A study of 2,000 adults shows a quarter of UK households are split in their World Cup 2026 allegiances adding tension to matchday viewing.

Families are bracing themselves for a summer of divided loyalties – with a quarter of UK households home to people backing rival nations in the World Cup this summer.

A survey of 2,000 adults revealed that 25% believe split allegiances create tension on matchday. Meanwhile, 11% dread the embarrassment of watching their team lose to a family rival.

Despite the fierce national rivalry, the research, commissioned by Tesco Mobile, discovered that fans still crave sharing those landmark moments with their nearest and dearest. A whopping 78% immediately reach for their phone following a pivotal moment, whether it’s a last-minute goal or a contentious red card.

Furthermore, 82% said being able to effortlessly get in touch with friends and family makes them feel more connected during major sporting occasions, even when watching from different locations.

For 13% tuning into this summer’s tournament from abroad – either in the stadium or while on holiday – staying connected overseas is also a pressing concern.

Laura Joseph from Tesco Mobile, which has given roaming fees a red card, allowing customers to use their UK data, minutes and texts in 48 destinations across the EU and beyond at no extra cost, said: “We’re keeping families connected this summer – even when loyalties are divided.

“Moments like these are meant to be shared, whether you’re celebrating together or supporting different teams.

“With Home from Home and reduced roaming in the USA and Canada, our customers can stay connected and enjoy every moment without worrying about unexpected charges.”

This comes as the international football tournament got underway, with England attempting to improve on their previous performance where they crashed out at the quarter-final stage following a 2-1 defeat to eventual finalists France.

This marks England’s first major tournament under the fresh stewardship of Thomas Tuchel following Gareth Southgate’s departure in 2024 – the nation’s most accomplished manager since Alf Ramsey.

Meanwhile, after securing their first World Cup qualification in almost 30 years, Scotland’s journey has reached its conclusion.

Despite claiming victory over Haiti, losses to Brazil and Africa Cup of Nations champions Morocco resulted in the Scots’ elimination from the competition.

That leaves England as the sole remaining home nation in this year’s World Cup.

Frequently Asked Questions

To unsubscribe from a newsletter, simply navigate to the Newsletter section in your My Account by selecting the menu in top-right corner and then My Account.

If you are logged out, simply select log in and repeat the above process.

Navigate to Newsletters and your active newsletters will be at the top. Under each newsletter, there is a button to remove.

Tip: There is also a link to your preferences in every newsletter located at the top and bottom of the email which also enables you to unsubscribe.

I am still receiving a newsletter even though I have unsubscribed

You may still receive your newsletter for up to seven days from unsubscribing whilst we process your request. Please also check that your email address matches your registered email address for your account. You can check this in your Manage your details section in My Account.

If you continue to receive the newsletter, please get in touch below.

How do I update my contact preferences?

Telegraph Media Group and its group companies would like to keep you informed about other offers, promotions and services that might interest you.

To update how you wish us to hear from us, simply navigate to the Manage your details section in your My Account to customise your settings for phone, email, post and text.

I am still receiving emails even though I have updated my preferences

You may still receive some emails for up to 14 days from updating your preferences whilst we process your request. Please check that your email address matches your registered email address for your account. You can check this in your Manage your details section in My Account.

If you continue to receive marketing emails from us, you can unsubscribe via the link at the top and bottom of the email. Here, you can also unsubscribe from all Telegraph emails. Please note: This will not change the contact channel specific permissions you have provided for other products, services and brands provided by the Telegraph Media Group Limited and its group companies.

If all of the above is unsuccessful, please get in touch below.

Archaeologists have uncovered ruins in Israel that they believe may be the original home of the Ark of the Covenant, a sacred, gold-covered chest described in the Bible.

According to scripture, Moses placed the Ten Commandments inside the Ark, which was kept in the Tabernacle, a sanctuary built shortly after the Israelites’ Exodus from Egypt, traditionally dated by some scholars to around 1445 BC.

The fate of the Ark remains a mystery, as it vanishes from the biblical record before the Babylonian sack of Jerusalem in 586 BC.

Now, archaeologists with the Associates for Biblical Research (ABR) working at biblical Shiloh, the ancient city in the West Bank where scripture says the Tabernacle stood for more than 300 years, have made new discoveries that they say strengthen their theory.

The team uncovered additional walls belonging to a massive structure that may have formed part of the Tabernacle, along with worship-related artifacts and newly identified fortifications.

Dr Scott Stripling, director of the Tel Shiloh excavation, said the latest discoveries are helping researchers reconstruct the full dimensions of the monumental building and better understand its purpose.

The most significant breakthrough came with the discovery of the structure’s southern wall.

The building is oriented east to west and has proportions similar to those described for the biblical Tabernacle, the portable sanctuary built by the Israelites after the Exodus from Egypt.

Last year, Stripling’s team announced they had uncovered a monumental building from the Iron I period whose dimensions appeared to align with the biblical description of the Tabernacle.

The latest findings do not prove that identification, but archaeologists said they strengthen the case.

‘The discovery of the southern wall now enables our researchers to reconstruct the full dimensions of the building and better evaluate its function and significance,’ Stripling said in a blog post on the Bible Archaeology Report.

Adding to the mystery, excavators have also unearthed numerous objects associated with worship activities in and around the structure, including altar horns, ceramic pomegranates and murex shells.

The shells are particularly intriguing because they were used to produce the blue dye associated with priestly garments described in the Bible.

The discoveries build on previous finds at Shiloh, where researchers uncovered more than 100,000 animal bones, predominantly from sheep, goats and cattle. 

Many of the bones came from the right side of the animals, a detail that mirrors Leviticus 7, which states that portions from the right side were reserved for priestly offerings.

Shiloh occupies a central place in biblical history. Located about 19 miles north of Jerusalem, the city is described in the Book of Joshua as the place where the Israelites established the Tabernacle after conquering the Promised Land.

The team uncovered additional walls belonging to a massive structure that may have formed part of the Tabernacle

The team uncovered three large Canaanite storage jars dating to the period before the arrival of the Israelites. The jars contained charred remains of common food staples, including olives, wheat and lentils

Advertisement

It was there that Joshua divided the land among the tribes of Israel. It was also the home of Eli, the high priest, and the place where the prophet Samuel was raised.

The Bible portrays Shiloh as Israel’s first religious and political capital.

In 1 Samuel 4, the Israelites bring the Ark of the Covenant from Shiloh to the battlefield during a war with the Philistines, hoping it will guarantee victory.

Instead, the Ark is captured, and Eli’s sons, Hophni and Phinehas, are killed.

When a messenger returns to Shiloh and tells the elderly priest that the Ark has been taken, Eli falls backward from his seat near the city gate, breaks his neck and dies.

This year, excavators also uncovered additional walls belonging to Shiloh’s northern fortification system.

The findings indicated the complex was built as a bent-axis gate and contained multiple rooms, providing new insight into the city’s defenses and urban planning.

The discoveries add weight to earlier suggestions by Stripling that his team may have identified the gate complex mentioned in the biblical account of Eli’s death.

The most significant breakthrough came with the discovery of the structure’s southern wall

Meanwhile, excavators working in another area of the site made a separate discovery that sheds light on Shiloh’s earliest history.

The team uncovered three large Canaanite storage jars dating to the period before the arrival of the Israelites.

The jars contained charred remains of common food staples, including olives, wheat and lentils.

Archaeologists plan to conduct radiocarbon testing on the contents to establish a more precise date for the destruction layer associated with the finds.

‘These discoveries provide an important window into the earliest occupational phases of Shiloh and help us better understand the site’s history before the Israelite settlement,’ Stripling said.

Despite the excitement surrounding the discoveries, archaeologists cautioned that they have not found the Ark of the Covenant itself, nor have they definitively proven that the monumental structure is the Tabernacle.

Instead, the latest excavation season has provided new evidence that appears to align with the biblical narrative.

Manchester United star Kai Rooney has delivered a powerful message after he missed a bulk of last season through injury

Young Manchester United star Kai Rooney is ready and raring to go, declaring, “Roll on pre-season.” The 16-year-old son of the iconic Wayne Rooney is preparing for what could be a pivotal season with Michael Carrick confirmed as the club’s new permanent boss in May.

Rooney Jnr was sidelined for the closing months of the 2025/26 campaign with injury following his Under-18s debut in January. However, he has uploaded a series of pictures as he resets and prepares for the next season, captioning his post with the three words that promise he is braced for the challenge ahead.

In another boost for the young forward, he will be allowed to wear his sponsored Puma boots for United next season. He was previously banned from wearing the football boots for the U16s due to a club policy.

However, the young Rooney won’t be turning out for them this year, as he celebrated his 16th birthday before the August 31 cut-off, meaning he will step up to age groups where the ban is not in place.

He inked the sponsorship deal with the brand in 2022 at just 12 years old. His father, Wayne, revealed that the club prohibited his Puma boots because every player at the U16 level wears the same footwear – and the United legend claimed he was a big fan of the ruling.

Speaking on The Smith Brothers: Not A Podcast, United’s all-time top scorer said: “He’s obviously with Puma, but when he plays for the Manchester United U16s, something which I really like is he can’t wear his Puma boots.

“All the academy have to wear the same boots. They do it because there’s people from areas where they can’t afford certain boots so I think it’s really good. But he’s played for the U18s a few times and he can then wear his Puma boots. He’s doing well to be fair to him.”

The starlet featured six times for the U18s last season as he made his debut at the age group when he was 15 in a 1-0 win against Everton last August.

He was dealt a rough blow when he suffered a season-ending injury in March, leaving him out of action for United’s FA Youth Cup final against Manchester City, which United lost 2-1.

Yet, going by his social media, which shows the youngster in the gym and catching up on some much-needed R&R, it looks as if he is all set to make an impact this season.

In an interview with The Talent Hunter on Instagram, he set out his ambitions when asked where he’d want to be in five years’ time. He said: “Playing on the biggest stage amongst the best players, winning trophies.”

Sky Sports, HBO Max, Netflix and Disney+ with Ultimate TV package

This article contains affiliate links, we will receive a commission on any sales we generate from it. Learn more

Sky has upgraded its Ultimate TV and Sky Sports bundle to now include HBO Max, Netflix, Disney+, discovery+ and Hayu, as well as 135 channels and full Sky coverage of the Premier League and EFL.

Sky broadcasts more than 1,400 live matches across the Premier League, EFL and more with at least 215 live from the top flight alongside Formula 1, darts and golf.

Paul Flack, the brother of late TV presenter Caroline Flack, has died, six years after the former Love Island host took her own life.

Paul, 55, was reportedly found unresponsive at his home in Norwich on 21 June and taken to Norfolk and Norwich Hospital, where he died.

An inquest into his death was opened at Norfolk Coroner’s Court on Monday 29 June, court documents show.

The inquest hearing is scheduled for 23 October.

Coroner Yvonne Blake said further enquiries were needed before the circumstances surrounding his death can be fully established, the Daily Mail reports.

The inquest heard that Paul, a graphic designer, was born in Enfield on 18 June 1971, meaning he died just three days after his 55th birthday.

According to The Mail, news of his death was first reported by the Eastern Daily Press, where his mother worked for many years.

Paul’s final Instagram post, shared in June 2020, was a tribute to his sister, who died in 2020: “This will be my last post here,” he said at the time. “May those who know feel shame for eternity. Love you Caroline.”

He appeared with his mother, Christine, in the 2021 documentary Caroline Flack: Her Life and Death. In the programme, Paul said that his sister was the first thing he thought of when he woke up in the morning.

Watch Apple TV+ free for 7 day

New subscribers only. £9.99/mo. after free trial. Plan auto-renews until cancelled.

Try for free

ADVERTISEMENT. If you sign up to this service we will earn commission. This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Independent.

Watch Apple TV+ free for 7 day

Advertisement

New subscribers only. £9.99/mo. after free trial. Plan auto-renews until cancelled.

Try for free

ADVERTISEMENT. If you sign up to this service we will earn commission. This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Independent.

In another documentary, 2025’s Caroline Flack: Search for the Truth, Christine Flack laid out her reasons to believe that her daughter, who was arrested and charged for assault in December 2019, was treated differently by the police and Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) because of her celebrity status, alleging that they were eager to make an example out of her.

At the time of her arrest, Caroline was one of the UK’s most recognisable and popular presenters, having appeared on shows including Strictly Come Dancing, I’m a Celebrity…. Get Me Out of Here! and The X Factor.

From 2015, Flack hosted the popular series Love Island for five seasons, before stepping down in December 2020 following claims that she had assaulted her boyfriend. She denied the allegations.

Flack was banned from contacting her boyfriend, who had supported her throughout the investigation and said he did not press charges, before a planned trial in March 2021. She died by suicide in February of that year.

Flack’s arrest was highly publicised, with the presenter facing intense press scrutiny and social media trolls in the lead up to her death. The #bekind movement was founded after she died to remind people of how their actions online can have devastating consequences.

Paul appeared to be active in his local community: he was announced as a DJ at Norwich’s Last Pub Standing along with record label owner Henry Comb in September last year.

He is survived by his partner and their two children.

Subscribe here to get the latest updates from The Independent.

If you are experiencing feelings of distress, or are struggling to cope, you can speak to the Samaritans, in confidence, on 116 123 (UK and ROI), email jo@samaritans.org, or visit the Samaritans website to find details of your nearest branch.

If you are based in the USA, and you or someone you know needs mental health assistance right now, call the National Suicide Prevention Helpline on 1-800-273-TALK (8255). This is a free, confidential crisis hotline that is available to everyone 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

If you are in another country, you can go to www.befrienders.org to find a helpline near you.

Hello and welcome to coverage from day two of Wimbledon where Katie Boulter represents Great Britain’s best chance of a presence in the second week after a dismal opening day.

Ten Britons were beaten on Monday, which is one of the worst set of results in recent history. 

It could have been even worse but Jack Pinnington Jones was spared by bad light against Brandon Nakashima at two sets down and will have to finish his opener on Tuesday.

The tally of losses is the worst for the home nation since daily records began in 2000, while there is a possibility the record of 16 first-round defeats could be exceeded when the remaining players take to the court today.

Fran Jones, who became the final faller when she lost 6-4, 6-4 to France’s Diane Parry, said: “It will create bad headlines, probably slightly unfairly. I think, with some of the draws that people are handed, it was always going to be difficult.

“But no one can hide from the heaviness of Wimbledon. It’s important to everyone, and I’m sure it played a factor being at the home slam.”

The Lawn Tennis Association can justifiably point to the fact that the draws were particularly unkind this year, with only Cameron Norrie facing a player ranked lower than him.

The British No 1’s defeat by American Michael Zheng was undoubtedly the most disappointing of the day, although the qualifier played a terrific match to win in a fifth-set tie-break.

It was a sixth defeat in a row for last year’s quarter-finalist Norrie, who said: “If I could have had a few more matches leading in, I think I can win this match. There were so many small moments in the match that he did really well to go on his side.”

Harriet Dart was close to pulling off a sizeable upset against former French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko, eventually losing out 6-3, 3-6, 6-4.

Qualifier Oliver Tarvet, who lost in the second round to Carlos Alcaraz last year, also played at a high level in a four-hour battle against 25th seed Arthur Rinderknech but was unable to force a deciding set.

Britain’s teenage trio of Mimi Xu, Hannah Klugman and Mika Stojsavljevic were also among the losers after being handed very difficult draws.

Xu won her first senior set at Wimbledon against former quarter-finalist Daria Kasatkina but fell to a 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 defeat while Stojsavljevic was quickly beaten 6-2, 6-1 by last year’s semi-finalist Belinda Bencic.

Klugman, 17, took on 2024 champion Barbora Krejcikova and was left feeling encouraged after a close second set in a 6-1, 6-4 loss.

“I feel so motivated because it was 4-4, I had points to go 5-5,” said Klugman. “In the first set I think I had a break point in most of her service games. So it’s close.”

Elsewhere, wild card Felix Gill was beaten by rising Spanish star Rafael Jodar while fellow debutants Alicia Dudeney and Max Basing also lost.

When football commentators analyse a World Cup match, they tend to focus on tactics, technical ability, physical conditioning and psychology. If a team wins away from home, we hear about mentality. If a player scores a spectacular goal, we praise their vision or instinct. Yet there is another factor that receives remarkably little attention: the stadium itself.

The 2026 Fifa World Cup, hosted across the United States, Mexico and Canada, presents perhaps the greatest architectural experiment in the tournament’s history. Sixteen stadiums, spread across the three countries, are staging matches in environments that differ dramatically in size, scale, form, lighting conditions and spatial character.

Some are purpose-built football grounds. Others are enormous NFL arenas adapted for the world’s game. Several feature retractable roofs. Others remain open to the elements. Together, they create a fascinating question: can the architecture of a stadium influence player performance?

As an interior designer, I have spent several years researching the relationship between footballers, spatial awareness and stadium design. My research began with a simple observation: across football, teams consistently perform better at home than away.

Traditional explanations focus on crowd support, yet during the COVID pandemic, when matches were played behind closed doors, home advantage did not disappear. This suggests there may be more complex factors at work.

Playing the space

A player receiving a pass rarely begins processing information at the moment the ball arrives. Long before that pass is played, they have already built a mental picture of their surroundings. They understand where they are positioned in relation to the touchline, the penalty area, teammates and opponents. But they also orient themselves through a series of architectural cues embedded within the stadium itself.

These cues can be obvious or subtle. The angle of a stand. The location of a tunnel. The shape of a roof. The position of advertising. The colour surrounding the pitch. The direction of sunlight. The edge of a seating tier. Together, these become reference points that help players orient themselves and make decisions faster.

John Beck, Cambridge City manager in the early 1990s, would set up key markers in each of the four corners of the team’s home ground. The markers would be hoardings printed with the word “quality”. When full backs would receive a ball deep in their own half they would look up and were asked to hit the ball as hard as they could towards the quality signs. These were nicknamed “quality passes”. While quite a primitive tactic, it was effective for Beck; he guided the club to two successive promotions and to two successive quarter-final appearances in the FA Cup.

At the 2026 World Cup, players have encountered some of the most distinctive football environments ever assembled for a single tournament. In Dallas, matches are taking place inside a stadium capable of holding more than 90,000 spectators. For many players, this will be the largest enclosed sporting environment they have ever experienced.

Suspended above the field are giant video screens so large they have become part of the stadium’s identity. Whether consciously or unconsciously, such dominant visual elements contribute to the player’s reading of space.

In Atlanta, a retractable roof and climate-controlled interior create conditions unlike those found in most traditional football grounds. The stadium’s vast pinwheel-esque roof structure and glass end wall produce a highly controlled environment where wind, temperature and external distractions are largely removed.

Mexico City’s Estadio Azteca provides a very different experience. It is one of football’s great cathedrals, steeped in memory and history. Generations of players have competed there, from Pelé in 1970 to Maradona in 1986. Unlike many newer venues, the Azteca was designed specifically for football, creating a spatial relationship between players and spectators that feels fundamentally different from many multipurpose grounds.

À lire aussi :
Pelé was more than a great footballer – he revolutionised Brazil’s football industry

Meanwhile, venues such as Vancouver’s BC Place, with its retractable cable-supported roof, or Seattle’s Lumen Field, with its dramatic open end framing the city skyline, create visual identities that players must quickly learn to navigate and interpret.

From a football perspective, the challenge is adaptation. The German footballer Thomas Müller once described himself as an “interpreter of space”, a phrase that captures something important about elite performance. Great footballers appear to slow down time. They often know what they are going to do before the ball reaches them. This ability is developed through experience and familiarity.

The more often players operate within a particular environment, the more effectively they build what psychologists call cognitive maps. Over time, the surroundings become familiar and require less conscious processing. This familiarity creates fractions of a second of additional thinking time. At the elite level, those fractions can make the difference between scoring and missing, winning and losing.

The challenge of a World Cup is that players rarely have this luxury. Teams move rapidly between venues. Conditions change from match to match. Architectural cues that were familiar in one stadium disappear in the next. Players must repeatedly rebuild their understanding of space and place. This is why preparation becomes so important.

For decades, coaches have analysed opposition tactics in meticulous detail. Yet comparatively little attention has been paid to preparing players for the architectural characteristics of the stadium itself. Understanding sightlines, lighting conditions, pitch orientation, roof structures and spatial landmarks could offer marginal gains that become decisive in elite competition.

From a design perspective, this raises an equally interesting question. Modern stadiums are increasingly designed around fan experience, hospitality and commercial revenue. Yet the primary performers within these spaces remain the players themselves. If architecture can influence orientation, perception and decision-making, should stadium design place greater emphasis on players? Perhaps this will be the next frontier in sporting performance.

He was allegedly involved in setting fire to the Glider and a property at McMaster Street.

A man was remanded into custody today, charged with attempted murder during racial rioting on the streets of Belfast.

Christopher McLaughlin, 29, is also accused of arson attacks on a Glider bus and a house in the east of the city earlier this month.

Violent disorder erupted on June 9 in the aftermath of a serious knife attack allegedly carried out by a Sudanese asylum seeker.

A series of protests developed into unrest breaking out across Belfast and other parts of Northern Ireland, with vehicles torched and some families forced to flee their homes.

McLaughlin, of Devon Drive in the city, appeared at the city’s Magistrates Court on charges of riotous assembly and two counts of arson endangering life with intent.

He was allegedly involved in setting fire to the Glider and a property at McMaster Street.

McLaughlin is further charged with the attempted murder of a man as part of the same series of incidents.

All of the alleged offences were committed on June 9.

A PSNI detective involved in the investigation said she could connect the accused to all four charges.

No further details about the circumstances were disclosed during the brief hearing, and McLaughlin did not seek bail.

A defence solicitor told the court he has no suitable address at this stage.

District Judge Natasha Fitzsimons remanded McLaughlin custody until July 28.

For all the latest news, visit the Belfast Live homepage here and sign up to our daily newsletter.

The Cambridgeshire shopping centre announced the news at the end of June

A Cambridgeshire shopping centre is welcoming a new brand this summer. In recent months, Peterborough’s Queensgate Shopping Centre has welcomed a number of new shops and restaurants.

This includes Seoul Plaza, the UK’s leading Korean food retailer as well as coffee shop Jamaica Blue. On its social media, Queensgate announced it will be welcoming Charlotte Tilbury to its Boots store.

According to Boots, from July 3, the brand will open in 31 stores across the nation. Stores will stock the luxury beauty brand – from its iconic Magic Cream to its Airbrush Flawless Finish.

Announcing the upcoming opening, a spokesperson for Queensgate Shopping Centre said: “You asked for it.. and it’s finally happening. Charlotte Tilbury is coming to Boots at Queensgate VERY soon. Stay tuned for all the glam updates – you won’t want to miss this one.”

Reacting to the announcement, people commented that this was “fantastic news” and that they are “so excited”. Another commented: “OMG best news I’ve heard all year.”

Other stores to stock the highly-popular brand include Bury St Edmunds, Stockton-on-Tees and Lincoln. Queensgate shopping centre houses more than 90 shops, 15 places to eat and thousands of brands.