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Starmer says it ‘beggars belief’ he wasn’t told about Mandelson vetting failure as he faces Commons – UK politics live | Politics

Published

2 months ago

April 20, 2026

info@oxinfo.co.uk

MPs jeer as Starmer says it is ‘incredible’ he was not told full story about Mandelson’s vetting

Starmer went on:

Many members across the House will find these facts to be incredible.

That generated lots of ironic jeering from opposition MPs.

Starmer went on:

I can only say they [the MPs jeering] right. It beggars belief that throughout the whole timeline of events, officials in the Foreign Office saw fit to withhold this information from the most senior ministers in our system, in government.

That is not how the vast majority of people in this country expect politics, government or accountability to work. And I do not think it’s how most public servants think it should work either.

I work with hundreds of civil servants, thousands all of whom act with the utmost integrity, dedication and pride to serve this country, including officials from the Foreign Office who, as we speak, are doing a phenomenal job representing our national interest in a dangerous world in Ukraine, in the Middle East and all around the world.

This is not about them, but yet it is surely beyond doubt that the recommendation from UKSV that Peter Mandelson should be denied development and clearance was information that could and should have been shared with me on repeated occasions, and therefore should have been available to this House and ultimately to the British people.

Key events

David Davis, the former Tory cabinet minister, asked why Starmer did not follow Simon Case’s recommendation about ensuring security vetting took place before the appointment was confirmed. (See 12.34pm.)

Starmer said he thought Mandelson’s appointment was subject to security vetting being confirmed. He was told that was the standard process.

Reform UK MP Lee Anderson ordered to leave Commons chamber after saying Starmer’s ‘been lying’

Lee Anderson, the Reform UK, told Starmer that no one believed him, not the public, nor opposition MPs, nor Labour MPs. “Does the prime minister agree with me he’s been lying?”

Lindsay Hoyle, the speaker, told Anderson he would have to withdraw that. Parliamentary rules do not allow MPs to call each other liars.

Anderson said he wouldn’t. He went on:

I will not withdraw. That man couldn’t lie straight in bed.

Hoyle told Anderson to leave, which he did.

Jeremy Wright (Con), a member the intelligence and security committee, asked for information relevant to vetting to be handed over it in the first tranche of information it was considering. (The ISC is scrutinising Mandelson material required to be published by the humble address on behalf of parliament, so that material that would pose a national security risk gets held back.) Wright says the ISC did not learn about Mandelson failing to the vetting interview until the story was published by the Guardian on Thursday last week. He asked why Starmer did not tell the committee as soon as he found out on Tuesday.

Starmer says he was going to tell the committee. He wanted to get all the facts first, he said.

Mandelson given ambassador’s job as reward for helping get Starmer elected MP, John McDonnell claims

John McDonnell (Lab) said he welcomed Starmer’s apology. He went on to claim that, when Keir Starmer wanted to become Labour leader, he became dependent on Morgan McSweeney and Peter Mandelson to organise and fund his election. He went on:

When he became prime minister, the reward for McSweeney was control of No 10 and, for Mandelson, the highest diplomatic office.

And the message, that unspoken message to civil servants, was what Mandelson wants. Mandelson gets.

He said Starmer should clear this “toxic culture” out from Labour. And he called for an inquiry into Labour Together, the thinktank that was founded by McSweeney and subsequently criticised for smearing journalists writing critically about it.

Starmer rejects claim No 10 did not check Mandelson’s vetting record after report in Independent in September

Simon Hoare (Con), chair of the public administration and constitutional affairs committee, said he did not understand why nobody asked what had happened in the light of David Maddox’s story in the Independent last September. (See 11.44am.)

Starmer said questions were asked.

The FCDO was repeatedly asked … The same answer came back because a clear decision have been taken that this information was not going to be disclosed and it wasn’t as close to me, let alone to anybody else.

The Labour MPs Diane Abbott said Peter Mandelson had a history of being sacked for scandals going back to the 1990s. She went on:

It’s one thing to say, as [Starmer] insists on saying nobody told me, nobody told me anything, nobody told me. The question is, why didn’t the prime minister ask?

Davey claims Starmer’s statement today shows he has failed to offer change from Johnson era

Ed Davey, the Lib Dem leader, also linked Keir Starmer to Boris Johnson. He said that, when Johnson was PM, Starmer said the public wanted honesty and accountability. Davey went on:

I’m afraid the fact that [Starmer] even had to make the statement today shows how badly he has failed, how badly he’s let down the millions of people across our country who are so desperate for change.

UPDATE: Davey said:

The prime minister knew that appointing Mandelson was an enormous risk, he decided it was a risk worth taking – a catastrophic error of judgment, and now that it’s blown up in his face, the only decent thing to do is to take responsibility.

Back in 2022, the prime minister rightly accused Boris Johnson of expecting others to take the blame while he clung on. That was not acceptable then, and it’s not acceptable now …

After years of chaos under the Conservatives, we needed a government focused on the interests of the people – the cost of living crisis, the health and care crisis, our national security. We needed a government of honesty, integrity and accountability. So will the prime minister finally accept that the only way he can help to deliver that is to resign?

Emily Thornberry suggests Morgan McSweeney so keen to make Mandelson ambassdor he ignored national security concerns

Emily Thornberry, the Labour chair of the foreign affairs committee, suggested that Peter Mandelson leaked the news of his likely appointment, bouncing No 10 into confirming it.

And she goes on:

Doesn’t this look like, for certain members of the prime minister’s team, getting Peter Mandelson, the job was a priority that overrode everything else and that security considerations were very much second order.

This was a reference to Morgan McSweeney, who as the PM’s chief of staff when Mandelson was appointed and who is thought to have been the person who pushed the appointment through. He and Mandelson were friends and allies.

In response, Starmer did not accept that No 10 downgraded national security concerns.

Badenoch ended her speech with a reference to an exchange between Boris Johnson and Keir Starmer.

On 26 January 2022 [Starmer] said to a previous prime minister at this dispatch box, if he misled the house, he must resign. Does he stand by those words, or is there one rule for him and another for everyone else?

(This sounded like a compelling payoff, but it was misleading. Johnson was accused of lying to MPs, and the privileges committee subsquently concluded he had lied to them about Partygate. But even Badenoch has now dropped her claim from last week that Starmer deliberately misled MPs about Mandelson. See 10.330am.)

Badenoch claims Starmer did not ask questions about Mandelson because ‘he didn’t want to know’

Badenoch criticised Starmer for sacrificing his officials.

The prime minister has thrown his staff and his officials under the bus.

Yet this is a man who once said, “I will carry the can for the mistakes of any organisation I lead.”

Instead, he has sacked his cabinet secretary. He has sacked his director of communications, he has sacked his chief of staff and he has now sacked the permanent secretary of the Foreign Office.

All of these people fired for a decision he made.

Badenoch also criticised Starmer for not asking enough questions

[Starmer’s] defence is that he, a former director of public prosecutions, is so lacking in curiosity that he chose to ask no questions about the vetting process.

He asked no questions about Mandelson’s relationship with Epstein. He asked no questions about the security risk Mandelson posed. Apparently, he didn’t even speak to Peter Mandelson before his appointment. It doesn’t appear that he asked any questions at all. Why? Because he didn’t want to know.

Badenoch said that Starmer’s account of events was getting murkier all the time.

At every turn, with every explanation, the government story has become murkier and more contradictory. It is time for the truth.

Badenoch said she had too many questions to cover in her time. So she was going to focus on six, she said. She said she had given Starmer notice of them.

She has posted them on social media.

Badenoch’s six questions Photograph: Kemi Badenoch

There are too many questions to ask in the allotted time,

Badenoch said the Mandelson appointment was a matter of national security.

We still do not know exactly why Peter Mandelson failed that vetting. We do not know what risks our country was exposed to, and we do not know how it is possible that the prime minister said repeatedly that this was a failure of vetting, went on television and said things that were blatantly incorrect, and not a single adviser or a single official told him that what he was saying wasn’t true.

Badenoch says Starmer breached ministerial code by not telling MPs on Wednesday last week about Mandelson error

Kemi Badenoch started her response to Keir Starmer by claiming that No 10 said earlier that Starmer would admit that he inadvertently misled the Commons. But Starmer did not say that in his statement, she said.

I will remind him that, under the ministerial code, he has a duty to correct the record at the earliest opportunity. The prime minister says he only found out on Tuesday that Peter Mandelson failed the security vetting. The earliest opportunity to correct the record was prime minister’s questions on Wednesday almost a week ago. This is a breach of the ministerial code.

MPs jeer as Starmer says it is ‘incredible’ he was not told full story about Mandelson’s vetting

Starmer went on:

Many members across the House will find these facts to be incredible.

That generated lots of ironic jeering from opposition MPs.

Starmer went on:

I can only say they [the MPs jeering] right. It beggars belief that throughout the whole timeline of events, officials in the Foreign Office saw fit to withhold this information from the most senior ministers in our system, in government.

That is not how the vast majority of people in this country expect politics, government or accountability to work. And I do not think it’s how most public servants think it should work either.

I work with hundreds of civil servants, thousands all of whom act with the utmost integrity, dedication and pride to serve this country, including officials from the Foreign Office who, as we speak, are doing a phenomenal job representing our national interest in a dangerous world in Ukraine, in the Middle East and all around the world.

This is not about them, but yet it is surely beyond doubt that the recommendation from UKSV that Peter Mandelson should be denied development and clearance was information that could and should have been shared with me on repeated occasions, and therefore should have been available to this House and ultimately to the British people.

Starmer says it is ‘frankly staggering’ that he was not told about Mandelson’s security vetting failure

Starmer again says it is staggering that ministers were not told what happened.

As I set out, I do not accept that I could not have been told about UKSV’s denial of security vetting before Peter Mandelson took up his post in January 25th.

I do not accept that the then cabinet secretary could not have been told in September 2025, when he carried out his review into the process.

I do not accept that the foreign secretary could not have been told when making statements to the select committee again in 2025.

On top of that, the fact that I was not told even when I ordered a review of the UKSV process is frankly staggering.

Starmer says it is ‘unforgivable’ officials let foreign secretary say usual vetting procedure was followed

Starmer says he sacked Mandelson in September last year after Bloomberg revelations showed that Mandelson had given answers that were “not truthful” to the Cabinet Office’s vetting process (which took place before the UKSV vetting process, and was different).

In September he asked for a review of the process, he says.

It was carried out by Chris Wormald, the cabinet secretary, who told Starmer in a letter that the “appropriate processes were followed in both the appointment and the withdrawal of [Mandelson].”

Starmer says Wormald was not told that Mandelson had failed the UKSV interview.

He goes on:

I do not accept that I could not have been told about the recommendation before Peter Mandelson took up his post.

I absolutely do not accept that the then cabinet secretary – an official, not a politician – when carrying out his review could not have been told that UKSV recommended that Peter Mandelson should be denied develop vetting clearance.

It was a vital part of the process that I had asked him to review. Clearly he could have been told, and he should have been told.

Starmer says Olly Robbins also told the foreign affairs committe that “Peter Mandelson’s security vetting was conducted to the usual standard set for developed vetting in line with established Cabinet Office policy”.

Starmer says the foreign secretary also signed off on this statement, without being told Mandelson failed the vetting interview.

That the foreign secretary was advised on and allowed to sign this statement by Foreign Office officials without being told that UKSV had recommended Peter Mandelson be denied vetting clearance is absolutely unforgivable.

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Ukraine war briefing: Moped ban in Crimea as official says noise is Kyiv plot using youth | Ukraine

Published

48 minutes ago

June 17, 2026

info@oxinfo.co.uk

Crimea, the peninsula annexed by Russia from Ukraine in 2014, has banned riding moped scooters, quad bikes and motorcycles at night-time, saying they sound like ⁠drone attacks and suggesting children are doing it deliberately at Kyiv’s behest. Sergei Aksyonov, the Russian-installed governor of the illegally occupied peninsula, said the ban would be in place between 8pm and 6am from Wednesday onwards.

Oleg Kryuchkov, Aksyonov’s adviser, claimed ‌separately on Telegram: “The enemy is recruiting your children for night-time rides … The moped ⁠noise hampers the work of defence systems. Their engines sound similar [to drones].” Ukraine has recently intensified drone attacks on Crimea, nominally the home to Russia’s Black Sea Fleet – targeting the peninsula’s supply routes and triggering a fuel crisis. A limit of 20 litres (5.3 gallons) of fuel per car at petrol stations would continue, Mikhail Razvozhayev, the governor of Crimea’s biggest city, Sevastopol, posted on Tuesday. Long lines of motorists queueing in Russian-controlled Crimea, southern Krasnodar region in Russia proper, and elsewhere underscore the sensitive domestic fallout from Ukraine’s strikes.

A Ukrainian drone attack started a fire at the refinery that is the ⁠largest fuel supplier to the Moscow region, and two industry sources told Reuters that it had halted operations. The strike on Gazprom Neft’s refinery in south-east Moscow on Tuesday damaged a primary refining facility that accounts ⁠for 53% of the plant’s capacity. Emergency services said the ⁠fire was put out and did not affected operations – information that was contradicted by Reuters sources. Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the Ukrainian president, said the Moscow refinery was hit from a distance of 500km (310 miles). “This is a just response to Russian strikes – and to the dragging out of a war that must be ended.” Gazprom Neft did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The US could soon reinstate sanctions on Russian oil shipments, Donald Trump indicated, as leaders at the G7 summit moved on Tuesday to put the war in Ukraine back on top of their agenda. Trump said the sanctions on Russia – partly waived by the US due to the Iran war, ostensibly to help lower oil prices – can go back in place as more oil moves through the strait of Hormuz. “Soon we’ll be able to do that because the oil is now flowing. We’re in a position to do that soon.”

Russia should make peace with Ukraine, the US president said after a “very good” meeting with Zelenskyy. “Look, Russia should make a deal,” Trump told reporters, adding that too many young men were dying on the battlefield on both sides. “I’m gonna do whatever I can.” The German chancellor, Friedrich Merz, said of Trump’s statement: “I found him to be very cooperative, and ‌I also saw him listening very attentively. And ‌in that respect, once again, it gives me a certain degree of optimism that we here, as Europeans and as Americans, are now doing everything we can, together, to end the war.”

A Ukrainian ⁠Su-24M bomber aircraft crashed on a mission in ⁠the Khmelnitskyi region ⁠in western Ukraine on Tuesday ⁠and its two-member crew was killed, ⁠the Ukrainian air ‌force said. Ukraine is estimated to have about a dozen of the ageing SU-24 family of warplanes. They are used to launch the Scalp/Storm Shadow cruise missiles supplied by Britain and France.

Russian strikes on Ukraine killed at least eight people on Tuesday, officials said. A drone strike in Nikopol, central Dnipropetrovsk region, killed “a mother and son – a woman of 87 and a 51-year-old man” as well as a third person not immediately identified, said the regional governor, Oleksandr Hanzha. “The enemy targeted people ‌walking along the road with an FPV drone,” Oleksandr Hanzha said on Telegram. He posted a blurred photo of a wheelchair on a ‌road and what appeared to be a body underneath.

Russian shelling of the Donetsk region city of Sloviansk killed three people, while drone strikes on the southern Kherson region killed two people and wounded 16, according to officials. Five Russian ⁠attacks on the ⁠south-eastern Ukrainian ⁠city of Zaporizhzhia left one ⁠person dead, three injured and set ablaze ⁠a home ‌and a ‌shopping centre, ‌said Ivan Fedorov, the regional governor.

Repairs to the nearly 1,000-year-old Kyiv Pechersk Lavra monastery in Kyiv could take around two years, an official said ⁠on Tuesday. A ⁠Russian attack on the complex set fire to the roof of the Dormition Cathedral within ⁠the vast Unesco world heritage site. More than ‌80% of the 11th-century cathedral’s roof had been damaged, but firefighters managed to prevent the fire from spreading inside the cathedral, Maksym Ostapenko, director general of the complex, was cited as saying by Interfax Ukraine news agency.

A Russian artist critical of Vladimir Putin and the Chechen leader, Ramzan Kadyrov, has been shot and killed in ⁠the eastern Polish town of Biała Podlaska, a prosecutor has said. Local media identified the victim as Robert ⁠Kuzovkov, who was also known by his artistic pseudonym, Semyon Skrepetsky. Pjotr Sauer writes that five shots were fired at the ⁠victim, including one ⁠to the head, in the attack on Monday, according to Marcin Kozak, a spokesperson for the district prosecutor in Lublin. Two Belarusians ⁠had been detained but no one had yet been charged. Other Russian exiles suspected Kadyrov was responsible.

The Chinese ⁠embassy in London said it had complained to British ⁠authorities about sanctions on several entities, including four from ⁠China, for allegedly supplying key military equipment to Russia. “China has consistently promoted peace talks and strictly controlled exports of dual-use goods,” an embassy spokesperson said. “Normal exchanges and cooperation between China and Russia should ⁠not be disrupted or affected.” Britain’s latest sanctions package, announced on Tuesday, includes cracking down on third-country suppliers of critical military equipment to Russia in China, Thailand and Turkey.

The US extended by 15 days until 1 July a sanctions waiver on Serbia’s Russian-controlled oil company NIS, allowing it to continue importing and processing crude, the firm said. Washington has demanded since early 2025 that Russia’s sanctioned Gazprom Neft sell it stake in NIS, which has been threatened by US financial sanctions that have been repeatedly postponed. Talks on the sale of the Russian-held stake in NIS to Hungary’s MOL energy company have gone on for months, with the US Treasury’s foreign assets control office extending the deadline for their completion until 16 June.

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Streeting would 'be prepared' to trigger leadership contest as early as next week

Published

2 hours ago

June 17, 2026

info@oxinfo.co.uk

But the former health secretary told BBC Newsnight he would prefer for the prime minister “to take a decision on his own terms”.

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Argentina v Algeria: World Cup 2026 – live | World Cup 2026

Published

3 hours ago

June 17, 2026

info@oxinfo.co.uk

Key events

32 mins: Algeria get on the ball in Argentina’s half for the first time in ages. They work the ball from side to side then look to attack down the right but Almada tracks back effectively.

30 mins: Messi misplaces a pass, then commits a foul trying to win the ball back. He is by no means the passenger we might have expected out of possession.

28 mins: Only when the ball is back with E Martinez do Argentina spread the field. Otherwise it is like a small-sided training exercise. The composure in tight areas and confidence in the collective technical ability is something to behold. The ball is in perpetual motion, then in the final third the single touches become more extravagant and daring, but always effective. Algeria can’t get near it.

26 mins: Messi is now the joint-third highest goalscorer in World Cup history. And he joins Cristiano Ronaldo as the only men to find the back of the net in five different World Cups.

24 mins: Time for a hydration break. That first quarter went according to plan for Argentina – but only just, with a VAR offside check saving them from conceding the opening goal.

22 mins: Messi works space from one of those rapier-like moves but his cross is overhit and Algeria clear. Argentina are hungry in midfield though and soon with the ball back. The North Africans are now defending in a deep low block, scared of pressing for fear the defending champions will just play through them.

The Argentina fans up in the gods at Arrowhead are loving this. Photograph: Steph Chambers/FIFA/Getty Images

21 mins: Argentina return to their game plan of working the ball around slowly and safely across their defence and midfield before darting forward like a fencer with razor sharp incisions.

20 mins: That goal was exactly how Lionel Scaloni had drawn up on the training ground. Technical excellence from back to front and individual brilliance of historic proportions.

18 mins: Sometimes all the hype is actually worth it.

That was sublime from Lionel Messi. Photograph: Charlie Riedel/AP

Argentina are looking almost exclusively for vertical passes through the lines with even Messi dropping deep to accept possession. The little genius does just that to start a move with a one-two then ghosts unchecked into space between the lines. A couple of passes later the ball is at his feet with room to turn, which he does, then takes a couple of steps to advance towards the penalty area before unleashing an unstoppable left-footed effort that arcs away from Zidane and into the top right corner. Brilliant.

GOAL! Argentina 1-0 Algeria (Messi, 17)

You know the script.

Lionel Messi scores an outrageous opening goal for Argentina! Photograph: Siphiwe Sibeko/Reuters

Photograph: Claudia Greco/Reuters

15 mins: Argentina’s structure during build up play is very compact. They’re looking to ping rondo-style passes in tight areas to unlock Algeria on the half-turn with very little space between the back four and the front three.

13 mins: Argentinian songs rain down from the precipitous stands of Arrowhead Stadium as the team they are cheering on pad their possession stats. Eventually they work the ball through the lines on the left where Almada has an opportunity to do something decisive but he overhits his throughball to Messi when he may have been better off shooting.

11 mins: Algeria with a free-kick on the left. They go short – and like London buses, Messi makes a second tackle of the game to dispossess Hadj Moussa. Even though their goal was ruled out, Algeria have gained confidence from the move and started to spray the ball around nicely in midfield.

VAR! No Goal!

Brilliant from Maza in midfield, recycling possession, keeping the ball moving, teasing between the lines. He spots Chaibi darting between fullback and centre-half, feeds him perfectly, and the finish is glorious, deceiving Martinez at his near post.

But with the crowd adjusting to the shock excitement is quelled by a VAR intervention and the goal is ruled out for a marginal offside against the goalscorer.

Fares Chaibi was a whisker offside. What a start in Kansas City! Photograph: Siphiwe Sibeko/Reuters

GOAL! With their first attack Algeria opening the scoring!

Oh, hello! Fares Chaibi scores for Algeria Photograph: Bernadett Szabó/Reuters

7 mins: This is a rare low tempo contest. Argentina are dominating possession but not looking to force anything.

5 mins: The ball goes out of play on the right as a pass slightly in front of Messi beats the veteran’s quickstep. He has definitely lost a yard or six of pace. You wouldn’t know it during the next phase of play though as he jumps in behind and clips a delightful finish over the onrushing Zidane. However, his delight is cut short as he notices the assistant’s flag raised for offside. It was marginal, but he took off a fraction too early.

Lionel Messi is just offside but warning signs for Algeria. Photograph: Claudia Greco/Reuters

Photograph: Charlotte Wilson/Getty Images

3 mins: In possession, Argentina are happy to bide their time and draw Algeria out to them. They do just that, Romero attempts the long ball, Almada picks up the scraps and crosses to La Martinez who heads straight at Zidane. He was offside anyway so it wouldn’t have counted.

2 mins: Argentina are defending in a 4-3-3 shape out of possession with Messi on the right of the front three. And you’ll never believe this – he did some defending – winning the ball back in his own half and feeding back to his keeper.

1 min: An early question to ponder as the action gets under way at walking pace: are Argentina the most heavily tattooed team at the World Cup?

Kick-off!

Lionel Messi’s World Cup campaign is under way…

Here we go! Photograph: Siphiwe Sibeko/Reuters

Argentina’s anthem was sung with smiles and pride, the defending champions looking relaxed and confident. Algeria’s players belted out their own hymn with a steely determination on their faces.

The Fennecs’ kit improves on closer inspection, with some nice touches giving it a retro feel, imbuing the spirit of 1982, the Disgrace of Gijon, and all that.

Out walk the two sides into a stadium populated from near top to bottom in fans wearing Albiceleste colours.

Algeria goalkeeper Luca Zidane is wearing a protective face mask as he recovers from a severe jaw and chin fracture that he suffered playing for Granada in April.

Argentina will be in their glorious sky blue and white stripes today, complemented by black shorts and trim. Algeria are wearing their change strip of green with white shorts.

A selection of Messi stats for you to digest at as the veteran begins his valedictory World Cup.

26 – record number of World Cup matches played
6 – record World Cups appeared in (shared with Cristiano Ronaldo)
13 – World Cup goals (joint fifth all-time)
38 – age at kick-off (12th oldest at the 2026 World Cup)
2 – record number of World Cup golden balls

Lionel Messi

Today’s officials are from Poland, led by referee Szymon Marciniak, who took charge of the 2022 World Cup final between Argentina and France, and the 2023 Champions League final between Manchester City and Inter Milan.

He is a celebrity in Poland, appearing as a contestant on the Polish version of Hell’s Kitchen, and featuring in the documentary series Sędziowie, a behind the scenes look at the life of a referee.

Conditions are glorious in Kansas City. It is around 26C and dropping as golden hour drifts towards sundown.

The Argentina players take part in the warm-up ahead of kick-off. Photograph: Juan Mabromata/AFP/Getty Images

The venue today is Arrowhead Stadium. This classically American open bowl can hold 76,000 spectators and is known commercially as GEHA Field. During the World Cup it is neutralised to Kansas City Stadium.

The primary tenants are NFL franchise the Kansas City Chiefs, winners of four Super Bowls, including three since 2019.

The venue has twice earned the Guinness World Record for the loudest stadium, first in 2013, then in 2014, during matches featuring the Chiefs.

Lionel Messi has already stamped his authority on the turf.

Daniel Sperry brings us one of those necessary World Cup stories that reminds us the hostile politics of the leaders of a nation does not reflect the hospitality of most its residents.

Jonathan Wilson has spoken to Luciana Alvarengue, the former maths teacher of both Enzo Fernández and Julián Álvarez, who provides a neat character study of the two World Cup winners.

“You either love maths or you hate it,” Alvarengue says. “There are no grey areas. Julián was very good at maths. He had a very good way of working in the classroom in general. Enzo was a little more difficult to deal with. There are days when you would say he was more focused on a game, on whether he was going to be selected or not.

“When he came into the classroom, Enzo liked to make sounds, banging his pencil case on the table. I remember entering the classroom, and on the left side was Enzo’s place, and he was with his back against the wall, his feet on the other bench, and there were days when he was like: ‘Today I’m going to stay like this.’ Julián was calmer, much more respectful.

22 players will walk out into the Kansas City evening with an equal chance of influencing this contest but the eyes of the world will be trained squarely on the oldest and shortest of them.

Your eyes are not deceiving you, that is a Zidane in goal for the Fennecs, Luca Zidane, son of the French World Cup legend.

Luca Zidane

Algeria XI

Vladimir Petkovic has opted for a 5-2-3 formation in a bid to stiffen his side’s defence. Star man Riyad Mahrez starts on the bench.

23 Zidane; 17 Belghali, 2 Mandi, 21 Bensebaini, 5 Belaid 15 Ait-Nouri; 19 Bentaleb, 14 Boudaoui; 22 Maza, 11 Hadj Moussa, 9 Gouiri.

Argentina XI

Lionel Scaloni has left in-demand Julian Alvarez on the bench for Argentina’s opening match. Cristian Romero is fit to start after fleeing Tottenham’s relegation battle.

23 E Martinez; 4 Montiel, 13 Romero, 6 Li Martinez, 25 Medina; 7 De Paul, 24 Fernandez, 20 Mac Allister; 10 Messi, 16 Almada, 22 La Martinez.

What about Algeria? Even Maher Mezahi isn’t sure what to expect.

Algeria are one of this World Cup’s great unknowns. On paper, this team has an impressive recent record: a friendly victory over the Netherlands made it 21 wins, four draws and three defeats from 28 matches under Vladimir Petkovic, with 67 goals scored. The problem is that it has been achieved against generally poor-quality opposition. Algeria’s qualifying campaign was a breeze, with Guinea and Mozambique – both considered Pot C sides on the continent – being their sternest tests.

We can be pretty sure Petkovic will lean on his players’ technical quality, play attractive football, but leave gaps in behind the defence. What we don’t know is which players will be called upon for half the starting positions.

Ok, turning our attention now to Argentina v Algeria, let’s get a view on the defending champions from the experts at Olé.

The holders arrive at the World Cup with a squad that knows each other almost by heart but perhaps not with its players in peak physical condition – several had injury set-backs at the end of a very demanding season with their clubs. If everyone is fit, the coach will field many of the same players who were crowned champions in Qatar, with the exception of Ángel Di María, who no longer plays for the national team.

Lionel Scaloni’s plan is to keep the 4-3-3 formation, with a solid defence featuring two centre-backs and two attacking full-backs, plus dynamic midfielders with excellent passing. Lionel Messi leads the charge once more, supported by the formidable Julián Alvarez and Thiago Almada, who could be the breakout star. Almost two thirds of the 2022 squad remains, but it now also includes some promising young players such as Nico Paz, who has been in excellent form at Como. They will also have established stars like Lautaro Martínez, who aims to be in top condition for this World Cup: something he couldn’t achieve in Qatar.

Norway have delivered on their pre-tournament dark horse status with a comfortable 4-1 victory over Iraq to join France at the top of Group I. There was a brace for Erling Haaland, putting the Manchester City goal machine alongside Kylian Mbappe in the race for the Golden Boot.

In the latest who-cares-the-rapture-is-coming-soon-anyway news Johnny Child continues to turn left for global warming.

As a result of the huge distances the New Weather Institute has described this World Cup as “the most polluting event ever”, estimating that it will generate about 9 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent. Air travel is responsible for about 7.7 million tons of that carbon estimate, more than four times that of the average for World Cups held from 2010 to 2022.

In today’s opening match France overcame a disjointed first half to run out comfortable 3-1 winners over Senegal. Les Bleus didn’t look at their best for big chunks but the class of Olise, Mbappé, Doue, and Barcola proved irresistible.

Mbappé now has 14 goals in 15 World Cup matches, drawing him alongside Gerd Muller on the all-time standings, behind only Ronaldo and Miroslav Klose. He will surely leave North America as the most prolific goalscorer in finals history.

Max and the gang celebrate Cape Verde on the latest World Cup Daily pod.

History for Cape Verde as Spain start with a stutter | World Cup Daily

In case you missed it, international manager par excellence Hervé Renard will go to the ball after all. He of the fitted white dress shirt qualified with Saudi Arabia, only to lose his job on the eve of the tournament. The Frenchman has answered Tunisia’s SOS and will replace Sabri Lamouchi in the dugout for the remaineder of the tournament after the former Nottingham Forest and Cardiff City boss was sacked following a grisly opening defeat to Sweden.

Big Hervé is back where he belongs. Photograph: William West/AFP/Getty Images

Michael Butler compiled the latest Football Daily roundup, featuring Pico Lopes, Marcelo Bielsa, and the late Roy Hattersley.

Let’s ease into the third fixture of matchday six by peering into the mind of David Squires.

Preamble

Jonathan Howcroft

Hello everybody and welcome to live coverage of match 19 of the 2026 World Cup between Argentina and Algeria. Kick-off in this Group J clash at Kansas City Stadium is 8pm local time (9pm EDT/2am BST/11am AEST).

The arrival of the defending champions into a tournament always adds a frisson of excitement to proceedings and that is the case today as Argentina get their campaign underway. Of course the presence of la Albiceleste also means that of captain, Lionel Messi, who alone has the heft of a participating nation in these parts since his move to MLS.

2022 was Messi’s crowing glory, the triumph that cemented his status among the very greatest in football history. He is not without a chance of adding a second winner’s medal to his collection in North America, but he faces a tougher task this time around as he and his team battle the unvanquishable opponent: time.

Algeria offer a stiff early test of an ageing team’s title defence. Ranked 28th in the world they are coached by the canny Vladimir Petkovic and captained by serial winner Riyad Mahrez. They warmed up for the World Cup by beating the Netherlands in Rotterdam and thrashing Argentina’s northern neighbours Bolivia 4-0.

I’ll be back shortly with team news and a round-up of all the matchday action so far. In the meantime you can keep an eye on Iraq v Norway and email any thoughts about the tournament so far to jonathan.howcroft.freelance@theguardian.com.

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