Iranian Soccer Players Wear Pins For Victims Of Deadly School Strike

The 2026 FIFA World Cup kicks off in June — and HuffPost will be live-blogging every twist, turn and controversy from the buildup through the final of what’s widely shaping up to be the most political soccer tournament of all time.From the action on the pitch to the potential chaos off it, the storylines are already piling up: Iran’s possible non-participation amid Donald Trump’s war, the president’s close relationship with FIFA’s Peace Prize-awarding President Gianni Infantino, and simmering tensions between the U.S. and fellow host nations Mexico and Canada fueled by Trump’s tariffs and divisive rhetoric.Trump’s travel bans could keep some fans out, there’s been fury over soaring ticket prices, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents could be present at games as the Trump administration continues its anti-immigration crackdown.Not to mention extreme heat concerns that scorched all those involved the last time the U.S. hosted the tournament some 32 years ago, in 1994.And that’s all before a ball has been kicked.U.S. President Donald Trump received the FIFA Peace Prize from FIFA President Gianni Infantino in December.Andrew Harnik via Getty ImagesOn the field, the men’s national teams from 48 countries will compete in a record 104 matches across the three host nations in what will be the biggest World Cup in history.Mexico will take on South Africa at the iconic Mexico City Stadium in the opening game on June 11. The U.S. will play Paraguay in Los Angeles on June 12, Australia in Seattle on June 19 and Turkey back in Los Angeles on June 25, in the group games, before potentially competing in the later knockout rounds.The final will be held on July 19 at MetLife Stadium, which is being temporarily rebranded as the New York/New Jersey Stadium for the competition.Current European champions Spain are favorites to lift the trophy. Defending champions Argentina, of Inter Miami’s Lionel Messi fame, along with France, England and Brazil, are also expected to be in the mix.Check out the full games schedule on the FIFA website.Follow along with our coverage below:Iranian Soccer Players Wear Pins For Victims Of Deadly School StrikeTIJUANA, Mexico (AP) — Iran’s World Cup team arrived in Mexico wearing lapel pins highlighting the victims of a deadly missile strike on an elementary school at the start of the war in the Mideast.The players wore gold-colored pins with the number “168” on their jackets when getting off their plane Sunday in Tijuana, Mexico. It referred to the people killed, most of them children, when a Feb. 28 strike, likely launched by the U.S., hit the school in Minab in southern Iran.Iran’s embassy in Hungary on Monday noted the pins in a social media post with a reference to Minab.The strike on the school, which was close to a Revolutionary Guard base, was previously memorialized by the Iran team before a warmup game in March in Antalya, Turkey. Players held up pink and purple school backpacks while their national anthem played.Neither the United States nor Israel has accepted responsibility for the attack on the school, which has come under staunch criticism from the United Nations and human rights groups. The U.S. military is investigating and has said it would never target civilians.The Iran delegation flew on a private jet from Antalya on Saturday to Tijuana, after a late change of plans two weeks ago to use Mexico as a training base instead of Tucson, Arizona.Iran is preparing to play all three of its group-stage games in the U.S, which has delayed processing visas for players and has denied some to members of the delegation which have ties to the Revolutionary Guard.However, it is unclear when the Iran team will be allowed to enter the U.S. ahead of their June 15 opening game in Inglewood near Los Angeles, to face New Zealand.Iran is due to return to Tijuana between games, and go back to Inglewood on June 21 to play Belgium, then head to Seattle to face Egypt on June 26.Iran and the U.S. could meet in the round of 32 on July 3 at the Dallas Cowboys' stadium in Arlington, Texas, if both teams come second in their groups.___AP World Cup: https://apnews.com/hub/fifa-world-cupLatest Live UpdatesSibling Rivals Lining Up For Different Squads In World CupJune 8 (Reuters) - Four sets of brothers will compete at the World Cup, all for different countries in a reflection of how steady migration around the world has had an impact on football.Desire Doue and his older brother Guela are French-born, but while Paris St Germain starlet Desire plays for Les Bleus, Guela is an overlapping fullback for the Ivory Coast from where their father hails.The Williams brothers Inaki and Nico are both Basque-born, and the 23-year-old Nico was player of the match when Spain beat England in the European Championship final two years ago.Older brother Inaki, who turns 32 next week, played once for Spain too, but only in a friendly, which qualified him after a hiatus to switch allegiance and declare for Ghana, the country from where his parents migrated.Also in the Ghana side is the 30-year-old Dutch-born defender Derrick Luckassen, who was added at the last minute to the World Cup squad as an injury replacement and joins his half-brother Brian Brobbey at the tournament.Brobbey, 24, is a back-up striker for the Netherlands, going into the tournament in Canada, Mexico, and the United States on the back of a strong second half of the Premier League season with Sunderland. They share the same mother but have different fathers.Australia selected Scottish-born centre-back Harry Souttar, 27, while his two-year-older brother John will be playing for Scotland. They were born in Aberdeen, but their mother is Australian, and Harry switched his allegiance seven years ago after being capped at junior level by the Scots.In the opening stage of the tournament, there are no scheduled meetings between any of the siblings, but only last week, Desire watched from the stands in Nantes as Guela swept home the opening goal to help the Ivorians beat France 2-1 in a warm-up friendly.BROTHERS TEASED BEFORE THE MATCH"Sure, we teased each other a bit before the match,” Guela told reporters afterwards. "In the end, we're family and we're very happy for each other."The two brothers, born in Angers in northwestern France, took their first steps together at Stade Rennais, but Guela, who is three years older, was overshadowed by his younger brother’s prodigious talent, which has seen him move to PSG and win back-to-back Champions League honours.Migration to Europe over the last decades has opened a major pool of talent for African national teams who dip into the diaspora ranks for players. World Cup participants like Algeria, Cape Verde, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Morocco, Senegal, and Tunisia have more European-born players in their 26-man squad than those born at home.There has been only one case of siblings squaring off against each other at the World Cup, and it happened in back-to-back tournaments.Jerome Boateng was at the back for Germany against his older half-brother Kevin Prince, who suited up for Ghana, in a 1-0 win for the Germans in Johannesburg.Four years later, the pair were at opposite ends again in Fortaleza when the group game ended 2-2.“Of course, it was something special, but somehow it was also different four years later,” said Jerome Boateng.“In 2010, it was truly something new, something extraordinary. I don't want to say it's become commonplace – because a World Cup is never commonplace. But we also played against each other quite a few times in the Bundesliga,” he added.(Writing by Mark Gleeson in Cape Town; Editing by Toby Chopra)MLS Hopes To Turn World Cup Attention Into Lasting GainsLOS ANGELES, June 8 (Reuters) - Major League Soccer Commissioner Don Garber says the league is treating the 2026 FIFA World Cup not as a six-week showcase but as the launchpad for a new era, aiming to convert global attention on North American soccer into lasting growth in fans, relevance and stature.Garber said MLS began planning for the tournament after hosting rights were awarded in 2018, using the event as fuel to expand, improve infrastructure and strengthen the league's global profile."We sat back and said, this will be that North Star," Garber told Reuters in an interview."What do we need to do to be a different league by the time the World Cup is on our shores?"Since then, MLS has added seven teams and nine soccer-specific stadiums, changed roster rules to encourage investment in young players, increased attendance by 35% and launched a global media partnership with Apple.Club valuations had also tripled since 2018 and were now collectively valued at approximately $23 billion, MLS said.LASTING GAINSGarber said MLS did not want the World Cup to be a short-lived spectacle that faded once the tournament ended."We don't want the tournament to be like a Taylor Swift concert where there's enormous energy and then it's a period of time until she comes back on tour," he said. "We want this to be more like the front porch to a new house."He said MLS expected a post-World Cup boost in attendance, as domestic leagues in host countries have historically benefited from the event. But he added that the league would measure success more broadly through popularity, relevance, awareness, player recognition and fan engagement."What we're really going to measure is, through research, are we more popular? Are we more relevant? Do more people know about MLS?" Garber said.Garber rejected lingering criticism that MLS remains a destination for players at the end of their careers, pointing to the league's average age of 26 and the competitiveness described by players who have joined.MESSI AND SALAHHe said Lionel Messi's arrival at Inter Miami had transformed global perception of MLS, noting that the league had beaten Barcelona and Saudi suitors for the Argentine great."He certainly did not come here to retire," Garber said. "The guy plays a full 90 every single game and scraps as if winning that game is as important as winning any other match he's played in."Garber also said MLS would be interested in signing Mohamed Salah, who ended a nine-year run with Liverpool last month, if the opportunity arose."We'd love to sign him," he said. "We'll wait and see how any of those discussions progress." APPLE PARTNERSHIPGarber said MLS remained pleased with Apple, despite moving away from an exclusively subscription-based approach. He said combined viewership across Apple TV, linear broadcast partners and other platforms was up 62% year on year.He also defended the league's planned calendar shift, saying MLS needed to better align with the global game, including transfer windows and a postseason outside the crowded U.S. sports calendar.Garber, MLS commissioner since 1999, said he was under contract until 2027 and that the league had an active succession process."Commissioners are caretakers of leagues for a period of time," he said. "At some point, I'm going to hand this off to somebody who will take it to new heights."(Reporting by Rory Carroll; editing by Clare Fallon)World's Best Teen Player Expected To Be Ready For World Cup Opener After InjurySpain is expecting teen phenom Lamine Yamal to be available for the June 15 World Cup opener against Cape Verde in Atlanta. Read more below.Norway's Calls Another World Cup Team 'Unprofessional'Norway manager Stale Solbakken heavily criticized Scotland counterpart Steve Clarke on Monday, branding Scotland “unprofessional” after they unexpectedly cancelled a planned behind-closed-doors training match, citing player injuries. Read more below.FIFA Chief Gianni Infantino Faces Bipartisan Backlash Ahead Of World CupDozens of mayors and other city leaders gathered in the ballroom of a Washington hotel on a snowy January morning this year, gripped by anger and anxiety about the federal government’s increasingly aggressive immigration enforcement operation that included the killings of two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis.And then FIFA President Gianni Infantino took the stage.“For the first time in 250 years of history of the United States of America, well, you will not just be invaded but you will be conquered,” he said as the audience at the National Conference of Mayors largely reacted with silence.“You will be conquered by soccer,” he added in an attempt to land the joke and get the crowd energized about the World Cup, which will be hosted jointly by the U.S., Mexico and Canada from Thursday through July 19.Ahead of the tournament, Infantino has successfully cozied up to President Donald Trump, creating a peace prize that was awarded to him and frequently visiting the White House, including a stop last week, when he was photographed alongside the Republican president admiring changes outside the Oval Office.Infantino has struggled with virtually everyone else.Read more here:Economists Predict Who Will Win The World Cup, And Who Will Completely FlopFrance will beat Spain to lift the World Cup trophy on July 19 and five-time winners Brazil are expected to be the biggest flops, according to a Reuters survey of economists who said football was still harder to call than inflation.For 160 respondents from nearly every continent, this poll conducted once every four years is a welcome break from their macroeconomic forecasting in an era of wars, energy shocks and revived "transitory" versus persistent inflation debates.Their brief this time is the biggest World Cup yet - a 48-team tournament spanning 104 matches across the United States, Canada and Mexico - the first staged across three countries.Les Bleus drew 35% of the vote in the May 11-June 5 poll to add a third star to their badge, edging Spain on 31% - broadly in line with betting platforms like Polymarket - a result that would return Europe to the pinnacle of international football.France's Didier Deschamps would become the first coach since Italy’s Vittorio Pozzo in 1938 to win two World Cups - and the only one to do so after also lifting the trophy as a player in 1998.Argentina, reigning champions and top of the current FIFA world rankings, Portugal and England rounded out the top five choices."After the disappointment of the 2022 final, France looks well equipped to go one better this time," said Cathal Kennedy, senior economist at RBC and based in London."The squad retains a number of members of the team that reached the final who are now reaching the peak of their careers, complemented by the emergence of some members of the Paris St Germain side.""Added to that, they should have a well-rested Kylian Mbappe to call on for the tournament."Mbappe, who just finished another prolific season at Real Madrid, was the poll’s pick for both the Golden Ball, awarded to the tournament’s best player, and the Golden Boot for top scorer.He only just pipped England captain Harry Kane, the European Golden Shoe winner after a career-best 61-goal season with Bayern Munich.There's likely another milestone within reach for both. Mbappe and Kane, on 12 and eight World Cup goals respectively, are among those chasing German great Miroslav Klose's all-time record of 16, along with Lionel Messi on 13.BASIC INSTINCTThere were the dreamers. Two respondents picked Japan, one Mexico and one Morocco - any of which would make for a World Cup fairytale - among the 8% who said loyalty had guided their choices. An overwhelming 73% said they went with gut feeling."As with any model, the forecast was adjusted with a heavy dose of gut feel!" quipped Shannon Bold, senior economist at the Bureau of Economic Research in Johannesburg.Around 20% relied on data and models for their predictions. "The macroeconomists sat around together and created a house view," said Claudio Govender at RMB.But for Brazil, the poll view was bleak.Even Carlo Ancelotti’s arrival as coach has failed to lift confidence, with nearly a third picking the Selecao - quarter-final losers to Croatia in 2022 - as the biggest football powerhouse likely to disappoint, followed by England and Germany.Norway, powered by Manchester City striker Erling Haaland, may supply the drama - picked by 21% as the underdogs most likely to surprise, ahead of Japan on 15%.The search for breakout stars was wide open. Respondents scattered their votes across 46 names but Spain’s 18-year-old forward Lamine Yamal topped the list.France’s Mike Maignan, Argentina’s Emiliano Martinez and Spain’s Unai Simon were among the favourites for the Golden Glove, awarded to the tournament’s best goalkeeper.COSTLY CUPOff the pitch, organisers face a daunting logistical test as millions of fans prepare to descend on North America, with affordability already a flashpoint.Expensive tickets, accommodation and cross-country travel have raised fears this could be the costliest World Cup yet for fans.So much for the break from inflation.Over 60% said 2026 inflation was still easier to forecast than football’s biggest prize - though recent years have made that a low bar."We know when the World Cup is going to end,” said Ozan Can Turkmen at Turkey's Sekerbank. “On the other hand, the energy supply crisis…"Soccer Star Has Heartfelt Wish After Missing Daughter's Birth For World CupSouth Korean goalkeeper Kim Seung-gyu missed the birth of his daughter this month due to his World Cup preparations, but the 35-year-old says he is determined to compensate for his absence with performances on the pitch.Kim, who is set for his fourth World Cup appearance, acknowledged the emotional cost of being away from his family."I am really sorry that I couldn't be with my wife for the birth, and I want to bring home good results from here as my presents," he told reporters on Sunday before a training session at Chivas Verde Valle in Zapopan, near Guadalajara in Mexico.With more than 80 caps for South Korea, the experienced FC Tokyo goalkeeper faces competition for the starting spot from Jo Hyeon-woo.The tournament also carries a sense of finality for Kim, who suggested this campaign may mark the end of his World Cup journey. Despite that, his enthusiasm has not dimmed."I've played at every World Cup thinking it could be my last. Given my age now, this one really does feel like my final one," he said. "I am just as excited about my fourth World Cup as I was about my first one. The first match will set the tone for the rest of the tournament, and so there will be some pressure. I will try to stay calm and just do what I can do."South Korea have been drawn in Group A with co-hosts Mexico, the Czech Republic and South Africa. They begin their campaign against the Czechs in Guadalajara on June 11.Christian Eriksen Receives Encouraging Hospital Update After Frightening CollapseChristian Eriksen is “in good spirits” and expected to leave the hospital soon after collapsing on the field again playing for Denmark, the national team's physician said Monday.The 34-year-old Eriksen clutched his chest with both hands in an off-the-ball action before dropping to the ground in the 65th minute of Denmark’s international friendly against Ukraine in Odense, Denmark, on Sunday.The midfielder walked off the field by himself after being attended by medical staff, the Danish soccer federation said after the match, and underwent more tests in Odense University Hospital.In an update provided by the federation on Monday morning, Denmark team physician Morten Boesen said: "I spoke with Christian this morning, and he is doing well.“He is with his family and is in good spirits. The expectation is that he will be discharged soon and can return home.”Boesen said in the statement that the federation is “taking good care of the players and staff and remain in regular contact with them.”Eriksen was fitted with an implantable cardioverter defibrillator in the months after suffering a cardiac arrest during Denmark’s opening group game in the European Championship in 2021.He returned to playing less than a year after that incident. His current team is Wolfsburg in Germany, where he has a contract through the 2026-27 season.Denmark did not qualify for the 2026 World Cup.World Cup's Gross New Safety Plan Involves Sewage And Social MediaEpidemiologists will be busy this summer sifting through sewage and social media with the goal of keeping soccer fans and the public safe from severe illness during the World Cup, one of the largest and most globally diverse mass gatherings ever anticipated.A public health squad based in Washington, D.C., plans to monitor wastewater and internet chatter to detect and track infectious diseases should they emerge in any of the U.S. or Canadian cities hosting World Cup players, their matches, and millions of spectators, organizers said.The 39-day event kicks off in Mexico on Thursday. More than 6.5 million soccer fans are expected to travel from over 100 countries to witness 104 games in the U.S., Canada and Mexico.The scale of the event and the globe-spanning travel involved pose a heightened risk of rapid disease transmission at a time when strained U.S. public health resources are coping at home and abroad with outbreaks of measles, Ebola and hantavirus, health security experts say.Budget and staffing cuts under the Trump administration, along with the U.S. withdrawal from the World Health Organization, have exacerbated those challenges, according to organizers of the new disease-tracking initiative.GENETIC STRANDSStepping in to provide real-time data about potential threats, the newly formed team of public health experts has converted a Georgetown University laboratory into an epidemiological command post. The facility brings together academic institutions, non-profit organizations and private companies working in support of government agencies.The team is already preparing a daily status report to flag emerging risks and any immediate need for action to hospital emergency managers and public health authorities at the local, state, federal and international level, as well as FIFA, soccer's governing body and organizer of the World Cup.The operations center, launched in collaboration with the MedStar Health regional hospital chain, is also a trial run for future events, including the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. MedStar hosts one of the nation's 13 biocontainment units.Advanced wastewater analysis, using DNA and RNA sequencing to find genetic strands from a range of microbes without requiring laboratory culture, is a key element in monitoring infectious disease threats, said Rebecca Katz, director of Georgetown's Center for Global Health Science and Security and head of the new disease surveillance effort."It's incredibly powerful," Katz said. Her team is currently receiving such data from collection sites in the U.S. and Canada, as well as from various other health monitoring sources in all three World Cup host countries.FROM EBOLA TO MEASLESDetecting disease-causing microorganisms in wastewater can signal an outbreak in the making, giving health officials time to warn medical clinicians to look out for symptoms of diseases that might otherwise be misdiagnosed, and to urge the public to take precautions.Considerable media attention has focused on the current Ebola crisis in Africa. But Katz said the often-fatal hemorrhagic fever poses a "very low risk to the general public" in North America. The World Cup team and support staff from the Democratic Republic of Congo, the country at the epicenter of the Ebola outbreak, have been undergoing a precautionary quarantine in Belgium before traveling to the United States, although most of the players were in Europe at the time of the outbreak.Katz said her team would be paying special attention to the spread of measles, which is approaching a record for U.S. case numbers this year - around 2,000 so far - and has resurged in parts of Mexico and Canada.Additional risks are posed by mosquito-borne diseases such as dengue, also known as "breakbone fever," and a close cousin, chikungunya. Both originate in the tropics and can be carried by infected travelers and then be transmitted by mosquitoes.Katz enlisted 20 colleagues along with pro bono support and assistance from 30 other entities for her operations center. They include several wastewater surveillance companies that are collecting and screening sewage samples and sharing their data with Katz's team without charge.SOCIAL LISTENINGOther key tools include tracking anonymized data from electronic health records and scouring open-source social media platforms for information pointing to transmission clusters, Katz said.She cited a past example of public health officials pinpointing an outbreak of gastrointestinal illness from social media chatter about a sudden uptick in sales of toilet paper.The Georgetown team will augment the work of several U.S. agencies, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response, Katz said.Financial support for the center has come from a small family foundation and Georgetown, along with in-kind contributions from such partners as the University of Nebraska.FIFA Partially Backtracks On World Cup Water Bottle BanFIFA made a ruckus when it announced a ban on outside water containers at World Cup events this summer, but the organization walked at least part of the prohibition back on Friday, saying fans are allowed to bring sealed disposable water bottles into stadiums.Hard-sided, resealable water containers will remain off limits."Each spectator can bring with them one 20-ounce (560ml) soft, plastic disposable factory-sealed water bottle into the stadium," World Cup 2026 chief operating officer Heimo Schirgi announced on social media. "What is not allowed are hard-sided resealable water containers, which could pose a safety and security risk."The shift should quiet some of the concerns from health experts, who warned of heat-related health issues arising due to hot temperatures. And it allows FIFA to keep an array of hard, painful objects from being used as projectiles should fans become unruly during any matches."FIFA is committed to protecting the health and safety of all players, referees, fans, volunteers, and staff," the organization had said earlier in the week.FIFA had announced hydration breaks for the players after heat safety concerns first arose. But little had been done to address fan safety. That continued a trend from past events; fans were not allowed to bring bottles into stadiums at the Qatar World Cup four years ago.The recent change will pair with previously outlined precautions -- misting stations, fans, hydration stations, and cooling tents - to help cash-strapped fans avoid potential price gouging through concession stands, though FIFA has said that "pricing for water bottles for the FIFA World Cup 2026 will remain consistent with other events held at each stadium."See All Updates