Jordan’s first qualification for the World Cup also means a World Cup berth for Palestinians, millions of whom live in the country.

After fighting Belgium to a draw for one of Iran’s best World Cup results, the Iranians had a note for their fans and the world.

The soccer stars’ sharp black suits with leopard-print details are a nod to a long history of “sapeur” fashion.

The feathered pet has waddled his way into the pantheon of famous animals associated with the soccer tournament.

At its first game in Los Angeles, the men’s national team drew spectators who weren’t coming for the soccer, but rather to protest the regime in Tehran.

John Sorochan, a turf scientist at the University of Tennessee, has led the yearslong, multimillion-dollar effort to develop perfect playing fields for the 2026 World Cup.

Competing for the first time, Curaçao is brimming with joy. Most of the Caribbean nation’s team was born and raised in the Netherlands, but residents say the players represent them.

“I had the right papers and everything,” Omar Abdulkadir Artan said in his first interview since he was turned back. He would have been the first Somali to referee a game in the tournament.

Gianni Infantino, the FIFA president, has unabashedly courted the president’s favor. Soccer officials privately ask, who really benefits?

Staggering ticket prices and lackluster matches have left thousands of seats in Toronto and Vancouver unsold just days before the tournament kicks off.

After months of doubts over their participation, Iran’s players have received visas for the United States just days before the World Cup begins.

The Iranian soccer players, still awaiting visas to the U.S., are practicing in Turkey and making backup plans.

A former key aide to the Russian oligarch would face an investigation into her time overseeing the Premier League club should she return to soccer.

Five of the seven members of the Iranian women’s national team who originally sought asylum in Australia after a tournament have changed their minds.

The restrictions on half the continent have been called racist and unfair. “We don’t come to the United States because we’re running away,” one N.B.A. fan said.

Seven members of the national women’s team had sought refuge in the country after they were labeled “traitors” at home. Four of them have since changed their minds.

After seven members of the Iranian women’s soccer delegation were granted asylum by Australia, one changed her mind and decided to return home. The team had protested Iran’s government during an international competition.

Concern for the safety of the players had grown after Iranian state media criticized them for not singing the national anthem at a game in Australia.

Soccer’s global governing body is grappling with a World Cup first: a tournament host going to war with a participating nation.