FIFA is expecting record-breaking revenue from the 2026 World Cup. But it’s still leaving a lot of money on the table — or more specifically, Chinese yuan. Despite the expanded field in this year’s tournament, China’s men’s national team still failed to qualify. FIFA is now talking about expanding again to 64 teams in 2030,…
Before the final whistle blows on the 2026 World Cup, a familiar tension is already bubbling ahead of its next two installments. Morocco, which will co-host the 2030 World Cup alongside Spain and Portugal, criminalizes same-sex sexual activity. And in Saudi Arabia, host of the 2034 tournament, homosexuality is understood to be illegal under Islamic…
Final whistle. After six weeks, that’s a wrap on our World Cup coverage and live analysis — tracking not the goals and games, but the power plays, political battles and geopolitical stakes shaping the tournament. Thanks for following along. Politics
Saudi Arabia’s 2034 World Cup may not be a 2034 World Cup at all. The tournament is unlikely to be played in the summer — and the calendar math could push it into 2035. FIFA has, of course, switched the World Cup to winter before to avoid playing games in intense summer heat, with Qatar’s…
From the moment the United States launched its bid to co-host the 2026 World Cup, the games were pitched as a way to elevate and promote North America’s most distinctive and glamorous cities. There was Miami, with its fabulous beachfront hotels, described in the so-called bid book as the United States’ “gateway to the world.”…
WISCASSET, Maine — As Maine Democrats began the rushed and convoluted process to name a successor to scandal-plagued former nominee Graham Platner, it became quickly clear that progressive Troy Jackson was in control. From meetings in rural Calais near the Canadian border to urban, progressive Portland, in high school gyms and over Zoom calls across…
Abdul El-Sayed on AIPAC spending, ‘Defund the Police’ and why he’s not a socialist lead image Politics
A self-funding businessman is seizing on messy scandals to try and topple President Donald Trump’s endorsed candidate for a deep-red House seat. Republican Daniel Keenan is making a hard run at former Sheriff Mark Lamb in Arizona’s 5th District, pouring over $1.6 million of his own cash into the effort and raising questions about Lamb’s…
Every week political cartoonists throughout the country and across the political spectrum apply their ink-stained skills to capture the foibles, memes, hypocrisies and other head-slapping events in the world of politics. The fruits of these labors are hundreds of cartoons that entertain and enrage readers of all political stripes. Here’s an offering of the best…
When Daniel Moraff showed up on Graham Platner’s doorstep last summer, the oyster farmer had a message for the young political operative who had traveled to the Maine coast to convince him to run for the U.S. Senate: “Get the fuck off my property.” It took weeks of prodding before Platner relented, according to two…
