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Good morning football fans. It’s Wednesday, July. 15 - The FBI has labelled England vs Argentina as high risk, analysing World Cup weather conditions, and everything else you need to know. Forwarded this email? Sign up here.
KEY FIXTURE
2026 World Cup (July 15): England vs Argentina, 15:00 ET / 20:00 BST. England have won the last two World Cup matches in which they conceded the opening goal, having won only one of the previous 23 such matches in the competition. Should Harry Kane play, he will earn his 121st England cap and become the country’s outright most-capped outfield player, moving ahead of Wayne Rooney. Argentina, meanwhile, are on their longest outright winning run in World Cup history, with six consecutive victories. Lionel Scaloni’s side have scored exactly three goals in each of their last four matches and could become only the second team to score at least three goals in five successive World Cup games, after France’s run spanning the 2022 and 2026 editions. The winner of this fixture will play Spain in the final on July 19.
Results…
World Cup semi-final: France 0-2 Spain (Match Report)
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TOP TALKING POINTS
High Risk Match Warning
The FBI and the Atlanta police department have labelled the World Cup semi-final between England and Argentina on Wednesday (July 15) as the “highest risk” match at the tournament. Fans will be intermingled in the 71,000-seat stadium, as per Fifa’s ticketing policy, though the roughly 8,000-ticket allocations per country sold through the national federations will be seated at opposite ends of the stadium. Authorities say they will deploy increased security measures for the match.
Off the pitch, perceived tension between the two countries centres on the Falklands War, a 74-day conflict in 1982 which resulted in the deaths of 649 Argentine soldiers, 255 British combatants, and three civilians. The conflict resulted from a dispute over the islands’ sovereignty, with Argentina claiming the islands were Argentine territory, while the British government regarded the action as an invasion of a territory that had been a Crown colony since 1841. Learn more about the history of tensions between these two countries here (video).
In one of the most famous matches of all time, Diego Maradona scored twice as Argentina beat England 2–1 in the quarter-finals of the 1986 World Cup. Reflecting on the victory in his autobiography, El Diego, the former Argentine captain wrote: “More than defeating a football team, it was defeating a country. Of course, before the match, we said that football had nothing to do with the Malvinas [Falklands] War, but we knew a lot of Argentinian kids had died there, shot down like little birds. This was revenge.” These tensions have often shaped the relationship between these two nations at major tournaments — dive deeper into the England vs Argentina rivalry here.
Infantino Faces Complaint
A complaint alleging Fifa president Gianni Infantino has breached rules on political neutrality at the 2026 World Cup has been submitted to the International Olympic Committee (IOC). The news follows reports that dozens of European lawmakers were gathering support to launch an investigation of Infantino in the European Parliament.
The complaint, filed by human rights group FairSquare, says Infantino — who became an IOC member in 2020 — has repeatedly breached the Olympic Charter and the IOC’s code of ethics, citing his close relationship with U.S. President Donald Trump. In December, FairSquare submitted a similar complaint to Fifa’s ethics committee and received confirmation of receipt, but no further updates followed. The NGO is receiving growing support for its Fifa complaint, with the Norwegian FA contacting Fifa’s ethics committee separately, asking it to review FairSquare’s complaint. In addition, 72 Members of the European Parliament wrote to Fifa’s ethics committee, urging it to investigate Infantino.
On Tuesday, Infantino faced further scrutiny, with reports suggesting that some Uefa member federations were looking to back another candidate for Fifa’s presidential election. Both Uefa’s president, Aleksander Ceferin, and Paris Saint-Germain president, Nasser Al-Khelaifi, have reportedly received support from multiple federations, though both are reluctant to run for the presidency. Previously, Infantino announced that he would seek another term and had been expected to run unopposed.
World Cup Heat Analysed
None of the first 94 World Cup matches reached Fifa’s threshold for extreme heat, according to a Reuters analysis. The data, measured with satellite-based Wet Bulb Globe Temperature (WBGT) rather than at the stadium, showed that none of the matches analysed reached a WBGT of 32°C / 89.6°F. At that threshold, Fifa mandates cooling breaks and recommends postponing, delaying or cancelling matches.
Many matches did, however, exceed the players’ union FIFPro’s stricter guidance, which recommends that cooling breaks be considered above 26°C / 78.8°F WBGT. Around 35 matches exceeded FIFPRO’s threshold, and 27 exceeded its extreme-heat threshold of 28°C / 82.4°F, though 18 of those were held in covered, climate-controlled stadiums in Dallas, Houston, and Atlanta. As such, nine open-air matches were played above FIFPro’s extreme threshold.
As it stands, there is no accepted or agreed-upon temperature between Fifa and FIFPro as to when to delay or postpone matches. Reports suggest the two organisations are discussing the issue and are hoping to establish firmer rules for future tournaments.
POLL
Are you looking forward to the World Cup final's first half-time show?
ON THE BALL
Europe
> Manchester United have confirmed the signing of Youri Tielemans from Aston Villa for £36m (More) | Brighton have signed teenage defender Luka Vuskovic from Tottenham for £46m (More) | Swiss goalkeeper Yann Sommer has signed for Belgium club Club Brugge on a three-year deal after three seasons at Inter Milan (More) | Leandro Trossard will join Turkish side Besiktas from Arsenal for a reported £17m (More)
> Aston Villa will have Visit Rwanda as their new front-of-shirt sponsor in what is reportedly the club’s most lucrative partnership in history (More) | Authorities in Scotland seized 58,000 counterfeit football shirts worth in excess of £5.5m (More)
> Paris Saint-Germain are on the verge of extending their contract with Nike for five years for around €100m per year (More)
> Michael Olise has reportedly requested a meeting with his club, Bayern Munich, to discuss his future amid Real Madrid’s interest (More/unverified) | Thibaut Courtois has agreed to a one-year contract extension at Real Madrid, valid until June 2027, with the club expected to offer a more long-term contract (More)
> Andrea Pirlo is the new favourite to take over as Italy national team head coach, according to reports in Italy (More)
Americas
> Spain have advanced to the 2026 World Cup final after a 2-0 victory over France in the semi-final (More) | The World Cup closing ceremony will feature Tom Cruise, Laura Pausini, Nicole Scherzinger, Robbie Williams, IShowSpeed, among others (More)
> Declan Rice is reportedly fit and available to start England’s World Cup semi-final against Argentina following a stomach problem after the round of 16 match against Mexico (More)
> The Northern Super League, Canada’s first professional women’s football league, has awarded its seventh franchise to Winnipeg (More)
> United States forward Folarin Balogun has signed with Klutch Sports, the same agency as LeBron James, following his impressive World Cup performances (More)
Rest of the World
> Morocco is hoping that Fifa chooses it over Spain to host the men’s 2030 World Cup final (More)
ROUTERS’ VOICE
Yesterday’s Poll: Would you like another World Cup to be hosted in North America?
🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 👍 Yes (62%)
🟨 🟨 🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ 🙅♂️ Nope (35%)
🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ✍️ Other (3%)
Your punditry takes:
👍 J.K: “As somebody who lives in the United States and was born here, I think the US has proven twice now that we are a great country for hosting the World Cup. Fans and players from around the world seem to like coming here. Hopefully, next time they don’t use dynamic pricing for tickets.”
👍 W.W: “North America offers a lot of flexibility on location choices, and all indications so far are that the cup has been a success at least from a location standpoint. The controversies had nothing to do with who hosted the cup.”
🙅♂️ R.R: “The reason I voted No is due to the financial and economic burden placed on the host cities and fans. Many of Fifa’s costs and stipulations were outrageous. I live in New Jersey, and the negative impacts, such as transit for non-spectators during game day, the stripping away of stadium and area identity, ticket costs, hydration breaks (huh), etc., just to name a few. One big ‘greed cup’.”
✍️ R.P: “Maybe in time. The political climate is not in the appropriate place to fairly receive teams from ‘all’ nations that qualify. We can be doing so much more or better for the sport.”
EXTRA TIME
Jose Mourinho’s first day of pre-season at Real Madrid.
How goalkeepers get ready for World Cup shootouts.
The story of Scaloni going from accidental manager to World Cup hero.
West Ham unveil new New Balance kits.
What is the perfect age to win the World Cup?
Beckham visits the England squad’s camp.
GAME FACE ON
Who Am I…
I was the most expensive defender in history in 2014
I have 57 caps for my nation
I have played for the same Premier League team on two different occasions
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.
I knew it was gonna cause a lot of controversy. I could almost see within my teammates a bit of nerves… I tried to just focus as best as I could, but it was difficult with a lot of outside noise.
Answer
David Luiz.
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