Messi or Ronaldo to retire? Rashford to leave Man Utd? Fury to fight AJ? Check out Betfair’s 2025 sporting predictions

CRISTIANO RONALDO or Lionel Messi to retire, Marcus Rashford to leave Manchester United and Paul Pogba to make a sensational return to the Premier League.

Those are just a few of Betfair’s sporting predictions for 2025, along with several specials from F1 to boxing, golf to cricket and everything in between!

There will be no men’s international tournament taking place this summer, but there’s no shortage of intrigue in the world of football as Thomas Tuchel begins life as England manager.

And Betfair think that will see a fresh start for Arsenal defender Ben White, who is available at Evens to play for England in 2025.

White has not been selected for the Three Lions since leaving the camp at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar following a disagreement with Gareth Southgate’s former assistant Steve Holland.

Other predictions include Pep Guardiola leaving Manchester City after winning six Premier League titles in seven years and the Champions League.

Pep might not be the only iconic figure leaving in 2025 with Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi available at 4/1 and 5/1 respectively to retire from professional football.

Betfair spokesperson, Sam Rosbottom said: “It is set to be another exciting year in the world of football, with plenty to keep an eye on as we head into 2025. As England welcome new manager Thomas Tuchel, all eyes will be on his selections and we have priced Arsenal’s Ben White as having an EVENS chance of returning to the fold.

“One other player we could see in the Three Lions shirt is Marcus Rashford, but his Man Utd future will need to be resolved before then, and he’s been given a 2/1 chance of leaving his boyhood club in 2025.

“Two players we could see leave the stage in 2025 are Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. However, despite a combined age of 76, there is a chance we could see them push on to the 2026 World Cup and their chances of retirement have been priced at 5/1 (Messi) and 4/1 (Ronaldo).”

Away from football, tennis superstar Carlos Alcaraz is priced at a whopping 40/1 to win all four grand slam titles, while a British player to win a Men’s or Women’s singles at Wimbledon is offered at 10/1.

Retirement seems to be a theme with Betfair’s list of predictions with Anthony Joshua to retire in 2025 at 7/1. However, it’s far more likely that a clash with Tyson Fury will take place first with that available at 4/1 to take place in the coming 12 months.

Betfair spokesperson, Sam Rosbottom said: “The sporting calendar for 2025 looks set to make for another massive year of action and there are plenty of highlights for fans to keep an eye on.

“Following his second defeat to Oleksandr Usyk, Tyson Fury could finally set a date to fight against Anthony Joshua and we have set odds of 4/1 for their fight to take place in 2025. Both have recently been defeated by incumbent World Champions, Usyk and Daniel Dubois and the latter has been priced at 7/2 to unify the belts next year.

“In F1, with Lewis Hamilton heading to Ferrari, we could see him lift a record eighth World Championship, being priced at 10/3. Meanwhile, following a decade without a major win, Rory McIlroy has been given a price of 2/1 to break his duck in any of the four big competitions in 2025.

“Finally, in Australia, there are two huge tours which will see British fans heading to the other side of the world in their droves. Firstly, in the summer, the British & Irish Lions have been given a 5/2 chance of completing a 3-0 series whitewash against the Wallabies; but England’s Ashes cricketers have only been handed odds of 50/1 to copy that feat and win 5-0 Down Under.”

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