Germany defender, Borussia Dortmund’s Niklas Sule has chosen to retire this summer at the age of 30.

Borussia injured his knee in last month’s Bundesliga defeat at Hoffenheim and initially thought he had suffered a cruciate ligament tear for the third time.

Although he then discovered he had avoided a cruciate ligament tear, Sule says he already felt that his career “was over” as he did not want to risk another serious injury.

The ex-Bayern Munich and Hoffenheim player was set to be out of contract on 30 June and will retire after the final game of the season.

After initial tests on his knee, Sule said on the Spielmacher podcast,, external that he “went into the shower and cried for 10 minutes”.

•Shakira on stage

Colombian superstar Shakira has announced the official song for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, featuring Nigerian Grammy-winning star Burna Boy.

The song, titled “Dai Dai,” will be released on May 14.

“From Maracaná Stadium, here is ‘Dai Dai,’ the FIFA World Cup Official Song 2026. Coming 5/14. We’re ready!” Shakira posted on X alongside a teaser for the track.

The announcement has sparked excitement among football and music fans, especially with Burna Boy becoming one of the African artists to feature prominently on a World Cup anthem.

Shakira is no stranger to World Cup songs.

Her 2010 hit Waka Waka (This Time for Africa) became one of the most iconic football anthems in history during the tournament in South Africa.

Recent World Cup theme songs have also featured global stars. In 2014, Pitbull, Jennifer Lopez and Claudia Leitte performed We Are One (Ole Ola) for the tournament in Brazil.

FIFA has increased payments to teams competing in the 2026 World Cup, raising the total distribution to $871 million, making it the most lucrative edition on record.

The 2026 edition of the World Cup is set to be the largest-ever, expanding to 48 teams, up from 32 in 2022.

According to CNBC, the increased financial distributions, announced last Wednesday at the 36th FIFA Council meeting in Vancouver, Canada, come as the governing body faces criticism over ticket pricing and its commercial partnerships.

Under the new financial distribution structure, participating associations at the 2026 World Cup — set to be held across the U.S., Mexico, and Canada from 11 June — will each receive an additional $2 million, across:

Preparation money: $2.5 million, up from $1.5 million at the 2022 World Cup, and Qualification money: $10 million, up from $9 million in 2022.

That brings the minimum payout for each team to at least $12.5 million upon qualification, with additional prize money tied to performance in the tournament.

These payments are meant to defray some of the costs associated with qualifying and preparing for the quadrennial sporting tournament, including travel, training facilities and staff remuneration and are expected to be particularly meaningful to teams outside of the sport’s traditional powerhouses, according to Ricardo Fort, founder of sport consultancy Fort Consulting.

“This incremental contribution to the national football associations reinforces FIFA’s role in redistributing the commercial success of the tournament back into the global football ecosystem,” Fort said.