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Good morning football fans. It’s Wednesday, June. 17 - The 2026 World Cup has produced the most draws at this stage of the tournament, U.S. President Donald Trump will be able to join the eventual World Cup winners' celebrations, and everything else you need to know. Forwarded this email? Sign up here.
KEY FIXTURES
2026 World Cup (June 17): Portugal vs Congo DR, Group K, 13:00 ET / 18:00 BST. Cristiano Ronaldo ended the qualifiers as Portugal’s top scorer, and he could make his sixth appearance at a World Cup. Portugal are unbeaten so far in 2026, having overcome USA, Chile and Nigeria in their last three warm-up matches. Meanwhile, Congo DR are back in the World Cup for the first time since 1974 after beating Jamaica 1-0 to seal their spot. England vs Croatia, Group L, 16:00 ET / 21:00 BST. England have lost only one of their last eight opening matches at the World Cup, and Thomas Tuchel’s side were one of only two Uefa nations to win all eight of their qualifying matches. Croatia have reached the semi-finals at each of the last two World Cups and won seven of their eight qualifying matches. They are also unbeaten in World Cup group-stage matches over the last two tournaments. See every World Cup fixture here and group standings here.
Results…
World Cup: France 3-1 Senegal | Iraq 1-4 Norway
Argentina vs Algeria and Austria vs Jordan to conclude shortly after publication (Live Results)
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TOP TALKING POINTS
Record World Cup Draws
The opening 16 matches at the 2026 World Cup have produced eight draws, with no edition recording as many at the same stage. The previous record of seven was set in 1974 and matched in 1982 and 1986. From the 32-team format onwards (from 1998), only the 2010 edition came close, with six draws after 16 matches.
One explanation could be that there is less jeopardy due to the expanding tournament, leading nations to play more conservatively. Data from Football Meets Data, analysed by the BBC, shows that there’s an 87.5% chance of advancing to the round of 32 with just three points and a goal difference of -1, meaning three draws and a 0 goal difference would almost certainly secure qualification.
However, this year’s tournament has already seen the most goals (46) after 16 matches, helped by Germany’s 7-1 win over Curacao. This is five more goals at this stage than the 2022 edition, which holds the record for total goals scored at a World Cup tournament (172), and it had 64 games compared to this summer’s 104. See the total number of goals scored at each Fifa men’s World Cup here.
Trump Trophy Role
United States President Donald Trump will reportedly be able to join the World Cup winners as they lift the trophy, as first reported by talkSPORT. Fifa is prepared to allow Trump to handle the trophy and give it to the winning captain, in a break from the governing body’s usual presentation custom, where the captain picks up the trophy from the plinth before presenting it to their teammates.
Fifa has reportedly already asked the U.S. president to hand over the World Cup trophy to the eventual champions, though it will be left up to Trump’s own discretion. The report states White House insiders believe he will choose to celebrate with the winners, as he did last year when he handed Chelsea captain Reece James the Club World Cup trophy and remained on stage. Representatives from the co-hosts, Mexico and Canada, are also invited to join the celebrations.
Trump, who turned 80 on Sunday, was not present at the SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles for the USMNT’s opening game of the World Cup against Paraguay due to a scheduling conflict.
Forced Exit Row
Iran’s national team have criticised the handling of their travel arrangements after their 2-2 draw with New Zealand on Monday night. Iran head coach Amir Ghalenoei said his team were expected to stay in Los Angeles overnight for a recovery session the following day, but were told they had to return immediately to their training base in Tijuana, Mexico, after the final whistle.
“They have said we have to leave immediately,” Ghalenoei said through an interpreter. “We are really troubled by that. We don’t know why they are returning us, to be honest. It seems very strange. It seems others are doing the planning for us.” Ghalenoei praised Fifa’s president Gianni Infantino for visiting their dressing room to hear their grievances, but urged the governing body to do more to support the national side.
During Iran’s first match, protests reflected the strong anti-regime feeling among sections of Los Angeles’ large Iranian-American diaspora, many of whom oppose the Islamic Republic. Fans booed the national anthem, displayed pre-revolution “Lion and Sun” flags despite Fifa’s ban, and chanted against Tehran’s leaders, but many still cheered for the players and made a clear distinction between supporting the team and opposing the Iranian state.
POLL
Should rival World Cup fans be mixed in the stands?
ON THE BALL
Europe
> Kylian Mbappe became France’s all-time top scorer with 58 goals, overtaking Olivier Giroud’s record, after scoring two in France’s 3-1 win over Senegal (More)
> England full-back Tino Livramento has suffered a hamstring injury and is out of the World Cup, with Trevoh Chalobah being called up to replace him (More) | England head coach Thomas Tuchel's two-year contract extension is subject to a performance clause (More)
> Crystal Palace’s billionaire owners are exploring a sale of the Premier League club, reports Financial Times (More)
> Tottenham have agreed to sign Jan Paul van Hecke from Brighton for £52m; he played 50 games under manager Roberto De Zerbi (More) | Tottenham also want to sign Sandro Tonali from Newcastle, but the Magpies value the midfielder at £100m (More) | Marcus Rashford formally returns to Manchester United as his €30m buy option for Barcelona has now expired (More)
> Bernardo Silva has reportedly signed his Real Madrid contract and will join on an initial two-year deal plus the option to extend (More) | Madrid have also confirmed that Antonio Rudiger has extended his contract by one year (More)
> UEFA confirm that Aston Villa and Paris Saint-Germain will each be allocated 7,000 tickets for the Super Cup, with 9,000 tickets made available for the general public; tickets are now on sale (More)
Americas
> USMNT’s Christian Pulisic trained alone as he tries to recover from a calf injury he sustained in training last week (More) | Brazil’s Neymar is not expected to feature in the World Cup group stages as he recovers from injury (More)
> World Cup veteran coach Herve Renard will become the new manager of Tunisia following the sacking of Sabri Lamouchi mid-tournament (More)
> U.S. referee Tori Penso will become the second woman to take charge of a men’s World Cup match when Czechia face South Africa on Thursday (More) | World Cup VAR official Shaun Evans says his hand gesture was an “involuntary, subconscious twitch,” and not a way to communicate any belief (More); Fifa says there’s no evidence that it was a racist hand gesture (More) | A Federal Court judge in Ottawa has dismissed Thomas Partey's bid for emergency relief after Canada denied the Ghanaian midfielder entry for the World Cup (More)
> Mexico’s goalkeeper Memo Ochoa has hinted that he will retire from professional football after the World Cup (More)
Rest of the World
> South Korea’s squad are boycotting their own travelling media after a “hot microphone” accidentally caught a journalist making derogatory remarks about Son Heung-min’s exemptions from military service (More)
ROUTERS’ VOICE
Yesterday’s Poll: Are you enjoying the expanded World Cup?
🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 👍 Yes (81%)
🟨 🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ 🙅♂️ Nope (17%)
🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ✍️ Other (2%)
Your punditry takes:
👍 J.B: “Loved the tie today between Iran (ranked 20th) and New Zealand (ranked 85th). Loved the tie between Spain (2nd) and Cape Verde (67th). ‘Lowly’ teams can score goals and defend as well. Cinderella teams make the heavyweights blush, inspire their countrymen's youth, and expand the reach of the beautiful game. The historically successful elite need to shut up and let their play speak for them.”
👍 J.C: “More than I thought I would! They've captured ‘the magic of the Cup’ and brought it to the World. I'm currently watching Iran vs New Zealand, and it's been one of the most entertaining matches so far! Who would have thought it?!”
✍️ S.B.H. “A lot of the group stage games have been boring, and so in a way, no, I’m not enjoying it. However, it is not entirely about that. With the addition of more nations, football is becoming more widespread. For the first time, teams in the tournament will inspire the next generation of football players with their World Cup run. And we get to see cool stuff like Cape Verde drawing Spain.”
EXTRA TIME
The tactical trends defining the World Cup so far.
How Cape Verde kept Spain to a goalless draw.
Peter Cech playing the drums.
A first look at Netflix's USWNT 1999 World Cup film.
The number of panels on each World Cup ball throughout the years.
Alphonso Davies' pre-match talk before Canada’s World Cup opener.
Maguire on how Tuchel told him he wouldn’t make England’s squad.
Lie detector test with Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
GAME FACE ON
Question: England were knocked out of their first World Cup in 1950 following a defeat to which country?
Scroll below for the answer.
Daily Wordle: Guess the football-related word, from player names to classic phrases, in six tries or fewer. Play it here.
Now that [my time with] the national team is ending, I don’t see any more meaning in football.
Answer
United States.
