Nick Miller

1 week ago | nytimes.com | Nick Miller

There's a certain period of time for football fans, one that takes place between their club signing a player and them actually appearing for the team, in which anything is possible. Hopes become projections, snatched clips expand to big conclusions, isolated moments turn into cast-iron certainties and representative of their all-round game. Essentially, it doesn't take much for the player in your mind to become some sort of God-like genius and to imagine a beautiful future for them.

2 weeks ago | nytimes.com | Nick Miller

The revamped Club World Cup is effectively a brand new tournament and with a fresh competition comes a selection of mostly new kits. For this summer's 32-team extravaganza in the United States, teams are allowed to play in new looks, whether that be special-edition tournament-only strips or what they'll be strutting their stuff in for the entirety of the 2025-26 season. Or, should they wish, they can carry on wearing the same shirts as they have done already this year.

2 weeks ago | nytimes.com | Nick Miller

For Gianni Infantino, it's Christmas Eve. Back in 2016, not long after he was elected Sepp Blatter's replacement as FIFA president, Infantino suggested the Club World Cup, hitherto a brief winter interlude consisting of a handful of matches played over less than two weeks, should be expanded on the basis that the old format was "not exactly inspiring", and that his new setup would bring together "the best 32 clubs in the world".

2 weeks ago | nytimes.com | Nick Miller |Tim Spiers

It’s been nearly a decade in the making, but Gianni Infantino’s big idea, the expanded Club World Cup, is finally here. The plan was for the best 32 club sides to finally end the arguments over who is by far the greatest team the world has ever seen, but whether it will or not is another matter. We’ve never had a tournament like this, not on this sort of scale.

2 weeks ago | nytimes.com | Nick Miller

The 2026 World Cup in the United States, Mexico and Canada is one year away. Plans are being made, hopes are being raised, lists of countries not allowed to travel to the tournament are being checked. Thus far, more than 500 matches have been played since the first qualifier took place in October 2023, to narrow 206 teams down to 45, plus the three co-hosts, for the tournament.