Fiery statements by Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez sparked renewed debate about the 2030 FIFA World Cup.
Sanchez recalled the moment when the Spanish national team won the World Cup title in the United States, describing the scene of US President Donald Trump handing the cup to Spain as “real political euphoria.”
These statements come at a time when the dispute is escalating over which country will host the final match of the 2030 World Cup between Spain and Morocco.
Speaking to the Spanish station La Septima, Sanchez defended the joint bid between Spain, Portugal and Morocco to host the 2030 World Cup, stressing that the original initiative came from the two Iberian countries.
The Spanish Prime Minister said: “It is true that two countries were the ones who launched this idea, Spain and Portugal, given that it was Europe’s turn to host the tournament, and then we added a country to it, which is Morocco.”
In an attempt to reassure Spanish public opinion, amid growing concerns about the possibility of hosting the final match being awarded to Morocco, Sanchez stressed that “Spain will host the largest number of World Cup matches compared to any other country.”
Sanchez recalled the memory of Spain winning the World Cup this summer in the United States with great enthusiasm, using that very personal expression to describe that historical moment.
As he looked forward to hosting the next tournament on Spanish soil, Sanchez made clear his desire to repeat history, as he concluded his speech by saying: “We won in South Africa, as well as in New York, and now it is our turn to win the title in Spain in 2030, right?” “This is a matter for FIFA, and Spain is the country that will host the largest number of matches.”
Tensions are increasing over the location where the World Cup final will be held in 2030, as the Royal Spanish Football Federation fears that the decisive match will end up being held in Morocco.
Spanish journalist Juanma Castaño revealed, on the “El Partidazo de Cuba” program, that the pressure that US President Donald Trump may exert may be decisive in granting the African country the right to host the match.
In light of this atmosphere, Alberto Nunez Viejo, leader of the opposition People's Party, put forward a controversial idea. According to the same program, he is considering putting forward a proposal during his election campaign requiring Spain to completely withdraw from hosting the tournament, if FIFA refuses to grant it the right to host the final match.
This position is in stark contrast to the official approach of the Federation, as Rafael Lauzan, President of the Spanish Football Federation, in statements to the “El Partidazo de Copé” program, ruled out any possibility of withdrawal, calling for calm at the institutional level and commitment and pledges that have already been made.
Lausanne said: “Spain has signed agreements with other countries, with FIFA, and with the government, in order to organize the next edition of the World Cup.”
The Italian capital is experiencing its most prosperous football period, with the hope that this will continue until it wins the title for the first time since 2001, after the “Serie A” league entered the international window, and Lazio and Roma are the only two teams that have not tasted defeat this season.
Despite stumbling against Napoli 1-1 last weekend, Lazio, dreaming of its first title since 2000 - a year before the third and final title for its arch-neighbor Roma - remained in the lead with 29 points, one point ahead of last season’s champion Inter, and two points ahead of the third “Giallorossi”.
Lazio and Roma wrote a new page in the Italian League. Never before have two teams from the same city succeeded in maintaining their unbeaten record in the first 11 stages, an achievement that has eluded even the two Milanese giants, Milan and Inter.
What happened up to the eleventh stage constitutes a strong message threatening the dominance of the northern clubs in the league.
Although the forecasts of the statistics company Opta give Roma only an 18 percent chance of winning the league, compared to 10 percent for Lazio, the coaches of both teams continue to feed the fans’ dreams.
Gian Piero Gasperini does not hide his ambition with Roma, which won its last title in 2001 under the leadership of Fabio Capello, saying: “I did not sign with the club in order to accept second place,” while his counterpart in Lazio, Gennaro Gattuso, continues to deal cautiously with the situation, saying that the first goal for him - as a preliminary stage - remains to reach the forty point barrier before thinking about anything else.
After years in which one team was advancing while the other was declining, today Lazio and Roma stand side by side at the top.
Lazio has never remained unbeaten after the first 11 stages except once, which was in the 1972-1973 season under the leadership of the late coach Tommaso Maestrelli, before the club achieved the first league title in its history the following season.
The score of 29 points represents the best start in the club’s history after 11 matches, surpassing the previous mark of 28 points achieved under the leadership of Simone Inzaghi in the 2017-2018 season.
Lazio has scored 25 goals so far, a number that it has not reached or exceeded after 11 stages except twice previously: the 1942-1943 season (25 goals) and the 2017-2018 season (31 goals).
On the other hand, Roma has the strongest attack in the league with 31 goals, and has become only the fourth team in the last 65 years to exceed the 30-goal barrier after the first 11 stages. According to a report by the Corriere dello Sport newspaper, after Juventus (33 goals), Napoli (32 goals), and Lazio (31 goals), which achieved all these numbers in the same season 2017-2018.
In a technical study published by the same newspaper, Gasperini’s project is based on man-to-man pressure in various parts of the field, and collective participation in the offensive process, which was reflected in the presence of 14 different players on the scorers list.
Roma's offensive strength is evident in that the team scored an average of 3.37 goals per match during its eight league victories.
As for all competitions, the Giallorossi scored 41 goals in only 15 matches, while it needed 30 full matches during the 2025-2026 season to reach the same number.
Roma also leads the team with the most clean sheets with six matches, while Lazio has the strongest defense in the tournament after conceding only 9 goals, compared to 10 goals for Roma.
In light of these numbers and data, attention will be on December 13th on the capital derby, which may be pivotal in the title race.
Roma arrives at this position after a crowded program that includes confrontations against Parma, French Paris Saint-Germain (Champions League), Montsa, Bologna, and then Portuguese Sporting (Champions League).
As for Lazio, it will benefit from a relatively less stressful schedule, with matches against Lecce, Torino and Atalanta.
In light of the convergence of levels and ambitions, managing physical effort and avoiding injuries will be decisive factors in determining whether the capital’s dreams will turn into reality at the end of the season.
Although Liverpool has an expensive offensive arsenal, the team is still searching for harmony and effectiveness in front of goal, at a time when the match against Crystal Palace showed encouraging signs of the possibility of restoring its attacking strength under the leadership of coach Andoni Iraola, according to “The Athletic” network.
For the second time this season, the trio of Alexander Isak, Florian Wirtz and Bradley Barkula succeeded in contributing goals during one match, after Liverpool scored three goals for the first time in the English Premier League in the 2026-2027 season, during its victory over Crystal Palace, 3-1, on Sunday.
This victory raised Liverpool's scoring tally in the league to 14 goals, one less than the 15 goals the team scored in its first four Champions League matches, providing a new glimpse into what the offensive system that the club spent huge sums of money to form can achieve.
But the scene looked completely different at the end of the first half at Selhurst Park, as these positive indicators were not present in the minds of the followers. Although Liverpool advanced with a goal scored by Alexis McAllister with a header following a free kick executed by Dominik Soboslai, the attacking quartet consisting of Isaac, Barkula, Wirtz and Cody Khakpo played another 45 minutes below the expected level.
Before the confrontation, Liverpool was ranked penultimate in the league in terms of total chances created, with 12 chances, as well as in the number of chances created, with seven chances. Only Coventry City, newly promoted to the Premier League, surpassed it in these two indicators.
With the final whistle blowing in south London, Liverpool advanced one place in both indicators, after creating five chances during the match, the highest number achieved in a single league match this season, surpassing Hull City, one of the newly promoted teams, in the two classifications.
Despite this improvement, the offensive performance was not without difficulties, as Liverpool continued to search for the fluidity that is supposed to reflect the level of talent it possesses on the front line. In this context, “The Athletic” reviews the most prominent problems that still hinder the team’s offensive system.
In the press conference that preceded the match against Crystal Palace, coach Andoni Iraola spoke about the necessity of sacrificing part of the control over the course of the game, in exchange for taking greater risks and creating a more effective attacking threat.
The Spanish coach pointed out that Liverpool showed remarkable attacking intensity during his first three months in charge, but the problem lies in the lack of the required quality of the opportunities resulting from those attempts.
Iraola said: “We are among the teams that have the most access to the final attacking third, and even in terms of the volume of shots and crosses, our numbers are very high. But when you analyze the level of quality of each opportunity, you find that it is low, even though we create a large number of opportunities.”
He added: “The issue, especially when we start falling behind in matches, is related to facing a large number of opposing players in the offensive areas, which sometimes makes the quality of opportunities lower. But we have to make more use of the number of times we reach the opponent’s penalty area.”
The state of the match and its outcome play a pivotal role in explaining this problem.
During its ten matches in the Premier League this season, Liverpool succeeded in opening the scoring four times against Ipswich Town, Bournemouth, Brighton & Hove Albion, and Crystal Palace, and was able to win all of those confrontations.
The team was one away from a penalty kick awarded in stoppage time against Crystal Palace from leaving with a clean sheet in all four matches.
Liverpool needed a set piece to break up Crystal Palace's defensive block, after they were unable to test goalkeeper Dean Henderson throughout the first half.
But the picture changed in the second half, when the team scored two goals from offensive transitions, taking advantage of the spaces that Crystal Palace players were forced to leave behind during their attempts to come back in the score.
Barkola took advantage of his speed to run down the wing, before sending a cross to Wirtz, and Liverpool also benefited from the speed of substitute Victor Muñoz in a similar way to score the third goal.
Iraola said in the press conference after the match: “I think that when we are ahead in the second half, we have spaces to attack, and it becomes much easier. Crystal Palace is forced to leave a little more space, and then we can find other opportunities to run behind its defence.”
He continued: “The first half was different in my opinion. They played with a defensive block very late, especially in the beginning. “I think we succeeded in getting into good positions between the lines, but we did not improve the execution of the final pass as required.”
Liverpool's average possession of the ball this season is 52.6 per cent, a drop of 6.5 percentage points compared to last season.
His percentage of field control in the attacking third - an indicator known as “Field Tilt”, which measures the team’s share of the two teams’ total touches in the final third of the field - also decreased by 6.2 percentage points.
These numbers reflect Liverpool's decline in possession of the ball in general, in addition to its decline in ball presence in advanced areas of the field.
The average passing series consisting of ten consecutive passes, or more, also decreased from 15 series per game during the 2025-2026 season under the leadership of Arne Slott, to just ten series this season, indicating the team’s greater reliance on direct play.
These indicators suggest that Liverpool is facing difficulties in moving the ball across the three areas of the field, in addition to its sometimes inability to dismantle the defensive organization of opponents who are not forced by the outcome of the match to take risks or move forward.
One of the attacks against Arsenal in the previous round, which is the team that has the strongest defensive system in the league, demonstrated the level of understanding that the attacking quartet can reach, but at the same time it revealed the difficulty of ending such attacks successfully.
Wirtz...creating many opportunities and limited risks
Florian Wirtz scored his first goal in the English Premier League this season, after scoring the second goal for Liverpool against Crystal Palace.
This was his fifth scoring contribution during the season, and his fourth in the league, as he scored one goal and assisted three goals.
As for his decisive pass to Isak in the third goal, it was the first realized opportunity created by the German player this season.
At the English Premier League level, Wirtz is ranked fourth repeatedly on the list of players who create the most chances, with 23 chances, on par with Bruno Fernandes, the Manchester United player.
He also comes in fourth place again in terms of creating chances from open play, with 19 chances, on par with Fulham player Alex Iwobi.
But the paradox appears when looking at the expected assists index “xA”, as Wirtz’s score does not exceed 1.22, ranking him 35th in the league.
The map of the opportunities he creates sheds light on the nature of the problem, as it reveals that only a limited number of his passes during open play reach his teammates inside the penalty area.
This does not necessarily mean criticizing Wirtz, who is experiencing his best period with Liverpool since the beginning of the calendar year.
Opta defines a created opportunity as a pass that leads to a shot. If Wirtz continues to create opportunities at this rate, this will likely be reflected in his tally of assists and goals.
This can be inferred from his two decisive passes to Muñoz against Nottingham Forest and Brentford this season, when he made accurate passes that penetrated the opponent’s defense, but they also required a distinguished finish from the Spanish player to convert them into goals.
Wirtz continues to prove his importance as the main creative axis in Liverpool's attacking system, as 17 percent of the team's created chances come from the area he occupies on the field, while creating chances seems less present on the periphery.
Technical relationships and understanding between players remain elements that take time to develop.
Among the attacking options available to Iraola, Khakpo is the only player who was present at the club, or participated regularly with the first team before the start of last season.
Liverpool witnessed extensive changes in its lineup, coinciding with the change in the technical staff, which added another challenge to building a homogeneous attacking system.
Although the quartet that started against Crystal Palace represents Irola's preferred choice so far, the match was only their fifth appearance together in the starting lineup during league matches.
Khakpo and Isak had shown their understanding early in the season, while two of Barkola's three assists in the league came for the Swedish striker.
Khakpo and Barkola face part of the same problem as Wirtz.
Khakpo created 14 chances from open play, but only one of them was classified as a chance, while the nine chances created by Barkola resulted in two chances.
The 23-year-old French winger is still going through the process of adapting to the English Premier League, following his transfer from Paris Saint-Germain last August.
Barkola faced clear difficulties during the first half against Crystal Palace, when the spaces available to him were limited.
But the situation was different in the second half, as he took advantage of the wide spaces available to him, and succeeded in creating a goal for his colleague.
Liverpool have a group of players who prefer to advance the ball through individual dribbling.
Only Manchester City, with 238 attempts, and Tottenham Hotspur, with 221 attempts, surpassed him in the number of dribble attempts in the league, compared to 197 attempts for Liverpool.
The two newcomers, Barcola and Muñoz, top the list of the team's players who attempt the most dribbles, with 33 attempts for the first, and 28 for the second.
Reverse pressure after losing the ball is one of the basic weapons that Iraola seeks to establish in any team he coaches, because it can provide sudden offensive opportunities that help break a tie against competitors.
But this aspect of Liverpool's performance is still evolving.
The comparison with Bournemouth - Iraola's former team - reveals the difference, as Bournemouth's average of recovering the ball in the attacking third last season was 5.7 times per 90 minutes, compared to only four times for Liverpool this season.
Barkola was present in one of the shots that demonstrated the effectiveness of this method, during scoring the second goal against Brighton.
The French winger succeeded in intercepting a pass attempt from Olivier Buscali, then ran after the ball and recovered it, before sending a cross that Isaac converted into the net.
This shot shows how early pressure and regaining the ball in advanced areas can give Liverpool more dangerous opportunities, without the need for a long attacking build-up.
