Global Pulse

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  • Jock Campbell returns at fullback for the Wallabies against Ireland after 4-year absence

    Jock Campbell returns at fullback for the Wallabies against Ireland after 4-year absence

    Rugby union fans in Sydney are gearing up for a highly anticipated opening clash of the inaugural World Rugby Nations Championship this Saturday, as Australia’s national side the Wallabies have announced a revamped starting lineup headlined by the return of Jock Campbell for his first test cap since 2022. The match at Sydney Football Stadium is already sold out, drawing a capacity crowd to watch the first fixture of the groundbreaking new global tournament.

    Campbell will take the starting fullback position, pairing with 21-year-old rising talent Max Jorgensen and Dylan Pietsch to form the Wallabies’ new-look back three. The halves combination will be made up of Ryan Lonergan and Carter Gordon, while another first-time test starter, Josh Canham of the Queensland Reds, will partner Western Force lock Jeremy Williams in the second row. Star forward Harry Wilson will retain his position as starting number eight and team captain.

    In a notable selection that highlights the team’s depth and experience, head coach Joe Schmidt named 151-test veteran prop James Slipper to the matchday bench. Slipper shocked the rugby world last month when he announced he would come out of international retirement to make a comeback with the Wallabies, adding valuable veteran leadership to the squad for the new tournament.

    Speaking following Thursday’s official squad announcement, Schmidt emphasized the team’s rapid preparation for the stiff test ahead, noting that Ireland enters the match ranked third in the global men’s rugby rankings. “The group has reconnected quickly and we’ve worked hard over the past week to prepare as best we can for what is an exciting challenge against the No. 3 team in world rugby,” Schmidt said.

    This Saturday’s test also carries broader off-field significance for Australian rugby: it will open the final stretch of Schmidt’s tenure as Wallabies head coach, before Les Kiss takes over the top job permanently. Schmidt’s tenure has hit rocky patches in recent months, with the Wallabies finishing winless on their end-of-year tour to the United Kingdom in late 2024. Schmidt will lead the side for two additional Nations Championship matches after the Ireland opener: against France in Brisbane on July 11, and against Italy in Perth on July 18. Kiss will officially step into the head coaching role on July 20, and will make his debut in charge during August’s test series against Japan. He is currently wrapping up his duties with the Queensland Reds Super Rugby side while assisting the Wallabies with current selection processes.

    On the opposing side, Ireland comes into the opener off a strong 2026 Six Nations Championship campaign that saw them finish as runners-up behind France. The Irish notched key wins over Italy and claimed their 15th Triple Crown title with victories over England, Scotland and Wales, before falling 36-14 to tournament champions France in their final Six Nations fixture. Following this weekend’s clash with Australia, Ireland will continue their Nations Championship road trip with matches against Japan and New Zealand.

    The newly launched Nations Championship, a 12-team global competition structured as a North-South showpiece by World Rugby, is designed to crown an undisputed men’s world number one outside of the quadrennial Rugby World Cup. The tournament splits participating teams into two conferences: southern and northern. In the July window, all northern hemisphere teams travel to the southern hemisphere for their away fixtures, while the November window will see southern hemisphere teams travel north for their away matches. After six rounds of round-robin play, the top four teams will advance to a finals series hosted in London in late November, where the tournament’s first champion will be crowned.

    The full announced Wallabies matchday squad for Saturday’s opener is as follows: Starting lineup: Jock Campbell, Max Jorgensen, Joseph-Aukuso Sua’alii, Len Ikitau, Dylan Pietsch, Carter Gordon, Ryan Lonergan; Harry Wilson (captain), Fraser McReight, Rob Valetini, Josh Canham, Jeremy Williams, Allan Ala’alatoa, Josh Nasser, Angus Bell. Reserves: Brandon Paenga-Amosa, James Slipper, Taniela Tupou, Lachlan Shaw, Tom Hooper, Tate McDermott, Ben Donaldson, Tom Wright.

  • Latest ever winner, comeback and controversy – Senegal’s remarkable exit

    Latest ever winner, comeback and controversy – Senegal’s remarkable exit

    The 2026 FIFA World Cup Round of 32 produced one of the most dramatic, controversial and historic matches in tournament history Wednesday, as Belgium pulled off an unprecedented comeback from a two-goal deficit late in regulation to beat Senegal 3-2, with captain Youri Tielemans netting a record-breaking extra-time penalty to book his side’s spot in the Round of 16.

    With just four minutes left in 90 minutes of regulation play, Senegal appeared certain to lock in their knockout stage advancement. Goals from Habib Diarra and Ismaila Sarr had given Pape Thiaw’s side a 2-0 lead over the 2018 World Cup semi-finalists, who had been outplayed for most of the 86 minutes that preceded the late turnaround. As former Republic of Ireland captain Roy Keane put it on ITV, Senegal somehow “found a way to lose the game” from a position of total control.

    The comeback began with 33-year-old striker Romelu Lukaku, who had only played 69 minutes of club football in the lead-up to the tournament after an injury-plagued season. The substitute flicked home a cross from Thomas Meunier in the 86th minute to cut Senegal’s lead in half, sparking sudden life in a Belgium side that had looked set for an early flight home. Three minutes later, Leandro Trossard sent a cross into the box that Senegal goalkeeper Mory Diaw failed to clear, and Tielemans rose to head the ball into an empty net for the equalizer. Notably, the goal came just minutes after Tielemans and Trossard were captured on camera in a heated on-pitch argument during a hydration break, with Lukaku stepping in to mediate the dispute between the two teammates.

    The draw at full-time forced the match into extra time, and deep into the second period of added time came the game’s decisive, controversial moment. A challenge from Senegal’s Lamine Camara on Tielemans inside the box was reviewed by the Video Assistant Referee (VAR), and the referee ultimately awarded a penalty to Belgium. Tielemans stepped up to convert the spot kick at 124 minutes and 44 seconds, making it the latest goal ever scored in World Cup history. The penalty decision immediately drew criticism from pundits, with former England defender Gary Neville saying “I genuinely don’t believe that is a penalty.” Roy Keane added that the decision was overly harsh, and that the referee’s long delay over the call demonstrated a lack of conviction that undermined confidence in the ruling.

    For Senegal, the devastating late defeat echoes previous heartbreak at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations earlier this year. In that tournament’s final against hosts Morocco, a stoppage-time VAR-awarded penalty against Senegal sparked chaotic scenes that led to Thiaw pulling his team off the pitch, and ultimately saw Senegal stripped of their title despite a 1-0 win. Wednesday’s outcome left the side processing a second crushing late loss defined by VAR controversy.

    “We’re out – it hurts,” Thiaw told reporters after the match. “We must congratulate the team, who gave it their all, but unfortunately we weren’t able to hold on to our two-goal lead. We have to accept this. That’s football.”

    Belgium’s comeback makes history in its own right: this is the latest any side has come back from a two-or-more goal deficit in regulation time to avoid defeat at a World Cup. The Red Devils are also only the third team in the tournament’s history to pull off such a comeback win, following Germany’s feats against Hungary in 1954 and England in 1970, and Belgium’s own dramatic win over Japan in the 2018 World Cup. Uncoincidentally, many of the same players that featured in that 2018 Rostov comeback still remain in the squad eight years later, including Thibaut Courtois, Kevin de Bruyne, Meunier and Lukaku. Even with De Bruyne subbed off early in the second half (the earliest substitution of his World Cup career, a change that left the playmaker visibly frustrated), the remaining core of Belgium’s celebrated golden generation delivered when it mattered most.

    “Football is just crazy. I couldn’t call any of this game,” former England striker Dion Dublin told BBC Radio 5 Live, summing up the match’s chaos. Dublin noted that “Senegal were better than Belgium for 70 minutes. Then Lukaku came on and changed the momentum.”

    Belgium head coach Rudi Garcia highlighted the team’s resilience and depth after the historic win. “In football, anything is always possible as long as you believe in it,” Garcia said. “The strength of this squad also lies in the players who come off the bench, because you can’t get results with just 11 players.”

    Far from the polished golden generation side that reached third place in 2018, this current Belgium squad has shown its flaws – from in-fighting to underperformance from key stars – but their dramatic comeback against Senegal has proven they still have the quality and mental toughness to compete deep into this 2026 World Cup. They will next face co-hosts the United States in the Round of 16.

  • World Cup what to know: Spain looks to knock out Austria as round of 32 winds down

    World Cup what to know: Spain looks to knock out Austria as round of 32 winds down

    With the expanded 48-team 2024 World Cup moving into its final knockout elimination round, just six spots in the coveted round of 16 remain unclaimed — and half of those will be awarded on Thursday following three high-stakes matches across North America. The round of 16 is scheduled to kick off this Saturday, leaving teams across the globe racing to secure their place in the next stage of the tournament.

    Headlining Thursday’s fixture list is a showdown between European champion Spain and underdog Austria at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California. For Spanish football fans, this match carries extra weight: the historic powerhouse has not won a knockout round match at any of its last three World Cup appearances, a dry spell that dates back to its 2010 World Cup title in South Africa. After failing to advance out of group play in 2014, Spain fell in its opening knockout match in both the 2018 and 2022 tournaments, leaving the squad hungry to break its unwanted streak.

    Under current manager Luis De La Fuente, however, there are strong signs that Spain’s dry run may be coming to an end. Since taking the helm, De La Fuente has led La Roja to just two losses across 45 matches, including title runs at the 2023 UEFA Nations League and 2024 European Championships. Entering Thursday’s match, Spain enters as the clear favorite, particularly after confirmation that young star Lamine Yamal is fully fit to play a full 90 minutes, a major boost for the side that has yet to concede a single goal through the group stage.

    While Spain entered the tournament as a pre-tournament favorite, its group stage performance left room for criticism, including a surprising scoreless draw against underdog Cape Verde that reignited doubts about the squad’s ability to deliver when it matters. De La Fuente, though, remains upbeat about his team’s trajectory, noting that the side has improved steadily as the tournament has progressed.

    “I can tell you that this national team is used to breaking records,” De La Fuente told reporters on Wednesday. “Perhaps that bad streak (at the World Cup) will be overcome by this specific squad. After tomorrow’s match, we’ll read the circumstances and everything that’s happened, but what we want to do next is to see you all in Dallas (for the round of 16).”

    For Austria, Thursday’s match marks a landmark moment: this is the nation’s first World Cup appearance since 1998, and the squad secured its knockout spot courtesy of a dramatic 3-3 draw with Algeria in the final group stage match. With nothing to lose against one of the tournament’s top sides, manager Ralf Rangnick says his team will play with nothing holding them back. While Rangnick freely acknowledged Spain’s status as one of the world’s strongest sides and the current European champion, he highlighted that his side outscored Spain in group play (six goals to Spain’s five) and holds a fun trivia edge: Austria’s David Alaba is the only Real Madrid player currently on either roster, though Alaba is set to leave the club this summer, while Spain’s Marc Cucurella is set to join Real Madrid from Chelsea.

    “They’re one of the strongest teams in the world. It’s the European champion, and they haven’t lost a match in a very long time,” Rangnick said. “(But) there have been one or two big surprises in this (World Cup), and we want to make sure that the match tomorrow will be one of the tight matches as well.”

    In the night’s second match, set for Toronto, Portugal will face Croatia in a clash that could mark the end of one of two iconic careers: 41-year-old Portuguese megastar Cristiano Ronaldo and 40-year-old Croatian midfield legend Luka Modric, who spent six seasons as teammates at Real Madrid. For Ronaldo, the match offers a chance to check another box on his historic resume: despite being the only player to score at six different World Cups, he has never found the net in a World Cup knockout match, and Portugal will need his best form to avoid early elimination.

    For Modric, the match comes just over a week after he earned his 200th senior international cap in a crucial group stage win over Panama at the same Toronto stadium. Still the linchpin of Croatia’s midfield, Modric led the nation to a third-place finish in 2022 and a runner-up finish in 2018, and Croatian manager Zlatko Dalic has said the outcome of the match will likely rise or fall on Modric’s performance.

    Portugal midfielder Vitinha, who exchanged jerseys with Modric after a previous club meeting, called the Croatian a reference point for all young players. “Hopefully tomorrow he’ll be a little bit sadder than me,” Vitinha joked. He added that the whole squad is motivated to advance, not just for the country, but for Ronaldo.

    The final match of Thursday takes place in Vancouver, British Columbia, where Switzerland will face Algeria — and Algeria is led by a very familiar face: former Swiss manager Vladimir Petkovic, who held the top job with Switzerland from 2014 to 2021. During his seven-year tenure, Petkovic led Switzerland to the 2018 World Cup round of 16 and guided the nation to its first-ever European Championship quarterfinal berth in 2020. Current Swiss forward Breel Embolo earned his first senior call-up under Petkovic and was named to the 2018 World Cup squad by the manager, and says Petkovic knows most of the current Swiss squad very well.

    “Yeah, he’s a coach that knows me very well, I think he knows a lot of players,” Embolo said. “But personally speaking, no, nothing’s going to change on my front. I’m going to play the football I’m used to playing, taking into consideration not only the qualities of the Algerian squad, but also their weak spots.”

    Petkovic downplayed any idea that his history with the Swiss side gives Algeria a major edge, noting that modern soccer has little room for hidden secrets. “Everyone knows each other. There are no real secrets left in the game,” Petkovic said. “I don’t think it’s a huge advantage to know someone or someone else, just as I know the players, the players know me, and it’s a huge pleasure to come up against them. It’ll be lovely to meet and greet them, but after that, the players will go out there on the pitch, and I’m certainly expecting a tough game, and in order to win a match we need to give 120% against a very decent Swiss side.”

    Switzerland has advanced to the round of 16 at each of the past three 32-team World Cups, and will look to repeat that feat in Thursday’s 48-team format knockout match. All three of Thursday’s matches will be broadcast across Fox, Telemundo and Peacock, with kickoffs scheduled for 3 p.m. EST, 7 p.m. EDT and 11 p.m. EDT respectively.

  • Lamine Yamal is healthy enough to play full matches for Spain in knockout rounds, De La Fuente says

    Lamine Yamal is healthy enough to play full matches for Spain in knockout rounds, De La Fuente says

    INGLEWOOD, California — As Spain gears up for its first knockout round clash at the 2026 FIFA World Cup against Austria on Thursday, head coach Luis De La Fuente delivered a major boost to the side on Wednesday: teen phenom Lamine Yamal has fully recovered from his long-term hamstring injury and is cleared to play a full 90 minutes if called upon.

    The 18-year-old Barcelona winger entered the tournament as one of the most anticipated global superstars competing in Qatar, but his playing time was sharply limited across Spain’s three group stage matches. Restricted to a total of just 141 minutes of action, Yamal notched only one goal — a quiet start that stood out amid the standout performances from the tournament’s other top talents. The controlled minute load was a deliberate strategic choice by the Spanish coaching staff, designed to protect the young player as he continued rehabilitation from a hamstring tear he suffered back on April 22.

    Speaking to reporters at SoFi Stadium ahead of the round of 32 fixture, De La Fuente confirmed that Yamal’s recovery is effectively complete, and the teenager is chomping at the bit to get more minutes under his belt. “Lamine can play whatever we ask him to play,” De La Fuente stated through an interpreter. “We’ve been quite prudent with him, as we do in managing the recovery of all our players, respecting their timelines and also following the evolution of the matches. Lamine is doing very well now and, above all, you can all see how much he wants to play.” Grinning, the coach added a playful tease: “So we’ll see if he plays tomorrow.”

    Yamal’s 2024-25 club season before his injury was nothing short of sensational: he racked up 24 goals and 17 assists across all competitions for Barcelona, despite missing the final six matches of La Liga to recover from his hamstring tear. His World Cup group stage trajectory followed a steady ramp-up: he came on as a late substitute in Spain’s opening tournament fixture, a surprising scoreless draw against Cape Verde, then netted his first ever World Cup goal just 10 minutes into his first start against Saudi Arabia, before logging 76 minutes of play in the final group match against Uruguay.

    The young star has made no secret of his eagerness to step into the spotlight alongside the tournament’s other standout players, who have all delivered electrifying performances so far — from living legends Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappé to elite forwards Harry Kane, Erling Haaland and Vinícius Júnior.

    Yamal’s return to full fitness is not the only positive injury update De La Fuente shared on Wednesday. The coach confirmed that Yerémy Pino has made what he called a “miraculous” recovery from a left shoulder sprain sustained during Spain’s group stage win over Uruguay, and the Crystal Palace winger is available for selection against Austria. Another wide option, Victor Muñoz — a recent Liverpool signing who missed the entire group stage with an unspecified muscular injury — is also cleared to play, though De La Fuente noted the winger has not competed in match action for an extended period, meaning his inclusion will depend on the flow of Thursday’s game.

    The only projected absence for Spain is Athletic Bilbao winger Nico Williams, who is dealing with a groin injury. De La Fuente added that Williams’ condition has improved significantly, and he could be available for selection if Spain advances to the round of 16.

    Thursday’s match against Austria marks a chance for Spain to break a years-long World Cup knockout curse: La Roja have lost their first knockout match in each of the past two World Cups, and failed to advance out of group play entirely in 2014. The current Spanish side has strong foundations to end that drought under De La Fuente, who has led the program to major silverware including the 2023 UEFA Nations League and 2024 UEFA European Championship, dropping only two matches across his 45 games in charge. Entering the knockout round, Spain also holds an unblemished defensive record, having not conceded a single goal through three consecutive group stage clean sheets.

  • What you need to know about England’s last-16 opponents Mexico

    What you need to know about England’s last-16 opponents Mexico

    As the 2026 FIFA World Cup enters its knockout phase, co-host Mexico will lock horns with England in the round of 16, fresh off ending a 40-year dry spell of knockout stage victories and riding a wave of newfound momentum. For a nation with deep footballing roots at the world’s biggest sporting tournament, this clash carries far more than just progression stakes: it offers El Tri the chance to exorcise long-running generational curses and repeat the quarter-final runs they pulled off as hosts in 1970 and 1986.\n\nThis iteration of Mexico’s national side is far from considered a vintage generation by historical standards. Only a small handful of its players plied their trade in Europe’s top five domestic leagues this season, and the team’s most recognizable name, 35-year-old striker Raul Jimenez, is deep into the twilight of his professional career. In the lead-up to this World Cup, public opinion of the team’s tactical approach was muted at best; segments of fans even booed the side during pre-tournament goalless draws against Uruguay and Portugal. But the partisan home support across the tournament has shifted the mood entirely, with head coach Javier Aguirre describing the crowd backing as “a driving force” behind Mexico’s current four-match winning run that has also seen them keep every opponent off the scoresheet.\n\nAguirre, a 67-year-old veteran of Mexican football who represented his country as a player at the 1986 home World Cup, has built his current gameplan on defensive pragmatism. He typically lines up with a compact front three, relying on overlapping full-backs to provide attacking width out wide, and instructs his side to work relentlessly to win back possession immediately after losing it. As co-hosts, Mexico also hold key tangible advantages: they are playing at altitude in Mexico City, where thinner air gradually drains opposing teams of energy, and have benefitted from extra recovery time between matches. Their defensive solidity has already been on display in pre-tournament draws against elite sides Portugal and Belgium, and center-back pairing Johan Vasquez and Cesar Montes have formed an extremely effective complementary partnership that makes breaking Mexico down a major challenge for any attack. At 6ft 3in, Montes – who joined Lokomotiv Moscow in 2024 after an 18-month spell in La Liga – is a dominant physical presence in both penalty areas, and notched three goals during Mexico’s 2025 Gold Cup title run.\n\nWhere the side has struggled, however, is in finding consistent attacking fluency. Though they have notched eight goals through the tournament so far, most of those came against lower-ranked opposition. Tactical analysts note that if England can cut off Mexico’s central passing lanes and disrupt their structured attacking movements, El Tri could struggle to adapt with alternative gameplans.\n\nMexico’s lack of elite global star power has put early focus on 17-year-old creative midfielder Gilberto Mora, who many hope will emerge as the breakout talisman the side has been searching for. The Tijuana talent is the youngest player in Mexico’s World Cup history, and is also the youngest player from any nation to start a knockout stage match since Brazilian legend Pele lined up in 1958. Mora already has experience in high-stakes matches, too: he started Mexico’s 2025 Gold Cup final win over the United States at just 16 years old.\n\nVeteran Jimenez, who has agreed a summer transfer to return to Wolverhampton Wanderers from Fulham, remains the side’s clutch performer when it matters most. He delivered the match-tying goal in that same Gold Cup final against the US, helping Mexico secure a 2-1 comeback victory, and has already doubled his total World Cup goal tally in this tournament: he went scoreless across the previous three editions, but has two goals to his name already in 2026.\n\nThis current World Cup run marks Mexico’s ninth consecutive World Cup appearance, and a record third time hosting or co-hosting the tournament. Their path to the round of 16 was a smooth one: they won all three Group A matches against South Africa, South Korea and the Czech Republic, then secured a comfortable 2-0 win over Ecuador in the round of 32 to end that 40-year knockout win drought – a result that has lifted confidence ahead of facing England.\n\nFor generations, Mexican football has been haunted by the curse of the “quinto partido”, or fifth game: the side exited the round of 16 at seven consecutive World Cups between 1994 and 2018, then broke that sequence in the worst possible fashion by crashing out in the group stage at the 2022 Qatar World Cup. After that disappointment, the Mexican Football Federation hired and fired two head coaches before turning to Aguirre for his third spell in charge in 2024. The vastly experienced manager left no stone unturned in his preparations: El Tri played 22 warm-up matches in the 12 months leading up to the tournament, allowing Aguirre to experiment widely with tactics and personnel. He called up 54 different players across those matches, with fewer than half earning a spot in the final 26-man squad. The domestic-based players, who make up 12 of the final squad, were ordered to report for pre-tournament training as early as May 6, meaning some had been in camp for five full weeks by the time the World Cup kicked off. The hard work has paid off: Aguirre has restored both competitiveness and team harmony to the side, even if some fans still remain unimpressed with his pragmatic, defense-first approach. After this tournament, assistant coach Rafa Marquez – the only player in history to captain a nation at five separate World Cups – will take over as the full-time head coach.\n\nThe match between Mexico and England will kick off at 01:00 BST on Monday 6 July, with full coverage available across BBC platforms, including live television on BBC One and iPlayer, radio on 5 Live and BBC Sounds, and live text coverage via the BBC Sport website and app.\n\nAs a footballing nation, Mexico holds a unique place in World Cup history: it is a near-ever-present at the tournament, but holds the unwanted record of having played more World Cup matches (64 total) than any other side that has never lifted the trophy. Supporters have historically been demanding, but expectations heading into this tournament were fairly modest – a far cry from the confidence now coursing through the camp after ending that four-decade knockout drought. If they can beat England, they will not only secure a long-awaited quarter-final spot, they will match the historic achievements of the 1970 and 1986 host sides.

  • One Extraordinary Photo: France’s Kylian Mbappe stands alone

    One Extraordinary Photo: France’s Kylian Mbappe stands alone

    For award-winning Associated Press photojournalist Petr Josek, based in Prague, Czech Republic, major international sporting events have been a core part of his beat for nearly two decades. Since 2006, he has covered back-to-back FIFA World Cup tournaments and Olympic Games, honing a keen eye for dramatic, storytelling moments that cut through the chaos of elite competition. One of his standout World Cup shots of French superstar Kylian Mbappe has drawn widespread acclaim, and Josek recently pulled back the curtain on how he captured the iconic frame.\n\nUnlike traditional sideline or press box positions, Josek chose to set up his gear on a stadium catwalk — the highest accessible vantage point in the venue, located in East Rutherford, New Jersey. The unorthodox spot offered a one-of-a-kind perspective that no lower position could match. To coordinate with the AP’s photography team, Josek positioned himself on the side of the pitch opposite the team benches, while a second shooter covered the action from a slightly lower elevation nearby.\n\nThis high catwalk position came with unexpected creative benefits: it allowed Josek to shoot against the directional stadium lighting, turning long, stretching shadows across the pitch into a intentional compositional element as the match unfolded. But the unique spot also came with significant technical challenges. Shooting with a heavy 400mm telephoto lens — a go-to for capturing distant action on the pitch — meant Josek could not use a stabilizing monopod to steady his camera on the narrow catwalk. He had to carefully navigate between large overhead stadium light fixtures to find a stable spot to frame his shots, turning a tricky setup into a winning opportunity.\n\nJosek explained why the resulting shot of Mbappe resonates so strongly with viewers. Throughout the tournament, star goal scorers dominated headlines and fan attention, and Kylian Mbappe emerged as one of the biggest storylines, turning in a string of standout performances that kept him at the center of global attention. Rather than capturing the forward celebrating a game-winning goal, the frame freezes a far more human moment: Mbappe reacting immediately after missing a critical scoring chance. Even in this moment of frustration, Josek notes, Mbappe holds his own spotlight on the pitch.\n\nThe composition elevates the moment even further: the player’s spontaneous pose is perfectly framed, his body motion reads clearly across the empty pitch, and the high vantage point captures his full, elongated shadow stretching across the grass. The choice to isolate Mbappe alone in the frame draws all focus to his unguarded reaction, turning a split second of match action into a timeless portrait of elite sports pressure and emotion. Fans can explore more of AP’s full award-winning World Cup photography coverage online.

  • State-backed UAE and Bahrain teams under scrutiny ahead of Tour de France

    State-backed UAE and Bahrain teams under scrutiny ahead of Tour de France

    As cycling’s most prestigious annual event, the Tour de France, prepares to kick off this weekend, two of its competing squads — both with deep state ties to Gulf nations the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain — are facing growing scrutiny over human rights concerns that have reignited debates over sportswashing in global cycling. Leading the odds to claim overall victory at this year’s race is Tadej Pogacar, a Slovenian cyclist widely regarded as the most dominant male road rider in the modern sport. Pogacar has already secured four Tour de France titles across the last six editions, all claimed while riding under the banner of UAE Team Emirates XRG, formerly known as simply UAE Team Emirates. The squad has held the top spot in the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) global team rankings since 2023, cementing its status as the most formidable outfit in professional road cycling. Beyond Tour de France success, Pogacar has notched up an extraordinary array of wins for the team, including the Giro d’Italia crown, two UCI Road World Championship titles, and a long list of victories in prestigious one-day classic races. This year, however, a coalition of leading international human rights organizations has broken its silence ahead of the race, penning an open letter to the UCI calling for the immediate suspension of both UAE Team Emirates XRG and a second Gulf-backed outfit, Team Bahrain Victorious. The letter, co-signed by Fair Square, Sudan Unlimited, the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (Bird), and Christian Solidarity Worldwide, was reviewed exclusively by Middle East Eye ahead of the Tour’s opening stage. Middle East Eye has reached out to the UCI, UAE Team Emirates XRG, and Team Bahrain Victorious for official comment on the allegations, but had not received responses as of publication. Rights groups argue that UAE Team Emirates XRG operates under the direct financial and political control of the Emirati state, a claim backed by the team’s own public messaging. On the squad’s official LinkedIn page, leaders state that the team’s core mission is to “represent an entire nation, the UAE.” The team’s branding mission was on full public display after Pogacar’s 2024 Tour de France victory, when the entire squad chanted “U-A-E! U-A-E!” in unison from the podium in Paris. The team’s two primary sponsors are both state-controlled entities: Emirates airline is owned directly by the government of Dubai, while XRG, the investment arm of the UAE’s national oil company, falls under the control of the Abu Dhabi government. The letter also draws attention to the team’s founding: when it was first launched in 2017, one of its founding sponsors was the International Golden Group, a United Arab Emirates-based military contracting firm. A United Nations expert panel identified the company back in 2013 as a violator of the UN arms embargo on Libya, after it was found to have supplied weapons to unauthorized armed groups in the country. While International Golden Group is no longer listed as an active sponsor, its logo appeared on the team’s racing jerseys as recently as 2021, years after the UN report documenting its embargo violations was released. At the core of the demand to suspend the UAE squad is the human rights coalition’s claim that there is “irrefutable evidence” linking the UAE, which owns and controls the team, to the ongoing atrocities in Sudan. The letter identifies the UAE as the primary financial and military backer of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), the paramilitary group that has been fighting the Sudanese Armed Forces in a brutal civil war since April 2023. Middle East Eye has previously reported on the UAE’s extensive supply network, which funnels weapons to the RSF through a web of intermediaries across Libya, Chad, Uganda, and Somalia. Since the conflict began, RSF fighters have been accused of perpetrating widespread massacres, systematic sexual violence, and ethnic cleansing that multiple international bodies have designated as genocide in Sudan’s Darfur region. “We know that the UAE uses sports teams to project a positive, sanitised image of itself while at the same time offering material and political support to the RSF in Sudan, who stand accused of genocide, and who may commit further atrocities in El-Obeid,” Alex Carlen, policy director at Fair Square, told Middle East Eye. The groups argue that allowing the state-owned team to compete in top-tier UCI events gives the UAE a valuable public platform to whitewash its human rights record. “Cycling’s most prominent and celebrated races have become a very public platform that the UAE state is using to project a positive image of the UAE, which stands in marked contrast to the violence and repression that underpins its power,” the letter reads. The coalition is also calling for the suspension of Team Bahrain Victorious, the second Gulf-backed squad set to compete in this year’s Tour de France. The team was founded by Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa, a senior member of Bahrain’s ruling royal family who serves as commander of the kingdom’s royal guard and head of Bahrain’s national youth and sports council. On the team’s official website, leaders acknowledge that the squad “represents a powerful platform for showcasing the ambition, optimism and global outlook of the Kingdom of Bahrain.” Rights groups charge that the team serves to distract from longstanding systemic human rights abuses in Bahrain, where authorities have cracked down on political dissent, arbitrarily arrested opposition figures, and effectively eliminated freedom of expression since widespread pro-democracy protests in 2011. This is not the first time that human rights groups have raised alarms about Team Bahrain Victorious: Bird sent a formal letter to the UCI back in 2019 calling on the governing body to publish the results of an ethical review into the team and to take human rights concerns into account when considering future license renewals. At the time, the UCI dismissed the request, saying that “the question of whether the government of Bahrain mistreats its citizens and its athletes in particular, is clearly beyond the jurisdiction of our Commission.” Carlen says that response is no longer acceptable, and that the UCI has a responsibility to act ahead of this year’s Tour. “The UCI cannot continue to allow state-backed teams to use its highly popular and historic competition to advance their own political interests,” he said. “Cycling as a sport has an opportunity here to set a precedent and put the focus back on the competition rather than an association with human rights violations.”

  • Why are World Cup refs giving red cards to players covering their mouths when confronting opponents?

    Why are World Cup refs giving red cards to players covering their mouths when confronting opponents?

    As the World Cup knockout stage unfolds, a landmark new FIFA rule designed to curb hidden on-pitch abuse has already claimed two high-profile victims, just weeks after it was formally implemented for the global tournament. All participating players received clear advance notice of the regulation before kickoff: any athlete who covers their mouth during a verbal confrontation with an opponent will face an immediate red card and ejection from the match, and match officials have been instructed to enforce the change rigorously.

    The most recent violation was recorded on Tuesday night, during Ecuador’s round of 32 clash with Mexico. With the match deep into second-half stoppage time and Mexico already holding a 2-0 lead that would ultimately seal its progression to the next round, Ecuadorian center-back Piero Hincapié was shown a straight red after a verbal altercation with Mexican forward Santi Giménez. The dismissal came too late in the game to alter the final outcome, with the full-time whistle blowing mere moments after Hincapié left the pitch.

    The new rule, widely nicknamed the “Prestianni Law” after the incident that sparked its creation, was created to eliminate the longstanding loophole that allowed players to hurl abusive, discriminatory or offensive language at opponents without being caught on camera or identified by match officials. The push for reform gained momentum after a high-profile controversial incident in a 2024 Champions League fixture, when Benfica winger Gianluca Prestianni was accused of directing a racially charged slur at Real Madrid star Vinícius Júnior while pulling up his jersey to cover his mouth during the confrontation. The accusation was backed by Prestianni’s then-Real Madrid opponent Kylian Mbappé, prompting FIFA president Gianni Infantino to prioritize a rule change to address the issue.

    The International Football Association Board (IFAB), soccer’s global governing body for the Laws of the Game, approved the new regulation during a special emergency meeting held ahead of this year’s FIFA Congress. The change passed with unanimous support from IFAB members, which include senior FIFA officials and representatives from soccer’s four founding British federations. Unlike core mandatory rules of the sport, this new provision grants tournament organizers the autonomy to adopt it at their own discretion, a flexibility that allowed FIFA to roll it out specifically for this World Cup.

    Hincapié is not the first player to fall foul of the new regulation during the tournament. The first red card under the rule was issued to Paraguay midfielder Miguel Almirón during a group stage fixture against Turkey. Almirón was ejected after covering his mouth during a heated confrontation with Turkish defender Mert Mulder. Despite Paraguay securing a 1-0 victory in the match, Almirón was forced to serve a mandatory one-game suspension that ruled him out of the nation’s final group stage match against Australia, and FIFA confirmed the original decision was not eligible for appeal.

    Under standard World Cup regulations, any player who receives a red card is immediately removed from the ongoing match, requires their team to play the remainder of the fixture with 10 players, and must serve a one-match suspension for their team’s next competitive game in the tournament. While the reduced player number puts the affected team at a significant tactical disadvantage for the rest of the current match, the squad can return to a full 11-player starting lineup for the following fixture, barring the suspended athlete.

  • IOC says it will not give Olympic team status to Greenland and Faroe Islands

    IOC says it will not give Olympic team status to Greenland and Faroe Islands

    LAUSANNE, Switzerland — The International Olympic Committee announced Wednesday that it will deny a push from Denmark’s national parliament to grant separate, independent Olympic team status to two semi-autonomous Danish territories, Greenland and the Faroe Islands.

    For three decades, the Olympic Charter has held a clear, unchanging requirement for entities seeking official national team recognition: a prospective member must be an independent sovereign state that has received formal recognition from the broader international community. Greenland and the Faroe Islands, which hold broad self-governance powers but remain part of the Kingdom of Denmark, fail to meet this core eligibility threshold, the IOC confirmed in an official statement.

    The IOC noted that this long-standing stance has already been communicated repeatedly and explicitly to all relevant parties over the course of many years. The formal request from Denmark’s parliament was submitted just two weeks ago, and was made public this Tuesday.

    The bid comes on the heels of a recent shift in Danish politics, coming weeks after Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen established a new coalition government following national elections. During her election campaign, Frederiksen made a high-profile pledge to stand with Greenland against a controversial proposal from former U.S. President Donald Trump, who publicly expressed interest in purchasing the Arctic island from Denmark.

    For the upcoming 2028 Summer Olympic Games in Los Angeles, where Trump is set to deliver the official opening declaration, athletes from both Greenland and the Faroe Islands will remain eligible to compete as part of the Danish national Olympic team. Denmark is currently one of the 206 national Olympic committees officially recognized by the IOC.

  • First T20 between England and India abandoned because of rain after Sooryavanshi left out again

    First T20 between England and India abandoned because of rain after Sooryavanshi left out again

    The opening match of a five-match men’s T20 international series between England and India in Chester-le-Street, England, was called off due to persistent rain on Wednesday, robbing spectators of a full contest before the host side could even begin its run chase.

    After winning the pre-match toss and electing to take the batting crease first, India recovered from an early top-order collapse to post a competitive total of 189 runs for seven wickets. Captain Shreyas Iyer led the charge with a 68-run knock, while opening batter Abhishek Sharma contributed a steady half-century of 59 runs. All-rounder Shivam Dube delivered a late, explosive hitting spree, scoring 42 runs off just 21 deliveries including three sixes and two fours to push India close to the 200-run mark. For England, pace bowler Saqib Mahmood turned in the strongest bowling performance, claiming three wickets for 33 runs, including the early dismissal of Indian opener Sanju Samson for just 1 run. India’s innings got off to a rocky start, with Ishan Kishan run out for a duck to leave the side reeling at 6 runs for the loss of two wickets before the middle order rallied to build a commanding total.

    By the time India’s 20 overs concluded, heavy rain had moved into the Durham venue, and the downpour never let up enough to allow England to start its innings. Match officials formally abandoned play at approximately 8:15 p.m. local time. The second fixture of the five-match series is scheduled to kick off in Manchester this Saturday.

    The match carried extra off-field attention surrounding 15-year-old Indian batting prodigy Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, who was left out of the playing XI for a second consecutive tour stop, extending his wait for a senior international debut. Fresh off a dominant 2026 Indian Premier League campaign that saw him score 776 runs across 16 innings and earn the league’s Most Valuable Player award, Sooryavanshi earned a call-up to India’s touring squad for Ireland and England. However, he has not yet been able to unseat established openers Samson and Sharma in the starting lineup.

    India’s decision to hold the teenager out comes on the heels of an unexpected 2-0 series defeat to Ireland, a result that left many fans calling for the dynamic young prospect to get an early opportunity at the senior level. If Sooryavanshi does make his debut later in the England series at his current age of 15 years and 96 days, he will break the record for the youngest player to feature in a top-tier men’s T20 international. The existing mark is held by Ireland’s Joshua Little, who was 16 years and 309 days old when he made his T20 debut. He would also become the youngest player to ever represent India’s senior men’s international team, surpassing the legendary Sachin Tendulkar, who was 16 years and 205 days old when he made his Test debut in 1989. The record for the youngest player in the history of men’s international cricket across all formats still belongs to Pakistan’s Hasan Raza, who was 14 years and 227 days old when he made his Test debut in 1996.