World Cup 2026
FIFA Men's World Cup — USA, Canada, Mexico.
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Lamine Yamal crowned La Liga's best player after 16-goal, 12-assist season
Barcelona winger Lamine Yamal won the La Liga Player of the Year award for the 2025-2026 season at the LaLiga Annual Awards, ahead of Mbappé and Pépé. The 18-year-old Spaniard is now racing against time to be fit for the World Cup.
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England use palm cooling devices and fitness trackers to combat World Cup heat in Florida
Thomas Tuchel's England squad are preparing for the 2026 World Cup at their Palm Beach Gardens base in Florida, deploying palm cooling technology, Whoop fitness trackers and cooling vests to manage temperatures exceeding 35 degrees Celsius during matches.
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Fifa cancels free World Cup tickets issued to 60 fans after website pricing error
Fifa has voided tickets mistakenly issued at no cost to around 60 fans due to a checkout error on the official World Cup site on 21 May, asking those affected to complete payment at the correct price. The incident deepens scrutiny of the tournament's ticketing programme, already under investigation by New York and New Jersey attorneys general.
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Iran's World Cup participation hangs on US visa dispute over IRGC-linked staff
Iran's national team has secured visas for their Mexico training base and will fly to Tijuana on Saturday, but their three group-stage matches on US soil remain in jeopardy as Washington refuses entry to staff with ties to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
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Shakira and Burna Boy to headline 2026 World Cup opening ceremony in Mexico City
Shakira and Burna Boy will perform the official tournament song, Dai Dai, at the 2026 World Cup's first opening ceremony in Mexico City ahead of the host nation Mexico's match against South Africa. FIFA has planned separate opening events in Toronto and Los Angeles on the same day.
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Nike's World Cup advert features Cole Palmer despite England omitting him from squad
Nike's six-minute pre-tournament advert, starring Cristiano Ronaldo, Kylian Mbappé and Erling Haaland among others, prominently features Chelsea midfielder Cole Palmer in an England kit — despite Thomas Tuchel leaving him out of England's 26-man World Cup squad.
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Tuchel grants England squad Florida night out with families before World Cup base move
Thomas Tuchel will give his England squad time to relax with partners and family in Florida after their second warm-up friendly against Costa Rica on Wednesday, before the group travels to their tournament headquarters in Kansas City.
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Potter backs Gyokeres and Isak to fire together for Sweden at World Cup
Sweden manager Graham Potter has spoken openly about his plans to pair Viktor Gyokeres and Alexander Isak for the first time under his tenure, expressing confidence that the two Premier League strikers can complement each other at the 2026 World Cup.
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Riquelme calls City's legal threat 'normal' as Haaland transfer saga deepens
Real Madrid presidential candidate Enrique Riquelme has shrugged off Manchester City's threat of legal action over his pledge to sign Erling Haaland, calling the response 'normal' while vowing to open formal talks with the striker's camp from Monday.
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Deschamps moved by Nantes tribute despite France's defeat to Ivory Coast
France lost 1-2 to Ivory Coast on Wednesday evening at La Beaujoire in Nantes during a friendly match, but Didier Deschamps experienced a deeply personal moment: an ovation from the Nantes crowd in the 7th minute, a reference to his historic number with the French national team.
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Bosnian diaspora in St Louis ready to turn US World Cup into a home crowd
An estimated 60,000–70,000 Bosnians settled in St Louis after fleeing the 1990s war are set to create a home-like atmosphere for Bosnia and Herzegovina at the 2026 World Cup, with group matches against Canada, Switzerland, and Qatar spread across North American venues.
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France beaten by Ivory Coast: Konaté and Gusto under fire twelve days before World Cup
France lost 1-2 to Ivory Coast on Thursday evening in Nantes during their first World Cup 2026 warm-up match. Ibrahima Konaté and Malo Gusto were directly blamed for the two Ivorian goals.
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Every new rule at World Cup 2026: VAR corners, offside alerts and the goalkeeper timeout ban explained
World Cup 2026 introduces a significant overhaul of football's Laws of the Game, covering expanded VAR powers, real-time offside notifications for assistant referees, and a crackdown on goalkeeper time-wasting with new countdown rules.
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Braintree Town's FIFA World Cup windfall lifts transfer embargo at sixth-tier club
Sixth-tier Braintree Town are set to receive over £175,000 from FIFA's Club Benefit Programme after defender Tommy Smith was called up by New Zealand for the World Cup, with the payment arriving in time to clear the club's transfer embargo and outstanding player wages.
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Lizarazu Mixed on France's Friendly Defeat to Ivory Coast
France lost 1-2 to Ivory Coast in Nantes on Thursday, suffering their first warm-up defeat under Didier Deschamps just twelve days before the 2026 World Cup. TF1 consultant Bixente Lizarazu praised a strong first half but criticized a second half that was 'completely lifeless'.
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France drops to third in FIFA rankings after loss to Ivory Coast
Beaten 1-2 by Ivory Coast at Stade de la Beaujoire in a World Cup 2026 warm-up match, France's national team loses its number one ranking. The Blues, now with 1,869.43 points, are overtaken by Argentina and Spain just eleven days before the 2026 World Cup begins.
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Gyokeres shakes off knee scare to score as Sweden draw with Greece in World Cup warm-up
Viktor Gyokeres suffered a worrying knee injury scare during Sweden's pre-World Cup friendly against Greece after a clumsy challenge from defender Panagiotis Retsos, but the Arsenal striker recovered to equalise from a free-kick in a 2-2 draw.
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England's iconic 1990 World Cup third shirt never worn at Italia '90 but beloved by fans
The England 1990 World Cup third shirt — famously never worn at Italia '90 but immortalised in New Order's 'World in Motion' video — has been named the second-best England kit of all time by FourFourTwo, behind only the 1966 World Cup-winning away strip.
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Cherki scores and shows wit after France's loss to Ivory Coast
France fell 1-2 to Ivory Coast on Thursday in a 2026 World Cup warm-up match in Nantes. Rayan Cherki, the sole French goalscorer, delivered a notable media appearance mixing lucidity about the result with self-deprecating humour.
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FIFA confirms centre-circle anthem ceremony for all players at 2026 World Cup
FIFA has introduced a new pre-match ceremony for the 2026 World Cup, requiring both starting XIs and substitutes to gather around the centre circle during national anthems, giving stadium crowds a 360-degree view of every squad member.
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