Double Pass

Earlier this week, we asked our network to predict the World Cup 2026 final before the semi-finals kicked off. The results were telling:   ⚽ France 🇫🇷 vs England 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 was the favourite (38%)  ⚽ France 🇫🇷 vs Argentina 🇦🇷 came next (31%)  ⚽ Only 20% predicted the final we actually got: Spain 🇪🇸 vs Argentina 🇦🇷. And what a fascinating final it promises to be. 🇪🇸 Spain have once again demonstrated the strength of a clear football identity. Dominating possession, pressing aggressively, and trusting technically gifted players developed within a consistent playing philosophy, they have controlled games rather than simply reacted to them. 🇦🇷 Argentina, meanwhile, has shown why champions are so difficult to beat. Their route to the final has combined technical quality with resilience, tactical flexibility and an unwavering competitive mentality. They know when to control a match, but equally when to suffer and find a way to win. Different styles. Different football cultures. One common denominator: neither team arrived here by chance. Congratulations to Spain and Argentina on reaching the final. Now the question is... 🏆 Who lifts the trophy on Sunday? #WorldCup2026 #TalentDevelopment #Football 

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 𝐂𝐮𝐩 2026 𝐬𝐞𝐦𝐢-𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞. 🌍⚽ For the first time since FIFA rankings were introduced in 1992, the top 4 ranked nations are the final 4: Argentina 🇦🇷, Spain 🇪🇸, France 🇫🇷, England󠁧󠁢 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿. Four nations. Four very different journeys to the final four. But a common thread: years of investment in football systems, player development, and team culture, not just individual brilliance. At Double Pass, moments like these remind us why building from the core matters. What happens on the pitch this week is the result of decisions made years ago in training sessions, in academies, in boardrooms. #WorldCup2026 #TalentDevelopment #Football

The results are in. We asked: what should federations prioritise in talent development? The answer was clear. 𝟱𝟰% said Long-Term Development Pathway. 31% said Coach Development. 7% said Club Development Partnerships. 7% said National Talent ID. At Double Pass, this doesn't surprise us. It confirms something we see across every federation and academy we work with. Talent identification gets attention. Coaching gets investment. But the real differentiator is whether a federation has built a system, not just a program. PSV, RSC Anderlecht, FC Barcelona, AFC Ajax, and SL Benfica didn't get to the top of the pathway ranking through a single initiative. They got there through decades of consistent structure: clear player pathways, defined roles at every age group, and alignment between club and country. A pathway is not a document. It's a shared understanding across coaches, clubs, and federations of what development looks like at every stage, and the discipline to follow it even when short-term results say otherwise. The vote also tells us something federations already sense: coach development and pathway design aren't separate priorities. They're the same priority, viewed from two angles. You can't build a lasting pathway without the coaches to deliver it, and coach development means little without a pathway to apply it to. The clubs and federations getting this right are proof that it's a long game, and worth playing. Thank you to everyone who voted and shared their perspective. This conversation is exactly the kind we want to keep having. #TalentDevelopment #WorldCup2026 

2018: Goalkeepers took 100% of goal kicks. 2022: 91%. 2026: 52%. Read that again. Half of all goal kicks at this World Cup are now played short, by outfield players, under pressure, as part of a structured build-up. The goalkeeper isn't the last line anymore. It's the first. Goalkeeper training has traditionally centered on shot-stopping and clean distribution. The modern game is asking for more: reading pressing triggers, finding the free man, playing under pressure with the ball at their feet, on top of the fundamentals that will always matter. The World Cup doesn't wait for academies to catch up. It shows you exactly how far behind they already are. Question worth asking this week: 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐠𝐨𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐮𝐦 𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞? #WorldCup2026 #TalentDevelopment Koen Put, Stig Meylemans, Hans Vander Elst, Joost Hendrickx

We're proud to be contributing our expertise to the second edition of the Academy Management Programme, in collaboration with European Football Clubs and Nova School of Business and Economics.    Our Double Pass experts will lead sessions on several key topics, bringing practical insights from academy benchmarking, talent development systems, and performance environments across Europe.    The programme brings academy leaders from across European football together to exchange ideas, challenge perspectives, and build the leadership and management capabilities needed to run high-performing academy environments.    We look forward to welcoming the next group this September.    If you're an academy leader ready to invest in your people and your academy's future, a limited number of places are still available.    Apply now: https://lnkd.in/eHdeQfyi   #AcademyLeadership #FootballDevelopment #Leadership #AcademyManagement #PlayerDevelopment

Data alone doesn't create better football organisations. Expertise alone isn't always enough either. That's why we're excited to announce our strategic partnership with SquadAssist. By combining SquadAssist's advanced football intelligence platform with Double Pass' expertise in football development, benchmarking and implementation, we're strengthening our ability to help clubs, federations and leagues make better decisions and create lasting value. This collaboration will enhance our methodology through deeper data-driven insights while giving our clients access to innovative technology that complements our work in talent development, governance and organisational performance. Together, we're helping football organisations build stronger foundations and create more value on and off the pitch. Read the article below to learn more about this strategic partnership and what it means for football organisations. #FootballDevelopment #FootballIntelligence #TalentDevelopment #Leadership #Innovation #BuildingValueFromTheCore

Behind every World Cup player is a development pathway. The clubs at the top of this ranking such as PSV, RSC Anderlecht, FC Barcelona, AFC Ajax and SL Benfica share a long-term commitment to talent development. For national federations, the challenge is not only producing elite players today, but building a system that consistently develops players capable of reaching the highest level. 𝐕𝐨𝐭𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬. #TalentDevelopment #WorldCup2026

Why do some national systems produce more with the same raw talent? It’s rarely the budget. And it’s rarely the size of the talent pool. Across our work with federations globally, one pattern stands out: the governing bodies gaining ground have stopped treating talent development as a club responsibility and started treating it as a system they actively design and steer. That’s a different role than federations have traditionally played. Not just governing from the outside but architecting the development environment from within: clearer frameworks, stronger academy standards, more coherent player pathways, and real mechanisms to help clubs do this well. It’s the same idea we kept returning to in our recent webinar: football first, and alignment across the system over isolated initiatives. The window to get ahead of this shift, rather than catch up to it, is narrowing. 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐞𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐨𝐜𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐭? 𝐋𝐞𝐭 𝐮𝐬 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬! #TalentDevelopment #TeamValueManagement #TeamDoublePass 

📬 Something new is coming. The world of football and talent development is evolving faster than ever from new performance models and academy innovation to shifting global trends in player development, governance, and technology. To help you stay connected to what is happening across the industry, we are launching the Double Pass Newsletter, arriving 𝐉𝐮𝐧𝐞 30, 2026. Each edition will bring you a focused view of the ecosystem shaping the game, including: 🌍 Key trends influencing football and talent development worldwide 📈 Insights and developments across academies, clubs, leagues and federations 🤝 Strategic partnerships and collaborations driving the game forward 🚀 Innovation, projects and milestones across the global football landscape 💡 Thought leadership and best practices in player and coach development 🎤 Stories, events and perspectives from across the game Alongside this broader perspective, we’ll also share updates from Double Pass, including our work, partnerships, and initiatives that contribute to better football environments worldwide. Whether you're a federation, club, league, academy, or simply passionate about developing better pathways in football, this newsletter is designed to keep you informed and inspired. 📩 Be among the first to receive the Double Pass Newsletter directly in your inbox. Subscribe here: https://lnkd.in/epTJjtB6 #Newsletter #TalentDevelopment #AcademyFootball #FootballInnovation

We welcomed the participants of the Masterclass Sporting Director for an intensive onsite session in collaboration with the Federatia Romana de Fotbal.   The module focused on some of the key challenges and responsibilities of the modern Sporting Director, including: ⚽ Staff management ⚽ Coach development ⚽ The day-to-day reality of the Sporting Director role ⚽ Individual Development Plans (IDPs) in the first-team environment ⚽ Scenario-based assignments and thought-provoking discussions   The sessions were delivered by our Double Pass team, with Hans Vander Elst, alongside our experts Edgar Cardoso and Sune Smith-Nielsen, who shared their expertise and practical insights with the participants.   In the video, Edgar Cardoso reflects on: 🎥 Why initiatives like the Masterclass Sporting Director are so important for football development. 🎥 How his experience with Double Pass has shaped his perspective on building football structures and leadership. 🎥 The potential he sees for Romanian football through programmes like this. Developing strong leaders off the pitch is essential to creating sustainable success on it. Thank you to everyone who contributed to another inspiring module. We're already looking forward to the next one! #SportingDirector #TalentDevelopment