Egypt

The World Cup group stage continues on Monday, with four more matches taking place across the United States.

Spain begin their campaign against World Cup newcomers Cape Verde, Belgium face Egypt in what could be one of the day’s closest games, Saudi Arabia take on Uruguay in Miami, and Iran meet New Zealand in Los Angeles.

Away from the football, Uruguay’s disrupted travel plans, divisions within Los Angeles’s Iranian American community before Iran’s opener, and Haiti’s inspiring return to the World Cup are all drawing attention beyond the pitch.

Here is what to know:

What’s the World Cup schedule on June 15?

Spain take on Cape Verde at Atlanta Stadium in Atlanta, with kickoff scheduled for 12pm local time (16:00 GMT).

Belgium face Egypt at Seattle Stadium in Seattle at the same time, with the Group G rivals also getting under way at 12pm local time (19:00 GMT).

Later, Saudi Arabia meet Uruguay at Miami Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida. That match starts at 6pm local time (22:00 GMT).

The day’s final fixture sees Iran face New Zealand at Los Angeles Stadium in Inglewood, California. Kickoff is at 6pm local time (01:00 GMT on June 16).

What do the predictions say for  Spain vs Cape Verde?

Spain are the clear favourites to win, but Cape Verde have already made history by reaching the World Cup for the first time.

The teams have never played each other. Spain’s last two World Cup matches against African opponents came against Morocco, drawing 2-2 in 2018 before losing on penalties after a 0-0 draw in the 2022 quarterfinals.

Opta’s predictions strongly favour Spain. After running 25,000 simulations, the statistics company gave Spain an 87.2 percent chance of winning the Group H opener. A draw was predicted in 8.1 percent of the outcomes, while Cape Verde were given a 4.8 percent chance of causing an upset.

Only one African team has ever beaten Spain at a World Cup: Nigeria, who won 3-2 in the group stage in 1998.

What do the predictions say for Belgium vs Egypt?

This one could be much closer than many people expect.

Opta’s predictions suggest there is very little separating the sides. In 25,000 match simulations, Belgium won 37.2 percent of the time, while Egypt came out on top in 35.5 percent. A draw happened in 27.3 percent of the simulations.

Belgium are slight favourites. It could end up being one of the closest games of the day, with a single goal potentially making the difference.

Belgium face pressure to avoid repeating their performance in 2022 in Qatar, when they did not advance beyond the group stage. The Belgians finished third in 2018 in Russia.

What do the predictions say for Saudi Arabia vs Uruguay?

Saudi Arabia and Uruguay have met only once before at a World Cup. Uruguay won that match 1-0 in 2018.

The teams have also faced each other in a friendly match. That game, played in Saudi Arabia in 2014, ended in a 1-1 draw.

The predictions favour Uruguay. In 25,000 simulations run by Opta, Uruguay won 64.7 percent of the time. Saudi Arabia won 13.9 percent of the simulations, while 21.4 percent ended in a draw.

What do the predictions say for Iran vs New Zealand?

Iran and New Zealand have only played each other twice before, and this will be their first meeting in a competitive match.

Their first game ended in a 0-0 draw in New Zealand in 1973. Thirty years later, Iran won 3-0 in Tehran, with Ali Karimi scoring twice before Hossein Kaebi added a third goal.

The predictions give Iran the edge. In 25,000 simulations run by Opta, Iran won 53.8 percent of the time. New Zealand won 20.4 percent of the simulations, while 25.8 percent ended in a draw.

What else is shaping the World Cup?

Uruguay’s travel plans hit by delays before World Cup opener

Uruguay’s preparations for their World Cup opener have been disrupted after travel problems delayed the team’s arrival in the US.

The squad had been due to fly from Cancun, Mexico, before Monday’s Group D match against Saudi Arabia in Miami. However, reports in Uruguay said the charter flight was not cleared to enter the US, forcing the team to make alternative arrangements.

The Uruguayan Football Association (AUF) said the delay was outside its control. A replacement plane was eventually organised, with the team expected to reach South Florida only about a day before kickoff.

“Due to problems beyond the control of the AUF, the departure from Mexico has been delayed,” the association said in a statement. “The squad is resting at the hotel. The new departure time set by FIFA is 4:15pm [21:15 GMT].”

Japan fans continue World Cup cleanup tradition after Netherlands draw

The blue bags Japanese fans waved while celebrating their team’s goals, and then stayed behind for something else after the match ended.

Following Japan’s 2-2 draw with the Netherlands, supporters stayed behind to collect rubbish from the stands before leaving the stadium, continuing a tradition that has become a familiar part of the World Cup.

The cleanup effort first caught global attention at the 1998 tournament in France, and Japanese fans have kept it going at every World Cup since.

Iranian Americans divided over Team Melli

As Iran prepare to begin their World Cup campaign in Los Angeles, members of the Iranian American community in Westwood, or “Tehrangeles”, remain split over how to respond.

While some opposition activists plan protests against the team, others are setting politics aside to support the football. Business owner Roozbeh Farahanipour told Al Jazeera’s reporter Ali Harb that “the community is divided” and there is no consensus on whether to boo the national team or back the US-Israel war against Iran.

Trudeau defends attending US match instead of Canada’s opener

Former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau attended the US World Cup opener against Paraguay in California instead of Canada’s game against Bosnia and Herzegovina in Toronto.

Trudeau said he chose to be at the game in Inglewood because his girlfriend, singer Katy Perry, was performing in the pre-match show at SoFi Stadium.

“Sometimes supportive boyfriend duties call. But you know who I’m rooting for to take the Cup,” he wrote on X.

Canada’s opener in Toronto and the US match in Los Angeles were played just hours apart, prompting some fans to question why the former prime minister was not supporting the home team.

Trudeau served as Canada’s prime minister from 2015 to 2025.

After returning to the World Cup for the first time since 1974, Haiti’s campaign has given people a rare reason to celebrate.

For Olivier Woodensky Pierre, the World Cup is a dream come true. He is the only player in Haiti’s squad who still lives in the country. Born in Cite Soleil, one of the poorest areas in the capital, Port-au-Prince, Pierre hopes the team’s achievement will inspire young people back home.

“Every player always wishes to play in the World Cup. That was my dream. That’s why I’m fighting to be here. I got the chance to be selected to play in the World Cup. I am advising the youth not to be discouraged. Keep fighting, work, and be disciplined,” Pierre told Al Jazeera’s Teresa Bo.

Haiti’s qualification has brought a sense of hope to a country going through one of the most difficult periods in its recent history. Gangs control large parts of the capital, violence has displaced hundreds of thousands of people, and many Haitians have taken to the streets to demand peace while also celebrating the team’s return to football’s biggest stage.

The journey to the World Cup was far from straightforward. Because of the ongoing political crisis, Haiti had to play its home qualifiers abroad. There was also a lack of funding.

“It was really difficult before because there were no sponsors to finance the team. You know, since we qualified for the World Cup, FIFA provided money for preparation, and the government provided $4m that were crucial to help us prepare,” Thecieux Jeanty of the Haitian Football Federation told Al Jazeera.

Pastor Winston Noel also voiced disappointment over US visa restrictions affecting Haitians.

“FIFA must talk to the Trump administration to tell them that this cannot be the case because it is the World Cup. All countries that qualify must have their fans to come and support their teams,” he said.

“The World Cup is something special for us Haitians. Many children here in Haiti will participate in the World Cup, even though this generation doesn’t know the names of all the players. But we are very happy because it’s a great achievement for us,” Noel said.

Haiti eventually opened their World Cup campaign with a 2-0 defeat to Scotland, but for many supporters the tournament is about more than results. It remains a rare moment of pride, unity and hope for a country that has endured years of hardship.

Hamas says it will not hand over its weapons right now, resisting ongoing disarmament demands and stating that the ultimate fate of its military arsenal will be decided following comprehensive discussions with other Palestinian factions.

In an exclusive interview with Al Jazeera, Husam Badran, a member of the Hamas political bureau, offered an inside look into the group’s proposed solutions to the stalled negotiations, introducing the concept of a long-term hudna (truce).

“When this Palestinian committee [the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG)] comes to take over the Gaza Strip, there will be no visible weapons in the streets and alleys of Gaza except the official weapons belonging to this committee, which is the official Palestinian police, ” Badran told Al Jazeera. “There will be no armed manifestations like the ones we were accustomed to in the Gaza Strip.”

But he clarified that this did not mean a formal surrender of arms.

“We are not talking about handing them over; we are talking about, at least, weapons not being visible except for the official weapons of the Palestinian police,” he said. “The details of this matter will be discussed within a national framework.”

The Hamas stance comes as an informed source told Al Jazeera that the group is preparing to send its delegation to Cairo for renewed talks, which are set to begin this weekend. Hamas had briefly delayed its participation to demand a halt to ongoing Israeli assassinations—such as the recent killings of military commanders Izz al-Din al-Haddad and Mohammed Odeh—to ensure a more favourable negotiating environment.

The disarmament of Hamas and the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza remain the biggest sticking points in the United States-brokered October 2025 ceasefire plan.

Factional consensus in Cairo

The upcoming Cairo meetings will gather eight key Palestinian factions to form a unified national stance. Badran confirmed the attendance of representatives from Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP), the PFLP-GC, the National Initiative, the Popular Resistance Committees (PRC), and the Democratic Reform Current affiliated with the Fatah movement.

These talks aim to salvage the ceasefire originally proposed by United States President Donald Trump. However, Badran noted that Israel has failed to implement even 30 percent of its phase one obligations, making any transition to subsequent phases impossible.

“We are talking about humanitarian aid … the Rafah crossing mechanism, the infrastructure, and the assassinations,” Badran explained. “The idea was a comprehensive ceasefire, but around 1,000 people have been killed. Saying Israel implemented even 30 percent is an overstatement.”

Only 150 to 250 aid trucks are entering the Gaza Strip daily instead of the agreed-upon 600, while the critical infrastructure for electricity, hospitals and fuel remains completely decimated.

The ‘disarmament’ deadlock

While Palestinian factions demand the fulfilment of these phase one survival metrics, Israeli officials and Nickolay Mladenov, the high representative for Gaza on Trump’s “Board of Peace”, are conditioning the transition to phase two on the disarmament of armed groups.

To break the deadlock, Mladenov recently presented a 15-point “roadmap” built by the ceasefire guarantors. In a May 2026 briefing to the United Nations Security Council, Mladenov defended the plan, emphasising that its architecture rests on a strict principle of reciprocity and verification. Addressing Palestinian concerns, Mladenov clarified that the roadmap explicitly dictates that “no Palestinian armed group will be required to transfer its weapons to Israel”. Instead, the decommissioning of weapons would be gradual, sequenced, and Palestinian-led, with all arms transferred to the NCAG.

Mladenov outlined that this disarmament process is tied directly to an Israeli military pullback. The plan commits Israel to a phased withdrawal of its forces to Gaza’s perimeter on an agreed timetable, conditional upon verified progress on decommissioning and the deployment of an International Stabilization Force (ISF) to act as a buffer.

Mladenov warned the UNSC of the severe consequences of rejecting the roadmap. With 85 percent of Gaza’s buildings damaged or destroyed, he stressed that “reconstruction financing will not follow where weapons have not been laid down”. Without an agreement, he cautioned, Gaza will remain divided, with Hamas holding administrative control over less than half the territory.

‘Negotiation time’ and Israeli expansion

However, Palestinians view this 15-point framework as a stalling tactic designed to extract concessions while Israel deepens its occupation. Palestinian political analyst Wissam Afifa told Al Jazeera that Israel is exploiting “negotiation time” to exhaust the population through continuous escalation.

“They shifted from Trump’s 20 points to a new square, the 15-point square, which revolves entirely around one single clause: disarmament,” Afifa explained. He noted that the Palestinian resistance has been cornered and asked to make major concessions without real guarantees, while the Israeli government uses the talks to advance its territorial goals.

According to Afifa, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is weaponising the negotiations for domestic electoral gains, expanding Israel’s control from 60 percent of Gaza to 70 percent or more. This expansion is happening while oversight mechanisms, such as the Civil-Military Coordination Center (CMCC), have completely failed and paralysed the monitoring process.

“We are facing a scenario where the occupation has reshaped the ceasefire on its own terms,” Afifa said, adding that Mladenov has in effect adopted the Israeli and American vision by demanding disarmament without offering a clear political horizon for “the day after”.

The National Committee hurdle

This ongoing expansion complicates the transition of power. Amid accusations that Hamas is clinging to power, the group’s spokesperson, Hazem Qassem, reiterated that Hamas is fully prepared to hand over all governance and security responsibilities to the Cairo-based National Committee. Badran confirmed that Hamas has prepared all necessary administrative and security files for the transfer.

However, the NCAG itself faces massive operational barriers and has become, as Afifa described, a “hostage” to Israeli pressure.

A member of the committee, speaking to Al Jazeera on condition of anonymity, firmly denied reports that the body would enter Gaza soon, outlining strict conditions for assuming power. The committee categorically refuses to operate behind the Israeli-controlled “Yellow Line” or to cooperate with Israeli-backed armed militias currently operating in the Strip, the source said.

Furthermore, the source stressed that the committee will not enter Gaza until the International Stabilization Force is deployed in the buffer zones separating Israeli forces from Palestinian areas.

While the political deadlock continues, the human toll mounts. Mladenov acknowledged in his UN briefing that ceasefire violations continue to kill civilians and obstruct humanitarian access.

Since the ceasefire took effect, ongoing Israeli military actions have killed 933 Palestinians and injured 2,868, raising the total death toll since October 2023 to 72,942, with 172,967 people injured.

More than two years ago, Gaza resident Hanin Muhammad accompanied by her 39-year-old sister Sabreen, a kidney transplant recipient, was flown to the Iraqi capital Baghdad for medical treatment. But Muhammad has since been confined to the Private Nursing Home Hospital inside Baghdad’s Medical City complex, thousands of miles away from her home in Gaza, as her travel documents have been confiscated by Iraqi authorities.

“My six children are in Gaza, and I am entering my third year without seeing them,” 40-year-old Muhammad told Al Jazeera.

Her family home in Rafah was destroyed by Israeli forces, forcing her children to be displaced into makeshift tents located between Rafah and Khan Younis.

“I check on them through other people because they lack internet connection. I am begging anyone to intervene so we can get back to Egypt, register, and see our children,” she said. Currently, Palestinians can go in and out of Gaza only using the Rafah crossing, which opens into Egypt.

Muhammad, who travelled to Iraq as a medical companion to her sister, is part of a forgotten cohort of 46 Palestinians evacuated to Iraq, comprising 21 patients and 25 family escorts.

According to health authorities tracking the group, the clinical breakdown of the patients highlights the severity of their conditions, which include five oncology patients, four suffering from blood disorders, one cardiac patient, one kidney disease patient, and 10 patients wounded in the ongoing genocidal war that has killed nearly 73,000 Palestinians and wounded more than 172,000.

The group was flown to Baghdad in March 2024 on a military aircraft in coordination with the Iraqi and Egyptian governments, with a symbolic presence from the Palestinian Embassy in Cairo.

These rare evacuations highlight a much broader medical crisis back home. According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, more than 20,000 patients and wounded people are currently waiting to travel abroad for medical treatment.

Zaher al-Waheidi, head of the ministry’s Information Unit, reported that 1,200 children in Gaza now suffer from spinal cord injuries and paralysis directly resulting from Israeli attacks, while some 4,000 children require urgent treatment abroad.

Despite the overwhelming need, official data provided by al-Waheidi shows that only 154 children have been allowed to leave Gaza since the Rafah crossing, the enclave’s only gateway to the outside world, partially reopened in February amid heavy Israeli restrictions.

The crisis is equally dire for newborns: in 2025, more than 4,000 women had premature deliveries, and at least 4,800 babies were born with low birth weights – double the pre-war figure. Last year alone, 457 infants died in their first week of life.

For the handful who made it out, like the group in Iraq, the promised sanctuary quickly devolved into a cage defined by confiscated documents, restricted movements, and systemic neglect.

Confiscated documents and suspended lives

Upon their arrival from Egypt’s Heliopolis Hospital, the promised short-term recovery windows evaporated. Evacuees state that their primary identification and travel documents were immediately seized.

“When we left Egypt for Iraq, the Iraqi authorities took our identification papers from the Egyptians, and we haven’t seen them since,” Muhammad told Al Jazeera.

“When we asked for them, they told us they were held by Iraqi Intelligence and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. We demand them back, but no one answers us.”

The Palestinian Embassy in Baghdad issued new passports for those lacking them, but according to Muhammad, these documents remain unstamped by the Iraqi government and are functionally useless. She noted that without the official stamps, they cannot travel anywhere.

This administrative vacuum has completely frozen the lives of the companions. Noor Ibrahim, a pseudonym for a young woman who arrived as an escort for her cancer-stricken aunt, is stranded along with four of her aunt’s children.

“I have been engaged for four years, and my fiancé and family are in Gaza,” Ibrahim told Al Jazeera. “We left on the promise that it would be a temporary six-month treatment trip, but now, two years have passed.”

She expressed deep frustration as she is stuck inside the medical complex, emphasising that she just wants to return to Egypt, from where she can travel to Gaza to complete her marriage and start her life.

The stress of the confinement has also severely exacerbated underlying health conditions. Ibrahim noted that while her aunt received the necessary cancer treatment, she has developed various other undisclosed health complications in Iraq, and her psychological state is exhausted from leaving her husband and family behind in war-ravaged Gaza.

Retaliation and dire conditions

For the Palestinians living inside Baghdad’s Medical City complex, daily life has become a grind of material deprivation and psychological distress. The evacuees are completely cut off from any monetary stipends, leaving them entirely dependent on the hospital for basic shelter and local citizens for additional charity.

Samah Abdul Moati, 65, who battles leukaemia, liver cancer, and an arm injury, is accompanied by her injured 43-year-old son and her daughter-in-law. She painted a grim picture of their daily life.

“The hospital brings food every day, but no one can eat it because it is unfit for consumption,” Abdul Moati told Al Jazeera. “We are surviving on the grace of local well-wishers who don’t fail us. But we don’t care about the treatment any more – we just want to return to our children.”

Abdul Moati’s situation is compounded by unfathomable grief: two of her sons were killed in the war, two others have platinum implants from injuries, her husband is fighting cancer in a Gaza intensive care unit with no one to care for him, and her daughters and orphaned grandchildren are living in tents for displaced people.

“The hardest feeling is that I am trapped between the hospital walls while my heart is outside with my family and my people,” Abdul Moati said. “My husband is in the intensive care unit alone, and my children and grandchildren are in tents under the cold and fear.”

Compounding their alienation, evacuees who have tried to protest or publicise their predicament faced swift administrative blowback. When they demanded their right to travel five months ago and spoke to the media, hospital management retaliated by locking down the ward and banning them from even visiting the hospital garden.

Muhammad revealed that they were only allowed out after journalists wrote about their situation, adding that officials continuously throw them from one department to another without providing any straightforward answers.

Bureaucratic runaround

The spokesperson for the Iraqi Ministry of Health, Saif Albadr, did not answer repeated calls from Al Jazeera.

While the head of public relations at the Health Ministry, Ruba Falah Hassan, told Al Jazeera that the case is “political.”

“Frankly, this is a political issue, not health-related.. I’m not authorised to talk about it,” she stated.

The newly appointed Iraqi government spokesperson, Haidar Al-Aboudi, told Al Jazeera that he “will look into the matter”.

For the Palestinians stranded in the Medical City, they maintain that they lack the financial means to buy commercial airline tickets even if their papers are returned, meaning they desperately need a coordinated effort by a charity or government body to facilitate their travel back to Egypt.

“I am not asking for a luxury or an exception,” Abdul Moati pleaded in her final remarks.

“I am asking for a simple human right: that my family does not remain divided between life and death. Open a safe path, facilitate our family reunification, and let me return to my family before it is too late.”

Egypt races to salvage Gaza ceasefire as Israeli attacks and displacement threats push deal to the brink of collapse.

Egypt has launched an urgent diplomatic intervention to rescue a fragile Gaza ceasefire agreement that is on the brink of collapse.

The government warned Israel against expanding its occupation in Gaza, which would undermine efforts to end the war amid of wave of deadly air strikes.

According to an Egyptian intelligence official who spoke to Al Jazeera, Egypt has also invited a senior Hamas delegation, led by chief negotiator Khalil al-Hayya, for urgent talks to salvage the peace process.

The source described contacts between the parties as intense, saying Cairo was racing to arrange negotiations before the end of the week in order to prevent all-out war in Gaza.

The diplomatic moves come in the wake of renewed Israeli military attacks on Gaza and statements from top Israeli officials that threaten to unravel months of diplomacy.

At least 141 Palestinians have been killed in the last two weeks in an intensification of Israeli attacks.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday issued a directive ordering the military to expand the area under its control from 53% to 70%.

This fundamentally violates the US-brokered comprehensive peace plan signed in October 2025 under the Trump administration, mediators say.

Compounding the crisis, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz also triggered regional outrage by publicly reviving a blueprint for the “voluntary migration” of Palestinians out of the enclave.

Speaking during an announcement confirming the assassination of Hamas’s newly appointed military chief, Mohammed Odeh, Katz asserted that the forced displacement scheme would be implemented “at the right time and in the right manner”.

Cairo sent a warning to the Israeli government, rejecting any measures designed to push Gaza’s residents towards voluntary emigration or direct Palestinians towards the Rafah crossing with Egypt.

Egypt has been coordinating with mediators in Qatar and Turkiye, as well as US officials, to return the process to a negotiating track, including revisions to the addendum of the original Gaza peace plan, designed to reduce violence.

The source said Egypt and its fellow mediators were aware that Netanyahu’s recent statements on expanding Israel’s occupation of Gaza, as well as attacks that killed Hamas military figures Izz al-Din al-Haddad and Mohammed Odeh, were driven by electoral calculations and compounded by difficulties Netanyahu faces in Lebanon.

Egypt has contacted United States officials to ask President Donald Trump to urgently restrain Netanyahu, given the recent Israeli escalations in Gaza, the source said.

A senior Hamas official abroad told Al Jazeera that Hamas had received Egyptian communications aimed at containing the escalation and preventing talks from collapsing, suggesting a meeting in Cairo was expected within days.

Hamas said the ceasefire was on the brink of collapse due to repeated Israeli violations, and called on the US and guarantor countries to take “serious and urgent” steps to compel Israel to honour its commitments.

Israel and Hamas agreed to a ceasefire in October to end two years of fighting, which had seen more than 72,000 Palestinians killed and the vast majority of Gaza’s population made homeless.

Despite a ceasefire still being in place, at least 929 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks since October.

A small boat believed to be part of the Global Sumud Flotilla that was carrying aid for Gaza has washed ashore in Alexandria, Egypt. Activists were intercepted and detained by Israeli forces in international waters in the Mediterranean Sea last week.