LEICESTER, ENGLAND - DECEMBER 26: 2020 New Year - 20 on the backs of Adam Lallana of Liverpool and Hamza Choudhury of Leicester City during the Premier League match between Leicester City and Liverpool FC at The King Power Stadium on December 26, 2019 in Leicester, United Kingdom. (Photo by Matthew Ashton - AMA/Getty Images) /
LEICESTER, ENGLAND – DECEMBER 26: 2020 New Year – 20 on the backs of Adam Lallana of Liverpool and Hamza Choudhury of Leicester City during the Premier League match between Leicester City and Liverpool FC at The King Power Stadium on December 26, 2019 in Leicester, United Kingdom. (Photo by Matthew Ashton – AMA/Getty Images) /
With a new decade upon us, we do our best to make some predictions – serious and not – about where the world of soccer will go in the 2020s.
As we enter the 2020s, the world of soccer is bigger than ever – for better and worse. Over the past 10 years, the world’s game has gotten more and more globalized, with access to top leagues expanding for viewers around the world and foreign governments investing in club ownership.
The 2010s were filled with memorable moments, performances and milestones. We saw technology enter the game with goal-line technolgy and VAR; the miracle of Leicester City’s improbable title; heartbreak and embarrasment for the U.S. men’s national team; dominance for the U.S. women’s national team. We could go on and on.
Predicting the decade in sports and entertainment. light. Related Story
In the world of soccer specifically we’ve got 20 predictions about where the sport is going in the 2020s. Some are serious, some not so much; some we’ll explain, some stand on their own. Let’s dive into who’s winning, who’s retiring, which rules are changing and more over the next 10 years:
Liverpool win the Premier League for the first time in 30 years. — Come on, we’ve got to start with a tap-in. The Reds are running away with the title and it would take an all-time collapse for them to let this one slip away.
Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo retire, but the GOAT debate never ends.
— Even the end of their careers will not free us from the sport’s eternal online debate.
Related Story. The Messi-Ronaldo Debate debate - the game’s biggest, dumbest, most influential argument. light
Messi wins a Copa America, but never a World Cup, before retiring.
Ronaldo plays in MLS before retiring. — An allegation of sexual assault in Las Vegas and the ongoing legal battle may have made this less likely over the last couple years, but don’t rule it out. Ronaldo hasn’t faced much backlash within the protected ecosystem of the game and he is obviously the kind of “brand” who sees the U.S. as an important place to be. He will score lots of goals. He (and the media coverage) will be insufferable.
Kylian Mbappe becomes the consensus best player in the world.
PARIS, FRANCE – DECEMBER 4: Kylian Mbappe of PSG celebrates his goal during the Ligue 1 match between Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) and FC Nantes at Parc des Princes stadium on December 4, 2019 in Paris, France. (Photo by Jean Catuffe/Getty Images) /
There will be a major rule change to deal with concussions. — Whether it’s a fourth substitute for head injuries or something else, the game will have to find a new way to grapple with the issue.
The offside rule is re-written to exist in the world of VAR.
England win a major tournament on both the men’s and women’s side.
The USWNT win the 2020 Olympics — The dominance of the U.S. women will carry into the new decade, making them the first team to go back-to-back with Women’s World Cup and Olympic titles in consecutive years.
The USMNT qualifies for the 2022 World Cup. — Yes, this qualifies as a bold prediction now. It doesn’t seem like U.S. Soccer has learned much structurally from the failure of 2017, but on the field, a new generation of players should be able to get the USMNT back onto the game’s biggest stage in 2022, before they are the joint-hosts in 2026 (and won’t have to worry about qualifying).
The 2026 World Cup is a huge success, with all three hosts getting out of their groups.
Christian Pulisic moves to Real Madrid. — Pulisic has proven in early days at Chelsea that he belongs in the Premier League. After a few good seasons at a club like Chelsea, there are only so many other clubs you can move to. Real Madrid will drop a huge fee for an American player who becomes a truly elite global player.
Christian Pulisic finishes top-10 in a Ballon d’Or vote.
La Liga plays a league match in the United States. — They’ve already tried twice and been told no, but with a focus on growing in the U.S. market they’re not going to stop trying until they’re allowed, fans be damned.
UEFA takes a Champions League Final outside of Europe. — It will take a while, but if those floodgates open, you can bet that UEFA would love to put its showpiece in a different market, fans – again – be damned.
FIFA will try to address racism in stadiums to minimal substantial effect.
PSG and Manchester City both win their first Champions League titles.
A European Super League of some kind becomes a reality. — We will all decry it, but watch every minute of it.
MLS implements an in-house form of promotion and relegation as expansion continues. — MLS isn’t going to stop accepting money from markets that want in, but at some point soon (if not already) the league is going to be too big to be practical as a single table. Something will have to be done and the league could use the chance to silence one of its biggest subset of critics: those who want promotion and relegation similar to other leagues around the world. Whether it’s in the form of MLS1 and MLS2 or multiple divisions with a playoff, the only guarantee is that the system is unlikely to truly open up and that critics of the league still won’t be happy with it.
New York City FC still won’t have a soccer specific stadium.
QUEENS, NY – OCTOBER 23: A wide shot of Citi Field with the pitch in the center before the 2019 MLS Cup Major League Soccer Eastern Conference Semifinal match between New York City FC and Toronto FC at Citi Field on October 23, 2019 in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City. Toronto FC won the match with a score of 2 to 1 and advances to the Eastern Conference Finals. (Photo by Ira L. Black/Corbis via Getty Images) /
Next. World Soccer All-Decade Team of the 2010s. dark
