🇪🇸 After Spain's match last night at the #2026WorldCup, Borja Iglesias went to hug his colleague Jenni Hermoso, who is covering the tournament for Mexican television. "Your hug means a lot to me," Hermoso commented on Instagram. 👇

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 🇦🇷 The #2026WorldCup semifinal between England and Argentina reignites the political dispute over the Falkland-Malvinas, leaving Milei's government in an ambiguous position. Read the new article of FOOTBALL POLITICS: footballpolitics.substack.com/p/england-ar...

🇦🇷 The Milei government has endorsed FIFA's decision to ban Argentine fans from bringing flags referencing the Falkland-Malvinas into the stadium in Atlanta for tonight's match against England at the #2026WorldCup. 👇

🇷🇼 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Rwanda's sportswashing is expanding into the Premier League: a new partnership between #VisitRwanda and Aston Villa was announced today. It will run for three years and is worth a total of £60 million. 👇

"If football serves any purpose, it is to foster integration and benefit society. There are no better examples of this than France and Spain." 🇪🇸 Lamine Yamal, speaking at a press conference yesterday regarding Mariano Rajoy's racist remarks about French players. 👇

"If they play for the French national team, they are French, regardless of the color of their skin." 🇪🇸 19-year-old Spanish defender Pau Cubarsí also weighed in on the controversy sparked by Mariano Rajoy's racist remarks ahead of the France vs. Spain match at the #2026WorldCup. 👇

⚠️ FIFA stated that the decision to suspend #Balogun 's ban was made independently by the Disciplinary Committee, but that is not true: it was a decision made solely by the committee's chairman, Mohammad Al-Kamali, without consulting anyone. 👇

🇪🇸 Spanish forward Borja Iglesias responded to racist comments made by former Prime Minister Rajoy: "A multicultural society is an asset. He may not have said it with malicious intent, but we should be more careful regarding these issues." 👇

🇪🇸 Mariano Rajoy, former Spanish Prime Minister representing the Partido Popular, sparked a diplomatic incident by describing France as a team "without French players" ahead of the France vs. Spain semi-final at the #2026WorldCup. 👇

In addition to the protest and the various interventions by activists, a game was also organized in which participants could kick a ball to knock down a pyramid made of cardboard boxes featuring the faces of Infantino and Trump, as well as the logos of FIFA sponsors. 👇

"Love football, hate FIFA" "The Alternative League fights FIFA" 🇨🇭 Banners from the protest against FIFA and the #2026WorldCup held today in Zurich, Switzerland, in front of the FIFA Museum. 👇

Kane is the England captain: he has frequently condemned racism and defended the right to wear the 'One Love' armband against homophobia - actions that many fans point out are incompatible with casually socializing with a figure like Trump.

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 England's Harry Kane casually revealed that he played golf with Trump in Palm Beach 18 months ago. This has understandably sparked a great deal of debate and drawn significant criticism towards Kane. 👇

The #2026WorldCup is not just a tournament of diasporas, but above all one of complex cultural identities. It is a World Cup that increasingly highlights how nationalism is an ideology out of step with both time and reality. Read the new article👉 footballpolitics.substack.com/p/football-n...

🇨🇴 Juan Cuadrado and Yerry Mina appeared in a video featuring Colombia's new far-right president, Abelardo De la Espriella: "We are on your side," said Mina. "We won the most important match [the election]; a horrible night is over," said Cuadrado.

On Tuesday, following Spain's victory over Portugal, Bardem published an Instagram post celebrating the team as a symbol of a "pluralistic and progressive country that does not fear its own diversity."

"What a wonderful and inspiring person. Thank you for representing us!" said Bardem of Iglesias. "It was a great honor to meet you," the player replied. "Heartfelt thanks for everything you do to make the place we live in a better world." 👇

🇪🇸 Ahead of tonight's match against Belgium, Spain forward Borja Iglesias received a visit from actor Javier Bardem, who follows the games wearing his jersey. Both are known for their anti-fascist and pro-Palestinian views. #2026WorldCup 👇

In the top left corner of the jersey is the club's logo - a mammoth - which refers to the remains of Mammuthus Meridionalis discovered near L'Aquila in 1954 and currently housed in the National Museum of Abruzzo.

🇮🇹 🇵🇸 United L'Aquila, an Italian community football club, unveiled its new kit for the 2026/27 season on Wednesday: it features a design inspired by the keffiyeh, the traditional Palestinian headscarf. 👇

🇯🇵 In the early 1990s, #Japan was completely irrelevant in football. Then, everything changed: hit anime, a wealthy new professional league, Miura and Nakata, and the 2002 World Cup. 🎧 Listen to the new podcast episode (in Italian): open.spotify.com/episode/5GZB... 👇

Le Roy also criticized Arsène Wenger, who has been responsible for FIFA's technical development since 2019: "I would like to know what Wenger thinks about Infantino's behavior and his relationship with Donald Trump."

"Infantino has only one quality: he is a polyglot. But he is a polyglot moron - dangerous for football. He hasn't contributed anything positive and has made the sport toxic in everyone's eyes." French coach Claude Le Roy on Gianni #Infantino, last night on @lequipedusoir.bsky.social. 👇

Josimar journalist @samindrakunti.bsky.social met Infantino in New York: "Following the Balogun case, will you resign?" "Nice to meet you." "Mr. Infantino, will you resign?" A security guard intervenes, saying: "Right now, it's not a good time." 👇

In the meantime, however, images of a mannequin bearing Mbappé's name being set ablaze on July 4th during the San Juan Ara festival in Paraguay have sparked controversy.

🇵🇾 Paraguayan Senator Celeste Amarilla doubles down on her racist remarks about Mbappé, refusing to apologize: "I come from a society where gay people were beaten up and calling someone a 'fucking n*gger' was the most common thing." 👇

It's interesting to note that the interview is written by Alessandro Alciato, a sports journalist working for Amazon Prime Video and Infantino's official biographer. The interview starts with this question: "What is happiness?".

The devotion of Italian sports journalism to Infantino is likely unique in the world: on June 11, the opening day of the #2026WorldCup, the Gazzetta dello Sport published an article written by Infantino, while Rivista Undici published an interview with him. 👇

Gianni #Infantino "will be the one who saves football": Italian journalist Italo Cucci wrote this in the July 2026 issue of the Guerin Sportivo, one of the main Italian football magazines. 👇

🇪🇬 Mohamed Fawaz al-Wahidi, Director of Public Relations for the Egyptian Relief Committee in Gaza, was killed yesterday in an Israeli strike. He was one of the individuals organizing public screenings of #2026WorldCup matches for refugees in Gaza.