#world-cup-2026

#world-cup-2026

The Football Interview is a new series in which the biggest names in sport and entertainment join host Kelly Somers for bold and in-depth conversations about the nation's favourite sport. We'll explore mindset and motivation, and talk about defining moments, career highs and personal reflections. The Football Interview brings you the person behind the player. Interviews will drop on Saturdays across BBC iPlayer, BBC Sounds and the BBC Sport website.

England will begin their World Cup 2026 campaign against Croatia, while Scotland have been drawn alongside Brazil at next summer's tournament. Thomas Tuchel's England will open their tournament in Dallas or Toronto on 17 June, before also facing Ghana and Panama in Group L. Scotland's first match at the men's World Cup for 28 years will be against Haiti on 13 June, in Boston or New York, followed by matches against Morocco and Brazil in Group C.

Wales are two wins away from qualifying for their second successive World Cup and only a third in their history. Craig Bellamy's side host Bosnia-Herzegovina in their play-off semi-final on 26 March and, if victorious, will face Italy or Northern Ireland in Cardiff five days later for a place in the 2026 World Cup. The draw for the World Cup takes place in Washington DC on Friday.

Ralf Rangnick's side qualified for their eighth finals by finishing top of Group H in UEFA's World Cup 2026 qualifying campaign. The headlines were stolen by a 10-0 win over San Marino in October 2025 but it was four points from matches against second-placed Bosnia and Herzegovina that really made the difference. Austria have become regulars at the European Championship and have progressed beyond the group stage in the last two tournaments,

The Qatar World Cup 2026 squad is the first to have ever qualified for the World Cup, following their hosting of the 2022 tournament. Qatar will hoping for a much better showing at World Cup 2026, however: they crashed out in the group stage on home soil last time around, after scoring just once in three games. It leaves them as statistically the worst-ever hosts of the competition but with an expanded tournament this time around, it may be a leveller playing field this time.

Jordan managed to qualify for World Cup 2026 by a point ahead of Iran, and have subsequently risen to their highest FIFA ranking (70th) since 2014. They will play in the Arab Cup in December, and while it won't feature a full complement of players, it will give them a good indication of where they are ahead of the showpiece event next summer.

The visualised podcast, which is hosted by Lineker, Alan Shearer and Micah Richards, currently releases three episodes a week but will run daily on Netflix throughout the World Cup. The deal marks the streamer's first significant foray into football coverage and an expansion of its podcast portfolio, which is seen as an effort to rival YouTube. Lineker said the deal was a "fantastic opportunity for the three of us to do what we love - talk football every day - but on a truly global stage".

Their 'golden generation' may have been and gone, but an exciting crop of young talent are bursting through, raising hopes across the country ahead of next summer's competition. You may like Kevin De Bruyne, who is ranked at No.1 in FourFourTwo's list of the best Premier League midfielders of all time, was not in the last squad after suffering a high-grade hamstring injury when taking a penalty for Napoli in October. There are reports he could miss the World Cup with his recovery set at at least four months.

The current Nations League champions had to wait until the final matchday of the World Cup 2026 qualifiers, but they hammered Luxembourg 9-1, easing any concerns they might have to rely on the play-offs. A loss against Ireland in Dublin, which also saw superstar Cristiano Ronaldo receive his first-ever red card for the national team, was the only major blemish on what was otherwise a successful qualifying campaign.

The Ghana World Cup 2026 squad is starting to become a little clearer though we won't get to watch them this winter. Ghana lost just once through the qualification process for World Cup 2026, and qualified for a second successive tournament, meaning they have qualified for all but two tournaments this century. The Black Stars squad has heaps of talent throughout it, with regular Premier League starters ready to show up for their nation.

The Egypt World Cup 2026 squad is shaping up. Led by Mohamed Salah and Omar Marmoush, two of the Premier League's brightest stars, they may spring a surprise or two in Canada, Mexico and the United States next summer. November saw them take on two fellow sides who qualified for the tournament next summer but now they have a break, with two more competitions available to win before heading off to North America.

I expect him to be able to transfer the style of play he's showing at Bayern to our team. He's very versatile. He should play without any inhibitions. He should now seize the opportunity to establish himself with the U-21 national team as well. He's making the most of his chances at Bayern, playing with freedom, and has scored in both the Bundesliga and the Champions League,

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) - Iran has decided to boycott the 2026 World Cup draw in Washington next week because the U.S. denied visas to members of its delegation, the state-run IRNA news agency reported on Friday. The agency quoted Iranian soccer federation spokesman Amir-Mahdi Alavi as saying that officials faced visa obstacles that go beyond sports considerations. There was no immediate comment from the White House. Alavi said the federation had reached out to FIFA and hoped it could help resolve the issue. Soccer's ruling body didn't immediately reply to a request for comment.

'Fútbol y Arte. Esa misma emoción'(Football & Art. A Shared Emotion) will open at the museum's David Chipperfield-designed building in the city's Polanco neighborhood on March 28 and run through July 26, the week after the World Cup Final in New York. Mexico City's Estadio Azteca will host five matches, including the opening one on June 11. Organized by Mexican art critic and independent curator Guillermo Santamarina, 'Fútbol y Arte' will bring together some 100 works by 60 artists from around the world.

The 2025/26 Bundesliga season isn't even halfway over yet, but Bayern Munich fans in China will be pleased to hear that the club is actively planning to play preseason friendlies there in the summer of 2026. According to information from Sport Bild's Christian Falk and Tobi Altschäffl (via @iMiaSanMia), Bayern's plan is to schedule two friendlies, one of which would take place in Hong Kong, provided the Chinese government grants approval.

La Roja secured their place in the finals on Tuesday night against Turkey and will likely have a squad packed full of Barca players jetting across the Atlantic for the tournament. Lamine Yamal missed the latest call-up but will be expected to play a key role,

As I wrote in October, we're using two different inputs: "As a proxy for talent, this ranking uses the average, estimated transfer value of each player on each team's most recent roster from the site Transfermarkt. And for results, we'll use the World Football Elo Ratings -- a system that awards or subtracts points every time a team plays a game, based on the final scoreline, the location of the match, the quality of the opponent, and the competitiveness of the match."

"In my day, the best [group] runners-up went straight to the World Cup, now the rules have changed," Gattuso said. "Italy's record of six wins? You'd have to ask the people who make the groups and the rules. "In 1990 and 1994, there were two African teams, now there are nine. It's not a controversy, but there are difficulties, and we know it well."