Former German international and 2014 FIFA World Cup winner Bastian Schweinsteiger poses with the FIFA World Cup Trophy during the FIFA World Cup Trophy Tour at American Dream. Photo Courtesy: Caean Couto-Imagn Images
| Photo Credit: Reuters
Every time the FIFA World Cup comes along, there’s an irresistible energy that pulls us to it and keeps us hooked like few other spectacles can. Regular consumers of the sport box up their club loyalties and pull out their dusty international jerseys, while loyal quadrennial World Cup fans sit down to trade tales of long-forgotten moments that either still keep them up at night — perhaps the infamous Roberto Baggio penalty miss in the 1994 final — or remind them where they were when the Hand of God changed the sport forever.This time around, things are no different. Memories will be created, GOATs will be tested and jaws will drop when that relative nobody stuns a tournament favourite with the cleanest strike of the Trionda, this year’s official match ball. As one X user put it: “International tournament football is strictly decided by pure vibes, individual brilliance, tactical survival and a random goalkeeper turning into prime Lev Yashin for two weeks. Enjoy the entertainment and put the spreadsheets away.” Amen to that.And so, as Brazil hunts desperately for a crown that has eluded them since 2002; as Argentina seeks to defend it (and Lionel Messi’s immortality); as France, Spain, Portugal, and England push for glory with their star-studded squads; and as the African and Asian underdogs plot to upstage the more fancied outfits — we at The Hindu will bring you the action with the all-round coverage that you, the reader, need to keep abreast as the goals fly in and the tears, of joy and despair, flow. Oh, and did we mention this is the first World Cup to feature 48 teams? There has never been a stage quite this big.Watch out for this weekly newsletter through the duration of the 2026 World Cup! Published - June 08, 2026 05:59 pm IST
