Three and a half years after its biggest failure on the World Cup stage in half a century, the Mexican national team needed only two games to advance to the knockout round of this year's tournament as winner of Group A.

Mexico's defense held off a spirited final push by South Korea, earning a 1-0 win on Thursday night at Guadalajara Stadium in...Read more

VANCOUVER, Canada — When the first men's World Cup game played in Canada kicked off last week, Anthony Totera sat in the stands and wept.

"It was a dream come true," said Totera, who has spent most of his 57 years on earth promoting Canadian soccer. "I can't describe the emotions. It was something surreal."

If the 1994 World Cup, the first ...Read more

INGLEWOOD, Calif. — Imagine it. A neophyte coach, leading a team for the first time at any competitive level, and it being a high-profile assignment on the biggest of big stages.

A self-assured broadcaster, critical and competitive, having his bluff called, being invited to not just talk about it, but to be about it: Walk the walk, why don't ...Read more

SEATTLE — When Carey Lefkowitz first heard the U.S. men’s national team was going to play a World Cup soccer game in Seattle, he felt a surge of excitement.

The West Seattle marketing consultant loves how the legendary tournament brings fans from different countries together. He’s followed the U.S. team since 1994, when the FIFA Men’s ...Read more

SEATTLE — Christian Pulisic's status for the United States' second World Cup match Friday in Seattle is uncertain a week after he aggravated a left calf injury.

"Tonight, we have a meeting with our medical staff. We will assess the whole group," U.S. coach Mauricio Pochettino told reporters Thursday. "He's evolving and much better from Friday...Read more

INGLEWOOD, Calif. — For nearly 70 minutes Thursday afternoon, Switzerland and Bosnia and Herzegovina presented the latest argument against World Cup expansion in a tournament that, at only a week old, was already full of them.

For more than an hour, the equally dreadful Swiss and Bosnians left the 70,026 fans at SoFi Stadium to ask themselves...Read more

BOSTON — The World Cup tourism boom, led by what Boston Mayor Michelle Wu estimates has been an influx of 50,000 rowdy Scots, has prompted the city to add two downtown social districts where people can legally drink alcohol outside, starting Friday.

Wu said Thursday that the city will temporarily open two areas — at Union and Marshall ...Read more

Goalkeeper Raúl Rangel was 18 years old and playing for Chivas de Guadalajara's youth academy the last time Mexico faced South Korea in a World Cup match in 2018.

Three years ago, when asked who might be the next great goalkeeper for the Mexican national team, Rangel named himself ahead of veteran Guillermo "Memo" Ochoa. A bold statement for a...Read more

Argentina's Lionel Messi isn't the only one scoring in the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

Fox and Telemundo are off to a blazing start in the TV ratings for the quadrennial soccer tournament, delivering big increases over the 2022 World Cup held in Qatar.

Through the first 16 group stage matches, an average of 6 million viewers have watched on Fox and ...Read more

The run-up to the World Cup in Los Angeles was marked by anxiety over how immigration enforcement, travel restrictions and anti-Trump backlash would affect the spirit and attendance of the games.

But on the streets of L.A. over the last week, something very different has happened.

Fans from a kaleidoscope of cultural backgrounds have come ...Read more

“The World Cup didn’t need America, but America needed the World Cup.”

That’s the view from one of many on social media acknowledging the international visitors here for the World Cup who, in their own posts about discovering the people and culture of the U.S., have reminded us of all that’s great about this country.

To be sure, ...Read more

ARLINGTON, Texas — The second World Cup match at AT&T Stadium was even more electric than the first as England outpaced Croatia in a 4-2 win Wednesday.

A sellout crowd of 70,389 fans clad in red and white on both sides was treated to a high-level match, as the stars of England delivered on the world’s biggest stage while Croatia stayed ...Read more

SEATTLE — Growing up the son of an NFL wide receiver, Alex Freeman said he felt a lot of pressure to play the American version of football, not the one the rest of the world plays.

"I always got asked if football was the path," he said last summer. "But I always had a secret love for soccer."

And he had to keep it a secret because he wasn't ...Read more

SEATTLE — After what felt like eons of waiting, the World Cup officially arrived in Seattle on Monday.

The waiting period, which lasted anywhere from days to years depending on who you ask, was ripe with news from questions of who would play in the tournament to if FIFA would be able to sell their tickets, which were priced higher than ever ...Read more

It didn’t take long for Lionel Messi, a week shy of his 39th birthday and the only man to play in six World Cups, to prove he still lives up to the hype and can create magic on the sport’s biggest stage.

The Inter Miami captain scored a hat trick for defending World Cup champion Argentina in a 3-0 rout over Algeria in their tournament ...Read more

NEW YORK — About 65 minutes of Tuesday’s Group I opener between France and Senegal were mired with missed opportunities and sloppy play.

A match with some of the best attacking power in the world went scoreless well into the outing, with France’s Kylian Mbappé unable to convert on poor touches and Senegal’s Ismaila Sarr turning a tap-...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Unprecedented sports feats and historical firsts are usually joyous affairs. Something to celebrate, fun trivia to tuck away for later.

On Monday in Inglewood, the history was much more fraught, and not at all trivial.

Iran's national soccer team played on American soil — this time on SoFi Stadium's natural turf — for the ...Read more

INGLEWOOD, Calif. — Security working the entry gates Monday at SoFi Stadium were searching for two items to confiscate.

Water bottles.

And flags depicting a yellow lion holding a curved sword with a rising sun in the background.

One was in the name of Dasani, the other in the name of Melli.

Dasani is the bottled water company owned by FIFA...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Fox is under fire for missing on-field action during the first match of the World Cup last week.

Many sports fans were irate when the network aired a full-screen ad when play resumed after a water break during last Thursday's Mexico-South Africa match.

In the second half, the referee called for the newly instated hydration ...Read more