Sunday presents another test for both Belgium and Maximus Textoris Pulcher, the rescue cat that Prime Minister Bart De Wever hoped would become the 2026 successor to Paul the Octopus, who predicted (with surprising accuracy) the winners of the 2010 World Cup. De Wever’s cat has become something of a feline influencer — Maximus’s Instagram…
ATLANTA — Gulf countries have plowed billions of dollars into domestic soccer, led by a multi-year Saudi spending extravaganza that has brought global superstars and new attention to its domestic league. But it is doing little to improve their showing at the World Cup. The United Arab Emirates failed to qualify. Qatar has been on…
Jordan is among the teams making its first-ever appearance at a World Cup, and for the country’s ambassador to the United States it is a chance to introduce the world to a country often viewed through the lens of regional conflict and security challenges — and to showcase a different side of the Middle East….
VANCOUVER — On the opening day of the 2010 Winter Olympics, protesters marched to BC Place, the culmination of a decade-long tug-of-war over whether Vancouver had room for a global sports mega-event. Activists first tried to block the Olympics from coming to town, then tried to use it to extract social commitments from organizers, and…
LOS ANGELES — Moments after Iran and Belgium battled to a scoreless draw at SoFi Stadium, the Belgian players beat a hasty retreat to the locker room. Not the Iranian World Cup team. The players on Team Melli lingered on the field, doing a slow lap to cheers from supporters who’d dominated the stands with…
The French minister for sports, Marina Ferrari, was in New York City to support her national team, which will play its second match tomorrow against Iraq. On Monday, she dropped by the French consulate across from Central Park for an event organized by Business France to discuss the opportunities this year’s three-country World Cup represents…
LOS ANGELES — The political tensions surrounding Iran’s national soccer team were on full display Sunday at SoFi Stadium, where Iranian American fans loudly booed during the playing of Iran’s national anthem before the team’s World Cup match against Belgium. Among the crowd were several supporters displaying Iran’s pre-revolution Lion and Sun flag, a symbol…
ATLANTA — Spain’s soccer chief told POLITICO he is confident that either Madrid or Barcelona will host the World Cup final in 2030, as Morocco joins the race to stage the biggest sporting event in the world. On a sun-baked afternoon in Atlanta outside La Casa de España, Rafael Louzán — who has been in…
Americans have shown little hesitancy about betting on the World Cup, the weather in Dallas and the next James Bond through the prediction markets. Yet, for many, politics is a step too far. Results from The POLITICO Poll show that a large group of U.S. adults doesn’t believe wagering on political events like what President…
It came down to a last-lap shootout at the XPEL Grand Prix at Road America. When the dust had settled following a hectic final lap, it was Christian Lundgaard outlasting the field to take the checkered flag following 55 laps and 223 miles of high-octane action in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. The Winner Is … Christian…
