World Cup 2026

Real Madrid’s Trent Alexander-Arnold also left out, while Saudi-based Al-Ahli striker Ivan Toney the surprise inclusion.

Cole Palmer and Phil Foden were among a number of high-profile names excluded by Thomas Tuchel from England’s World Cup squad.

Real Madrid’s Trent Alexander-Arnold was also left out of the squad announced on Friday, with Saudi-based Al-Ahli striker Ivan Toney the surprise inclusion.

Tuchel, a Champions League winner during his time at Chelsea, has been hired to end England’s 60-year wait to win a major international tournament.

The former Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich boss has made a series of bold calls, which will be harshly judged if the Three Lions fall short of glory in the coming weeks.

Foden and Palmer played a major role in England’s run to the final of Euro 2024.

However, Manchester City’s Foden and Chelsea playmaker Palmer have paid the price for poor seasons with their clubs.

Nottingham Forest midfielder Morgan Gibbs-White and Leeds striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin have also been overlooked, despite being two of the highest-scoring Englishmen in the Premier League this season.

Veteran Brentford midfielder and former Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson has been included at the expense of Crystal Palace’s Adam Wharton.

Tuchel said telling players they would not be on the plane to the United States had been tough.

“It was difficult, sometimes painfully difficult and like even in the phone calls I felt the emotion,” he said.

“So I called all players that were with us in camp at least one time, I called them, I wanted to show at least the appreciation and the respect for what they have done.”

Tuchel said he could not wait to be on the plane and “be a coach”.

“Now I’m feeling in between relieved and excited and ready to go because once you get the energy back and once you see the excitement of the players that you chose and then once the decisions are made it gives you a certain edge, it gives clarity,” he said.

Manchester United defender Harry Maguire said on Thursday he was shocked at not being included.

“I was confident I could [have] played a major part this summer for my country after the season I’ve had,” the 33-year-old posted on social media.

“I’ve been left shocked and gutted by the decision.”

Maguire’s Manchester United teammate Luke Shaw has also been overlooked.

Tuchel has taken a risk on centre-back John Stones despite his lack of involvement at Manchester City during an injury-hit season.

Toney made an impact off the bench at the Euros two years ago, but has played only two minutes of international football since moving to Saudi Arabia in 2024.

England kick off their World Cup campaign against Croatia in Dallas on June 17, before playing Ghana on June 23 and Panama four days later.

England’s 2026 World Cup squad

Goalkeepers: Jordan Pickford, Dean Henderson, James Trafford.

Defenders: Reece James, Tino Livramento, Dan Burn, Marc Guehi, John Stones, Nico O’Reilly, Ezri Konsa, Jarell Quansah, Djed Spence.

Midfielders: Declan Rice, Elliot Anderson, Jude Bellingham, Jordan Henderson, Kobbie Mainoo, Morgan Rogers, Eberechi Eze.

Forwards: Harry Kane, Ivan Toney, Ollie Watkins, Bukayo Saka, Noni Madueke, Marcus Rashford, Anthony Gordon.

New York City is launching a lottery for 1,000 discounted World Cup tickets priced at $50. The city’s Mayor, Zohran Mamdani said match prices had soared into the thousands of dollars. The scheme is intended to give working-class New Yorkers access to matches.

Pricing for 2026 World Cup has been under heavy scrutiny, including in New York where city mayor cuts limited tickets.

Some lucky New York City residents will soon get a chance to snag cheap seats to this summer’s high-priced World Cup.

Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced on Thursday that 1,000 tickets costing $50 will be made available to city residents of the city of more than 8 million for the world’s most watched sporting event.

“To put that into perspective, that is five lattes in New York City,” Mamdani quipped from a bar in Harlem’s Little Senegal neighbourhood, alongside US men’s national team star Timothy Weah.

The tickets will be available for seven of the eight games played at the 82,000-seat MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, across the river from Manhattan. The lone exception is the high demand July 19 final, where some seats are costing nearly $33,000.

The tickets will also include free round-trip bus transportation to the stadium and will be distributed via a lottery starting May 25.

With persistent concerns about the sky-high costs for tickets to the games, Mamdani said the city ensure the ones they distribute go to New York City residents and are not resold on the secondary market.

He said the tickets will be non-transferable, with a “variety of ways” used by city officials to verify residency. They will only be handed out directly to fans as they board buses on game day.

“We are making sure that working people will not be priced out of the game that they helped to create,” Mamdani said.

The Democrat, who took office in January, said the effort underscores how his administration is not simply focused on making everyday things like housing and groceries more affordable.

“It extends to making it possible for every New Yorker to take part in the things that make us human,” he said.

During his campaign, Mamdani called on FIFA, football’s global governing body, to make it cheaper for New Yorkers to go to games by setting aside 15% of tickets at discounted prices. He had launched a petition calling on FIFA to reverse its plan to set ticket prices based on demand.

The $50 tickets don’t come directly from FIFA, but from those allotted to New York and New Jersey’s joint host committee for the games, according to the mayor’s office.

Previously, FIFA had made some $60 tickets available for every game at the tournament in North America following backlash over exorbitant prices.

Those reduced price tickets, though, went to the national federations of the teams playing, with the federations deciding how to distribute them to loyal fans who have attended previous games at home and away.

Besides the final, the home stadium for both the NFL’s New York Giants and New York Jets is set to host five group World Cup matches and two knockout stage games. Group stage matches for former winners Brazil, France, Germany and England, along with other nations, begin on June 13.

Manuel Neuer to start for Germany in World Cup upon his return, despite Oliver ⁠Baumann long being labelled team’s first choice.

Bayern Munich’s Manuel ‌Neuer has come out of international retirement to compete in next month’s ⁠World Cup after being ⁠named on Thursday as the starting goalkeeper in Germany coach Julian Nagelsmann’s squad for the tournament.

Nagelsmann made the decision after having long labelled Hoffenheim’s Oliver ⁠Baumann as his first-choice keeper.

“Yes, I plan with that [with Neuer as number one],” Nagelsmann told a press conference. “The main task was to nominate the best three keepers. So we ⁠decided that these three are part of that.”

“We contacted Manuel and asked him if he wanted to play for the national team again,” said Nagelsmann.

The 40-year-old Neuer, who last competed for Germany at Euro 2024 before his international retirement, is now set to play in his fifth ‌successive World Cup, joining an elite group of football players with five or more tournaments.

Neuer, a 2014 World Cup winner, enjoyed a solid season with champions Bayern, who could win the domestic double with victory over VfB Stuttgart in the German Cup final on Saturday.

He signed a contract extension with Bayern last week.

There were few other major surprises in Nagelsmann’s 26-man squad for the tournament starting next month. But the coach also ⁠called up Bayern’s teenage player Lennart Karl, who enjoyed a meteoric ⁠rise this season, as well as Nadiem Amiri and Leroy Sane, who both had outside chances of earning a spot.

“They [players] fit well together. It is a good mix. Many have been playing since their youth together,” Nagelsmann ⁠said. “We are happy with our choice, but know others will stay at home who have performed very well.”

Germany, who face Curacao, ⁠Ecuador and Ivory Coast in Group E at the World ⁠Cup, have set their sights on a fifth title after shock first-round exits in the past two editions in 2018 and 2022.

“The statement stands,” Nagelsmann said. “We want to become world champions. Every player who is nominated needs ‌to show it now every day.”

Germany squad for FIFA World Cup 2026:

Goalkeepers: Manuel Neuer, Oliver Baumann, Alexander Nubel

Defenders: Nico Schlotterbeck, David Raum, Nathaniel Brown, Jonathan Tah, Waldemar Anton, Pascal Gross, Joshua Kimmich, Felix Nmecha, Malick Thiaw, ‌Aleksandar ‌Pavlovic, Antonio Rudiger, Angelo Stiller

Midfielders/Forwards: Leon Goretzka, Maximilian Beier, Jamal Musiala, Nadiem Amiri, Jamie Leweling, Kai Havertz, Lennart Karl, Florian Wirtz, Deniz Undav, Nick Woltemade, Leroy Sane

A number of players submitted visa applications in person at the US embassy in Ankara ahead of their training camp.

Iran’s football team have attended visa appointments in Turkiye ahead of the World Cup, with the whole squad applying for Canadian visas and some players also submitting applications for entry into the United States.

A number of players submitted applications in the Turkish capital Ankara on Thursday, an Iranian football federation official told Reuters news agency.

The whole squad attended appointments for Canadian visas, while some players who had not applied for American visas before the US and Israel attacked Iran in February also submitted their visa applications in person at the embassy.

Some foreign-based Iranian players joined the squad in Ankara before later travelling to the team’s training camp in Antalya on Turkiye’s Mediterranean coast, the official said.

The World Cup will ⁠⁠be cohosted by the US, Canada and Mexico, with Iran due to play all three of their group-stage matches on the US West Coast.

Iran are scheduled to face New Zealand on June 15 and Belgium on June 21 in Los Angeles before taking on Egypt in Seattle five days later. They would require access to Canada if they progress to the knockout rounds.

Iran is holding a pre-tournament camp in Turkiye following the suspension of the Iranian domestic league in March, leaving many players short of match fitness.

The team trained in Antalya earlier this week as coach Amir Ghalenoei attempted to prepare his squad after most domestic-based players went seven weeks without competitive football during the suspension of the Iranian league.

Iran qualified early for the expanded 48-team World Cup, but preparations have been overshadowed by uncertainty over travel and security arrangements following the US-Israeli war on Iran.

Iran’s football federation had previously said US visa applications for the team would be handled in Turkiye after discussions with FIFA.

Iran are due to play Gambia in a friendly on May 29 before Ghalenoei names his final 26-man World Cup squad by FIFA’s June 1 deadline.

All-time record Brazil scorer Neymar misses Santos draw with San Lorenzo in the Copa Sudamericana due to calf injury.

Neymar has suffered ‌a minor calf injury but is expected to recover in ⁠time to join ⁠Brazil’s camp next week, before the World Cup starting on June 11 in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

The ⁠34-year-old, Brazil’s all-time leading scorer, was named in the squad on Monday, marking his return after a prolonged injury layoff that kept ⁠him out for much of the qualifying campaign, as Brazil chase a record-extending sixth title.

Much of the build-up to the squad announcement centred on coach Carlo Ancelotti’s decision over whether to include Neymar.

The Italian, who took ‌charge of Brazil last year, had not previously recalled the former Barcelona and Paris St Germain attacker, who now plays for Santos and is set to feature at his fourth World Cup in pursuit of his first world title.

“Neymar has a minor calf injury, an oedema,” Santos’ head of medical services Rodrigo Zogaib told ⁠Brazil’s ge.globo on Wednesday. “But, according to our planning, ⁠his progress will allow him to be fit next week when he will join up with the national team.”

Neymar, who has 79 goals in 128 internationals and has not ⁠featured for Brazil since 2023, continues to face scrutiny over his fitness and form.

His stint at ⁠Saudi club Al-Hilal was disrupted by injuries, ⁠and he returned to boyhood club Santos last year but has struggled to recapture his form.

Neymar missed Santos’s 2-2 home draw with San Lorenzo in the Copa Sudamericana on ‌Wednesday.

Brazil open their World Cup campaign against Morocco on June 13 in New Jersey, before facing Haiti and Scotland in Group C.

They are ‌scheduled ‌to play warm-up matches against Panama on May 31 and Egypt in the lead-up to the tournament.

DRC’s public sendoff in the capital was also cancelled before their departure for the FIFA World Cup.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) football team have cancelled a three-day World Cup preparation training camp and a planned public farewell to fans in the capital, Kinshasa, because of an Ebola outbreak in the east of the country.

DRC are scheduled to play World Cup warm-up games against Denmark in Liege, Belgium, on June 3, and Chile in southern Spain on June 9. Both matches are going ahead as planned, team spokesman Jerry Kalemo told The Associated Press on Wednesday.

“There were three stages of preparation: In Kinshasa to say goodbye to the public, Belgium and Spain with two friendly matches against Denmark in Liege and Chile in Spain, and the third stage from June 11 in Houston, United States. Only one stage was canceled – the one in Kinshasa,” Kalemo said.

The team’s pre-tournament preparations will now take place elsewhere after an outbreak of a rare type of Ebola known as Bundibugyo, which is thought to have killed more than 130 people and caused nearly 600 suspected cases.

The World Health Organization has declared it a public health emergency of international concern.

All of the DRC players and the team’s French coach, Sebastien Desabre, are based outside of the central African country, with most of them playing in France.

A number of team staff who are based in DRC “are leaving in the next hours”, Kalemo said.

Football’s governing body FIFA issued a statement that “it is aware of and monitoring the situation regarding an Ebola outbreak and is in close communication with the DRC Football Association to ensure that the team are made aware of all medical and security guidance.”

The American Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said this week that the US would ban the entry of all foreign nationals who had been in DRC, Uganda and South Sudan within the past three weeks. The ban lasts for 30 days.

A US official said the Congolese World Cup team would not be affected by the CDC entry ban because they had been training in Europe for the past several weeks. That means team members, coaches and other officials who have not returned to DRC in the past three weeks would not be subject to the entry ban, according to the official who spoke on condition of anonymity because the policy has not been publicly announced.

Those members of the Congolese World Cup delegation who did return to DRC during the 21 days will be subject to the same quarantine requirements as US citizens seeking to return from affected countries, according to the official. That exception will not apply to Congolese fans who want to attend the World Cup, the official said.

The White House World Cup Task Force, housed under the Department of Homeland Security, stressed that it is “coordinating closely” with various agencies on health and security matters and that the government is “closely monitoring” the outbreak.

DRC, who qualified for the World Cup after winning a playoff tournament in Mexico, have been drawn in Group K. They face Portugal in their opening game in Houston on June 17.

The Leopards then face Colombia in Guadalajara on June 23 before playing Uzbekistan in Atlanta for their final group game on June 27.

DRC’s first World Cup qualification since 1974, when the country was called Zaire, led to scenes of jubilation across the nation, which has been battered by decades of conflict.

Hotel operators avoid a ‘very real threat’ by signing a deal with 25,000 workers as the city hosts the 2026 tournament.

New York City hotel operators and ⁠unions have reached an eight-year labour deal covering about 25,000 workers, averting a strike over wages, workloads and staffing levels that had threatened to disrupt the city ⁠before the FIFA World Cup, said the head of the Hotel Association of New York City.

Vijay Dandapani, the association’s president and chief executive, said on Tuesday that the mood among owners was “overall positive” after weeks of negotiations, though the industry made significant concessions.

“We came ‌a long way from where things were,” Dandapani said.

The United States will cohost the tournament with Canada and Mexico from June 11 to July 19.

While FIFA, football’s global governing body and tournament organiser, was not involved in the talks, the prospect of an influx of fans raised the stakes.

A union campaign had warned of a possible strike and urged visitors to avoid affected hotels.

The potential walkout was a “very real threat”, Dandapani said, noting recent labour actions in US cities including Los Angeles and ⁠Boston.

Dandapani said a figure of about $200,000 reflected compensation at the end of the agreement, not at the outset.

Hotel owners entered the talks aiming to preserve profitability, arguing New York’s lodging market has not ⁠fully recovered from the pandemic. Occupancy remains below 2019 levels, and inflation-adjusted room rates have yet to catch up, he ⁠said.

He also cited broader pressures, including the US-Israel war on Iran, tariffs and visa issues.

The deal follows the withdrawal of a proposed city measure that operators said would have sharply raised labour costs by limiting room attendants’ workloads and requiring double pay beyond certain ‌thresholds. Owners estimated it could have lifted wage costs by about 40 percent.

The new pact will still add costs, though operators expect tourism demand and major events to ‌support ‌revenue.

Football’s world governing body, FIFA, has framed the 2026 World Cup’s expansion from 32 to 48 teams as a watershed moment for inclusivity, opening the door for nations that have never qualified before.

Indeed, four teams will be playing at their first World Cup in North America this summer: Cape Verde, Curacao, Jordan, and Uzbekistan.

Here is Al Jazeera’s short guide to the debutants at this year’s competition.

Cape Verde

• FIFA world ranking: 69
• World Cup fixtures (Group H): Spain (June 15, Atlanta), Uruguay (June 21, Miami, US), Saudi Arabia (June 26, Houston, US)
• Player to watch: Garry Rodrigues

With a population of about 525,000, the small archipelago off the coast of Senegal will become the third-least populous country to participate in a World Cup after Curacao and Iceland.

Ryan Mendes is not even a household name in Turkiye, where he plays for second-tier Igdir, but Cape Verde’s 35-year-old captain was at the heart of their 3-0 win over Eswatini in October, which booked their place at the World Cup.

This was no freak occurrence as Cape Verde topped their group at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, which included Ghana, reaching the quarterfinals where they lost on penalties to South Africa.

Although they failed to reach AFCON 2025, they again topped their group in 2026 World Cup qualifying – this time finishing ahead of the once-mighty Cameroon.

“We have taken part in four African Cup of Nations tournaments, and we were also very close to qualifying for the 2014 World Cup,” Mendes told the AFP news agency.

“A lot has been achieved over the years. And today, we can say that this is the logical outcome.”

Cape Verde rely heavily on their Portuguese colonial past for a supply of diaspora talent, and also have several Dutch-born players, as well as one from Ireland – the Shamrock Rovers defender Roberto Lopes. The Dublin-born 33-year-old has a Cape Verdean father and Irish mother and was reportedly recruited for Cape Verde via LinkedIn.

The team’s best-known player, however, is probably 35-year-old winger Garry Rodrigues; now at Cypriot club Apollon Limassol, he has had stints at the likes of Galatasaray and Olympiacos.

But even without mega-star names, Mendes is certain that the Blue Sharks can make a mark at the tournament.

“One thing’s for sure: we’re not going there just to play three games and come home,” he said.

Curacao

• FIFA world ranking: 82
• World Cup fixtures (Group E): Germany (June 14, Houston, US), Ecuador (June 20, Kansas City, US), Ivory Coast (June 25, Philadelphia, US)
• Player to watch: Tahith Chong

“Small island, big dreams” reads a poster for the football team of the Caribbean island of Curacao – the smallest country ever, by population, to qualify for football’s World Cup.

Since Curacao clinched qualification with a hard-fought 0-0 draw against Steven McClaren’s Jamaica in November, the 160,000 inhabitants of the Dutch island famed for its eponymous sapphire liqueur are riding the crest of the Blue Wave, as the national side is dubbed.

The most famous person around the squad is Curacao’s boss Dick Advocaat, the 78-year-old former Netherlands, PSV and Rangers manager who guided the Curacaoans to qualification. He is set to become the oldest manager ever at a World Cup.

Meanwhile, as a self-governing entity within the Netherlands, the island owes its World Cup squad entirely to its Dutch-based diaspora, the president of Curacao’s football federation, Gilbert Martina, admitted.

“All the players on the national team play in foreign leagues,” he told AFP.

Perhaps the best-known player is former Dutch youth international Tahith Chong, now at Championship side Sheffield United. The only team member born on Curacao, Chong moved to the Netherlands at the age of 13.

The 26-year-old winger or attacking midfielder is known for his pace, dribbling and a wicked left foot.

The most famous Curacaoan is probably former Ajax and Barcelona star Patrick Kluivert, who was born to a Surinamese father and a mother from Curacao.

“It’s fantastic that the island is in the World Cup,” Kluivert, who coached the Curacaoan side between 2015 and 2016, told AFP.

“In my day, [football] was not that big on the island, but the players have given Curacao visibility. It’s important for the future, for the next generation.”

Jordan

• FIFA world ranking: 63
• World Cup fixtures (Group J): Austria (June 16, San Francisco, US), Algeria (June 22, San Francisco, US), Argentina (June 27, Dallas, US)
• Player to watch: Musa Al-Taamari

Jordan head coach Jamal Sellami has called on ⁠his players to emulate ⁠Morocco’s shock run to the last four of the World Cup in 2022 as they prepare for their first appearance at the tournament.

“In big competitions, many teams can surprise. My country, Morocco, ‌reached the semifinals in the last World Cup,” Reuters quoted him as saying during a training camp in Antalya, Turkiye in late March. “That gives us belief.”

Despite their underdog status, the players say they are not going to the World Cup just to make up the numbers.

“For us, we are not going just for participation,” midfielder Noor Al-Rawabdeh added. “We are aiming to go as far ⁠as we can in the tournament.

“To be honest, sometimes we don’t sleep when we think about it,” he added. “It’s a dream come true for us.”

The Rennes winger Musa Al-Taamari is probably the team’s standout player – he was the key creative force as Jordan ⁠secured an automatic berth at the World Cup after finishing ⁠second behind South Korea in their Asian qualifying group.

Sellami said the camp in Antalya, which involved games against Costa Rica and Nigeria, was a key stage in building experience before facing elite opposition.

“We ‌are ‌preparing step by step. We’ve played against different football cultures,” he said.

“We are collecting experience and, Inshallah [God willing], we will surprise many people.”

Uzbekistan

• FIFA world ranking: 50
• World Cup fixtures (Group K): Colombia (June 17, Mexico City, Mexico), Portugal (June 23, Houston, US), DR Congo (June 27, Atlanta, US)
• Player to watch: Abdukodir Khusanov

Uzbekistan FA Vice President Ravshan Irmatov is no stranger to the World Cup, having refereed at three finals, but believes the Central Asian country’s long-awaited qualification is merely the latest step in its football development.

“Qualifying for the World Cup has been a dream for 38 million people for 34 years,” Irmatov said. “You can understand how important it was for the Uzbek nation, we waited so long.”

Uzbekistan’s first qualification comes after seven attempts to secure a finals spot since the country was granted FIFA membership in 1994 following the break-up of the Soviet Union.

Slovenian coach Srecko Katanec guided a team built primarily on home-based talent to the cusp of the finals before health issues forced him to stand down, leaving Olympic team coach Timur Kapadze to secure the ticket for the 2026 tournament.

Captain Eldor Shomurodov, on loan at Istanbul Basaksehir from Roma, is the country’s top scorer with 44 goals in 90 games and scored 21 Turkish Super League goals this season.

But the team’s best-known player is probably Manchester City’s Abdukodir Khusanov. The 22-year-old centre back has become a key part of the defence this season, well-regarded for his positional play, pace, strength and quiet leadership.

Uzbekistan confirmed their place at the finals with a 0-0 draw against the United Arab Emirates in June, and since then, former Italian World Cup winner Fabio Cannavaro has taken over as coach.

“I’ll tell you what I always repeat to my players: for the first time you will play in a World Cup, you have nothing to lose,” Cannavaro was quoted as saying by The Mirror newspaper in March.

“Approach every match with maximum calm, enjoy yourselves as much as possible, and if you feel anxiety, let it be positive anxiety.”

The US has banned non-Americans who have visited DR Congo, Uganda or South Sudan in the last 21 days from entry.

The United States will ensure that the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s (DRC) football team can enter the country to play in the World Cup, making an exemption to an Ebola-related entry ban, according to a senior Department of State official.

“We expect the DRC team to be able to attend the World Cup,” the official said on condition of anonymity.

The US has banned non-Americans who have been in the DRC, Uganda or South Sudan in the previous 21 days from visiting the country due to a deadly outbreak of Ebola.

The US official said the DRC team, the only one among the three countries to have qualified for football’s premier event, had already been training in Europe, so they may not have been subject to the ban in any case.

But if they had, in fact, been in the DRC over the last 21 days, they would be subject to the sort of strict screening required for returning US citizens.

“We’re working to get them into the same protocol for testing in isolation that American citizens returning and permanent residents would be,” the official said.

The official said the exemption would not apply to everyday fans from the DRC looking to come to cheer on the team.

The DRC begin their World Cup campaign in Texas against Portugal on June 17.

New Delhi, India — When Argentina’s Gonzalo Montiel converted a penalty to seal his country’s third FIFA World Cup title in December 2022 in Qatar, Lionel Messi fan Vishwas Banerjee celebrated the Albiceleste’s triumph with abandon in Bangalore, a football-crazy city in southeastern India.

Unable to hold back his excitement, Banerjee screamed and tossed his shirt away as he watched the match on a big screen at a street crossing close to midnight.

“It was one of the best nights, watching Messi lift the World Cup,” he told Al Jazeera.

“Everyone went crazy. We danced on the streets,” Banerjee said, reminiscing about the excitement felt more than 3,000 kilometres (1,900 miles) away in an otherwise cricket-mad country.

While Messi is expected to make his World Cup swan song at the upcoming tournament in North America, football fans in India, the world’s most populous nation, are set to miss out on watching the biggest sporting event.

With just over three weeks to the tournament’s kickoff in Mexico, organisers FIFA have not found any buyers for broadcasting its most coveted product in India.

Here’s what we know about the World Cup broadcast rights crisis in the South Asian nation:

How many people watch the FIFA World Cup in India?

When the World Cup was played in Qatar nearly four years ago, India trailed only China in overall engagement figures, with more than 745 million fans following the action across all media platforms in the country, according to figures released by FIFA.

In television viewing numbers, India was among the top 10 countries – ahead of World Cup participants Germany, France and England – with nearly 84 million viewers.

Digital viewership numbers were also significant in India. For the final alone, an unprecedented 32 million viewers tuned in on Reliance’s JioCinema – a subscription video-on-demand over-the-top streaming service – as the tournament clocked 40 billion minutes of watch time on the platform.

Reliance’s Jio paid $60m for tournament rights in 2022, while Sony Sports secured broadcasting rights for the 2014 and 2018 FIFA World Cups, as well as the Euro 2016 championship, for around $90m in 2013.

So when FIFA began selling media rights for the 2026 tournament and the 2027 Women’s Cup, it expected plenty of takers for an estimated price of $100m.

But with 23 days until the tournament and the asking price reportedly slashed significantly, FIFA is still struggling to find buyers in one of its biggest markets.

Why are there no buyers for the World Cup 2026 in India?

Experts say the kickoff times for the majority of the matches are the biggest concern for Indian broadcasters.

With the tournament being staged in the United States, Canada and Mexico, many games will be played at odd hours for the Indian audience, with a 10-12 hour time difference between the host cities and the South Asian nation.

Only 14 out of the total 104 World Cup games will begin before midnight for fans in India.

The final will be held in New Jersey on July 19, beginning at 12:30am in India (19:00 GMT). By comparison, 98.4 percent of matches at the 2018 World Cup started before midnight, and 82.5 percent at the following edition in Qatar.

Karan Taurani, executive vice president at investment firm Elara Capital, sees TV as a “struggling” medium in India.

“When you have these kinds of sporting events, effectively it is mostly digital that is monetising and raising big money,” Taurani told Al Jazeera. “That is a big reason why no one’s showing interest in the FIFA World Cup.”

Taurani explained that cricket leads the sports economy market in India.

“Only a small fraction of people who watch the Indian Premier League [IPL] will watch the FIFA World Cup,” he said, adding that an even smaller fraction tune in past midnight to watch a match.

For broadcasters and advertisers, Taurani explained, these factors shrink the target audience.

He also pointed out that a recent ban by the Indian government on fantasy real-money betting apps had reduced the macro form of money in the sports entertainment industry.

The World Cup begins 10 days after cricket’s IPL 2026 final, one of the most-watched sports events in India and one where major prime-time advertisers focus the majority of their annual sports spending.

The price of football streaming in India has been going down anyway. The English Premier League rights, which were sold for $145m for three seasons between 2013 and 2016, went for $65m for 2025-28. There are no major takers for La Liga matches in India.

FIFA appears increasingly concerned that weak broadcaster interest in India could dent both revenues and its long-term ambition to grow football in one of the world’s largest media markets.

In the capital New Delhi, the high court is hearing a plea on the lack of a tournament broadcast deal and has sought responses from India’s information and broadcasting ministry and Doordarshan, India’s state-owned public television broadcaster.

“Without timely judicial intervention by this court, the petitioner and millions of Indian citizens will be irreparably deprived of their fundamental rights with no adequate alternative remedy,” the petitioner, a lawyer and football fan, has said in the plea.

He claims that missing out on the tournament violates the constitutional protections of freedom of speech.

“It is important to note that by denying access to the information in question or by not taking necessary steps to broadcast the FIFA World Cup, the respondents have directly infringed the petitioner’s fundamental right to acquire and receive information, which is an integral part of freedom of speech and expression under the constitution,” the petitioner argued in the plea.

With China’s state broadcaster signing a late World Cup deal with FIFA last week, there’s still hope and time for football fans in India. However, if no deal is signed, all eyes will turn to Doordarshan, which last beamed the tournament in 1998.

The continuing uncertainty is chipping away at the excitement of the football World Cup. “I’m heartbroken that we will not have any reliable way to watch the World Cup this year,” said Banerjee, the Messi fan from Kolkata.

“But we will tune to pirated streams anyway,” he added. “No one can stop that.”

Cristiano Ronaldo will embark on a sixth World Cup at the age of 41 after Portugal coach Roberto Martinez named him in a 27-man squad for the tournament, with a symbolic “plus one” in memory of the late Diogo Jota.

Speaking at Cidade do Futebol before a packed auditorium on Tuesday, Martinez confirmed that fourth-choice goalkeeper Ricardo Velho, of Genclerbirligi Ankara, will travel with the squad, but can only be added to the official 26-man list in the event of an injury to one of the three registered keepers.

Portugal, the reigning Nations League champions, open their Group K campaign at the tournament in the United States, Mexico and Canada against the Democratic Republic of the Congo on 17 in Houston.

They then face Uzbekistan at the same venue on June 23 and conclude the group stage against Colombia in Miami on June 27. The tournament runs from June 11 to July 19.

Martinez said his selection comprised “27 players plus one”, a reference to Liverpool forward Jota, who died in a car accident in July last year, aged 28.

“He is our strength, our joy,” Martinez said. “Losing Diogo was an unforgettable and very difficult moment, but the very next day, it was up to all of us to fight for Diogo’s dream and for the example he always set in our national team. Diogo Jota’s spirit, strength and example are the +1 and will always be the +1.”

The coach defended his decision to name four goalkeepers and five fullbacks, while leaving out players including Mateus Fernandes, Ricardo Horta and Pedro Goncalves.

“The complexity of the tournament is very important – the demands of the weather, the time zone, everything we already experienced in March,” Martinez said. “There are positions where we need to have more than two players per position. And we need five fullbacks.”

He highlighted the versatility of Diogo Dalot, Joao Cancelo and Matheus Nunes, and pointed to attacking options such as Joao Felix, Bruno Fernandes, Bernardo Silva and Francisco Trincao operating between the lines, with Rafael Leao, Pedro Neto and Francisco Conceicao providing width.

Martinez added that Velho understood his role as a training goalkeeper, noting that FIFA rules only permit replacement in the event of injury during the tournament.

Portugal warm up against Chile in Oeiras on June 6 and Nigeria in Leiria on June 10. FIFA has stipulated that the squad must be in their Palm Beach, Florida training camp at least five days before their opening match.

Portugal World Cup squad

Goalkeepers: Diogo Costa (FC Porto), Jose Sa (Wolverhampton Wanderers), Rui Silva (Sporting CP); Ricardo Velho (Genclerbirligi Ankara);

Defenders: Diogo Dalot (Manchester United); Matheus Nunes (Manchester City), Nelson Semedo (Fenerbahce SK), Joao Cancelo (FC Barcelona), Nuno Mendes (PSG), Goncalo Inacio (Sporting CP), Renato Veiga (Villarreal); Ruben Dias (Manchester City); Tomas Araujo (SL Benfica)

Midfielders: Ruben Neves (Al Hilal), Samuel Costa (Mallorca), Joao Neves (PSG), Vitinha (PSG), Bruno Fernandes (Manchester United), Bernardo Silva (Manchester City)

Forwards: Joao Felix (Al Nassr), Francisco Trincao (Sporting CP), Francisco Conceicao (Juventus), Pedro Neto (Chelsea), Rafael Leao (AC Milan), Goncalo Guedes (Real Sociedad), Goncalo Ramos (PSG); Cristiano Ronaldo (Al Nassr)

Workers represented by a local union say ICE presence would create a climate of fear during the FIFA World Cup 2026.

Workers at the SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles have decided to go on strike if federal immigration enforcement agents are deployed at the venue when it hosts FIFA World Cup matches in June and July.

The UNITE HERE Local 11 – a labour union representing some 2,000 hospitality employees – on Monday demanded federal guarantees that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) would not be used during the matches scheduled at the stadium.

The venue, which will be known as the Los Angeles Stadium during the tournament, will host eight World Cup games, including the opening fixture for the United States on June 12.

Workers at the world’s most expensive sports arena say the ICE presence would create a climate of fear for themselves and for fans.

“ICE should have no role in these games,” said Isaac Martinez, a stadium cook, at a protest outside the venue.

“We do not want to live in fear coming to work, or fear being detained going home.”

“If we do not reach an agreement, my colleagues and I are ready to strike,” Martinez added, speaking on behalf of a workforce composed largely of food and beverage concession staff.

ICE has led the charge in President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown.

Human rights groups have condemned the agency for its conduct during raids in several US cities, including Los Angeles last year.

In early 2026, ICE agents fatally shot two American protesters in Minneapolis.

Workers on Monday also raised alarms over FIFA’s accreditation process, which requires employees to submit personal data before the tournament, which runs from June 11 to July 19 across the US, Canada and Mexico.

“We ask FIFA not to share our information with ICE agencies, foreign countries, or intelligence services,” worker Yolanda Fierro said.

Protesters carrying plastic balls and signs reading “Kick ICE Out of the World Cup” drew support from Tom Steyer, a Democratic candidate in California’s gubernatorial race.

ICE’s mandate is border control, the financier-turned-politician said.

“Can anyone explain what that has to do with the World Cup? Nothing,” Steyer said.

“How is it possible that this is the agency that is going to be here when we know in fact they’re an absolute threat, a lawless threat, to workers in California?”