Key events
Good news for Spain. Rumours that Lamine Yamal may miss Spain’s first two World Cup group games (against Cape Verde and South Africa) may be wide of the mark.
The 18-year-old Barcelona winger was absent for the final six matches of the season due to a torn hamstring and hasn’t played since April. But, speaking to our very own Sid Lowe, Spain boss Luis de la Fuente gave this encouraging update:
“He’s getting better fast, hitting all the targets earlier. I think he’ll be able to play the first game, but that doesn’t mean [he will]. We’ll evaluate if he has to play a little bit, not play, wait for the second game.”
Iran’s World Cup squad landed in Mexico yesterday amid a bitter diplomatic row, after the United States refused to issue visas for some team support staff.
The squad spent nearly three weeks at a training camp in Turkey, using their time there to apply for visas to travel to Mexico, Canada and the United States. On the eve of their departure, the players finally received their US visas, according to Washington’s envoy to Turkey, Tom Barrack.
Iran’s embassy in Turkey said support staff had been denied visas, however. Fifteen administrative and management staff are concerned, an Iranian diplomat and state TV said.
All three of Iran’s Group G games will be held in the United States (Los Angeles and Seattle) but, adding to the tensions, Iran’s ambassador to Mexico said on Saturday the squad had been notified that, under their visa conditions, the team must enter and leave US soil on the same day as their matches.
Iran’s football federation – whose chief, Mehdi Taj, was reportedly among those denied a visa – has described the decision as “political interference in sport in its worst form.”
Preamble
Good morning and, we can now actually say it, the World Cup starts this week! Woohoo!! With Mexico v South Africa getting us in play on Thursday at 8pm UK time, the countdown clock now shows ‘3 days, 11 hours’. That’s the first of 104 matches across 39 days (blimey!) so the window to get other stuff done in your lives (car tax, jet-washing patio, returning those summer sandals that didn’t fit/were a bad idea) is closing fast.
Our build-up continues right here as we go inside the England camp to reflect on their 1-0 hammering of New Zealand and look ahead to Wednesday’s friendly with not-in-the-World-Cup Costa Rica. And there’s a bundle of news, features and previews on everything else connected with this summer’s 2026 extravaganza in the USA, Mexico and Canada, including Scotland raising eyebrows with their first-half performance in the friendly against Bolivia and a fitness update on Spain’s Lamine Yamal. Right, let’s go!
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