Sep 25, 2026
Harry Kane’s 100th Bundesliga goal came too late for the Ballon d’Or, and he should win it anyway
The 2026 vote closed its window on the night of the World Cup final. On what he did before then, Kane’s case is still the strongest.
World Cup 2026
130 articles tagged with "World Cup 2026"
Sep 6, 2026
Senegal national football team: the full squad and key players, from three centurions to four under-21s
Patrick Vieira inherits a squad that took an unusually high number of under-21s to the World Cup, and is still appealing to CAS for the Africa Cup of...
Aug 14, 2026
Barcelona are selling the World Cup final’s matchwinner, and the accounting explains why
PSG have agreed around €50 million for Ferran Torres and he has agreed a five-year deal. Barcelona offered him a new contract instead. He asked to go,...
Jul 20, 2026
Spain look built to last, and that should worry the rest of the world
Spain backed up Euro 2024 with the World Cup, and with Lamine Yamal only nineteen and Rodri collecting the game’s top prize, the dynasty question is a...
Jul 20, 2026
Rodri and Spain dominate the 2026 World Cup awards, Mbappe takes the Golden Boot
Rodri won the Golden Ball, Unai Simon the Golden Glove and Pau Cubarsi the Young Player award as Spain swept the individual honours. Kylian Mbappe was...
Jul 18, 2026
England national football team players: the third-place 26, and where they all play now
England’s first match since the World Cup is at home to the team that won it. Before Spain come to Wembley on 26 September, here is the squad that fin...
Jul 18, 2026
Whatever happens against Spain, this feels like Messi’s long goodbye
At 39, and openly admitting he is exhausted, Lionel Messi has dragged Argentina to a third World Cup final. Sunday against Spain may well be the last...
Jul 18, 2026
England’s 60-year wait goes on after another semi-final collapse
England led their World Cup semi-final and lost it late to a Messi-inspired Argentina, and sixty years on from 1966 the wait drags on. Thomas Tuchel w...
Jul 17, 2026
Spain national football team players: the World Cup-winning 26, and the five who moved after it
Spain conceded one goal in eight matches to win the 2026 World Cup, and eight of the 26 who did it played for the same club. Here is the squad, with c...
Jul 17, 2026
Germany turn to Klopp to rebuild after their World Cup disaster
After the humiliation of a round-of-32 exit to Paraguay and Nagelsmann’s resignation, Germany are on the brink of handing Jurgen Klopp his first inter...
Jul 16, 2026
Deschamps takes his France farewell against a wounded England in the third-place play-off
France and England, both beaten in the semi-finals, meet in Saturday’s World Cup third-place play-off in Miami, the last match of Didier Deschamps’ Fr...
Jul 16, 2026
A World Cup final of opposites: Spain’s control against Messi’s Argentina
Spain reached the World Cup final with the tournament’s meanest defence; Argentina got there on Lionel Messi and a habit of late drama. Sunday’s showp...
Jul 15, 2026
France’s run of World Cup finals ends as Deschamps bows out a game short
France’s decade of reaching finals ended in Dallas, and with it the Deschamps era. A 2-0 semi-final defeat to Spain leaves the most successful France...
Jul 15, 2026
England face Messi’s Argentina in Atlanta with a final against Spain up for grabs
The World Cup’s last semifinal pits England against the holders Argentina in Atlanta, with the winner meeting Spain in Sunday’s final.
Jul 13, 2026
Mbappe leads Messi by an assist as the World Cup Golden Boot race reaches the semis
Kylian Mbappe and Lionel Messi are tied on eight goals, Erling Haaland is stuck on seven and out of the tournament, and Harry Kane is chasing on six....
Jul 12, 2026
Messi faces England at last as an old World Cup rivalry returns in the semis
Wednesday’s semi-final in Atlanta pits Thomas Tuchel’s England against Lionel Messi’s Argentina, reviving a fixture last played in 2005 and one Messi...
Jul 12, 2026
Bellingham’s extra-time brace sends England past Norway and into the World Cup semi-finals
Jude Bellingham scored twice, including an extra-time winner, as England edged Norway 2-1 in Miami to reach the World Cup semi-finals.
Jul 11, 2026
France and Spain meet early as the World Cup’s top two clash for a final place
The two top-ranked teams left in the tournament meet a round early: unbeaten France take on a battle-hardened Spain in Arlington for a place in the Wo...
Jul 10, 2026
Haaland and Norway chase history against England in the World Cup quarter-finals
Erling Haaland has seven goals and a nation on his shoulders as Norway reach a first World Cup quarter-final. England, unbeaten and favourites, must f...
Jul 9, 2026
France are the team to beat at the World Cup, but the hard part starts now
France have won all five games and look the tournament’s most complete side. Their history says the knockout rounds are where even the best teams come...
Jul 8, 2026
Argentina meet Switzerland’s stubborn defence with a semi-final on the line
The holders survived a scare against Egypt to reach the last eight, where they meet a Switzerland side into the World Cup quarter-finals for the first...
Jul 7, 2026
Argentina score three in 13 minutes to stun Egypt and reach the quarter-finals
Down 2-0 with a quarter of the match to play, the defending champions produced the latest of great escapes in Atlanta to keep their title defence aliv...
Jul 7, 2026
Kobel’s shootout heroics send Switzerland past Colombia and into the quarter-finals
A goalless 120 minutes in Vancouver came down to spot-kicks, and Switzerland’s goalkeeper made the difference to set up a last-eight meeting with Arge...
Jul 7, 2026
Fitness races over Saibari and Reece James as the World Cup quarter-finals near
Ismael Saibari, Aurelien Tchouameni and Reece James are all in a race to be fit as the World Cup 2026 quarter-finals approach, with team news shaping...