FIFA World Cup 2026 LIVE updates: Egypt hold Belgium as Cape Verde stun Spain with draw

Uruguay veteran defender Jose Maria Gimenez has not been named in the starting line-up for their World Cup Group H opener against Saudi Arabia, and Ronald Araujo was not included in the squad.

Uruguay boss Marcelo Bielsa said Gimenez had recovered from an ankle injury, but the 31-year-old may have to wait to make his 100th appearance for the national team.

Here are the main points ahead of kick-off:

• Barcelona defender Araujo suffered a muscle tear during training and will sit out the game.
• Uruguay are starting Sebastian Caceres and Mathias Olivera in central defence.
• Bielsa has picked a strong midfield with Manuel Ugarte, Rodrigo Bentancur and Federico Valverde.
• Salem Al-Dawsari will lead Saudi Arabia at his third World Cup.
• Saudi Arabia have named a back-five led by Lens defender Saud Abdulhamid, the only player in the squad who plays club football outside the kingdom.

We are four hours away from Iran’s first Group G match against New Zealand, and Los Angeles is expecting to be flooded with protests from the city’s massive Iranian diaspora. The team arrived in the US yesterday, flying from their training base in Tijuana, Mexico and touching down in LA just as a deal was announced to end the US-Iran war.

LA is home to the largest Iranian community outside Iran, many of whom fled the country after the Islamic Revolution, and Iranian-American fans say they are torn between excitement to see the side play, anger at Tehran’s crackdown on protesters, and worries about Washington’s bombing campaign.

Security has been tight near the Los Angeles Stadium in Inglewood, with several nearby roads already closed off and police officers patrolling the area. Protesters have started to gather outside the stadium, with bigger protests expected closer to kick-off.

Our own Nick Ralston has just landed at LAX and is headed to the stadium to bring us the latest from the ground in the build-up.

You may have read our story from Frances Howe yesterday about Australian referee Shaun Evans being accused of making a “white power” gesture during the World Cup broadcast before Germany’s 7-1 win over Curacao on Monday (AEST).

Well, the Associated Press has some follow-up news, reporting that FIFA’s discrimination monitor at the World Cup has called for Evans to be removed.

“Advice from our experts is that the gesture used clearly resembles an upside down ‘OK’ hand symbol used as a ‘white power’ symbol in global far-right circles,” said the Fare network, a long-time partner of FIFA and European soccer body UEFA to monitor racist and discriminatory chants, flags and symbols at international games.

“Clearly this official should have no further role to play in this World Cup,” Fare said in its statement, describing the gesture as “neo-Nazi”.

Cape Verde announced themselves on the World Cup stage with a stunning 0-0 draw against Spain, frustrating the European champions who dominated possession and had 27 goal attempts but could find no way past 40-year-old keeper Vozinha.

The African side built a blue-shirted barricade in front of Vozinha and dared Spain, who dominated almost everything in the Group H draw except the scoreline, to find a way through. Spain had almost 75 per cent possession, but Cape Verde’s first match at a World Cup became a heroic exercise in resistance, discipline and occasional survival.

At the final whistle, Vozinha was named player of the match and left the pitch in tears after a performance that turned him into the face of Cape Verde’s historic night.

For Spain, it had uncomfortable echoes of their 2022 World Cup round-of-16 exit to Morocco: endless passing, a defensive wall at the other end and a growing sense that all the possession in the world means little if the penalty area is locked shut and you cannot find the keys.