Trying to pin down football in 2025 feels a bit like trying to remember a dream after waking up. You know something intense happened, you just struggle to recall every detail. There were underdog stories in World Cup qualifying, England lifting Euro 2025, and the increasingly strange sight of United States President Donald Trump and FIFA president Gianni Infantino appearing inseparable. All of it played out with the quiet knowledge that the men’s World Cup in the U.S., Canada and Mexico is now just 165 days away, looming over everything.
At club level, the year barely paused for breath. Managers spoke with a level of honesty that sometimes felt uncomfortable. Free kicks flew in from impossible angles. Shock results landed almost weekly. Somewhere along the way, long throws returned from the tactical grave and refused to leave, becoming one of the defining quirks of the season. But no matter how wild the football became, 2025 also carried a heavier note. It is impossible to look back without acknowledging the tragic deaths of Liverpool and Portugal forward Diogo Jota and his brother Andre Silva, moments that silenced stadiums and cut through the noise of the game.
Asked to sum up the year in just a handful of words, the reactions were revealing. “Wimbledon, 1988. You can’t snap opponents like Vinnie Jones did, but this long throw obsession is wild.” Another view was broader, almost cinematic: “Twelve months of ‘Absolute Cinema’ as the top level of the sport further transforms it into a content delivery machine, overshadowing everything else.” Some responses felt more like poetry than analysis: “Let it all work out. Let it all work out. Ousmane Ballon d’Or. More in than out. More out than in. Let the dolls play.” Others cut straight to the contradiction at the heart of it all: “Blissfully chaotic at its best, pining for something lost at its worst. Also trigger alert: long throws.”
When it came to moments that genuinely mattered, perspective varied wildly. For one writer, nothing matched the experience of being there as Cape Verde qualified for the World Cup. “This choice is significantly influenced by the fact that I was there to see it happen, but Cape Verde qualifying for the World Cup.” The scale of it only grew in hindsight. “At the time, only Iceland had done it with a smaller population (Curacao have superseded them), but the unfiltered and uncomplicated joy in the stadium that day is something I’ll never forget.” Closer to home, Sunderland’s return to the Premier League stood out, not just for how they got there but for what came next. “Sunderland making it back to the Premier League through the play offs in the most majestic, last gasp way. And then actually being a really good top tier side.” Eight years away had felt endless. “It was a long eight years out of the top flight, which included four weary seasons in League One. But Sunderland have bounced all the way back and then some.”
Others looked at survival rather than silverware. “All of us making it through the 2026 World Cup draw in one piece and with most of our sanity intact.” Some moments were about supporters as much as players. “Crystal Palace beating Manchester City to win the FA Cup (the first major trophy in their 164 year history) was pretty special.” What lingered most was the emotion. “People, young and old, sobbing in a mixture of disbelief and joy. It was genuinely heart warming football touching the soul.” And then there was England again. “The Lionesses winning their second European Championship title.” A reminder, too, of who keeps setting the standard. “She has excellent taste in music, too.”
Heroes came in many forms. For some, the answer was immediate. “Scott McTominay.” A transformation few saw coming. “One of football’s great glow ups from being a solid, arguably slightly boring, taken for granted 7 out of 10 Manchester United midfielder, to title winning, hard partying, cigar smoking, Pope meeting, bicycle kick scoring, Serie A MVP.” Others needed no explanation. “It is always Marta. This year, next year, forever. Oh, and Troy Parrott.” New faces emerged too. “Michelle Agyemang really wore that cape in Switzerland.” The context made it even bigger. “To accomplish it while being just 19 years old and at her first major tournament with England was sensational.”
Some heroism had nothing to do with goals. “Stephen Crean, the 61 year old Nottingham Forest fan who courageously intervened during a mass stabbing on a train from Doncaster to London last month.” Football grounds felt different after that. “It meant the world to me. I could see people clapping, applauding and I just thank them so much.” Others returned to McTominay’s year of madness. “I undervalued his talent at Manchester United, and I have spent the year happily eating humble pie while applauding his success.” And football, at its best, still knows how to smile. “I don’t think there’s a centre back on the planet who is having more fun in the men’s game.”
Villains were harder to avoid. For some, it came down to two names. “Either Gianni Infantino, who has seemingly spent the year sleeping in a little bed in the Oval Office, like a particularly dutiful dog,” or “Jim Ratcliffe, for… well, claiming to understand the needs of the fans while jacking up ticket prices.” Others kept it shorter. “Vecna.” Or broader. “A toss up between whoever signed off on Sky Sports’ Halo and Joey Barton.” There was little mercy for FIFA’s leadership. “Where to start? The farce of the inaugural FIFA Peace Prize.” One writer even hoped for divine intervention. “If a series of ghosts had visited Sir Jim Ratcliffe over the cold Christmas nights, it would do us all the world of good.”
Surprises kept coming. “Troy Parrott’s miracle hat trick against Hungary.” Moments that felt borrowed from pop culture. “Burna Boy and Sarina Wiegman linking up on stage at England’s Euro 2025 victory parade.” American chaos delivered too. “Gotham’s victory in the NWSL Championship.” Elsewhere, reputations crumbled. “Ajax letting the 2024 25 Dutch league title slip through their fingers.”
Injustice, as ever, was everywhere. “Cristiano Ronaldo being let off his three game suspension for a red card.” Missed opportunities for spectacle. “Not letting Robbie Williams sing Angels at the World Cup draw.” Scheduling decisions that baffled fans. “The decision to simultaneously broadcast most of the Women’s Super League matches for the 2025 26 season at 12pm local time.” Structural unfairness lingered too. “Steve Parish would like to answer this question.” And refereeing controversies crossed continents. “The Confederation of African Football would later receive a formal complaint.”
Goals blurred into one another, but a few refused to fade. “James Tarkowski’s stoppage time equaliser in the final men’s Merseyside derby at Goodison Park.” One final moment from Diogo Jota stood apart. “It was so Jota. Off the bench and on to come up with the goods for Liverpool just when they needed him to.” Fans remembered the feeling more than the finish. “I was convinced I’d be tumbling down the Hill Dickinson Stadium stands.” At the elite end, beauty still mattered. “Paris Saint Germain’s third goal in the Champions League final against Inter was glorious.” And sometimes power was enough. “Declan Rice’s perfect free kick against Real Madrid.”
The words spoken throughout the year often lingered longer than the matches. “Sometimes I hate my players and sometimes I love my players.” “These people have such open hearts.” “Sometimes they kill off the main character.” And perhaps the most brutal honesty of all. “We are the worst team, maybe in the history of Manchester United.”
Looking ahead, optimism and chaos still walked hand in hand. “Manchester United are going to be actively good.” “Liverpool do not reclaim their Premier League title but win the Champions League instead.” “Craig Bellamy will get Wales to the World Cup.” Some predictions leaned fully into absurdity. “Donald Trump will lift the World Cup before the winning captain has the chance.” Others simply wanted closure. “Noni Madueke will finally receive his Club World Cup winners’ medal.”
That was football in 2025. Exhausting. Emotional. Often ridiculous. Occasionally beautiful. And somehow, despite everything, still impossible to let go of.
