Jersey exchanges are one of soccer’s most visible acts of sportsmanship. Simple in form, they signify respect, admiration and a shared memory from a match. Players at every level trade shirts after games to mark special occasions, noteworthy performances or hard-fought battles.

The practice has deep roots. The first recorded jersey swap took place in 1931 after France stunned England 5–2, when French players asked to keep English shirts as keepsakes. The gesture reached the World Cup stage in 1954 in Switzerland and has since produced some of the sport’s most enduring images.

Historic examples include the 1970 exchange between Pelé and Bobby Moore after Brazil beat England 1–0, a moment that came to represent respect and class. The 1986 swap between Diego Maradona and Steve Hodge followed one of the tournament’s most famous matches; Hodge’s shirt later sold for a record $9.3 million at auction in 2022.

Modern tournaments continue to create memorable swaps. After France’s 2022 World Cup semifinal win over Morocco, Kylian Mbappé celebrated wearing the jersey of Achraf Hakimi. At the 2026 World Cup, Cabo Verde goalkeeper Vozinha swapped shirts with Lionel Messi after Argentina’s 3–2 win and said the moment would stay in his “heart forever.”

Collecting exchanged shirts is an established pursuit. Gerard Piqué has assembled a notable collection that includes jerseys from Messi, Andrea Pirlo and David Beckham. Messi maintains a large personal collection displayed at home, including shirts from Yaya Touré, Raúl, Youssef El-Arabi and Oscar Ustari. Paulo Dybala owns jerseys from Diogo Jota and Ronaldinho and once posted his collection online asking: “How many are there?”

The logistics behind swaps are practical. Players are normally issued more than one match shirt so exchanges are possible; clubs sometimes require players to cover the cost of replacement shirts. Premier League kit managers even coordinate via a WhatsApp group to manage requests between clubs before games.

Not every request is accepted. Cristiano Ronaldo once refused a shirt swap with Robin Gosens. “After the final whistle I went to him, but Ronaldo did not accept,” Gosens wrote in his autobiography Dreams Are Worthwhile. “I asked: ‘Cristiano, can I have your shirt?’. He didn’t even look at me, he just said: ‘No!’.

“I was completely ashamed. I went away and felt small. You know that moment when something embarrassing happens and you look around to see if anyone noticed it? That’s what I felt and tried to hide it.” Gosens later received a Ronaldo shirt from teammate Hans Hateboer.

Manchester United have added Lille midfielder Ayyoub Bouaddi to a growing list of midfield targets after his 2026 World Cup emergence. Sky Sports reports initial interest has been followed by “further checks” from the Old Trafford club, and Bouaddi will next be available to scout when Morocco faces Canada on Saturday.

A move for Brazil’s Éderson is described as all but confirmed, while Elliot Anderson, Mateus Fernandes and Sandro Tonali are now off the table after their moves totaled a combined £301 million ($402 million). United appear intent on keeping recruitment options open as they assess midfield reinforcements.

Alongside Bournemouth’s Alex Scott and Real Madrid’s Aurélien Tchouaméni, Bouaddi has been added to a shortlist that includes Felix Nmecha and Sander Berge. The club has admired Berge on and off since 2020 when he came to prominence at Genk, and Berge has had spells at Sheffield United, Burnley and Fulham in the intervening six years.

Manchester United allowed Tottenham a free run at Mateus Fernandes because they were not prepared to pay the £85 million ($113.5 million) asking price that West Ham wanted. Tonali is set to be sold for £100 million ($133.5 million) when that transfer from Newcastle is finalized, while Anderson’s fee of £116 million ($155 million) is a record sum for an English player.

Clubs frequently price targets against recent sales, and Bouaddi is likely to command a substantial fee. Early estimates suggest Lille will ask in the region of £68.5 million ($91.5 million) at the low end and £85.7 million ($114.4 million) at the high end.

Bouaddi is far from untested. He debuted for Lille in October 2023, just days after his 16th birthday, has completed two full seasons in Ligue 1, and his career record already includes 25 matches in European competition, nine of which were in the Champions League. For a similar or lower price than Fernandes, Bouaddi offers youth and experience at a high level, while Tonali and Anderson were both considerably more expensive but not necessarily justifiably so.

Referees have long pursued World Cup appointments with the same ambition players show for international selection. Officiating at the game’s biggest tournament is paid work rather than voluntary service, and the compensation on offer at the 2026 World Cup is substantial.

The Times report that officials at this summer’s tournament can earn up to $100,000, with additional bonuses for taking charge of matches in the latter stages. The maximum sum will be collected by the official who referees the final. That figure represents a clear rise on 2014, when referees earned about half of what is on offer this year.

The composition of the refereeing panel has drawn attention. The majority of referees at the 2026 World Cup hail from UEFA, although last season’s Champions League final referee Daniel Siebert of Germany has been curiously overlooked. Just under 29% are European. There are nine referees from Concacaf, including Tori Penso and Ismail Elfath from the United States. César Arturo Ramos and Katia Itzel García represent Mexico, while Drew Fischer is the only Canadian official named.

The World Cup is a concentrated payday for officials because the top fees are delivered over a short window. By contrast, Premier League referees are paid $227,000 to $240,000 across a full campaign lasting nine months. Anthony Taylor and Michael Oliver are the Premier League representatives at the tournament, with Video Assistant Referee Jarred Gillett also included.

La Liga pay structures differ. As of 2024, data provided by The Athletic show La Liga referees receive an approximate fixed annual salary of $157,000, with about $5,375 paid per match and roughly $29,000 for image rights.

Those figures underline how a World Cup assignment can equal or surpass season-long earnings elsewhere because of the condensed schedule and match bonuses available at the international tournament.