In this issue

In years gone by, summers without a men’s World Cup or European Championship gave us the opportunity for a bit of calm before the new season. Not anymore; these days, there’s always a big game somewhere.

Next month, we’ll be rounding up the Club World Cup, CONCACAF Gold Cup and European Under-21 Championship, but in the meantime we’ve tried to take stock of everything else: the road to the 2026 World Cup, clubs on the rise in Egypt and Canada, a potential star of the Women’s Euros and the Premier League’s most expensive player of all time – plus plenty more.

Jamie Evans, Managing Editor

Contents

THE WORLD THIS MONTH
12 Henry Winter England’s pathway
14 Keir Radnedge Ten years on from FIFA-gate
16 Jonathan Wilson The Grealish enigma
17 On the radar Under-17 Euros starlets
18 Moves you might have missed
19 Transfers First June window and free agents
20 Obituaries
22 ESM XI
24 ESM Golden Shoe
25 In numbers

FEATURES
34 Pyramids FC EyeWitness report on Egypt’s rising force
38 Vancouver Whitecaps A club for sale flying high
42 Ayman Ben Mohamed From Ireland to Esperance
46 Sydney Schertenleib The Swiss star set to shine at Euro 2025
58 League Focus Argentina
62 Eye on MCOs FC Andorra, Gerard Pique and footballers owning football clubs

INTERVIEW
66 Christian Burgess The Englishman at the heart of Saint-Union Gilloise’s Belgian title
70 Jason Puncheon Building a coaching career in Cyprus
72 Alexandre Lafitte The youngest top-flight coach in the world

INTERNATIONAL ROUND-UP
52 UEFA Nations League finals
53 European World Cup qualifiers
54 South American World Cup qualifiers
55 CONCACAF World Cup qualifiers
56 Asian World Cup qualifiers
57 Best of the rest

WOMEN’S FOOTBALL
74 Copa America Femenina
75 Africa Cup of Nations

WORLD SERVICE
78 South America
Copa Libertadores group stage
80 Argentina Primera Division Apertura review
82 Australia A-League review
84 Egypt Premier League review
86 South Africa Premiership review
88 US & Mexico Leagues Cup preview
90 Greenland CONCACAF rejection