On the eve of the new millennium, World Soccer magazine interviewed the then FIFA President Sepp Blatter. Sered food bulo y take:.
— How do you see football in a hundred years
Blatter chuckled slightly:.
- A hundred and a lot of things. Let's take a look, if only 25 years ahead.
And what did you transfer
“There won’t be any major changes in football this hour,” Blatter said..
Well then, on one side, without mercy - otherwise, there’s no need to rizikuvav.
But trying to predict the developments of the game a quarter of a century ahead will often end in failure. There are a lot of trends that seemed obvious to 2000 people, but they didn’t come true at all, or they went in a completely different direction.
Europe and Pure America: dominance that is unknown In the same interview, Blatter called his greatest achievement “expanding the geography of football”. The expansion of the final part of the world championship from 24 to 32 teams (starting with the 1998 World Cup in France) has rightly opened the doors for teams from other continents.
The idea that the world's football hegemons - Europe and Pure America - are gradually losing their dominance has become a myth.
Nine top favorites to win the upcoming world championship - England, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, Argentina and Brazil - the same nine teams that made up the lists.
Further ahead are Belgium and Uruguay, so that Europe and New America will be restored. The most beautiful “outsider” of the remaining rocks is Croatia, which took silver from 2018 and bronze from 2022 – also from the same continent. Before the speech, the Croats were already third in 1998, so it’s not exactly a sensation.
A quarter of a century has passed, but the balance of power remains the same.
In the mid-1990s it seemed that Africa would become an axis-axis. Nigeria's victory at the 1996 Olympics, and then Cameroon's through which fates survived this faith. Pele said that the African team has been winning the World Cup since the beginning of the 21st century - and this was not a special fantasy: back in 1962, the current coach of the England national team, Walter Winterbottom, said the same thing.
Morocco still rewrote history - in 2022 they became the first African team to reach the World Cup semifinals. It’s true that it’s hard to believe the skeptics’ tales. Another nuance: 14 out of 26 people from the national team were born not in Morocco, but most importantly in Western Europe. This does not apply this achievement, but it is unlikely to confirm that European hegemony has been stolen. And it is unlikely that such a model will become a butt for other African teams.
The success of 2022 still showed the potential of the continent - African teams received little support in Qatar, and the depth of warehouses will become even more impressive. Africa itself appears to be the biggest beneficiary of the expansion of the World Championship to 48 participants in 2026. Nigeria, Cameroon, Ghana and Cote d'Ivoire, which were once grandees, did not become permanent contenders for medals.
Another culprit among non-Europeans was the pseudo-Koreans - the rulers of the 2002 emergency situation, who reached the semi-finals, not without the help of a super-fair trial. So Korea has won at least one match in five tournaments. Other new forces - Australia, Ghana, Japan, Mexico, Senegal - are simply stronger than the generation, but have not become part of the world.
Women's football in this sense looks more diverse - teams from all over the world are starting to force a fight. But at the last World Cup 2023, the top three winners were all from Europe.
London clubs are about to leave the place and share stadiums. The news about Arsenal being able to play at Vembly immediately, while the Emirates is busy, will sound familiar to those who remember the beginnings of the 2000s. At that time, the idea of \u200b\u200bbuilding a new stadium for Arsenal in the form of a new Vembly was considered.
In the 1990s, there was a fashion in English football to sell old arenas and future complexes on the outskirts of places. In this alternative history, London may look completely different: Arsenal, for example, having seen the move, moved to Gaiberi - to the former place. Tottenham was thinking about a new plot outside the boundaries of its district, and Chelsea had more than once decided to build an arena on the site of the old industrial zone along the Thames. Brentford found options in the area, and Wimbledon decided to move to another place - Milton Keynes.
However, the Wimbledon fans themselves preserved the spirit of the old club - they created a new team, as they once again play in their historical place. And what’s amazing for such an overpopulated metropolis is that all other London clubs were still able to build new stadiums without destroying their areas.
Another fashionable idea of \u200b\u200bthe late 90s - sleeping arenas for several clubs. It seemed certain that England, Arsenal, Tottenham and West Ham would build new stadiums for over 60 thousand people around the world, created over a period of 13 years. Todi was often told: “Look at Europe! " What works there, why not try it in England
The problem is that this idea of \u200b\u200b\u200b\u200bsleeping arenas did not really catch on with those who looked up to it. І in England - more so.
Premier League clubs have preserved their identity, geography and, no less important, financial stability in order to run powerful stadiums (blame West Gem, whose patients still cannot.
Juventus, before the speech, already in 2011 moved to the Vlasna Arena for 41 thousand seats, built in the English style, - and no longer share it with Torino.
It is clear that the Football Association really considered the option of allowing Arsenal or Tottenham - or indeed both - to play at Vembly on a permanent basis. Immigration functionary David Dean supported this idea, but Arsene Wenger came out categorically against. The head of Tottenham, Daniel Levi, did not consider the possibility of dividing the arena with neighbors, if offended the clubs were no longer planning new stadiums.
Then everything went in a different direction. And today - despite the drop in time-hour training - all 92 clubs from four professional divisions of England are playing in the stadiums.
The Graves are massively ending their careers in the national team At the end of the 20th century, salaries in football have skyrocketed, so the Graves hope to extend the club’s career for several more seasons - one good contract can replace the previous five. It is logical that many people start to think: it’s time to pay for the collection, as you can concentrate on the club and save energy?
The idea was not new, but Euro 2000 became a bright butt. After the tournament, Alan Shearer (29 years) and Dennis Bergkamp (31) announced the end of their national team appearances, although they had played six seasons on a high level - Shearer at Newcastle, Bergkamp at Arsenal. Then it seemed obvious: the higher the salaries in the clubs, the more footballers would be exposed to international games.
Alas, everything went wrong. Today's workers work on boards with a lot of time, so they simply don't need to save effort on collecting. So, although I will finish my performances after thirty-five, I want to take a break through the loss of space at the core. Let’s marvel at the light of the past decade - practically no one ended their international career early.
Thus, current football has placed more emphasis on clubs. But for most of the Gravians, especially the quiet ones who act behind the cordon, matches for the national team are deprived of a real sense of pride.
The center of the field has become the kingdom of physics, not technology. The forecast is twofold, but at the end of the 1990s, most experts were reconciled: the future is about strength, not about technology. It seemed that the center of the field would be filled with athletic fighters and versatile box-to-box players, and sophisticated playmakers would appear in the background. Patrick Vieira, with his combination of physical exertion and technical culture, was the ideal symbol of the future's retiree.
Pep Guardiola himself, who ended his career as a Barcelona midfielder, said in an interview with The Times in 2004:.
" My skills are the same. It’s just that football itself has become different - more advanced, tougher, more tactical. Now, to fight before the death line, you need to be a fighter like Vieira and Davids. Anything else you know how to give a pass is a bonus. Ale smut - vigravati ball"
And to be honest, the rest of the top ranks have once again become more athletic: pace, pressing, physics - everything has come to the fore. However, if you look at the fate of football between 2008 and 2016, it is important to say that technical advances have emerged. Besides, the era was defined by Sergio Busquets, Javi and Andres Iniesta, and coach Guardiola became a symbol of their approach.
The names of Andrea Pearlo and Luka Modric are two more proofs: football of the 21st century without becoming less about physics and choice. Technology, intelligence and intelligence are still the main currency of the pension worker.
The USA will become the new football superpower At the end of the 20th century, perhaps the most popular forecast was that the US national team would decide to break through the football elite. It seemed that all the warehouses were in place: the success of the 1994 emergency, the creation of the power league, the sports culture of the survivors.
So, if 2000 people were told that America would host the World Cup 2026, most would say emphatically: “The stench will definitely be among the favorites.”. And no one would have believed that after 18 years the United States was about to miss the World Cup, having lost the fight. Panama.
At the same time, few people have thought about what is causing the development of football in the country: the pay-to-play system, if fathers pay for the fate of children in the sections, and the closure of MLS, which has long separated competition. But these factors themselves became these invisible barriers, through which the USA never turned into a football superpower.
The United States was already in trouble in 2002 - but was still on the upswing. At the World Championships in 2002, it seemed that America had finally gone into the group.. Then the US team beat Portugal and Mexico, reached the quarterfinals and lost to Germany 0:1. It seemed that there would be a serious axle-axis abyss.
For a few years now, the country has been giving up its first priority on the great football hope - the headline of The New York Times in 2003 loudly proclaimed: “Freddy Adu, he’s just over 13, but he’s already playing like a grown man.”. The protege of this prodigy never played a single match at the world championship.
More than two decades have passed - and the American football player has still not given up one vote in the voting for the Ballon d'Or. The top 20 prizes were lost by people from Georgia, Guinea and Slovenia.
The closest person to this level is Kristian Pulisic. After two seasons with Milan, she recorded 20 effective actions before the start of the 2026 home emergency - 27 results.. Perhaps I myself will become the mirror that the country has been searching for so long.
It’s no less surprising that the goalkeeper factory in the United States, since the pride of the city’s football, has become smaller. Previously, the explanation was simple: American children grow up with a ball in their hands, and not with nothing.. Now the goalkeepers of Zack Steffen and Matt Turner do not reach the level of legends - Brad Friedel and Tim Howard, who are among the top 50 for the number of matches in the history of the Premier League.
All new stadiums were small but with a sigh When in 1996 the Amsterdam Arena stadium opened (nin Johan Cruyff ArenA), it was possible for football to be in its infancy: there was a constant hunger, a water board, a water wind. The first similar project in Europe.
Following Ajax and Vitesse, the arena had a similar design, and in 1999, the Millennium Stadium was opened in Cardiff - at that time the largest football stadium in Europe with a daily allowance. Then Japan overcame everyone - Sapporo Dome for the 2002 emergency in a natural field that literally saw the sun in the fresh air.
It seemed that this would become the standard of the future. Ale - no.
The reality turned out to be very prosaic: the establishment of a full-fledged duty was very satisfying on the road, and most clubs believed that it was not worth the expense. So such arenas are gladly deprived of guilt.
Today in Europe, such decisions occur more often through climate: Stockholm has two such arenas, Copenhagen has one, Germany has three (Frankfurt, Dusseldorf, Gelsenkirchen), and.
The most beautiful new addition - renovations of the Santiago Bernabeu in Madrid.
Pay-per-view: a format that can change the game in Britain Since the 90s, pay-per-view television has been in vogue. In boxing, this format was successfully practiced, and in 1999, English football decided to try the same. The first pay-per-view match was, not surprisingly, a First Division clash between Oxford United and Sunderland.
The BBC wrote: “The idea is not revolutionary, but if it were to infiltrate football it might be so.”. Since viewers are willing to pay extra for matches in the lower leagues, then, as journalists said, pay-per-view could become part of British culture - just like in the USA.
Since 2001, the Premier League was brought to justice by launching the Premiership Plus channel (later PremPlus) - they broadcast one match for an additional payment at 14:00. The format has been running for six seasons and has been a huge success, especially with season subscriptions: fans could pay at once for all 40 matches of the game. This is not quite pay-per-view - it’s better to pay in advance for the faithful viewers.
But in 2007 everything was going wrong. Through antimonopoly rules, Sky, which owned the channel, lost the right to buy up all shares of nuclear submarines.
The topic was brought up again just an hour into the 2020/21 season, since matches were played without sick leave due to the pandemic. Then television people began to covet? 15 for reviewing additional games not included in the standard broadcast. Result? The middle one had more than 40 thousand paid views of the match, and then the crowd of fans became gigantic.
It's great that since Silvio Berlusconi - the president of Milan, the prime minister of Italy and the media mogul - has prophesied that pay-per-view will become such an important part of football that it will be allowed to open in two stadiums. Looking at current season ticket prices, this sounds like one of the biggest predictions in sports history..
Despite technological developments and pandemic evidence, if all Premier League matches were available online, the old TV subscription model is still struggling. Sky is losing its dominant position, and football in Britain is still watched in the old fashioned way - monthly payment, package of channels, daily surprises. Hire for now.
Fewer coaches without a history in football Between centuries, it seemed that football was changing forever. More science, analytics, physiology - less intuition of colossal stars. That’s a lot of people who have conveyed: the next day is for the coaches, as Gravts’s long career is no small.
As the legendary Arrigo Sacchi said: “I don’t understand at all why, in order to become a jockey, I need to ride a horse.”.
Arsene Wenger has become a symbol of the new era. Thus, he won on a decent level and helped Strasbourg take the French championship from 1979. Ale did not look like a great professional - he was glad as a depositor to the university. And when Jose Mourinho and Rafa Benitez arrived in England in 2004 - even without a serious playing past - it seemed that a real revolution was beginning.
But it turned out differently. Today, more than five out of twenty Premier League coaches did not play in higher divisions - Fabian Gurzeler, Thomas Frank, Daniel Farke, Eddy Gau and Vitor Pereira. And six of our current coaches are looking forward to competing for the national team.
Look at those who have dominated Europe for the last ten to fifteen years: Pep Guardiola, Antonio Conte, Zinedine Zidane, Didier Deschamps, Carlo Ancelotti, Luis Enrique, Diego Simeone, Roberto. According to Hansi Flick, who is often guessed without context about his career, he won the Champions Cup final from Bayern.
We've been waiting all the time that the new generation will change everything. It’s amazing to see the young coaches today - Xabi Alonso, Mikel Arteta, Enzo Maresca, Igor Tudor, Christian Chivu, John Heitinga, Ruben Amorim - all well-known names even from their days.
So, there are blamers like Maurizio Sarri, who made his way to the top without a football career. Ale global zsuwu is gone. Football, it seems, still trusts those who know what it’s like to enter the field with the roar of the stands.
The Athletic.