A team that once folded when challenged now has a comeback victory and solid performances to build on in the last pre-World Cup windows

Trump has threatened to move World Cup and Olympic events from US cities. We explain what he said, what’s possible, and what’s pure politics

A team that once folded when challenged now has a comeback victory and solid performances to build on in the last pre-World Cup windows

Rolling report: The US men’s national team host Australia in a friendly in Commerce City, Colorado. Follow all the action with Alexander Abnos

Blaming Boston street takeovers and LA wildfires, the US president said both global sporting events could be moved for supposed safety reasons

From PSG’s Ibrahim Mbaye to Brazil’s next hope, Gabriel Mec, we select some of the most talented players born in 2008

By blending diaspora players with homegrown talent the island nation of fewer than 600,000 people has qualified for 2026 tournament On 5 July 1975, the Cape Verdean flag was raised for the first time at Estádio da Várzea in the capital city of Praia, marking the nation’s declaration of independence from Portugal. At that moment, there was no national football team – and no sign of what was to come. Exactly 100 days after the 50th anniversary of independence, the same flag was waved at the very same ground, where crowds gathered to celebrate Cape Verde’s historic first World Cup qualification with the players who had earlier secured the decisive 3-0 win over Eswatini five miles away at the National Stadium. This island nation off the coast of Senegal, with a population of fewer than 600,000, has become the second-smallest country to qualify for the tournament, after Iceland in 2018. Continue reading...

NFTs, dynamic pricing and double resale fees have turned the 2026 World Cup into a fintech carnival where fandom meets late-capitalist absurdity

The US results still aren’t matching performances, but now there are more reasons for optimism than ever

The political svengali and investor has been giving lectures on ‘an evil king or tyrant … who appears in the end times’