2019 Africa Cup of Nations
The 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (also referred to as AFCON 2019
or CAN 2019) is scheduled to be the 32nd edition of the Africa
Cup of Nations, the biennial international men’s football
championship of Africa organized by the Confederation of
African Football (CAF). The tournament is scheduled to be
hosted by Cameroon. The competition is likely to be held in
January 2019.
For the first time of the Africa Cup of Nations history,
Cameroon will host the competition as title holder, after
winning the previous edition of the Africa Cup of Nations.
The draw for the qualifying groups has been made and can be
seen below
Hosts and four-time champions Cameroon are in Group B
alongside 1976 champions Morocco and underdogs Malawi. The
Indomitable Lions will also either play Comoros or Mauritius.
In Group J, Egypt who are the most successful nation in the
cup’s history, having won the tournament a record of seven
times, will meet fellow North African rivals Tunisia who won
the 2004 edition which they hosted.
Meanwhile, absentees at this year’s showpiece Nigeria will
face 1996 winners South Africa in Group E while Group G will
feature a Congolese derby, between Congo-Brazzaville (1972
champions) and the Democratic Republic of Congo (1968
champions).
The 12 group winners will qualify alongside the three best
runners-up.
UEFA Europa League round of
16 draw
The last 16 features an all-German tie, a Belgian head-tohead, free-scoring Lyon taking on free-scoring Roma and
Manchester United versus the lowest-ranked side left in
contention.
Ties: 9 and 16 March
Celta Vigo (ESP) v Krasnodar (RUS)
APOEL (CYP) v Anderlecht (BEL)
Schalke (GER) v Mönchengladbach (GER)
Lyon (FRA) v Roma (ITA)
Rostov (RUS) v Manchester United (ENG)
Olympiacos (GRE) v Beşiktaş (TUR)
Gent (BEL) v Genk (BEL)
København (DEN) v Ajax (NED)
Where is the final?
The Friends Arena in Solna, near the Swedish capital Stockholm
and named after an anti-bullying campaign. Final tickets will
go on sale soon, with a proportion set aside for fans of the
two finalist sides. Corporate hospitality packages are on sale
now.
2019 AFC Asian Cup
Tournament Details
The 2019 AFC Asian Cup will be the 17th edition of the AFC
Asian Cup, the quadrennial international men’s football
championship of Asia organised by the Asian Football
Confederation (AFC). It will be held in United Arab Emirates
from 5 January to 1 February 2019. The United Arab Emirates
was announced as the host for the tournament on 9 March 2015,
with Iran being the only remaining bidder for the right to
host the 2019 finals. It will be the second time that the
United Arab Emirates hosts the tournament after the 1996
finals.
24 teams will compete in the Tournament. The host nation will
automatically qualify for the final tournament, while the
remaining 23 places will be determined among the other 45
national teams through a qualifying competition, running from
March 2015 to March 2018, in which the first two rounds also
serve as part of the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification process
for the AFC.
Venues
The eight venues to host matches are Zayed Sports City
Stadium, Mohammed Bin Zayed Stadium and Al Nahyan Stadium in
Abu Dhabi, Hazza Bin Zayed Stadium and Khalifa Bin Zayed
Stadium in Al Ain, Al-Maktoum Stadium and Maktoum Bin Rashid
Al Maktoum Stadium in Dubai, and Sharjah Stadium in Sharjah
Zayed Sports City Stadium, one of three stadiums in Abu Dhabi,
will stage both the opening match and the final. The match
schedule itself will maximise the use of venues. At least five
matches will be allocated to each venue, with every ground
hosting at least one match in the knockout stage. The semifinals will be played on different days in Abu Dhabi and
Dubai. No city will host two matches on the same day – except
in the final round of group stage matches when simultaneous
kick-off is required. Unlike previous editions of the
tournament, there will be no third/fourth place game.
Tickets and hospitality for
UEFA Finals On Sale Soon
Tickets and hospitality for UEFA Finals On Sale on the 17th
March.
Tickets for the Champions League Final in Cardiff and the
Europa League Final in Stockholm will go on sale via a draw on
the UEFA website.
More details to follow
Atlanta
United
to
Mercedes-Benz Stadium
open
Atlanta United FC will open the new Mercedes-Benz Stadium on
July 30, the club announced on Friday.
The day’s match will be the first sporting event ever held at
Mercedes-Benz Stadium, the downtown venue currently under
construction that will serve as the home for Atlanta United
and the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons.
In addition to the July 30 game, the club announced that it
will play two more home games at Mercedes-Benz Stadium “in the
middle of August as part of the inaugural month of opening
events” at the venue. Opponents and start times for the
matches will be revealed when MLS announces the entire 2017
regular season schedule next week.
Prior to opening Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta United will
hold their home games at Georgia Tech’s Bobby Dodd Stadium in
Atlanta. The expansion team will open their season on March 5
at Bobby Dodd Stadium against the New York Red Bulls.
A grand opening celebration event for Mercedes-Benz Stadium,
which will have a special “purpose-built” MLS configuration,
will be held at the end of August.
2017 AFC Champions
group stage
League
The 2017 AFC Champions League group stage starts next week.
The draw for the group stage was held on 13 December 2016,
16:00 MYT (UTC+8), at the Hilton Petaling Jaya in Petaling
Jaya, Malaysia. The 32 teams were drawn into eight groups of
four: four groups each in the West Region (Groups A–D) and the
East Region (Groups E–H). Teams from the same association
could not be drawn into the same group.
In the group stage, each group is played on a home-and-away
round-robin basis. The winners and runners-up of each group
advance to the round of 16.
The Groups are shown below;
You can find a list of all fixtures on the AFC Website
Planning a Football Trip to
Sassuolo FC (Reggio Emilia)
Planning a Football Trip to Sassuolo? Free guide – where to
stay, eat, drink and how to get tickets & to the stadium.
Sassuolo play in Reggio Emilia, Reggio Emilia is a city in
northern Italy, in the Emilia-Romagna region. It has about
170,000 inhabitants[1] and is the main comune (municipality)
of the Province of Reggio Emilia.
It’s unlikely that you are going to plan a Football Trip to
Ravenna as their team is not one of the Italian greats,
however it may be a place you head as a day trip from Bologna
You can read more about Bologna and other ways to get to
Bologna via our trip guide to Planning a Football Trip to
Bologna
Football Trip to Sassuolo – How to
get to Reggio Emilia & How to get
around
Football Trip to Sassuolo – Fly to Reggio
Emilia
The closest major airport is Bologna Guglielmo Marconi Airport
(BLQ / LIPE), which has international and domestic flights
from Bologna, Italy and is 40km from Reggio Emilia , Italy.
From Bologna Airport you will need to get to Bologna Central
station, from there you can get a regular train. Trains are
fairly regular, 3 an hour from 5am to around 19:00. So it’s
important to note that whilst you can get a train from Bologna
to Reggio Emilia for an evening game you cannot get one back.
It’s between and hour and 90 minutes on the train.
Football Trip to Sassuolo – Travel Around
Reggio Emilia
The town is easily walkable, though it expands over more than
183,000 square meters. In the historic centre, closed by an
imaginary line where the city wall once stood, we find the
most important buildings. The town is crossed by a fundamental
street, the Emilia way, the historic Roman way that once
connected Reggio Emilia with other important towns and cities
of the Region, and that still represents one of the main
traffic ways in Italy. The street runs right through the
middle of the town, in an east-west direction.
Reggio Emilia is well served by a wide trolleybus service –
one of the biggest in Italy – composed of 3 lines, and a bus
service; all the means of transport are provided by SETA
(Società Emiliana Trasposrti Autofiloviari). Tickets can be
bought directly on the bus, thanks to an automatic ticket
machine (the machine is not giving change so it’s better to
have the exact amount in coins). Urban buses run from 6AM-9PM;
the night urban line 7N runs from 8:30PM-10:30PM. Extra-urban
buses run through all the surrounding Province at many
different times and on many different routes.
Football Trip to Sassuolo – How to
Get to the Match
Sassuolo FC was founded in 1912 and has spent the majority of
its existence playing in Serie B. Currently it plays in Lega
Pro after being relegated in 2016 after a twelve years stint
in Serie B.
Sassuolo first took part Italian football league in 1912–13,
where they competed in the top division. These early years saw
the purchase of Attilio Fresia, perhaps the greatest player in
the club’s history. During the period of the first world war,
the team won the 1916 Coppa Federale
They have played in Serie A twice in their history, the last
time was the 2000/1 season
Football Trip to Sassuolo – The Stadium
The stadium was built in 1936 and holds 21,151 people. The
stadium was opened in 1995 with a sold out match between
Reggiana and Juventus. In the aftermath of Reggiana’s
dissolution and reconstitution in 2005, the club lost the
property of the stadium, which was assigned to the Tribunal of
Reggio Emilia. The reconstituted Reggiana continued to play in
the stadium and had its headquarters and its historical museum
located in the Main Stand; in the same years the shopping mall
“I Petali” was built behind the Away End and the East Stand,
with a good range of shops, cinemas, gyms and restaurants.
Stadio Giglio was renamed by the Municipality “Città del
Tricolore”, referring to the fact that the Italian Tricolour
was created in Reggio Emilia in 1797
The stadium hosted the 2016 UEFA Women’s Champions League
Final.
Football Trip to Sassuolo – Getting to
the Stadium
Città del Tricolore is located on the north-eastern edge of
the city of Reggio Emilia at about 2.5 kilometres from its
historic centre. The distance from the train station, located
east of the centre, is slightly shorter.
When arriving in Reggio Emilia by train:
• from the central station (Marconi sq.) it is possible to
reach the stadium on foot crossing Europa sq. or by bus, line
number 5 (as of October 2013)
• from the AV Mediopadana station (via Cittò del tricolore) it
is possible to reach the stadium on foot along via Gramsci
Football
Tickets
Trip
to
Sassuolo
–
Getting
Sassuolo F.C. are currently playing at the highest level in
their history. Tickets for games against the top teams in
Serie A are possible to get but the lowest price 30 euros
tickets are not easy so expect to pay 60 or 70 euros if they
are playing Juventus, Roma or one of the Milan clubs. Other
teams might be easier, they start Italian Cup games at 10
euros.
Tickets are available online at www.vivaticket.it
Find details of upcoming games on the Sassuolo website
Football Trip to Sassuolo – Fixtures
When planning your football trip please note that the dates
shown represent the weekend that the game is scheduled to take
place and games are likely to change through the season and be
moved for TV scheduling.
Plan your Football Trip to Sassuolo with our full list of
fixture
The schedule for kick-off times in Italy can be found our
Planning a Football Trip to Italy page (COMING SOON)
Football Trip to Sassuolo – Where
to stay. What to See. Where to Eat.
Where to Drink
Booking.com
Football Trip to Sassuolo – Where to stay
It’s only small so stay in the centre if visiting for a
midweek game, if not stay in Bologna
Football Trip to Sassuolo – What else to
see & do
Italy’s tri-colour flag was first adopted in Reggio Emilia.
There is the “Tricolore’s Room” in City Hall and a small
museum where you can learn about how the flag was chosen to
represent the Cispadane Republic in 1797 (60 years before
Italy became a country).
Reggio Emilia Cathedral – In February 2009 it was announced
that a Roman mosaic floor filled with scenes depicting pagan
rites and oriental gods had been discovered underneath the
cathedral. The mosaic pavement, which measures 13 square
meters and dates to the 4th century AD, was unearthed at a
depth of about 4 meters below the ground during archaeological
investigations in the crypt
Where to eat and drink in Reggio Emilia
There are a few decent looking pubs to try;
Arrogant Pub (Via Luca della Robbia) – Amazing selection of
beers on tap, they often change the beers. Nice burgers and
kind staff.
The Blender Pub (Via Nicolo’ Copernico 26/D) – The pub is
located near the highway, and it has a wide selection of
beers.
Aloisius Pub (Via Mafalda di Savoia Assia 4) – Opened In 1999,
brewery specializes in tapping of German beers.
Wild Hops Beer Shop (Via Unione Sovietica 1/b)
La Fabbrica della Birra (ia Dei Gonzaga 41)
Football trip to Sassuolo – Useful links
http://www.emiliaromagnaturismo.com/en/
Biggest Football games
Europe in March 2017
in
Planning a Football Trip to Europe – details of the biggest
games taking place in Europe in March 2017
In many cases the game made be moved for TV schedules so dates
shown may indicate the weekend rather than the actual date and
time the game will take place
Please check the club website or league website for exact game
times and be careful booking flights before booking your
Football Trip.
Either wait until TV fixtures have been
announced , book flights covering the whole of the possible
weekends fixtures or be flexible about which game you want to
see.
Date
Country
City
Game
02-Mar
Russia
Moscow
CSKA v Zenit
03-Mar
Czech
Republic
Prague
Sparta v Dukla
03-Mar
Bulgaria
Sofia
04-Mar
France
Bordeaux
Bordeaux v Olympique
Lyonnais
04-Mar
Germany
Cologne
Koln v Bayern Munich
04-Mar
Austria
Vienna
05-Mar
Spain
Madrid
Athletico Madrid v
Valencia
05-Mar
Italy
Rome
Roma v Napoli
05-Mar
Holland
Rotterdam
Sparta Rotterdam v
Feyenoord
10-Mar
Poland
Warsaw
Legia Warszawa v Wisła
Kraków
11-Mar
Germany
Berlin
Hertha Berlin v
Borussia Dortmund
11-Mar
Scotland
Glasgow
Celtic v Rangers
11-Mar
Austria
Graz
Sturm Graz v Rapid
Vienna
Levski Sofia v CSKA
Sofia
Rapid Vienna v
Salzburg
12-Mar
Italy
Genoa
Genoa v Sampdoria
12-Mar
Spain
San Sebastian
Real Sociedad v
Athletic Bilbao
12-Mar
Italy
Turin
Juventus v Milan
Basel
Basel v Grasshopper
Prague
Bohemians 1905 v Dukla
Prague
17-Mar Switzerland
17-Mar
Czech
Republic
18-Mar
Germany
Mönchengladbach
Borussia
Monchegladbach v
Bayern Munich
18-Mar
France
Paris
PSG v Olympique
Lyonnais
18-Mar
Austria
Salzburg
Salzburg v Austria
Vienna
19-Mar
Spain
Barcelona
Barcelona v Valencia
19-Mar
Spain
Bilbao
19-Mar
Italy
Genoa
Sampdoria v Juventus
22-Mar
Germany
Dortmund
Germany v England
24-Mar
Ireland
Dublin
Republic of Ireland v
Wales
31-Mar
Poland
Krakow
31-Mar
Czech
Republic
Prague
Athletic Bilbao v Real
Madrid
Wisła Kraków v Lech
Poznań
Slavia v Sparta
MLS releases 2017
season schedule
regular
The complete 2017 MLS regular season schedule is out.
The addition of two new expansion sides — Atlanta United FC
and Minnesota United FC — makes for an all-time single-season
high of 374 MLS matches with each club playing a 34-game slate
(17 home games, 17 away games). Teams will face their 10
conference opponents twice and all 11 clubs in the opposite
conference once. The remaining three matches on each team’s
schedule will come against conference foes.
Opening Weekend
The 2017 MLS season opener takes place in Portland where
expansion side Minnesota United FC play their inaugural
match vs. the Timbers on Friday, March 3 (9:30 pm ET on
FS1 and FOX Deportes);
Also in Week 1, Orlando City SC christen the newest
soccer stadium in MLS vs. NYCFC on Sunday, March 5 (5 pm
ET on ESPN and ESPN Deportes).
Heineken Rivalry Week
There will be two Heineken Rivalry Week slates in 2017:
June 23-25 (three matches) and August 23-27 (seven
matches);
Heineken Rivalry Week Edición Especial on July 1 will
showcase the California Clasico from Stanford Stadium
between the San Jose Earthquakes and LA Galaxy,
broadcast live, over-the-air on Univision in Spanish and
in English via SAP (10 pm ET);
FOX broadcast network will air the New York Red Bulls
vs. NYCFC rivalry match on June 24;
The August Rivalry Week matches will culminate in a
national TV tripleheader on Sunday, Aug. 27.
Final Push to Playoffs & Decision
Day
Final Push to Playoffs in Week 33 (Oct. 15, the
penultimate weekend of the regular season) will see
Eastern matches start at 3 pm ET and the Western
Conference at 5 pm ET;
On Decision Day in Week 34 (Oct. 22, the final day of
the regular season), all 11 matches will be played
simultaneously;
The final two weeks will feature flex scheduling with
national broadcasters selecting the most compelling
matches.
Gold Cup Break
For the first time MLS will not schedule any matches
during the CONCACAF Gold Cup group stage from July 7
through July 17;
Full Fixture Lists for all MLS Teams
Atlanta United FC
Chicago Fire
Colorado Rapids
Columbus Crew SC
D.C. United
FC Dallas
Houston Dynamo
LA Galaxy
Minnesota United FC
Montreal Impact
New England Revolution
New York City FC
New York Red Bulls
Orlando City SC
Philadelphia Union
Portland Timbers
Real Salt Lake
San Jose Earthquakes
Seattle Sounders
Sporting Kansas City
Toronto FC
Vancouver Whitecaps FC
FIFA
Confederations
Cup
Russia 2017 tickets go on
public sale
Fans can now apply for tickets for the FIFA Confederations Cup
Russia 2017 on the exclusive sales website FIFA.com/tickets.
The sales window will open on the 1st March. Tickets for all
16 matches, will be available for fans who want to watch the
‘Tournament of Champions’ live at the stadiums.
To attend FIFA Confederations Cup Russia 2017 matches, all
fans need to obtain a fan ID. Following the random selection
draws and once fans receive confirmation that tickets have
been successfully allocated to them, they can apply for their
fan ID at www.fan-id.ru. Each fan needs to obtain only one
personalised fan ID to enjoy all matches for which he/she has
purchased tickets.
The Official Draw in Kazan on 26 November 2016 threw up some
intriguing pairings that promise some great action out on the
pitch. Group A features Russia, New Zealand, Portugal and
Mexico, and Group B contains the African champions plus Chile,
Australia and Germany.
During the Visa pre-sale period, 48,504 tickets were sold. In
total, 695,000 tickets are available for purchase. Fans can
purchase up to six tickets per match, up to a maximum of ten
matches. In addition, venue-specific ticket series are
available, enabling fans to watch all matches in one Host
City. The only exception is the Saint Petersburg venue
package, which does not include the final. The total number of
tickets that fans can apply for is 60 per household.
The tickets will be delivered by courier service free of
charge as of April 2017. Special-access tickets will also be
available for disabled people and people with limited
mobility.