• Samsung launches cryptic social media campaign
• It appears to be about the next generation of foldables
• More specificially, Samsung is trying to tell us about shapes

Samsung is slicing up pizza, smearing paint, and playing with puzzles all in an effort to hint about what's to come in its next big Unpacked product event this month, which we all expect to be about foldables.

After clearing out its social media accounts, Samsung returned with a handful of social, almost ASMR videos that focus on sound and visuals but offer little in the way of concrete information.

The social media campaign starts with a photo booth printout that features four images of a woman and her dog. The print includes a substantial top border with the word "Snapply." Someone cuts that off before we see the words, "Cut to what matters."

Next, there's a pepperoni pizza where someone uses a rolling pie cutter to slide out a small, rectangular shape. They remove the slice, slide away the remaining pie, and the words "A whole new slice" appear. Next, there's a tiny dog puzzle. Someone removes the top row of pieces, and the words "Feels just right" appear. The last one, though, might be most telling.

It starts with some paint drops on a white palette. A squeegee slides over them to mix the colors and reveal the number 8 with the words:

"Bold stroke

New shape"

One thing we can glean here is that all of these social media bits are talking about design, shape, or aspect ratio. After all, the word "shape" and words that apply to shape appear throughout.

The "8" makes sense. We're still sporting our Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 and Z Flip 7 devices, and the Galaxy Z Fold 8 and Z Flip 8 are, presumably, the next phones in line. There are rumors of a new wide device, too, which fits the "new shape" idea Samsung is teasing here. Beyond that, though, we don't know much.

This is different

Samsung told us via email that the company is "hitting reset."

"After seven generations of pushing the boundaries of foldables, Samsung is taking a different approach to how it builds anticipation this year," the company wrote.

This new social media campaign is purposely devoid of product details and encourages guesswork. The recurrent shapes and patterns are intentional.

Clearly, all these videos are not just about the shape. They might be trying to tell us about some of the new features coming with the next generation of Galaxy Z foldables. For instance, there is another hint, perhaps unintentional: both the puzzle and the paint video are, according to the fine print, AI videos with edits. Were they created on the new devices? Only time will tell.

Take our advice and keep watching all of Samsung's social media channels for additional hints and details.

• Stduy claims AI adoption outpaces governance, creating long-term code maintainability challenges
• Saved developer time is now being spent on reviewing, validating and governing AI
• Accountability and trust are now more important than speed and productivity

Even though 91% of organizations have two or more AI coding tools in active use, four-fifths (79%) of the more than 1,500 developers surveyed by GitLab believe software delivery hasn’t accelerated at the same pace as developer productivity, implying challenges along the workflow could be diminishing returns.

Around three in four believe developers are writing code faster (78%) and producing higher-quality code (73%), but a new report from the coding platform believes there’s much more to AI than speed alone.

GitLab describes this as an ‘AI paradox’, where developer time is being taken up reviewing, validating and governing AI despite its promised productivity impacts.

Is AI just shifting problems downstream?

In fact, 85% agree that the biggest constraint now is code review and validation, rather than code creation, proving that problems have simply been moved downstream instead of removed entirely.

But now that AI is deeply engrained within developer workflows, two in five (43%) now struggle to distinguish AI-generated code from human-written code, making it difficult to maintain security and quality in the long term. Three in four (73%) say they’re concerned about the long-term maintainability of AI code.

And it’s this visibility that’s causing one of the biggest headaches for coders, with a third (34%) now unable to determine whether AI-generated code played a role in an incident.

“The events of the past few months, including supply chain attacks, reliability issues, and regulators tightening expectations around AI traceability and provenance are making clear that speed without control is a liability, not an advantage,” Chief Product and Marketing Officer Manav Khurana commented.

Most companies (92%) now experience some form of governance challenges when it comes to vibe coding, and four in five admit they’ve adopted AI coding tools faster than they’ve implemented governance policies.

Trust to become a key differentiator – not speed

While coding has become a major use case for generative AI since its mainstream introduction in late 2022, policies are still falling behind. But developers know this, and 91% now plan to invest in governance over the next year, with 98% allocating budget specifically for this.

Looking ahead, developers are preparing to enter a new era of AI, where generating code is no longer a priority. Instead, it’s all about governance.

“Organisations that will ship trusted software faster are the ones building the foundations of accountability with context, traceability, and governance baked into the platform, not just bolted on after the fact,” Khurana added.

But reading between the lines, it’s been clear that developers haven’t been entirely comfortable with AI for some while. Stack Overflow’s 2025 developer survey found that many are turning their backs on the tech due to privacy, pricing and quality reasons. Nearly 46% distrust AI to some degree, compared with just 33% who trust it.

Developers have now reached a point where AI has very clear use cases, but GitLab’s report clearly shows that traceability, accountability and trust will become competitive advantages in the future.

It's time for your guide to today's Wordle answer, featuring my commentary on the latest puzzle, plus a selection of hints designed to help you keep your streak going.

Don't think you need any clues for Wordle today? No problem, just skip to my daily column. But remember: failure in this game is only ever six guesses away.

Want more word-based fun? TechRadar's Quordle today page contains hints and answers for that game, and you can also take a look at our NYT Strands today and NYT Connections today pages for our verdict on two of the New York Times' other brainteasers.

SPOILER WARNING: Today's Wordle answer and hints are below, so don't read on if you don't want to see them.

Wordle hints (game #1838) - clue #1 - Vowels

* Note that by vowel we mean the five standard vowels (A, E, I, O, U), not Y (which is sometimes counted as a vowel too).

Wordle hints (game #1838) - clue #2 - first letter

D is the ninth most common starting letter in the game, so maybe slightly less likely than you might expect.

Wordle hints (game #1838) - clue #3 - repeated letters

Repeated letters are quite common in the game, with 748 of the 2,309 Wordle answers containing one. However, it's still more likely that a Wordle doesn't have one.

Wordle hints (game #1838) - clue #4 - ending letter

R is a very common letter to end a Wordle answer – it's actually the 4th most common there, behind E, Y and T.

Wordle hints (game #1838) - clue #5 - last chance

Still looking for more Wordle hints today? Here's an extra one for game #1838.

• Today's Wordle answer is to disagree politely with a statement.

If you just want to know today's Wordle answer now, simply scroll down – but I'd always recommend trying to solve it on your own first. We've got lots of Wordle tips and tricks to help you, including a guide to the best Wordle start words.

If you don't want to know today's answer then DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER BECAUSE IT IS PRINTED BELOW. So don't say you weren't warned!

Today's Wordle answer (game #1838)

• NYT average score: 4.1
• My score: 3
• WordleBot's score: 4
• My skill score: 93
• My luck score: 77
• My start word performance: SANER (8 remaining answers)
• WordleBot's start word performance: SLATE (329)
• Tomorrow's start word: SANER

Today's Wordle answer (game #1838) is… DEMUR.

The first thing I'll say about DEMUR is that it is not the same as the arguably more common demure, which means reserved or modest; without the E it instead becomes a more old-fashioned word related to politely disagreeing. I suspect it is not used very often by the majority of daily Wordlers.

That may explain why it has a relatively high average of 4.1 despite not, on the face of it, being a hugely complicated word; there are no triple or even double letters, nor any really uncommon ones.

The second thing I'll say about this answer is that I scored a three — and the third is that I was extremely lucky. Most of that luck came on my opening guess, with SANER leaving me with only eight possible solutions.

DEMUR was not on the list I drew up, which instead consisted of DECOR, ERROR, RECUR, THEIR and FEMUR. I knew that LEMUR and KEFIR were also possibilities, but dismissed both as having been answers too recently (in December 2024 and August 2025 respectively; both stuck in my mind as unusual Wordle words).

Among the words I'd shortlisted, DECOR was guaranteed to give me the answer, unless it was one of those two recent-ish solutions — so it felt like a reasonable risk to play it. The 'Bot suggested FLUID, which would indeed have guaranteed the answer whatever it was, but without the chance that it might be correct, whereas DECOR might have given me a two.

It didn't do that, but by turning the D green it ruled out all of the rest of my solutions, so I needed another one. I ended up having to work through the alphabet in search of words that had that DE--R format that fit the remaining letters, and eventually settled upon DEMUR for my 'Bot-beating three.

Yesterday's Wordle hints (game #1837)

In a different time zone where it's still Tuesday? Don't worry — I can give you some clues for Wordle #1837, too.

• Wordle yesterday had a vowel in one place*

* Note that by vowel we mean the five standard vowels (A, E, I, O, U), not Y (which is sometimes counted as a vowel too).

• The first letter in yesterday's Wordle answer was P.

P is a very common first letter among Wordle answers. It's the fifth most common in the alphabet and begins 141 solutions in total.

• There were repeated letters in yesterday's Wordle.

Repeated letters are quite common in the game, with 748 of the 2,309 Wordle answers containing one. However, it's still more likely that a Wordle doesn't have one.

• The last letter in yesterday's Wordle was Y.

Y is the second most common ending letter in the game, behind only E. In total, 364 Wordle answers end with a Y.

Still looking for more Wordle hints? Here's an extra one for game #1837.

• Yesterday's Wordle answer is the young of a certain animal.

Yesterday's Wordle answer (game #1837)

• NYT average score: 4.9
• My score: 4
• WordleBot's score: 4
• My skill score: 98
• My luck score: 36
• My start word performance: SANER (304 remaining answers)
• WordleBot's start word performance: SLATE (315)
• Tomorrow's start word: SANER

Yesterday's Wordle answer (game #1837) was… PUPPY.

Well, that was unexpected. Before Sunday we hadn't had a triple-letter Wordle for more than two months — but now we've had two in three days.

Everything I said for EMCEE applies here: a triple-letter answer in Wordle is incredibly rare, and potentially difficult to solve. However, this time it's really, really hard to solve, because the repeated letter is P rather than the ultra-common, present-in-most-start-words E of EMCEE.

That's led to a super-high average score here of 4.9 — the highest since WAVER back in May. Make no mistake, this is a streak-ending answer.

The fact that I scored a four on it is therefore both surprising and pleasing. I didn't have a good start either, with SANER leaving more than 300 possible solutions and my follow-up of CLOUT only cutting that to 25.

By this stage I had at least ruled out lots of the obvious letters, including most of those that might go at the end of the word: T and N and R and E and L. It made sense that this was going to be a Y-ending word then, and I drew up a shortlist that included lots of words with a repeated letter before that Y: GUPPY and DUMMY and MUDDY and BUDDY and GUMMY and BUGGY, for instance, as well as PUPPY with its three Ps.

DUMPY was chosen to narrow down as many of those as I could in one fell swoop, and it performed admirably — giving me a green U, P and Y and leaving only two, PUPPY and GUPPY. I picked the right one on this occasion and escaped with a four on a tricky day.

Wordle answers: The past 50

I've been playing Wordle every day for more than four years now and have tracked all of the previous answers so I can help you improve your game. Here are the last 50 solutions starting with yesterday's answer, or check out my past Wordle answers page for the full list.

• Wordle #1837, Tuesday 30 June: PUPPY
• Wordle #1836, Monday 29 June: CRUDE
• Wordle #1835, Sunday 28 June: EMCEE
• Wordle #1834, Saturday 27 June: SCOOP
• Wordle #1833, Friday 26 June: ACUTE
• Wordle #1832, Thursday 25 June: UNITY
• Wordle #1831, Wednesday 24 June: QUEER
• Wordle #1830, Tuesday 23 June: CURRY
• Wordle #1829, Monday 22 June: OVATE
• Wordle #1828, Sunday 21 June: ALIBI
• Wordle #1827, Saturday 20 June: DRAKE
• Wordle #1826, Friday 19 June: EMOJI
• Wordle #1825, Thursday 18 June: ENTRY
• Wordle #1824, Wednesday 17 June: TOKEN
• Wordle #1823, Tuesday 16 June: AMAZE
• Wordle #1822, Monday 15 June: BROIL
• Wordle #1821, Sunday 14 June: SEPIA
• Wordle #1820, Saturday 13 June: QUELL
• Wordle #1819, Friday 12 June: BREAK
• Wordle #1818, Thursday 11 June: TESTY
• Wordle #1817, Wednesday 10 June: ALIGN
• Wordle #1816, Tuesday 9 June: WHARF
• Wordle #1815, Monday 8 June: MAFIA
• Wordle #1814, Sunday 7 June: THUMB
• Wordle #1813, Saturday 6 June: MORPH
• Wordle #1812, Friday 5 June: NOBLY
• Wordle #1811, Thursday 4 June: ALLOY
• Wordle #1810, Wednesday 3 June: NOTCH
• Wordle #1809, Tuesday 2 June: BASIS
• Wordle #1808, Monday 1 June: CHILI
• Wordle #1807, Sunday 31 May: ETUDE
• Wordle #1806, Saturday 30 May: SMILE
• Wordle #1805, Friday 29 May: CLANG
• Wordle #1804, Thursday 28 May: DIVOT
• Wordle #1803, Wednesday 27 May: STUFF
• Wordle #1802, Tuesday 26 May: COUCH
• Wordle #1801, Monday 25 May: VISIT
• Wordle #1800, Sunday 24 May: NIECE
• Wordle #1799, Saturday 23 May: CHUCK
• Wordle #1798, Friday 22 May: VOCAL
• Wordle #1797, Thursday 21 May: AGREE
• Wordle #1796, Wednesday 20 May: WRECK
• Wordle #1795, Tuesday 19 May: DUSTY
• Wordle #1794, Monday 18 May: LOATH
• Wordle #1793, Sunday 17 May: BYLAW
• Wordle #1792, Saturday 16 May: MOVER
• Wordle #1791, Friday 15 May: CREED
• Wordle #1790, Thursday 14 May: WAVER
• Wordle #1789, Wednesday 13 May: DOWDY
• Wordle #1788, Tuesday 12 May: CLOCK

What is Wordle?

If you're on this page then you almost certainly know what Wordle is already, and indeed have probably been playing it for a while. And even if you've not been playing it, you must surely have heard of it by now, because it's the viral word game phenomenon that took the world by storm in 2022 and is still going strong in 2026.

We've got a full guide to the game in our What is Wordle page, but if you just want a refresher then here are the basics.

Quordle was one of the original Wordle alternatives and is still going strong now more than 1,400 games later. It offers a genuine challenge, though, so read on if you need some Quordle hints today – or scroll down further for the answers.

Enjoy playing word games? You can also check out my NYT Connections today and NYT Strands today pages for hints and answers for those puzzles, while Marc's Wordle today column covers the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about Quordle today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

Quordle today (game #1619) - hint #1 - Vowels

* Note that by vowel we mean the five standard vowels (A, E, I, O, U), not Y (which is sometimes counted as a vowel too).

Quordle today (game #1619) - hint #2 - repeated letters

Quordle today (game #1619) - hint #3 - uncommon letters

Quordle today (game #1619) - hint #4 - starting letters (1)

If you just want to know the answers at this stage, simply scroll down. If you're not ready yet then here's one more clue to make things a lot easier:

Quordle today (game #1619) - hint #5 - starting letters (2)

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

Quordle today (game #1619) - the answers

The answers to today's Quordle, game #1619, are…

• EASEL
• OTTER
• LYRIC
• SHACK

SHACK and LYRIC came easily enough today, but both EASEL and OTTER took me a while to find.

With EASEL, I tried every available letter with A-S-E-L before using the letter E again. Sometimes the simplest solution is the hardest to see.

Daily Sequence today (game #1619) - the answers

The answers to today's Quordle Daily Sequence, game #1619, are…

• SORRY
• EXTOL
• QUEUE
• BUTTE

Quordle answers: The past 20

• Quordle #1618, Tuesday, 30 June: HALVE, DRYER, THERE, MINTY
• Quordle #1617, Monday, 29 June: SLURP, CRACK, CRANK, PHONY
• Quordle #1616, Sunday, 28 June: RUPEE, TOPAZ, FULLY, BEING
• Quordle #1615, Saturday, 27 June: PRINT, MARRY, SADLY, BICEP
• Quordle #1614, Friday, 26 June: JUICE, ARRAY, BONEY, SKIFF
• Quordle #1613, Thursday, 25 June: SHELF, TAWNY, HYPER, SOLVE
• Quordle #1612, Wednesday, 24 June: SOBER, ECLAT, GOOSE, NINNY
• Quordle #1611, Tuesday, 23 June: ARDOR, DADDY, SERVE, SHEAR
• Quordle #1610, Monday, 22 June: WAXEN, APNEA, CHIME, WAVER
• Quordle #1609, Sunday, 21 June: ABBOT, NOTCH, DREAD, LURID
• Quordle #1608, Saturday, 20 June: SLAIN, TAMER, VIPER, FALSE
• Quordle #1607, Friday, 19 June: ALOUD, POINT, GLOBE, GROIN
• Quordle #1606, Thursday, 18 June: LATCH, BRAWL, STEEL, CRUSH
• Quordle #1605, Wednesday, 17 June: HOIST, PLUSH, GROUP, LEMUR
• Quordle #1604, Tuesday, 16 June: SLAIN, PLUCK, PINTO, SLICE
• Quordle #1603, Monday, 15 June: GAUNT, SNEAK, ROUTE, POKER
• Quordle #1602, Sunday, 14 June: WIMPY, WISPY, VIRAL, NYLON
• Quordle #1601, Saturday, 13 June: DEALT, STEED, BELIE, GULLY
• Quordle #1600, Friday, 12 June: TENTH, SHOAL, JELLY, UNIFY

Good morning! Let's play Connections, the NYT's clever word game that challenges you to group answers in various categories. It can be tough, so read on if you need Connections hints.

What should you do once you've finished? Why, play some more word games of course. I've also got daily Strands hints and answers and Quordle hints and answers articles if you need help for those too, while Marc's Wordle today page covers the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Connections today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

NYT Connections today (game #1116) - today's words

Today's NYT Connections words are…

• CHICAGO
• LONG ISLAND
• NIGERIA
• COLOGNE
• INDIANAPOLIS
• MUNICH
• LIMERICK
• SINGAPORE
• CASABLANCA
• CUBA
• DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
• CHAMPAGNE
• GUINEA-BISSAU
• CHINA
• FARGO
• MOSCOW

NYT Connections today (game #1116) - hint #1 - group hints

What are some clues for today's NYT Connections groups?

• YELLOW: Product placement
• GREEN: Cinematic classics
• BLUE: Drink up
• PURPLE: Hidden in plain sight

Need more clues?

We're firmly in spoiler territory now, but read on if you want to know what the four theme answers are for today's NYT Connections puzzles…

NYT Connections today (game #1116) - hint #2 - group answers

What are the answers for today's NYT Connections groups?

• YELLOW: THINGS NAMED AFTER PLACES
• GREEN: BEST PICTURE WINNERS/NOMINEES
• BLUE: PLACES IN COCKTAIL NAMES
• PURPLE: STARTING WITH COUNTRIES

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

NYT Connections today (game #1116) - the answers

The answers to today's Connections, game #1116, are…

• YELLOW: THINGS NAMED AFTER PLACES CHAMPAGNE, CHINA, COLOGNE, LIMERICK
• GREEN: BEST PICTURE WINNERS/NOMINEES CASABLANCA, CHICAGO, FARGO, MUNICH
• BLUE: PLACES IN COCKTAIL NAMES CUBA, LONG ISLAND, MOSCOW, SINGAPORE
• PURPLE: STARTING WITH COUNTRIES DOMINICAN REPUBLIC, GUINEA-BISSAU, INDIANAPOLIS, NIGERIA

• My rating: Hard
• My score: 1 mistake

My mistake came by including MOSCOW instead of LIMERICK in the list of THINGS NAMED AFTER PLACE.

At the time, I was thinking the Russian capital should be in the list because of the MOSCOW Mule but after getting one away I realized that there were three other PLACES IN COCKTAIL NAMES.

This was all after getting the four movie titles — I knew all four were classics but didn’t think they were all BEST PICTURE WINNERS/NOMINEES. From the list I thought FARGO was a winner but it lost out to The English Patient in 1997.

Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Tuesday, June 30, game #1115)

• YELLOW: DIVIDING STRUCTURES FENCE, GATE, HEDGE, WALL
• GREEN: PARTICIPATE IN SOME WINTER OLYMPICS CURL, LUGE, SKATE, SKI
• BLUE: COMMON RECYCLABLES BOTTLE, BOX, CAN, NEWSPAPER
• PURPLE: WHAT "DRAFT" MIGHT REFER TO BREEZE, ON TAP, RECRUIT, SKETCH

Strands is the NYT's latest word game after the likes of Wordle, Spelling Bee and Connections – and it's great fun. It can be difficult, though, so read on for my Strands hints.

Want more word-based fun? Then check out my NYT Connections today and Quordle today pages for hints and answers for those games, and Marc's Wordle today page for the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Strands today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

NYT Strands today (game #850) - hint #1 - today's theme

NYT Strands today (game #850) - hint #2 - clue words

Play any of these words to unlock the in-game hints system.

• NATION
• CHILD
• MINT
• DEEM
• CLOUT
• MEET

NYT Strands today (game #850) - hint #3 - spangram letters

NYT Strands today (game #850) - hint #4 - spangram position

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

NYT Strands today (game #850) - the answers

The answers to today's Strands, game #850, are…

• HINT
• INDICATION
• CLUE
• EVIDENCE
• INTIMATION
• SPANGRAM: TELLTALESIGN

• My rating: Hard
• My score: Perfect

I went around this board at a pace Mrs Marple would be impressed by until I reached the dastardly last word. I just could not see INTIMATION at all and it took me a few minutes before I finally linked the letters in the right order.

Fortunately, the theme was no mystery and thinking about red herrings I found TELLTALESIGN before any game or non-game words.

Meanwhile, I had to chuckle when the first word I got was HINT — frequently this is something I need to get going on Wednesday, but not today!

Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Tuesday, June 30, game #849)

• WRITER
• DIRECTOR
• CAST
• PRODUCER
• CREW
• EDITOR
• SPANGRAM: THATSSHOWBIZ

• This portable display combines work and entertainment in a single compact device
• Connectivity hub aims to replace traditional laptop docking stations entirely
• InnLead Monhub’s 60Hz refresh rate may limit the fast-paced gaming experience quality

InnLead Monhub has launched a 15.6-inch FHD 1080P portable screen hub designed for multi-device use across work, travel, and entertainment contexts.

This monitor uses a 1920 x 1080 resolution at 141 PPI with LCD IPS technology for general productivity and media consumption on compact portable setups.

It combines IPS panel visuals, 60Hz refresh rate, 280 cd/m² brightness, and 1000:1 contrast for mixed productivity and media tasks usage under typical indoor conditions.

Connectivity and display structure under scrutiny

The InnLead Monhub claims to turn any workspace into a flexible setup with connectivity that includes HDMI 2.0, USB 3.0, dual Type-C, USB, and TF or microSD card support.

The brightness of the display reaches between 280 cd/m² and 250 cd/m², alongside 1000:1 contrast and 16.7M color support for varied viewing conditions.

This portable monitor supports plug-and-play connections, allowing laptops, consoles, and smartphones to extend displays without the complex setup steps required.

Marketed partly as a business monitor, the device emphasizes remote productivity, yet reliance on a single 60Hz panel may limit more demanding workflows.

It comes with a light travel weight of around 730g, although the 1075g standard weight may still feel noticeable inside compact bags.

Crowdfunding uncertainty and use case debate

The InnLead Monhub is currently on crowdfunding through Indiegogo, a stage where promised specs and final retail hardware often diverge.

SmartDock, the branding behind the device, pitches one screen as a replacement for separate laptop docks, console adapters, and phone stands.

Ava InnLead, the project's creator, frames the pitch around mobility, though that promise has not been tested outside the company's own marketing.

“With Monhub, we bring high-resolution visuals, seamless multi-device connectivity, and ultimate portability — empowering you to work, game, and create anytime, anywhere,” the company said

While casual gamers may find the 60Hz refresh rate acceptable, competitive players accustomed to faster panels will likely notice the difference immediately.

The device also claims broad compatibility with Mac, PC, consoles, and mobile hardware, a list that sounds simple until different operating systems and drivers get involved.

The built-in stand is described as sturdy and adjustable, though how it performs after repeated daily setup and breakdown remains untested.

As with most Indiegogo campaigns, Monhub's real test will not be its specification sheet but whether the finished product matches what backers were shown.

Disclaimer: We do not recommend or endorse any crowdfunding project. All crowdfunding campaigns carry inherent risks, including the possibility of delays, changes, or non-delivery of products. Potential backers should carefully evaluate the details and proceed at their own discretion.

The World Cup has arrived, with the action now fully underway.

This year's tournament has been expanded to 48 teams, with the USA, Mexico and Canada jointly hosting the competition. That has brought in a host of World Cup debuts including Cape Verde, Haiti and Curaçao.

Of course, the usual powerhouses are also in the mix, with France, Spain, Argentina and England arriving among the tournament favourites.

You can stream every moment on Fox and FS1 in the US with BBC and ITV your go-to in the UK.

Stay up to date with all the latest World Cup news right here on TechRadar, where we'll also show you how to stream every match live — including free viewing options.

Welcome to our World Cup build-up LIVE!

The World Cup is just 10 days away as it all kicks off next Thursday with Mexico vs South Africa.

We'll keep you up-to-date with all the latest news and how you can stream the action for free from anywhere on the globe using Norton VPN.

From the most-prolific player...to the least-prolific player

Friday saw confirmation of the most prolific player's inclusion in the Argentina squad: Lionel Messi.

This will mark the 38-year-old's sixth World Cup, a record he will share with 41-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo, and begs the question: will this be the last World Cup featuring both football legends? Sports science is better than it ever was but they're two of the most senior players in a tournament of fresh blood.

And now on to the least-know player: New Zealand defender Tim Payne.

This humble kiwi player was minding his own business before TikTok personality Valen Scarsini, aka 'elscarso', decided to boost the profile of who he deemed the 'least-known' World Cup player. He helped boost Payne's Instagram account from under 5,000 followers to a whopping 3.8 million.

The bemused player put out a post thanking Valen and his fans for the "pretty crazy 48 hours". A reminder: New Zealand is the lowest-ranked team of the whole tournament and has never won a single World Cup game. They are a small nation much more interested in their rugby and Aussie rules football...but if they can beat Iran, Egypt or Belgium they will make history.

For all the breaking news World Cup stories and how to watch it ahead of the tournament on Thursday 11th June, watch this space.

Iran and Iraq announce their squad (or who won’t be in their squad)

One Iranian player that won’t be making the trip to the World Cup is Sardar Azmoun who has been accused of disloyalty to his country’s government.

The crime? Posting a picture of himself with the UAE ruler Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, a country with whom Iran has traded blows with. With Iran’s current war with America ongoing, this is the last drama that the squad needs particularly with questions as to whether they’ll be able to enter the country.

Iraq on the other hand announced their squad will include Ipswich’s Ali Al-Hamadi and Manchester United’s Zidane Iqbal. Two big names from the English football league is only good news for Iraq’s chances of qualifying from the group stages, which albeit are slim. Joining them in their group is France, Senegal and Norway…they may be the underdogs but stranger things have happened.

Join us tomorrow for more of the latest World Cup drama in the build up to this epic tournament.

The England squad have landed in Miami

Palm Beach, Miami. Normally a place you'd visit for a relaxed holiday with its vibrant nightlife and scenic delights. However, it's also the location where the England squad landed for their training before the World Cup yesterday.

Although they've escaped the dregs of the British heatwave, the Florida temperature will be no comfort to them. The humidity and tropical storms will be their first big challenge before they've even kicked their first ball, and this will be a recurring theme throughout their games across the country and Mexico as well, maybe less so Canada.

Before their tournament officially kicks off with their first group stage against Croatia on 17th June, they've got a few Florida friendlies to complete. First up is a game against New Zealand on 6th June. The 'All Whites' may be considered the lowest-ranked team in the tournament but they'll be hungry to get a first win against the England squad.

The second and final friendly for England will be against Costa Rica on 10th June. Having just lot a friendly today, 3-1, against the mighty Colombia they will surely be looking for a boost in morale. While on paper these friendlies count for nothing and are certainly favourable teams for England to win against, it'll certainly help the squad get into their rhythm and acclimatise to this unique World Cup across three massive countries.

Follow all the latest updates here.

All 48 squads are CONFIRMED

The players have all been locked in. Today - Tuesday 2nd June - was the deadline for every country's squad which means it's now official.

There were the inevitable shock omission which were met with horror in their respective countries, and that was just Harry Maguire's mum who was horrified he was snubbed from the England squad. However, there's no going back now as all 48 countries have submitted their 26 players - which include three goalkeepers - so bring on the tournament!

There will be inevitable fallout and controversy with a little over a week before the World Cup kicks off so make sure you stay tuned here for the rollercoaster that is international football.

We'll let you know how you can stream the action for free from anywhere around the globe using Norton VPN.

10 out of 10 for Bellingham

The number 10 shirt is a coveted number in football with a long history of greatness. This goes a long way to explaining why Jude Bellingham has been selected to wear it for England.

While he’s not necessarily had the best season recently at Real Madrid, he’s been a reliable player for England and scored plenty of memorable goals for his country. Will this faith that new manager Thomas Tuchel has in him pay off? Only time will tell.

Training is officially underway for the squad and while the majority are getting stuck in, they’re still awaiting the arrival of some. With the European finals overlapping the World Cup training, we’ll soon see the arrival of a handful of Arsenal players (Rice, Saka, Eze and Madueke) and Crystal Palace’s Henderson who will join the squad.

Don’t miss any of the England squad and other important World Cup news, right here updated daily.

It wouldn’t be a World Cup without some squad drama

It’s barely been a day since the official deadline for the World Cup squads to be finalised…and already there’s drama.

Switzerland player Breel Embolo was rejected while attempting to board the squad plane to the World Cup. The forward was charged after an altercation in Basel nearly a decade ago but it was flagged as a criminal conviction as he tried to leave the country. He’s applying for an urgent visa so he can join his squad in San Diego but it remains to see whether he’ll make it.

In other news, Austria are also a man down as Christoph Baumgartner suffered a thigh injury before their friendly to Tunisia. The RB Leipzig will not be replaced - in a fairly bizarre decision - as the loss of such a pivotal player will have repercussions for the rest of the squad.

We’ll keep you up to date with any other breaking news stories from the World Cup as they come in.

The big question: weather the matches will go on?

'Everywhere you go you always take the weather with you.' The irony of these lyrics from Aussie/Kiwi band Crowded House was probably not lost on New Zealand as their first friendly was delayed due to serious weather concerns.

New Zealand and Haiti were meant to play their first friendly yesterday at 8pm local time in Florida, but torrential rain and an electrical storm delayed the match by 36 minutes. Haiti ended up thrashing the Kiwis 4-0 which bodes well for England's friendly against them on Saturday as New Zealand still look for their first World Cup match win.

However, these weather conditions are a mounting concern, particularly with the sheer amount of games scheduled to take place around Florida including England's upcoming matches. According to American thunderstorm protocol, matches will be suspended for 30 minutes if lightning strikes within eight miles of the stadium with the clock going back to zero if another strike is detected.

Adding to the political turmoil around Trump's temperamental behaviour, this extreme weather the last thing the World Cup needs with its potential to delay or potentially cancel games going forward.

We'll keep you updated with the latest news as it comes in.

England squad spill the tea on touching down in the States and beyond

England centre-backs assemble!

Fresh blood Dan Burn and veteran John Stones, one of the only remaining players alongside Kane and Rashford from the 2016 squad to still be in the current squad, answer England fans burning questions.

How has it been adjusting to America? What's their 'get hyped' song before matches? Who was their favourite England player growing up?

Find out all the answers and so much more in this exclusive England content from the squad's official YouTube channel as they get ready for their first friendly against New Zealand this Saturday.

Don’t hurry Harry

Ahead of England’s first friendly tomorrow against New Zealand, Sky Sports breaks down the logic of Tuchel bringing three strikers to the World Cup.

He’s never done it before so why? Part of the reason may be to rest the main man Kane who has played a phenomenal amount of hours for his club, more so than before any other international tournament.

Resting him in the muggy heat of the tournament and allowing either strikers to shine may be a tactical move long term but will it work short term?

Watch the video breakdown and check in with our regular updates on this build up to the upcoming friendlies.

Tuchel talks starting XI and much more

England manager Thomas Tuchel has big shoes to fill. Previous manager Gareth Southgate took the England squad to two international finals, a semifinal and a quarterfinal after a long drought of disappointing results for the supposed Golden Generation.

He addresses the pressure, talks his starting XI and everything in between in this press conference ahead of England’s friendly against New Zealand, courtesy of Sky Sports.

Not long until the first England friendly and we’ll bring you the latest on this and a variety of other matches ahead of the World Cup officially beginning on 11 June.

Scotland and England prepare for their friendlies at 9pm

Two big friendlies if you’re based in the UK. England v New Zealand and Scotland v Bolivia, both kicking off at 9pm GMT.

Scottish player Lewis Ferguson talks about how the loss of star player Billy Gilmour has affected the Scotland team ahead of the World Cup.

Find out how to watch the game and more below.

Scotland lead 3-0 against Bolivia

Scotland have wasted no time at all, securing two goals before their first mandatory drinks break and another straight after against Bolivia in this first friendly.

L. Shankland (5')

S. McTominay (23')

C. Adams (30')

England struggle to find a goal against New Zealand

Nearly at halftime and England meanwhile are struggling to give New Zealand anything to worry about.

The lowest-ranked sides should be an easy challenge and there's certainly factors such as acclimatising to heat, not wanting to risk injury and ultimately treating the friendly as a test for which players work well together and where.

Maybe tune in to the Scotland game if you want something exciting to watch though.

Kane scores just before halftime and Scotland reach 4-0

Finally just before the halftime whistle, Kane does what he does best. A lovely header just before he and the rest of the starting XI are rotated so Tuchel can play all the players possible.

Scotland scored four goals in the first half but have not managed to create many opportunities since.

We'll keep you updated with any latest here.

Full time: England 1 - 0 New Zealand, Scotland 4 - 0 Bolivia

A good sign of things to come for the UK - or half of it - as England and Scotland both win their friendlies. Scotland continue their streak of scoring 4 goals, similar to their win against Curaçao, whereas England didn't look quite as convincing.

Obviously they don't count but it's a good opportunity to see how the team is playing, and hopefully Tuchel takes some learnings from what worked and what didn't work.

Plenty more friendlies coming up ahead of the tournament kicking off on Thursday, so keep your eyes peeled here.

Some (not so) friendly results

More friendly results roll in ahead of the World Cup kicking off on Thursday.

Argentina had a comfortable win against Honduras but Messi, the main man, remained on the bench for the whole game. It makes sense to save his energy for the tournament itself and particularly as a veteran preserve his energy.

Elsewhere, Chile lost to Portugal in a scrappy game which saw a red card for both teams. Ronaldo started - joining rival Messi with now a record six World Cup appearances to his name - but let his teammates do the scoring nevertheless winning 2-1. Not a friendly friendly.

Another big result was Belgium's domination over Tunisia with a decisive 5-0 result. Similar to the Portugal v Chile game, we saw a red card take off one of the Tunisian players.

A glimpse behind the scenes of England squad's training

Even though it was a pretty bland game against New Zealand, it was a friendly and a chance for Tuchel to try various combos albeit, that doesn't mean the hard work isn't going on behind the scenes.

Glimpses at Kane smashing in some penalties, some gym goals and a lot of team bonding, check out this video to see what goes on to get the Three Lions ready for the World Cup.

The US team arrive ahead of their first friendly against Germany

One of the three host countries, the United States, touched down before their friendly against Germany at Chicago's stadium, Soldier Field.

The game saw an early lead within the first two minutes as Germany's Havertz slipped one in. United States managed to equalise thanks to Robinson before halftime but Sané managed to get a 2-1 victory at 57 minutes.

While not boding well for the team, the crowd was lively and this bodes well for the rest of the tournament with this team being the strongest of the three host nations. Not great but who knows what the home crows will do for morale.

Keep tuned here for the latest updates.

Trouble for the Iranian team

In a move that everyone in the world saw, the Iranian team have had trouble ahead of their matches in America.

With the current conflict between Iran and America, the US has refused the visas of some World Cup Iranian team support staff. This means that the team has had to train in Mexico's Tijuana, just across the border from San Diego, instead of America's Arizona as was originally planned.

One man who was not happy was Amir Ghalenoei, Iran's coach, who wanted to be there much earlier to adjust to the 12-hour time difference but was forced to train in Turkey instead. There's also a clear directive that the team will now be based in Tijuana during the World Cup even though all their games are based in America which will prove to be a logistical nightmare.

How will this affect Iran's first two matches scheduled to take place in Southern California against New Zealand on June 15 and Belgium on June 21, and then their next game against Egypt in Seattle on on June 26? Only time will tell.

Follow us for the latest here.

Is Kane England’s one man team?

Perhaps the only podcast you need to get all your football needs, particularly with this World Cup approaching is The Rest is Football.

Gary, Alan and Micah - all ex-footballers bringing their perspective from the pitch - break down each of the high ranking teams this episode and ask some important questions ahead of the tournament.

Is Kane carrying the whole of the England team? Who was better Maradona or Messi? And who do they reckon is taking home the trophy this year?

Watch this latest episode and stay tuned here as we enter the week of the World Cup!

FIFA new rules - is more VAR a good thing?

Sky Sports gives a detailed breakdown of all the new FIFA rules that will be implemented this World Cup.

Do you think these make sense? Are they ridiculous? Will there be outrage at some point in the tournament?

Regardless, they’re sure to get a reaction from fans.

A flashback to last World Cup Final…

We’ve spent a lot of time looking ahead but, courtesy of BBC Sport, let’s look back to perhaps the greatest World Cup Final ever: 2022.

With England going out to France in the quarterfinals, the team led by Mbappé took on Argentina in an instantly iconic showdown. So many twists as the two great footballing nations took it turns to take the lead with incredible last minute equalisers.

The result? A nail biting penalty shootout leading to Messi lifting the trophy. Thrilling in a way which usually finals fail to be, will we see another sensational game like this? Only time will tell.

Only two days until the World Cup kicks off, don’t go anywhere!

FIFA portraits released

Take a look at some of the FIFA official pictures released from the South Korea, Brazil, Scotland and Netherlands team...

BBC Pundits weigh in on who will win the World Cup

Everyone has an opinion about football. And that includes these BBC pundits and ex-footballers who weigh in on who they think is taking home the World Cup trophy this year...

Messi, Modric and Mexico

Within minutes of entering the Argentina v Iceland friendly, Messi scored a penalty which saw a 3-0 victory for his home country. The doubters as to if the iconic player was match fit were silenced...for now. The big question: will he be able to get his team to a successive World Cup final this year?

Another regular at the World Cup, making his fifth appearance and only one behind Messi and Ronaldo, Croatia's Modric is preparing to take on England ahead of both nation's first game of the tournament. Having beaten England to make it the 2018 World Cup final but having lost to England in the Euro 2020 group stage, it's anyone's guess who will win.

Mexico is preparing to be on the world stage in a little over 24 hours as it hosts the first game: Mexico v South Africa at 8pm GMT. The festivities - the first of three exhausting Opening Ceremonies - will kick off 90 minutes before the game and promises to be a showstopper.

We'll let you know more updates as they come in ahead of the action tomorrow.

24 hours until the World Cup Opening Ceremony!

It’s official: there’s 24 hours until the World Cup opening ceremony…well part one of three.

Mexico v South Africa will see one of the three hosting nations (Mexico, not South Africa) kick off the biggest football event in the world.

Find out how to watch it and what time it’ll happen where you are in our info section below.

England game delayed by two hours due to weather

Originally meant to kick off at 8pm BST, the England game against Costa Rica will be delayed till 10pm BST due to torrential rain in Florida.

England fans may be shocked by just how violent the weather is even by English standards but they’ve been given the all clear for the agreed time…now the pitch is no longer a swimming pool.

We’ll keep you updated here with the latest.

Welcome to World Cup Opening Day!

Hello everyone and welcome to the kick off day of the World Cup!

We'll be updating you throughout the day as the excitement builds ahead of the Mexico v South Africa game at 8pm BST, and the opening ceremony at 6.30pm BST available on ITV1 and ITVX in the UK.

Check in our main info section to see how to watch it where you are...

South Africa and Mexico fans gather outside the stadium

The atmosphere around Mexico City's stadium ahead of kick off later as Mexico take on South Africa.

Not necessarily two nations renowned for their footballing prowess - Mexico's best result was reaching the quarterfinals in 1986 and South Africa have never moved past group stages - it'll be more about the spectacle than anything.

Join us for the latest throughout the day right here.

Tuchel on England's 3-0 victory: "I wished for that"

Thomas Tuchel, England manager, has faced a lot of questions after the New Zealand friendly but he's proven himself with the decisive Costa Rica win.

“I wished for that, I demanded that; I said before the match we want to push it to the next level, from intensity, commitment, cohesion, and we did that,”

Things can only get better, right?

Another major visa rejection

Ahead of the World Cup kicking off, FIFA president Gianni Infantino held a press conference last night…but it did little to reassure and readdress some rather big issues.

Infantino’s reaction to Somali referee Omar Artan being denied entry to the US? To tell people to 'chill and relax'. Hardly great advice and with the Iran games around the corner we can probably expect plenty more drama around the corner…

Keep tuned here for the latest.

5 hours until kick off!

We’re counting down till the biggest football tournament in the world kicks off in Mexico…and just 5 hours to go.

Will it be a dud of a game? Will it be delayed due to weather? Will Mexico fans bring the atmosphere?

Find out more soon!

South Africa train ahead of their game

Check out the South African squad getting some training in before they kick off the tournament later…

Kane speaks ahead of the World Cup

England’s captain and strongest player (arguably in the world) has given an interview ahead of the World Cup.

He talks pressure, leadership and bringing England into his third World Cup.

Give it a watch ahead of the first match.

Two hours until the Opening Ceremony!

Wherever you are in the world you have two hours to prepare for the beginning of what promises to be an unforgettable, hopefully for the right reasons, World Cup.

That means kicking off with the first of three Opening Ceremonies with Mexico having the honours of kicking it off. Canada and America will have theirs next, one after the other but it all begins in Mexico City today.

Stay tuned for the latest updates as we get them.

Tuchel angers the tabloids by saying England isn’t one of the favourites

"We can't be one of the favourites as we haven't won it for so long. There are proven winners within the tournament."

This is the quote that a lot of the clickbait media - not this fine establishment but I guess we’re talking about it now - honed in on.

England manager Thomas Tuchel correctly identified that we haven’t won anything for 60 years but they don’t call it the impossible job for anything because it was immediately pounced on by some sections of the ‘press’.

Surely the important thing is if he takes England to a win, not if they were favourites to win it in the first place. He also stated that he wants to focus on the group stages and will only think about winning the whole thing once they get to the quarterfinals. Sensible but you can’t win ‘em all.

Stay tuned for more here as we have less than 3 hours before the World Cup kicks off.

The weekend of football ahead

Get ready for more World Cup games than we’ve ever seen before, starting this weekend…

After Mexico’s game tonight, we’ve got South Korea v Czech Republic and Canada v Bosnia following tonight/tomorrow depending on your timezone.

The following day we have Qatar v Switzerland, Brazil v Morocco and then the final host country United States v Paraguay.

The final stretch of the weekend will give us Haiti v Scotland, Australia v Turkey, Germany v Curaçao and Netherlands v Japan.

Exhausted? You will be!

The opening ceremony starts now!

Alright folks, get ready for the opening ceremony now!

Gold, a massive World Cup trophy and outfits galore!

Wow!

Mexico brought its A-game to the Opening Ceremony so far. There’s been a lot of gold, a massive World Cup trophy erected and outfits galore!

We’ve got just over an hour left of the ceremony and until the Mexico v South Africa game gets in full swing!

Stay here for more updates as they happen…

Shakira + Burna Boy = Banger

Well, we’ve now been treated to the official World Cup song thanks to Shakira and Burna Boy with ‘Let’s Go’.

Undoubtedly a catchy ditty, but it’s no Waka Waka - Shakira’s iconic number from South Africa’s 2010 World Cup. It’s a nice bridge that Shakira has penned songs for both World Cups and now the two nations are playing each other. Probably a coincidence.

Anyway, the match is less than an hour away!

A preview before the match begins

FIFA have prepared a handy guide to everything you need to know about the Mexico v South Africa game before it begins…

Both teams enter for warm up

Cheers as the Mexico squad arrive on the pitch for a pre-match warmup…boos as the South Africa squad enter.

You sense that the home crowd will be extremely vocal so we should have some great energy for the game.

15 mins until kick off!

Grab yourself a drink and get ready for Mexico’s first game and the first game of the tournament!

Find out how to watch it where you are on our main page here.

Kick off!

The moment you’ve been waiting for!

Thanks for joining our coverage and enjoy what promises to be an unforgettable World Cup!

Next Game - Canada vs Bosnia and Herzegovina

Our next game is Canada vs Bosnia and Herzegovina, kicking off at 3pm ET / 8pm BST.

You can stream on BBC in the UK and SBS On Demand in Australia.

Today's games: USA vs Australia, Scotland vs Morocco, and more

Hey folks, freelance contributor Jamie here — I'll be taking over this World Cup 2026 live blog from now on, bringing you the latest updates.

To get the ball rolling (get it?), here's a quick schedule of today's fixtures, as teams continue to vie for a place in the first knockout round:

Times in EDT / BST
▶︎ 3pm/8pm – USA vs Australia | BBC iPlayer, SBS on Demand, RTÉ Player
▶︎ 6pm/11pm – Scotland vs Morocco | ITVX, SBS on Demand, RTÉ Player
▶︎ 9pm/2am (Sat) – Brazil vs Haiti | ITVX, SBS on Demand, RTÉ Player
▶︎ 12am/5am (Sat) – Turkey vs Paraguay | ITVX, SBS on Demand, RTÉ Player

Gary Lineker returns!

According to The Independent, ITV has announced that Gary Lineker will appear as a pundit for its coverage of Germany vs Ivory Coast on 20 June (that's tomorrow at the time of writing).

The iconic British pundit has covered the World Cup via Netflix's The Rest is Football video podcast, but this will mark Lineker's return to mainstream UK TV punditry following his departure from the BBC in 2025.

Today's games: Germany vs Ivory Coast, Netherlands vs Sweden, and more

Morning folks! It's the weekend, the sun is shining, and we've got four more World Cup fixtures to look forward to today:

Times in EDT / BST

▶︎ 1pm / 6pm - Netherlands vs Sweden

▶︎ 4pm / 9pm - Germany vs Ivory Coast

▶︎ 8pm / 1am (Sun) - Ecuador vs Curaçao

▶︎ 12am / 5am (Sun) - Tunisia vs Japan.

Head to our guide on how to watch the World Cup from anywhere to tune in.

Shearer: "Kane is different at this World Cup"

In an op-ed for BBC Sport, ex-England striker Alan Shearer has shown his support for current captain Harry Kane, saying the 32-year-old is "fitter and stronger" than previous tournaments.

The comments come after a strong start for Kane at this year's World Cup; the striker scored twice in England's face-off with Croatia.

Day of the Dutch

Netherlands have beat Sweden 5-1 in their fixture, ahead of the (currently ongoing) match between Germany and Ivory Coast.

Netherlands now sits at the top of the Group F rankings.

Today's games: Spain vs Saudi Arabia, Belgium vs Iran, and more

Good morning football fans - we've got four more fixtures to look forward to today. Plenty of eyes will be on 2010 champions Spain in their match against Saudi Arabia, but at the time of writing, all eight teams are drawn at one point in the standings. It's all to play for.

Be sure to keep an eye on our guide to today's World Cup matches for a daily update.

Spain avoids pain

Spain has won its fixture against Saudi Arabia four-nil, with the European former champs "easily" beating their opponents, according to Al Jazeera.

The game also saw Lamine Yamal's first goal of the tournament just 10 minutes into the match.

Belgium and Iran draw 0-0

Iran has managed to stave off Belgium with a nil-nil draw, the third in Group G thus far.

Belgium defender Nathan Ngoy was sent off in the second half after fouling Iran's Mehdi Taremi, ESPN reports.

Today's games: Argentina vs Austria, France vs Iraq, and more

Morning folks - here in the UK we're all excited for England's next match against Ghana tomorrow, but before then we've got four great matches that take us across the globe to South America, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.

Here are today's fixtures:

Salah: Egypt's first World Cup win a 'great achievement'

New Zealand were roundly defeated by Egypt on June 21 in the North African team's first ever World Cup win.

Speaking to the BBC, Egypt captain and former Liverpool star Mo Salah called the match a 'great achievement'. Egypt now leads Group G with four points.

The Three Lions are waking...

Tomorrow sees England play Ghana. The two nations currently jointly lead Group L with three points. I'm sure both teams will be looking to turn L into a W...

England and Ghana have only met once before in high-level football, at a friendly in 2011. Tomorrow's match marks the first time the teams have faced off in high-level competition.

Today's games: England vs Ghana, Portugal vs Uzbekistan, and more

Howdy, football fans. It's a big one for us here at TechRadar today, as England is set to go head to head with Ghana. We've also got matches between Portugal and Uzbekistan, Panama and Croatia, and Colombia and DR Congo to look forward to. Be sure to check out our guide to the World Cup listings for details.

England could start without Saka

As the Independent reports, England manager Thomas Tuchel faces a bit of a dilemma when it comes to deciding on the starting squad for tonight's fixture against Ghana.

Winger and Arsenal star Bukayo Saka is still contending with an Achilles' tendon injury, which is likely to keep him off the pitch at kickoff.

And we're off! To a slow start

30 minutes in and no goals yet. Still, the pubs are rammed with England fans hoping for a win. Let's hope the squad brings their best!

Am uneventful first half

No joy for England or Ghana at half time - the score stands still at nil-nil.

If you're watching along but struggling to keep up with the action, it could be time for a TV upgrade. Luckily, we've rounded up the best Best Buy TV deals we could find as the American retailer tries to counter Amazon's Prime Day sale. Check it out here.

Today's games: Scotland vs Brazil & more

Well... that was uneventful. England and Ghana drew nil-nil last night after a pretty static match, with England captain Harry Kane managing to miss a close-range goal as shown in the video above.

The group stages are now drawing to a close, and we've got six games per day for the last few rounds. Check out today's listings below:

What happened to England last night?

By all conventional logic, England, the world's fourth-ranked men's national team, should've had an easy enough time against Ghana, which sits at number 64 on the same FIFA / Coca Cola rankings board.

However, at the end of an uneventful match, the scoreboard sat still at nil-nil.

Speaking to the BBC, Declan Rice said: "It's always difficult when you play against 11 behind the ball, as deep as they were [...] last 10 minutes, we probably found more than we did all game, and were unlucky not to score."

And as ITV reports, England manager Thomas Tuchel told fans "don't lose belief" after the team's middling performance.

Scotland struggles to hold back Brazil

Down 2-0 just before halftime, Scotland is struggling to hold Brazil back. Some solid defensive plays and ambitious pushes from the Scots, but Brazil's elite squad is putting up a strong fight.

Still, according to the Guardian, Scotland could lose by five and still have more chance than not of qualifying to the first knockout round.

Today's games: Tunisia vs USA, Norway vs France, and more

What an eventful night! Scotland faced a crushing 3-0 defeat from Brazil, Morocco faced down a defiant Haiti, and Switzerland pulled ahead of Canada.

Today we have six more matches as the group stage draws to a close, including host nation USA going up against Türkiye.

Clarke under fire

Scotland manager Steve Clarke has faced some backlash for his reaction to his team's loss to Brazil last night, reports Sky News.

Clarke walked out of one interview, mirroring his reaction to Scotland's prior loss to Morocco.

The backlash has mainly focused on a perceived lack of professionalism, accompanied by questions over the quality of the Scottish team.

Today's games: Uruguay vs Spain, Norway vs France, and more

It's the second-last day of the group stages, and with England playing tomorrow things are sure to go out with a bang.

Before then, we've got six games to get through, including appearances from favourites France, Spain and Uruguay.

England return tomorrow

Tomorrow, England will face off against Panama in a bid to secure their place in the first of two knockout rounds.

Reactions to Kane's men drawing nil-nil against Ghana have been mixed, to say the least. A reaction roundup from The Mirror found a general lack of confidence in England's chances from continental commentators (but when has that ever stopped us before?)

The last day of the group stage: England vs Panama and more

We've got six games today to round out the group stage before the round of 32 begins tomorrow. With that said, all anyone here in the UK can think about is England's upcoming clash with Panama at 5pm EST / 10pm BST.

Here are today's full listings:

Should England be hopeful?

After their lacklustre performance against a resolute Ghana, England will be hoping for success at today's fixture against Panama.

However, BBC Sport warns against Panama's 'hybrid tactics', with Yoel Bárcenas' side morphing fluidly between formations as the demands of the match shift. England will need to play aggressively while retaining the ability to react in order to break through.

The squad gets ready to start

It's about 10 minutes to kickoff for England and Panama: TVs are on, pubs are filling up, and fans everywhere are hoping for a return to form for the Three Lions.

We can only guess as to who Tuchel will pick for tonight's starting 11, but The Guardian suggests that Rashford, Saka, Rogers, and Quansah could be some early-game picks.

A win for England, and the start of the knockout rounds

Fair play to England - Kane's squad put on a solid show last night as the Three Lions claimed victory over Panama two-nil.

And with yesterday's six fixtures, the group stage is over. It's now time for the first of two knockout rounds, beginning with South Africa vs Canada tonight at 3pm ET / 8PM BST

A last minute game-changer

In one of the last matches of the group stages, Austria and Algeria faced off in a heated match that ran till the last possible moments.

Indeed, as the Guardian reports, it was a 96th minute goal from Austria' Sasa Kalajdzic that brought the score up to three all, securing both teams' place in the first knockout round.

Canada pulls ahead

The first game of the round of 32 saw Canada pull ahead with a one-nil win against South Africa.

The co-host nation defeated South Africa with a last-minute goal from Stephen Eustaquio, who struck at the 90th minute to take his team to victory.

Today's games: Brazil vs Japan, Germany vs Paraguay, and more

Today takes us all across the continental US as six teams face off in three different corners of the continent.

In Massachusetts, on the east coast, Germany and Paraguay take to the field. Down south, in Houston, Brazil and Japan ready up for their head to head. And over on the west coast, the Netherlands and Morocco gear up for a match in Monterrey.

Here are today's full listings:

What next for England?

So, England is through to the first knockout round, and will face DR Congo on Wednesday in a bid to push even further in the competition. But that doesn't mean everyone is impressed with the Three Lions' performance.

And now, as Goal reports, Manchester United legend Paul Scholes has spoken out to ask England manager Thomas Tuchel to bench Declan Rice in order to catch up to World Cup favorites like France and Argentina.

Scholes criticized Rice, who plays for Arsenal in the Premier League, on The Good, The Bad, and The Football podcast, saying the midfielder wasn't aggressive enough: "No disrespect to Congo but in those type of games you play as many attackers as possible. I think it has to be a straight shootout between Declan Rice and Elliot Anderson, and I think I would just go with Anderson"

Brazil through to Round of 16

After an arduous match lasting more than 100 minutes due to stoppage time, Brazil has defeated Japan two-one and secured its place in the upcoming round of 16.

Japan, ranked 17 in FIFA's national team rankings, isn't exactly an underdog, but still put up a defiant performance against Brazil's offence, delaying the final goal until well into extra time.

At time of writing, Germany is drawing with Paraguay one-all.

Germany out in the first knockout round

In a shocking upset, Paraguay defeated Germany on penalties last night after both teams drew one-all at full time. The four-time world champs were knocked out in their first penalty shootout loss since 1976 (via ESPN).

Anything can happen in the World Cup, and today's lineup of heavyweight games is sure to have some surprises in store:

A tough tournament for Asia's teams

A new Guardian report details that this has been a rough World Cup so far for Asia's teams, with only two (Japan and Australia) of the nine entrants making it through to the knockout round.

Japan, of course, was knocked out by Brazil in a 2-1 loss, making Australia the only current survivor.

Haaland sends Norway to next round

Norway is through to the round of 16 after defeating Ivory Coast 2-1, courtesy of goals at the 39th minute from Antonio Nusa and 79th minute from Erling Haaland.

BBC Sport described the match as "a tense game" defined by "brilliant strikes". Norway will face tournament heavyweights Brazil in the round of 16.

• Mexico vs Ecuador Kick-Off time: Wednesday, July 1 | 2am BST / 9pm ET (Tue) / 11am AEST
• Watch free on ITV (UK) / SBS (AUS) / CazéTV's YouTube (Brazil)
• Unlock your free streams with Norton VPN (60-day money back guarantee)

Co-hosts Mexico will aim to end their 40-year wait to win a World Cup knockout match when they face Ecuador in Mexico City, and you can live stream the game around the world for free.

Javier Aguirre's men arrive in the last 32 of the FIFA World Cup 2026 high on confidence, after topping Group A with three wins from three. Yet the first knockout round has proved an insurmountable hurdle for El Tri for four decades, having fallen at that stage at seven successive World Cups from 1994 to 2018 and not making it out of the group in 2022. The only other time they've won a knockout game? In 1986, when they last hosted. Mexico are yet to concede this tournament and another clean sheet from Cesar Montes & Co would go a long way to helping them claim a milestone victory in front of the passionate home crowd at the Estadio Azteca.

Ecuador will hope a 2-1 victory over Germany in their final Group E game proves a sliding doors moment. Sebastian Beccacece's dark horses arrived at the World Cup on a 19-match unbeaten run, but took only one point from their first two group fixtures. Just 13 minutes from time against the Germans, up popped Gonzalo Plata to send his country into the last 32 as one of the best third-place teams. La Tri, who have never won a World Cup knockout fixture, will be desperate to make the most of their lifeline. PSG's Willian Pacho and Arsenal defender Piero Hincapie will continue at the back.

The winner will return to the Azteca to face England or DR Congo in the last 16.

So, read on as we show you exactly how to watch Mexico vs Ecuador for free from anywhere in the FIFA World Cup 2026.

How to watch Mexico vs Ecuador for free

Mexico vs Ecuador is available to watch for free in multiple countries, including the UK, Australia, Brazil, Belgium, Ireland, Netherlands, Switzerland and Turkey.

• 🇬🇧 UK: ITV (English commentary)
• 🇦🇺 Australia: SBS On Demand (English commentary)
• 🇧🇷 Brazil: CazéTV's YouTube (no account required)
• 🇧🇪 Belgium: RTBF / VRT
• 🇪🇨 Ecuador: Teleamazonas
• 🇮🇪 Ireland: RTE Player (English commentary)
• 🇲🇽 Mexico: TV Azteca
• 🇳🇱 Netherlands: NOS
• 🇨🇭 Switzerland: SRF Play / RTS Play / RSI Play
• 🇹🇷 Turkey: TRT

Abroad? Can't access your free stream? Unblock your free World Cup stream with Norton VPN — more on that below.

Use a VPN to watch Mexico vs Ecuador live streams

It’s the World Cup, and if you’re traveling, you might discover your usual Mexico vs Ecuador stream is suddenly unavailable due to geo-restrictions.

Don’t worry, that’s exactly where a VPN can help. A virtual private network lets you connect to servers around the world so you can securely access your usual World Cup coverage as if you were back home.

We recommend Norton VPN. Here's why:

How to watch Mexico vs Ecuador in the US

US viewers can watch Mexico vs Ecuador on Fox and Telemundo (Spanish comms).

You can watch every World Cup game on Fox, FS1 and Telemundo, which are available on cord-cutters like YouTube TV (free trial), Hulu+Live TV, Sling (select markets), Fubo or DirecTV.

Those looking for a streaming service instead can watch Mexico vs Ecuador on Fox One (3-day free trial). Telemundo is available via Peacock as well.

Visiting the US from the UK? You can still watch your World Cup stream for free thanks to Norton VPN (try for 60 days).

How to watch Mexico vs Ecuador in the UK

UK customers are in luck as they can stream Mexico vs Ecuador for free on ITV. Live coverage is on ITV1 and ITVX.

You require a TV license and a valid UK postcode for an account (e.g. SE1 7PB).

Norton VPN can unlock your stream if you're abroad today.

How to watch Mexico vs Ecuador in Australia

Mexico vs Ecuador will be shown for free in Australia on SBS On Demand.

The streaming platform has every game of the tournament for free, making it the perfect place for your World Cup viewing.

Traveling for work or on holiday? A VPN like Norton VPN can help unlock your free stream.

How to watch Mexico vs Ecuador in Canada

In Canada, TSN will be broadcasting Mexico vs Ecuador.

You can live stream via the TSN+ streaming platform, which costs CA$8 per month or CA$80 per year.

Outside of Canada? Use Norton VPN whilst you're traveling away from home to unlock your stream.

Mexico vs Ecuador: Match Information

We test and review VPN services in the context of legal recreational uses. For example:1. Accessing a service from another country (subject to the terms and conditions of that service).2. Protecting your online security and strengthening your online privacy when abroad.We do not support or condone the illegal or malicious use of VPN services. Consuming pirated content that is paid-for is neither endorsed nor approved by Future Publishing.

• US Secret Service personnel are using personal devices while conducting official business
• Personal devices are not secured against the threats faced by Secret Service members
• But government-issued devices aren't equipped for the needs of Secret Service members either

The Department of Homeland Security inspector general has released a new report which claims the US Secret Service is refusing to use government-furnished equipment (GFE), such as smartphones, because they are not suitable for mission operations.

The report states GFE fails to “ensure real-time, continuous protection from cyberattacks by foreign adversaries or individuals” with the equipment found to contain multiple third-party apps with security vulnerabilities that could expose communications.

In order to be able to perform effectively, Secret Service members are using personal devices to communicate with law enforcement and each other during missions, but many personal devices are not secured against the threats faced during the protection of America’s VIPs.

US government struggles to secure issued phones

But using personal devices in professional operations is also highly unsecure. These devices often contain the whereabouts of Secret Service personnel and the targets they are protecting during missions at home and abroad.

Furthermore, the devices only have the consumer level of cyber protections. As they are not managed or operated by the US government, there is very little protection against commercially available spyware or malware.

In some cases, personnel used their personal devices as a hotspot for their GFE, or used their personal devices to access websites otherwise blocked on their GFE.

The report explains: “If a personal device is jailbroken, infected with malicious code, or not up to date on security software, an adversary could intercept device communication. Outdated and vulnerable apps could enable malicious actors to conduct surveillance, track locations, or record employees’ communications. Connecting to unsecured networks may also allow cybercriminals to access data or install malware.”

The main culprit behind Secret Service personnel choosing not to use GFEs was found to be the Secret Service’s Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO). According to the report, “GFE mobile devices lacked mission-critical capabilities because Secret Service OCIO’s process for assessing and approving requests did not always correctly identify operational needs.”

Additionally, the expected protocol for most Secret Service members was to use personal devices, so many avoided navigating the bureaucracy of requesting access to communications apps on their GFE, which in return created a blindspot for the OCIO who were not aware these apps were already being used at such a scale.

The report further found that no Secret Service GFE was equipped with Mobile Threat Defense software until August 2025, leaving them exposed to “malicious software,

cyberattacks, and other vulnerabilities.” Critical data was also retained on GFE devices after operatives returned from missions abroad, despite policy stating that devices should be wiped within 24 hours of returning to the US.

Ultimately, the report makes five key recommendations to the Secret Service in order to improve the security of its operators:

• Introduce a formal policy that ensures all GFE are issued with the required capabilities and software for each mission
• Ensure all employees complete the required cybersecurity training
• Ensure the Secret Service OCIO clearly communicates its guidance that personal devices are forbidden from use during official business
• Ensure controls are implemented to wipe devices in line with OCIO policy for returning personnel
• Subject all GFE mobile app code to an updated vulnerability testing policy

• One upward push turns your monitor into wall art instantly
• DuoShift replaces notifications with a physical, deliberate end-of-day gesture
• Compact apartments finally get a desk built for two lives

Compact living spaces have made it increasingly difficult for people to separate their professional and personal lives within the same four walls.

Seung Bin Bae, a Korean student designer, has created a dual-purpose workstation called DuoShift aimed at fixing one of remote work's most persistent problems.

DuoShift addresses this issue through a single physical motion rather than relying on software, apps, or scheduled reminders.

A single motion replaces years of software fixes

The desk operates in two distinct modes, the Work Mode and Life Mode, and switching between them only needs an upward shift of the screen.

In Work Mode, it functions as a standard productivity monitor, holding spreadsheets, browser tabs, and video calls during the day.

Pushing the screen upward shifts it into Life Mode, where it becomes a digital art frame instead.

This transformation simultaneously clears the desk surface beneath it, returning the space to non-work use entirely.

Unlike calendar apps or notification systems that attempt to impose discipline through software, DuoShift relies on a deliberate physical gesture to mark the day's end.

Bae's approach treats this transition as a ritual, similar to closing a laptop or changing out of work clothes after finishing a shift.

Visually, the design remains minimal and slim, intended to integrate into a living space rather than dominate it visually.

Why this matters beyond the desk itself

Compact urban living continues to expand rather than recede, and remote work remains common years after the pandemic reshaped daily routines.

Most monitor designs have not adapted to treat this overlap between living and working as a serious design problem.

DuoShift's customizable frame finishes also allow it to either blend into a room's interior or stand out as a deliberate design object.

Beyond its function, the product hints at commercial possibilities, including digital art subscriptions or collaborations with furniture and interior design brands.

Its modular structure additionally permits upgrades without full replacement, a detail aimed at reducing electronic waste and extending product lifespan over time.

As compelling as the concept is, it remains a student project without the manufacturing scale needed to reach a global audience.

Samsung, as one of South Korea's most powerful electronics brands, could realistically turn this idea into a mass-market product.

Without backing from a company of that size, an innovation this promising risks staying confined within South Korea's borders.

The project was named an Honoree in the Home & Living category at the Core77 Design Awards.

Whether the concept could scale into mass production through a partnership remains an open and unanswered question.

What DuoShift demonstrates, regardless of its commercial future, is that a single deliberate gesture can offer something software has consistently struggled to provide.

• World Cup 2026: Thursday, June 11 – Friday, July 19
• Watch World Cup 2026 free on BBC iPlayer & ITVX (UK) / SBS (Australia)
• Stream on Fox/FS1 via Fubo (5 days free) in the US
• Unlock your stream with Norton VPN (try for 60 days)

World Cup 2026 live streams are serving up a triple-header of Round of 32 knockout games today, including a pair of sensational-looking ties in Ivory Coast vs Norway and France vs Sweden.

Les Elephants finished second in Group E thanks to wins over Ecuador and Curacao, and a last-gasp defeat by Germany, while the Vikings were Group I runners-up, owing to wins over Iraq and Senegal. Stale Solbakken rested most of his starters for the 4-1 hammering by France, including Erling Haaland, who’s already crashed home four goals at his first proper tournament. Emerse Faé’s attack, meanwhile, is much more varied, and Nicolas Pepe and Amad Diallo have each popped up with crucial goals.

Les Bleus won Group I with thumping wins over Senegal, Iraq and Norway. With Kylian Mbappe and Ousmane Dembele scoring for fun and Michael Olise arguably the player of the World Cup so far, it’s little wonder France are now massive favourites for the title. However, they’re up against a Sweden side loaded with one-punch knockout potential. Alexander Isak and Viktor Gyokores are two of the Premier League’s marquee stars, while Yasin Ayari is capable of the spectacular. Their hapless backline, however, means that Graham Potter’s men only limped into the Round of 32, having struggled through qualification too.

So read on as we explain how to watch World Cup 2026 live streams online, on TV and potentially for free wherever you are. We've also listed today's fixtures, the full schedule and the group standings.

World Cup 2026 fixtures today

(All times ET/BST)

Tuesday, June 30
▶︎ 1pm/6pm – Ivory Coast vs Norway | BBC iPlayer, SBS on Demand, RTÉ Player
▶︎ 5pm/10pm – France vs Sweden | ITVX, SBS on Demand, RTÉ Player
▶︎ 9pm/2am (Wed) – Mexico vs Ecuador | ITVX, SBS on Demand, RTÉ Player

Can you watch World Cup 2026 for free?

Yes. Every World Cup 2026 game is free-to-air on SBS on Demand in Australia and either BBC iPlayer or ITVX in the UK.

Find the full list here of every country showing all 104 games for free:

• 🇬🇧 UK: BBC / ITVX (English commentary)
• 🇦🇺 Australia: SBS On Demand (English commentary)
• 🇧🇷 Brazil: CazéTV's YouTube (no account required)
• 🇧🇪 Belgium: RTBF / VRT
• 🇮🇪 Ireland: RTE Player (English commentary)
• 🇳🇱 Netherlands: NOS
• 🇨🇭 Switzerland: SRF Play / RTS Play / RSI Play
• 🇹🇷 Turkey: TRT

Outside your usual country for this World Cup? You can use Norton VPN to watch the World Cup for free as if you were right at home.

Use a VPN to watch World Cup 2026 live streams

If you’re travelling, you might discover your usual World Cup stream is suddenly unavailable due to geo-restrictions.

Don’t worry, that’s exactly where a VPN can help. A virtual private network lets you connect to servers around the world so you can securely access your usual World Cup coverage as if you were back home.

We recommend Norton VPN. Here’s why:

How to watch World Cup 2026 live streams in the USA

In the US, World Cup 2026 is split between Fox and FS1 with Spanish language coverage available on Telemundo.

Fox is showing 70 games, including the final, both semis and all four quarters. The other 34 games will be available to watch on FS1.

If you don't have the channels on cable, they're both available through Sling – specifically the Blue plan, which starts at $45.99/month. You can also access it via YouTube TV (free trial), Fubo (free trial), and DirecTV.

Alternatively, you can live stream all 104 World Cup games via Fox One, which costs $19.99/month after a 3-day FREE trial.

To access Telemundo, you can purchase one of the above cord-cutters or get a Peacock plan from $10.99/month.

Visiting the US for the World Cup? Use Norton VPN to tap into your free coverage.

How to watch World Cup 2026 live streams in the UK

World Cup coverage is shared between ITV and BBC channels in the UK, which means all 104 games are free-to-air.

ITV1, ITV4, BBC One and BBC Two are the terrestrial channels required for viewing.

Live streaming is available via the ITVX and BBC iPlayer websites and mobile apps. 4K World Cup coverage is only available via BBC iPlayer.

Outside the UK? Check out Norton VPN and follow the instructions above.

How to watch World Cup 2026 live streams in Canada

In Canada, all 104 games of World Cup 2026 are being shown by TSN.

You can live stream them via the TSN+ streaming platform, which costs CA$29.99/month, CA$59.99/quarter or CA$249.99/year.

45 games, including the World Cup final and both semi-finals, will also be available to watch on CTV.

Not in the Great White North this summer? Use Norton VPN whilst you're traveling away from home to unlock your stream.

How to watch World Cup 2026 live streams in Australia

Free-to-air SBS is showing World Cup 2026 in its entirety in Australia, with live streaming available via SBS on Demand.

You will need an account with a valid Australia postcode (e.g. 2042).

Outside of Oz? You can use Norton VPN to access your usual World Cup coverage.

World Cup 2026: Need to Know

World Cup 2026 Preview

The World Cup's familiar magic is already visible everywhere: in its ability to drag Neymar back from the edge of a seemingly fading international career; in the almost cruel delight it takes in convincing England, the Netherlands, Belgium and others that this might finally be their Sisyphean breakthrough; in the tight grip it still wields over Cristiano Ronaldo and Portugal.

Even those who have already climbed to the top aren't immune. Lionel Messi was expected to bow out after Argentina finally crossed the line four years ago, though not without controversy over several key refereeing decisions. Instead, he chose to extend his international story, combining one last campaign with an ambassadorial role in the United States.

Kylian Mbappé, meanwhile, was just 19 when he carried France to glory eight years ago. In Qatar, he topped the scoring charts and famously struck a hat-trick in the final. Now, despite only two World Cup appearances, he stands on the brink of potentially becoming the tournament’s all-time leading scorer with five goals this summer. Yet he also finds himself in the strange position of needing success partly to quiet criticism from Real Madrid’s suspiciously vast supporter base.

Adding to the intrigue are Lamine Yamal and Erling Haaland, two of club football’s most devastating talents, both poised to make a defining impact on the global stage. Even with a recent hamstring setback, the sheer presence of the 18-year-old Yamal in Spain’s squad reinforces their status among the favourites.

World Cup 2026 groups

We test and review VPN services in the context of legal recreational uses. For example:1. Accessing a service from another country (subject to the terms and conditions of that service).2. Protecting your online security and strengthening your online privacy when abroad.We do not support or condone the illegal or malicious use of VPN services. Consuming pirated content that is paid-for is neither endorsed nor approved by Future Publishing.

• Watch select games free on RTVE in Spain
• Watch FREE on BBC/ITV (UK – ALL 104 games)
• Use Norton VPN to unblock BBC / ITV when visiting Spain

In Spain, your easiest option for streaming World Cup 2026 is DAZN, which is showing all 104 'Copa Mundial de la FIFA 2026' matches live for €19.99.

Spanish national public broadcaster RTVE has the rights to screen 33 matches for free, including all of Spain's matches, so you can stream some of the tournament at no cost.

But the story doesn't end there. If you are visiting Spain from another country, you may be able to watch and stream the entire World Cup for free – with a good VPN.

Not all VPNs work for this; free ones are useless and have data caps. Even some premium VPNs struggle, we find.

Visiting Spain from another country? We suggest using Norton VPN to watch your home streams from Spain – or anywhere else, when traveling abroad.

With Spain in the knockout stages, we'll show you how to watch the FIFA 2026 World Cup in Spain, from anywhere and potentially for free.

Use a VPN to watch any World Cup 2026 stream

If you're travelling in other countries during the World Cup, you might have trouble accessing streams and broadcasts from your home region.

A VPN can help get around geo-blocking. Any of the best VPNs will enable you to connect to servers in other countries quickly and securely, letting you tune into your local coverage wherever you are.

We recommend Norton VPN. Here’s why:

• How to watch the World Cup in Portugal

We test and review VPN services in the context of legal recreational uses. For example:1. Accessing a service from another country (subject to the terms and conditions of that service).2. Protecting your online security and strengthening your online privacy when abroad.We do not support or condone the illegal or malicious use of VPN services. Consuming pirated content that is paid-for is neither endorsed nor approved by Future Publishing.

• California government will have access to Anthropic's Claude with a 50% discount
• The technology will be used to improve workflows and cybersecurity
• Governor Newsom said Claude will be used "responsibly, transparently, and in service of people"

The government of California will now be able to use Anthropic’s Claude AI with a half price discount.

A press release published by California Governor Gavin Newsom says the state's government will also have access to free workforce training, expert GenAI technical assistance and workflow input from Anthropic developers.

“This partnership is about using technology the California way: responsibly, transparently, and in service of people. AI should not replace the human work of government; it should help our workers move faster, solve problems more effectively, and deliver better results for Californians,” Gov. Newson said.

Claude comes to California

The discount for Claude also extends to local governments at the city and county level, allowing state workers with lower budgets to gain access to cutting edge tech. Gov. Newson said the technology will primarily be used for drafting, summarization, and analysis, while also “supplementing day-to-day work and improving services for Californians.”

Californian state agencies will be able to access Claude through the Statewide Information Technology Shared Services (SITeS), a new portal that centralizes AI tools for government use. The Californian government has already worked alongside Anthropic to integrate Claude into numerous tools for state workers, such as the Engaged California tool that provides Californians with more of a voice in policymaking.

Claude Security and Claude Code are also being integrated into the workflows of the California Department of Technology and the California Governor's Office of Emergency Services in order to improve cybersecurity. The California DMV will use Claude to reduce wait times and improve services, and the Department of Healthcare Services will use Claude to assist in the state’s Medicaid program.

The state is home to 33 of the top 50 private AI companies in the world, including Anthropic. “As a California company, we feel a real responsibility to our home state. We’re honored to expand our partnership with California’s agencies and to put Claude to work for the people who keep this state running,” said Kate Jensen, Anthropic’s Head of Americas.

“Building AI responsibly and in service of people has been our approach from the start, and that’s exactly what this partnership puts into practice.”

• Lego's Olivia Rodrigo collection features five sets inspired by her Guts era
• All sets are available to preorder now ahead of an August 2026 release
• There are multiple Olivia Rodrigo Minifigures to collect

Olivia Rodrigo’s been keeping busy. Just a few weeks after dropping her third album, You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love, the pop sensation is making her next move. And it’s a pretty big one that’s good 4 all of us: she’s collaborating with Lego on not one, not three, but five brick-built sets.

In fact, she’s the first musician to get multiple dedicated Lego sets, and they’re all distinctly Olivia Rodrigo, complete with her iconic shade of purple. And maybe most importantly, Olivia is getting her own Minifigures.

Fans who saw Olivia Rodrigo on the Guts World Tour — or streamed the concert on Netflix — will recognize the iconic moon she flew over the audience in the Olivia Rodrigo's Concert Moon set, which is available to preorder for $49.99 / £44.99.

Not only does it include an Olivia Minifigure that can be placed on the purple moon, but the base is also a record player.

You can even use the knobs on the right side of the record player to make the disc spin, causing the moon to rotate. As with most Lego sets, this one is highly interactive, with plenty of hidden details packed into the full build.

If you’re just after a Lego brick-built record, Olivia Rodrigo’s Vinyl is worth a look at $34.99 / £24.99. Made from 360 pieces, it lets you build a vinyl record that can be displayed using a stand on the back. The front features several elements, including a red megaphone — as used on the Guts Tour — a butterfly, stars, and a spot for an Olivia Rodrigo Minifigure.

The flagship set in the Olivia Rodrigo Lego Editions line is the Dual Guitar, which is made up of 1,228 pieces and costs $119.99 / £109.99. You’ll build an iconic purple guitar that stands more than 20 inches tall, includes two Minifigures of Olivia Rodrigo, and features hidden details.

Best of all, it’s half acoustic and half electric, offering the best of both worlds. Beneath the electric side, you’ll find spots for both Minifigures, along with easter eggs that Olivia Rodrigo fans will appreciate. If you've ever wanted to get "obsessed" with the details, this is probably the set you'll spend the most time exploring.

Rounding out the Olivia Rodrigo Lego Editions line are the $79.99 / £69.99 Olivia Rodrigo's Secret Storage set and the $49.99 / £39.99 Flower Bouquet set. All five are available to preorder now from Lego’s online store and will begin shipping on August 1, 2026.

• Qualcomm Dragonfly AI200 AI accelerator rack is the first of multiple releases planned by the chip designer as it aims to score wins in the data center segment
• The upcoming Dragonfly AI250 accelerator leverages its proprietary High Bandwidth Compute (HBC) to offer a theoretical 18x the amount of bandwidth of its sibling
• Qualcomm's push comes amid an increasingly lucrative datacenter market grappling with memory shortages

It is no secret that the modern AI server ecosystem is dominated by Nvidia in most countries, even as China increasingly leans towards Huawei as its own home-grown provider for similar solutions.

Qualcomm may not be one of the first companies that come to mind when you think about AI data centers or the chips housed inside them, with many investors feeling it has missed the boat altogether in the server segment.

Qualcomm's recent Investor Day 2026 event was a reminder that it is not only still in the game but also has ambitions to carve out a large piece of an ever-increasing pie by taking a different route than most of its HBM-leveraging competitors.

An alternate ecosystem to Nvidia's industry standards?

Much of Qualcomm's Investor Day event focused on its plans to become a sizable player in the AI data center market, which is currently dominated by OEMs deploying a mix of Nvidia and AMD accelerators alongside custom silicon (ASIC) offerings from Google, Meta, Microsoft, and even Amazon's AWS.

It aims to do so by differentiating itself from the competition, relying on its own area of expertise to carve out an edge: efficient Low-Power Double Data Rate (LPDDR) memory stacked in a 3D array above its AI accelerators to drive the next generation of AI inference workloads.

The near-memory compute architecture isn't exactly a new play in a market teeming with similar approaches, but the numbers are hard to argue with when it comes to Qualcomm's offerings.

Qualcomm's upcoming Dragonfly AI200 rack delivers 43 TB of LPDDR5X capacity and 414 TB/s of memory bandwidth per rack, built from accelerator cards each carrying 768 GB of LPDDR5X, which makes it an interesting offering, but much of the focus that hyperscalers will have will be on its Dragonfly AI250 sibling that incorporates High Bandwidth Compute (HBC) under the hood.

While it offers the same memory capacity per rack, its ability to leverage memory at up to 18x its sibling's bandwidth yields a theoretical peak memory bandwidth of up to 7.4 PB/s per rack, a far cry from the AI200's 0.4 PB/s.

The Dragonfly is positioned as an inference-centric accelerator for a reason; however, HBM is still better suited to certain tasks, such as training models rather than inference, making it the memory of choice for Nvidia's Blackwell and upcoming Rubin GPUs, as well as AMD's Instinct offerings.

With that being said, Qualcomm's solution is intriguing, even if the numbers are for specific use cases and its ability to court Hyperscaler giants such as Microsoft and Meta tends to indicate that it has a potential win, at least on paper, as AI datacenters continue to increase focus on inference-centric solutions to deploy their increasingly complex models to wider audiences.

• France vs Sweden Kick-Off time: Tuesday, June 30 | 10pm BST / 5pm ET / 7am AEST (Wed)
• Watch free on ITV (UK) / SBS (AUS) / CazéTV's YouTube (Brazil)
• Unlock your free streams with Norton VPN (60-day money back guarantee)

Free-scoring France face a Sweden side who also boast their fair share of top-quality attackers in the last 32 of the FIFA World Cup 2026, in New Jersey — and you can watch the game from anywhere for free.

Les Bleus were the joint-top goalscorers in the group stage, finding the net 10 times as they seek a third successive World Cup final. It has not just been the Kylian Mbappe show, either – after France's captain scored four times in the opening two games, Ousmane Dembele took center stage with a 32-minute hat-trick in the 4-1 rout of Norway that sealed Group I top spot. Les Bleus' head coach Didier Deschamps has returned to camp after missing the Norway game to attend his mother's funeral back home in France.

Sweden have already had a rollercoaster World Cup, trading 5-1 scorelines in victory and defeat against Tunisia and the Netherlands, respectively. A 1-1 draw against Japan ensured qualification as one of the best third-place teams, but a defense that has already shipped seven times this tournament will need to tighten up against France's star-studded forward line. Head coach Graham Potter may decide to fight fire with fire and unleash his own impressive attacking options, including strikers Alexander Isak and Viktor Gyokeres, and the pacy Anthony Elanga.

The winner faces Paraguay in the last 16.

So, read on as we show you exactly how to watch France vs Sweden for free from anywhere in the FIFA World Cup 2026.

How to watch France vs Sweden for free

France vs Sweden is available to watch for free in multiple countries, including the UK, Australia, Brazil, Belgium, Ireland, Netherlands, Switzerland and Turkey.

• 🇬🇧 UK: ITV (English commentary)
• 🇦🇺 Australia: SBS On Demand (English commentary)
• 🇧🇷 Brazil: CazéTV's YouTube (no account required)
• 🇧🇪 Belgium: RTBF / VRT
• 🇫🇷 France: M6
• 🇮🇪 Ireland: RTE Player (English commentary)
• 🇮🇹 Italy: Rai
• 🇳🇱 Netherlands: NOS
• 🇪🇸 Spain: RTVE
• 🇨🇭 Switzerland: SRF Play / RTS Play / RSI Play
• 🇹🇷 Turkey: TRT

Abroad? Can't access your free stream? Unblock your free World Cup stream with Norton VPN — more on that below.

Use a VPN to watch France vs Sweden live streams

It’s the World Cup, and if you’re traveling, you might discover your usual France vs Sweden stream is suddenly unavailable due to geo-restrictions.

Don’t worry, that’s exactly where a VPN can help. A virtual private network lets you connect to servers around the world so you can securely access your usual World Cup coverage as if you were back home.

We recommend Norton VPN. Here's why:

How to watch France vs Sweden in the US

US viewers can watch France vs Sweden on Fox.

You can watch every World Cup game on Fox and FS1, which are available on cord-cutters like YouTube TV (free trial), Hulu+Live TV, Sling (select markets), Fubo or DirecTV.

Those looking for a streaming service instead can watch France vs Sweden on Fox One (3-day free trial).

Visiting the US from the UK? You can still watch your World Cup stream for free thanks to Norton VPN (try for 60 days).

How to watch France vs Sweden in the UK

UK customers are in luck as they can stream France vs Sweden for free on ITV. Live coverage is on ITV1 and ITVX.

You require a TV license and a valid UK postcode for an account (e.g. SE1 7PB).

Norton VPN can unlock your stream if you're abroad today.

How to watch France vs Sweden in Australia

France vs Sweden will be shown for free in Australia on SBS On Demand.

The streaming platform has every game of the tournament for free, making it the perfect place for your World Cup viewing.

Traveling for work or on holiday? A VPN like Norton VPN can help unlock your free stream.

How to watch France vs Sweden in Canada

In Canada, TSN will be broadcasting France vs Sweden.

You can live stream via the TSN+ streaming platform, which costs CA$8 per month or CA$80 per year.

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France vs Sweden: Match Information

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Spotify has the upper hand out of all the best music streaming services because of its hyper-personalized feed and social features, but its app design isn’t the greatest.

I’m not the first power user to call out the platform for its stuffy and, at times, unorganized layout. The ‘Your Library’ section, for example, is a cluster of your recent activity, which you can only rearrange using the filters at the top of the screen — full customization is out of the question.

After using Spotify alongside Apple Music, there’s no comparison — the latter packs a simple and concise interface, with a bright and sleek finish, and there’s Spotify could certainly take a page out of Apple Music’s book on the organization front. However, one user has, at least, found a hidden setting that allows you to switch from Spotify’s dark color scheme to a brighter one similar to Apple Music's.

A Reddit post shared by u/Hot_Perspective (see below) shows two images of the Spotify mobile app with inverted colors enabled, which essentially replaces Spotify’s dark appearance with a ‘light mode’ one consisting of an all-white background reminiscent of Apple Music’s interface.

Do you know u can use Spotify in light mode in iOS it looks pretty 😍 from r/truespotify

The thing to note here is that it’s not actually controlled via the Spotify app; it’s all done through iOS or Android settings — and it’s simple to enable.

If you’re using an iPhone, open Settings and head to Accessibility, then tap Per-App Settings. From there, you’ll need to tap Add App and search for Spotify. Once you’ve added Spotify select Smart Invert and enable the toggle. Android users can enable this feature also by heading to Settings and tapping Accessibility, then Text and Display. Find Color Inversion and toggle it on.

What an eyesore

If you haven’t yet come across this tool, it’s a stark difference from Spotify’s traditional dark-theme interface to say the least.

While it flips the dark in-app color scheme on its head, it’s smart enough to know not to invert album and playlist covers, so not every part of the Spotify app is inverted — which I think is quite clever. But despite its accessibility benefits, it hasn’t been a huge hit with music fans, myself included.

For one, it doesn’t solve the issue of the cluttered and unorganized interface, it just adds funky colors to the app. That aside, it’s frighteningly bright, I’d say even brighter than the average smartphone display setting — the meme replies in the Reddit thread have cracked me up (see the countless reaction images).

Comment from r/truespotify

I can’t exactly explain it, but there’s something very 'uncanny valley' about Spotify with inverted colors. It sort of looks like Apple Music, but I know it’s not. I even lost my muscle memory while trying to navigate it — it threw me off that much.

As we all know, Spotify loves a good visual, and most songs on the platform display a short looping video in the playback section of the app, but inverted colors interfere with this, making visuals look like X-rays. But even if you like how it looks, it has a knock-on effect for both iOS and Android smartphones.

Because Android doesn’t allow this tool to be enabled for individual apps, you’ll have to put up with inverted colors across your entire system, which is quite a strain on the eyes. While iOS allows you to enable inverted colors for separate apps, you need to have the system-wide Light Mode setting turned on for it to work. This means that if you’re like me and prefer to use Dark Mode in apps like Instagram and iMessages, you’ll have to sacrifice this — it’s an all-or-nothing situation.

I think it’s appropriate to say that, overall, it doesn’t sit well with a lot of subscribers. It does, however, remind us that while Spotify has yet to fix a few layout issues, at least the platform has a solid brand identity.

• 54% of global data center capacity is at risk of temperature-related climate stress
• Before damage even occurs, operating costs can soar to keep up with cooling demands
• Future projects should focus on temperature projections and resource availability

A new First Street report has identified extreme heat as one of the most significant long-term risks that data centers face worldwide, with rising global temperatures, higher hardware power density and strained cooling demands all contributing to the problem.

More than half (54%) of the global data center capacity surveyed is now said to be located in markets that expect to face growing chronic climate risks like rising temperatures, more frequent heatwaves, drought and water stress.

But besides causing physical damage, rising temperatures can also add to operational costs simply by demanding more cooling capacity, the report argues.

Heat is a data center's worst enemy

Higher temperatures mean cooling systems need to work harder to keep servers within safe temperature ranges, leading to higher electricity consumption, lower cooling efficiency, greater wear on cooling equipment and potentially all server hardware if optimal temperatures aren't maintained, and higher operational and maintenance costs.

With cooling already one of the largest ongoing expenses for data centers, rising temperatures could compound the effects.

Summer 2026 is already proving to be a stress test for data centers in the Northern Hemisphere, with temperature records being broken across Europe and North America where around 50% and 46% of capacity respectively is located in chronic heat and drought regions. As much as 89% of Asia-Pacific capacity faces the same challenges.

Looking ahead, the report concludes that future data center investments should focus on future temperature projections rather than historical climate data, and the availability of power and water to support long-term cooling operations.

Companies could also look to locate campuses in low-risk areas, which have so far seen comparatively slower development.

"As digital infrastructure continues to expand globally, institutions that incorporate climate risk into site selection, underwriting, and capital allocation decisions will be better positioned to identify resilient opportunities and manage long-term exposure," the firm says.

• A lawsuit claims RAM suppliers colluded to fix memory prices
• It says they did this by shifting manufacturing to higher-priced HBM
• But I doubt the lawsuit will make memory cheaper for consumers

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ll probably know that prices of PC components are out of control right now. Costs of computer memory are some of the worst affected, making upgrading your PC next to impossible for all but the five richest kings of Europe.

Now, it seems that some people feel there is something deeply fishy about all these price rises. Indeed, a recently filed lawsuit has alleged that the globe’s leading RAM producers — Samsung, SK Hynix and Micron — colluded to deliberately constrain memory supply and push prices up as a result.

According to the filing (via AppleInsider), the three named companies shifted manufacturing capacity away from DRAM modules such as DDR3 and DDR4 — that is, the type of memory used in phones, computers, tablets and other consumer devices — towards HBM, which is used in artificial intelligence (AI) data centers and sells for a higher price. With lower supply, memory prices rose accordingly.

On the face of it, that's not illegal — companies are allowed to make strategic decisions to maximize profit if they wish. But what the lawsuit claims is that this move was a concerted, coordinated decision between the three firms, rather than each one separately responding to market conditions.

Because they have a stranglehold on the RAM market (up to 89% of DRAM market share and 100% of HBM market share, according to Counterpoint Research), the allegations of coordination — if proven — could amount to illegal behavior, potentially including price fixing.

Will this end the RAMpocalypse?

If you’re reading this and are desperate for some good news among all the PC component doom and gloom, you might be hoping that a favorable judgment in this lawsuit would open the door to lower memory prices and go some way towards getting costs back to reasonable levels.

Unfortunately, that outcome is unlikely. The lawsuit has not proven anything yet, and showing beyond doubt that Samsung, SK Hynix and Micron colluded to screw over consumers — rather than merely making independent decisions in response to the same crisis — will probably be exceedingly difficult to prove.

But even if the plaintiffs succeed in doing that, the lawsuit is likely to be a long, drawn-out process, with many appeals and potential reversals. And even then, it won’t change the reality that right now, prices are through the roof. We’re not getting any immediate relief, no matter what happens in the courtroom.

That skeptical view is widely reflected on social media. On Reddit, for example, user HorsePockets pointed out that HBM memory “pays way more than conventional DRAM and allows [the defendants] to transition away from being purely cyclical stocks.” Ramping up HBM production simply makes sense from a business perspective, they argued.

EloquentPinguin, meanwhile, put it this way: “If they truly think that DDR3 was wound down in favor of HBM, and not because it’s an almost 20-year-old technology with two well-established successive generations, then they might just be grasping [at] straws.”

That illustrates just how difficult this case could be to prove — and how little impact it might have on the ongoing RAM crisis. But the reality is that prices are completely out of control right now, whether or not memory manufacturers colluded to ensure that happened. Punishing the alleged culprits might feel cathartic, but it’s not going to put prices right any time soon. And that’s the real injustice here.