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World Cup 2026: Fifa urged to remove official over hand gesture; teams hit back at Ceferin; Iran arrive in US – live | World Cup 2026

Published

2 days ago

June 15, 2026

info@oxinfo.co.uk

Key events

More now on the hand gesture story mentioned earlier. Fifa’s discrimination monitor at the World Cup has called for a video assistant referee to be removed for appearing to make a hand gesture resembling a white supremacist sign.

“Advice from our experts is that the gesture used clearly resembles an upside down ‘OK’ hand symbol used as a ‘white power’ symbol in global far-right circles,” the Fare network, a longtime partner of Fifa and Uefa, the European football governing body, to monitor racist and discriminatory chants, flags and symbols at international games, said in a statement. “Clearly this official should have no further role to play in this World Cup,” Fare said in a statement, describing the gesture as “neo-Nazi.”

Kick-off times are more friendly for the UK viewer today. Spain v Cape Verdi at 5pm and Belgium v Egypt at 8pm. But we need to think globally so that’s 3pm for Cape Verdi viewers cheering on their team while in Egypt it’ll be 10pm for those tuning in to see if Mo Salah can inspire his team to victory over the Belgians.

The biggest test for the UK viewer today is Iran v New Zealand at 2am BST. In Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch that’ll be 1pm while in Tehran, Mashhad and Karaj it’s a less palatable 4.30am.

Thanks Sarah. As for World Cup songs, this one from the German 1990 squad always sticks in my mind. While England took the genre to a new level with New Order and John Barnes’ rap, the Germans very much went down the traditional route. A singer that looks like a cross between Chris de Burgh and Thomas Muller, Karl-Heinz Riedle on maracas, one or two playing air saxophone. Pleasingly dreadful.

The Germans’ response to New Order

I am off to grab some food and so I leave you in the hands of Dave Tindall who will take you through the next few hours of news. I’ll be back later on.

From requests of your favourite football songs to another on if you live in a World Cup host city. We want to hear from you if you have football teams in town from the atmosphere to how it is affecting business. Use the form on this page to get in touch:

We have another shout for the best/worst football song and I can’t decide which side of the forward slash this one belongs on. Graeme Neill said:

Timely given yesterday evening’s match. Japan’s Cornelius and his utterly bonkers Ball in Kick Off is worth a listen:

France will kick-off their tournament against Senegal on Tuesday and to say they have attacking quality is an understatement. The team boasts players like the captain, Kylian Mbappé, Ballon d’Or winner Ousmane Dembélé, Michael Olise and Cherki but they all have a role to play, according to Adrien Rabiot. Read more:

Jacob Steinberg

The cat is well truly out of the bag. Nobody expected the conversation to be quite so revealing when Jude Bellingham and Morgan Rogers sat on the Lions’ Den sofa last week. Content controlled by the Football Association was an unlikely place for Bellingham to drop a few truth bombs, but the England midfielder was not minded to hold back when it was time to discuss his experience at Euro 2024.

“It didn’t feel like there was any kind of hierarchy,” the 22-year-old said. “I think at the Euros we got some things a little bit wrong off the pitch. I don’t feel like the group connected as well as it could have – for a number of reasons.”

Fifa urged to remove official over hand gesture

Fifa have been urged to remove a video review official who appeared to make a white supremacy hand gesture during Germany’s 7-1 win over Curaçao.

The governing body’s discrimination monitor at the World Cup called for Shaun Evans from Australia to be removed from the tournament.

The gesture was also spotted by several fans who posted about it on social media.

“Advice from our experts is that the gesture used clearly resembles an upside down ‘OK’ hand symbol used as a ‘white power’ symbol in global far-right circles,” the Fare network said.

Fifa are yet to comment on the situation.

There have been some sights at the World Cup but Scotland fans taking over Fenway Park is one that has been one of the most surreal. The Boston Red Sox lost 6-4 to the Texas Rangers but Scotland fans stayed long after the game was over singing “super John McGinn” and during the match there was a rendition of “yes sir, I can boogie”.

Photograph: Mark Stockwell/AP

Anil Patel has emailed:

This absolute banger wasn’t attached to any particular team but is one of the best themes out there.

This is a great shout and a fun fact for you about it, it was initially written to be a baseball anthem. Some baseball news coming your way soon…

If anyone is unsure of the song I referenced, here it is:

Football songs can be iconic or occasionally cringey, that one with Dizzee Rascal and James Cordon comes to mind for the latter for me. What are your best/worst anthems for a major tournament? Get in touch and let me know.

England may have banished some penalty shootout demons in the last few major tournaments but the question of who would step up to take one is one that will always be asked. One such player who said he would take on is Eberechi Eze, despite missing one in the Champions League final. Have a read of what he said:

There will be many questions raised at this World Cup. Who will win the trophy? Who will claim the Golden Boot? What will the next standout moment be? But there is another question that has been answered in the following piece: Where have the WAGs gone?

Matt Hughes

Fox will not face any punishment from Fifa for breaking the governing body’s advertising rules during the opening game of the World Cup between Mexico and South Africa last week.

The US broadcaster broke Fifa’s strict guidelines for showing commercials during hydration breaks on the first occasion they were in operation by returning to the live action 10 seconds after play had resumed during the second half at Mexico City Stadium.

Fifa’s tournament regulations, which were given to all rights holders two months ago, state that while broadcasters can show ads during hydration breaks they must return to the match 30 seconds before play resumes.

Sometimes a team needs a player to have some standout performances to jump start a tournament and Jordan Henderson believes that player for England will be Jude Bellingham. Henderson said:

I’m sure he will have a big impact for us in this tournament. I can remember five years ago I gave him his first cap, it was away at Middlesbrough. How much he’s grown, as a player and as a person since then, is incredible really. I had a good idea when I first saw him playing and training, and the way he was.

I think everybody forgets how young he is. We do rondos and it’s the youngest in, and there’s people that I think should be going in before him, but he’s always one of the first in the middle to go in. It just reminds us how young he is. I honestly couldn’t speak highly enough of him.

Photograph: Julian Finney/Getty Images

The travel at this tournament has grabbed more than a few headlines so far and there is another one pertaining to Australia. The Socceroos beat Turkey 2-0 in their opening game with their second against one of the co-hosts, the US, on Friday. Their focus will be on that game but recovery is also high on their list. Read more here:

There have already been so many historic moments at this tournament, including Scotland’s first World Cup win in 36 years. Mo Salah is hoping to replicate the moment and end Egypt’s long wait of 92 years for a victory at the tournament. The team have their first game against Belgium today to try and make history:

Spain, who start their campaign today against Cabo Verde, are among the favourites to win the World Cup after their European Championship success in 2024. Here’s a piece on how the team are embracing the tag and how they are using one trophy-winning tournament to potentially lift another:

Uruguay will take on Saudia Arabia later today but their travel was delayed amid challenges across the tournament.

The team’s initial flight from Mexico was cancelled with their replacment delayed. The Uruguay captain, José María Giménez, described the situation as “difficult”.

There are more games to be played today with another four in store. The details for those kick-off times and match-ups are below but do get in touch to let me know what your World Cup routine is. Are you having to get up early to watch the games? Or are you in a time zone where you can get home from work and watch back-to-back football until it’s time for bed? Email me and let me know, here are today’s fixtures:

Spain v Cabo Verde (5pm BST, 12pm ET, 9am PT)
Belgium v Egypt (8pm BST, 3pm ET, 12pm PT)
Saudi Arabia v Uruguay (11pm BST, 6pm ET, 3pm PT)
Iran v New Zealand (2am BST, 9pm ET, 6pm PT)

So what happened in the matches yesterday? Four took place with the biggest win coming in Germany’s 7-1 dismantling of Curaçao. The island nation will be disappointed with the result but they also made history as they scored their first-ever World Cup goal. That came from Livano Comenencia, who plays his club football for Zürich. Have a read of that report and others for all the latest action on pitch:

Čeferin criticised for ‘uninteresting’ comment

UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin was criticised by multiple nations from Asia, Africa and the Caribbean after reportedly saying the expanded World Cup creates “uninteresting” matches.

According to Zurnal 24, the boss said at a conference last Monday: “We have a huge number of matches that are completely uninteresting.”

The associations of Cape Verde, Congo, Curaçao, Haiti, Jordan and Uzbekistan released a joint statement, which was in solidarity with the federations of Algeria, Egypt, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Morocco, Senegal, South Africa and Tunisia.

It said: “Football does not belong to a select group of nations. Its strength comes from its universality,” the statement said. “For many countries, participation in the FIFA World Cup is not only a sporting achievement. It is a moment that inspires a generation, accelerates football development and creates memories that last a lifetime.”

Photograph: Toya Sarno Jordan/FIFA/Getty Images

Ben Fisher

The Iran striker Mehdi Taremi has said the controversy and disruption surrounding their involvement at the World Cup undermines Fifa’s message of peace and conceded he felt the tension before arriving in Los Angeles on the eve of their opener, hours before a peace deal was announced. For the first time since the competition’s inception, a host nation has received a country with which it is at war.

On Sunday Iran flew to LA from Tijuana, Mexico, where they were relocated amid an ongoing row over visas, but are expected to face opposition from Iranians, many of whom believe the national team do not represent the country. Iran has been beset by problems in the buildup to the tournament, with several officials denied entry to the US.

Preamble

Hello and welcome to today’s World Cup news blog where we bring you the latest updates from the global event being hosted across the US, Canada and Mexico.

Any breaking news, team updates or reflections on what has happened so far will be all here for you to feast on, no matter what you are doing with your Monday.

Please do get in touch too, we always like to hear from readers. Potentially on the best underdog story at the World Cup or any quirky predictions you may have for the tournament.

Amongst several stories surrounding the competition today is Iran’s arrival in the US. The team landed on Sunday before they take on New Zealand.

More details on that story will be with you shortly, as well as the reports from the games that took place yesterday to catch up on all the latest action.

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UK News

PM warns Burnham against immediate leadership challenge if he wins by-election

Published

20 minutes ago

June 17, 2026

info@oxinfo.co.uk

Keir Starmer says Labour should focus on a subsequent Manchester mayoral race if Andy Burnham wins in Makerfield.

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UK News

World Cup 2026: England kick off in Dallas after big-hitting trio make mark – live | World Cup 2026

Published

1 hour ago

June 17, 2026

info@oxinfo.co.uk

Key events

Max Rushden and friends are coming in your ears with all the latest from the tournament.

Thomas Partey will not be part of the Ghana team that faces Panama, after he was denied access to Canada.

What Ghana do have is the likes of Antoine Semenyo after putting greater emphasis of attracting players from the diaspora.

Some lad called Messi is top of the Golden Boot list already. Who will hunt him down? Check out the top scorers, thus far.

Portugal open up against DR Congo as the Hors d’oeuvre for England v Croatia, not that anyone in those two countries will see it like that.

It is the sixth time Cristiano Ronaldo has been at a World Cup, which is a rather silly statistics. At 41, does he still have the powers to make a difference?

Ronaldo could wield a huge influence over the trophy’s ultimate destination. It remains to be seen whether that is channelled positively. Portugal can field arguably the best first-choice midfield in this summer’s competition, an experienced defence and an admirable array of wide forwards. At the heart of their attack stands, depending on your perspective, either a free-scoring icon primed to fire them all the way or a 41-year-old passenger whose presence sucks an otherwise fluent team into an inescapable void.

Nick Ames takes a look at the legend.

That is more than enough England material for the timing being, but do not fear, there will plenty throughout the day.

Opponents Croatia have impressed in recent times at the World Cup, reaching a final and semi-final in their past two outings. A key reason for their successes come in the form of 40-year-old Luka Modric, who is still going in the middle of the park and will be plotting England’s downfall.

Aleksandar Holiga on the the great man’s last dance.

There is plenty to get your teeth and eyes into as we prepare for England’s entrance in Dallas.

David Hytner has been listening to Harry Kane’s thoughts on the Three Lions’ chances and his own form.

I’m coming into this tournament in the best way possible; the best place physically and mentally. Throughout a career, there aren’t loads of times when all the pieces of the puzzle will come together at the right moment. Talking now, I feel like I’m in that place.

Thomas Tuchel is about to learn what managing at a major tournament is all about, writes Jacob Steinberg.

After an impressive qualifying campaign, Tuchel is backing England to thrive under the microscope in the US.

Barney Ronay on England shifting the focus from fun to business.

You can sit there playing with your silly little machines as much as you like. I’ll show you a World Cup. Close to a week in, with almost an entire round of cloudless group games in the bag, the coffin lid is starting to creak. By late Monday morning the first little knots of Three Lions shirts could be seen wandering the blank, baking streets of Dallas, blinking in the light. England are at the door. And it’s time for a vibe shift.

We should start with the latest set of results on what was a fascinating day.

Paul MacInnes was in New York/Jersey to see Mbappe lay down the first marker of the day. The Frenchman’s goals mean we will not have to spend our time discussing VAR too much but we certainly will.

The Ewan Murray witnessed Erling Haaland doing what he does best as Norway returned to the biggest stage by pummelling Iraq into submission.

Pablo Iglesias Maurer was on hand to see Lionel Messi’s 200th Argentina appearance, which he celebrated with a hat-trick against Algeria. He will be 39 next week but no one seems to have told him.

Austria required an own goal and late penalty against newcomers Jordan to get their competition up and running.

Preamble

After the tedium of four draws the day before, Tuesday felt like a moment within the context of this World Cup. Kylian Mbappe, Erling Haaland and Lionel Messi all made their marks with goals in big win for their respective countries. Tournaments need their stars to step up, often it is individuals rather than teams that are remembered for their successes in the history books and three of the globe’s best are threatening to do that again.

The hotly-anticipated England opener comes our way later, as Thomas Tuchel et al aim to end *checks notes* 70 years of hurt. Croatia provide the opponents, having previously caused plenty of harm to wallies with brollies and inflicting a semi-final defeat in Russia eight years ago. Will Harry Kane join his fellow figure heads by proving his class on the biggest stage? One nation certainly hope so.

We will be bringing you all the latest from the World Cup with plenty to look back on but even more to look forward to.

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