- Haiti v Scotland: World Cup 2026 – live
- Vinícius Júnior rescues lacklustre Brazil as Morocco earn deserved World Cup draw
- Muheim’s late own goal gives Qatar dramatic World Cup draw against Switzerland
- Being the best in Asia is no longer enough for Japan seeking World Cup breakthrough | Jonathan Wilson
- ‘No soccer fans here’: World Cup fever fails to grip Texas Republicans
- Ghana strongly criticises Canada for denying Thomas Partey a World Cup visa
- Kretinsky set to become West Ham‘s biggest shareholder and addresses Sullivan allegations
- Football Daily | A cult classic kit, 4-4-2 and refcam: 10 things we’ve noticed in World Cup so far
- ‘I thought – gosh, he’s going to be some player’: the making of England’s Declan Rice
- Big Lalas Energy to ulcerative colitis meds: Fox is this World Cup’s very soul in the US
- Clutch time: Canadian and US World Cup mascots feature in Peruvian drugs raid
- Pipers and dreams: World Cup fever grips Scotland again after 28 years
- Injury deprived me of chance to play so I am going to the World Cup to support Brazil | Rodrygo
- Men’s transfer window summer 2026: all deals from Europe’s top five leagues
- Women’s transfer window summer 2026: all deals from world’s top six leagues
- Manchester United lead chase for West Ham’s £80m-rated Mateus Fernandes
- David Beckham joins Hollywood Walk of Fame as World Cup comes to LA
- ‘You make people a bit happier’: the football app building friendships in London
- Kenny Jackett, former Wales and Watford player and successful manager, dies aged 64
- Rangers target Derek McInnes from Hearts as replacement for Danny Röhl
- USA blast out of the blocks and Canada get first ever point | World Cup Daily
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- Nobody should underestimate what Thomas Tuchel can do with England | Emma Hayes
- Why football does not remember the name of its greatest ever Jewish player
- World Cup refcam offers new perspective to hint at future of football broadcasting
- Tartan Army toast Scotland’s World Cup return: ‘It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity’
- Kieran McKenna leaves emotional legacy at Ipswich to last generations
- Welcome to Trump’s World Cup, a depressingly angry version of football uniting the planet | Barney Ronay
- Sophia Wilson’s return spoiled as USA women beaten by Brazil in friendly
- Ligue 1 season awards: the big hits, misses, shocks and flops of 2025-26
- Antonio Rüdiger: ‘Refugees have no other choice – it’s important they be listened to’
- Christian Pulisic wanted to talk about something else. Now he can
- If this is Messi’s last World Cup, could he eclipse Maradona and win it twice?
- Football seems to have forgotten about fun: the World Sevens has brought it back | Tom Garry
- Griping about Tuchel’s handbrake or Arteta’s bus makes the bantersphere tick | Max Rushden
- Andoni Iraola looks the right manager to help Liverpool get their swagger back | Ben Fisher
- David Squires on … the World Cup reimagined as Gianni Infantino’s West Side Story
- Premier League 2025-26 review: our writers’ best and worst of the season
- The story of the Premier League 2025-26 season in 100 photos
- Premier League 2025-26 season review: our predictions v reality
- Premier League 2025-26 review: gripes of the season
- Romário: ‘I consider myself one of the greatest players ever. An 11 out of 10’
- ‘We’re going to be in an unreal, mad World Cup time zone’: Kelly Cates on presenting in Salford at 2am
- ‘It can all end with one bad game’: the highs and lows of a World Cup referee
- I read Gianni Infantino’s name-dropping, despot-fluffing book so you don’t have to | Barney Ronay
- Football Daily | The ‘Azteca’ delivers as hosts and ghosts give us that World Cup feeling
- Exciting transfer window will only exacerbate women’s football’s wealth gap
- The Hotspot | ‘This may be our last chance’: rising sea levels threaten Kiribati’s World Cup dream
- PSG now stand alongside some of Europe’s best-ever, but with caveats | Jonathan Wilson
- The Joy of Six: forgotten World Cup goals
- Joy for Jiménez and Mexico as co-hosts make ideal start: World Cup Daily – podcast
- England’s World Cup setback and Durham’s fight for survival – Women’s Football Weekly
- Mexico and a history of playing in repeat World Cup opening fixtures | The Knowledge
- The 100 best male footballers in the world 2025
- Ousmane Dembélé quietly becomes the main man after long journey to the top
- The 100 best female footballers in the world 2025
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- Next Generation 2025: 60 of the best young talents in world football
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Haiti v Scotland: World Cup 2026 – live
⚽️ World Cup kick-off 9pm EST/2am BST/11am AEST⚽️ Player guide | Bracketology | Golden Boot | Email TomPre-match postbag. “I confess I was a wee bit worried after the first 10 minutes of the Brazil v Morocco game, because they were running about jolly quickly and firing balls into the net with great panache. The longer it’s gone on though the more confident I feel. I suspect we’ll confuse them by playing what they might think is a different sport” – Scott Blair“I’m English and living down under in Melbourne. We are actually getting a whole bunch of games at reasonable times as we normally have to watch intentional games at 2am. I’m enjoying tea and toast over breakfast games and looking forward to hearing the Scots belt out Flower of Scotland, always a spine tingling experience, even for and Englishman.” – Simon Dobson Continue reading...https://www.theguardian.com/football/live/2026/jun/14/haiti-v-scotland-world-cup-2026-live
Vinícius Júnior rescues lacklustre Brazil as Morocco earn deserved World Cup draw
So it turns out that Carlo Ancelotti is no miracle worker. After watching his side fall behind to Ismael Saibari’s brilliant opening goal, the Brazil manager needed a big favour from Vinícius Júnior to ensure the five-time World Cup winners’ first match of the 2026 edition did not end in an embarrassing defeat.For large portions of an absorbing first half that hopefully set the tone for the rest of the tournament, Brazil found themselves chasing shadows as Casemiro and Bruno Guimarães struggled to contain a Morocco midfield anchored by the outstanding teenager Ayyoub Bouaddi. But after Times Square was transformed into a tapestry of yellow and red shirts on Friday night as both sets of fans warmed up for one of the most anticipated matches of the group stages, it was the Real Madrid forward who has been heavily criticised for failing to produce his club form on the international stage who gave the Brazil supporters something to celebrate. Continue reading...https://www.theguardian.com/football/2026/jun/14/brazil-morocco-world-cup-match-report
Muheim’s late own goal gives Qatar dramatic World Cup draw against Switzerland
Qatar celebrated their first World Cup point in a 1-1 draw against Switzerland after Miro Muheim headed in a stoppage-time own goal to send the Gulf nation into jubilation. Muheim, under pressure from Boualem Khoukhi, inadvertently headed home Homam Ahmed’s cross on 94 minutes to cancel out a first-half Breel Embolo penalty, leaving the Swiss stunned and rueful after failing to convert 26 goal attempts to Qatar’s seven.The result left Group B wide open, with all teams locked on a point each following the co-hosts Canada’s 1-1 draw with Bosnia and Herzegovina. Continue reading...https://www.theguardian.com/football/2026/jun/13/qatar-switzerland-world-cup-match-report
Being the best in Asia is no longer enough for Japan seeking World Cup breakthrough | Jonathan Wilson
Despite missing key players, Hajime Moriyasu’s side have built strength in depth to challenge the traditional orderIn 2002 there was a sense that Japan had slightly missed an opportunity. South Korea may have enjoyed the benefit of some favourable refereeing, but they also impressed. They were quick, technically good and tactically extremely flexible and they progressed to the semi-final of their home World Cup.Japan did not do much wrong, topping their group before going down 1-0 to Turkey in the last 16, but the contrast with their co-hosts was inevitably underwhelming. Continue reading...‘No soccer fans here’: World Cup fever fails to grip Texas Republicans
Houston is a host city but those gathered there for a GOP convention are far more concerned with contentious politics – and an elephantGreg Abbott, the governor of Texas, has just finished a 25-minute address and most of the hits have been played. The radical Democrats must be destroyed in November’s midterms; an Austin-style woke agenda should be avoided at all costs; it is essential the Lone Star State remains the most conservative in the US. He has provided ample fodder for about 5,000 delegates but, as the applause subsides, they have a more weighty subject matter to absorb.There is an elephant in the room. A real live elephant in the form of Paige, who is wearing a white cloak bearing the slogan “Unity drives victory”. It has long been an in-joke at the Texas Republican party convention that, one day, a pachydermal visitor might drop in; the animal has been a symbol of the GOP for 150 years. Now, at the George R. Brown Convention Center on Friday afternoon, the fantasy has been made flesh. To intakes of breath, Paige is led up the vast conference hall’s central aisle, taking a break halfway up. The exit is 100 metres away but will have to wait; unfortunately for those who have rushed to marvel at her, it turns out Paige needs to urinate. Continue reading...Ghana strongly criticises Canada for denying Thomas Partey a World Cup visa
‘High-handed and extremely unfair,’ government saysOfficial note of protest sent calling for a reviewGhana’s government has described Canada’s decision to deny Thomas Partey a visa for his country’s World Cup game against Panama on Wednesday as “high-handed and extremely unfair”.Ghana’s foreign ministry said it understood the decision to be based on pending criminal proceedings in Britain. The 32-year-old Partey, a former Arsenal midfielder who plays for Villarreal, faces allegations of rape and sexual assault in Britain. He has denied the charges. Continue reading...Kretinsky set to become West Ham‘s biggest shareholder and addresses Sullivan allegations
Czech billionaire to increase his stake from 27% to 43%Kretinsky and Gold ‘deeply concerned’ by revelationsDaniel Kretinsky, the owner of Royal Mail, is set to overtake David Sullivan as West Ham’s largest shareholder after agreeing to buy an additional stake in the club from the Gold family. The Czech billionaire has moved to increase his power at West Ham after Sullivan stepped down as a director and co-chair of the club last Saturday, before a joint investigation by the Times and Panorama reporting on seven women accusing him of abusing his power and preying on them for sex in claims that date back to the 1980s and 90s.Kretinsky will increase his stake from 27% to 43% after agreeing to buy a portion of shares from Vanessa Gold, who inherited her 25% stake after the death of her father, David Gold, in January 2023. Continue reading...Football Daily | A cult classic kit, 4-4-2 and refcam: 10 things we’ve noticed in World Cup so far
Sign up now! Sign up now! Sign up now? Sign up now!We’re almost a 25th of the way through the Geopolitics World Cup – four games down, 100 to go – so it’s the perfect time to reflect on what we’ve learned and noticed so far. Continue reading...‘I thought – gosh, he’s going to be some player’: the making of England’s Declan Rice
Rejected by Chelsea, honed by West Ham and a league winner at Arsenal, the midfielder has plenty from his footballing journey wishing him well at the World CupThree years ago Declan Rice was the star guest at a Soho House event about the power of effective leadership. Tickets were in hot demand and Rice, who was due to play a European semi-final for West Ham two days later, could not understand why so many people were interested in what he had to say.The audience was packed with marketing directors and CEOs, all eager to hear the England midfielder speak. To Rice, though, it just seemed weird. Why him? What made him so special? The answer lay in his everyman appeal. It was because of his ability to form connections with everyone he comes across. It was because Rice, who goes into the World Cup fresh from winning the Premier League with Arsenal, would be a leader in any setting. More than anything, it was because England’s new vice-captain is authentic, genuine and always ready to charm, no matter if the 27-year-old is speaking to a room of high-powered executives or heading back to his old school to spend an afternoon with a group of awestruck kids. Continue reading...Big Lalas Energy to ulcerative colitis meds: Fox is this World Cup’s very soul in the US
The US version of the tournament’s opening ceremony helpfully focused on one of its main themes: aspirational consumerismThe 2026 World Cup: a festival of football; a moment to revel in upsets, spectacular goals, stars made, and reputations ruined; a test of Didier Deschamps’s unshakable addiction to Adrien Rabiot. But also: a celebration of America; a chance for Fox Sports to prove the haters wrong; a social experiment to see how long Thierry Henry can last on set with Alexi Lalas before resorting to physical violence. “This is going to be filled with American fans,” Lalas shrieked as Los Angeles Stadium began to swell with spectators before the US’s opening match against Paraguay. “This is going to be bursting at the seams with America!”But where was the pomp, the bombast, the Americana? The US opening ceremony – the third and final installment in the trio of launch parties for this supertanker of a World Cup – didn’t quite live up to the Lalasian hype. This was a ceremony with all the charm of Rob Stone in his pocket square fake-smiling as he says the immortal words, “Brazil v Morocco, live tomorrow from New York New Jersey, brought to you by Verizon”: a ceremony that felt oddly flat, but was trying all the same. It was almost as if Fifa had absorbed all the pre-tournament criticism and decided: “You know what? We just can’t be bothered.” But Friday’s launch did still offer a sense for how this tournament will play out as a cultural spectacle. The early verdict: this is a World Cup built above all to accommodate the insatiable needs of American TV. Fox Sports is not simply the host broadcaster for this World Cup; it is the tournament’s very soul. If that’s the type of sentence that gives you hives, the next five weeks will best be watched on mute (or Telemundo). Continue reading...Clutch time: Canadian and US World Cup mascots feature in Peruvian drugs raid
Lima police dress as mascots in raid on suspectZayu the Jaguar left out of police operationWhile tensions between Canada and the United States have risen in the last few years as Donald Trump has made threats to turn his northern neighbor into a 51st state of America, there has been some mutual cooperation in crime fighting.Earlier this week, Clutch the Bald Eagle and Maple the Moose – the mascots for the United States and Canada respectively at this year’s World Cup – helped Peruvian police in a drugs raid. Continue reading...https://www.theguardian.com/football/2026/jun/13/world-cup-mascots-drugs-raid-peru
Pipers and dreams: World Cup fever grips Scotland again after 28 years
The country is ready to blow away decades of dashed hopes and celebrate, with marching bands and all-night partiesScotland is leaning into one of its most treasured traditions: embracing the hope and anxiety of a football World Cup, with a healthy dose of self-deprecating style.There are brash new tartans, an Edinburgh bar offering free Irn-Bru-infused “fiery ginger” beers for patrons with red hair, a collaboration between Scottish whisky firms and a Brazilian distiller, and all-night parties in nightclubs repurposed as fanzones. Continue reading...Injury deprived me of chance to play so I am going to the World Cup to support Brazil | Rodrygo
Watching the squad presentation knowing I wasn’t in it was tough, but I have high hopes with Carlo Ancelotti in chargeI am travelling to the United States this week to watch some of the Seleção’s games at the World Cup. I’ll be continuing my daily treatment to recover from the knee injury I suffered in March and, during this routine, I’ll try to experience the competition in a different way. While Rodrygo, a boy from Osasco [a city in the state of São Paulo], recognises the privilege this represents, Rodrygo the player, who took part in the entire qualifying cycle, the Copa América and other matches, has feelings that are difficult to explain.Ever since our last World Cup game in 2022, when the Croatia goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic saved my penalty and we were eliminated at the quarter-final stage, returning to the tournament wearing the national team jersey has been a desire that has dominated my thoughts on many nights. Continue reading...https://www.theguardian.com/football/2026/jun/13/rodrygo-world-cup-injury-support-brazil
Men’s transfer window summer 2026: all deals from Europe’s top five leagues
All the latest Premier League, La Liga, Bundesliga, Ligue 1 and Serie A deals and a club-by-club guide Continue reading...Women’s transfer window summer 2026: all deals from world’s top six leagues
Every deal in the NWSL, WSL, Liga F, Frauen-Bundesliga, Première Ligue and Serie A Femminile as well as a club-by-club guide Continue reading...Manchester United lead chase for West Ham’s £80m-rated Mateus Fernandes
Real Madrid also among midfielder’s potential suitorsCastellanos an option for Everton amid likely exitsManchester United are leading the race to sign Mateus Fernandes from West Ham. The midfielder also has interest from Arsenal, Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain, but the strongest early moves have come from United as they look to boost Michael Carrick’s squad.West Ham hope to receive £80m for Fernandes, although they may face financial pressure to drop their asking price after their relegation from the Premier League. The club lost £104.2m last year and need to raise more than £100m in transfer sales this summer. Continue reading...David Beckham joins Hollywood Walk of Fame as World Cup comes to LA
Beckham enjoys ‘surreal’ occasion with Tom CruiseCelebrities cheer on USA at their opening matchDavid Beckham has been honoured with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Beckham called the ceremony “surreal” as his wife, Victoria, and his friend Tom Cruise praised him at the ceremony.Cruise lauded Beckham’s journey, saying it was “a Hollywood story” of hard work, determination and global influence on sport and culture. Continue reading...‘You make people a bit happier’: the football app building friendships in London
Footy Addicts helps amateur players find a game at short notice – and tackles the problem of lonelinessCries of “Boss! Boss! Boss!” emerge from the pitch during a hard-fought game of football in a London park. There aren’t a lot of names used in this game, because most players only met just before kick-off. They were brought together by an app that’s injecting life into grassroots football.Footy Addicts was invented to solve an infuriating problem for amateur players – the late dropout, which can lead to unbalanced teams and ruined games. The app brings together strangers who are desperate to play football, and who can step in after a cancellation to make up the numbers at short notice. Continue reading...Kenny Jackett, former Wales and Watford player and successful manager, dies aged 64
Jackett spent whole playing career with WatfordHe managed seven clubs including Millwall and WolvesThe former Watford and Wales player Kenny Jackett, who managed clubs including Wolves, Millwall and Swansea, has died aged 64.Jackett won 31 Wales caps during a playing career spent entirely with Watford, his local club, before starting his managerial career with the Hornets in 1996. He took charge of more than 900 games across spells with seven clubs, most recently Leyton Orient, but also including Portsmouth, Millwall and Swansea. Continue reading...https://www.theguardian.com/football/2026/jun/12/kenny-jackett-dies-watford-wales-millwall-wolves
Rangers target Derek McInnes from Hearts as replacement for Danny Röhl
Röhl expected to join RB SalzburgMcInnes turned down chance to manage Rangers in 2017Rangers are likely to move for the Hearts manager, Derek McInnes, if Danny Röhl completes a move to RB Salzburg. The Ibrox club and Salzburg are in talks over a deal for Röhl, who was appointed by Rangers last October. The 37-year-old began his coaching career elsewhere in the RB stable, at Leipzig. There is a rising sense in Glasgow that he will accept Salzburg’s overtures, with a switch likely to happen within days.In that scenario, Rangers are expected to turn towards McInnes. The former Rangers player guided Hearts to second place in Scotland’s Premiership this season, with the Edinburgh club losing out on what would have been their first title since 1960 on the final day of the season, after defeat at Celtic Park. McInnes took over at Hearts after leaving Kilmarnock in the summer of 2025. He was Scotland’s manager of the year within 12 months. Continue reading...USA blast out of the blocks and Canada get first ever point | World Cup Daily
On the podcast today: the USA … might actually be very good? They blew Paraguay away in their opening game in LA. Christian Pulisic, we owe you a huge apology. Elsewhere; Canada come back to draw with Bosnia and Herzegovina, an inspired triple substitution from Jesse Marsch turning things around, and if not for some brilliant Bosnian blocks they should have won it. Plus, a preview of the next batch of games including Haiti v Scotland, the developing domestic bliss between Max and Barry, and your questions answered. Continue reading...Sign up for the Football Daily newsletter: our free football email
Kick off your afternoon with the Guardian’s take on the world of footballEvery weekday, we’ll deliver a roundup the football news and gossip in our own belligerent, sometimes intelligent and – very occasionally – funny way. Still not convinced? Find out what you’re missing here.Try our other sports emails: there’s weekly catch-ups for cricket in The Spin and rugby union in The Breakdown, and our seven-day round-up of the best of our sports journalism in The Recap.Living in Australia? Try the Guardian Australia’s daily sports newsletter Continue reading...https://www.theguardian.com/info/2022/nov/14/football-daily-email-sign-up
Sign up for the Moving the Goalposts newsletter: our free women’s football email
Get our roundup of women’s football for free twice a week, featuring the insights of experts such as Ada Hegerberg and Magdalena ErikssonJoin us as we delve deeper into the wonderful world of women’s football in our weekly newsletter. It is informative, entertaining, global, critical – when needed – and, above all, passionate. Written mainly by Júlia Belas Trindade and Sophie Downey, expect guest appearances from stars such as Anita Asante, Ada Hegerberg and many more.Try our other sports emails: as well as the occasionally funny football email The Fiver from Monday to Friday, there are weekly catch-ups for cricket in The Spin and rugby union in The Breakdown, and our seven-day roundup of the best of our sports journalism in The Recap.Living in Australia? Try the Guardian Australia’s daily sports newsletter Continue reading...Sign up to the Sport in Focus newsletter: the sporting week in photos
Our editors’ favourite sporting images from the past week, from the spectacular to the powerful, and with a little bit of fun thrown in Continue reading...Sign up for the Recap newsletter: our free sport highlights email
The best of our sports journalism from the past seven days and a heads-up on the weekend’s actionSubscribe to get our editors’ pick of the Guardian’s award-winning sport coverage. We’ll email you the stand-out features and interviews, insightful analysis and highlights from the archive, plus films, podcasts, galleries and more – all arriving in your inbox at every Friday lunchtime. And we’ll set you up for the weekend and let you know our live coverage plans so you’ll be ahead of the game. Here’s what you can expect from us.Try our other sports emails: there’s daily football news and gossip in The Fiver, and weekly catch-ups for cricket in The Spin and rugby union in The Breakdown.Living in Australia? Try the Guardian Australia’s daily sports newsletter Continue reading...Nobody should underestimate what Thomas Tuchel can do with England | Emma Hayes
Leaving Cole Palmer at home surprised me, but I know Thomas from Chelsea – he’s the type of coach to die on his swordIn Thomas Tuchel, England have an elite coach. Don’t underestimate him. In my 12 years working at Chelsea, he and Mauricio Pochettino were my two favourite managers.Thomas is a great communicator, he’s demanding and he articulates himself really well. I admire the way he transfers information to the press and to players in a clear, concise way that is methodical, inspirational and detailed, all at the same time. Continue reading...https://www.theguardian.com/football/2026/jun/12/thomas-tuchel-england-world-cup
Why football does not remember the name of its greatest ever Jewish player
Influential Jewish managers such as Bela Guttman survived the Holocaust. In his new book, David Bolchover explores the great players who did notWho was the best Brazilian player of all time? Pelé comes the answer. Argentina? Maradona or Messi. Hungary? Puskas. Holland? Cruyff. Germany? Beckenbauer. Portugal? Eusébio or Ronaldo – take your pick. France? Zidane? England? Perhaps Bobby Charlton?What about the best Jewish footballer ever? Gotcha! That’s one to send even a group of the most historically literate Jewish football nerds into a prolonged silence. Not even a semblance of a suggestion is likely to emanate from their lips. Maybe they will break into a smile to indicate that we Jews are not very good at football, so choosing the best is probably a pointless exercise anyway, because the best would be rather bad in the broader scheme of things. Continue reading...World Cup refcam offers new perspective to hint at future of football broadcasting
Usage in opening matches focused on replays of goals from a unique angle, offering the viewer greater depth to watch from homeNot all of Fifa’s innovations at this men’s World Cup have been an instant hit with fans. But amid the clutter of the opening day, one success did seem to emerge – the new and improved refcam view.As part of their matchday equipment a small, high-definition “stabilised” camera is attached to the referee’s headset. Before the tournament, the Italian veteran referee Pierluigi Collina, chair of Fifa’s referees committee, said: “We think that it is a good chance to offer the viewers a new experience … from an angle of vision which was never offered before.” Continue reading...Tartan Army toast Scotland’s World Cup return: ‘It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity’
Of all the bases Scotland fans could have found for their World Cup journey, it had to be the city renowned for chasing the English out of townSam Adams is the beer of Boston, named after a founding father of the United States who was the fourth governor of Massachusetts. Downtown, there’s a tap room where you can drink it all day. On Thursday lunchtime the bar was packed, full of Scotland fans, and hanging over the first-floor balcony was a big yellow flag. It bore the legend “Remember Bannockburn 1314”.Of all the bases the Tartan Army could have found for their World Cup journey, it had to be the city renowned for chasing the English out of town. Supporters dressed like William Wallace have been bonding with tour guides dressed as Paul Revere. Continue reading...https://www.theguardian.com/football/2026/jun/12/tartan-army-toast-scotland-world-cup-return-boston
Kieran McKenna leaves emotional legacy at Ipswich to last generations
Manager caught lightning in a bottle with three promotions in four seasons but his need for a break to prioritise a young family is refreshing When the tears have dried, the adage will ring true for Ipswich and Kieran McKenna. They will smile because it happened and reflect that, despite the hurt, sometimes it is best to part while the love still burns.Perhaps they will also marvel at the unlikely magic football occasionally sprinkles. It is an industry in which people and places are thrown together, coming and going, sticking or not. When McKenna arrived in Suffolk four and a half years ago he could have been another hired gun; instead he transformed a community’s relationship with its club and left a legacy that should span generations. Continue reading...https://www.theguardian.com/football/2026/jun/11/kieran-mckenna-ipswich-legacy-premier-league-exit
Welcome to Trump’s World Cup, a depressingly angry version of football uniting the planet | Barney Ronay
Ted Lasso will deliver a message of hope before the USA’s first game, in an America that is not a fit or desirable host right nowShortly before 6pm local time on Friday night at the Los Angeles Stadium, the actor who plays Ted Lasso – the fictional manager of a fake team in a falsely heartwarming version of football – will tell hundreds of millions of TV viewers tuning in to watch the start of the American leg of the Fifa World Cup that football unites the world.In an interesting twist, the actor Jason Sudeikis will do this at a time when the World Cup host is simultaneously bombing the second-ranked country in Group G, having recently murdered its head of state. The message of unity is one likely to be heard by the US president, Donald Trump, who has initiated six military conflicts in his second term, and whose brutally divisive immigration policies have now led to the barring of Omar Artan, the reigning African referee of the year. Continue reading...https://www.theguardian.com/football/2026/jun/11/donald-trump-world-cup-ted-lasso-usa
Sophia Wilson’s return spoiled as USA women beaten by Brazil in friendly
Wilson scores in first US appearance since 2024Brazil answer with two goals in three minutesAmericans begin World Cup cycle with defeatThe US national team scheduled a pair of matches in Brazil in preparation of a return for the 2027 Women’s World Cup.After quick start for the Americans, the hosts scored twice in three minutes for a 2-1 win at Sao Paulo on Saturday. Continue reading...https://www.theguardian.com/football/2026/jun/06/usa-brazil-women-friendly-sophia-wilson-return
Ligue 1 season awards: the big hits, misses, shocks and flops of 2025-26
It was a season to remember for Vitinha, Pierre Sage and Florian Thauvin but one to forget for Paul Pogba and Nice By Get French Football News“I like feeling the match go through me,” said Vitinha at the end of December. It’s an apt way for the 26-year-old to interpret his role at PSG, given that everything the team produces on the pitch involves him in some way or another. Continue reading...Antonio Rüdiger: ‘Refugees have no other choice – it’s important they be listened to’
Drawing on his own family’s experience, the Real Madrid and Germany defender is advocating for refugees and challenging stereotypesAs a child, Antonio Rüdiger would look out of his bedroom window to see whether anyone was playing on the field it overlooked. It was not a big pitch, but it had two goals, enough room for six-a-side and was where a young Rüdiger honed the skills that would take him to the top.He grew up in Neukölln, Berlin, in a community largely made up of refugees, where his parents settled after fleeing civil war in Sierra Leone. It was, by his own account, a tough area, and football kept him out of trouble. Continue reading...Christian Pulisic wanted to talk about something else. Now he can
The US forward’s imperious 45 minutes against Senegal put some questions to rest, while his manager still wants to see moreSign up for the World Behind The Cup newsletterIt wasn’t hard to see how annoyed US men’s national team star Christian Pulisic was getting. Another US camp, another friendly on the road to an all-important World Cup at home, and another batch of questions about his goal-scoring drought, and the pressure it created for him and the team.Before Sunday, the Milan midfielder hadn’t scored a goal for club or country in nearly six months. His dry spell just with the national team stretched back even further, with Pulisic having last found the back of the net on 18 November 2024, during a Nations League match against Jamaica. Continue reading...https://www.theguardian.com/football/2026/may/31/christian-pulisic-usmnt-senegal-world-cup
If this is Messi’s last World Cup, could he eclipse Maradona and win it twice?
After living in the Argentina idol’s shadow, the 39-year-old star of Qatar is still capable of a final glorious chapterLionel Messi in Qatar felt like the perfect story. It was the great finale. He is doomed always to be compared with Diego Maradona and, placed alongside a life of operatic ups and downs, of injury and addiction, drugs bans and organised crime, the highest highs and the lowest lows, his narrative always seemed a little flat: a kid was good at football, and then was consistently good at it for two decades, winning title after title. Yes, there were tears and frustrations, moments of doubt, but he wasn’t nearly drowning in a cesspit, shooting at journalists with an airgun or using a fake penis to evade the drugs testers.Qatar offered at least a degree of dramatic intrigue. Club success evidently wasn’t enough. Messi was driven. He had overcome his natural reserve to become the true leader of the team while winning the Copa América in Brazil the previous year. He gave team talks. When, giving a TV interview after the quarter‑final win over the Netherlands he snapped at Wout Weghorst: “Que mira, bobo?” – what are you looking at, idiot? – it was celebrated as the quiet man coming out of his shell, albeit with an oddly childish phrase. Could the Argentinian finally lift the trophy in what was assumed to be his final World Cup? In the knockout stage, it felt every game could be his last; his genius and its apparent fragility seemed a constant reminder of mortality. Continue reading...Football seems to have forgotten about fun: the World Sevens has brought it back | Tom Garry
We all have a tendency to take the game far too seriously – this seven-a-side tournament provided the perfect antidote As much as it is tempting to romanticise about Bill Shankly’s most famous quote, he was wrong. Football is not more serious than life and death, and over the years far too many of us seem to have taken the former Liverpool manager’s words a little too literally and stopped being able to enjoy football for its primary purpose: fun.Whether it is clubs writing letters of complaint because a referee – a fallible human like all 8 billion of us – has made a mistake or the rage on social media that a pundit’s opinion might be skewed towards – shock – their former club, isn’t it time we chilled out a bit? Continue reading...Griping about Tuchel’s handbrake or Arteta’s bus makes the bantersphere tick | Max Rushden
Opinions, the game loves them, and after Arsenal’s hugely divisive final, here’s my truth – feel free to yell backWhat the world needs now is one last hot take on Arsenal and the Champions League final before we are all brought together in beautiful symbiotic harmony by the World Cup.Key questions such as: was it a good game? Was this the perfect way to take on the best midfield and attack in world football or the ultimate illustration of footballing cowardice? Why didn’t all the people in the UK want Arsenal to win? Why did some Arsenal fans find that annoying? Could it possibly be that people are different and want different things from football matches they consume in very different ways? Continue reading...Andoni Iraola looks the right manager to help Liverpool get their swagger back | Ben Fisher
The Basque made his Bournemouth superbly watchable, just what the Reds need after Arne Slot’s meek title defenceBravery. It is the recurring theme in conversations with those who have worked with Andoni Iraola at close quarters and the thing, they say, that sets him apart. It was evident in the manner his Bournemouth side illuminated the Premier League.Liverpool’s sporting director, Richard Hughes, has been here before. This time, though, rather than asking Iraola to replace Gary O’Neil and inherit a team that scrambled to safety, the challenge is to recondition one of the biggest clubs on the planet and help them rediscover the swagger that made them champions. Continue reading...David Squires on … the World Cup reimagined as Gianni Infantino’s West Side Story
As football’s greatest spectacle comes to North America, our cartoonist creates a heartwarming narrative around the Fifa presidentBuy a cartoon | David’s favourite works of 2025And his latest book, Chaos in the Box: get it now Continue reading...Premier League 2025-26 review: our writers’ best and worst of the season
The Premier League season is over, but what did Guardian football writers enjoy, dislike or marvel at over the last nine months? Goalkeepers never usually get a mention for this award but David Raya played an integral role in Arsenal finally getting over the line, winning the Premier League’s Golden Glove award for a third year in a row thanks to 19 clean sheets. Declan Rice and Bruno Fernandes were the outstanding outfield players. Ed Aarons Continue reading...The story of the Premier League 2025-26 season in 100 photos
A century of our favourite images from the season including wild celebrations, protesting fans and goalmouth scramblesReigning champions Liverpool left it late to beat Bournemouth 4-2 on the opening day of the season in their first league game back at Anfield following the death of Diogo Jota. The Reds also squeaked past Newcastle thanks to Rio Ngumoha and then Arsenal, after Dominik Szoboszlai’s stunning free-kick, which won goal of the month. Meanwhile, Manchester City lost 2-0 at home to Tottenham and 2-1 away at Brighton, Everton christened their new home, Hill Dickinson Stadium, with a win, and Sunderland made a strong start on their return to the top flight with two wins from three. Continue reading...Premier League 2025-26 season review: our predictions v reality
We picked Liverpool as champions, Chelsea as challengers and tipped Brentford and Sunderland to go down. Oh dearWhat we predicted: Mikel Arteta vowed this would be a “big summer” after finishing as runners-up in the Premier League for a third season in succession and the new sporting director, Andrea Berta, has delivered on a number of signings in his first transfer window. The question now for Arsenal supporters is whether Martín Zubimendi, Christian Nørgaard, Noni Madueke, Viktor Gyökeres, Cristhian Mosquera and Kepa Arrizabalaga can help them take that elusive final step to becoming champions for the first time since the Invincibles in 2004. Continue reading...Premier League 2025-26 review: gripes of the season
The most infuriating things, including mayhem at set pieces, daft jerseys and a largely ignored video gameYou will almost certainly be aware that there have been a load of set-piece goals this season, and an extraordinary proliferation of long throws. At times the self-styled greatest league in the world has drowned in a torrent of guileless ball-flinging. Continue reading...https://www.theguardian.com/football/2026/may/25/premier-league-2025-26-review-gripes-of-the-season
Romário: ‘I consider myself one of the greatest players ever. An 11 out of 10’
Brazil’s 1994 World Cup winner on being good without training, his political legacy and why he loves social mediaFew people’s interview list over the past year features Neymar, Robert Lewandowski, Xavi Hernández and Iker Casillas. But then not many interviewers have the pulling power of Romário. Thirty-two years after the former Brazil striker was crowned world champion and best player at the 1994 World Cup, he is travelling far and wide to speak with football greats for his YouTube channel.Romário began his “face to face with the man” project a year ago. “This whole Romário TV thing is a brand-new situation in my life,” he says. “I’m really happy, enjoying it. It’s so cool. Continue reading...https://www.theguardian.com/football/2026/jun/06/romario-2026-world-cup-brazil-interview
‘We’re going to be in an unreal, mad World Cup time zone’: Kelly Cates on presenting in Salford at 2am
BBC TV and radio host on sportswashing, the brilliance of watching Argentina up close and why Donald Trump won’t be able to hijack the football glory“Before every tournament there are always concerns,” Kelly Cates says as she approaches her fifth World Cup as a television and radio presenter. “There’s always something everybody’s worried about. This time I worry about the humidity and the altitude for the players and there are political concerns, obviously.“But there are also concerns that it’s not going to feel like a World Cup. In the US, they probably see that as a good thing. They probably see it as: ‘We’re going to make it better.’ Whereas we’re looking at it from a more traditional point of view, thinking: ‘Why are you going to change something that’s so amazing in the first place?’” Continue reading...‘It can all end with one bad game’: the highs and lows of a World Cup referee
Even the finest miss out on a place at the finals and for those who do get there, decisions can make or break a dreamIsmail Elfath was taking his children to the park near his home in Texas when a message arrived. “Congratulations,” it read. Elfath hugged his wife. Fifa had selected him for his second World Cup. Relief and pride swept over him. “Going to a World Cup is the dream of every referee, but going to a second one means you have stayed consistent for eight years plus,” he said.For referees, the World Cup is the pinnacle. The tournament comes around only every four years, and only a tiny number make the cut. “First you have to be the best in your own country, and even then you might not be selected,” the former Swiss referee Urs Meier said. Continue reading...https://www.theguardian.com/football/2026/jun/08/highs-lows-being-world-cup-referee
I read Gianni Infantino’s name-dropping, despot-fluffing book so you don’t have to | Barney Ronay
The Fifa president’s biography talks about magic a lot – and no wonder. There is no other way to explain his utterly ludicrous proximity to power Gliding through time as if surfing a rainbow, you can transform uncertainty into something beautiful.People sometimes like to talk in general terms about the idea, the abstract concept of the worst book ever written. Probably this title should belong to a book that is supposed to be good in the first place, like a really terrible Norman Mailer about a super-tough, hard-drinking American fiction genius who has a fist-fight with a zebra on an oil rig. Continue reading...Football Daily | The ‘Azteca’ delivers as hosts and ghosts give us that World Cup feeling
Sign up now! Sign up now! Sign up now? Sign up now!There’s an elemental force to football that can never be bottled and sold off. For reasons only known to Gianni Infantino and attendant pen pushers, the Azteca has been renamed the Mexico City Stadium for the Geopolitics World Cup. You can change a name for admin purposes, make punters pay through the nose for tickets, and charge 280 pesos ($17) for a beer (!) but legacy endures. It cannot be costed, sliced and diced. The ghosts of 1970 and 1986 were present and correct, just as present as JJ Balvin, Salma Hayek, David Guetta, EJAE and Andrea Bocelli were for a decent enough opening ceremony as these autotune extravaganzas go. Few would term Mexico 2-0 South Africa a classic tournament opener for the GWC but it served plenty of reminders this still actually means more.At the Euros I think we got a few things wrong off the pitch, I don’t feel the group connected as well as it could have for a number of reasons. When it came to the tournament, we were seen as one of two or three teams that could win it. We weren’t playing well, which doesn’t help, so even when we were winning, we didn’t get the feeling that we were as happy as we should be” – Jude Bellingham, there, suggesting that England were lacking vibes at the Euros. Where was Conor Coady when they needed him?Back in the 1994 World Cup, it was suggested the games should be split into four quarters to pander to increased advertising revenue. Needless to say, this idea was treated with the intense derision that it deserved and quickly booted into touch before it was implemented. Thirty-two years later we have ‘hydration breaks’ splitting the game into quarters and two extra advertising breaks. The more things change, the more they stay the same” – Nigel Sanders.Re: yesterday’s Football Daily. Apologies if this sounds like a story meant for a campfire but it’s hard to convey the feelings and the emotion that this tournament brings to the surface. The first tournament I distinctly remember was the 2002 World Cup – I was in India and the time difference was perfect to catch a game or two after school. I saw it all – Ronaldinho’s smile, the Ronaldo haircut, Oliver Kahn’s intimidating presence and the South Koreans going far (shout out to Turkey). The tournaments that followed were great but it never reached the same levels (for me). I swore as a 12-year-old (in 2002) that I’d go to one tournament in my lifetime; I came close in 2022 but it never came to be. Now we are in 2026, I am to be a citizen of a country that is co-hosting this tournament and, despite the ticket lottery and Fifa circus, I have secured tickets to two games. Twenty-four years later the promise is being kept. The little boy from 2002 will be proud” – Girish Chandra.This is an extract from our daily football email … Football Daily. To get the full version, just visit this page and follow the instructions. Continue reading...Exciting transfer window will only exacerbate women’s football’s wealth gap
Alexia Putellas leads a host of stars expected to arrive in the WSL but smaller clubs will still struggle to keep paceThe whistle has blown on the 2025-26 season for the vast majority of women’s teams around the world, and attention now turns to the hullabaloo of the transfer window and another summer of rising wages, transfer fees and agents fees.This summer’s activity is likely to see the gap between the haves and the have-nots widen further. Last summer there was an 83.6% increase in global spending on transfer fees in women’s football year-on-year, according to Fifa. This included headline-grabbing moves such as London City Lionesses’ £1.43m purchase of Grace Geyoro from Paris Saint-Germain, albeit London City have denied the figure is that high, and Arsenal’s landmark first £1m deal – the signing of Olivia Smith from Liverpool.This is an extract from our free email about women’s football, Moving the Goalposts. To get the full edition, visit this page and follow the instructions. Moving the Goalposts will be sent out once a week, on Wednesdays, in the close season but will be back on Tuesdays and Thursdays from September. Continue reading...The Hotspot | ‘This may be our last chance’: rising sea levels threaten Kiribati’s World Cup dream
In today’s newsletter: the Pacific islands hoping to enter World Cup qualifying before ocean level increase wipes them from the map“This is not just about football, it’s about building something from scratch,” Eriati Reebo, the Kiribati football president, explains. “A legacy, a story, that the world will always remember.”Kiribati, a group of Pacific islands south of Hawaii with 138,000 inhabitants, is seeking entry into World Cup qualifying for the 2030 tournament. Becoming a recognised international football team would help to bring attention to the only nation on earth that sits within all four hemispheres, and one that is rapidly disappearing from the map. It could be the first, but certainly not the last, country to be engulfed by sea water, leaving it uninhabitable. And before that happens, it wants to professionalise the football setup and become a full member of the Oceania Football Confederation. This would both create a route to competing with bigger nations and help to keep the Kiribati spirit alive. Continue reading...PSG now stand alongside some of Europe’s best-ever, but with caveats | Jonathan Wilson
The origin of PSG’s largesse and the effect it’s had on their domestic game can’t be ignored, even as we appreciate the team’s stunning qualitySign up for the World Behind The Cup newsletterSince 1990, only one side had ever successfully defended the Champions League – Real Madrid, who won three in a row between 2016 and 2018. Paris Saint-Germain’s victory in the final on Saturday elevates them to a new tier of the pantheon. No bad side has ever won the European Cup or Champions League, but only great sides have ever retained it.Arsenal pushed them much closer than Inter had in losing in the final the previous year, and there is always something slightly unsatisfying about a victory on penalties, but the quality of this PSG cannot be denied. They put six past Bayern in the semi-final – their superiority far greater than the one-goal aggregate margin would suggest. It was a similar story in the quarter-final, in which a 4-0 aggregate victory didn’t really reflect how much better they were than Liverpool. And while Chelsea may think they were slightly unlucky to lose the first leg of their last-16 tie away to PSG 5-2, the 3-0 result in the second leg was a devastating assertion of authority: three goals scored by an almost bored opponent apparently just as they felt like it.This is an extract from Soccer with Jonathan Wilson, a weekly look from the Guardian US at the game in Europe and beyond. Subscribe for free here. Have a question for Jonathan? Email soccerwithjw@theguardian.com, and he’ll answer the best in a future edition. Continue reading...https://www.theguardian.com/football/2026/jun/01/psg-champions-league-ligue-1-arsenal
The Joy of Six: forgotten World Cup goals
From Ogris’s Florentine charge to Quagliarella’s Ellis Park chip, half a dozen World Cup classics that deserve to be better rememberedThe first six or seven World Cups certainly are not without their charms, but they are noticeably light on the kind of viscerally spectacular goals that we take for granted in the modern game. Hardly surprising when you contemplate what teams of the era had to endure: quagmire-like pitches, boots comprising 50% leather and 50% landfill, and balls so heavy that they basically constituted gym equipment. Continue reading...https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2026/jun/12/the-joy-of-six-forgotten-world-cup-goals