The 2026 FIFA World Cup kicks off in June — and HuffPost will be live-blogging every twist, turn and controversy from the buildup through the final of what’s widely shaping up to be the most political soccer tournament of all time.

From the action on the pitch to the potential chaos off it, the storylines are already piling up: Iran’s possible non-participation amid Donald Trump’s war, the president’s close relationship with FIFA’s Peace Prize-awarding President Gianni Infantino, and simmering tensions between the U.S. and fellow host nations Mexico and Canada fueled by Trump’s tariffs and divisive rhetoric.

Trump’s travel bans could keep some fans out, there’s been fury over soaring ticket prices, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents could be present at games as the Trump administration continues its anti-immigration crackdown.

Not to mention extreme heat concerns that scorched all those involved the last time the U.S. hosted the tournament some 32 years ago, in 1994.

And that’s all before a ball has been kicked.

On the field, the men’s national teams from 48 countries will compete in a record 104 matches across the three host nations in what will be the biggest World Cup in history.

Mexico will take on South Africa at the iconic Mexico City Stadium in the opening game on June 11. The U.S. will play Paraguay in Los Angeles on June 12, Australia in Seattle on June 19 and Turkey back in Los Angeles on June 25, in the group games, before potentially competing in the later knockout rounds.

The final will be held on July 19 at MetLife Stadium, which is being temporarily rebranded as the New York/New Jersey Stadium for the competition.

Current European champions Spain are favorites to lift the trophy. Defending champions Argentina, of Inter Miami’s Lionel Messi fame, along with France, England and Brazil, are also expected to be in the mix.

Check out the full games schedule on the FIFA website.

Follow along with our coverage below:

Midtjylland midfielder Alamara Djabi is in stable condition after being stabbed and seriously injured, the Danish top-flight club said on Tuesday.

The incident occurred over the weekend in Herning, the central Danish town where the club is based, according to Midtjylland.

The 19-year-old, a product of the Benfica academy, joined the Danish Superliga club in 2023 and has made two senior appearances.

"Alamara Djabi was subsequently in critical condition and underwent emergency surgery," Midtjylland said in a statement. "Since then, he has undergone another operation, and thanks to the professional efforts of the emergency responders and later the hospital staff, his condition is now stable. He has awakened from an induced coma and is doing well under the circumstances.

"FC Midtjylland is in close dialogue and cooperation with the authorities and is providing support to Alamara Djabi and his family."

Midtjylland sit second in Group A of the Danish Superliga, which they last won in 2024, two points behind AGF.

Police seized thousands of counterfeit soccer jerseys at an English market on Saturday as part of a major targeting of fake merchandise ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which begins on June 11.

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Romania have appointed former great Gheorghe Hagi as head coach of the national team, the national football federation said on Monday, with the 61-year-old returning to the bench where he began his managerial career 25 years ago.

Considered one of the best players in the world in his heyday of the 1980s and 1990s, Hagi replaces Mircea Lucescu who left the role earlier this month following Romania's World Cup playoff loss to Turkey.

The 80-year-old Lucescu died five days after stepping down.

The Romania Football Federation said Hagi has signed a contract for the next two qualification cycles, Euro 2028 and World Cup 2030.

Romania play friendlies against Georgia and Wales in June before beginning their Nations League B campaign in September.

Hagi, an attacking midfielder nicknamed the "Maradona of the Carpathians", made 124 appearances for Romania, performing at three World Cups and three European Championships.

Alongside Adrian Mutu, he is Romania's all-time leading scorer with 35 goals.

His playing days took him to the likes of Steaua Bucharest, Real Madrid and Barcelona before finishing his career at Galatasaray at the age of 36 in 2001.

Hagi was appointed Romania manager the following month and took charge for four games, including a World Cup playoff which his side lost over two legs to Slovenia, which led to his resignation.

As a coach, Hagi has had two spells at Galatasaray, winning the Turkish Cup.

He founded a club in Romania, Viitorul Constanta, which achieved promotion to the top tier and later merged with Farul Constanta. Hagi managed the club for over a decade up until last year, winning two league titles.

Bayern Munich playmaker Jamal Musiala missed much of the season due to a broken leg and while he has already made an impact since returning to the pitch in January, coach Vincent Kompany is confident he will soon take his game to a whole new level.

The 23-year-old Germany international sustained a fibula fracture with a broken and dislocated ankle following a collision with then-Paris St Germain goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma at the Club World Cup last July.

After making his return at the start of the year, he has gradually earned more playing time as he bids to make Germany's squad for the World Cup, which starts in June.

Fellow Bayern midfielder Serge Gnabry carried much of the load during Musiala's absence but will be out of action for several weeks with an adductor muscle injury.

With Bayern set for a German Cup semi-final against Bayer Leverkusen on Wednesday, Kompany needs Musiala to step up.

"Jamal is in a good phase at the moment," he told a press conference on Tuesday.

"I said it early on, back in January, that he's developed physically. He's now also physically close to his best level, not just in terms of strength but also in terms of his willingness to run.

"Now the question is when will 'Magic Musiala' return? It will come 100%. The moments are there. But even now, what the lad is doing at the moment is very dangerous in front of goal."

In 600 minutes of play, Musiala had accrued nine 'scorer points' - the combined number of assists and goals scored - in all competitions, said Kompany.

Treble-chasing Bayern, who have not reached the German Cup final since 2020, secured the Bundesliga title on Sunday with a 4-2 victory over VfB Stuttgart with four matches left to play.

They also face PSG next week in France in their Champions League semi-final first leg.

"When he has this total freedom again, and it will come back, then you will have an even more developed version of Musiala and that, as a coach, makes me happy," Kompany added.

"But with nine scorer points in 600 minutes he has shown he is ready."

Cesena goalkeeper Jonathan Klinsmann has been ruled out for the remainder of the season after fracturing his spine during Saturday's Serie B match against Palermo, jeopardising his potential inclusion in the U.S. World Cup squad.

The 29-year-old American, son of former Germany international and World Cup winner Juergen Klinsmann, confirmed in a social media post that he faces an indefinite recovery period.

"Unfortunately my season came to an end on Saturday. During the match I suffered a fracture to my spine which will sideline me for a while," he said in a post on Instagram on Monday.

Klinsmann had emerged as a potential U.S. squad member following a reliable campaign in Italy.

Cesena sit eighth in the Italian second tier with 44 points after Saturday's 2-0 defeat at Palermo.

While Klinsmann earned several call-ups to the national team for recent friendlies, he remains uncapped after failing to see game time during those windows.

Born in Germany but raised in California, Klinsmann rose through the U.S. youth ranks toward the end of his father’s five-year tenure as head coach for the national team from 2011 to 2016.

The U.S. are to open their World Cup campaign at home to Paraguay on June 12, before facing Australia and Turkey in Group D.

Fans leaving FIFA World Cup Games at Philadelphia's Lincoln Financial Field will have access to free train rides home, the local organizing committee announced Monday.

SEPTA (the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority) struck a partnership deal with World Cup sponsor AirBnB that covers any fan's train ride along the B (Broad Street) line, beginning at halftime of any match and lasting up to two hours after full time.

SEPTA had previously announced that B line fares will stay at a consistent $2.90 for fans traveling to matches.

The deal comes in sharp contrast with recent news from neighboring New Jersey that NJ Transit rides will cost up to $150 round-trip from New York City to MetLife Stadium during the tournament.

An AirBnB spokesperson told Philly Voice that the company is only covering Philadelphia transit fares because the city came to them with the desire to prioritize reasonable fees.

As part of the first 48-team World Cup, co-hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada, Philadelphia will host five games in the group stage and a Round of 16 knockout match on July 4, the day the U.S. celebrates its 250th anniversary.

Italian football is at its lowest ebb in nearly 40 years after a wholesale European exodus at club level followed the nation's failure for the third successive time to qualify for the World Cup and compounded a leadership and structural crisis.

The exits suffered by Bologna and Fiorentina on Thursday in the Europa League and Conference League respectively meant no Italian teams are left in European competition this season.

Italy's last remaining Champions League contenders Atalanta went out in the round of 16 last month.

It is the first time since the 1986-87 campaign that Italian clubs have been shut out of the European semi-finals across the board in a season with three major continental competitions.

The club-level wipeout has compounded a mounting emergency in a country where football is a national passion.

Inter Milan made the 2025 Champions League final, where they were thrashed by Paris St-Germain, and Atalanta won the Europa League in 2024 but Italy have now stalled on several fronts.

Coupled with the national team's continued World Cup exile, Italian football has been plunged into an identity crisis as the country wraps up its 'annus horribilis' season.

SYSTEMIC RESET

Italy suffered a collective shock in March after a 4-1 penalty shootout defeat by Bosnia and Herzegovina in their World Cup qualifying playoff final following a 1-1 draw after extra time led to the departure of coach Gennaro Gattuso.

The resignation of Italian Football Federation President Gabriele Gravina followed in the fallout and he admitted that the foundations of the domestic game had crumbled.

"The crisis is deep, Italian football needs to be redesigned," said Gravina - a warning now being amplified by several Italian coaches.

Fabio Capello noted this week that "it is practically impossible to get worse than this; we have hit rock bottom."

Carlo Ancelotti, who is in charge of five-times world champions Brazil, told Italian media on Friday that the nation has lost its way both on the pitch and financially.

"We already lack talent in other areas of the pitch, but the excessive focus on tactics has distorted our characteristics, the ones on which we have always built our history," he said.

He noted that the financial chasm between Serie A and its rivals has stripped the league of its former allure.

"The great foreign players no longer come to Italy. Abroad, with substantial TV rights and powerful investors, a more attractive market is formed."

The crisis seems to pervade every level of the game, with crumbling infrastructure now dominating the headlines as Italy prepares to co-host the 2032 Euros alongside Turkey.

Italian media have warned that stadium projects are significantly behind schedule, with construction yet to begin on several key venues.

"I hope the infrastructure will be ready," UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin said earlier this month. "Otherwise, the tournament will not be played in Italy."

LOOKING AHEAD

With the season wrapping up, Italy face a period of restructuring. A new coach and FIGC President are yet to be announced following the resignations of Gattuso and Gravina.

Media reports suggest Napoli manager Antonio Conte and AC Milan boss Max Allegri are the frontrunners to succeed Gattuso.

A decision on the next coach is unlikely before the FIGC elections on June 22. Until then, Italian football is in a state of suspended animation, waiting to see if the new leadership will opt for a total reset or more pragmatic rebuilding phase.

In the wake of a season of systemic failure, the pressure for structural reform suggests that the status quo is no longer an option for the Italian game that once dominated the sport.

The U.S. government has released all funds allocated for security at the soccer World Cup, but the ongoing shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security has affected planning and coordination, a department official told a Senate hearing on Wednesday.

"A lot of the planning efforts underway for the World Cup have been slowed down, have been delayed due to the lapse in appropriations, individuals being furloughed," Christopher Tomney, director of the DHS Office of Homeland Security Situational Awareness, told the Senate Appropriations Committee.

Intelligence briefings reviewed by Reuters last month warned of the potential for extremists and criminals to target the World Cup, with officials working on preparations for the soccer tournament sounding the alarm on a delay in allocation of approved security funds.

Tomney said the Federal Emergency Management Agency has now distributed the $625 million earmarked for security. The 48-team tournament, one of the world's biggest sporting events, will be held in June and July across the U.S., Canada and Mexico.

"All the funding has been released now. FEMA GO is up and operational," he said, referring to the disaster agency's grants management system.

The DHS shutdown has crossed the two-month mark, with lawmakers in Congress unable to agree on legislation to fund the agency in the wake of President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown. Trump signed an order earlier this month to pay every DHS employee.

When asked how specifically the shutdown has hampered the agency's ability to organize the event, Tomney pointed to the departure of hundreds of transportation security officers from the Transportation Security Administration.

"We just can't replace that expertise overnight. It has hindered our coordination with state and locals," he said.

Liverpool's France striker Hugo Ekitike will miss the rest of the season and the World Cup after suffering a ruptured Achilles tendon, the Premier League club said last week.

The 23-year-old was forced off during the first half of Liverpool's Champions League quarter-final second leg against Paris Saint Germain at Anfield on Tuesday after slipping on the turf. Liverpool lost 2-0 to exit 4-0 on aggregate.

Scans have since confirmed the severity of the forward's injury, with Liverpool saying Ekitike will be sidelined for the remaining weeks of the campaign.

The injury will also rule him out of this year's World Cup, the club added, after France manager Didier Deschamps said on Wednesday the striker would miss the finals in North America.

"Further updates will be provided at the appropriate time, with Hugo receiving the full support of everyone at LFC," Liverpool said in a statement.

Ekitike joined Liverpool in July from Eintracht Frankfurt and is their top scorer this season with 17 goals in all competitions, including 11 in the Premier League. He has netted two goals for France in eight appearances.

FIFA President Gianni Infantino said last Wednesday that Iran will participate in the World Cup “for sure” despite its war with the United States.

Read more here:

FIFA raised its top ticket price for the World Cup final to $10,990 during the glitch-hampered reopening of sales earlier this month after the 48-team field for this year’s tournament was finalized.

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