The biggest competition in sport is finally here - but fans will have to keep their hands in their pockets.

BBC Sport's Annabel Croft says it is "impossible for tennis players to have a normal social life" because viewing peers as rivals restricts friendships and affects general happiness. Croft explains how tennis players often discover themselves after retirement, as they can figure out who they are away from court.

John McGinn was a boy from Clydebank with a "big, round head" and bigger dreams. Scotland's World Cup opener marks a new high in a storybook career.

Kimi Antonelli says he still has a lot to prove despite the imposing championship lead he has established after just six races this season.

Evoke has agreed a £243m all-stock takeover by Greek casino and lottery operator Bally's Intralot

Morgan Rogers and Jude Bellingham vying for supremacy as World Cup kick-off looms

Germany’s players are set to cover the travel costs for fans attending their match against Ecuador later this month

President Trump won’t be at the US game against Paraguay, while coach Mauricio Pochettino has addressed claims of ‘arrogance’ with the World Cup beginning this evening

Australia, the US and Paraguay will have their work cut out to match the Crescent Stars’ young midfield but a shaky defence is a genuine concernTurkey coach Vincenzo Montella has been building one of the nation’s strongest teams in living memory. A youth-driven squad with two genuine stars – Arda Guler and Kenan Yildiz – several players were not even …

Thomas Tuchel wants to ‘put a second star on the shirt’ after making big selection calls, but what will be Jude Bellingham’s role?This article is part of the Guardian’s 2026 World Cup Experts’ Network, a cooperation between some of the best media organisations from the 48 countries who qualified. theguardian.com is running previews from three …

Only a few days after the win that was supposed to put to bed a dark winter and open the curtains on sunlit uplands, English cricket feels more confused than ever.

UEFA have appointed Omar Artan - the official banned from entering America for the World Cup - as referee for its Super Cup.

'I don't think I really mean this, but possibly the worst thing that ever happened to the England football team was winning the World Cup,' playwright James Graham once said.

Under the new regulations, players will not be allowed to go to the touchline, rather they must remain where they are or come together in the centre circle.

A World Cup star survived being shot in the back in a brutal attack before becoming a Leeds legend and captaining South Africa.

A history-making jockey has been banned for 10 years after being found guilty of race-fixing offences.

A common question on media day in Barcelona was a sore point for Kimi Antonelli.

Trabzonspor president Ertugrul Dogan claims to have reached an agreement with Man United goalkeeper Andre Onana

Elliot Anderson would prefer a move to Manchester City over Manchester United should a deal be agreed with Nottingham Forest, but a second offer has been rejected.

BBC Sport examines which World Cup teams and players have played the most minutes since last summer, when the Club World Cup was kicking off in the United States.