World Cup 2026 live updates: The latest news and analysis ahead of this week’s opening game (original) (raw)

Follow all of the latest breaking news and analysis from the tournament

A large Panini sticker depics Kylian Mbappe on a street in San Pedro Garza Garcia, near Monterrey, Mexico.

A large Panini sticker depics Kylian Mbappe on a street in San Pedro Garza Garcia, near Monterrey, Mexico. Getty Images

The latest World Cup news

The 2026 FIFA World Cup finally gets underway this week, and you can follow all of the latest breaking news before Thursday’s opening group-stage game with The Athletic.

We’d also love to hear from you before Mexico vs South Africa at the Estadio Azteca on Thursday. Get in touch by emailing live@theathletic.com.

Get free access to the most comprehensive World Cup coverage in The Athletic app.

Probable USMNT line-up against Paraguay

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And while we're discussing the USMNT...

The co-hosts' opening game of the World Cup against Paraguay is now two days away. Here's the team that The Athletic's Henry Bushnell expects to start that match in Inglewood, California.

Goalkeeper: Matt Freese
Right-back: Alex Freeman
Center-back: Chris Richards
Center-back: Tim Ream
Left-back: Antonee Robinson
Defensive midfield: Tyler Adams
Central midfield: Malik Tillman
Attacking midfield: Weston McKennie
Right-wing: Sergino Dest
Left-wing: Christian Pulisic
Striker: Folarin Balogun

Most of the USMNT didn't go to college

The Athletic

Eight of the 26 players named on the USMNT's World Cup roster went to college. The rest turned professional as teens, either in the U.S. or overseas.

A growing number of top soccer prospects now skip college, and the very best go straight to Europe. Gio Reyna (now of German side Borussia Mönchengladbach), for example, moved from New York to Borussia Dortmund in Germany at age 16.

The college soccer path, though, is still a viable one. Max Arfsten (Columbus Crew), for example, went to the University of California, Davis, and slowly worked his way up to the national team.

Matt Turner (New England Revolution on loan from Lyon), a goalkeeper, went to Fairfield University and didn’t debut for the USMNT until age 26.

Introducing the USMNT Class of 2026...

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The best player and face of the tournament
The joker with the Harry Potter celebration
The captain known as group grandpa
The son of a former NFL wide receiver
The “Jedi” who loves a backflip

Before the USMNT take to the field for their World Cup opener against Paraguay, The Athletic's Henry Bushnell outlines everything you need to know about the Golden Generation with a golden opportunity.

Messi scores as Argentina conclude World Cup preparation

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Lionel Messi hadn't even been on the pitch for two minutes when he came off the bench and converted a penalty in Argentina's 3-0 victory against Iceland in Aubrun, Alabama yesterday.

The 38-year-old Messi is working his way back to full fitness as Argentina prepare for their World Cup title defence, which gets underway against Algeria on Tuesday.

Valentin Barco and Thiago Almada got the other goals against Iceland in front of 88,000 spectators at Jordan-Hare Stadium.

In action over the weekend

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And these are the teams getting their World Cup campaigns up and running over the weekend, when the games come thick and fast.

Saturday, June 13:

Qatar vs Switzerland — 3pm ET, noon PT, 8pm BST
Brazil vs Morocco — 6pm ET, 3pm PT, 11pm BST
Haiti vs Scotland — 9pm ET, 6pm PT, 2am BST
Australia vs Turkey — 9pm PT, midnight ET, 5am BST

Sunday, June 14:

Germany vs Curacao — 1pm ET, 10am PT, 6pm BST
Netherlands vs Japan — 4pm ET, 1pm PT, 9pm BST
Ivory Coast vs Ecuador — 7pm ET, 4pm PT, midnight BST
Sweden vs Tunisia — 10pm ET, 7pm PT, 3am BST

A reminder of upcoming matches

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The World Cup is now only a day away. Here's a reminder of the matches coming up over the first few days of the tournament, which you can also find on our World Cup schedule.

Thursday, June 11:

Mexico vs South Africa — 3pm ET, noon PT, 8pm BST
South Korea vs Czech Republic — 10pm ET, 7pm PT, 3am BST

Friday:

Canada vs Bosnia — 3pm ET, noon PT, 8pm BST
USA vs Paraguay — 9pm ET, 6pm PT, 2am BST

Will some teams struggle in the heat more than others?

The Athletic

In North Carolina last week, Norway’s players were pictured sprawled out in the sun during training, stripped down to their shorts as temperatures soared to 90F, a far cry from the cooler Nordic conditions they grew up in.

The graphic above shows that those sunbathing Norwegians face one of the biggest increases in temperature during their group-stage matches compared with the average summer conditions where they grew up.

But Aaron Mentkowski, chief meteorologist for WKBW-TV Buffalo, does not believe players from colder climates will necessarily be at a major disadvantage during the World Cup.

💬 “Basically, a fit person from a cool climate will acclimate after a week or two of being in hot conditions.”

Besides, most of Norway’s players are based at clubs outside their home country.

The warmest World Cup venues

The Athletic

AT&T Stadium in Dallas tops the temperature charts for World Cup venues at an estimated average of 90F (32C), followed closely south of the border by Estadio BBVA in Monterrey.

The mercury is expected to peak on July 14, when AT&T Stadium hosts a 2pm semi-final at an estimated 93F (34C).

But Dallas is one of three venues, along with Atlanta and Houston, that will operate with closed roofs and air conditioning, making the conditions manageable.

The open-air venues will not be so forgiving. Temperatures have topped 100F at six of the 16 stadiums around kick-off time during the week of the game at least once in the past 10 years.

Conditions can feel even more intense at pitch level, according to Aaron Mentkowski, chief meteorologist for WKBW-TV Buffalo.

💬 “That is especially true on days with light winds and full sunshine.

“The fields are mostly open while the stands are shaded. The field absorbs solar radiation from the sun and radiates that heat back onto the pitch. Stadiums tend to protect the field from the wind. A breeze would carry some of that heat away, but instead it just stagnates.”

Assessing how hot the World Cup will be

The Athletic

Sweltering, oppressive, stifling — call it what you want, this World Cup is going to be hot, with a sizeable chunk of games set to be played above 90F (32C).

It is likely to be the warmest edition since, well, the last time it was held in North America, when the U.S. hosted it in 1994. That World Cup, with more than 80 per cent of matches played before 5pm local time — usually under a baking afternoon sun — became notorious for its draining conditions. A memorable example was Mexico’s 2-1 victory over the Republic of Ireland in Orlando, where temperatures soared to 117F at pitch level.

There is little reason to think this tournament will be much different.

Last summer, FIFA hosted the Club World Cup in the U.S., a competition that served as something of a dry run for the upcoming showpiece. The graphic above, using weather data sourced from Visual Crossing, shows it was warmer than each of the last four World Cups.

But only five of the stadiums used in that tournament are hosting matches at this World Cup, which is also spread across Mexico and Canada. To build a more complete picture, The Athletic analysed 10 years of hourly weather data for each fixture, using the scheduled kick-off time, plus an hour either side, across a seven-day window around the match date.

Southgate's influence over England endures

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Do you remember the last major tournament England went to without Gareth Southgate in charge?

That was Euro 2016, 10 years ago. It was the tournament of Wayne Rooney in midfield, Harry Kane on corners, getting knocked out by Iceland, and Roy Hodgson’s reluctant resignation press conference the next day. The England men’s team were nothing short of a global joke.

There is no point rehashing here the journey that Southgate took the England team on. But it was only because of that work, because of what Southgate built, that the FA was able to aim for the stars after he resigned.

They wanted Pep Guardiola, but ended up with another world-class manager in Thomas Tuchel, who signed to take over in October 2024. And it was only because of Southgate’s work that it was remotely plausible for Tuchel to tell his players — as he did in a clip recently released by the FA — that he was aiming to put a “second star” on their shirt.

The England team this summer will not look too different from a Southgate side. It will be built around a spine of Jordan Pickford, John Stones and Harry Kane, just like the sides Southgate took to the previous two World Cups in Russia and Qatar. Declan Rice will be at the heart of midfield, just as he always was for Southgate, as soon as the former Republic of Ireland international declared his football allegiance to England in 2019.

There may well only be two starters for England against Croatia in Dallas next week — Nico O’Reilly and Elliot Anderson — who did not feature under Southgate.

Want to impress your friends with niche facts about World Cup qualifying nations?

Here are 14 that sound fake but are absolutely true.

Analyzing the World Cup visa issues

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As the beginning of the 2026 World Cup rapidly approaches, issues regarding U.S. visas continue to be a prominent headline.

In his latest story, Adam Crafton points out why this should not come as a surprise given the dynamic between Gianni Infantino and Donald Trump.

Today's friendlies

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As has been the case in recent days, today features another batch of friendlies as teams prepare for the World Cup to begin.

DR Congo fell 2-1 to Chile in France earlier today, with Joris Kayembe getting on the score sheet for the African side.

And here is tonight's schedule:

Saudi Arabia vs. Senegal, 7 p.m. ET
Argentina vs. Iceland, 9 p.m. ET
Iraq vs. Venezuela, 9 p.m. ET

Union for SoFi Stadium workers avoids strike

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With World Cup group play rapidly approaching, UNITE HERE Local 11, the union representing more than 2,000 workers, has reached a deal with the stadium operators at SoFi Stadium. This comes after the workers were authorized to strike last week.

For more on this story, check out this piece written by Adam Crafton.

A look at Estadio Azteca 48 hours from kick-off

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It is precisely 48 hours until the opening match of the 2026 is scheduled to kick off in Mexico City.

So what better excuse to point you in the direction of Jack Lang's superb guide to Estadio Azteca, one of world soccer's most iconic venues?

We have similar guides to each of the World Cup stadia at The Athletic here.

Dad Gregg once said he wasn’t USMNT material. Sebastian Berhalter reached the World Cup anyway

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Two years before his World Cup dream came true, Sebastian Berhalter’s dad told him he wasn’t good enough for the U.S. men’s national team.

His dad was the national team coach, Gregg Berhalter. Before a January training camp in 2024, Sebastian asked Gregg if he had a chance to make the roster.

“We had to have a real, honest conversation,” Gregg tells The Athletic. The national team for that particular camp, he explained to Sebastian, was “looking for the best of the best in MLS” and Sebastian, at the time, was merely a fringe starter for his club, the Vancouver Whitecaps.

“So I had to tell him that,” Gregg says. “It’s not easy to tell your son, because you care for him so much. But part of my job is to give him the truth.”

And it’s part of why this moment, Sebastian’s World Cup moment, is so special for both of them.

And Japan's players have touched down, too

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And while we're sharing photographs of players arriving on US soil, here is the Japan team leaving a flight in Nashville, Tennessee.

The Japanese campaign kicks off in Group F against the Netherlands in Dallas on Sunday.

'Red Devils' touch down in United States

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Yesterday we brought you images of the Belgium team boarding their flight from Brussels.

So it's only right that we follow their journey to its conclusion. So, here is the Belgium squad at Seattle Airport.

Belgium face Egypt in the city in Group G on Monday.

Why the U.S. has never had a world-class men’s soccer star?

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Walk through the halls of American soccer’s largest convention, weaving through tracksuited coaches and egos, and you’ll hear buzzword after buzzword, opinion after opinion on why the United States has never produced a world-class men’s soccer player.

You’ll hear about philosophies and methodologies, about human and player development, about pathways and pyramids. You’ll hear about the cost of playing soccer in America, and dozens of other ills that do contribute to the dearth of U.S. stars among the world’s top 50.

But the answer, many believe, to the question that will burn as the 2026 World Cup begins — why has the U.S., the planet’s richest and most successful sporting nation, never had a male soccer superstar? — boils down to one word. Culture.