There’s been no shortage of top political figures attending World Cup matches to cheer on their home teams, but when Spain faces off against France in the tournament’s semifinals in Dallas today, neither the country’s head of state nor its head of government will be in the stands. Spanish King Felipe VI traveled to Guadalajara,…
DALLAS, Texas — The World Cup was supposed to be Dallas’s moment to shine. The city is famously image-conscious, and the powers-that-be trumpeted the fact that more Cup matches were scheduled here than any other host city. It seemed like a coup for a town whose football team (the other kind of football) bills itself…
LONDON — A police cover-up after a 1989 football stadium tragedy was seminal in shaping soon-to-be new British Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s political outlook. Burnham used his first speech upon returning to the House of Commons this evening as a member of parliament to hail a proposed new Hillsborough law — named after the Sheffield…
The great and good of the Brussels bubble has gathered tonight to watch the France-Spain match in a cavernous art gallery rented out by the French embassy. Ostensibly to mark the country’s Bastille Day, the reception quickly became a watch party for the semifinal, with peoples loading up plates of cheese, bread and canapés. Attendees…
New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill’s office says the Garden State should get a cut of the MetLife Stadium grass FIFA plans to sell to soccer fans. Soccer’s global governing body, a Zurich-based nonprofit, is plotting to charge $450 for sod from this weekend’s World Cup final. But like a lot of the costs for hosting…
This elected authoritarian welcomed home his national-team captain — a goal-scoring winger currently without a club — after the team’s winningest-ever World Cup performance. That’s Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi on the right, welcoming captain Mohamed Salah to a reception honoring the team’s efforts. Egypt reached the Round of 16 in this year’s World Cup — before getting eliminated by Argentina on July…
Farkhunda Muhtaj has spent years fighting to keep the Afghanistan women’s national soccer team alive after the Taliban banned women from sport following President Joe Biden’s chaotic withdrawal of American forces from the country. That campaign reached a breakthrough this year when FIFA agreed to establish an official Afghan women’s national team. The 28-year-old Afghan-Canadian,…
Maine Democrats want to hold onto Graham Platner’s progressive base — but they can’t agree on who is best positioned to carry the torch. That indecision is creating a fractured field heading into an unpredictable late July nominating convention for one of the most important Senate races on the 2026 map. Now, various candidates are…
Typically, one cannot be sure what or who they will encounter in the jungle. But this summer, one can expect to find Zlatan Ibrahimović on the prowl. On that note, here’s Ibrahimović’s latest “King of the Jungle” power rankings, which were revealed on Tuesday ahead of the 2026 World Cup semifinal round match between France…
In a World Cup semifinal like this, there’s so much to unpack. I have already written about the historical, emotional and psychological aspects of England’s World Cup matchup against Argentina, so I want to dive into the tactical elements of this highly anticipated semifinal too. On paper, and based on what I have seen from…
