Football in 2024: The year in review

euronews (in English)

2024 was an exciting year in the world of football, with international tournaments on all continents delighting fans from all across the globe.

Transcript

00:00It's been another exciting year of action in the world of football.

00:03We have new continental champions on the international stage.

00:06One of European football's biggest leagues, the Bundesliga, has a new winner.

00:10And there are new head coaches at some of the world's most decorated clubs.

00:14Let's take a look back at a historic 2024.

00:22Hello and welcome to Football Now from Albina Park in Doha.

00:27It's time to take a look back at some of the most exciting on-the-pitch moments from 2024.

00:32It was a year that was jam-packed full of international tournaments.

00:36So let's remind ourselves of who, what and where were the highlights over the last 12 months.

00:41Starting in Asia, Qatar were the hosts and eventual champions of the 2023 Asian Cup.

00:47Star striker Akram Afif scored a hat-trick of penalties in the 3-1 win over Jordan in the final.

00:52The Maroons are back-to-back champions after also winning the tournament in 2019.

00:57But winning it on home soil in 2024 was extra special for their fans.

01:22Moving on now to the latest edition of the African Cup of Nations.

01:49Ivory Coast were the winners after defeating Nigeria in the final in Abidjan.

01:54Forward Sebastian Haller stole the headlines, scoring the winning goal just two years after

01:58he faced early retirement due to a testicular cancer diagnosis.

02:03In South America, it was Argentina who won their second consecutive Copa America

02:07and the third major trophy on the spin.

02:10It's a record-breaking 16th Copa America trophy for La Alba Celeste.

02:15Now what an extraordinary story because they gave the coaching job to Lionel Scaloni,

02:20who'd never coached a senior team before.

02:22After the shambles of the 2018 World Cup,

02:24they gave it to him on a caretaker basis for one reason alone, really.

02:27He was cheap. They didn't have a lot of money.

02:29I remember at the time, Diego Maradona saying,

02:33well, Scaloni, he's a nice guy, but he's not qualified to direct traffic.

02:37And here we are a few years later after that,

02:40because they hadn't won anything from 1993 onwards.

02:43And now they've won two Copa Americas and a World Cup.

02:46Now it's difficult to retain the World Cup.

02:48It hasn't been done for a very, very long time.

02:50The bar is set now higher than it's ever been.

02:53So it's been fascinating watching this story.

02:56In order to win again in 2026,

02:58they're going to have to be even better than they were in Qatar.

03:02And finally in Europe, Spain defeated England in the Euro 2024 final in Berlin.

03:08It's their fourth international trophy since the turn of the century.

03:12Meanwhile, in Germany, Bayer Leverkusen were crowned champions of the Bundesliga

03:16for the first time in their club's history.

03:19And they did it in style.

03:21An invincible season for Xabi Alonso's men

03:23saw them go an entire campaign without losing a match.

03:27It was an achievement that even the mighty Bayern Munich

03:29didn't manage in all of their years of dominating German football.

03:33You know, they also played beautiful football.

03:36It wasn't kind of, you know, building the wall, parking the bus.

03:39There were also some magical nights in the Europa League for them.

03:42To my absolute astonishment,

03:45they didn't really show up against Atalanta in the final.

03:47Atalanta had a great game plan, a great match and deservedly won.

03:51But, you know, bear in mind that Bayer Leverkusen

03:54was not just unbeaten in the Bundesliga the whole season.

03:56They were unbeaten across all three competitions.

03:59And they went on to win the cup.

04:00And the first time they were beaten on German soil in a year and a half

04:05by a German team was actually in October

04:07when they hosted Leipzig in the Bundesliga.

04:10Yeah, as I said, it was a huge achievement

04:12and it did get the credit it deserved in Germany, for sure.

04:17Well, England's two biggest clubs, Liverpool and Manchester United,

04:21both changed their coaches in 2024,

04:24but both for very different reasons.

04:27Liverpool said an emotional goodbye to Jurgen Klopp

04:29after a successful nine years in charge,

04:32while United finally sacked Derek ten Haag after months of speculation

04:36and replaced him with the Portuguese Ruben Amorim.

04:38He's the sixth permanent manager to take the job

04:40since the departure of the great Sir Alex Ferguson in 2013.

04:44Will Amorim be the man to finally lead United back to glory?

04:48It's going to take time to really see this success long term.

04:52And all these changes that are being implemented off the pitch,

04:54again, are going to take time.

04:55You know, people, I think, are under this impression

04:57that you come in and in a couple of months, they're going to change everything.

04:59It takes years sometimes to get this right.

05:01We've seen with Liverpool and City in the past how long it can take.

05:04And Arsenal are now obviously reaping the rewards of it as well

05:06in the last couple of seasons fighting near the top.

05:08So it does take a while to get these things right.

05:11And he's going to have to be given that time

05:13as well as any of the managers have been.

05:15But even more so, I think,

05:16because it just can't keep going around in this cycle.

05:18I think for now, it's just about sticking behind him

05:20and seeing the long term vision

05:22rather than, you know, a couple of quick results in the short term.

05:24There's definitely optimism again.

05:26I think there's always that renewed optimism.

05:28You've just got to be patient.

05:28You know, I think we're a couple of years away,

05:31but I'm hopeful that this time, given the time, it will get there.

05:34It's been another exciting year for football across the globe,

05:38and we can't wait to see what 2025 has in store.

05:41Let us know your favourite footballing moments of the year

05:44using the hashtag football now 2024.

05:47That's all we've got time for here from Alberta Park in Doha.

05:51We'll see you next time.

05:52Bye for now.

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