It is June 1, which means the World Cup kickoff month has arrived!
Today is the deadline for teams to submit their final 26-man rosters, with FIFA set to announce every squad on Tuesday.
Get the latest news, results and behind-the-scenes info from the 2026 World Cup with USA TODAY’s Extra Time newsletter.
Meet Team USA 2026: Get to know the U.S. Men’s National Team
Here are the latest updates for Monday, June 1.
The U.S. men’s national team has officially submitted its 2026 World Cup roster to FIFA — with injured center back Chris Richards as a part of the squad.
Richards has been — and still is — in doubt for the tournament with torn ankle ligaments. But this was a positive sign. Read more HERE.
USMNT midfielder Weston McKennie went with a red, white and blue hairstyle at the last World Cup. He’s planning an encore this time around.
“I’m definitely going to do something,” he said in an appearance on Whistle’s “Supporters Section” podcast on Thursday, May 28, noting that he’s still brainstorming ideas.
Read the full story HERE
Norway defeated Sweden 3-1 in a friendly on Monday, with Crystal Palace striker Jørgen Strand Larsen scoring a brace.
Though Norway hasn’t been at a World Cup since 1998, it has the firepower to make a deep run this summer.
Canada attacker Marcelo Flores will miss the World Cup after suffering an ACL tear in the final match with his club, Tigres, before reporting for duty.
The Canada-born former Mexico international had a long, winding road to making Jesse Marsch’s World Cup team, but it was cruelly taken away at the last moment.
Read more about Flores and the injury HERE.
Haiti midfielder Woodensky Pierre has been granted his U.S. visa and will join the team before tomorrow’s friendly match against New Zealand, sources tell USA TODAY Sports.
The Violette player is the only domestic-based player in the squad. Despite assurance from the U.S. government that the traveling party wouldn’t run into difficulties, the 21-year-old ran into difficulties and wasn’t able to obtain his visa before a Monday, June 1 meeting at the U.S. consulate in Port-au-Prince.
The Haitian minister of sport told reporters it was the first item of business Haiti’s prime minister, Alix Didier Fils-Aimé, discussed with U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau in his visit.
Mexico’s 2026 World Cup roster contains not one, but two players born and raised in the U.S. who have previously represented the country of their birth.
Atletico Madrid midfielder Obed Vargas and Chivas midfielder Brian Gutierrez both got the call for El Tri, making their first World Cup rosters.
Gutierrez and Vargas are the first Mexican-Americans to be named to a Mexico World Cup squad since 2014, when California-born Isaac Brizuela and Miguel Ángel Ponce both made Miguel Herrera’s roster.
Read more about the two players here.
France defender William Saliba could miss the World Cup with a back injury, per multiple reports on Monday, June 1.
According to Foot Mercato, the center back was already carrying the injury into Arsenal’s Champions League final against Paris Saint-Germain on Saturday, May 30.
Saliba played the full 120 minutes in the match, which Arsenal lost on penalties. The defender reportedly aggravated the injury during the game, putting his World Cup spot in jeopardy.
ESPN called the 25-year-old “very doubtful” for the World Cup, with scans set for Monday, June 1.
Read more on Saliba’s injury here.
The political situation has massively affected the Iran national team, which is basing just across the U.S./Mexico border in Tijuana at the Estadio Caliente because of tensions caused by the war.
There are internal tensions, too, and it’s difficult to think Iran won’t be affected by outside factors, even as one of the best teams in Asia.
Sardar Azmoun has not suited up for the national team since publishing photos with leaders of the UAE, where he plays his club soccer, at the start of the war. The attacker’s inclusion on the provisional roster raised hopes he may make the final squad, but ultimately he didn’t get a recall.
After the dramatic final of the UEFA Champions League, both PSG-based winner Willian Pacho and Arsenal-based runner-up Piero Hincapie are named to the Ecuador squad for the World Cup.
Of course, that was expected, and it’s the name of the game for international soccer as those to unite for La Tri, a potential dark horse in the tournament because of that staunch back line, a promising midfield and, potentially, veteran forward Enner Valencia banging them in.
Here’s the full Ecuador squad announced Monday.
Iraq took the long way to the World Cup and have kept fans waiting for their squad, but the roster is now out.
Aymen Hussein, who scored the winning goal in the 2-1 win over Bolivia that put Iraq into the tournament as winners of the intercontinental playoff, and Nashville SC’s Sweden-born midfielder Ahmed Qasem headline the roster.
Several World Cup teams will be in action in friendlies today. Among the highlights:
- Norway hosts Sweden at Ullevaal Stadion in Oslo.
- Colombia hosts Costa Rica at Estadio Nemesio Camacho El Campín in Bogota.
- USMNT group opponent Turkey hosts North Macedonia at 1:30 p.m. ET
- Canada hosts Uzbekistan at 9 p.m. ET
You may have missed it late last night, but Mexico became the final co-host to name its roster.
Among the highlights was goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa being named to his sixth World Cup roster.
Our Jon Arnold breaks it down HERE.
How to watch the 2026 World Cup
Watch all 2026 World Cup games on Fox and FS1. Spanish language broadcasts are available on Telemundo and Peacock
Watch every World Cup game with Fubo
World Cup groups
- Group A: Mexico, South Africa, South Korea, Czechia
- Group B: Canada, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Qatar, Switzerland
- Group C: Brazil, Morocco, Haiti, Scotland
- Group D: United States, Paraguay, Australia, Turkey
- Group E: Germany, Curacao, Ivory Coast, Ecuador
- Group F: Netherlands, Japan, Sweden, Tunisia
- Group G: Belgium, Egypt, Iran, New Zealand
- Group H: Spain, Cape Verde, Saudi Arabia, Uruguay
- Group I: France, Senegal, Iraq, Norway
- Group J: Argentina, Algeria, Austria, Jordan
- Group K: Portugal, DR Congo, Uzbekistan, Colombia
- Group L: England, Croatia, Ghana, Panama
Full rosters for 2026 World Cup teams
World Cup key dates
- Group Stage: June 11-June 27
- Round of 32: June 28-July 3
- Round of 16 : July 4-7
- Quarterfinals: July 9-11
- Semifinals: July 14-15
- Third-place game : July 18 (Miami Gardens, Florida)
- Final : July 19 (East Rutherford, New Jersey)
2026 World Cup format
Each group will play a round robin style where teams are awarded three points for a win and one point for a draw. The top two teams in each group advance to the Round of 32 along with the eight best third-place squads. Tiebreakers in the group standings will be resolved using the following criteria:
- Greatest number of points obtained in the group matches between the teams concerned
- Superior goal difference resulting from the group matches between the teams concerned
- Greatest number of goals scored in all group matches between the teams concerned
- Superior goal difference in all group matches
- Greatest number of goals scored in all group matches
- Highest team conduct score (players and team officials) relating to the number of yellow and red cards obtained
- The two or more teams still equal on points shall be ranked according to the most recent published edition of the FIFA/Coca‑Cola Men’s World Ranking
