Jul 5, 2026
Mbappe and Messi are level at the top of the World Cup Golden Boot race
Kylian Mbappe and Lionel Messi are locked together on seven goals at the top of the World Cup Golden Boot race, with Harry Kane and Erling Haaland lur...
Football Features
Latest features articles covering football.
Jul 4, 2026
The World Cup has become a live shop window for the transfer market
The summer window is running on top of a World Cup, and the overlap is driving record fees and quick moves for the tournament’s breakout names.
Jul 4, 2026
Portugal national football team: full squad and key players at the 2026 World Cup
Cristiano Ronaldo is chasing one last World Cup, and Portugal have the squad to make a real run at it. Here is the full 26-man group, the players who...
Jul 3, 2026
Portugal and Spain collide in the World Cup last 16 with an old rivalry reignited
The Iberian neighbours meet at AT&T Stadium on Monday, with Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal standing between the European champions and the quarter-final...
Jul 3, 2026
Canada’s home dream meets Morocco’s knockout pedigree in the last 16
Canada have reached the World Cup last 16 for the first time. To go further, they must get past a Morocco side that made the semi-finals in 2022.
Jul 3, 2026
For the first time, all three World Cup hosts are into the last 16
The United States, Canada and Mexico have all reached the World Cup last 16, something no set of tournament hosts has ever managed together. Two of th...
Jul 2, 2026
The World Cup last 16 begins this weekend with four ties worth staying up for
The World Cup knockouts resume this weekend with four last-16 ties, from Mexico’s unbeaten Azteca fortress to a Vinicius-versus-Haaland duel at MetLif...
Jul 1, 2026
India national football team: the current squad and key players
A clear guide to the India national football team in 2026: the squad Khalid Jamil has named, who captains the side, the key players, and where the Blu...
Jun 29, 2026
Ronaldo meets Modric in Toronto, and the loser may have played his last World Cup
Cristiano Ronaldo is 41, Luka Modric is 40, and the World Cup’s round of 32 has thrown them together in Toronto. For the loser, it could be the final...
Jun 28, 2026
The World Cup knockouts begin with a record African presence in the last 32
The 48-team World Cup’s first Round of 32 opens with South Africa against Canada, and a record nine of ten African teams have reached the knockouts as...
Jun 25, 2026
Eight from twelve: inside the World Cup scramble for the best third-place spots
Why coaches at this World Cup are watching other stadiums as closely as their own, and how a single yellow card could decide who survives the group st...
Jun 24, 2026
The round of 32 is the 48-team World Cup’s great unknown
The 2026 World Cup is about to enter a round of 32, a knockout phase no men’s tournament has staged before. Here is how the new format works and what...
Jun 22, 2026
The 48-team World Cup’s best story is its smallest nations
The 48-team World Cup was billed as a recipe for mismatches. Two weeks in, Cape Verde, Curacao and Egypt have made the expanded tournament a stage for...
Jun 21, 2026
Morocco lead the way as Africa’s record 10 settle into the World Cup
From Morocco’s unbeaten start to Cape Verde’s history-making point against Spain, here is how Africa’s record 10 teams are faring at the first 48-team...
Jun 21, 2026
Ronaldinho joins Serie C side Ravenna at 46, but not as a player
At 46, Ronaldinho has joined Serie C side Ravenna as a shareholder and marketing ambassador. The club won’t quite rule out a cameo, but this is a bran...
Jun 21, 2026
Messi, David and Undav lead a wide-open World Cup Golden Boot race
Three players share the lead and more than a dozen are right behind them, with the biggest names still to fire. The World Cup Golden Boot race has no...
Jun 21, 2026
Eloy Room’s 15 saves earn debutants Curaçao a historic first World Cup point
Eloy Room made 15 saves to keep Ecuador out in a 0-0 draw, earning Curaçao, the smallest nation by population ever to reach a World Cup, the first poi...
Jun 19, 2026
The World Cup’s new third-place safety net is already catching the big names
Mexico are already through, but this World Cup’s new eight-team third-place route is quietly reshaping how the big sides think about qualifying.
Jun 18, 2026
The World Cup’s three hosts are all unbeaten, and the real tests start now
Mexico, the United States and Canada have all come through their opening games unbeaten, and the World Cup’s first three-nation home advantage looks r...
Jun 17, 2026
Brazil, Belgium and Spain all held: Africa’s bold start to the World Cup
Morocco, Egypt and Cape Verde all took points off the favourites and Ivory Coast went one better, even if not every African side enjoyed the same week...
Jun 16, 2026
Six games, no defeats: Asia’s strong start to the World Cup
From holding Uruguay and Switzerland to beating Turkey and Czechia, Asia’s footballers have come through the World Cup’s opening round without a singl...
Jun 16, 2026
Vozinha and Al-Owais turned Group H into goalkeeping theatre at the World Cup
Spain could not beat a 40-year-old debutant and Uruguay needed 80 minutes to break Saudi Arabia. The opening week of World Cup 2026 has belonged to th...
Jun 13, 2026
England begin their World Cup against the Croatia side that knocked them out in 2018
Eight years after Croatia ended their run in Moscow, England open their World Cup against the same opponent in Arlington, with Luka Modric chasing a f...
Jun 12, 2026
Cape Verde’s first World Cup: how an island of 525,000 reached the biggest stage
Fewer than 525,000 people live across Cape Verde’s 10 islands. On 15 June, the Blue Sharks walk out against Spain in Atlanta for the first World Cup m...