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The smallest nation ever to compete in the tournament celebrate the long adventure that got them there, and remember those who cannot be there to enjoy it with themAngelo Cijntje can look back now and smile. It was September 2023 and Curaçao’s trip from Trinidad to Martinique for a Concacaf Nations League game had been complicated on matchday by the lack of a charter flight. “A small propeller plane had to shuttle back and forth, flying players over in groups of six,” Cijntje, the performance coach, says. “The starting XI made it on time, but the subs came in while the game was under way. Their luggage didn’t make it, so they had nothing but their boots, shin pads and maybe a pair of socks.”Wouter Jansen, Curaçao’s team coordinator, was also part of that trip. “It’s worthy of a film,” he says. “Those are the kind of adventures you never forget.”Curaçao are about to embark on unforgettable adventures of a very different kind. Remarkably, less than three years after that propeller plane made its way across the Caribbean Sea for the team to lose 1-0 in front of 913 people, they face Germany in Houston on Sunday in their first World Cup match. It marks the end of a long and not always smooth journey.It is one that began in earnest in about 2003 when Cijntje and Jansen, then playing in the Dutch second division, got a call from the president of the Netherlands Antilles football federation, which included Curaçao as a Dutch colony. Jean Francisca had been scouting players with Curaçaoan roots and spotted that Cijntje and Jansen were born in Willemstad, the capital. On the phone he outlined an ambition to qualify for a major tournament. Both signed up but what they found in Willemstad on their first call-up offers another indication of how far things have come.“The hotel wasn’t properly arranged, the sessions weren’t structured and we didn’t have training kits,” Cijntje says. “I’d be training in red socks, the player next to me in blue, one in red shorts, another in something else – one wearing Beltona, another maybe Nike. It was a bit of everything. Those were the first steps.”The project gathered pace when Curaçao left the Netherlands Antilles in 2010 to become an autonomous country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The following year Curaçao became a Fifa member and from 2015 several Dutch coaches were appointed, starting with Patrick Kluivert, whose mother is Curaçaoan. More Dutch-born players joined, including Netherlands youth internationals such as Eloy Room, who had a deep connection with Curaçao, his father’s country.When Room was young, his mum gave him a book about Curaçao’s sporting history that featured Ergilio Hato, a goalkeeper who in 1952 was part of the first Netherlands Antilles team to play at the Olympics. “I would read that book every night,” says Room, an aspiring goalkeeper then and his country’s World Cup No 1 now. “I told my mother: ‘It would be great if I could become a legend for Curaçao too.’”He has managed that. Hato inspired generations – the national stadium in Willemstad bears his name – and Room made Hato’s nickname, Pantera Negra (Black Panther), his first tattoo. “Every time I look at it, it gives me a boost,” he says.Curaçao is the smallest nation, by population (about 156,000) and land area (171 square miles), to have qualified for a World Cup. Cijntje and Jansen joined the backroom staff in 2022, but their spell has not been without hiccups. That year the former Feyenoord and Ajax player Dean Gorré, whose son Kenji is part of the World Cup squad, became the technical director and he says a period of board instability created problems.“Hotel rooms were sometimes not paid, with players occasionally even having to pay for their flight tickets upfront,” he says. “It was a low point, but it also made the squad more resilient and tighter as a group. Nothing could faze them any more.”Dick Advocaat’s appointment as head coach in January 2024 marked another turning point. “More resources were invested in the national team,” Cijntje says, “with sponsors involved and better conditions as a result, which had positive knock-on effects, such as attracting more players like [PSV’s] Armando Obispo and Tahith Chong [of Sheffield United, the only player in the squad born in Curaçao].”Curaçao were well prepared for World Cup qualifying and had an advantage with the co-hosts, the United States, Mexico and Canada, taking places automatically. “That became a real trigger for all of us, like: ‘If there’s a chance to reach the World Cup, it’s now,’” Room says.Qualification was secured via a 0-0 draw in Jamaica, with Gorré in temporary charge while Advocaat was absent for family reasons. Players and staff celebrated with a few hundred supporters who had travelled to Jamaica and were welcomed back in Willemstad on an open-top bus that carried them through streets lined with tens of thousands of fans.The squad is close-knit, embodied in how they honour Jairzinho Pieter, a goalkeeper who died of a heart attack while away on international duty in 2019. “He was the one who always brought the atmosphere,” Room says.Room explains that Pieter led their daily prayer, something they do now with the captain, Leandro Bacuna, laying a necklace that belonged to Pieter in the huddle. “His passing was very heavy at the time and it is still very difficult,” Room says.“That made the dream of reaching the World Cup come even more to life, because it was also truly his dream. It gave us even more motivation.“I truly believe that in the deciding match against Jamaica, Pieter was with me, because the ball hit the crossbar and the post – it just wouldn’t go in. People in Curaçao also say that Pieter was there, alongside Ergilio Hato. We basically had three men in goal.”The team’s spirit is rooted in humility. “We just take regular commercial flights and wait at the baggage carousel for our suitcases to arrive,” says Jansen. In hotels, the players like to mingle with other guests, so when Advocaat once suggested a specially prepared meal in a meeting room, they opted to join the all-inclusive buffet. “They don’t mind when people want to take photos with them either,” says Jansen. “That’s part of who we are.”The openness became clear when Fifa asked Curaçao what requirements they had for their World Cup stay. “We don’t have any,” was Jansen’s reply. He was told a separate entrance could be arranged at the hotel and room keys prepared in advance. “I said: ‘All of that isn’t necessary,’” Jansen says. “We’re just used to walking in through the reception in the lobby and if we have to wait a bit, that’s no problem. We’re used to hotels where the rooms still need to be prepared. And nobody complains. That took them [Fifa] a bit by surprise.”But what about security, Fifa then asked. “Security?” Jansen responded. “We really don’t need security; we’re more than happy to give out an autograph.”Curaçao sprung another surprise when Fifa inquired about when open training sessions for media and fans should be planned. “Honestly, everyone is welcome with us,” Jansen replied. “And the public can even come on to the pitch after training.”At Curaçao’s base in Boca Raton, Florida, family and friends are allowed to stay. “Because it will be such a unique moment, we wanted to allow everyone to bring their relatives,” Jansen says. “We go there with a smile and leave with a smile. We’ve already won the World Cup just by being there. Some people think our setup is unprofessional but I’m like: ‘No, within our own limitations, we are actually very professional.’ Because we truly do everything together. That’s what makes it great.”In February Advocaat stepped down to be with his ill daughter and was replaced by Fred Rutten. But when her situation improved, a push gathered momentum to bring Advocaat back and he returned in May.Reaching the World Cup will have a significant impact for Curaçao. Gorré, who is focused on developing high-performance structures, says it will lift football development and much beyond. “It has already had an impact on tourism and that will only increase,” Gorré says.Cijntje also expects wider benefits, saying: “The realisation may start to sink in that the impossible is possible, if you go for it and work hard for it. I think it will be an inspiration for the next generation.”

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The United States are no longer a workmanlike outfit built on grit and grind – and Mauricio Pochettino says they are ‘winning a lot of fans’To find a precedent for the United States’ win over Paraguay, one must return to a time when World Cup teams were forced to drop out due to the Great Depression, and the ones who did make it arrived via ship, playing with a leather ball held together by seam and laces.The dominant 4-1 win matched a 96-year-old landmark – the largest margin of victory for the USA in a men’s World Cup game (they won 3-0 twice in the inaugural 1930 tournament, against Belgium and, in a neat bit of symmetry, Paraguay).Friday’s four-goal romp also marked the most goals scored by the USA at a men’s World Cup. It featured a 3-0 first-half blitz that matches the previous most unexpected 45 minutes of World Cup soccer played in the modern history of the program: the 3-0 lead built in 2002 against Portugal, a result the ESPN commentator Jack Edwards famously guaranteed was “stopping traffic all over Europe”.The result will live on in the record books for these reasons. But it will hold a special place in the hearts and minds of US fans because of the ethereal, less-fungible stuff.“I think we are winning a lot of fans, and adding fans for this sport,” Mauricio Pochettino said of his side’s performance. “I think it was a great match; was amazing for our fans to see this type of game.”No longer were the USA the same workmanlike outfit that had featured at previous World Cups, white-knuckling through on the strength of their grit and grind (though they showed some of that too, not letting a second-half Paraguay goal knock them off course).The iconic element of the USA’s opening victory was the very manner of it. Combinations flowed freely in midfield, defenders were split and dragged with alacrity. Neat finishes off moves well-worked enough to make the opening Paraguayan own goal an afterthought. Oohs and aahs stirred in the sold-out crowd of 70,492 at Los Angeles Stadium.“It’s pretty special to watch,” said Christian Pulisic, who was on a heater of his own before being pulled at half-time due to a knock picked up in the first half, and later brushed off as nothing serious. “It’s fun to look around and know that there’s different guys that can pull off these different skills and moves and things going on. It’s great. I feel like there’s such a good connection between us right now.”The USA midfielders tied Paraguay’s defensive unit in knots with rotations, in a manner that the Paraguay manager, Gustavo Alfaro, compared with “floating”. “This is a team that is complex, because they have answers to every element you throw at them,” Alfaro said. “We knew they were a very complex rival. We knew they have coordination, broadness, triangulations, and we were not ready … They dominated technically, tactically and physically as well.”One could call it, by some distance, the best World Cup performance ever by a USA men’s team. And it contained within it two of the best individual performances by US players at a World Cup.Pulisic became USA’s leader for World Cup assists and was dangerous throughout his 45 minutes. And in Folarin Balogun’s double, the US has its first multi-goal scorer in a single World Cup game since 1930 – that year again – when Bert Patenaude put three past, you guessed it, Paraguay.But in the same breath as he praised Pulisic and Balogun, Pochettino emphasized the collective nature of the performance, naming every starter on the pitch in quick succession, calling their performances “amazing”.“You want to push me to talk about names, and it’s about the team … the collective approach,” he said. “Of course, we have talented players that you can observe … but one thing we need to praise is the collective effort.”It was a collective approach that led to what Balogun called a “dreamy night” in Southern California. “I felt like it was a real statement.”“I’m not one to speculate,” Pulisic said. “I haven’t seen all of them.”

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The country is ready to blow away decades of dashed hopes and celebrate, with marching bands and all-night partiesScotland is leaning into one its most treasured traditions: embracing the hope and anxiety of a football World Cup, with a healthy dose of self-deprecating style.There are brash new tartans, an Edinburgh bar offering free Irn-Bru-infused “fiery ginger” beers for patrons with red hair, a collaboration between Scottish whisky firms and a Brazilian distiller, and all-night parties in nightclubs repurposed as fanzones.Supporters flying off to the US at Edinburgh and Glasgow airports were serenaded by pipers in the check-in halls; at Edinburgh it was the full military tattoo marching band, with a troupe of Highland dancers.Sprinkle all that in with a traditional row with the English – this time over disparaging remarks on Good Morning Britain by Ed Balls, Susanna Reid and the pundit Kevin Maguire about the extra bank holiday for Scotland sanctioned by the king – and the scene is perfectly set.It has taken Scotland 28 years to qualify for a World Cup, nearly three decades of grinding defeats and disillusionment, all while enduring its bitterest rival, England’s, repeated qualification for the tournament.The wait will end at 2am UK time on Sunday, when the team play underdogs Haiti in Boston. And despite the hour, perhaps a million or more Scots will be awake, watching at home, at friend’s houses, in bars and at fanzones dotted around the country.The first minister, John Swinney, will be at the game – a guest of the Scottish Football Association. He is mixing sport with opportunistic Brand Scotland trade, and cultural meetings at Harvard University and with local political leaders.The fanzone at one of Scotland’s cooler venues, SWG3 in the post-industrial west of Glasgow, has already sold out for that match and the following ties against two challengers for the trophy, Brazil and Morocco, with 1,300 people to gather for each of those two overnight games.“The venue’s certainly no stranger to a party atmosphere at 2am,” said its operations director, Bob Javaheri. “However, we’re usually looking to start winding down by that time, not ramping up.“I have a few friends that are heading Stateside for the tournament and, as disappointed as I am to not be joining them on the road, I’ve absolutely no doubt they’ll be keeping me well posted about their time away, so I’ll be living it all through them.“The last time Scotland were in the World Cup I watched the Scotland v Brazil game with my mum at home. I think I’ll have to get her in so we can relive that magic here on the big screen this time.”The anticipation has been amplified by the drama of Scotland’s final qualifying game against Denmark at Hampden Park, where two stunning goals that book-ended the game sent fans into raptures.It was a must-win match for Scotland. Within three minutes of kick-off, their talismanic midfielder Scott McTominay scored a remarkable overhead goal and then, after Denmark were reduced to 10 men yet levelled twice, Scotland’s 4-2 victory was capped off by an audacious goal from the halfway line.As Kenny McLean looked up from his own half in the dying seconds of extra time, teeing up his shot, the loud shouts of “shoot, shoot” from the stands were audible on television. The goal landed, and Hampden erupted.Those four goals enjoy iconic status in Scotland. McTominay’s overhead kick is immortalised by a vast gable-end mural near Hampden stadium; there were posters, hoodies, mugs and T-shirts printed with all four scorers in action.Yet for older fans, that game is a reminder of other times when the nation was aroused by naive dreams of success. The most famous was Archie Gemmill’s solo goal against the Netherlands in Argentina in 1978, where he dribbled balletically past three defenders. Scotland won that game 3-2 but failed to progress, while the Dutch reached the final.The team then was managed by Ally MacLeod, who told the world Scotland would win the tournament. The country called his team “Ally’s Tartan Army”; the team’s song, written by Andy Cameron and performed on Top of the Pops, is still sung by fans who lived through that time.Hamish Husband, a lifelong Scotland fan and spokesperson for the Association of Tartan Army Clubs, remembered the “mass over-confidence generated by the over-exuberant, quite naive, manager, Ally MacLeod. And the nation bought into it.”The country was more measured now, said Husband, who flew out to join Scotland’s fans in Boston on Thursday, but fatalism was now part of the collective memory: “There is still the sense there’s something going to go wrong.”Gerry Hassan, a political commentator and academic who has studied Scottish football, said he was singing Ally’s Tartan Army to himself during a walk last week, and was looking forward to watching the game at a friend’s house in Kirkcudbright, a small market town in Dumfries and Galloway.“That sense of what happened there, the whole sense of hope and then disappointment, disaster, near redemption – near redemption is possibly more poignant than actual redemption,” Hassan said.Given the extremely volatile world, the financial pressures and political upheaval the country is living through, this World Cup was a moment of collective celebration and community for fans.“It is a bit of a scarce commodity in modern life, that you are part of something bigger than yourself, that you’re connected to other people, that we’re not just atomised human beings. There’s a community here, there’s friendship, there are collective memories, and some of that we have agency in.”

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On the podcast today: the USA … might actually be very good? They blew Paraguay away in their opening game in LA. Christian Pulisic, we owe you a huge apology. Elsewhere; Canada come back to draw with Bosnia and Herzegovina, an inspired triple substitution from Jesse Marsch turning things around, and if not for some brilliant Bosnian blocks they should have won it. Plus, a preview of the next batch of games including Haiti v Scotland, the developing domestic bliss between Max and Barry, and your questions answered. Continue reading...

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Haiti are on football’s grandest stage for first time since 1974 and squad drawn from far and wide are ‘hungry’ for successTamy Michel grew up watching her father run a football club through prison, political upheaval and the endless uncertainties of life in Haiti.Solange Michel spent 18 years leading Baltimore SC, one of the country’s most storied clubs. In the 1990s, he was jailed amid the turmoil that engulfed Haitian politics but the club survived. Later, Tamy Michel’s aunt, Simone Devuleux, took over. The family have been stewards of Haitian football since 1974.Today, Michel represents players at the highest levels of the global game, from Ricardo Adé, the defensive leader of the Ecuadorian powerhouse LDU Quito, to Jean-Ricner Bellegarde and Wilson Isidor, coming off Premier League seasons, and Haiti’s record goalscorer, Duckens Nazon.For much of the world, Haiti’s return to football’s biggest stage after a 52-year absence, beginning at 2am on Sunday against Scotland at Boston Stadium, has been framed as an underdog story: a feelgood tale from a country more often associated with political turmoil, gang violence, natural disasters and humanitarian crises than elite sport. Michel sees something else entirely.“People usually say we’re not ready,” she says. “A lot of people never expected Haiti to make it. When the odds were against them, they never stopped. People forget that football is played on the field. They look at statistics and rankings and assume Haiti can’t compete. But at the end of the day, it’s 11 against 11.” The surprise, she suggests, says as much about outsiders’ assumptions as it does about Haiti itself.The team that have arrived at the 2026 World Cup, remarkably having booked their place despite playing every qualifier away from home, bear little resemblance to the one many casual observers might imagine. Only 10 of Haiti’s 26 players were born in the country. The squad includes Bellegarde, who plays for Wolves; Isidor, fresh from helping Sunderland to seventh in England’s top flight; Nazon, whose career has spanned France, England, Turkey and Iran; and Adé, who has established himself as one of South America’s most respected defenders.Yet Michel rejects the suggestion that Haiti have become some kind of diaspora side. “I see a national team,” she says. That distinction matters because, for all the different paths that brought them together, many of Haiti’s players faced a similar decision. They could have built successful careers without pulling on a Haiti shirt.Bellegarde’s story illustrates the point. Born and raised in France, he came through one of the world’s most productive football systems and won caps for France’s youth national teams before establishing himself in the Premier League. When Haiti approached him about representing the national team, Michel says he weighed the decision carefully, speaking with his parents and those around him. His heart, she says, was already with Haiti. “It’s home. It connects them to their parents and where their families come from.”The same sentiment echoes throughout the squad. Haiti may not have been where many of these players learned the game, but it remained the place they chose to represent.Haiti’s history contains a narrative entirely different from the prevailing international coverage. It became the world’s first independent nation founded by formerly enslaved people after a successful revolt, a legacy that shapes how many Haitians understand themselves and their place in the world.That tension resurfaced this year when Fifa required the national team to alter a World Cup jersey that featured imagery from the Haitian revolution. Months earlier, Olympic officials had raised similar objections to the inclusion of the revolutionary leader Toussaint Louverture on Haiti’s Winter Games uniforms. The disputes served as a reminder that Haiti’s story is larger and more complicated than the stereotypes often attached to it.Adé understands that burden better than most. Unlike many of his teammates, the 36-year-old defender grew up in Haiti before building a career across the Americas. As one of the team’s leaders, he has watched expectations settle on the squad’s shoulders. Asked what responsibility comes with representing Haiti on the world stage, he does not talk about tactics or results. Instead he talks about the people watching back home. “Whenever we win a game, people are always happy,” Adé tells the Guardian. “They will be in the street and everything.”The World Cup offers a chance to present another image of Haiti. “People see too much bad news,” Adé says. “I’m not blaming them, but that’s what they see. Once you step foot in the country, you’re going to see other things.”Millions of viewers who know little about Haiti will encounter the country through this team in the coming weeks. For many of them, these matches may be their most sustained exposure to Haiti in years. “Now soccer is the face of Haiti,” Adé says. “It’s the good thing about Haiti. Now people are talking about Haiti because of soccer and because of the World Cup.”The responsibility extends beyond winning matches. “The thing we are doing is showing Haiti in a different way,” Adé says. “Showing that we can have less, but we can do much.”Haiti have not played a home match since 2021, yet support has followed the national team wherever they have gone. Michel recalled last week’s friendly against Peru in Miami that drew about 27,000 spectators. By her estimate, more than 20,000 were Haitian. With travel from Haiti prohibitively expensive for many and US visa restrictions limiting access for others, the diaspora has become the public face of Haitian support during the tournament. Scottish officials expect a similar dynamic in Foxborough, where the famed Tartan Army may find itself outnumbered by supporters whose connection to Haiti spans generations and continents.Next week Les Grenadiers face the five-time champions Brazil in Philadelphia on Juneteenth [19 June]. Fans are expected to descend on the city from New York, Boston, Montreal, south Florida and beyond, turning the match into something larger than sport: a gathering of a nation spread across the world.“There was a time when teams looked at Haiti as an easy opponent,” Michel says. “But you could see how hungry the players became. They always wanted to elevate Haiti and were proud to represent the country.“The biggest change is that it’s become more than football. It’s family. The structure has improved too: travel, organization, conditions for players. The sport has evolved a lot. And now we’re in the World Cup. That’s proof of how much has changed.”Some fans will remember Haiti’s only previous World Cup appearance in 1974, when Emmanuel Sanon ended Dino Zoff’s record streak of minutes without conceding a goal and briefly brought Italy, one of football’s giants, to their knees. Others may know the country’s place in World Cup history through Joe Gaetjens, the Haiti-born dishwasher whose goal delivered the USA’s famous upset of England in 1950. Many, however, have never seen Haiti play on the sport’s biggest stage. Some have never even set foot in the country they will spend the afternoon cheering for.Yet for a few hours, geography will matter less than identity. Families that left Haiti decades ago, children raised thousands of miles from the island and recent arrivals who still call it home will find themselves united beneath the same flag, singing the same anthem and investing the same hopes in the same team. For decades, Haiti has often been introduced to the world by others. This month, its footballers will do the introducing themselves.“I want them to know a little bit about our story,” Adé says. “We’ve been fighters for a long time.”

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Rejected by Chelsea, honed by West Ham and a league winner at Arsenal, the midfielder has plenty from his footballing journey wishing him well at the World CupThree years ago Declan Rice was the star guest at a Soho House event about the power of effective leadership. Tickets were in hot demand and Rice, who was due to play a European semi-final for West Ham two days later, could not understand why so many people were interested in what he had to say.The audience was packed with marketing directors and CEOs, all eager to hear the England midfielder speak. To Rice, though, it just seemed weird. Why him? What made him so special? The answer lay in his everyman appeal. It was because of his ability to form connections with everyone he comes across. It was because Rice, who goes into the World Cup fresh from winning the Premier League with Arsenal, would be a leader in any setting. More than anything, it was because England’s new vice-captain is authentic, genuine and always ready to charm, no matter if the 27-year-old is speaking to a room of high-powered executives or heading back to his old school to spend an afternoon with a group of awestruck kids.Perhaps this world-class footballer’s superpower is to be both normal and extraordinary. “He’s hardly changed,” Stephen Willmore, Rice’s old PE teacher, says. The stories are positive no matter who tells them. A seven-year-old Rice was part of Chelsea’s academy when he started at Grey Court school in Ham, south-west London. There was no arrogance, though. Rice still captained the school football team. Harry Kane is not going anywhere any time soon but the expectation is that Rice will take over from England’s captain one day.“He never missed a game for us,” Willmore says. “If we had to change the kick-off times he would always want to play for the school and then go to training with Chelsea afterwards. He was a leader already. Even though he was so young he was hugely respected for the fact that he always wanted to play for the school team.“He didn’t hold back. He would play for us and go straight off to training, but he would give his all within that time with us. He was charismatic. He had a great personality. We’d go on away journeys in the minibus and he would be the central figure. He was just a really nice young man who’s carried on in that way. I still see that Declan you see now.”Rice does not use a traditional agent. He leans heavily on his two older brothers, his father and a handful of close friends. Rice has never lost touch with his roots and is still in touch with his old schoolmates. He was a good student and loved his sport. He liked tennis and cross country running. On the football pitch, he was a driving force from midfield. He passed well and dominated. At Chelsea, though, standards were high. Rice, who comes from a family of Chelsea fans, faced dejection when released from his boyhood club at the age of 14.“That shock of my dad telling me, I just burst into tears,” Rice said in 2019. He had to be resilient. Rice had an immediate offer to join West Ham. The east London club had tracked him since he was nine and could not believe their luck when Chelsea let the youngster go.Academy staff had never seen a better trialist at West Ham. Rice had gone through a growth spurt and his physique needed attention, but offering him a deal was the right call. Staff trusted him. Rice was the type of person who would tell the coaches if another boy was struggling emotionally.That speaks volumes for his character given that joining West Ham meant Rice had to cross London and leave the family home in Kingston. He comes from a tightknit family and had to get over his homesickness. “His mum and dad were always really supportive,” Willmore says. “He had really nice parents.”The path was never straightforward. There were times when West Ham’s youth coaches were divided over whether to keep Rice. But his development continued, he was handed his first-team debut by Slaven Bilic in May 2017 and he caught the eye of senior players when he joined training.Mark Noble, West Ham’s former captain, remembers Rice stepping out of defence to “hit a diagonal ball out to the left wing with a lovely bit of fade on it”. Noble suspected Rice would take his place in midfield one day. Rice was a teenager but his attitude set him apart.“We played Rubin Kazan in pre-season,” Aaron Cresswell, the former West Ham left-back, says of a July 2016 friendly. “Dec gives the ball away and the lad went on and scored. But his reaction just told me what he was like. It wasn’t like his head was down and he didn’t want the ball. It was: ‘Fine, give me the ball, I’m going to show you what I’ve got.’ I thought: ‘Gosh, he’s going to be some player.’”Cresswell talks fondly of a “cocky little kid” who could hold his own in the first-team dressing room. “He could speak to anyone. And when the going gets tough, he’s first to put his chest out and carry the team. In the latter part of his West Ham career he certainly pulled us through games, whether it was making that last-ditch tackle or dragging a team up the pitch.”Leadership came naturally to Rice. He was not afraid to lay into older players. He even spoke his mind to West Ham’s then manager, David Moyes. “If he felt something needed to be said, he’d say it,” Cresswell says. “He was brilliant in and around the place. Everyone loved him.”A key part of Rice’s character is his ability to stay professional while not taking life too seriously. There is a story about him winding up Joe Hart when the former England goalkeeper was on loan at West Ham during the 2017-18 season.“He did a shooting session with Joe,” Cresswell says. “Dec put it in the top corner. Joe came out and he tried to chip him. Dec said: ‘You won’t get that, son’ and Joe lost his head. He wanted to kill him. He chased him all around the training ground. I think he actually filled him in when he got hold of him. But Dec’s heart was in the right place. It was never crossing that line into arrogance. You need that little bit of character.”Rice soon moved out of central defence and into midfield. He was always destined for the top but his focus never dipped when he was about to leave West Ham. He drove them to the Conference League title in June 2023 and soon became the most expensive British player ever, joining Arsenal for £105m.Bayern Munich and the Manchester clubs were interested but Mikel Arteta wooed Rice with his footballing vision. Arteta said Rice could be Arsenal’s lighthouse – someone to guide and improve those around him. At Arsenal, though, Rice has become more than a facilitator. He was more defensive at West Ham but has become a No 8 under Arteta. With England he has more freedom thanks to the emergence of the metronomic Elliot Anderson. Rice’s increased attacking threat was evident when he made a box-crashing run during England’s 3-0 win in their friendly against Costa Rica on Wednesday, arriving late to open the scoring by converting a low cross from Anthony Gordon.“I don’t think a lot of people appreciate actually the ability he’s got with the ball,” Cresswell says. “You’re seeing it a lot more at Arsenal side. No disrespect to the West Ham team we had, but his game was kind of different. I remember getting slated a bit for this. I remember saying: ‘If he’s around better players he’ll naturally become a better player.’ He’s one of the best in the world in that position.”Cresswell talks about Rice’s set-piece deliveries, which were crucial to Arsenal winning the league, and his two spectacular free-kicks against Real Madrid in the 2024-25 Champions League quarter-finals. “That was the first time he’d scored a free-kick in his career,” Cresswell says. “I was thinking: impossible. I watched him take free-kicks all the time at West Ham. His ball strike … I was astonished.”The Madrid game felt like Rice announcing himself as a global superstar. He has 10 commercial partners and works with one charity. The interest in him is vast and varied. Rice has his serious face on when he works with fashion and beauty brands such as Burberry and L’Oréal; he can let loose when he did the “Rice, Rice baby” advert for Müller Rice.He can lift the mood by playing the joker and maintain standards by behaving as the consummate professional. He has an eclectic music taste and a deal with JBL headphones. He listens to Gunna and Lil Baby but also likes house music and Harry Styles. Golf is another passion. When Arsenal won the league, Rice was out celebrating until the early hours. There were clips on social media of him taking selfies with supporters on the street. Then, after a few hours’ sleep, it was off to play golf. “It’s how he relaxes,” a friend says. He plays off a handicap of six.The day job is demanding, after all. Rice has had near misses with England, losing the Euro 2020 and 2024 finals. He was involved in two of Arsenal’s three consecutive second-place finishes before they finally finished first. There were times when Rice wondered whether the big prizes would come. Friends told him it was better to be slow and steady; that consistency was always the aim and the wait would be worth it.Perhaps that was why the cameras caught Rice saying: “It’s not done” when Arsenal lost to Manchester City in the league in April. His faith in Arteta and his teammates would be vindicated. “He sometimes doesn’t need to have the armband,” Arteta said. “When he talks people listen.”Cresswell laughs at people on social media who reckon that Rice turns it on for the cameras. “I was at the Arsenal game a couple of weeks ago at West Ham and he’s still the same kid now,” he says. “I’ve got a little eight-year-old boy. Dec came in, gave him a shirt and signed it for him and took pictures with him. He’s never forgotten West Ham or the lads who’ve helped him develop. He’s got all the time in the world for everyone.”These days Rice has flowing locks and does lifestyle interviews about his hair care routine. Cresswell laughs when he thinks back to Rice’s teenage look. “He had a skinhead,” he says. “He looked like a little scally. But we’ve all been a little bit wet behind the ears. He’s a fully grown man now.”Rice, who is in line to win his 74th cap when England face Croatia in Group L on Wednesday, is a family man and a father. The boyish, playful streak persists, though. England have been gearing up for the World Cup by training in stifling conditions in Florida and Rice has laughed at pictures of his bright red face, saying he got a telling off from his mum for not using suncream.It is a disarming way for one of England’s most important players to talk. Rice, who switched allegiance from the Republic of Ireland in 2019, can do self-deprecating. He has that rare combination of being able to clown around without making his managers doubt his dedication.It is not a surprise that Thomas Tuchel has entrusted Rice with the responsibility of being Kane’s deputy. England will rely heavily on Rice’s drive and leadership this summer. The aim, as the head coach keeps saying, is to put a second star on the shirt. There will be plenty more talks on leadership if Rice gets his hands on the World Cup.

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Watching the squad presentation knowing I wasn’t in it was tough, but I have high hopes with Carlo Ancelotti in chargeI am travelling to the United States this week to watch some of the Seleção’s games at the World Cup. I’ll be continuing my daily treatment to recover from the knee injury I suffered in March and, during this routine, I’ll try to experience the competition in a different way. While Rodrygo, a boy from Osasco [a city in the state of São Paulo], recognises the privilege this represents, Rodrygo the player, who took part in the entire qualifying cycle, the Copa América and other matches, has feelings that are difficult to explain.Ever since our last World Cup game in 2022, when the Croatia goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic saved my penalty and we were eliminated at the quarter-final stage, returning to the tournament wearing the national team jersey has been a desire that has dominated my thoughts on many nights.The path we have gone down in these past four years has not been easy. All of us – players, coaches, staff, CBF (Brazilian Football Confederation) employees, and, of course, the fans – have faced numerous challenges. So to suffer an injury that ruled me out of the tournament just months before the squad was announced was a huge blow, taking away from me a dream to which I have dedicated my life.The injury – and learning the extent of it through the scans – brought immense sadness. The week of the actual surgery brought me suffering, sleepless nights, a lot of pain and the urge to vomit and faint. But soon an inner strength came, a certainty that life goes on and that I will recover and continue pursuing my World Cup dream.Also, one of the worst days of my life transformed into a huge wave of support from so many people. My faith strengthened me too, as did the unconditional presence of my family and the countless messages and conversations with important people in my life. There was incredible support from Real Madrid, calls from the CBF, the national team staff and the players. I am certain I will return stronger, dedicating myself as I have always done to achieve my goals.Being unable to play during the final part of Real Madrid’s season and not taking part at the World Cup with the Seleção is a feeling impossible to explain. Watching Real Madrid’s crucial matches on TV without being able to step on to the pitch and give my all for the club left a bitter taste. And watching the World Cup squad announcement without the expectation of hearing my name called by Carlo Ancelotti was tough.On the other hand, the joy I have felt wearing the Real Madrid and Brazil shirts is also pretty impossible to put into words. Even with this setback, I believe I still have incredible experiences ahead of me and that I once again can bring joy to those who support me, whether that is for club or country. I am only 25 years old and still have many important dreams to pursue. And I know that, to do that, I need to be strong, as I’ve always been in other decisive moments of my life. The Seleção Brasileira is synonymous with pride. I feel proud to be Brazilian and to always support a team that represents our culture as something beautiful, magical, joyful, united and hardworking. Wearing the Seleção Brasileira shirt is a sensation that is difficult to describe.It’s a pride that comes from the boy in Osasco who wore a replica jersey and dreamed of being a professional player. And a dream, when lived in reality, ends up being shared with everyone who is part of my life and who likes me: family, friends, the team around me, fans and teammates.My first national team game in a stadium was as a fan, Brazil beating Paraguay in a World Cup qualifier at the Arena Corinthians on 28 March 2017 (goals by Neymar, Coutinho and Marcelo). Previously, we hadn’t been able to afford to go to a national team game. I went with my father and the atmosphere was so special, a different energy, with all the club fans cheering for the same team. It’s a moment when we all share the same colours.When the time came for me to wear the shirt, I could feel the affection of the fans – and that made me go back in time and remember the sensations I had felt when I watched the team on TV. We always want to see the national team win titles, but I realised that the people’s love for the team doesn’t depend only on that. People want to be a part of it, to receive a wave, a photo, a hug. They want to see the bus passing by and show that they are together. All of Brazil wants the Seleção in their city. I’ve always had a very beautiful reception in Belém, Brasília, Cuiabá, São Paulo, Curitiba, Rio de Janeiro … it doesn’t matter which region it is.I’m going to the US to follow the team closely and maybe meet my teammates and the staff to bring positive energy. Above all, I am going as a fan of the Brazilian national team. When the game kicks off, I will get nervous, be focused on the game, watching the patterns of play and wanting Brazil to score goals. And, when they score, there will be a mixture of happiness and relief because I know that the whole country expects the Seleção to win the whole tournament.The World Cup involves much more than just what happens on the pitch. It demands total concentration, daily dedication, collaboration before, during and after games, and support from everyone involved. And I’m sure the Seleção possesses all the elements of this package. Above all, we trust Ancelotti.The entire football community knows his history of winning titles but I want to emphasise that this group of players can also count on Ancelotti the human being, someone who helped me when I faced enormous challenges and who supported me in the most difficult moments. He’s a special guy. He knows how to lead in the difficult environment of elite football and knows what he is doing in charge of the Seleção. Let the World Cup begin.

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Across the parking lot from Los Angeles Stadium sits the Forum. In the 1980s, it served as the stage for one of American sports’ most enthralling entertainment outfits, the Los Angeles Lakers. Opening their campaign at the 2026 World Cup in front of 70,492 fans, the US men’s national team embraced the Lakers’ Showtime ethos.The US began their campaign with aplomb, playing Paraguay off the pitch in a 4-1 win.A day earlier, Mauricio Pochettino had preached quiet confidence. There was no need for a fiery pep talk for a group that has long aspired to impress at this home World Cup. Citing advice from a member of Argentina’s victorious 1986 World Cup side, Pochettino said his players needed to play with joy and focus.He got exactly what he asked for in a dazzling first half.The US created their own luck by taking the initiative from the opening whistle. Christian Pulisic and Malik Tillman seemed to be in a competition to see who could nutmeg the most opponents, baiting two Paraguay defenders into yellow cards. The opening goal came in less than 10 minutes. Tim Ream fizzed a ball along the back to Alex Freeman, who played a well-weighted ball up the channel for Weston McKennie. The Juventus midfielder scampered upfield, getting the ball to Pulisic as both players advanced on the box. Pulisic squared the ball for McKennie, whose shot caromed off Damián Bobadilla and tumbled into the net.Past versions of the US often took their foot off the gas after scoring at World Cups. On Friday, this group of players kept pouring on the pressure. On his World Cup debut, Folarin Balogun bagged a brilliant 20-minute double. In the 31st minute, he finished off a cross from Pulisic. His second came with the final kick of the first half: he ran on to a ball up the channel from Tillman and, after some nimble work to bypass Gustavo Gómez, he placed a shot into the top corner.Pulisic was taken off at half-time, although the move appeared to be due to caution rather than injury. Evidently, Pochettino saw no sense in subjecting the team’s star player to petty shin-kicks as Paraguay scrapped to get back into the game. Paraguay improved after the break, monitoring Balogun’s movement and tightening ranks to close down the half-spaces that were often available to the US in the opening 45 minutes.Eventually, Paraguay were able to pull a goal back. In the 73rd minute, the US were caught out of position after a restart by goalkeeper Orlando Gill. Tyler Adams’s attempted clearance found Miguel Almirón just outside the box, and he quickly prodded the ball to Julio Enciso. From there, Enciso played the ball into substitute Maurício’s stride, and the Palmeiras winger ushered his shot beyond Matt Freese.It was a consolation for Paraguay as well as a reminder that this US team have faults. There were holes for Paraguay to exploit across the defence and some concerns about Freese’s reluctance to leave his line. The US’s next opponents, Australia and Turkey, will most likely test Freese’s instincts more, and the defense will need to be sharp, even if they hold a healthy lead.But those are problems for another day. Since the US were announced as co-hosts for this World Cup, every move by a US international has been viewed in the context of this summer’s tournament. Rather than buckle under the pressure, on Friday this team played with a determination to prove they belong at this tournament.It’s hardly a show if you don’t hit the high notes at the end. With Paraguay trying to preserve their goal difference, Gio Reyna – who entered as a late substitute – placed the ball beyond Gill with the outside of his boot.This World Cup cycle was seldom pretty, but it was all mere prelude. These are the bright lights under which this US team have prepared to play – and for 45 minutes, they didn’t flub a single line.

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Equipment stolen during transportation from FloridaFA will liaise with police in bid to retrieve match bootsEngland have been the victims of a security breakdown after the team’s match boots were stolen before their first World Cup training session in Kansas City.The theft is understood to have taken place while equipment was being transported from the squad’s pre-tournament base in Florida to their training camp at Swope Soccer Village in Missouri. Boots belonging to England’s star players were understood to be among the stolen items, along with official tournament balls and training equipment.Thomas Tuchel’s side will train at their base for the first time on Saturday afternoon. The Football Association declined to comment when approached by the Guardian. It will have to liaise with local police as they attempt to retrieve the equipment.England face Croatia in their opening Group L game in Dallas on Wednesday. The FA has meticulous plans in place as Tuchel attempts to lead the men’s side to their first piece of silverware since 1966, but the incident presents staff with a headache.There were positive vibes during England’s acclimatisation camp in the heat of West Palm Beach, Florida. England won friendlies against New Zealand in Tampa and Costa Rica in Orlando.The performance in the latter was hugely encouraging and featured an eye-catching display from Jude Bellingham, who has boosted his chances of starting over Morgan Rogers at No 10 against Croatia. Bukayo Saka is in a race to prove his fitness after struggling with an achilles problem while Ezri Konsa and John Stones could keep Marc Guéhi out in central defence.