World Cup 2026: Fifa urged to remove official over hand gesture; teams hit back at Ceferin; Iran arrive in US – as it happened | World Cup 2026
Key events
Thank you for joining us for this new blog bringing you all the latest from the World Cup. We will leave you just an hour before Spain take on Cape Verde, Will Unwin will take you through that with the link to the blog below. Keep listening to those songs and I will be back tomorrow to continue the discussion. Enjoy the football.
Some more club news now. Spain’s Marc Cucurella has left Chelsea and has signed for Real Madrid. The move is a £52m deal, read more details:
Another nominee for best football song comes in from Simon McMahon:
I can’t let any discussion of all time classic football songs go without mentioning this. I was age 10 and a half at Spain 82, and the memories are still vivid. Dave Narey v Brazil, Rossi’s hat-trick in the second group phase, West Germany v France in the semis, Tardelli’s final celebration.
Over 100 people yet to surrender passports under banning order
Paul MacInnes
114 people subject to Football Banning Orders, who are required by law to hand in their passports during international tournaments, have yet to do so UK police have said. According to the UK Football Policing Unit, 94% of the 2439 people currently under a banning order have complied with the passport requirement, but those remaining have been given a ‘final warning’ to do so ahead of England’s opening group L fixture against Croatia on Wednesday and could face arrest if they do not.
Orders are given to those who are convicted of offences at football matches and prevent individuals from travelling abroad. The head of the UKFPU, Chief Constable Mark Roberts said they were an “effective” tool but warned those who had yet to hand over their documents. “Unfortunately, there are a small number of fans who have yet to surrender their passports, and work is ongoing to locate and arrest them”, he said. “In addition, we have now shared their details with the American authorities, meaning that if they do attempt to attend the World Cup then they will face the full force of the authorities in the USA, as well as those here in the UK when they return.”
Have a listen to the Football Weekly podcast to catch up on all the World Cup action:
Simon Flaherty has got in touch to challenge World in Motion as the best football song:
To paraphrase John Lennon, “World in Motion” wasn’t even the best song of Italia ‘90
To be fair, just about everything remotely attached to Jack Charlton’s 1990 campaign has a near mythical rose-tinted nostalgia attached to it in Ireland, but “Put ‘Em Under Pressure“ stands the test of time.
It is a masterpiece of sonic maximalism. It’s got everything: the ghostly Enya-esque opening vocals, the Jack Charlton voice-over, the kick-the-door-off-the-hinges main riff, the cheesy chorus (feat. Mick McCarthy on drums!), and – with all do deference to AC/DC – the greatest rock bagpipe solo of all time.
We are under two hours away from the first kick-off of the day and so you are clued up on players, managers and all the rest these guides will help you get to know the teams better before the game. Spain v Cape Verde will start at 5pm BST/12pm ET.
Some club news to bring you, Ruben Amorim has found a new job. The former Manchester United boss will be appointed the new manager of AC Milan. United will now not need to pay Amorim his full £16.7m compensation. Will Unwin has more:
Jeremy Boyce has got in touch and said:
I’m amazed no one else has so far suggested surely the second best World Cup song ever (after Colourbox), New Order’s magnificent offering for Euro 1990, World In Motion. Of course, that WASN’T its original title. The band wanted to release it as “ ‘E’ Is For England”, as indeed it is, and at that time very much was. It was the height of Acid House and rave parties,the second summer of love and it seemed as if half the country was “on one”. It was also a period when violence at footie grounds plummeted too, well obviously, eh ? World In Motion was a decent title but it was a compromise.
There’s been plenty to enjoy on the pitch so far, and obviously more, a LOT more to come. Way too much in many ways. I’d liken it to my one and only attempt to read Lord Of The Rings, which I gave up on at page 1047 having lost the will to live/backtrack yet again to remind myself which were the nasty Orcs. And as luck would have it I’m getting all the matches live on French terrestrial channel M6, so it’s looking good for Wednesday night’s date with ‘Arry and the boys. Plenty to appreciate between now and then….
Jack Snape
Before he became an instant national hero, Socceroos goalkeeper Patrick Beach had a perfect view of Nestory Irankunda’s opening goal during the 2-0 win against Turkey in Vancouver.
“We know one of our threats is our pace up front,” he said. “I just saw an opportunity to get it out wide, and then within two or three passes, Nes was in the 18-yard box and having a crack on goal. And then it was absolute limbs, wasn’t it?”
There is a lot of World Cup action on at the moment but for the time there isn’t any football, you could spend some time on Guardian puzzles. There is an on the ball: world stage puzzle that every football fan will love to test your knowledge of World Cup players. Take a look:
We have had more responses about football songs and MY says this is a “house classic”:
Steve Clarke suggested expectation weighed heavily on the shoulders of Scotland’s players after they laboured at times during the 1-0 win over Haiti. The game marked Scotland’s first at a World Cup since 1998 and delivered a first win since eight years earlier. The Scots top Group C after Brazil drew with Morocco.
Yet with those teams, both ranked in the top 10 in the world, still to come there is an understanding Scotland will have to improve to realise their ambition of becoming the first team from the nation to reach the knockout phase of a major tournament.
“I am absolutely delighted with my players,” said Clarke. “Resilience, character had to be on the pitch tonight. There is no relief. Everyone told us it was a must-win game and we won. When you win a must-win game, you have to be happy with yourselves.”
I have returned, don’t worry I was not eating for the entire three hours I was away. Thank you Dave and Martin, I will take you through until build-up for the first match of the day which will be between Spain and Cape Verde. Let’s kick-off with some Scotland news, shall we?
Thank you for reading, I will be back later in the week – and now it is over to Sarah Rendell.
From the poor planning files, Belgium’s Jérémy Doku has said that he wants to be there for the birth of his child – fair enough – but that his wife Shireen is due in the second week of July when the World Cup has reached the quarter-final stage, which his side will hope to be taking part in.
Reuters quotes the Manchester City player saying “It depends on when it happens, but it’s my first child, so I would definitely want to be there. If you ask me what I want, my answer is that nobody wants to miss the birth of their first child. But I also know that football involves many other considerations. I know the federation supports its players and understands their situations. We’ll see what we can do.”
The blog has been a little bit England heavy, so I’ve just been looking at the extent to which Cape Verde’s media has been getting excited about the prospect of their World Cup debut against Spain later today.
I am delighted to report that the island nation has issued a commemorative stamp for the World Cup, which feels delightfully old school, the government has announced a measure to introduce special state pensions for a selection of former players, and that shops in capital Praia are reporting “a significant increase in demand for the national team’s shirts”.
Jordan Pickford has been talking about what it is like to be in a tournament squad for England, and suggesting that Thomas Tuchel gives great team talks.
Speaking to talkSPORT, PA reports the Everton goalkeeper said:
I think the manager, the passion he’ll bring out, the team talks, I think he’ll step it up. They’re very good, they’re quality, to be fair. He’s brilliant. It’s typical where, when we’re training, you work hard, when you’re in meetings, you listen, you focus, and the manager drives the meetings, and that kind of pushes into the training, or into the game. I’ve got to say, he’s top drawer.
I’ve always said we’ve got a good togetherness. Ever since 2018, you live on a journey, you go on a journey with everybody and you’ve got to smile, you’ve got to be happy. I’ve always said in tournaments, it’s not smooth sailing, it’s always going to be a roller coaster. People will have down days, you might be sick of each other for the odd day, that’s part and parcel of it.
But this camp, the manager, once that brotherhood is together, that’s what I mentioned earlier, he’ll keep pushing that and I think it’s down to the players to keep driving that. On a personal experience, I love every minute when I’m away. Having a crowd of lads, having a bit of fun, even if I’m getting battered myself, I’ll take it on the chin. But that’s what it’s about, it’s about just enjoying the experiences and that’s what I enjoy being an England player.
I must confess as a child I obviously dreamed of playing for my country, but as an adult, there does seem to be an element of going to a tournament being akin to a horribly long corporate awayday with forced fun. And then when it finishes, unless you’ve won the thing, everybody queues up to tell you exactly what you did wrong.
In non-World Cup news, Manchester United have announced they will be taking part in a fly-on-the-wall documentary series for Amazon Prime, PA report.
In tangential World Cup news, PA also report that Harry Maguire has said he wishes England all the best for the tournament, despite his family’s hissy fit over his non-selection. He told Gary Lineker in a podcast “I’ve spoken to a few of them. The camp is going really well, and they’ve had two wins in the friendlies as well, so it seems like a positive camp. Listen, I wish them all the best. I want them to do well, all my friends. Obviously I’d love to have been out there and maybe not chatting to you.”
Martin Belam
And no sooner have I taken over the live blog – hi, everyone! – than Nick Ames pops up with a piece previewing Norway’s World Cup campaign. They get going against Iraq tomorrow at 5pm EST / 11pm BST.
It is a long time since they have been on the world stage – since 1994 1998. Their last visit to the US was spurred on when Kjetil Rekdal’s absolute banger at Wembley was just one of many factors in the Netherlands and Norway qualifying for the World Cup ahead of Graham Taylor’s rather sorry England. At that tournament they ended up bottom of a group containing Mexico, Republic of Ireland and Italy, despite all four teams having four points each. They will hope for better this time out, and their viking team photo surely deserves it.
Charles Antaki sends in the Swiss World Cup song. “Features – of course – some accomplished yodelling, auto-tuned to hysterical levels. Possibly ironic, probably not; who knows?”
Sales possibly hit by conceding a last-gasp equaliser to Qatar. Anyway, before we go further down the rabbit hole, I’ll hand you over to Martin Belam.
Another World Cup song. This is largely forgotten but I really liked the one from 1998. Penned by Ian McCulloch and Johnny Marr, here’s various members of The Spice Girls, Echo & The Bunnymen, Space and Ocean Colour Scene having some 90s fun on Top Of The Pops. Probably not chanty enough to be a hit on the terraces.
The goals are flying in at World Cup 2026. Those who watched all four games on the fourth day of action would have seen the net bulge 19 times (8, 4, 1, 6). It’s an encouraging start but how does 2026 stack up against previous finals?
USA/Mexico/Canada 2026 – 3.16 per game
Qatar 2022 – 2.69 per game
Russia 2018 – 2.64 per game
Brazil 2014 – 2.67 per game
South Africa 2010 – 2.27 per game
Germany 2006 – 2.3 per game
It’s very early days but we’re on track to have the highest average since 1994 (2.71) which was also in the USA of course. When Sweden start sticking five in, you know that this could be fun.
Talking of Sweden, 1958 was the last time the World Cup saw over three goals per game. It was 2.97 in Mexico 1970.
More now on the hand gesture story mentioned earlier. Fifa’s discrimination monitor at the World Cup has called for a video assistant referee to be removed for appearing to make a hand gesture resembling a white supremacist sign.
“Advice from our experts is that the gesture used clearly resembles an upside down ‘OK’ hand symbol used as a ‘white power’ symbol in global far-right circles,” the Fare network, a longtime partner of Fifa and Uefa, the European football governing body, to monitor racist and discriminatory chants, flags and symbols at international games, said in a statement. “Clearly this official should have no further role to play in this World Cup,” Fare said in a statement, describing the gesture as “neo-Nazi.”
Kick-off times are more friendly for the UK viewer today. Spain v Cape Verde at 5pm and Belgium v Egypt at 8pm. But we need to think globally so that’s 3pm for Cape Verde viewers cheering on their team while in Egypt it’ll be 10pm for those tuning in to see if Mo Salah can inspire his team to victory over the Belgians.
The biggest test for the UK viewer today is Iran v New Zealand at 2am BST. In Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch that’ll be 1pm while in Tehran, Mashhad and Karaj it’s a less palatable 4.30am.
Thanks Sarah. As for World Cup songs, this one from the German 1990 squad always sticks in my mind. While England took the genre to a new level with New Order and John Barnes’ rap, the Germans very much went down the traditional route. A singer that looks like a cross between Chris de Burgh and Thomas Muller, Karl-Heinz Riedle playing maracas more like a primary school teacher than Mick Jagger and one or two playing air saxophone. Pleasingly dreadful.
I am off to grab some food and so I leave you in the hands of Dave Tindall who will take you through the next few hours of news. I’ll be back later on.
From requests of your favourite football songs to another on if you live in a World Cup host city. We want to hear from you if you have football teams in town from the atmosphere to how it is affecting business. Use the form on this page to get in touch:
We have another shout for the best/worst football song and I can’t decide which side of the forward slash this one belongs on. Graeme Neill said:
Timely given yesterday evening’s match. Japan’s Cornelius and his utterly bonkers Ball in Kick Off is worth a listen:
France will kick-off their tournament against Senegal on Tuesday and to say they have attacking quality is an understatement. The team boasts players like the captain, Kylian Mbappé, Ballon d’Or winner Ousmane Dembélé, Michael Olise and Cherki but they all have a role to play, according to Adrien Rabiot. Read more:
Jacob Steinberg
The cat is well truly out of the bag. Nobody expected the conversation to be quite so revealing when Jude Bellingham and Morgan Rogers sat on the Lions’ Den sofa last week. Content controlled by the Football Association was an unlikely place for Bellingham to drop a few truth bombs, but the England midfielder was not minded to hold back when it was time to discuss his experience at Euro 2024.
“It didn’t feel like there was any kind of hierarchy,” the 22-year-old said. “I think at the Euros we got some things a little bit wrong off the pitch. I don’t feel like the group connected as well as it could have – for a number of reasons.”
Read more:
Fifa urged to remove official over hand gesture
Fifa have been urged to remove a video review official who appeared to make a white supremacy hand gesture during Germany’s 7-1 win over Curaçao.
The governing body’s discrimination monitor at the World Cup called for Shaun Evans from Australia to be removed from the tournament.
The gesture was also spotted by several fans who posted about it on social media.
“Advice from our experts is that the gesture used clearly resembles an upside down ‘OK’ hand symbol used as a ‘white power’ symbol in global far-right circles,” the Fare network said.
Fifa are yet to comment on the situation.
There have been some sights at the World Cup but Scotland fans taking over Fenway Park is one that has been one of the most surreal. The Boston Red Sox lost 6-4 to the Texas Rangers but Scotland fans stayed long after the game was over singing “super John McGinn” and during the match there was a rendition of “yes sir, I can boogie”.
Anil Patel has emailed:
This absolute banger wasn’t attached to any particular team but is one of the best themes out there.
This is a great shout and a fun fact for you about it, it was initially written to be a baseball anthem. Some baseball news coming your way soon…
If anyone is unsure of the song I referenced, here it is:
Football songs can be iconic or occasionally cringey, that one with Dizzee Rascal and James Cordon comes to mind for the latter for me. What are your best/worst anthems for a major tournament? Get in touch and let me know.
England may have banished some penalty shootout demons in the last few major tournaments but the question of who would step up to take one is one that will always be asked. One such player who said he would take on is Eberechi Eze, despite missing one in the Champions League final. Have a read of what he said:
There will be many questions raised at this World Cup. Who will win the trophy? Who will claim the Golden Boot? What will the next standout moment be? But there is another question that has been answered in the following piece: Where have the WAGs gone?
Matt Hughes
Fox will not face any punishment from Fifa for breaking the governing body’s advertising rules during the opening game of the World Cup between Mexico and South Africa last week.
The US broadcaster broke Fifa’s strict guidelines for showing commercials during hydration breaks on the first occasion they were in operation by returning to the live action 10 seconds after play had resumed during the second half at Mexico City Stadium.
Fifa’s tournament regulations, which were given to all rights holders two months ago, state that while broadcasters can show ads during hydration breaks they must return to the match 30 seconds before play resumes.
Read more:
Sometimes a team needs a player to have some standout performances to jump start a tournament and Jordan Henderson believes that player for England will be Jude Bellingham. Henderson said:
I’m sure he will have a big impact for us in this tournament. I can remember five years ago I gave him his first cap, it was away at Middlesbrough. How much he’s grown, as a player and as a person since then, is incredible really. I had a good idea when I first saw him playing and training, and the way he was.
I think everybody forgets how young he is. We do rondos and it’s the youngest in, and there’s people that I think should be going in before him, but he’s always one of the first in the middle to go in. It just reminds us how young he is. I honestly couldn’t speak highly enough of him.
Read more:
The travel at this tournament has grabbed more than a few headlines so far and there is another one pertaining to Australia. The Socceroos beat Turkey 2-0 in their opening game with their second against one of the co-hosts, the US, on Friday. Their focus will be on that game but recovery is also high on their list. Read more here:
There have already been so many historic moments at this tournament, including Scotland’s first World Cup win in 36 years. Mo Salah is hoping to replicate the moment and end Egypt’s long wait of 92 years for a victory at the tournament. The team have their first game against Belgium today to try and make history:
Spain, who start their campaign today against Cabo Verde, are among the favourites to win the World Cup after their European Championship success in 2024. Here’s a piece on how the team are embracing the tag and how they are using one trophy-winning tournament to potentially lift another:
Uruguay will take on Saudia Arabia later today but their travel was delayed amid challenges across the tournament.
The team’s initial flight from Mexico was cancelled with their replacment delayed. The Uruguay captain, José María Giménez, described the situation as “difficult”.
Read more:
There are more games to be played today with another four in store. The details for those kick-off times and match-ups are below but do get in touch to let me know what your World Cup routine is. Are you having to get up early to watch the games? Or are you in a time zone where you can get home from work and watch back-to-back football until it’s time for bed? Email me and let me know, here are today’s fixtures:
-
Spain v Cabo Verde (5pm BST, 12pm ET, 9am PT)
-
Belgium v Egypt (8pm BST, 3pm ET, 12pm PT)
-
Saudi Arabia v Uruguay (11pm BST, 6pm ET, 3pm PT)
-
Iran v New Zealand (2am BST, 9pm ET, 6pm PT)
So what happened in the matches yesterday? Four took place with the biggest win coming in Germany’s 7-1 dismantling of Curaçao. The island nation will be disappointed with the result but they also made history as they scored their first-ever World Cup goal. That came from Livano Comenencia, who plays his club football for Zürich. Have a read of that report and others for all the latest action on pitch:
Čeferin criticised for ‘uninteresting’ comment
UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin was criticised by multiple nations from Asia, Africa and the Caribbean after reportedly saying the expanded World Cup creates “uninteresting” matches.
According to Zurnal 24, the boss said at a conference last Monday: “We have a huge number of matches that are completely uninteresting.”
The associations of Cape Verde, Congo, Curaçao, Haiti, Jordan and Uzbekistan released a joint statement, which was in solidarity with the federations of Algeria, Egypt, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Morocco, Senegal, South Africa and Tunisia.
It said: “Football does not belong to a select group of nations. Its strength comes from its universality,” the statement said. “For many countries, participation in the FIFA World Cup is not only a sporting achievement. It is a moment that inspires a generation, accelerates football development and creates memories that last a lifetime.”
Ben Fisher
The Iran striker Mehdi Taremi has said the controversy and disruption surrounding their involvement at the World Cup undermines Fifa’s message of peace and conceded he felt the tension before arriving in Los Angeles on the eve of their opener, hours before a peace deal was announced. For the first time since the competition’s inception, a host nation has received a country with which it is at war.
On Sunday Iran flew to LA from Tijuana, Mexico, where they were relocated amid an ongoing row over visas, but are expected to face opposition from Iranians, many of whom believe the national team do not represent the country. Iran has been beset by problems in the buildup to the tournament, with several officials denied entry to the US.
Preamble
Hello and welcome to today’s World Cup news blog where we bring you the latest updates from the global event being hosted across the US, Canada and Mexico.
Any breaking news, team updates or reflections on what has happened so far will be all here for you to feast on, no matter what you are doing with your Monday.
Please do get in touch too, we always like to hear from readers. Potentially on the best underdog story at the World Cup or any quirky predictions you may have for the tournament.
Amongst several stories surrounding the competition today is Iran’s arrival in the US. The team landed on Sunday before they take on New Zealand.
More details on that story will be with you shortly, as well as the reports from the games that took place yesterday to catch up on all the latest action.