The Fifa men’s football World Cup is one of the most powerful brands in sport, attracting global attention with a simple formula of rarity, intensity and consequence.

Every four years, this high-stakes tournament feels distinct from everything else in the football calendar. So changing the format is a gamble.

But the 2026 World Cup, held in the US, Canada and Mexico, will be the biggest yet, featuring lots more teams – 48, up from 32 in 2022 (and just 24 back in 1994). And this means a lot more matches – a jump from 64 at Qatar 2022 to 104 in this year’s event.

This level of expansion reflects a broader shift across elite football. Several big tournaments (the Champions League, the Euros, the Club World Cup) are all played with more teams than they used to be.

And there are clear benefits. A larger World Cup for example, allows more nations to participate, extending the tournament’s reach and audience. For smaller football nations, it increases the likelihood of qualification and the opportunity to appear on the sport’s biggest stage for the first time.

More matches and more countries participating also means the potential for even greater revenue generation in new markets.

But aside from making Fifa more money, or football more inclusive, expansion could also damage the World Cup’s strength as an event.

This strength has traditionally come from the rarity and jeopardy of the occasion.

Qualification has always mattered because it was a difficult thing to achieve. Reaching the tournament at all was a show of footballing prowess, and once a team was there, the structure of the competition ensured that early matches carried real consequence.

In terms of successful branding, this intensity concentrates fans’ collective competitive and emotional investment in the event.

But dramatically expanding that event risks damaging this setup. More teams means that qualification becomes less selective, while staging more matches reduces the importance of individual games (and demands a level of viewing time that could test even the most committed football fan).

In marketing terms, this weakens what’s known as “perceived consequence”, the extent to which individual matches are seen to meaningfully shape outcomes and command fans’ attention. As the tournament grows (and there are some who want 66 teams to qualify for 2030), it can lose intensity.

There is more football, but less at stake with every kick.

Different goals

Expansion is often justified on economic and political grounds. The cost pressures on host counties has pushed governing bodies towards larger and more widely dispersed formats (hence this tournament being held across three countries).

But recent research I carried out with a colleague suggests that staging a tournament across multiple countries can be a complicated business too. Different places operate in different ways, with different resources and goals, so alignment can prove tricky.

That said, co-hosted events can work, but only when spectators manage to perceive the tournament as one coherent event, rather than a fragmented set of parts. As scale and complexity increase, sustaining that perception becomes more difficult.

With more teams, more matches and football stadiums in three large countries, the 2026 World Cup brings these challenges into sharper focus. It also has to deal with a broader shift which has seen elite football become an almost constant, never-ending series
of tournaments and fixtures throughout the year.

Competitions seem to exist as part of an ongoing, always-available media flow rather than isolated events.

In this context, the World Cup risks becoming just another part of high-value extended media property designed to maximise engagement across time rather than concentrate it. But dilution can lead to the weakening of a brand as its defining elements become less clear or less exclusive.

The qualities that once made the World Cup brand so distinctive risk becoming less sharply defined.

As more teams qualify, entry may feel less exclusive, and as more matches are played, individual fixtures become less decisive. As tournaments grow longer and more complex, the sense of a single, shared global moment becomes more diffused.

The World Cup will almost certainly remain football’s most valuable commodity for the foreseeable future. But its long-term health depends on maintaining the qualities that make it feel exceptional rather than routine.

If expansion continues to prioritise availability over intensity, the risk is not that the World Cup will fail – but that it will gradually lose its value as a global event that transcends the sport itself.

Few would have predicted Morocco’s success at the 2022 Fifa World Cup. Heading into the tournament, they were ranked 22nd in the world and had never progressed beyond the round of 16.

Yet they beat Belgium, Spain and Portugal – countries that both then and now rank inside the world’s top ten – on their way to becoming the first African nation ever to reach the semi-final.

Morocco’s run was not only remarkable (and thoroughly deserved). It also sparked debate beyond football because 14 of the players in their 26-man squad were foreign-born, more than any other nation in the tournament.

The 2026 World Cup will feature more foreign-born players than any previous edition. Nearly a quarter of the 1,248 players selected for national teams were born in a different country from the one they will represent.

In some squads, the proportions are far higher than this – 96% of Curaçao’s players were born abroad, as were 85% of the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s and 73% of Morocco’s. Overall, foreign-born players make up the majority of footballers in eight of the tournament’s 48 squads.

Migration has been part of the World Cup story since its inception. At the tournament’s third edition in 1938, for example, 12% of players represented a country other than the one in which they were born.

This was in part because Fifa didn’t introduce regulations governing football players’ eligibility for national teams until 1962, meaning it was not uncommon for players to represent multiple countries throughout their careers.

Some players represent countries other than those in which they were born because they are eligible through a parent or grandparent. These players often emerge from diaspora communities created by earlier waves of migration.

One example is 2018 World Cup finalist Ivan Rakitić, who was born and raised in Switzerland but chose to represent Croatia. In a 2025 interview, Rakitić explained that when he had to choose between the two countries, his heart told him he should play for Croatia.

Other players qualify through residency requirements. Pepe, for example, was born in Brazil but played in four World Cups for Portugal between 2010 and 2022 after becoming a Portuguese citizen at the age of 24.

Yet foreign-born players are only part of the story. World Cup squads also contain many second-generation migrants. France’s 2018 World Cup-winning squad is perhaps the best-known example: 12 of their 23 players had African parents.

Such patterns are not random. France’s squad reflected the country’s colonial and postcolonial links with north and west Africa. Similarly, since the mid-2000s, Switzerland’s national team has increasingly been shaped by migration from the former Yugoslavia following the conflicts and displacement that accompanied its breakup in the 1990s.

England’s 2026 squad also tells a story about the country’s migration history. Alongside Marc Guéhi, who was born in Ivory Coast, at least nine players had a parent born overseas. Most have family roots in former British colonies in Africa and the Caribbean, reflecting patterns of post-second world war migration to the UK.

At the same time, 24 players born in England have been selected by other World Cup teams. This includes five representing Scotland and 19 playing for countries beyond the British Isles (including the US, New Zealand and Ghana).

Does this matter on the pitch?

Relatively little research has examined whether national teams with more migrant players perform better on the pitch. But the available evidence suggests they do.

One study from 2022 analysed every World Cup between 1970 and 2018 and found that teams with more foreign-born players generally progressed further in the tournament. On average, each additional foreign-born player was associated with roughly 0.15 additional matches played.

The relationship remained even after accounting for broader differences between countries, suggesting that migration may provide advantages beyond those associated with wealth or footballing tradition alone.

Another study from 2023 examined European national teams competing in World Cups and European Championships between 1970 and 2018. Using players’ surnames to estimate their ancestral origins, it measured the diversity of backgrounds within each squad and found that more diverse teams tended to perform better on average.

Specifically, the research found that a one standard deviation increase in diversity led to an increase in goal difference (the number of goals a team scores minus the number of goals they concede) of around 1.3 per match on average.

There are at least two factors that might explain these results. First, migration can expand the pool of players available to a national team. Ghana’s squad for the 2026 tournament draws heavily on diaspora communities in western Europe. This allows it to recruit players developed in some of the world’s strongest football systems.

Second, migration may increase the diversity of skills available within a squad. Football players need specific physical traits and technical skills to succeed on the pitch. Central defenders, for example, are usually tall and physically strong. More attacking players, on the other hand, often require speed.

A more diverse population will probably provide a larger pool of potential players for each position, resulting in better complementarity at the team level.

This does not mean that migration wins World Cups. Argentina won the 2022 World Cup without a single foreign-born player in their squad. Success also depends on population size, economic wealth and coaching. Lionel Messi playing for your team helps, too.

Nonetheless, the limited evidence available indicates that migration may influence international football beyond simply changing the make-up of the teams competing.

If Morocco’s 2022 squad had been limited to players born and raised in Morocco, would they still have reached the semi-finals? We’ll never know for sure. But if Curaçao do so this time around, the role of migration in footballing success may become harder to ignore.

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday that developing countries have gained an increasingly important role in the global economy, while the share of output by Western countries has shrunk.

In a speech to the annual St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, Putin accused the West of undermining the global economy and finances with unilateral sanctions.

By freezing Russian assets abroad through sanctions, Western nations eroded trust in their own currencies, he said.

“The sanctions and blocking of Russia’s sovereign reserves have irreversibly impacted the standing of international currencies, the dollar and the euro,” he said. “Just like Russia, any other country could lose access to their legitimate assets in dollars or euros, as well as Western financial and payment systems.”

He alleged that high state debt had helped undermine global trust in Western institutions.

“The roots of the current global turbulence lie in the transition from a vertical, hierarchical model, which served the interests of a small number of states, to a more complex, distributed and multipolar one,” Putin said. “Russia views global changes not only as a threat but also as immense opportunities. And to capitalize on them, we aim to act swiftly and pragmatically.”

The Russian leader said the world needed a “modern, flexible and responsible financial architecture — free from risks, bans and barriers.”

Putin played down Russia’s economic slowdown and sought to emphasize its macroeconomic stability. He noted that Russia’s state debt is a fraction of that in Western countries and its budget deficit is considerably smaller, compared with the West.

The forum comes at a time when Russia’s economic outlook has clouded amid the conflict in Ukraine. The government raised taxes and increased domestic borrowing to keep its budget deficit under control.

On Thursday, Putin told heads of international media at a question-and-answer session that it was an exaggeration to say Russia’s economy was struggling. He noted that his government had taken deliberate steps to cool the economy to keep inflation under control.

Putin has used the St. Petersburg forum, likened to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, to showcase his country’s economic advances and encourage foreign investment. While Western officials and business leaders have stayed away after Putin sent troops into Ukraine in 2022, Russia has sought guests from elsewhere to underline its declared goal of promoting a “multipolar world.”

Saudi Arabia sent a large delegation this year, and the presidents of Uzbekistan and Tanzania and vice president of China also are present. A U.S. official, Rodney Mims Cook Jr., head of the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, is attending for the first time in years.

Also on Thursday, he acknowledged damaging Ukrainian drone attacks inside Russia and pledged to bolster its defenses.

“To our regret, some of them break through,” Putin told the media session in talking about the drone strikes. “Russia has an air defense system, we need to improve it, strengthen it, and we will do that.”

Hours before the forum opened on Wednesday, a Ukrainian drone attack set ablaze an oil terminal in the city and also hit a nearby naval base.

Putin said Russia is open for a compromise on Ukraine in line with understandings reached at his last year’s summit with U.S. President Donald Trump in Anchorage, Alaska, adding that Ukraine needs to accept them to make a deal to end the conflict, now in its fifth year.

On Thursday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy proposed face-to-face negotiations in a public letter addressed directly to Putin. Zelenskyy acknowledged shifting U.S. priorities, saying it would be wrong to wait for the U.S. to return its attention to Ukraine while it remains heavily focused on the Iran war.

In Washington, Trump said it “would be great” if Putin and Zelenskyy meet.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin hadn’t seen the letter yet and repeated his statement that Zelenskyy could come to Moscow if he wants talks, an offer that Zelenskyy pointedly rejected. Putin said last month he doesn’t exclude a meeting in a third country, but only when there is a deal to sign.

Speaking Thursday, Putin again rejected Zelenskyy’s push for an immediate ceasefire, arguing that Moscow wants a comprehensive settlement, not a temporary truce.

“Naturally, the Ukrainian side would like us to suspend the advances made by Russian troops,” he said. “But it would be better to end the war by agreeing to the compromises that were discussed in Anchorage.”

Two of the suspects can be seen embracing as they flee the scene where Kayden Moy was stabbed.

New footage has shown the teenage killers of Kayden Moy fleeing the scene of the stabbing.

Two teenage boys have been found guilty of murdering the 16-year-old at Irvine beach on May 17 last year.

Jay Stewart, 18, and a 15-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, fatally stabbed Kayden at the Ayrshire beauty spot. A third teenager, 18-year-old Cole Turley, previously pleaded guilty to the murder before the trial started at the High Court in Glasgow.

A video released by the Crown Office shows the three boys running away from the scene. In the clip, Turley can be seen leading the way at the front with Stewart behind him and the 15-year-old following in the back.

Stewart is topless with a rucksack on his back, while Turley and the 15-year-old wear tracksuits. Two of the boys put an arm around each other and one claps his hands together as they pelt across the road to the beach front.

Members of the public can be seen enjoying the sunny weather in the background as the boys slow their pace down to a leisurely walk, walk further along the prom, and disappear out of sight.

The three teenagers were part of the Murray Boys gang in East Kilbride in South Lanarkshire, while Moy was a member of the rival Himshie group. Following an initial confrontation at the beach, together with Turley, they pursued Kayden, causing him to fall to the ground where he was repeatedly stabbed on the body with a knife.

Kayden was left so badly injured that he died. The jury unanimously found Stewart guilty, but were divided on the 15-year-old.

It was said in court that Stewart and the other teenager held ill-will towards Moy, with threats sent to the stricken teen on social media.

Part of a message sent to Moy from Stewart read: “I will rip wee Kayden’s lungs out of him. Yous are f***ing grasses…stop acting bold.”

The trio travelled to the beach after a previous fight between the rival gangs earlier that day. Members of Kayden’s family left the public gallery when horror CCTV and mobile phone footage of the stabbing was played to the court.

Stricken Kayden hobbled down from the sand dune where the stabbing took place to the beach below.

Members of Kayden’s family became emotional and applauded when the jurors – four of whom were visibly emotional – delivered their verdict.

Those in support of the two teenagers shouted: “Grasses, grasses the lot of you” and “Keep your chin up, we are appealing it.”

As Stewart was being led into the cells, he smirked at Kayden’s family which was met with shouts of “Oh my god.” Judge Lord Scott deferred sentence pending background reports until next month.

The judge later told jurors that it was an “emotive case” due to the ages of the teenagers and offered an exemption from future jury service.

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Muhammad Khaliq Rasool, 22, from Oxbridge Lane in Stockton-on-Tees, pleaded guilty to failing to stop for police, dangerous driving, driving without insurance, and possession of Class C drug oxymetholone at Harrogate Magistrates’ Court on March 27, 2026.

It comes after Rasool was spotted by Roads Policing Sergeant Keenen travelling north on the A19 at Knayton, near Thirsk, at 1.22am on Friday (December 19).

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A force spokesperson said: “Rasool’s white Skoda Superb was followed by the marked patrol car and was clocked doing 130mph on the 70mph limit road.

“Using blue flashing emergency lighting and sirens, Sgt Keenen attempted to pull the vehicle over at Exelby Service Station nearly Ingleby Arncliffe.

“However, the driver failed to stop and continued to head north, passing road workers at 120mph and undertaking other traffic at excessive speeds in wet road conditions.”

Rasool has been sentenced to 30 weeks’ imprisonment suspended for 24 months on Thursday (June 4) (Image: North Yorkshire Police)

Rasool reached speeds of 140mph as approached the village of Crathorne.

North Yorkshire Police said: “Rasool then left the A19 at the Parkway roundabout in Middlesbrough, going through red traffic lights, and then headed east on A174.

“The Skoda was doing 150mph on the 70mph dual-carriage way road as it reached the Greystones roundabout near Eston.”

Rasool, police said, had left a junction at 110mph and travelled across a give-way without slowing.

He finally came to a dead end in a residential street and was blocked by Sgt Keenen’s patrol car.

North Yorkshire Police said: “Shockingly, Rasool attempted to make out that he hadn’t been driving the car by quickly moving to the front passenger seat, with the front seat passenger jumping into the rear seat.

“Both men were arrested at 1.40am.

“However, CCTV footage recovered from the scene proved that it was Rasool who had been driving the Skoda and the other man was released without charge.

“In police custody, Rasool was found to be in possession of a Class C drug, 10 tablets of oxymetholone in a blister pack, that had not been prescribed to him.”

Rasool was sentenced to 30 weeks’ imprisonment suspended for 24 months on Thursday (June 4).

He will also have to undertake 20 days of rehabilitation activity, carry out 100 days of unpaid work, and pay a total of £272 in court costs, plus the forfeiture and destruction of the oxymetholone.

He was disqualified for holding or obtaining a driving licence for 36 months and will have to undertake and pass an extended test competence.

Sgt Keenen said: “The pursuit footage taken from the police car clearly demonstrates Rasool’s dangerous driving and complete disregard for the safety of himself, his passenger, other road users, and the pursuing police officers.

“He even tried to claim that he had not been behind the wheel by moving into the passenger seat seconds before he was arrested.

“Thanks to the nearby CCTV footage, it proved beyond any doubt that he was the driver.

“Quite rightly, Rasool has been banned from the roads for a considerable length of time.

“This case shows the determination of North Yorkshire Police to relentlessly pursue dangerous criminals who use our road networks. We operate beyond our borders and suspects can expect to be caught.”

In The Mixer’s World Cup special

Everything you need to know about the World Cup – England updates, the games to watch and stories you missed – in five minutes, at 1pm, every day.

Paul Quinn, the brutal rapist who was today sentenced to 24 years in jail for the 2003 attack on a woman that saw Andrew Malkinson wrongly jailed for 17 years, may have had other victims – police said

Cops have said that Paul Quinn, a vile pervert who savagely raped a woman in 2003 and let an innocent man go to jail for his crimes, may have had other victims.

While innocent Andrew Malkinson languished behind bars for 17 years, repeatedly trying to prove his innocence, it is possible that Quinn was attacking other women, cops have said.

Following Quinn’s sentencing to 24 years in jail for his horrific crimes today, Greater Manchester Police have put out an appeal for other potential victims to come forward.

“We’re appealing for potential victims of a man who raped a woman in a violent attack in Little Hulton, before watching the wrong man go to prison, to come forward,” the force said.

Paul Quinn (52), now of Exeter, was today given an extended sentence of 24 years, being unanimously found guilty of two counts of rape, one count of choking with intent, and one count of grievous bodily harm.

Now, detectives who have led the painstaking reinvestigation are encouraging anyone else who may be a victim of Paul Quinn to come forward with information, when they are ready, Greater Manchester Police said.

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Use our interactive widget to fill your car for less

The cheapest place to fill up your car with petrol in Greater Manchester today (Friday, June 5) is at a Costco Wholesale garage in Oldham.

According to the latest data supplied by retailers, a driver in an average family car could save up to £7 by filling up at this forecourt – compared to the most expensive petrol station.

The Costco Wholesale garage at The Broadway in Chadderton is charging motorists 147.9p per litre, which means it would cost £96 to fill up an average 55 litre tank. This is based on a feed of live petrol prices which is published by the government.

Here are the cheapest places to top your car with petrol today:

• 147.9p – Costco Wholesale, The Broadway, Oldham, Greater Manchester, OL9 8AU
• 147.9p – Costco Wholesale, Barton Dock Road, Manchester, Greater Manchester, M41 7PP
• 148.9p – Texaco, Horwich Service Station, Bolton, BL6 6DT
• 148.9p – Texaco, Lime Service Station, Manchester, M28 3NS
• 149.7p – Asda, Atherleigh Way, Leigh, WN7 5RZ
• 149.9p – Sainsbury’s, Trinity Street, Bolton, BL3 6DH
• 149.9p – Tesco, Tesco Extra, Leigh, WN7 4BA
• 149.9p – Tesco, Tesco Stores Ltd, Manchester, M46 0AG
• 149.9p – Valero, Stalybridge, Tameside, SK15 1PD
• 149.9p – Texaco, Firwood Service Station, Bolton, BL2 2PE

The most expensive filling station in Greater Manchester is a BP station on Buxton Road in Stockport. The cost of standard petrol at this station is 166.9p, meaning it would cost a total of £102 to fill up an average family car at this forecourt.

For the owners of diesel cars, the cheapest place to fill up is the Valero garage at Stalybridge. The cost of a litre of standard diesel at this forecourt is 169.9p, according to prices supplied by retailers.

Here are the cheapest places to fill up your car with standard diesel today:

• 169.9p – Valero, Stalybridge, Tameside, SK15 1PD
• 170.9p – Costco Wholesale, Barton Dock Road, Manchester, Greater Manchester, M41 7PP
• 171.9p – Texaco, Lime Service Station, Manchester, M28 3NS
• 173.9p – Gulf-nisa Whitworth Road Stn, Whitworth Road Service Station, Rochdale, OL12 0RA
• 173.9p – Sainsbury’s, 2 Lord Sheldon Way, Ashton-under-lyne, OL6 7UB
• 173.9p – Costco Wholesale, The Broadway, Oldham, Greater Manchester, OL9 8AU
• 173.9p – Tesco, Cross Street, Wigan, WN2 3AT
• 173.9p – Tesco, Central Park, Wigan, WN1 1XE
• 174.7p – Asda, Soho Street, Wigan, WN5 0XA
• 174.7p – Asda, Atherleigh Way, Leigh, WN7 5RZ

You can use our interactive widget to find out the price of fuel at the petrol stations near you.

UK drivers are currently paying 158.6p per litre of petrol, while people who own diesel vehicles are paying 183.0p on average.

In Greater Manchester, owners of petrol cars are currently being charged 2.9p less than the national average of 158.6p. Diesel car drivers in the region are paying 3.2p less than the national average.

The cheapest place to buy petrol in the country is at a Circle K garage in Portstewart, County Derry, where a litre of standard petrol is 144.9p. The most expensive petrol station in the country is a Steisean Connaidh Chrosabol garage in Crossapol on the Inner Hebrides of Scotland, where motorists are charged 207.6p a litre.

The prices quoted are for standard grade petrol (E10) and for standard grade diesel (B7).

The figures are supplied by the major retailers under a scheme operated by the government to ensure motorists are given a fair deal at the petrol pumps.

The beloved ITV soaps will shift from their usual broadcast times due to the upcoming Women’s European Qualifiers and the Men’s World Cup.

Viewers can expect a disrupted viewing pattern throughout next week as football matches take precedence over normal broadcasts.

All the Emmerdale and Coronation Street schedule changes next week

On Tuesday, June 9, neither show will air because of England’s Women’s World Cup Qualifier against Ukraine.

The schedule will resume on Wednesday, June 10, but with an earlier timeslot.

Emmerdale will be shown at 7pm, followed by Coronation Street at 7.30pm.

This change is to accommodate England’s final warmup game against Costa Rica at the Inter&Co Stadium in Orlando, Florida.

The disruptions continue into the latter part of the week.

On Thursday, June 11, with the commencement of the Men’s World Cup, which includes the opening ceremony, ITV will not broadcast either Emmerdale or Coronation Street.

Friday, June 12, brings the most significant change, with both having longer runtimes.

Emmerdale will air for an hour from 8pm to 9pm, with Coronation Street following from 9pm to 10pm.

Normally, the two soaps air back-to-back each weeknight, with Emmerdale from 8pm to 8.30pm and Coronation Street from 8.30pm to 9pm.

This football-induced disruption is not a first for the soaps.

The greatest show in the world is ready. Are you? 🏆#FIFAWorldCup pic.twitter.com/ISxLhuLUkm

— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) April 1, 2026

Both Emmerdale and Coronation Street have had to adjust their schedules several times this year already due to sporting events.

In March, an England v Uruguay match saw the soaps moved to a weekend.

More recently, they were taken off the air for women’s football between England and Spain.

What do you think of the planned schedule changes for Emmerdale and Coronation Street? Let us know in the comments.