England bowed out in the 2026 World Cup semifinals, disappointing a nation that has waited 60 years to appear in a second final. Never mind: Time may not heal all wounds, but money is a consolation. Another near miss on the sporting field shouldn¡¯t overshadow the financial positives for the game back home. A side effect of the riches reaped by FIFA and its main host, the U.S., may be to push some more air into the Premier League¡¯s gravity-defying balloon.
Early signs of buoyancy include reports that a consortium backed by the family of Indian billionaire Lakshmi Mittal is in talks to buy a minority stake in Liverpool FC that would value the club at as much as $6 billion. Amazon.com Inc. founder Jeff Bezos is said to have held discussions on joining the group. Meanwhile, the transfer record for a British player has been broken twice since the tournament kicked off in June, with Morgan Rogers¡¯ ?117 million ($156 million) move to Chelsea from Aston Villa surpassing by ?1 million the fee Manchester City agreed to pay for Nottingham Forest¡¯s Elliot Anderson. Elsewhere, the Thai owners of Leicester City ¡ª which won the Premier League a decade ago but has now slipped into the third tier of English football ¡ª are exploring a sale of the club, according to the Financial Times. The motivation here might be distress more than rising valuations, but the timing nevertheless suggests opportune conditions in the World Cup¡¯s afterglow.
The 2026 tournament was a more valuable showcase for Premier League talent than Qatar four years earlier. The league supplied a record 182 players to the competition, and its stars were among the standout performers. Spanish midfielder Rodri, of Manchester City, was named the tournament¡¯s best player. His club teammate Erling Haaland of Norway, the Premier League¡¯s top striker, became a cultural sensation in the U.S. not only for the goals that knocked out Brazil but also for his fashion sense. A total of 11 Premier League players took to the field for the final between Spain and Argentina, up from seven in Qatar. Other than England reaching the final, there aren¡¯t many outcomes that would have provided a better shop window.
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