Global diary
Gamesanddatestopencilinforthemonthahead
European qualifying
The first qualifying round for the 2022-23 Champions League season begins in the week of July 5, with the second legs a week later. Bodo/Glimt of Norway and Bulgarian giants Ludogorets are among the teams in action at this stage, with the champions of Poland and Azerbaijan meeting when Lech Poznan take on Qarabag, while Linfield and The New Saints meet in an all-UK clash.
The losing sides will advance to the second stage of Europa Conference League qualifying.
Some teams are already into the second round of Champions League qualifying, including Ukraine’s Dynamo Kyiv and Fenerbahce of Turkey, who meet on July 20 and again on July 27. The losers will drop into Europa League qualifying.
Euro 2022
The Women’s European Championship kicks off on July 6, then there are two games per day from July 8 until the group stage ends on July 18. The quarter-finals get underway two days later, with the Wembley final on Sunday, July 31.
Women’s Championships
The Euros aren’t the only women’s continental championships taking place this summer: the Women’s AFCON runs from July 2-23, the CONCACAF equivalent from July 4-18, and the Copa America Femenina fromJuly 8-30.
COSAFA Cup
The Council of Southern Africa Football Association’s annual competition takes place in Durban, South Africa, from July 5-17. The hosts, along with Madagascar, Namibia, Zambia, Mozambique and Senegal have been handed byes to the quarter-finals, awaiting the winners of the two groups featuring Angola, Comoros, Seychelles and Botswana in Group A, and Malawi, Lesotho, Mauritius and Eswatini in Group B.
Season starts
The Russian and Polish leagues will be among the first major European top flights to begin their 2022-23 seasons when they kick off on July15. The EFL campaign begins on the final weekend of July, with Huddersfield and Burnley kicking things off in the Championship on Friday, July 29. The Scottish Premiership begins on the same weekend, with the English, German, Dutch and French top flights beginning a week later.
Cup kick- offs
The German Cup gets underway on the final week of July, a week before the league season begins. Meanwhile, the group stage of the Scottish League Cup runs from July 9-24.
Curtain raisers
Saturday, July 30 will see the traditional season curtain raisers in England, Germany and France. Liverpool face Manchester City at Wembley in the Community Shield, RB Leipzig take on Bayern Munich in the German Super Cup, while Paris SaintGermain’s opponents in the Champions Trophy are Nantes. The Italian and Spanish Super Cups don’t take place until January, the latter in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Major League Soccer
The 2022 season continues throughout the summer with a number of notable games. The “El Trafico” derby between the Western Conference’s early frontrunners LAFC and LA Galaxy takes place on July 9, with Florida rivals Orlando City and Inter Miami meeting in the East the day after. A week later, the two New York clubs, Red Bull and NYCFC, meet in a potential top-of-the-table clash in the Eastern Conference.