New York Post
Mexico fans keep throwing World Cup reporters in the air on live TV
The World Cup is lifting the spirits of Mexican fans — literally.
Right
New York Post
She spent $6,000 to give grandpa, 89, his World Cup dream — then disaster struck at the gate
Right
An 89-year-old San Diego man’s lifelong dream of attending a World Cup match became a $6,000 heartache at the stadium entrance.
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Found 8 stories
New York Post
Belgium vs. Iran World Cup prediction: Odds, picks, best bet for Group G match on Sunday
Belgium and Iran will want to wash the bitter tastes out of their mouths on Sunday.
Right
US news | The Guardian
The French aristocrat and the all-American idiot: Henry v Lalas is the World Cup’s most compelling battle
Fox’s broadcast at the tournament has become a story of two contrasting styles. And there is one clear winnerWe all know someone like Alexi Lalas. He’s the ranter whose rants never actually say anything, the life of the party at the party no one enjoys attending, the “big personality” who’s always misjudging the size of the room. He’s corporate America’s idea of a fun guy, the type of workplace “character” whose business trip hangover never stops him from being first at the hotel breakfast buffet, hair wet, Untuckit shirt untucked. He would absolutely dominate karaoke night at a conference on infrastructure finance. If only this were the limit of Alexi Lalas’s actual impact on the world, our culture would live in blessed ignorance of his existence. But in the real world Alexi Lalas is not a small-time menace working the floor at an infrastructure conference. In the real world Alexi Lalas is American soccer’s brightest media star, and he is everywhere this World Cup.When Lalas’s Roger Ramjet jaw thrust into frame on Fox at the start of this tournament, it’s fair to assume that many viewers felt a sense of dread similar to that expressed in the Grand Theft Auto meme: “Ah shit, here we go again.” Lalas’s ubiquitousness every World Cup is American TV’s answer to the Iran war: no one wants it, everyone hates it, and as it drags on, it inevitably becomes a face-saving exercise in damage limitation. But there was also a glimmer of hope: for this tournament Fox has enlisted a pair of elite European strikers, Thierry Henry and Zlatan Ibrahimović, to terrorize Lalas and shake proceedings up. Steered by Rebecca Lowe, this new-look panel has promised a slightly more sophisticated approach to covering the tournament than the yahooing belligerence that was Fox’s stock in trade at the last two World Cups. Continue reading...
Center Left
Raw Story
James Carville gives blunt advice to Trump aides dealing with president's 'nasty habits'
James Carville has a survival strategy for anyone still working inside Donald Trump's White House, and it boils down to two words: start leaking.On the latest episode of his Politics War Room podcast, the veteran Democratic strategist delivered a blunt appeal to administration staffers, urging them to protect their own reputations before the history of Trump's second term gets written. "Save Yourself! Save Yourself, now!" Carville declared, before adding his prescription: "Leak, leak, and more leaks."Carville framed the advice as a matter of self-preservation rather than loyalty, arguing that the insiders who cooperate with reporters tend to come out looking better in the long run. "When the history is written, the leakers always do better," he said. He was characteristically crude about the position those aides already find themselves in, telling them they are "already covered in" filth and that the only way to improve their standing is to "leak more."His comments came as he discussed "Regime Change," the forthcoming book from reporters Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan, set for release June 23. Early excerpts describe a White House riddled with leaks, infighting, and recurring crises. Carville summarized the portrait it paints in his own unsparing terms, calling the administration a collection of "stumbling, bumbling" fools and pointing to the volume of damaging disclosures already flowing out of Trump's orbit. "Look at the number of people that are leaking!" he said, claiming aides are so eager to protect themselves that they "leak everything about him."Carville reserved particular attention for the administration's younger officials, whom he prodded to join the exodus of information. "You got to get on the train," he said, describing his unexpected interest in advising what he dismissively called Trump's "little ambitious" staffers. His closing instruction left little to interpretation: "Everything that you know, every stupid thing that he says, every grotesque, horrible, nasty habit he's got, leak it."The strategist paired the leak campaign with a striking prediction about the president's future, asserting that Trump would be "gone by April of next year" and describing him in deeply unflattering physical terms, claiming the president "doesn't even know where he is" and "can't get out of a chair."Whether any West Wing aides take the advice is another matter, but Carville's larger point was that the leaking has already begun and is unlikely to stop. In his telling, the smartest people left in the building are the ones quietly deciding which secrets to hand over first.
Far Left
Axios
Welcome to America, World Cup visitors. Don't forget to tip.
Millions of World Cup visitors are experiencing American cuisine for the first time and there's one menu item that's completely foreign: tipping.Why it matters: Many restaurants in World Cup host cities are adding 20% gratuities to customers' bills this summer to accommodate international fans who might otherwise accidentally stiff their servers.What they're saying: Teneshia Murray Butler, owner of the Atlanta-based chain T's Brunch Bar, tells Axios she raised the restaurants' automatic gratuity from 18% to 20% for the World Cup."My servers are everything. They're like the quarterback to the rest of the team," she says."Doing this makes the server see that I'm putting them first, ... and I care about them and their money."The big picture: Tipping isn't customary in many countries, and the U.S. version of it is unusually central to worker pay.In America, tipped workers can be paid as little as $2.13 an hour as long as tips bring them up to the $7.25 federal minimum wage.Tipping originated in feudal Europe, where royalty tipped servants in addition to paying them a living wage. The U.S. later adopted the practice after enslavement ended, using it as a way to keep Black workers in poverty."Restaurants wanted to be able to continue to access free Black labor," Saru Jayaraman, president of advocacy group One Fair Wage, tells Axios. "So they mutated tipping from being an extra bonus on top of the wages... to becoming a replacement for wages."Case in point: Jessica Ordeñana, a NYC bartender, tells Axios her restaurant is adding automatic gratuity for tourists, but that occasionally gets missed during busy game days.She says a large group of foreign fans came in to watch Tuesday's match between Argentina and Algeria and ran up a bill of about $300."They left like a $4 tip, and that was really, really disgusting. We depend on [tips], but unfortunately we cannot depend on them, because of how low they are," Ordeñana says.Between the lines: David Cooper, director of the Economic Analysis and Research Network, tells Axios research shows the poverty rate for tipped workers is "dramatically lower" in states like California, Minnesota and Montana where servers receive tips on top of the full minimum wage versus those in states that follow the federal tipped minimum wage.Poverty rates for non-tipped workers are "essentially the same" across both groups of states, which suggests the tipped wage policy itself is a key driver, he says.Zoom in: Unionized servers and bartenders at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles authorized a strike a week before the tournament's opening match, threatening a walkout.The strike was averted after the union reached an agreement with management. Tipped workers at SoFi won a 30% pay increase.The bottom line: Jayaraman says she hopes the World Cup "shines a light" on tipped workers' vulnerability — and the year-round insecurity a temporary service charge can't fix."We always say your tips go up and down, month to month, shift to shift, season to season, but your bills don't go up and down, they just go up and up."Go deeper: World Cup collides with Trump's America First agenda
Center Left
New York Post
Hasbro SVP ‘came from dirt’ but saw American dream magic as his family took in more than 250 foster children over the years
"I always say we never had two nickels to rub together, but we figured it out and the house was always full of love," Matt Proulx said.
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US news | The Guardian
Some US players believe they can win the World Cup. Are they deluded?
Mauricio Pochettino’s players have got off to a scorching start to the tournament. Going all the way will require the team reaching a whole new levelThe United States can win the World Cup. The US players say so. So does Zlatan Ibrahimović. Because you are a smart Guardian reader, you know that, theoretically, any team who are not yet eliminated can win the World Cup. And you know that this US team have won their opening two World Cup games convincingly, securing the top spot in Group D and a place in the knockout round with a game to spare. Making the World Cup final, and winning it, is in the realm of possibility.But can they? Within the team, there has been belief they can go all the way for some time. US head coach Mauricio Pochettino laid down the marker in his introductory press conference, and has stuck to his belief. His players have followed suit. But now, even famous pundits with outsized egos are saying the US can shock the world and capture the men’s World Cup for the first time on home soil. Continue reading...
Center Left
New York Post
Erling Haaland has Sydney Sweeney on his mind during World Cup: ‘Thinking of her’
One of the biggest stars to take the field during the 2026 World Cup is Erling Haaland. The 25-year-old Norwegian striker has been world-class with Manchester City over the past several years, and finally gets to showcase his abilities on the world’s biggest international stage. Because Norway isn’t a powerhouse when it comes to soccer,...
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