The Guardian

White House confirms Trump will attend World Cup final Shakira, Madonna and BTS headline first half-time show World Cup final liveblog: all the football | Mail Tom Post Malone has rocked up to perform at the closing ceremony, which is now taking place. Swae Lee joins him for toe tapper Sunflower. Just a reminder that the halftime show will last 25 to 30 minutes. Around 11 minutes for the actual s…

⚽ World Cup final kick-off: 3pm EST/8pm BST/5am AEST ⚽ Trump, half-time show and everything but football – live ⚽ Player guide | Golden Boot | Follow on TikTok | Mail us You can also follow the build up on our news blog, which contains photographtic proof that things are livening up in NYC “One of the big questions for those of us in the UK is how to watch the final,” writes David Wall. “For all …

Returning world-beater has made real difference but Fin Smith laments continuing ill discipline after Argentina win The most impressive analysis of England’s fluctuating July fortunes, as is so often the case nowadays, came from their fly-half Fin Smith. Where others choose to obfuscate, deflect or shoot the messenger, the admirably clear-eyed Smith prefers to tell it as it is. And at the end of …

Dane was woken by doping control at 2am on day of stage Remco Evenepoel outsprints Pogacar to claim victory Jonas Vingegaard crashed out of the Tour de France on the approach to the Alpine climb of Plateau de Solaison, just hours after being woken up in the early hours of Sunday morning to undergo doping controls. The double Tour champion, who also won this year’s Giro d’Italia, climbed gingerly …

Russell out on opening lap after clash with Hamilton Antonelli has 50-point lead on Mercedes teammate Kimi Antonelli won the Belgian Grand Prix for Mercedes with a cool, assured drive but his title rival and teammate George Russell was left distraught after his championship challenge suffered another serious blow when he was knocked out on the opening lap after a clash with Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilt…

Sign up now! Sign up now! Sign up now? Sign up now! Every World Cup produces cult heroes, icons who make it possible for us to sit back and start misty-eyed recollections by saying: “Do you remember Roger Milla/Saeed Al-Owairan/Keisuke Honda/Paul the Octopus?” Well, the Geopolitics World Cup has not let us down! Here are 10 cult heroes who’ve emerged from this tournament. Continue reading...

Investigators arrest 31-year-old man identified as Charles Medina in connection with death of Rapp who was 26 US boxer Hannah Rapp, who in June fought for the World Boxing Council women’s featherweight championship, was killed on Saturday while she bicycled in Texas after a motorist struck her with his car, according to authorities. Rapp was 26, and investigators arrested a 31-year-old man identi…

️Updates from the final day’s play at Royal Birkdale ️ Official leaderboard | Mail Scott with your thoughts Sam Burns is playing with house money today. Sort of. The 29-year-old from Louisiana was planning to sit this one out, with his wife Caroline slated to give birth earlier this week. But Caroline delivered earlier than expected, then encouraged her husband to give the Open a whirl. And now l…

Fifa’s orchestration of incompatible or frankly absurd corporate sponsorship suggests the balance may have tipped too far It’s almost all over. No more hydration breaks, no more obligatory pans of the TV cameras to Hollywood A-listers, or dread of the crushing inevitability of English disappointment. The Fifa World Cup 2026 is at an end, after another month of planet-straddling drama laced with s…

After the team’s third-placed finish, we rate the 24 squad members who made an appearance at the tournament Jordan Pickford Could he have done better with Enzo Fernández’s equaliser for Argentina? Jude Bellingham certainly thought so. But the man who has made more World Cup finals appearances than any other Englishman made some crucial saves, including a brilliant stop from Nicolas González in th…

Great brought an ideology to Barcelona that Guardiola and Emery refined, defining the playing style of the national team Two countries are generating powerful, cross-border momentum in football. Spain represent the leading footballing culture, radiating their influence across the globe. Argentina possess a distinct identity that shapes the South American continent. Consequently, the World Cup is …

Lionel Scaloni says he has a squad full of fighters – wild and unruly – but on the pitch they play with a freedom reminiscent of eight- or nine-year olds After scoring the goal that secured Argentina’s place in the World Cup final , Lautaro Martínez burst into convulsive sobs during the touchline interview. He spoke of the first pair of trainers his father bought him and of how his mother kept ma…

Updates from Lord’s, play starting at 11am BST You can email James | And sign up for The Spin We’ve got ten minutes before play begins here at Lord’s. Enough time to have a read of these lovely tributes to the great Sir Garfield Sobers who passed away this week. He was a cavalier in an era when there were so many roundheads on the international circuit. The great West Indies’ sides of his time no…

Fifa deal with prediction market company under fire Balogun reprieve showed ‘rules bend under pressure’ Fifa has been accused of providing an “open door to fraud” and allowing political influence to cast doubt on the integrity of the World Cup in a stinging rebuke by the Council of Europe’s secretary general. In an open letter published to coincide with Sunday’s final, Alain Berset also called fo…

Spain’s brilliance isn’t just about Rodri or Lamine Yamal – it’s all about the collective culture developed over many years We talk about individuals too much in English football. Football is about the collective. Spain’s semi-final dominance over France was not built on individual brilliance but on a shared understanding of space, timing and their core principles. That is why they are the most e…