Category Archives: World Cup 2026

Air quality warnings remain in place across US as wildfire smoke continues to swathe country

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Rain could alleviate conditions in mid-Atlantic and north-east, with World Cup final expected to go ahead on Sunday

Warnings of dangerous conditions are expected to remain in place on Saturday across swathes of the US, amid uncertainty about where the heavy wildfire smoke swirling from the Canadian province of Ontario and the US state of Minnesota will head next.

Some parts of the US mid-Atlantic and north-east regions will continue to endure poor air quality until Saturday afternoon, where there is a high chance of thunderstorms, which could bring some reprieve from the poor air but come with other risks like flash flooding and high winds. Meanwhile, parts of the midwest and Great Lakes regions will continue to see dangerous air quality.

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White House backs Argentina players over Falklands banner in World Cup semi-final

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White House Fifa taskforce chief defends Argentina footballers, saying US believes in free speech

The White House has backed Argentina’s footballers who displayed a banner supporting their country’s claim to the Falklands Islands after their World Cup semi-final victory against England.

After Argentina’s 2-1 win in a fractious match in Atlanta on Wednesday, some players held up a banner that said: “Las Malvinas son Argentinas” – using the country’s term for the South Atlantic islands.

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‘Malvinas are Argentinian’: World Cup holders celebrate win over England with Falklands banner

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  • Banner refers to Falkland Islands conflict in 1982

  • UK business secretary calls for Fifa investigation

The Argentina players celebrated their World Cup win over England with a banner saying “Las Malvinas son Argentinas”, making reference to the 1982 Falklands war.

Argentina were 1-0 down with five minutes to go of the semi-final in Atlanta but rallied and scored twice in quick succession to reach a second straight World Cup final, where they will face Spain in New Jersey on Sunday.

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Jude Bellingham lookalikes compete for a £1,966 Deliveroo voucher

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The match-winning England striker is ‘a good ambassador for young people’, says one contestant

All together now, with arms in the air: One Jude Bellingham, there’s only one Jude Bellingham …

Unless, that is, you happened to find yourself in Shoreditch, east London, on Wednesday, where a dozen young men who looked vaguely like the England midfielder gathered for a lookalike contest almost as competitive as the one currently continuing in the US.

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Struggling pub landlords given a lifeline by England’s World Cup heroes

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One manager expects takings to treble during England’s semi-final with Argentina on Wednesday; while national sales are up 10%

The beleaguered pub sector is getting a boost from England’s World Cup run, with some landlords reporting roaring sales as anticipation builds for a bumper night on Wednesday for the semi-final clash with Argentina.

Lisa Mayall, the manager of the British Oak in Kingswinford near Dudley in the West Midlands, was jubilant after England’s 2-1 win against Norway on Saturday night and brisk takings at the pub’s till. She expects hundreds more customers for the team’s next game at 8pm BST.

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Outcry after Atlanta tosses unhoused people’s belongings near World Cup spot

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City official says staffers were performing ‘routine park maintenance’ where 15 people have gathered for months

City employees in Atlanta, Georgia, recently threw away tents, medication, identification and other belongings of unhoused people at a public park without warning. This led activists and a local official to point to an apparent violation of procedures created after a city employee ran over a tent with a front loader last year, killing a man.

The sweep through the park occurred less than a mile from a popular spot for World Cup watch parties, drawing into focus ongoing tension over the issue of what happens to the city’s several thousand unhoused people during the month-long event.

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White House’s World Cup head defends Trump lobbying Fifa over red card

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Andrew Giuliani claims actions of referee Raphael Claus over US player Folarin Balogun ‘very, very highly suspicious’

Andrew Giuliani, head of the White House’s World Cup taskforce, has defended Donald Trump’s lobbying of Fifa to lift the suspension of US player Folarin Balogun for Monday’s game against Belgium.

The US president claimed that Brazilian referee Raphael Claus, who showed Balogun a red card in the match against Bosnia and Herzegovina, was “a little bit suspect, if you check his past”. This was apparently a reference to a match-fixing investigation by Brazil’s senate in 2024 that examined how referees were assigned to games but did not accuse Claus of wrongdoing.

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The curse of Donald Trump: where he goes, sporting defeat follows

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The USMNT’s World Cup crashout is the latest episode to suggest the support and intervention of Donald J Trump brings bad luck

Breaking a mirror. Walking under a ladder. Spilling salt. A black cat crossing one’s path.

After the events of this week, it feels safe to add one more item to the list of things said to bring bad luck: the support and intervention of Donald J Trump.

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French prosecutors investigate racist abuse of Kylian Mbappé by Paraguayan senator

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Celeste Amarilla could face charges after French Football Federation complains about social media posts over World Cup match

Prosecutors in France have opened an investigation into the racist attack on Kylian Mbappé by a Paraguayan senator, with officials weighing whether to demand that the senator be charged with aggravated public insult or incitement to hatred or violence.

The Paris prosecutor’s office told the Guardian on Tuesday it had launched the inquiry after the French Football Federation (FFF) filed a complaint with the national unit for combating online hate.

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FBI seized more than 600 drones flying over World Cup games in US cities

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Agency says drones had been caught across all 11 US host cities in restricted airspace since tournament began

More than 600 drones flying over restricted World Cup airspace in the US have been seized since the tournament began in June, the FBI said on Saturday – including 99 captured flying in Miami, 77 in Atlanta and 32 in Kansas City.

In a statement on X, the law enforcement agency said that drones had been caught across all 11 US host cities by FBI and the federal Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

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Pull an all-nighter? How parents, schools, fans and police plan to cope with England’s 1am kick-off

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Popular national pastimes of drinking and football will make post-Mexico Monday a day of sore heads and sleepy children

England are through to the round of 16 in the World Cup and, as is customary in the run-up to a major international footballing fixture, the country may be losing its mind.

Because piled on top of the 60 years of hurt for the men’s team, England fans have another obstacle to overcome with the forthcoming fixture: a gruelling kick-off time of 1am BST.

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US heatwave threatens 250th anniversary events and World Cup

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Weekend’s high temperatures and humidity ‘virtually impossible’ without climate crisis, researchers say

The scorching heat blanketing much of the US this week would have been “virtually impossible” if not for the climate crisis, researchers have found, warning that the high temperatures could threaten Independence Day celebrations and World Cup matches this weekend.

“The climate the country has today is fundamentally different to the one it had when the founding fathers signed the Declaration of Independence,” said Theodore Keeping, extreme weather and wildfire researcher at Imperial College London, in a press release.

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‘Bigger than football’: Norway fans’ Viking row makes waves at World Cup

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From Times Square to the Norwegian parliament and even in fighter jet cockpits, the choreographed row is everywhere

The fans have done it, in their thousands, in the stadiums. The players have done it on the pitch. Pretty much anyone who was there did it in New York’s Times Square. Norwegian MPs did it in parliament.

Prince Sverre Magnus, third in line to the Norwegian throne, rowed in an Oslo subway carriage. Care home residents in their 90s rowed in rural Norway and Norwegian Royal Air Force pilots rowed in their F-35 fighter jets.

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Four people die in mass fan celebrations in Mexico City after World Cup victory

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  • Three of the victims died from suffocation

  • More than a million people gathered in Mexico City

Four people died, three ⁠from suffocation, as thousands of fans crowded Mexico City streets during World Cup celebrations, the capital’s health secretariat ⁠said in the early ⁠hours ​of Wednesday.

The deaths occurred near the Angel of Independence landmark, where thousands of fans had gathered to ⁠celebrate Mexico’s 2-0 victory over Ecuador in the last 32.

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‘The things that connect us are fraying’: James Graham short film explores what it means to be English

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Ahead of England’s first knockout game of the World Cup, Love Letter to England celebrates what English people have in common

What does it mean to be English? Ahead of England’s first knockout game of the World Cup, Ian McKellen and the award-winning playwright James Graham have released a short film that attempts to answer that deceptively simple question.

The film, Love Letter to England, explores and celebrates what people across the country have in common. It draws on early contributions to the National Conversation, a UK-wide initiative that began last month.

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Prosecutors in England and Wales expect rise in domestic abuse during World Cup

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CPS urges victims to go to police, saying they will be taken seriously and it ‘won’t hesitate’ to bring abusers to justice

Prosecutors in England and Wales are expecting incidents of domestic abuse to increase during the men’s World Cup, and have urged victims to come forward, saying those responsible “will be held accountable”.

“We often see more domestic abuse cases around major football tournaments like these,” the CPS national stalking lead, Olivia Rose, said. “The point that we want to get across is that those responsible will be held accountable, and that we won’t hesitate to bring them to justice.”

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‘You’re history itself!’: how Arab World Cup commentators fuel fans’ passions

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Arabic’s rich history of poetry lends itself well to ‘beautiful commentary that … sounds like a love letter to football’

Even before Cristiano Ronaldo’s close-range shot had hit the back of net, the commentator had begun shouting. “Allllllllaaaaaaah!!!!” exclaimed Amer al-Khudhiri, an Omani football announcer for BeIN Sports, as the Portugal star scored his first goal of the 2026 World Cup against Uzbekistan on Tuesday.

He took a deep breath and then began his soliloquy. “I knew you were coming for revenge. I knew you would answer everyone, the world, the World Cup, the doubters, those who have lost their memory,” al-Khudhiri said. “Oh history, put Ronaldo here as Portgual’s all-time top scorer, through all its history. Allah, Allah, Allah!”

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‘Everyone is talking about Cape Verde’: World Cup run delights diaspora community in UK

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Cape Verdeans in Britain feeling ‘incredibly proud’ after team’s hard-fought draws against Spain and Uruguay

For as long as she can remember, 13-year-old Lauryn struggled to find a map that included Cape Verde. Now, to her great delight, the tiny African island nation is finally centre stage.

“Seeing our country shown across the world at the World Cup makes me feel incredibly proud,” Lauryn says. “After the first match, everyone was talking about Cape Verde. People saw the talent and the skill of our players.”

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Vehicle hits crowd in Cabo San Lucas after Mexico’s World Cup victory over Czechia

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  • City hall confirms a car drove through crowd

  • ‘Several people injured’ following incident

A ⁠vehicle struck multiple people at a gathering ⁠in ⁠the popular ​tourist resort of Cabo San Lucas ⁠following Mexico’s victory in a World ⁠Cup match on Wednesday night, ​Los ‌Cabos’ city ‌hall said in ‌a statement.

“According to preliminary information, the vehicle was surrounded by a group of people and, ‌for reasons to be determined by the ​competent authority, drove through the crowd, injuring several people,” city ⁠hall added.

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Duck off: World Cup hero Merlín barred from Mexico game due to Fifa’s animal ban

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  • World’s sixth-most famous duck falls short of dream

  • Two-year-old must watch Czechia game from distance

Merlín the duck’s bid to see his beloved Mexico live has hit a snag after he was barred from El Tri’s match with Czechia on Wednesday.

Merlín has become a folk hero in Mexico after becoming a symbol of El Tri’s World Cup campaign on home soil. His fans had launched a campaign for Merlín to attend Wednesday’s match alongside his human family. But his journey was cut short by Fifa regulations.

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