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Good morning football fans. It’s Wednesday, June. 10 - Demand for World Cup tickets and U.S. hotels lags, Real Madrid ask Uefa to strip Barcelona of La Liga titles, and everything else you need to know. Forwarded this email? Sign up here.
KEY FIXTURES
International friendlies: Portugal vs. Nigeria, 20:45 BST / 15:45 ET. These sides have only met once before, a friendly in November 2022, which ended in a 4-0 win for Portugal. Portugal will enter this friendly off the back of a 2-1 win over Chile on Saturday, with Goncalo Guedes and Bruno Fernandes on the scoresheet. England vs. Costa Rica, 21:00 BST / 16:00 ET. England are unbeaten in their last 16 internationals against Concacaf nations (W12 D4), conceding just four goals in that time since losing 2-0 to the USA in June 1993. They've also lost just one of their final warm-up matches before a World Cup. Meanwhile, Costa Rica are winless in their previous five matches in all competitions.
Results…
Women’s European World Cup Qualifiers (Results)
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TOP TALKING POINTS
Ticket Demand Varies
With just one day until the start of the 2026 World Cup, almost 180,000 World Cup tickets are still available on official resale platforms, reports the Financial Times. With median prices on resale platforms falling by 20% over the past month, the FT calculates that most resales will be at a loss due to the 26% resale fee on platform transactions.
Mexico fans have the strongest demand overall, with only about 300 resale tickets per game available for their group matches, and tickets are trading at around four times face value. It’s thought this is driven by strong home demand, with Mexico’s group games being played in Mexico City and Guadalajara. Fans looking to attend matches involving Colombia, Brazil, and Scotland also seem among the most price-insensitive, with both Colombia vs Portugal and Scotland vs Brazil trading at much higher prices than face value. By contrast, weaker demand is implied for Iran, Saudi Arabia, and even the U.S., where 4,400 tickets are still available for the team’s opener against Paraguay, even after discounts.
In related news, hotel bookings in the U.S. remain low. Bookings in Canada and Mexico are outpacing those in all but one U.S. city, with Vancouver and Guadalajara boasting the top occupancy rates at 48%, according to CoStar. Toronto, Mexico City, and Monterrey are also more than 40% booked, while San Francisco is the only U.S. city above that threshold, at 44%.
World Cup Referee Denied Entry
FIFA has now confirmed that Somali referee Omar Abdulkadir Artan will not be able to work at this summer’s World Cup after being denied entry to the United States. Artan arrived at Miami International Airport but was barred from entering the country following a routine inspection. "Fifa is not involved in host country immigration processes, including visa adjudications, and has been informed by authorities that Mr Artan's status will not be changed at present," a spokesperson for the governing body said.
Artan was named the 2025 Confederation of African Football men’s referee of the year and was set to become the first Somali official to officiate at a World Cup. A senior adviser to Somalia's ministry of youth and sports claims that Artan travelled with valid documents, and another embassy official said that a diplomatic passport had been issued to curtail Artan’s travel after earlier visa difficulties. However, Andrew Giuliani, who leads the White House Task Force on the World Cup, told the BBC: "While I can't go into the derog [derogatory information] on that I can tell you it was the right decision by customs and border patrol and I support that decision."
Somalia is one of several countries that are included in President Donald Trump’s administration’s travel ban. Athletes, coaches, persons in support roles, and immediate relatives are exempt from the travel ban, though the rules don’t stipulate any exemption for officials. “I’m just simply a referee who’s trying to live his dream, the biggest dream of my life, to come to the World Cup,” Artan said. “I had the right papers and everything. I had the right visa.”
Madrid Push Corruption Case
Real Madrid have submitted a dossier to Uefa asking that their rivals, Barcelona, be stripped of their top-flight Spanish titles, according to reports in Spain. The 500-page document contains what Real officials describe as “evident proof” of systematic corruption that influenced La Liga results over a 20-year period, in relation to the high-profile Negreira case. The Negreira case is an ongoing investigation into Barcelona’s payments to a former vice-president of Spain's refereeing committee, which the club claims were for consultancy services.
Florentino Perez, who has just won re-election as Real president, coordinated the dossier. It includes a season-by-season breakdown of points that Real believe were “stolen” from them due to referee bias. Previous reports suggested that, if found guilty, Barcelona could face a ban from European football for an undisclosed period. However, Perez is now seeking retrospective action against the Catalan side.
Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin previously described the Negreira case as one of the most serious situations in football. His governing body has paused its own investigation as the Spanish courts have taken control of the case, and it remains unclear whether Uefa has the legal capacity to retrospectively strip domestic titles. Dive deeper into the case, outlining the prosecution and defence claims, here.
POLL
Who do you think will win the 2026 World Cup? (In order of favourites)
ON THE BALL
Europe
> Real Madrid bid €150m (£129m; $173m) for Atletico Madrid forward Julian Alvarez, but it was rejected by their local rivals (More); Atletico released a short, sarcastic statement on social media (More) | Real Madrid confirmed that they have parted ways with head coach Alvaro Arbeloa after reaching a mutual agreement (More)
> Wolves have signed Kieran Trippier, 35, on a free transfer ahead of next season (More); Raul Jimenez could also re-join Wolves after leaving Fulham (More)
> Scotland and manager Steve Clark were branded “unprofessional”, “embarrassing” and “weak” by Norway’s national team after the cancellation of a training game planned in Charlotte (More)
> British broadcaster ITV has forecasted record-breaking advertising revenue for the 2026 World Cup, with AI companies expected to dominate commercial breaks (More)
Americas
> Iran’s football federation says that fan tickets for the group stage of the World Cup have been revoked just days before the tournament (More) | The New York New Jersey host committee for the World Cup will make 770 tickets available for free for New Jerseyans (More)
> Mexico's President Claudia Sheinbaum issued a decree ordering federal workers in the capital to work from home on June 11 and suspending school classes to ease traffic during World Cup opening events (More)
> USWNT manager Emma Hayes says that her players need to be "tougher" and highlights that 21 of her 26 players feature in the NWSL, which plays far fewer matches per four-year World Cup cycle compared to overseas counterparts (More)
> Bolivia international Boris Cespedes has had his suspension for a doping violation reduced from two years to 15 months (More)
Rest of the World
> Michel Platini has launched civil and criminal proceedings against Fifa and its president Gianni Infantino, arguing he was a victim of a plot to block his bid to run Fifa in 2015 (More)
ROUTERS’ VOICE
Yesterday’s Poll: Do you think heat will be a deciding factor at the 2026 World Cup or is its impact overstated?
🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 👍 Yes (53%)
🟨 🟨 🟨 🟨 🟨 ⬜️ 🙅♂️ Overplayed (45%)
🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ✍️ Other (2%)
Your punditry takes:
👍 R.M: “I'm an MLS season ticket holder. There is a big difference in the pace of games during hot, humid summer months compared to spring or fall. The pace of the game is slower, players pass rather than run with the ball, and players walk.”
🙅♂️ W.M: “It may have some effect on some European teams, but teams from North and South America play in heat and humidity all the time. Also, 25 of the 72 group games will be played indoors. Other venues may be in hotter climates, but the East Coast is forecast to be in the mid-80s for the latter half of June and into July.”
✍️ J.T: “I think for the northern European teams it will be a factor, but for the South American teams and the likes of Spain and Portugal, not so much.”
EXTRA TIME
Football’s lawmakers release the updated Laws of the Game.
How a Dallas mural cover-up led to a $25m lawsuit against Fifa.
How should USMNT fans feel about a back-three formation?
Ranking the best England World Cup kits in history.
Roy Keane discusses competing in the USA ‘94 World Cup.
Two Chelsea players feature in Madonna’s album promo video.
GAME FACE ON
Question: Can you name the Golden Boot winners at the 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, and 2022 men’s World Cups?
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.
Pele, Maradona, Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, me and Ronaldo. That’s it. I’d give myself an 11 out of 10 as a player.
Answer
Ronaldo (2002). Miroslav Klose (2006). Thomas Muller (2010). James Rodriguez (2014). Harry Kane (2018). Kylian Mbappe (2022).
