After originally being slated to spend the night in Los Angeles following its World Cup opener on Monday, the Iranian men’s soccer team was ordered to leave the country as soon as possible.

Coach Amir Ghalenoei said it was ordered to leave the U.S. and return to its training base in Mexico only a few hours after opening its politically charged tournament by playing to a 2-2 draw with New Zealand on Monday night.

Ghalenoei didn’t say who ordered the Iranians to leave earlier than planned. The team had expected to spend the night in California to maximize the normal recovery process after its opening game, only to be told after the match that everyone must immediately get on a plane for the 140-mile trip back to Tijuana.

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“They didn’t even give us time to recover,” Ghalenoei said through an interpreter. “After the game today, they said to us, ‘You have to leave immediately.’ It’s very important for us to have time for recovery, (but) we are asked to get on a plane and return to our camp in Tijuana, and we are really troubled by that.”

Iran captain Mehdi Taremi said the team endured five hours of travel and security checks during what is normally a very short trip from Tijuana to the Los Angeles area on Sunday.

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“We don’t know why they are returning us, to be honest,” Ghalenoei said. “I think it’s very strange. It seems like others are doing the planning for us. The decision-making for us is being made elsewhere. We were supposed to come two nights before the game, and we were supposed to stay tonight to recover and return tomorrow at lunchtime. We have no idea why.

“I think our team is perhaps the most oppressed in the World Cup.”

Taremi called on FIFA to offer additional assistance.

“I think FIFA have to help us more than this. … Everything is like a disaster, actually, for us,” he said.

The Iranians’ remaining two games in group play are against Belgium in Inglewood on Sunday, followed by a trip to Seattle to face Egypt next week.

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While several hundred Iranian Americans protested the government outside, many fans from the diaspora jeered and turned their backs on the field during the national anthem. Dozens of Lion and Sun emblems — the centerpiece of Iran’s official flag before 1979 — were displayed in the crowd despite FIFA’s attempts to keep them away, while dozens more fans wore the Lion and Sun emblems on T-shirts.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Brendan Sorsby won’t be playing football for Texas Tech this fall after all.

It’s not because the transfer quarterback has been permanently banned by the NCAA for wagering on college sports — an injunction issued by a Texas judge last week appeared to clear the way for Sorsby to play for the Red Raiders in 2026.

That ruling, however, was being challenged through separate court filings by the NCAA and the Big 12 Conference. Facing that uncertainty over his final season, and with the deadline to enter the NFL supplemental draft quickly approaching, Sorsby opted to leave the Red Raiders without ever playing a down.

Sorsby’s decision was announced Monday night in an open letter by Cody Campbell, chairman of the Texas Tech board of regents.

“This decision was made with Brendan and his family and is purely an output of practical analysis of the situation,” Campbell wrote. “Brendan and Texas Tech stand on very solid and legitimate legal ground, but he faces a June 22nd deadline to be eligible to enter the NFL’s supplemental draft, and there is no practical way to resolve all the various pending legal disputes and ensure his eligibility prior to this date. This is the only viable and fair path for Brendan and his future, as well as for his teammates, and our university.”

Sorsby posted a statement Monday night on Instagram.

“I am grateful for the support from my family, my Tech coaching staff, teammates, the community, and so many others who have encouraged me to address and learn more about this important issue,” Sorsby wrote. “As my journey continues, I remain fully committed to and focused on being the best I can be, both on and off the field.”

Sorsby transferred to Texas Tech this offseason, after two years each at Indiana and Cincinnati, for a reported multimillion-dollar deal. In late April, he and Texas Tech jointly announced that he had entered a residential treatment program for gambling addiction. Sorsby completed the 35-day program in May.

Court records show that Sorsby has admitted to wagering at least $90,000 during his time as an NCAA student athlete, including 40 bets on Indiana football games he was not participating in while a freshman backup with the Hoosiers in 2022.

“Texas Tech will continue to provide the support and recovery resources Brendan requires on this journey,” Campbell wrote. “Furthermore, Texas Tech will not seek return of any amounts already paid to Brendan through his NIL agreements.”

In May, Sorsby filed a lawsuit in Lubbock County District Court asking to have his eligibility restored because the NCAA “failed to comply with its contractual commitments” to him as a student athlete and therefore “is precluded from enforcing its gambling bylaws against Mr. Sorsby to deny or withhold his reinstatement.”

Last week, judge Ken Curry granted a temporary injunction that would have allowed Sorsby to play for the Red Raiders in 2026. He would have had to miss the first two games of the season as one of the conditions of the ruling.

Without the injunction, Curry wrote in his ruling, Sorsby would “suffer a probable, imminent and irreparable injury” by missing out on the “elite coaching, training resources, camaraderie, and regimen that only being a member of a Division I college football team can provide.”

The final hearing had been scheduled to begin Feb. 8, nearly two weeks after college football’s national championship game.

Following the ruling, several teams and conferences discussed a ban on playing Texas Tech in any sport. After appealing the decision last week, the NCAA filed an emergency motion on Monday to stay the injuction and asked for the case to be resolved before the start of the Red Raiders season.

Also on Monday, the Big 12 filed for a judgment from a U.S. District Court in Dallas protecting the conference’s ability under its bylaws to sanction Texas Tech, a member school, if Sorsby played this season.

“An athlete with an extensive, documented history of wagering on intercollegiate athletic contests — especially his own team’s games — presents a reputational and integrity risk to the conference and its championship competition that the conference has both the right and the responsibility to address,” attorneys for the Big 12 wrote in the filing.

Soon after Campbell announced Sorsby’s decision, Texas Tech president Lawrence Schovanec and athletic director Kirby Hocutt issued a joint statement on the matter.

“When Brendan’s lawsuit resulted in the granting of a temporary injunction, we found ourselves in a difficult situation,” they wrote. “With his health and wellness as our top priority, we supported him in spite of very different perspectives and opinions. Our position was challenged by many but our support for him never changed.

“We will continue to extend all available resources that Brendan had as a student and athlete to ensure his transition is as successful as possible.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

The 2026 FIFA World Cup Golden Boot odds took another major twist.

On Sunday, Kai Havertz surged up the oddsboard from +1900 to +950 after his two-goal performance in Germany’s 7-1 rout over Curaçao. 

Havertz became the first German player to record a brace in consecutive World Cups since Miroslav Klose did so in 2006 and 2010.

The German forward now sits third on the Golden Boot oddsboard, only trailing Kylian Mbappé (+650) and Harry Kane (+700).

While Havertz made a big move, no player’s odds have taken a bigger leap through the first five days of the tournament than Folarin Balogun.

Prior to the tournament, the U.S. men’s national team’s striker was not even listed on some books, and +10000 at some— that’s 100-1. Now, after scoring two goals in USA’s opening win vs. Paraguay, his odds have shortened dramatically to +2200.

Balogun went from not even being in the Golden Boot discussion to ninth on the oddsboard. 

Seeing this big of a shift is extremely unprecedented this early in the tournament. But the books fully believe Balogun’s dominance is here to stay. 

The Golden Boot award is given to the top goalscorer of the tournament and should be one of the most popular individual betting markets this summer.

Let’s dive into the updated odds at FanDuel Sportsbook as of June 15.

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Golden Boot Winner 2026

Kylian Mbappé: +550 (bet $10 to win $65 total)
Harry Kane: +600 (bet $10 to win $70 total)
Kai Havertz: +950 (bet $10 to win $105 total)
Erling Haaland: +1300 (bet $10 to win $150 total)
Julián Alvarez: +1600 (bet $10 to win $170 total)
Lionel Messi: +1700 (bet $10 to win $180 total)
Mikel Oyarzabal: +1900 (bet $10 to win $200 total)
Cristiano Ronaldo: +2000 (bet $10 to win $210 total)
Folarin Balogun: +2200 (bet $10 to win $230 total)
Vinícius Júnior: +2200 (bet $10 to win $230 total)
Lamine Yamal: +3000 (bet $10 to win $310 total)
Michael Olise: +3000 (bet $10 to win $310 total)
Raphinha: +3500 (bet $10 to win $360 total)
Jamal Musiala: +3500 (bet $10 to win $360 total)
Lautaro Martínez: +4500 (bet $10 to win $460 total)
Romelu Lukaku: +4500 (bet $10 to win $460 total)
Cody Gakpo: +4500 (bet $10 to win $460 total)
Ousmane Dembélé: +4500 (bet $10 to win $460 total)

Balogun’s performance in the U.S. opener was historic on several accounts. Here’s some context provided by FOX Sports Research:

• Balogun recorded his first multi-goal game for the U.S.
• Balogun became the second American man ever to score two goals in the first half of a World Cup match, and the first since 1930 (Bert Patenaude).
• Bert Patenaude scored a hat-trick that game in 1930, and it also came against Paraguay; he is the only American man to have a hat-trick in a World Cup match.
• This was Balogun’s first World Cup appearance, meaning this was his first time scoring in the World Cup.
• Balogun became the first American man to have multiple goals in a World Cup game since Patenaude in 1930.
• Balogun became the fifth U.S. man with multiple career World Cup goals (Landon Donovan, Clint Dempsey, Bert Patenaude, Brian McBride)

Despite Balogun’s stellar play, Kylian Mbappé remains the favorite at +550 with Harry Kane right on his heels at +600.

Mbappé is France’s most accomplished active player and became the national team’s captain after the 2022 World Cup. He won the Golden Boot at that tournament with eight goals, including a hat trick in the final, and played a key role in France’s 2018 World Cup title. 

Kane is England’s all-time leading goalscorer. He’s also won the award before, doing so in 2018.