Once in a while, the sporting calendar produces a real blockbuster weekend, when multiple big events arrive at once.
So if you’re an aficionado of different sports and had planned some Christmas shopping, domestic chores or catching up on the latest streaming series over the next couple of days, perhaps think twice.
Instead, hunker down and get ready for five must-watch events.
World Cup draw
Friday:
(USA: Fox 12pm ET)
(UK: BBC 2, 5pm GMT)
For the first time, the bigger-than-ever tournament will feature 12 groups of four teams, and the draw at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. will be a tantalising reveal of which teams will play each other in a group phase bigger than at any previous World Cup.
Then on Saturday, FIFA will unveil the updated match schedule for next summer’s tournament in the United States, Mexico and Canada.
During another live broadcast, hosted by FIFA president Gianni Infantino, the venues and kick-off times for all 104 matches will be revealed. The full and final version of the match schedule will be completed in March, once the inter-confederation and European play-offs have taken place and the final six qualifiers have taken their slots.
Friday’s World Cup draw is part of an epic weekend of sports coverage (Dan Mullan/Getty Images)
Premier League title race
Saturday:
Aston Villa vs Arsenal (USA: USA Network, 7:30am ET; UK: TNT, 12:30pm GMT)
Bournemouth vs Chelsea (USA: Peacock/NBCSN, 10am ET; UK: BBC Radio 5 Live, 3pm GMT)
Manchester City vs Sunderland (USA: Peacock, 10am ET; UK: BBC Radio 5 Live, 3pm GMT)
With top-level football in mind, some of the stars whose teams have already booked their places at the World Cup will be in action during a busy Premier League schedule this weekend, with three key games in the title race.
Saturday kicks off with Bukayo Saka, Declan Rice and Martin Odegaard, to name a few of title-chasing Arsenal’s World Cup-bound contingent, in action against a resurgent Aston Villa with Argentina’s Emiliano Martinez and England’s Morgan Rogers at Villa Park. Mikel Arteta’s side go into the fixture having rebuilt a five-point lead at the summit after their 2-0 win over Brentford on Wednesday, with squad rotation and a busy schedule making no dent in their momentum.
Bukayo Saka will be hoping to help Arsenal maintain their lead in the title race (Julian Finney/Getty Images)
For Villa, there could be heavy legs but rising belief after they came from 2-0 down to beat Brighton 4-3 in a thriller at the Amex Stadium in midweek.
Later in the day, another potential World Cup superstar, Brazil’s teenage attacker Estevao, will try to keep Chelsea in the title race as they go to Bournemouth. The west Londoners suffered a surprise 3-1 defeat by Leeds on Wednesday, and are now nine points behind Arsenal. They have had to contend without the injured Cole Palmer in recent weeks, but the playmaker could start on Saturday. However, the influential midfielder Moises Caicedo, badly missed at Elland Road, will serve the second of his three-match suspension.
Kicking off at the same time, Manchester City host Sunderland, with striker Erling Haaland a new member of the top flight’s 100-goal club. He will be hoping to fire Norway to success in the summer, after helping them qualify for their first World Cup in 27 years last month.
Haaland is in ominous form in the Premier League, sitting top of the Premier League goalscorer table with 15, as second-place City begin to put the pressure on Arsenal.
MLS Cup final
Saturday: Inter Miami vs Vancouver Whitecaps
(USA: Fox/Apple, 2:30pm ET)
(UK: Apple, 7:30pm EST)
Across the Atlantic, there is an all-or-nothing final to savour.
Saturday will see former World Cup finalist Javier Mascherano attempt to guide his Inter Miami side, inspired by Lionel Messi, to MLS Cup success as they face Vancouver Whitecaps at Chase Stadium.
It’s a chance for Miami to win the trophy for the first time — and for the game to reach a new, substantially bigger U.S. audience, given it is not behind Apple TV’s subscriber paywall.
Opposing Messi is another legend of the game, former Bayern Munich and Germany icon Thomas Muller, who has dazzled in his first season for the Canadian outfit.
Can Lionel Messi lead Inter Miami to a first MLS Cup final victory? (Rich Storry/Getty Images)
There’s also a last chance for two Miami heroes, Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba, to get their hands on the cup before both retire at the end of the season.
Another sub-plot centres on Luis Suarez. Miami started the competition’s play-offs with the Uruguayan star up front, but Suarez incurred a ban for Miami’s last match of their best-of-three series against Nashville, forcing Mascherano to go for Tadeo Allende and Mateo Silvetti on either side of Messi up front. That formation has worked emphatically, so all eyes will be on whether the manager sticks with it or reaches for that extra burst of star power once more.
The Ashes
Thursday-Monday:
(USA: Willow, 11pm-6am ET)*
(UK: Sky, 4am-11am GMT)
In Australia, a much older rivalry is playing out. England take on the Aussies in the second Test of the men’s Ashes series, seeking to recover from their dramatic capitulation in the opening round in Perth last month.
Skipper Ben Stokes and his team are trying to break a long losing streak at Brisbane’s Gabba. They have not won any of their past 16 Tests in Australia, including three defeats in day-night matches, and although batter Joe Root hit a magnificent 135 not out, his first century in Australia, the hosts’ formidable bowler Mitchell Starc took six wickets. It left the game intriguingly poised.
Joe Root scored a magnificent century on day one at the Gabba (David Gray/AFP via Getty Images)
From the tourists’ point of view, a defeat would not be terminal for their hopes of winning the series. Going 2-0 down in a five-test series would not represent the end of the line, but it would make victory feel unlikely in a country where they have long struggled.
So coach Brendon McCullum will be hoping for a huge reversal in form, after his side became the first since 1921 to lose a test over just two days courtesy of an astonishing Australian fightback in Perth, led by Travis Head’s memorable century.
The second Test is finely balanced after the first day in Queensland, with a late rally from Root and last man Jofra Archer carrying England to 325-9.
*For U.S. viewers on ET, the second day’s play will actually start at 11pm tonight (Thursday). How many days the Test lasts will be game-dependent — the first Test was over in two days.
Formula One finale – Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
Sunday:
(USA: ESPN, 8am ET)
(UK: Sky, 1pm GMT)
More drama will be on the cards in Abu Dhabi on Sunday. That’s where the 2025 Formula 1 drivers’ championship climaxes with an exciting three-way tussle in the final race of the season.
It is the first time in 15 years that three drivers all still have a chance of taking the title. Lando Norris, Max Verstappen and Oscar Piastri still have hope at the Yas Marina Circuit, with each having won seven grands prix so far this season.
The dramatic finale was set up courtesy of Verstappen’s shock victory in Qatar, taking advantage of a strategy error by McLaren, which cut Norris’ advantage at the top to just 12 points. Piastri is a further four behind the Red Bull driver.
Briton Norris is at least the master of his own destiny, aware that a podium finish will be enough to clinch his first title. But Red Bull’s Verstappen has the experience and proven pedigree as he aims for what would be his fifth consecutive title.
Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri and Max Verstappen are all still in the title hunt in Abu Dhabi (Mark Thompson/Getty Images)
Then there is McLaren’s Piastri, the 24-year-old Australian, who is also aiming for his first taste of glory.
To recap, then: World Cup dreams take shape, Premier League gathers momentum, it’s all on the line in Fort Lauderdale, Brisbane could be pivotal, and everything comes down to Abu Dhabi.
The Christmas shopping might have to wait.