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The year 2024 had been a remarkable one for sports fans around the globe with Paris Olympics, Euro Championship, Copa America and the Men’s T20 World Cup providing sheen to a choc-a-bloc calendar. The new year will not be short on excitement either – with the ICC Champions Trophy and the Fifa Club World Cup headlining the act along with the regular events.
It is a relief for the cricket enthusiasts that the uncertainty over the hybrid model for the ICC Champions Trophy is finally over. Set to be resurrected after a gap of eight years, the 50-overs showpiece (once referred to as the Mini World Cup) in February-March will be the first major ICC event to be held in Pakistan after the 1996 World Cup. Later in the year, the ICC Women’s World Cup in August-September in India will offer the hosts a chance to break its jinx and secure their maiden global title.
June-July had always been the month for football extravaganzas and it will be no different this time with the Fifa Club World Cup set to be held in Japan in it’s new avatar. Started as a tokenism with only the continental club champions taking on each other at the yearend for the trophy, it has now been expanded to a 32-team affair. Fifa has been quick to recognise the rising appeal of club football over country and if the experiment works, it could be a welcome addition to the calendar.
Here’s a pick at the top five events to watch out for in addition to the regular annual fare:
ICC Champions Trophy (19 February – 9 March)
The revival of ICC Champions Trophy after eight years will see hosts Pakistan defending the title which they won by defeating India in the final in 2017 in England. Three cities of Pakistan: Lahore, Karachi and Rawalpindi will host a minimum of 10 matches while India’s three group matches and the first semi-final will be held in the neutral venue of Dubai. In case of a non-India final, it will be held in Lahore but should Rohit Sharma & Co make the title-round, the match will be shifted to the UAE as per agreement.
The top eight ranked countries as per ICC rankings which make the line-up are: Pakistan, India, New Zealand, Bangladesh, Australia, England, South Africa and Afghanistan.
Fifa Club World Cup (14 June – 13 July)
The United States will host the first-ever extended version of FIFA Club World Cup, adding more spice to the global football calendar. The 32-team event will follow a format like the last World Cup where 32 teams will be split into eight groups of four each. The top two finishers from each group will progress to Round-of-16 where single match knockout ties will be played all the way to the final.
Premiership giants Manchester City are the defending champions, having won the tournament in the earlier avatar in 2023. The European continent will have the biggest representation with 12 clubs including the likes of Chelsea, Paris St. Germain, Bayern Munich, Juventus among others.
World Athletics (13-21 September)
The 20th edition of World Athletics Championships, a bi-annual event, will be held in Tokyo in September. For the athletics fans of the sub-continent, it will be of extra significance as it pits Olympics gold medallist Arshad Nadeem against Neeraj Chopra, who hopes to bounce back after the Paris disappointment of a silver.
There are several other riveting clashes in store like between Julien Alfred and Sha’Carri Richardson in women’s 100 metres, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone and Femke Bol in 400m hurdles or Noah Lyles versus Letsile Tebogo in the sprint.
Africa Cup of Nations (21 December – 18 January)
The Afcon, which historically showcases some of the biggest stars of club football in their national shirts, will be held across five cities of Morocco. The likes of Mohammed Salah (Egypt), Ademola Lookman (Nigeria) and Brahim Diaz (Morocco) are among some of the biggest names set to be in action.
This is the first time that the tournament will be held over the Christmas and New Year period – which may lead to potential problems in scheduling and release of players. Defending champions Ivory Coast will be among top seeds, given the Elephants were rated as Africa’s sixth-best side in the most recent rankings.
Women’s World Cup cricket (15 August – 15 September)
The best finish Women in Blue have ever managed in the 50-overs World Cup is the runners-up spot in the 2017 edition when Mithali Raj & Co lost the Lord’s final narrowly to England by nine runs. Harmanpreet Kaur & Co will look to settle the anomaly right when India host the tournament for the fourth time. Women’s cricket, incidentally, have grown in popularity in India over the last few years with the Women’s Premier League also playing a key role behind it.
While marking the dates for the marquee events, there are still plenty of mouthwatering events throughout the year – be it the World Test Championship (WTC) final in June, a five-Test series between India and England in the UK, the four tennis slams or the European leagues. There is never a dull moment for the sports fan – as they say!
