liveUpdated 16s agoFollow the latest news and analysis from around the tournamentThe Athletic Live TeamJune 11, 2026 at 5:30 AM EDTThe 2026 World Cup starts today Getty ImagesLive World Cup news updatesThe 2026 FIFA World Cup finally gets underway in Mexico City this afternoon, and you can follow all the latest tournament news and analysis right here.We will be live every minute of every day for the next six weeks, and you can get involved throughout by emailing live@theathletic.com or leaving a comment in the “Discuss” tab.Get free access to the most comprehensive World Cup coverage in The Athletic app.Transportation officials breathe a sigh of relief Getty ImagesPerhaps the only people celebrating that iconic Knicks victory louder than the USMNT were New York’s transportation officials.Because, should the series between the Knicks and San Antonio Spurs reach a Game 6, that game will tip off on June 16 at 8:30 p.m. at Madison Square Garden, which sits above Penn Station. The World Cup match between France and Senegal begins five and a half hours earlier that day, at 3 p.m., with thousands expected to use that same station to get to the Meadowlands.Gulp.From installing 33,000 new cameras in subway cars to increasing the number of buses and trains traveling across the city and to New Jersey, city officials have spent the last month outlining a plan — as well as contingency plans — for the 39-day tournament.More information on how they plan to cope with the surge of sports fans is in the piece below.USMNT players celebrate Knicks winJust like millions of people across America, half of the U.S. men’s national soccer team erupted in celebration when the New York Knicks completed their historic comeback in Game 4 of the NBA Finals.More than a dozen U.S. players were gathered at their team hotel around a projector screen watching the final seconds of the game when OG Anunoby charged after Jalen Brunson’s 3-point attempt and tipped in the rebound to give the Knicks a 107-106 win.Chaos ensued.Less than 48 hours before the team’s World Cup opener — Friday at SoFi Stadium against Paraguay — midfielder Tyler Adams jumped over multiple couches. And defender Chris Richards, who hasn’t played in nearly a month due to an ankle injury but said Wednesday that he’s “ready” to play, leapt on top of a pile of players at the team’s hotel in Southern California.Your verdict: ‘A powerful braggart’ Getty ImagesUnsurprisingly, you didn’t react very positively to Gianni Infantino’s news conference yesterday.Simon J: “‘We are a sports organization.’ Well, in that case, I look forward to my local cricket club giving out a World Peace Prize.”Edward S: “He loves to talk about the importance and power of FIFA when it’s time for the bids, the money, giving out peace prizes and some self-aggrandizement, but suddenly they become a little old sports club when anyone presses him about actually doing something difficult or morally correct.“Powerful braggart when it comes to making money and glorifying himself, paralyzed when it comes to making things right.”What do you think? Remember, you can get in touch throughout by emailing live@theathletic.com.Infantino: Naysayers should ‘chill’ Getty ImagesFIFA president Gianni Infantino was one of those to face the press yesterday, taking the stage in Mexico City for his now-customary pre-tournament news conference.And if that sounds a little dry to you, remember that it was at the same news conference four years ago in Qatar that Infantino delivered his now-infamous line: “Today I feel Qatari. Today I feel Arabic. Today I feel African. Today I feel gay. Today I feel disabled. Today I feel a migrant worker.”Infantino didn’t quite put his foot in it to the same extent this time around, although he did cause consternation when he told those unhappy that Somali referee Omar Artan had been denied entry to the United States to “chill, relax.”Responding to criticism that both FIFA and the U.S. had received for not finding a way to allow Artan to participate, Infantino added: “Maybe sometimes it’s good as well to just chill, relax. We work on everything. We try to solve everything. Sometimes to immediately start screaming and shouting has the opposite effect of finding a solution.”Today’s schedule Getty ImagesToday’s World Cup schedule is, of course, headlined by the first two matches of the tournament.At 3 p.m. ET, Mexico, one of the host nations, will welcome South Africa to the iconic Estadio Azteca in Mexico City. A few hours later, their Group A rivals South Korea and the Czech Republic will square off in Zapopan.But there’s plenty else going on, too. Numerous head coaches and players will speak to the press today ahead of their opening matches, and this will be the place to read and watch all of those appearances.Welcome to World Cup Today Getty ImagesGood morning, everybody, and happy World Cup day!Exactly 2,921 days after the United States, Canada and Mexico won the bid to host the 2026 World Cup, it’s finally time for the action to begin. At 3 p.m. ET, Mexico will host South Africa in a rematch of the 2010 opening game, and the tournament will officially be underway.We will bring you live coverage of all 104 matches this summer (yes, even Democratic Republic of Congo vs. Uzbekistan) but we will also be live every minute of every day of the tournament, bringing you all the latest news and reaction from around the world.Our vast team of reporters and editors based across the globe will be feeding in — and we would love to hear from you, too. Subscribers can leave a comment in the “Discuss” tab at the top of the page, while those of you who don’t yet subscribe (and why ever not?) can shoot us an email at live@theathletic.com.Now let’s have ourselves a World Cup.