Two sleeps from the World Cup and geopolitics are shining bright
In today’s Football Daily: World Cup week continues, ‘Card Master’ and farewell Divock Origi
WHAT A TRIUMPH TRUMP
Football Daily likes to cast a light, satirical touch, though maybe satire aims a little high. Jonathan Swift is resting easy enough but there is sound reasoning behind us calling the upcoming tournament the Geopolitics World Cup. It might be two sleeps until the actual football kicks off but the geopolitics are well and truly shining bright.
As it stands, Iran will compete, though under specific visa conditions: when playing their group games in Los Angeles and Seattle, players must enter and leave USA USA USA soil the same day while team support staff have been denied entry altogether. A reminder, from 2017, when the GWC was first awarded to the USA USA USA, Canada and Mexico, Fifa chief suit Gianni Infantino said this: “It’s obvious when it comes to Fifa competitions, any team, including the supporters and officials of that team, who qualify for a World Cup need to have access to the country, otherwise there is no World Cup.” On Tuesday, Iranian fans have – according to their nation’s football association – had their ticket allocations pulled, leaving plans in ruins on the eve of the tournament.
It is not just teams, staff and fans that are being restricted. Omar Artan, one of Africa’s top referees and poised to be the first ever Somalian referee at the World Cup, has been denied access to the USA USA USA and now will not work at the tournament. Fifa continued their flat-batting with the following explanation: “Fifa is not involved in host country immigration processes, including visa adjudications … in line with previous Fifa events, a host government ultimately determines who receives a visa and who is admitted into their country.” Somalia is one of those many countries with a travel ban imposed on its citizens by Donald Trump’s administration and Artan was denied entry to the US at Miami airport, having travelled on a visa previously thought valid. Why Fifa has chosen not to reallocate Artan to matches in Canada and Mexico is unclear.
There’s more. Of course there’s more. Iraq striker Aymen Hussein was held and questioned for nearly seven hours at Chicago’s O’Hare Airport, while the team’s photographer was barred from entering following phone checks. Members of the Senegal national team were forced to undergo detailed bag inspections on the airport tarmac immediately after landing in San Antonio, Texas. Elsewhere, Uzbekistan’s squad were searched by drug-sniffing dogs at their training camp in New York.
There is a clear pattern here. Does this represent football? Does this even represent USA USA USA? That Trump, the figurehead of this approach to Asian and African nations, was booed on Monday night at Madison Square Garden while apparently dozing through the NBA finals suggests otherwise.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“It was absolute madness in Baghdad, where it was early in the morning. The whole nation has been craving something to celebrate and this gives people a huge boost of energy and hope. You can really feel the sense of pride; there’s a genuine feelgood factor” – Iraq’s No 2, René Meulensteen, on his recipe for a World Cup shock, plus his time assisting Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United.
FOOTBALL DAILY LETTERS
Happy retirement to Divock Origi (yesterday’s News, Bits and Bobs, full email edition). Thirty-one is no age for a player to hang up their boots but there’s a lot to admire about going out on your own terms. One of football’s great unsolved mysteries remains whether his name fits better to La Cucaracha, or Gene Vincent’s Be-Bop-a-Lula. I guess we’ll never truly know now?” – Ed Taylor.
I was surprised to read that Divock Origi has just retired. As a Nottingham Forest fan (where he was on loan in 2023-24), I was fairly certain that he retired at the beginning of that season” – Brendan Mackinney.
Last Thursday’s Memory Lane (full email edition), with its excellent picture of Alan Shearer, brought back memories of England’s best tournament of my adult life – two excellent and one good performance out of four games, a better ratio than 1986 (just), 2018 or 1990. However, let’s not forget it wasn’t only David Beckham and the shootout who ‘did their thing’; Sol Campbell’s late header was chalked off due to Shearer himself pointlessly scragging Carlos Roa, and I’ve always been surprised how much he avoided criticism for it” – Nick Reed.
If you have any, please send letters to the.boss@theguardian.com. Today’s prizeless letter o’ the day is … Ed Taylor. Terms and conditions for our competitions, when we run them, are here.
RECOMMENDED LOOKING
It’s nearly time for the GWC, so here’s David Squires setting the scene with a big old show tune.
RECOMMENDED LISTENING
Next up in Football Weekly’s big GWC preview: Groups E-H.
A RIGHT WINGER TO REVERE
Don’t mistake Michael Olise’s nonchalance for shyness – the London-born winger has always been a confident lad. Even in those early days at Reading, the then unheralded teenager was candid enough to say in an online exchange that he was “on bigger things. Won’t catch me playing for a small Championship team for too long.” Olise was right, moved to Crystal Palace not long after, and the rest is history. Now at Bayern and part of an international front three with Kylian Mbappé and Ousmane Dembélé that could all feasibly win both the GWC and this year’s Ballon d’Or, Olise is arguably the most dangerous of the trio at present, scoring all three of France’s goals in Monday’s warm-up win over Northern Ireland, the last of which was another unstoppable Robben-esque curler into the top corner to complete his hat-trick. “Michael is amazing. You can see it, he’s really confident right now,” cooed Didier Deschamps. “He’s decisive and clinical. For an offensive player, he’s making the efforts to defend as well. It took some time for him to feel relaxed. His temperament is really more of an introvert player.” Good luck to Senegal, Norway and Iraq in dealing with this introvert.
RECOMMENDED WATCHING
New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani stepped away from City Hall to tackle the ultimate football challenge: predicting the entire GWC bracket in our exclusive interactive game. From shocking early exits to his definitive pick for the final, see how he maps out the tournament. Spoiler alert: England don’t win.
RECOMMENDED FOLLOWING
How do you do fellow kids? Yes, there’s now a TikBook account with all things of a Big Website sporting focus. So, if you’re there, you know what to do.
NEWS, BITS AND BOBS
The football regulator (IFR) is in contact with West Ham after allegations were made against co-owner David Sullivan that he had pressured aspiring models for sex. The 77-year-old recently quit as joint-chair and director to fight what he said were “false allegations” about his conduct. “These are extremely serious allegations,” said an IFR spokesperson. “We are in contact with West Ham on this matter and will use our statutory powers to seek urgent information from David Sullivan relating to his suitability under our owners, directors and senior executives regime.”
Christian Eriksen has posted an update on his recovery after collapsing during Denmark’s friendly against Ukraine. “I want to let everyone know that I am doing well and that I am home with my family,” he said. “As you can probably imagine, receiving a shock from my ICD has had a major impact on both me and my family, but I want to reassure everyone that this was a different situation from what happened in 2021. I am feeling good, and my recovery has already started … For now, my focus is on recovering, spending time with my family, going on vacation, and playing football with my children.”
Fifa president Gianni Infantino is the subject of a criminal complaint from his former boss at Uefa, Michel Platini, just days before the GWC.
And Chinese fans stuck without a team to support at the GWC have turned to referee Ma Ning – nicknamed “Card Master” for his enthusiasm in booking players – as the country’s representative for the tournament. The 46-year-old has emerged as an unlikely viral star after he shared photos on social media disgraces last month of him jetting off to the finals in North America. Quipped one wag: “His luggage is probably all filled with yellow and red cards.”
STILL WANT MORE?
Come get your latest GWC team guides: Jordan, Portugal, Austria, Argentina and Algeria. Phew!
BBC host Kelly Cates gets her chat on with Donald McRae about presenting in Salford at 2am, sportswashing and why Donald Trump won’t be able to hijack the football glory. [Speaking of which … – Football Daily Ed.]
“I didn’t think I’d be playing at 40,” says Edin Dzeko. But he is and he’s also been chatting with Ben Fisher about leading Bosnia & Herzegovina at the GWC.
England’s Djed Spence may have a knacked jaw but, as he explains, “luckily I play football with my feet”.
Semi-automated offside is coming to the GWC. Referee Micheal Barwegan tells Jeff Rueter how his all-Canadian officiating crew will be using it.
And away from the GWC, Michael Butler compares out-of-contract XIs: players in their 20s versus players in their 30s. Who wins? There’s only one way to find out: fight!
MEMORY LANE
Four years after Franz Beckenbauer and West Germany broke Johan Cruyff and Holland’s hearts in the 1974 World Cup final, the pair of living legends were turning out together for the New York Cosmos. Neither of them went to Argentina that year. (And yes, we realise it’s the Netherlands, but everyone called them Holland back then, this is a period piece after all and we’re simply getting into character.)