Jürgen Klopp just called up 44 players for Germany and split them into two separate teams. One team plays the first two games of this break and the other plays the next two. Some of them never expected a call up, and that's what Klopp promised when he took the job: "Players will receive chances who don't even expect it yet." Honestly that's lowkey genius, I don't know why nobody's tried this before. #soccer #football #klopp #germany #dfb
Mbappé left Nike for On and started training in the On prototypes, but against Atletico he was back in a pair of whiteout Nike Superflys. Of course everyone noticed, and Nike cannot miss this chance. The most viral marketing campaigns are often the improvised ones. For example, in 2017 Balenciaga sold a $2,145 bag that looked just like IKEA's. IKEA answered with an ad on how to spot the original in 6 steps. Nike has the exact same opportunity. It could release the whiteout Superflys as a real colorway and call them the "Bon Voyage 1s". They did already make them available as a custom “Nike by you” option. #soccer #football #Mbappe #Nike #Onfootball
Mbappe's deal with On is expected to give him his own line of boots. No footballer has ever had that. Ronaldo, Vini, Haaland only got signature colorways of boots that already existed. On did it in tennis first. They signed Federer, gave him 3% of the company, worth around $273 million today, and named a whole line after him: The Roger. In football that would be like the Mercurial being called The Kylian. Mbappe will help design them too. Thierry Henry will be the Head of Football and Sydney Schertenleib will be their women's face. Pretty curious to see what they look like when they launch in 2027. #soccer #football #mbappe #nike #onfootball
Chelsea just paid 10 million euros for Benji Flowers, and he's 15. City paid 5 million for Cavan Sullivan when he was only 14. The depth of talent in the US keeps growing. At the MLS Next All Star game you had the 40 best teenagers in the country on one pitch, and Benji Flowers wasn't even the best one out there. Oscar Avilez, 16 years old from DC United, took man of the match. Jamil Danjaji, scored and landed a backflip. And those are just the two who stood out in the game. Chelsea and City were the first, but we'll see more and more teams locking in American talent this early. #soccer #football #mls #usmnt #chelsea
Imagine Mbappé leaving Real Madrid to join Sunderland. That's basically what Alexia Putellas just did. She's won two Ballon d'Ors, something Mbappé, Yamal and Haaland still can't say, and she left the best women's club in the world after 14 seasons and 38 trophies to join London City Lionesses, a club that was playing second division football a year ago. And it's not about the money, because she could've earned more somewhere else. She picked them because they're completely independent from a men's team. She doesn’t only want to win trophies, she wants to change women's football forever. #soccer #football #putellas #wsl #womensfootball
After France knocked Paraguay out of the World Cup, Paraguayan senator Celeste Amarilla completely lost it. She started posting racist comments about Mbappé, calling him a "colonized Cameroonian," saying he's ugly, and a bunch of other stuff. Mbappé saw it and responded. He called her racist, said she wasn't worthy of the position she holds, and said she had completely taken the attention away from Paraguay's incredible World Cup run. The French Football Federation is now looking into legal action. Paraguay's Foreign Ministry also came out and said she doesn't represent the country. Then Senator Amarilla posted a long letter saying she regretted what she said because she wrote it while she was angry... but she also demanded an apology from Mbappé and even threatened legal action if he doesn't apologize. #soccer #football #WorldCup #Mbappe #CelesteAmarilla
Even if France win the World Cup, letting Ayyoub Bouaddi choose Morocco will be something they’ll regret for years. After coming through every French youth team, the 18yo midfielder switched to Morocco just weeks before the tournament. Now he's one of the breakout stars of the World Cup. Against Brazil, Bouaddi schooled Casemiro and Bruno Guimarães, completing more passes and winning more duels. He’s also the youngest player in Lille's history to reach 50 Ligue 1 appearances. And he's just as good off the pitch. Bouaddi graduated high school with honors at 16, won a public speaking competition, and is studying mathematics because he believes it helps him being sharper on the pitch. With Real Madrid, Arsenal, Liverpool and PSG all interested, he could be one of the biggest transfer of the summer. #soccer #football #WorldCup #Morocco #France
The hotels some teams picked for this World Cup are wild. Argentina took over an entire 118-room hotel in Kansas City and fully customized it, even putting a giant Lionel Messi banner on the outside of the building. Thomas Tuchel had one specific request for England: he wanted windows that open, something a lot of luxury hotels don't have. Spain are staying at a Hilton in Chattanooga, while Germany picked a hotel that looks like a damn castle. Portugal, though, might have taken things a step too far. Cristiano Ronaldo and his teammates are staying at a luxury beachfront resort in Palm Beach. It looks incredible, but if Portugal don't win the FIFA World Cup, I'm blaming this resort. Those guys are basically on a dream vacation 😂 #soccer #football #WorldCup #CristianoRonaldo #Portugal