FIFA

What can be the perfect opening match in a World Cup tournament marked by such ponderous build-up and insatiable greed in an era which has become synonymous with maximisation of attention-grabbing tactics to the active detriment of the…

The 2026 FIFA World Cup is finally here. Mexico City's Estadio Azteca, football's most storied amphitheatre, opened the tournament's first match on home soil in forty years with a ceremony that mixed spectacle with symbolism — and a match…

Tilsa, a friend of mine who is a PhD scholar at the University of Hyderabad, often comes to mind when thinking about football, not just as a random player or for the exceptional playing abilities they hold, but as one of the few who watch…

The intersection of geopolitics and sport has long been a battleground of double standards, but the 2026 FIFA World Cup—co-hosted by the United States, Mexico, and Canada—has pushed this hypocrisy into plain view. As the tournament kicks…

In November 2022, the captains of seven European nations planned to wear a rainbow-coloured armband at the World Cup in Qatar. It bore a small multicoloured heart and the words “OneLove.” It symbolised, its organisers said, inclusion and…

Iran fans World Cup- Iran's football federation says its fan ticket allocation for the World Cup group stage has been revoked just days before kick-off. According to the FFIRI, it can no longer provide a single ticket to supporters, some of…

As the 2026 FIFA World Cup prepares to kick off across North America, the tournament's central promise—to be a global celebration of unity through sport—is rapidly crumbling. For the Iraqi national football team, the Lions of Mesopotamia,…

One of Africa’s most respected match officials, Omar Abdulkadir Artan, was reportedly refused entry into the United States upon arrival for the 2026 FIFA World Cup and subsequently sent back to Turkey, according to initial reports. The…

It was a long summer afternoon I remember like yesterday. The latest issue of the bi-weekly Bangla magazine, which had satiated most of my growing appetite for reading when I was eight, had arrived. That summer afternoon, about a month…

2026 FIFA World Cup Fixture Schedule and Kick-Off Times | The 2026 FIFA World Cup kicks off in the early hours of Friday, 12 June IST, with hosts Mexico facing africa/">africa/">South Africa at the Estadio Azteca in Mexico City.…