Fifa

FOOTBALL fans were left blown away as a player scored a goal worthy of 2024’s Puskas Award.The annual trophy is given to the star deemed to have netted the best strike in the past calendar year.
A contender for this year’s Puskas Award has emergedCredit: reddit.com
The ball did not touch the ground as it went from end to endCredit: reddit.com
Fans hailed the strike as ‘outrageous’Credit: reddit.com
Polish amputee Marcin Oleksy won the Puskas Award in 2022 for his stunning overhead kick.
And Botafogo’s Guilherme Madruga scooped the last trophy despite being run close by Sporting Lisbon’s Pedro Goncalves.
However, this year’s Puskas may have already been decided – despite Patrick Bamford’s inspired hit for Leeds at Peterborough.
The mind-blowing strike, which went from one end of the pitch to the other without touching the ground, occurred in India during a clash between Real Kashmir and Churchill Brothers.
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Kashmir ace Gnohere Krizo delivered an amazing hit into the back of Churchill’s net without the ball even touching the ground.
A boot from his goalkeeper saw the ball headed around before it dropped to Krizo, who was standing between the halfway line and the opponent’s 18-yard box.
With his back to goal, the attacker controlled the ball with one touch before using another to spin it over his head.
Now facing goal, and with the ball still in the air, Krizo smashed a high volley towards goal.
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And fans watched with disbelief as the shot dipped at the perfect moment to sail past Churchill’s keeper and into the back of the net.
Krizo’s goal sent his teammates wild, with Kashimr going on to secure a 2-0 victory away from home.
Watch the stunning overhead kick goal from amputee striker that won Puskas award at Fifa’s Best
Supporters could not resist hailing the strike online either.
One said: “Definitely one of the best goals I have seen in recent times.”
One noted: “That’s outrageous.”
Another added: “This should at least be nominated, beautiful from the preparation to the shot.”
And one dismissed any talk about the poor state of the pitch, declaring “Ball went from one end to the other end without touching the ground once, wow.” More

THE Fifa Beach Soccer World Cup is upon us as sixteen of the best teams in the world come together to win the biggest prize in the sport. This year’s competition will take place in Dubai for the second time having previously taken place there in 2009.
The Fifa Beach Soccer World Cup is taking place in DubaiCredit: Getty
Russia are the current holders, having won the competition on home soil back in 2021 – defeating Japan 5-2 in the final.
However, they won’t be defending their crown with all Russian teams barred from competing in Fifa competitions.
There are some strong teams taking part in this year’s competition with European champions Italy strong favourites to win the competition.
The Azzuri have recent Fifa Best Men’s Goalkeeper award winner Leandro Casapieri in their team.
Brazil and Portugal are the current top ranked sides in the world.
Spain, who are ranked fourth, only qualified for the tournament after Ukraine withdrew in protest at Belarus – a Russian ally – being allowed to compete.
Italy are among the favourites to win the tournamentCredit: Getty
What are the rules of the Fifa Beach Soccer World Cup?
The main rules of the sport is that there are five players on each team.
Seven substitutes are allowed to be named on every matchday with an unlimited amount of substitutions allowed to take place.
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A typical beach soccer match is 36 minutes long in total with games being split over three 12-minute periods.
Three-minute breaks are then put in place for each period with the game clock paused if there is a stoppage in play because of an injury, foul or a goal scored.
There is no offside rule in the sport, while players are not allowed to score directly from kick-offs.
Players can decide whether to take throw-ins – or kick-ins – with either their hands or feet.
When is the Fifa Beach Soccer World Cup?
The Fifa Beach Soccer World Cup will start on Thursday, February 15, with the final taking place on Sunday, February 25.
All of the matches at the tournament will take place at the Dubai Design District Stadium.
What TV channel is the Fifa Beach Soccer World Cup on and can it be live streamed?
The tournament is NOT available on UK television with no channel picking up the rights.
However, every game will be live streamed for FREE on the FIFA+ website, which is available in the UK.
US viewers can watch the tournament on the FOX Sports network.
Fifa Beach Soccer World Cup 2024 schedule
Thursday, February 15

United States 1-3 Italy
United Arab Emirates 2-1 Egypt
Tahiti 4-3 Argentina

Spain 6-6 Iran (Iran won 3-1 on pens)

Friday, February 16

Colombia vs Japan
Senegal vs Belarus
Portugal vs Mexico
Brazil vs Oman

Saturday, February 17

Italy vs Egypt
United Arab Emirates vs United States
Spain vs Tahiti
Argentina vs Iran

Sunday, February 18

Japan vs Belarus
Senegal vs Colombia
Mexico vs Oman
Brazil vs Portugal

Monday, February 19

Argentina vs Spain
Iran vs Tahiti
Egypt vs United States
Italy vs United Arab Emirates

Tuesday, February 20

Belarus vs Colombia
Japan vs Senegal
Oman vs Portugal
Mexico vs Brazil

Thursday, February 22

Quarter-finals

Saturday, February 24

Semi-finals

Sunday, February 25

Third place match More

FIFA drove a coach and horses through climate change anxiety with a three-nation schedule for the 2026 World Cup.For 39 days, aircraft carrying players and fans will cross and re-cross the USA, Canada and Mexico.

Gianni Infantino and Fifa are preparing for the 2026 World Cup in Canada, Mexico and the USACredit: PA
They will be blowing out vast amounts of pollution in the name of Gianni Infantino and the global game’s governing body.
Big Chief White Shoes, the president himself, must see himself as some kind of showbiz impresario.
Why otherwise would he invite Kim Kardashian — a 43-year-old influencer queen — to star at the announcement of the onerous schedule for June and July 2026?
All those football kings in the wings and yet the chosen celebrity is a woman of little obvious talent and no connection to football — even if she was dressed in something resembling a tracksuit.
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If Big Chief was looking for someone spectacular to tell us that a competition of 104 matches will begin in Mexico City’s Aztec Stadium, a glove puppet Maradona might have been a better choice.
For all she said, about 20 words, it might just as well have been.
But if the announcement itself was forgettable, the expansion to 48 teams in 12 divisions of four played in 16 stadiums was not.
The top two teams in each league go through automatically while the best eight third-placed teams of the first round also go through to the knockout stage.
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You might be asking yourself whether such labours are necessary.
After all, the 2022 finals featured 32 teams which reduced tidily to two in the final.
Huge football rule change set to be introduced with BLUE CARD and players dumped in 10-minute sin bin
The brains trust led by Big Chief wanted more countries involved so that they could have more fun, more posh hotels and days in them, more food and drink, better beds, more sights to see, more chauffeured cars, the best seats and plenty of meetings to feel important at.
That’s the life. Plus, the real biggies… more money and more power.
No wonder the 37 Fifa Council members — elected by the 211 members worldwide — wanted a bigger tournament, confusing size with quality.
Fifa operates a China-style voting system. When the bosses want change the hands will go up.
A competition potentially as chaotic as a rodeo on donkeys was sold, maybe without a single vote against.
The 2026 competition tentacles stretched backwards four years.
The Cook Islands, a cluster of sandy islands in the Pacific, have already slipped out of it, while other small fry are plodding on their way, many in tournaments next month.
Infantino also appeared alongside comedian Kevin Hart this weekCredit: Getty
This sounds all very equal but so does Communism. For the tiddler teams, this is all footer fun.
But, for Fifa, it is about constructing an empire, one that subjects Uefa, the Premier League and other European leagues to second or third-class status — and, as a consequence, makes shedloads of dollars.
Big Chief may tell you that taking the World Cup to the US for the second time in 32 years is an ambitious move.
So, he would say, is the confirmation of Saudi Arabia as hosts in 2034, 12 years after nearby Qatar. By coincidence two ultra-rich oil states.
Australia was pushed out while the UK — the game’s founding nation — is a pariah without friends… or much oil.
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Infantino and his chums are chasing power, using our wonderful game as some sort of sporting United Nations — with Big Chief on nodding terms with Vlad, Xi, Salman and the Kardashians.
He is little different to his predecessor Sepp Blatter — but in trendy boots. More

SIN BINS for blue cards could last longer than ten minutes – thanks to stoppage time.Fifa is set to trial blue cards which will punish players by sending them to the bench for ten minutes.
Players could be shown a blue card for dissent towards officialsCredit: PA
But it is understood that any players sanctioned with a sin bin in the final 10 minutes of a half will not be allowed to return to the field of play until the conclusion of that period, even if there is an extensive amount of stoppage time.
If implemented at the top level, blue cards will be the first major disciplinary change since the introduction of yellow and red cards back in 1970.
There has been backlash to the proposed changes from fans and pundits, but lawmakers on the International FA Board will confirm the green light for global trials of two different sin bin schemes next month.
But whether referees will carry blue cards and the precise details of how the idea will work is still to be agreed.
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The Ifab annual general meeting, attended by Fifa President Gianni Infantino, will approve allowing trials at professional level.
One will see sin bins for excessive dissent towards officials.
The other will mean 10 minutes in pitch-side sin bins for what are deemed as cynical “anti-football actions” when players prevent a counter-attack by stopping an opponent with no attempt to play the ball and dissent.
Ifab, though, changed its mind about publishing the full details of the sin bin scheme as well as the proposed “cooling off periods” which will allow referees to halt a game and physically separate players if tempers spill over between them.
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That is now not expected to happen before the March 2 gathering at Loch Lomond.
It has been confirmed that no trials will take place at “elite” levels of the game, with the FA considering using the semi-pro level as guinea pigs.
Paul Merson fears ‘the game will be killed’ as football prepares for huge rule change More

FIFA were left red-faced after footie fans discovered a major gaffe in their 2026 World Cup final announcement.Footie bigwigs announced last week that the final of the tournament – which will be played across North America – will take place at the stunning MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.
Fifa revealed the venue for the 2026 World Cup final last weekendCredit: GETTY
The finale of the tournament will take place at the MetLife Stadium in New JerseyCredit: GETTY
In a trivia segment on their website, Fifa claimed Bruce Springsteen was from New York
But it’s a well-known fact that ‘The Boss’ is from New JerseyCredit: GETTY
Fifa copped a bunch of flak from Americans for their official social media announcement, in which they claimed the final would take place in “New York New Jersey.”
And they received even more pelters after fans spotted a huge error in their “Did you know?” page.
After receiving backlash for claiming NBA legend Michael Jordan is a New Yorker – which is factually correct because he was born there – Fifa decided to remove him and actress Scarlett Johansson from their list of favourite New Yorkers.
They replaced them with rapper and businessman Jay-Z and rock star Bruce Springsteen.
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But whoever made the adjustment clearly didn’t do their research as Springsteen hails from New Jersey.
In fact, ‘The Boss’ has sung many a song about hailing from ‘The Garden State’.
The error spread like wildfire among New Jersey natives, who were far from happy to see Fifa claim that arguably their most famous ever resident came from across the Hudson River.
One wrote on X: “This made me laugh out loud for real.”
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The Azteca Stadium in Mexico City will host the first match of the 2026 World CupCredit: REUTERS
Another said: “Up next FIFA will refer to Taylor Ham as a pork roll.”
And another said: “They said WWIII would start with Russia invading Ukraine, but this is a Franz Ferdinand moment for the state of New Jersey.”
Fifa World Cup 2026 final stadium revealed as raging fans say it was ‘the worst possible option’
One sarcastically remarked: “Congratulations to Brooklyn’s favourite son, Bruce Springsteen, on being part of the FIFA campaign.”
Another chimed in: “We riot at dawn.”
One astounded person said: “[This is] their worst scandal yet.”
The 2026 World Cup will commence on June 11, with co-hosts Mexico kicking off the tournament at the Azteca Stadium in Mexico City
Fellow co-hosts Canada and the United States, meanwhile, will play their first matches of the competition at the BMO Field in Toronto and the SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles respectively. More

FOOTBALL legends Thierry Henry, Ronaldinho and Michael Owen are among those set to feature in a star-studded over-35s World Cup this year.According to the Daily Mail, an eight-team tournament is set to be held in England over the summer.
Thierry Henry is set to represent FranceCredit: PA
Ronaldinho is also expected to playCredit: AFP
Steve McManaman (R) is expected to captain EnglandCredit: Getty
It will involve past FIFA World Cup champions – England, Argentina, Brazil, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Uruguay.
The tournament is being organised by the Elite Players Group (EPG) and will be known as the EPG Cup.
Only players who are over the age of 35 and have been capped by their country or made 100 top-flight appearances will be eligible to play.
The captains of each country are founders of the EPG – a group of elite former footballers and sports businessmen.
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Steve McManaman is set to skipper England with Ballon d’Or winner Owen also expected to take part.
Additionally, the Three Lions have allegedly enlisted Ashley Cole, Joe Cole, Rio Ferdinand, David James, Frank Lampard and Robbie Fowler.
Cafu, Roberto Carlos, Emerson, Kaka, Ronaldinho and Rivaldo are set to form a deadly line-up for Brazil, while Germany captain Kevin Kuranyi is determined to enlist ex-Real Madrid stars Mesut Ozil and Sami Khedira.
Rumours suggest David Villa and Carles Puyol will join Michel Salgado in the Spanish squad, with Diego Forlan set to reunite with Diego Lugano for Uruguay.
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How England could line up at the EPG CupLegends set to play at EPG Cup 2024

England:

Steve McManaman (C)
Michael Owen
Ashley Cole
Joe Cole
Rio Ferdinand
David James
Frank Lampard
Robbie Fowler

Argentina:

Esteban Cambiasso (C)
Hernan Crespo
Pablo Zabaleta

Brazil:

Emerson (C)
Kaka
Ronaldinho
Rivaldo
Cafu
Roberto Carlos

France:

Christian Karembeu (C)
Thierry Henry
Marcel Desailly

Germany:

Kevin Kuranyi (C)
Mesut Ozil
Sami Khedira

Italy

Marco Materazzi (C)
Fabio Cannavaro
Francesco Totti

Spain

Michel Salgado (C)
David Villa
Carles Puyol 

Uruguay

Diego Lugano (C)
Diego Forlan

Christian Karembeu is in line to captain France and will be helped by Chelsea icon Marcel Desailly and Arsenal legend Henry.
Fabio Cannavaro, Marco Materazzi and Francesco Totti are down to represent Italy, with Esteban Cambiasso, Hernan Crespo and Pablo Zabaleta expected to play for Argentina.
Thierry Henry fights back tears as Arsenal legend reveals depression battle, crying ‘every day’ and traumatic childhood
Seven matches are scheduled to take place at the beginning of June between the Champions League final and the start of Euro 2024.
Games will be 11-a-side but over 70 minutes and with rolling substitutes.

A venue for the competition is yet to be confirmed, but the Mail claims talks have taken place with some of the Premier League’s top Northern clubs. More