Mauricio Pochettino will make sure to avoid as much heartbreak as possible with the U.S. men’s national team when he names his final squad ahead of the official 2026 World Cup roster.

A year and a half after getting her first call-up to Mexico Women’s Youth national Soccer team, El Paso soccer star-in-the-making, Chloe Del Real, now has a youth World Cup appearance under her belt.

Mikel Oyarzabal scored twice as Spain maintained its perfect form in World Cup qualifying with a 4-0 win in Georgia on Saturday as it closed in on a berth at next year’s showpiece tournament. Luis de la Fuente’s side has scored 19 times while conceding zero goals in five group victories.

Portugal booked their ticket to the 2026 World Cup with an emphatic 9-1 victory over Armenia on Sunday, while Harry Kane ensured already-qualified England maintained their perfect record.England are the first side from the continent to go through a World Cup qualifying campaign of at least six matches with a perfect record and no goals conceded,

Ronaldo has featured at all of those so far except the 2002 World Cup in Japan and South Korea. He has made 22 appearances for Portugal at World Cups, putting him fifth on the all-time list behind, Italy’s Paulo Maldini (23), Germany’s Miroslav Klose (24), Lothar Matthaus (25) and Messi (26).

If Nigeria beat DR Congo and qualify for the inter-confederation playoffs, they know that, as things stand, they will be one of the top-two highest-ranked teams in the draw. That's because Panama are the only nation in the running to qualify for this playoff section with a higher ranking than the Super Eagles.