As the 48 teams gradually arrived in North America, every image further setting a grand stage, a thought struck managers like Thomas Tuchel and Carlo Ancelotti.

They were right to make the sheer scale of this World Cup more of a priority in planning. “United 2026” – as it is officially known – is enormous in every sense, from size to serious issues.

That only deepens the distinctive challenge a World Cup poses, and only elevates the meaning of victory.

A team can be brilliant and do everything possible to gear up for a four-year cycle over the long term, but the lifting of that great trophy really comes down to having everything – form, spirit, mood, fitness, tactics – just right for five weeks in one summer.

It’s really about a moment in time, and one that makes you immortal, although this time in a far greater space.

If the classic line is that people measure their lives in World Cups, this one is so immense it’s almost impossible to quantify.

That could lead to a few other predictable lines about an American World Cup: that it was always going to be super-sized, that size will matter, that more may be less.

The most immediate numbers, at least, do illustrate this. This World Cup involves: the most ever teams, at 48; the most ever hosts, at three; the most ever venues, at 16; and the greatest ever distance between venues, at 4,780km, with all of this adding up to unprecedented astronomical cost for fans and even federations.

The avaricious ticket pricing had been the dominant controversy in a largely shambolic build-up for Fifa, but has since been overtaken by the conflict with Iran and connected visa scandals.

So much for this World Cup being a return to the familiar after the highly politicised police-state sportswashing spectacles of Russia and Qatar.

It has instead thrown up more unprecedented issues than ever before – another one for the scales; another illustration of bloated indulgence. Such issues have only been added to by another more familiar element, which is the promise of record revenue at $14bn.

And yet one of the great uncertainties about this World Cup, which is causing nervousness at the top of Fifa, is whether all this will mean there is nothing like the record attendances of USA ‘94.

That competition will constantly offer a mirror to this one, especially when the memories remain so vivid due to its bright lights – in football and look.

There are instead so many shades to 2026, and a real darkness. For all Gianni Infantino’s vapid claims about the World Cup uniting the world, we here have a host at war with a participating nation for the first time.

The Fifa president’s own relationship with Donald Trump, meanwhile, weighs over the entire competition, especially with how just one decision from the US president has the potential to cause chaos.

Trump’s putative lack of decisions have already created enough chaos, since Fifa has received almost no help on anything it actually needs. So we have the farce of a long-vetted referee denied entry, and Iran forced into constrained travel around their games.

That darkness has also served to obscure otherwise uplifting elements of this World Cup, like the return to perhaps the competition’s most historic stadium: the Azteca in Mexico City.

It was the arena where Pele and Diego Maradona created their most lasting images. Now, 40 years after the “Hand of God” and the goal of the century, it isn’t considered worthy to host games after the last 16.

Canada has, meanwhile, been the forgotten host, and even the last games staged there and in Mexico will be overshadowed by the 250th anniversary of US independence – all amid a stilted embrace with the global game.

We will at least have a sense of the atmosphere by then, and whether this World Cup’s many issues can really allow that sense of international festival around the stadiums.

And all of this is why size is so much more than a defining detail.

The expansion affects what the World Cup is – and how it will go.

That is true of the most elemental experience of a tournament: a child’s.

Perhaps appropriately for a competition held in the commercial capital of the world, it is possible to paraphrase one of its culture’s most famous depictions of marketing. The World Cup isn’t just a football competition, as Mad Men’s Don Draper might have said; it’s a fountain of nostalgia. “It takes us to a place where we ache to go again” – to childhood memories.

The joy of that is memorising the groups, knowing exactly what teams are where and what games are when. It is actually no trivial thing that this World Cup is far too big to even do that, long before you get to Group L.

Similarly, there are almost too many games, and that’s in one day, as much as in the tournament’s total of 104. It’s impossible to take it all in, to consume every storyline. United 2026 instead has just a wall of football, where more very much means less.

The World Cup experience is directly diluted.

That isn’t to discount the exhilaration that debutants like Curacao, Jordan and Uzbekistan will feel, or the release Haiti, Democratic Republic of Congo or Iraq will enjoy, but there is a serious point amid that romance.

This World Cup articulates the disconcerting sense of a sport becoming so big you can’t get a feel for it, of a game being taken away from its community, of an elitist event where parts continue to be sold off without anyone who actually cares able to do anything about it.

Welcome to the “Trumpification” of Fifa.

The expansion may also dictate this World Cup as much as dilute it. A number like 48 just isn’t right for the tournament, because it doesn’t evenly split into an eventual two. That needlessly brings back distorting third-place group qualifiers, a convolution that Infantino was forced into after he somehow realised four-team groups were exciting as late as Qatar 2022. United 2026 was initially supposed to have groups of three.

And yet it speaks to so many of these wider themes that Infantino realised it was more exciting, but evidently didn’t understand this was because of the competitive intensity that came from two going through out of four, as well as a 32-team tournament just creating the right balance between quality and novelty.

The man overseeing all of this didn’t truly get the game he was overseeing.

It could yet create results that go against World Cup logic, too.

As an example, Argentina have been talked up as potentially winning again due to the 2022 World Cup victory coming in a run of three successive trophies. They are the only team to do that outside Spain 2008-12, but that also gives them the jaded feel of Spain 2014. Most of the team is still the same, and they won’t have the same lightning-in-a-bottle energy of 2022.

These are ingredients that leave champions ripe for a classic first-round exit… except the stage is so forgiving. Argentina may go into their last group game badly needing a win, but that comes against Jordan. The debutants are one of five sides considered forgiving opposition, and the presence of any one in a group gives the other three in it a huge advantage in this system.

One win and you’re likely through.

To go with that expanded schedule, since it takes eight games to win it rather than seven, this is the first major tournament happening after two seasons of expanded European football. More, more, more.

Players, especially the quantity in the major teams, are exhausted.

That could restore some romance by favouring the “dark horses” like Japan, Ecuador, Morocco, Norway, Austria and Senegal.

Except, just like with Iran’s constraints, Senegal has already faced the disadvantage of being subjected to a humiliating tarmac security search.

It is just one of many ways the non-football elements shape the football.

The favourites, Spain, almost illustrate the difficulty of getting your head around this as well as the bodies.

The European champions have the best team at the tournament, but have also had the most fitness issues and major injuries.

The biggest of those is Lamine Yamal. He may be the mere 18-year-old anticipated to crown his rise to the best player in the world by seizing this tournament, but he’s also hoping to recover from a hamstring injury for the first game.

That can nevertheless work both ways, especially in a World Cup this long. Spain and Yamal might be stiff at the start, but then evolve into the best possible condition for the most important stages.

That is exactly what happened with Andres Iniesta in 2010. Their possession game may also prove decisive in a tournament that is going to be dictated by punishingly hot conditions. In the same way that United 2026 has more unprecedented controversies, it also has more variables.

Tuchel is one of many coaches who have been deeply considering how to work around all this.

France, who have faced a lot of concerns about the Didier Deschamps era going stale, may now find his stultifying medium block suits the conditions.

They do have the best array of attacking stars just waiting to be released, with Kylian Mbappe badly needing a big World Cup.

England are up there, especially with the differential of a goalscorer like Harry Kane. They may not have a perfect squad, but no one does.

That points to how this World Cup is nowhere near as strong a field as in 1998, where at least eight teams looked truly elite. The offset is that this “second tier” of outsiders is stronger than ever, offering the potential for something else a World Cup has never had: a winner like a Denmark 1992 or Greece 2004.

That’s where the competition comes down to more elemental qualities, the glorious intangibles, the very emotion the trophy inspires.

For all that everything about a World Cup changes, the meaning doesn’t.

It will still offer countries some of the greatest days in their national histories, with the very awareness of this global importance affording it a cultural significance beyond anything else in the planet’s history.

This is the emotional pinnacle, the peak of sport because the massif is so wide. It can be seen in the expressions of players, and even the great trophy itself. Those two arms “stretching out to receive the world… at the stirring moment of victory” – in the words of designer Silvio Gazzinaga – are representative of what everyone in football is reaching for.

Hence Infantino’s desperation for this to start amid so much controversy. The football still perseveres. The spirit perseveres. The competition is still, at its core, a global cultural good, no matter how it’s used.

As Maradona once said, “the ball never stains”. The World Cup retains a purity.

Duly, even a 48-team competition will evolve – as the writer Duncan Hamilton put it – “like a theatrical play”. While the numbers are gradually winnowed to two and then one, the drama, emotion and suspense only become more intense. Such feelings enrich the moments that really create World Cup legacies, but they are ultimately fostered by narrative, by stories.

This tournament has so many, even if it does not have many great teams.

Can Brazil somehow rise to that level under Ancelotti, and end a 24-year wait in the way they did for the last World Cup in the USA? Can a new band of successful club coaches show their acumen by showing everyone else what’s what, or will the different contours of international football embarrass them?

Will a surprisingly deep elder generation led by Leo Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo finally cede ground to a new era of Yamal, Jamal Musiala and Erling Haaland, or will a slower tournament allow for those who can still produce individual moments?

Can any of the hosts make an impression? Can Mauricio Pochettino avoid a furious social media post from Trump? Can Canada do “a Korea 2002”, in the way they are privately talking about? Can Mexico finally get past a quarter-final?

Can Germany finally get past a group stage again, to prove maybe the darkest horse of all? Can the fancied Netherlands at last win it after three lost finals?

Can there be a new name on the trophy?

Can England finally lift this trophy amid all of the symbolism connected to 1966, given that was the old Jules Rimet?

Amid all of the challenges, Tuchel and his players should perhaps be mindful of something that Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni said at the draw back in December.

“Every day you are a world champion you feel younger.”

The sentiment, and the aspiration, may never be more important amid a World Cup so exhausting in so many senses. It’s an achievement of scale beyond anything else.

Winning the games you’re expected to win is the trademark of a consistently successful college football program.

That is especially true for ranked teams with a big target on their backs.

The tables below show the wins, losses, and win percentages as the underdog for the region’s top programs over the last 10 seasons.

Oregon leads the way, followed by Washington, Boise State, Utah State, and BYU.

The second half of the 2026 PGA Tour season offers a compelling blend of elite competition, iconic venues, and high-profile tournaments that continue to attract attention from golf fans worldwide. As the schedule progresses through summer and into autumn, several marquee events stand out for their competitive significance and unique course characteristics.

These tournaments not only influence season-long narratives but also generate considerable interest among followers of golf betting markets, adding layers of engagement throughout the 2026 PGA Tour calendar.

Key 2026 Golf Events Still to Come

Travelers Championship

Genesis Scottish Open

For those monitoring golf odds, the Scottish Open provides one of the most fascinating markets of the summer. Weather forecasts, tee-time advantages, and course-management skills can all influence pre-tournament expectations.

The international makeup of the field also broadens wagering engagement, drawing attention from audiences across Europe, North America, and other major golf markets.

FedEx St. Jude Championship

BMW Championship

Presidents Cup

PGA narratives point out that Medinah’s history as a major championship venue adds prestige to the event. The course provides a dramatic setting for international competition and memorable moments.

The United States team facing an International side creates compelling narratives that extend beyond traditional tournament storylines. National pride becomes a central component of the spectacle.

Betting interest surrounding the Presidents Cup differs significantly from standard stroke-play events. Team competition introduces a variety of unique markets and formats.

Match betting, session results, and overall team performance options create additional opportunities for engagement throughout the competition. These formats often appeal to a broader audience.

The event’s team structure also makes it accessible to casual sports fans who may not follow weekly PGA Tour tournaments throughout the season.

Combined with Medinah’s passionate atmosphere and rich history, the Presidents Cup serves as a fitting conclusion to one of the year’s most anticipated stretches of professional golf.

A Memorable Finish to the 2026 PGA Tour Season

LiveScores Now Available at IrishScores.com

NBA legend Charles Barkley branded the San Antonio Spurs “the dumbest basketball team in the history of civilisation” after the New York Knicks pulled off the biggest comeback in NBA Finals history.

The Spurs led by 29 points as they aimed to level the best-of-seven series in New York before hosting game five, but the Knicks fought back to win 107-106.

London-born OG Anunoby claimed a tip-in basket with 1.2 seconds left to clinch victory, much to the delight of a star-studded crowd at Madison Square Garden, which included Taylor Swift and Timothee Chalamet.

It gave the Knicks a 3-1 lead in the series and put them within one win of their first championship since 1973.

The previous biggest comeback in the NBA Finals was 24 points, by the Boston Celtics against the Los Angeles Lakers in 2008.

San Antonio went 29 points up in the second quarter and their 27-point lead at half-time (76-49) was the largest for a road team in Finals history, but they then scored just 30 points in the second half.

“That was some of the most mismanaged, stupid basketball,” said ESPN analyst and former NBA most valuable player Barkley.

“When you blow a 29-point lead, the other team has to help, and the San Antonio Spurs helped the New York Knicks win this game.”

Victor Wembanyama scored a team-high 24 points for San Antonio and claimed 13 rebounds.

“I can’t really explain it right now,” said the NBA’s defensive player of the year.

“I don’t know. I think it’s just execution, greediness of some sort. We clearly weren’t the most hungry in the second half.”

The Knicks still trailed 90-75 heading into the fourth quarter but Jalen Brunson put them in front for the first time at 105-104 with 82 seconds remaining.

Anunoby then made a block with 11.1 seconds left, to stop the Spurs leading 108-105, before tipping in the game-clinching score after Brunson’s three-point attempt struck the rim.

“One word that caps that all is just ‘belief’,” Brunson told ESPN. “It was chipping away, one possession at a time. It wasn’t going to be one play to get us back.”

Game five is in San Antonio on Saturday (01:30 BST, Sunday).

CommBank Stadium will play host to Saturday’s
Round 15 NRL game between Parramatta Eels and
Canberra Raiders. The game kicks off at 7:35 pm with Canberra Raiders heading into the game as favourites with the bookmakers. Continue reading for our in-depth preview of the Parramatta Eels vs.
Canberra Raiders
game and give you our free tips and bets.

When: Saturday June 13, 2026 at 7:35 pm

Where: CommBank Stadium

Bet 💰: Bet On This Match HERE

Parramatta Eels vs Canberra Raiders Odds

Parramatta Eels vs Canberra Raiders Preview

Parramatta and Canberra enter Saturday night’s clash at CommBank Stadium desperate to revive their seasons. Despite sitting near the bottom of the ladder, the Eels have shown encouraging signs in recent weeks, pushing higher-ranked opponents despite a lengthy injury list and the absence of key personnel. Canberra, meanwhile, continues to struggle for consistency and enters the contest after a disappointing shutout loss to the Roosters. The Raiders have enjoyed recent dominance in this fixture, winning the last four meetings, but their current form leaves plenty of questions unanswered. Parramatta’s young spine continues to gain valuable experience and confidence, while Canberra’s attack has failed to fire often enough in 2026. With both sides needing a win to remain relevant in the finals conversation, expect a desperate and physical contest.

On the eve of the opening match, FIFA president Gianni Infantino held a press conference in Mexico City, addressing the various controversies surrounding the tournament. He also commented on the case of Somali referee Omar Artan, who was denied entry upon arrival in the United States before being welcomed back as a hero in Mogadishu.

In athletics, 17-year-old American prospect Cooper Lutkenhaus produced the fastest 800-metre time in the world this year at the Oslo Diamond League meeting.

In tennis, Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard reached the quarter-finals in Stuttgart, while Arthur Fils, who has withdrawn from Halle, will arrive at Wimbledon without having played a single grass-court match this season.

If Edin Dzeko played for a bigger footballing nation, this wouldn’t be just his second appearance at the tournament. But 12 years after Bosnia-Herzegovina failed to make it out of the group stage in Brazil, the now 40-year-old striker and his country are back on the game’s biggest stage.

Although Bosnia-Herzegovina, which gained its independence in 1992, has only made it to the one previous World Cup and never qualified for a European Championship, Dzeko has played an incredible 148 times (scoring 73 goals) for his country.

Growing up in a besieged capital

That independence came at a heavy price, as it was engulfed in one of the wars that followed the breakup of the former Yugoslavia. The capital, Sarajevo, was particularly hard hit, enduring almost four years of siege by Yugoslav National Army and the newly formed Bosnian-Serb army, which held the mountains surrounding the city. Between 1992 and 1995 more than 10,000 people, mostly civilians, were killed through shelling and by snipers in Sarajevo alone.

Dzeko was six years old when the war broke out and during the siege, kicking a ball around on the streets of the ever-more battered capital was a welcome distraction.

“Our home was destroyed, so we had to move in with my grandparents. The whole family lived there under one roof, maybe 15 people crammed into an apartment of 35 square meters,” Dzeko told British newspaper The Mail in 2011 of his experience of the war.

“It was constant stress and worry, in case something happened or news came through that someone we knew had been killed. I was only young, and I cried often, through fear. Every day, you could hear the guns firing, and we lost family, friends and even some relatives.”

From Sarajevo to Wolfsburg and beyond

He would continue his development in the academy of one of the city’s two big clubs, FK Zeljeznicar. That’s where he made his debut as a professional in Bosnia-Herzegovina’s topflight in 2003, but this would be the beginning of the end of his career in his homeland. His first coach, who happened to be Czech, convinced FK Teplice to sign him for a reported €25,000 ($28,870) two years later.

There, he attracted the attention of German coach Felix Magath, who brought Dzeko to Wolfsburg in the summer of 2007, the same year he made his debut for the senior national team for Bosnia-Herzegovina. It was in Wolfsburg where he flourished. Alongside Grafite, he was one half of the most prolific striking duo in Bundesliga history, combining for a total of 54 goals (28 for Grafite, 26 for Dzeko) as the pair led the club to their only league title in 2009.

By then, the “Bosnian diamond,” as he had been dubbed by a local broadcaster, was coveted by top clubs all over Europe. He went on to win titles at Manchester City and Inter, while also enjoying successful spells at Roma and Fenerbahce before returning to Italy’s Serie A with Fiorentina this past season. By then he had racked up 369 goals in 856 games in all competitions for his various clubs.

Returning to Germany

At 39, having managed just one goal in five Conference League matches for Fiorentina, and none in his 11 Serie A appearances, it seemed as if his long career was drawing to a close. In December, a frustrated Dzeko started looking for a new club — one where he would again get regular minutes.

This came just as second-division German side Schalke were looking to boost their chances of winning promotion back to the topflight. Their Bosnian-born coach, Miron Muslic, who fled the war with his parents as a child, could hardly believe his luck when he learned that Dzeko was prepared to take a big pay cut to play in a lower league. In fact, Dzeko was so eager to play, that he turned down Schalke’s offer to send a plane for him, having already booked a commercial flight to Germany.

Just days after his arrival, Dzeko was back in his familiar blue and white, the traditional colors not only of Schalke, but also his first club, Zeljeznicar, and the Bosnian national team. Coming on as a sub, he scored his first of six goals in the second half of the season as he helped Schalke seal promotion just weeks after his 40th birthday.

“I’ve won quite a few titles during my career. But I’ve never celebrated one like we did here at Schalke,” Dzeko told the club’s website afterwards. “I said from day one that Schalke belongs in the Bundesliga.”

A ‘perfect few months’

All the while, Dzeko remained captain of the national team, determined to make it to one more World Cup — a proposition that seemed extremely unlikely when another Bosnian legend, Sergej Barbarez, took over as coach of “The Dragons” in April 2024. Not much was expected of Barbarez, considering the fact that although he had completed his coaching badges years earlier, he had absolutely no experience in the role.

But Barbarez, an impressive Bundesliga striker in his own right in the 1990s and 2000s, had a way of inspiring a mainly young Bosnian side to the kind of success they hadn’t seen in over a decade, upsetting Italy in a playoff to qualify for North America. Dzeko was a big part of the campaign.

“I wanted to help bring the club (Schalke) back to where it belongs,” he said. “The fact that I also qualified for the World Cup with the Bosnia and Herzegovina national team has made the past few months perfect. I absolutely made the right decision.”

Edin Dzeko seems to have made a habit of making the right choices over his long career. Seeing him make it to one last World Cup stands out as a feel-good story going into a tournament largely making the headlines for the wrong reasons.

The Dayton Peace Agreement 30 years on

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Edited by: Jonathan Harding 

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Leichhardt Oval will play host to Sunday’s
Round 15 NRL game between Wests Tigers and
Gold Coast Titans. The game kicks off at 4:05 pm with Wests Tigers heading into the game as favourites with the bookmakers. Continue reading for our in-depth preview of the Wests Tigers vs.
Gold Coast Titans
game and give you our free tips and bets.

When: Sunday June 14, 2026 at 4:05 pm

Where: Leichhardt Oval

Bet 💰: Bet On This Match HERE

Wests Tigers vs Gold Coast Titans Odds

Wests Tigers vs Gold Coast Titans Preview

Two teams attempting to salvage disappointing campaigns meet at Leichhardt Oval when the Wests Tigers host the Gold Coast Titans on Sunday afternoon. The Tigers are reeling after a humiliating defeat to Penrith and have now lost four of their past five matches, a dramatic reversal after their promising start to the season. The Titans arrive with renewed confidence following a stirring comeback win over Brisbane, snapping a lengthy losing streak and producing one of their best attacking displays of the year. Leichhardt Oval has been a fortress for the Tigers, but confidence is fragile after conceding heavy scores throughout the past month. With both teams sitting outside the finals picture and desperate to build momentum, Sunday’s clash looms as a crucial opportunity to keep fading hopes alive.