?
30,000: At least 30,000 households in British Columbia, Canada, have been told to evacuate, with another 36,000 homes on alert, as the province battles an unprecedented number of wildfires. Further north, 20,000 residents of Yellowknife, the capital of the Northwest Territories, have also been ordered to leave their homes. Overall, 1,000 fires are burning across Canada in what is now the country’s worst fire season on record.
3: Two Israeli men were killed on Saturday in a suspected Palestinian attack at a West Bank car wash, and on Monday, an Israeli woman was shot and killed in Hebron. Since the start of 2023, Palestinian attacks against Israelis have claimed 30 lives while nearly 180 Palestinians have been killed in the worst spate of violence in the region in 20 years.
100: The US has canceled the visas of 100 Nicaraguan officials accused of restricting human rights and undermining democracy by supporting President Daniel Ortega’s regime. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced the measures on social media, stating, “We call on the regime to unconditionally and immediately release Bishop Álvarez and all those unjustly detained.”
3: Gen. Abdourahmane Tchiani, the leader of the military coup in Niger, took to the country’s airwaves on Saturday to propose a three-year transition of power to civilian rule, without giving further details. Tchiani also warned that any attempt at military intervention by ECOWAS or other forces would “not be a walk in the park.”
1: Prince William, president of England’s Football Association, was heavily criticized for not attending the FIFA World Cup final between England and Spain, while Queen Letizia got kudos for making the trip Down Under with her daughter Sofia. Maybe it made the difference – the Spanish squad trounced the Lionesses 1-0.A woman outside the damaged house of her son, who was killed the day before by shelling in Donetsk, Russian-controlled Ukraine.
Hard Numbers: Deadly shelling, drug kingpin's jail security, Lai sighting, Sweden soccer semi, twin takeover
7: Shelling in the southern Ukrainian province of Kherson Ukraine on Sunday killed seven people, including a 23-day-old baby girl. The attack followed denials by Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar that Ukrainian forces had engaged in Russian-occupied territory in the region.
4,000: The Ecuadorian government dispatched 4,000 military and police personnel to the Zonal 8 Detention Center in Guayas province, to “establish control over weapons, ammunition and explosives within the prison.” The jail is home to José Adolfo Macías Villamar, the drug trafficker who murdered presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio claimed had threatened him prior to his assassination. President Guillermo Lasso this weekend said Macías was relocated to La Roca maximum security prison in the same penitentiary complex.
23: Photos have surfaced of former Hong Kong newspaper publisher Jimmy Lai, the first taken since 2021. They show Lai accompanied by two guards at the maximum security Stanley Prison in Hong Kong, where the pro-democracy activist is kept in solitary confinement for 23 hours each day. Lai was sentenced to more than five years in prison for fraud in 2022, but he is awaiting trial on charges of endangering national security, which could lead to a life sentence.
4: Sweden’s women’s soccer team has advanced to the World Cup semi-final — its fourth big semi in four years. They reached the semi-finals of the 2019 World Cup, the 2020 Olympics, and Euro 2022, but they have yet to take home the crown. To make it to the finals this time, Sweden's women must beat Spain on Tuesday.
17: Must be something in the water. Primary schools in the Scottish town of Inverclyde, population 76,700, are preparing to welcome 17 sets of twins this fall. “Twinverclyde,” as the town has become known, has welcomed 147 sets of twins to its primary schools since 2013, an average of 13 sets a year.
A rescue worker searches for victims after a train derailed in District Sanghar in the Sindh province of Pakistan.
Hard Numbers: Train derailment, bombing anniversary, Barbie's billion, winter heat, stunning soccer saves
30: At least 30 people were killed and another 90 injured after a train derailed in Pakistan’s Sindh province on Sunday. The country’s railway system has a notoriously dubious safety record, and the cause of the crash remains under investigation.
25: It has been 25 years since al-Qaida terrorists bombed the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, killing 224 people and injuring thousands. The attacks took place eight years after US troops landed in Saudi Arabia in the aftermath of Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait.
1 billion: "Barbie" finished its third weekend in cinemas with more than $1 billion in global ticket sales, making Greta Gerwig the first solo female director to hit that mark. Warner Bros. says none of its movies have ever sold so many tickets so fast.
100: Despite it being winter in the southern hemisphere, South Americans are sweltering amid a record heatwave, with temperatures as high as 100 degrees Fahrenheit. This is another grim reminder of the fast-emerging reality that political leaders must think urgently about how to invest in new technology and infrastructure to help people adapt to a hotter planet.
11: Swedish goaltender Zecira Musovic was the star of the show in a tough World Cup match between Sweden and the United States, scoring 11 saves against 22 attempts on goal before the shootout that eliminated the US from contention. Sweden now advances to the quarterfinals against Japan.Brazilian soccer legend Pele holds the World Cup trophy during the World Cup 2006 opening ceremony in Munich, Germany.
The king is dead. Long live the beautiful game
Twenty-one years of professional soccer, three World Cup wins, and more than 1,200 goals, including 77 for his country, Brazil. Edson Arantes do Nascimento – better known as Pelé, possibly the greatest athlete to have ever played the world’s most popular game – has died at age 82 in Sao Paulo. He was suffering from advanced colon cancer.
Pelé scored his first club goal in his first club match as a substitute at age 16. By 17, he was scoring on the international stage and lifting his first World Cup for Brazil, having scored two goals in the final in a historic 5-2 win over Sweden. That was in 1958. He would repeat the feat and bring home the World Cup again in 1962 and 1970, a record that remains unbroken today.
An international ambassador for his country and the sport, Pelé helped popularize the game in the US with a stint at the New York Cosmos in 1975. But as his golden era overlapped with a brutal military dictatorship back home, the attacking soccer star chose not to speak out against dictator Emilio Garrastazu Médici, who had seized power in 1969, suspending freedoms and conducting torture of political opponents. Médici needed a cultural icon – a face to attach to his nationalist propaganda, and Pelé provided it. In 1970, he didn’t just deliver the World Cup in Mexico, but he also turned up in Brasilia and posed next to the dictator with it, making the notoriously anti-democratic comment: "Brazilians don't know how to vote." He also never uttered a word about the thousands of political prisoners of the regime.
Post-retirement, he stayed involved politically: Pelé’s last political stint as a sports minister in the 1990s ended amid allegations against his company. Business and media savvy to the end, his continuing deals and endorsements afforded him a level of wealth that contrasted with the poverty of his childhood, when he resorted to playing soccer with grapefruits, rather than balls. The “Rei do Futebol” (King of Football), as the locals called him, will be buried in Santos, the coastal city where he played most of his soccer.