Football over until August? Not a chance... here's what's to come this summer
- Published
So that's another football season over after Liverpool beat Tottenham 2-0 in the Champions League final.
There's no men's World Cup or European Championship this summer, so not much to look forward to until August, right? Right? Wrong.
England and debutants Scotland are in Fifa Women's World Cup action, with the tournament starting in France on Friday.
Gareth Southgate's Three Lions are bidding to win the Uefa Nations League at this week's finals in Portugal. England are also going for the European Under-21 Championship, Lionel Messi is aiming to win his first international trophy and Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane are among those challenging for the Africa Cup of Nations.
And in July, Wolves kick off their first European campaign since 1980, Celtic get under way in the Champions League and there is the return of Scottish domestic football.
So let's have a look at all the football to get stuck into before the Premier League season gets going again in August.
Nations League: A first tournament win since 1966?
Gareth Southgate named his provisional England squad on 16 May
5-9 June, Portugal
The England men's team's trophy cabinet since 1966 is not exactly full to the brim, British Home Championships aside. Do you even get trophies for the Rous Cup (1986, 1988, 1989), the 1991 England Challenge Cup, 1997's Le Tournoi or the 2004 FA Summer Tournament?
So to Portugal, and England have a chance to win their biggest competition since lifting the World Cup in 1966 when they take part in the inaugural Nations League finals later this week.
Nobody really seems to have decided just how important it really is. Of course, that might depend on whether England win it.
The mini-tournament - which England qualified for last year by topping a group containing Spain and Croatia - takes place in Portugal. England face the Netherlands on Thursday, 6 June in their semi-final. Portugal and Switzerland play the previous day in the other last-four tie.
The winners meet in the final in Porto on Sunday, 9 June. The third-place play-off is on earlier that day. That's right, a third-place play-off for the Uefa Nations League. What a world.
Fifa Women's World Cup: England target title, Scotland make debut
BBC Sport launches #changethegame
7 June - 7 July, France
There are two British teams in this summer's Women's World Cup, with both England and Scotland looking forward to it for different reasons.
Shelley Kerr's Scotland are competing in the World Cup for the first time in their history, but are 150-1 outsiders to win it. Meanwhile, Phil Neville's England are fourth favourites to win the tournament.
The Lionesses have reached the last four in their past two major tournaments - the 2015 World Cup and Euro 2017. And they won the SheBelieves Cup in March, after finishing above hosts the United States, as well as Japan and Brazil.
England and Scotland are in the same group, and meet in their opening game on 9 June. Both are able to progress to the last 16, because the top two sides, and best third-placed teams, go through.
Southgate's side could not bring football home last summer - the Three Lions fell at the semi-final stage in Russia - but maybe his former England team-mate Neville can this summer.
BBC Sport has launched #ChangeTheGame this summer to showcase female athletes in a way they never have been before. Through more live women's sport available to watch across the BBC this summer, complemented by our journalism, we are aiming to turn up the volume on women's sport and alter perceptions. Find out more here.
Euro 2020 qualifiers: Glamour games for Wales and Scotland
7-11 June
The European Championship qualifiers continue at the same time as the Nations League takes place, with Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland all having two games.
Wales visit World Cup finalists Croatia on Saturday, 8 June, with Scotland going to Belgium the following Tuesday.
The four Nations League finalists, including England, were put in smaller groups so they would not need to play qualifiers in June.
Copa America: Can Messi end his international trophy drought?
Lionel Messi won the 2008 Olympics with Argentina, but that does not count as an official senior tournament
14 June - 7 July, Brazil
Lionel Messi has won 34 major trophies with Barcelona, as well as five Ballons d'Or - and many would argue he should have won many more.
But remarkably he has never won an international trophy at senior level with Argentina. He has lost four finals, including a devastating three-year spell when he lost the 2014 World Cup final to Germany and the 2015 and 2016 Copa America finals. Both to Chile. Both on penalties.
Messi - who will be 32 by the final - retired after the 2016 event, which was a special edition to celebrate the centenary of the tournament, and took another break after an early 2018 World Cup exit.
But he's back after a title-winning season with Barcelona where he scored 51 goals in 50 games and won La Liga's golden boot. Argentina are second favourites to win the tournament behind Neymar's Brazil.
Nearby, the Concacaf (Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football) Gold Cup takes place in the United States, with a couple of group games in each of Costa Rica and Jamaica. That tournament runs from 15 June to 7 July.
Euro U21 Championship: More age-group glory for England?
16-30 June, Italy and San Marino
England are looking to build on their impressive few years at youth level as they bid to win a first European Under-21 Championship since 1984.
In 2017, they won the World Cups at under-20 and under-17 level, and the European Under-19 Championship.
The Under-21s reached the European semi-finals in Poland, with the Under-17s losing in the European final.
Aidy Boothroyd's side are in Group C with France, Romania and Croatia - with their final group game being played in the 190th largest country in the world, San Marino.
There are European Under-19 Championships for men and women in July. The women's event is being held in Scotland.
Africa Cup of Nations: Premier League's top scorers do battle
Wilfried Zaha, Riyad Mahrez, Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane are among the players likely to play at Afcon 2019
21 June - 19 July, Egypt
The Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) takes place in Europe's summer for the first time, moving from its traditional January/February slot.
That means it does not interfere with European clubs' seasons. Among the global stars expected to compete are Liverpool trio Mohamed Salah (Egypt), Sadio Mane (Senegal) and, fitness permitting, Naby Keita (Guinea), as well as Manchester City's Riyad Mahrez (Algeria).
Salah and Mane finished the Premier League season top of the scoring charts along with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, but the Gabon forward will not be there as his nation failed to qualify.
Saido Berahino will, though, after Burundi reached the finals for the first time.
The defending champions are Cameroon, now managed by Clarence Seedorf.
This summer's Afcon has been expanded from 16 to 24 teams, with Mauritania, Madagascar and Burundi all making their tournament debuts. The latter two are in the same group.
And the 2019-20 season...
It is less than a month until some British teams get next season under way. And the Premier League fixtures will be out on 13 June.
The new domestic campaign starts for Scottish sides on 13 July with the League Cup group stages.
By that time Celtic will already have started their Champions League qualifiers, on 9 or 10 July, entering at the same round as the Welsh (The New Saints), Northern Irish (Linfield) and Irish (Dundalk) champions.
On 25 July, Wolves start their Europa League qualifiers. Northern Irish and Welsh teams start theirs on 27 June, with Scottish teams joining on 11 July.