FIFA World Cup 2026 - players.bio

Uncertainty clouds the forecast on whether wildfire smoke will affect the World Cup final

NEW YORK: Mikel Merino can smell and see the smoke from the Canadian wildfires that are making for hazy conditions across large parts of the US, including northern New Jersey where he and Spain are set to face Argentina in the World Cup final on Sunday. Merino is trying not to focus on it. It remains unclear how much, if at all, the smoke will affect the final. The World Health Organization forecast calls for an improvement to “moderate” air quality in East Rutherford. “For a game that is as important as a World Cup final, you have to be able to shut out external factors as much as possible,” Merino said Friday.

World Cup destiny: Messi bathed Yamal as a baby, now they face off for soccer’s top title

BARCELONA: Almost two decades ago, photographer Joan Monfort didn’t think much of his photo shoot of a teenage Lionel Messi bathing a cute baby boy in a plastic bathtub. Not until the remarkable twist of fate became clear years later, when that infant blossomed into Lamine Yamal. Now those images of the longhaired Messi, his hands covered in soap suds as if anointing Yamal as soccer’s Next Big Thing, have become the most talked about — and gawked about — in the runup to Sunday’s World Cup final, when Messi’s Argentina will play Yamal’s Spain for the biggest trophy in the sport. “I have never been a believer or thought that anything was destined to occur, but I am beginning to have my doubts. This is beyond all reasonable explanations,” Monfort told The Associated Press from his home in Barcelona on Friday. Monfort, who works as a freelance photojournalist for the AP, took the photos in 2007 as part of a charity calendar produced by local newspaper Sport and UNICEF. Luck dictated that Yamal’s mother, who appears in the calendar photo, won a raffle of families in the city of Mataró, near Barcelona, who wanted to participate.

Slovenian Slavko Vinčić to referee World Cup final as FIFA picks a European for Argentina-Spain game

WASHINGTON: The World Cup final between Argentina and Spain on Sunday will be refereed by Slavko Vinčić of Slovenia, two years after he was in charge of a Champions League final. FIFA announced the pick late Thursday.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez to attend World Cup final against Argentina

MADRID: Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez plans to attend Sunday’s World Cup final against Argentina, his office said Friday. Spanish King Felipe VI is also expected to watch the game in East Rutherford, New Jersey. US President Donald Trump will also be at the final.

Saudi Football Federation sets election date following Al-Misehal resignation

JEDDAH: The Saudi Arabian Football Federation has announced elections for a new president and board of directors will take place on Aug. 30.

2026 World Cup final is also about the time Spain’s De la Fuente taught Argentina boss Scaloni

DUBAI: Sunday’s FIFA World Cup final has been billed as a showdown pitting Lionel Messi against Lamine Yamal, defending champions Argentina against European champions Spain; and perhaps the final appearance of football’s greatest player in the sport’s premier showcase.

Trump to attend World Cup final on Sunday: White House

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump will attend Sunday’s World Cup final between Spain and Argentina, the White House said, saving his first appearance at the tournament for its grand finale. “His attendance will cap what has been the most watched, most secure, and most successful World Cup in American history,” Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told a briefing on Thursday. “This is a fitting conclusion to a tournament that showcased America’s ability to host the world on the grandest stage.” The US leader will also attend a reception for football’s world governing body FIFA at Trump Tower in New York on Friday, Leavitt said. FIFA President Gianni Infantino had announced in June that Trump would attend the final in New Jersey and present the trophy to the winners, but it had not been confirmed by the White House. Leavitt said she did not know whether Trump would be supporting Argentina or Spain, after he criticized the European nation at a NATO summit last week for failing to help with the Iran war. While Trump has not attended any World Cup games so far, he has been involved in the tournament in a more controversial way. Trump confirmed earlier this month that he asked FIFA’s Infantino to review a decision to hand a red card to star US striker Folarin Balogun during a game against Bosnia. FIFA suspended Balogun’s one-game ban ahead of the Americans’ next match, against Belgium.

France, England prepare for gloomy World Cup send-off

MIAMI: France and England will bid a gloomy farewell to the World Cup on Saturday when they face each other in the dreaded third-place play-off in Miami. Both teams head to Florida still raw from semifinal defeats that have left both footballing nations licking wounds, which, in the eyes of many, were largely self-inflicted. France, the tournament’s outstanding team en route to the last four, were anonymous in the face of a tactical masterclass by Spain on Tuesday and slumped to a 2-0 defeat. England added another chapter to their long history of World Cup heartache on Wednesday when they surrendered the initiative and a lead to lose 2-1 to Argentina in Atlanta. France and England must now attempt to summon the remnants of their competitive will and physical reserves for a game that is widely disliked throughout football. “None of our players and none of the French players want to play this match,” England manager Thomas Tuchel said after his team’s agonizing semifinal defeat. “They want to play the final. We gave everything to achieve that. Everyone plays to win the World Cup, but that’s how it is. “We have one less day of recovery than France, but we will do it with professionalism.”

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FIFA World Cup 2026 Sport News

Uncertainty clouds the forecast on whether wildfire smoke will affect the World Cup final

World Cup destiny: Messi bathed Yamal as a baby, now they face off for soccer’s top title

Slovenian Slavko Vinčić to referee World Cup final as FIFA picks a European for Argentina-Spain game

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez to attend World Cup final against Argentina

Saudi Football Federation sets election date following Al-Misehal resignation

2026 World Cup final is also about the time Spain’s De la Fuente taught Argentina boss Scaloni

Trump to attend World Cup final on Sunday: White House

France, England prepare for gloomy World Cup send-off