In a few days, we will bid 2023 farewell. This year, in terms of the sports field, witnessed various surprising events domestically and globally.
Here is a list of the most significant global events in the year.
Al Nassr's CR7 Reveal
At the beginning of 2023, the iconic Cristiano Ronaldo made his reveal with the Saudi Al Nassr to be the earliest football megastar to depart the European ground fields and move to the KSA to be the face of the international project of the KSA in the field of entertainment and sports. Ronaldo captured one title with his new team which was the King Salman Arab Club Cup.
CR7 & More Milestones
The iconic Ronaldo reached a new career milestone by hitting his 1200th professional career game, had his 63rd career hat-trick, and 200th international appearance with his national team, honored by receiving a Guinness World Records certificate for having the most international caps for a male player.
Messi to Inter Miami
Ronaldo was not the only megastar who departed Europe, as he was followed by Messi who trended for several weeks after his PSG exit. Messi was a major attraction for Al Hilal, but he preferred to move to USA's Inter Miami to be part of the US plans for football investments.
Neymar to Al Hilal
In August, Neymar Jr. also departed PSG, but he signed with the Saudi Al-Hilal for two years.
Benzema to Ittihad
Karim Benzema who is one of the historical captains of Real Madrid made his exit to sign with the Saudi Ittihad Jeddah.
The Arrival of More Stars to KSA
Various stars moved to the KSA to be part of the massive Saudi sports projects like Riyadh Mahrez, Sadio Mane, Yassine Bounou, and others.
Manchester City Historical Season & Halaand & Alvarez Effect.
The 2022/2023 season for Manchester City would be remarkable as they managed to capture the top prestigious club titles: UEFA Champions League, UEFA Super Cup, and the FIFA Club World Cup, in addition to two domestic titles the Premier League, and FA Cup.
Manchester City's star Halaand played an unforgettable role with the team as he became one of the top scorers of the Citizens.
Alvarez also was one of the stars of the Citizens as he scored the fastest goal in the history of the FIFA Club World Cup, and became the only Argentinian star to catch the Premier League title, FIFA Club World Cup, FIFA World Cup, and UEFA Champions League.
Lionel Messi Wins 8th Ballon d'Or
Messi won the 8th Ballon d'Or to be the most player who won the award. Messi receives the award after his outstanding performance with Argentina.
Spain Win FIFA Women's World Cup But Coronation Turned Controversial
In a breathtaking game, Spain stunned England, Lionesses, 1-0 in the final of the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup for the first time in their history.
The tournament was a historical edition as it was the most attended version of the tournament, and it was the biggest in the number of matches. In addition, it was the first time for the tournament to be hosted in the southern hemisphere.
After the coronation, the Spanish football federation expressed its "Most sincere apologies" for the "totally unacceptable behaviour" of its president Luis Rubiales over his forcible kiss on a Women's World Cup player.
Rubiales's name trended worldwide after he forcibly kissed Spain midfielder Jenni Hermoso during Spain's Coronation of the FIFA Women's World Cup.
Australia Disappoint 1 Billion Indians
The failure of the Indian Cricket team in the World Cup final against Australia caused the sorrow of more than 1 billion Indians.
The Cricket World Cup attracted the audience's eyes globally, especially India's game against Pakistan which resonated with the current political clashes between both countries.
Napoli Win Serie A Title for First Time in 33 Years
Finally, after 33 years, Napoli won the champions of the Serie A for 2022/2023.
A huge number of fans took to social media platforms to greet the soul of Maradona as Napoli became the champions of Italy and Argentina became the FIFA World Cup in the same season.
Santos Fell to Brazil's B League
After 111 years of dominating Brazilian football, the historical Santos presented their season ever, failing to escape relegation to the second division.
Tennis on Fire
This year for Tennis was on fire for both men, and women. Ons Jabeur failed to capture a grand slam title, but she managed to be one of the few women's tennis stars to be in the final of Wimbledon back to back.
Each of the four women's grand slam titles sees a different champion. Aryna Sabalenka won the Australia Open, Iga Swiatek won the French Open, Coco Gauff won the US Open and she managed to capture her first WTA 500, WTA 1000, and her first grand slam title, and Marketa Vondrousova made a surprising Wimbledon title win.
Regarding the men's competitions, this year saw a huge rivalry between Novak Djokovic and the 20-year-old Carlos Alcaraz. Both came head to head in several competitions.
Alcaraz managed to break Djokovic's domination over Wimbledon. He defeated the Serbian giant in the final of the prestigious grand slam tournament, however, Djokovic managed to have his revenge against Alcaraz and captured the US Open. Djokovic also became the top of the top 3: Djokovic, Federer, and Nadal. He captured three out of four grand slam titles in 2023.
WWE - UFC Merging Finalized
In September, the merging of UFC and WWE was completed.
The two entities will create TKO Group Holdings, and the new company's shares were officially enlisted at the New York index.
Max Verstappen Reaches New Milestone
Max Verstappen managed to make the best season for a F1 star as he won 19 races, including 10 successive wins to be the first in the history of such competitions to make such an achievement.
Egypt's Al Ahly Set New FIFA Club World Cup Records
Egypt's Al Ahly won the Bronze medal of the FIFA Club World Cup which is expected to be the final bronze medal in the history of the tournament.
Moreover, Al Ahly became the second team that captured the most number of medals in the tournament with Barcelona with 4 for each.
It is the first time for Al Ahly's coach Marcel Koller to win a medal in the tournament to be the third coach with Al Ahly to win a medal in the tournament after Manuel Jose, and Pitso Mosimane.
The latest match for the Bronze medal is the final in the history of the tournament as the system of the tournament will be into force next edition.
Al Ahly also became the most team to capture the Bronze medal of the FIFA Club World Cup, in addition to being the second team that scored the most goals in the tournament after Real Madrid.
Manchester United sells 25% ownership to Jim Ratcliffe
Manchester United announced Sunday that British billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe bought a 25% stake in the famed English Premier League football club.
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