It’s long been a golden rule of sport that football World Cups get bigger and badder every four years. The latest edition of the tournament, however, may put that universal law to the test after a six-week journey through Trump’s America, which is expected to generate $80bn of global economic output through its full timeline.
As the world’s biggest sporting event meets the world’s biggest market, it’s hard to see how even the World Cup can get much more bloated than this. But if anyone can make it happen it’s Gianni Infantino, the opportunist Fifa overlord who has schmoozed with the planet’s most divisive leaders to extract maximum gains from his travelling global roadshow. As Barney Ronay says in his tournament scenesetter for our cover story this week, welcome to the heart of darkness.
Yet the World Cup is also a spectacle that is impossible to ignore. Through 39 days, 16 host cities, 104 matches and a 10,000km span across Canada, the US and Mexico, it will surely reveal exactly why it is still the greatest show on Earth.
You can follow every game and all the big talking points from World Cup 2026 with Guardian Sport, brought to you by the team named Sports Publisher of the Year at this year’s Sports Journalism Awards.
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Five essential reads in this week’s edition
The big story | How the murder of Henry Nowak shook Britain
The aftermath of a tragedy revealed a country grappling with how easily such events can be co‑opted into a far-right rallying cry. Libby Brooks reports
Technology | Can autonomous AI killer drones be taught morality?
While the technology is set to play a growing role in modern warfare, there remains an unresolved ethical challenge. Dan Milmo and Aisha Down size up the terrain
Feature | Hello, goodbye: inside the final Beatles tour
By the mid-1960s, the Beatles were ready to quit touring for good. A new collection of pictures by rock photographer Jim Marshall captures their last gigs. With a foreword by Ian Leslie
Opinion | Trump’s failure to maintain ceasefires is part of the new world disorder
The US president brags about ending wars but look at Ukraine, Gaza, Iran and Lebanon to see what his casual disregard for diplomacy and obsession with instant results have achieved, argues Simon Tisdall
Culture | The ruthlessness and redemption of Rupert Everett
The 67-year-old actor lied to his partners, disrespected his audiences and betrayed his friends. But has this indiscreet, unreliable heartbreaker finally grown up and settled down? Simon Hattenstone went to find out
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What else we’ve been reading
• Fifty years ago this week, the Sex Pistols played their first Manchester gig – upending pop culture and inspiring the likes of Joy Division, New Order, the Smiths, the Fall and the Buzzcocks. But what about the bands who were tipped to make it big in 1976? Alexis Petridis talked to some of those who got left behind when punk exploded. Neil Willis, production editor
• I enjoyed this wonderfully niche story about an exhibition dedicated entirely to terrible album artwork. It’s full of baffling record sleeves and raises the question of whether a bad cover puts you off listening to the music (my verdict, it does). Jade Lovitt, business manager
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Other highlights from the Guardian website
• Audio | The jailing of Germany’s most wanted woman
• Video | How rapid weight loss can leave you with less muscle and more fat
• Gallery | Pot shot takes top spot in World Food Photography awards 2026
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