With the New Year fast approaching, sports fans worldwide will be pondering what 2025 may have in store for them.
Rather than trot out a standard predictions article, we have racked our brains to come up with three things that would shock the world if they happened.
The UAE’s World Cup Dreams – A Bridge Too Far
The idea of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) playing at the 2026 World Cup may be nothing more than a pipe dream, but stranger things have happened in football.
Unlike most countries in the Middle East, football is the most popular sport in the UAE. While they are considered one of the stronger nations in the region, they’ve only made it to the World Cup once.
The last time the UAE played in the World Cup was over three decades ago, and their journey since then has been a patchwork of regional success that has failed to take them to the global stage.
Given their rich history of never even getting a chance to underperform at the World Cup, their odds of claiming one of Asia’s precious qualification spots are audacious at best.
However, with the 2026 edition set to feature a groundbreaking 48 teams, 2025 could be the year the UAE shocks the footballing world and secures a spot in North America.
If that happens, the betting community in the country will spark into life, with fans rallying behind the national team in a frenzy of newfound pride and excitement.
Supporters would flock to UAE betting sites to wager on the team, particularly given that the odds on them making progress at the tournament would be astronomical.
While they are on course to move into the next phase of the qualifiers, claiming one of the eight spots allocated to the region might be a bridge too far.
Mauricio Pochettino Sacked Before the World Cup
American fans have been dreaming of a deep run at the World Cup since Mauricio Pochettino was appointed as the new manager of the United States.
He wasn’t their first choice. The US Soccer Federation had initially launched an audacious move to appoint former Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp but were laughed out of the room.
They then jumped at the chance to grab Pochettino, who was coming off a sketchy one-year spell with Premier League giants Chelsea.
Pochettino is not famous for his tactical brilliance, but he knows how to galvanise a squad. That’s not usually enough to get you over the line in international football, so there is a decent chance that an appointment initially considered a stroke of genius could backfire.
He led the US to a 2-0 victory over Panama in his first game, but a defeat against World Cup co-hosts Mexico by an identical scoreline highlighted the size of the task he faces.
With the World Cup taking place on home soil, expectations are high. However, Pochettino’s overrated reputation as a ‘world-class’ European manager doesn’t do him any good.
Before the showpiece, the Argentine head coach will lead the US in the CONCACAF Nations League, where they will take on Jamaica in a double-header.
The US haven’t lost to Jamaica since 2015, so anything but victory could make his bosses uneasy. It’s not beyond the realms of possibility that a winless run in their 2025 friendlies could see both parties part ways just months before the World Cup.
Arsenal Finally End 21-Year Wait for the Premier League Title
‘Nearly’ has been the theme for Arsenal for the past two seasons, but last term was particularly gut-wrenching as they missed out on the Premier League title by two points.
Mikel Arteta and his troops were expected to finally beat Manchester City to the punch this season, but things are not going according to the script.
Arsenal are outside the top four after ten games, seven points adrift of pace setters Liverpool and five behind the reigning champions.
Although the season is still in its infancy, they are not completely out of the title race yet. However, their chances of pulling off a comeback of this scale are about the same as third-placed Nottingham Forest repeating Leicester City’s 2015/16 success.
If Arsenal are to win the Premier League this season, they will need to be perfect from this point and hope Liverpool and Man City falter repeatedly.
It shouldn’t be a problem for the almighty Gunners. After all, their fans believed they could repeat their 2004/05 ‘Invincibles’ run on their way to the title this season.
