FIFA World Cup 2026
João Neves criticised after calling Cristiano Ronaldo “a player like everyone else”
PSG midfielder João Neves’s Instagram account filled with comments from CR7 fans, Bruno Fernandes also receiving similar treatment.
CazéTV, the streaming platform backed by Cristiano Ronaldo, is broadcasting the World Cup free-to-air and is already reshaping the landscape
In Brazil, the World Cup is available on YouTube without a subscription, through a project that has already changed the way the game is watched.
The German national team has never had so many players of African descent, a trend with political implications
Almost one in three players. A first for the Mannschaft.
Morocco has become a football power, the result of a strategic plan that could serve as a model for the rest of Africa
From aggressive scouting across the diaspora to sustained investment in academies and infrastructure, the model has produced striking results.
Kansas City is not a major metropolis, yet public and private investment has placed it at the centre of the World Cup (and of sport in general)
The area around the city is hosting six national teams, and six matches have been assigned to the Chiefs’ stadium. But this is only part of a much broader development plan.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Portugal, a Modern Love Affair Between Politics, Brand CR7 and the Weight of Gratitude
CR7 struggled against DR Congo, stayed on, Martínez defending him. No coincidence, only the shape of a situation with stakes that sit far beyond football.
Harry Kane, almost a midfielder in England’s new setup, still decisive in front of goal
Essentially a classic playmaker, almost an extra midfielder in Tuchel’s England. A brace against Croatia.
Before and after their first World Cup match, Scottish fans drank enough to empty Boston’s bars and pubs
Another record of conviviality broken by the Tartan Army at this World Cup. Next, McTominay and his teammates on the pitch.
South Korea boycott domestic press after journalists mock Heung-min Son during training
Journalists question Son over mandatory military service, squad responds with boycott, federation support.
Lionel Messi, finally reconciled with Argentina, and the pursuit of a World Cup that would put him beyond dispute as the greatest of all time
After a complicated career with the national team, Leo has won the World Cup and entered the hearts of his compatriots. He now plays with a new freedom, a different joy, the historic hat-trick against Algeria still somewhere in the memory.
One match was enough for Kylian Mbappé to show that the World Cup is still his own playground
France–Senegal, another match shaped by Mbappé, again uncontainable at World Cup level.
New patches appear on World Cup kits, beneath the commercial layer
Debut patches, veteran patches, others. FIFA–Topps agreement.