Sports
Why DeMar DeRozan wants more athletes to open up on mental health, show their ‘Clark Kent side’
The vulnerability is DeMar DeRozan’s superpower.
It’s there throughout his new autobiography, “Above the Noise: My Story of Chasing Calm,” in which the six-time NBA All-Star and newest member of the Sacramento Kings bares his soul in the kind of way we rarely see from elite athletes.
“(Vulnerability) goes a long way, especially for us as athletes being looked at like we’re superheroes at times,” DeRozan said in a recent phone interview. “You never really get to see the Clark Kent side. Everybody always sees us saving the day (on the court), doing something heroic and not knowing that, at the end of the day when you take off that suit, there’s a lot of things that you carry.”
It’s one thing to pull the cape off just a little bit, though, only to put it back on when the uncomfortableness of sharing one’s truth publicly sets in. But the 35-year-old — whose 3:06 a.m. tweet about his battle with depression on Feb. 7, 2018, inspired a real conversation about mental health and athletes, and who quietly boasts one of the best resumes of any player in today’s game — stays true to those real roots in his 210-page book that was written with co-author Dave Zarum.
From his time growing up in Compton, Calif., where loss and pain became themes that still haunt him and he “never dreamed” of sharing his emotions, to the highs and lows of his NBA career and everything in between, DeRozan reminds us all that money doesn’t, in fact, buy happiness in his three-dimensional look at life as a wildly successful pro athlete. His decision to share deeply personal stories — from his childhood spent surrounded by gang culture to the loss of his father, Frank, in February 2021, to his own journey as the father of five kids and much more — amounts to a public therapy session. And to hear DeRozan tell it, that choice to open all the way up to the world was easy once he learned about the impact that vulnerability could make.
It all goes back to that tweet.
As DeRozan lay awake during those early morning hours, having returned home to his native Los Angeles for that year’s All-Star Weekend in those final few months with the Toronto Raptors, the stress of it all had become too much to bear. He was overwhelmed by the obligations that came with a hometown return, exhausted by the cross-country trips he’d been making to visit his ailing father in Los Angeles, unhappy that he hadn’t seen his two daughters in more than a month and desperate for a break that wasn’t coming anytime soon. On that first night back home, when he was scheduled to attend a Kendrick Lamar concert and the annual All-Star party hosted by TNT’s Kenny Smith, DeRozan decided instead to sit for hours alone in his basement with his thoughts.
“This depression get the best of me…” he eventually tweeted before going to sleep.
This depression get the best of me…
— DeMar DeRozan (@DeMar_DeRozan) February 17, 2018
When he awoke later that morning, DeRozan was confused and stunned by the global reaction to his sentiment. Why would sharing his battle with something so common — depression disorders affect approximately 280 million people worldwide — cause such a stir? The truth, as he knows now, is that the response was much more about the messenger than the message.
Prominent athletes had, by and large, historically steered clear of discussing this once-taboo topic. But DeRozan’s choice to share his struggles sparked change, with Kevin Love opening up about his mental health less than a month later and non-NBA stars such as Michael Phelps, Naomi Osaka, Simone Biles and so many others following suit in the years to come.
By the summer of 2019, the NBA had expanded its mental-health program by requiring teams to employ mental-health professionals who would be anonymously available to players. The growth has continued from there, with players across the league taking advantage of the kinds of services that weren’t provided when DeRozan entered the league out of USC in 2009.
As DeRozan discussed at length with The Athletic, he takes great pride in this off-court part of his legacy. And the best part, for DeRozan and the Kings team that gave him a three-year, $74 million deal in the trade with the Chicago Bulls and San Antonio Spurs that brought him to town in early July, is that he’s still going strong on the court too.
(This interview has been lightly edited for clarity and brevity.)
DeMar, as you know, most athletes are not comfortable sharing like this. Whether it’s your childhood or the loss you’ve been through, your family life now, all these different things. So what was your journey to get to a place where you were comfortable letting the world in, and why did you ultimately decide that you were willing to?
I wasn’t always completely comfortable. It was one of those courageous things where you kind of take a step back and look at something being bigger than you, in a sense, especially when I realized the impact you can have on helping others. It is a journey. I’m still far from perfect, but you see how much you inspire the next person who you probably never even came across, never even met, by showing any sort of vulnerability.
In that vein, I’ll follow your lead and share the fact that I suffered from depression pretty severely in high school, so I definitely appreciate the value in you sharing your story. But when you talk about making an impact on people you didn’t know, I wondered if there were stories that you didn’t share that played a part in your choice.
Yeah, I remember when I was playing with San Antonio (after the Raptors traded him to the Spurs in the summer of 2018), I was walking off the court, warming up before the game in Denver, and a guy pulled me off to the side. He was sitting courtside. I didn’t know if he worked for the organization or what, but he just stopped me. I could tell through his conversation and through his greeting with me that whatever he was going to say was very heartfelt. And I just remember him telling me (how) his son was very suicidal. I was one of his favorite players. And when I came out telling my story, it changed his whole perspective, and he opened up and spoke about a lot of things he was dealing with. Something like that hit extremely hard. I didn’t know the dude, and I’ve never seen him again. It’s crazy because every time I go to Denver, I always see if I’m gonna see the same guy again. But I just remember him pulling me to the side telling me that my story helped save this son from being extremely suicidal. So that was definitely touching.
DeMar DeRozan, who played for the Bulls last season, is a six-time All-Star with over 23,500 career points. (Wendell Cruz / USA Today)
The book made me think about the NBA and where the league is now on the mental-health front. But how are you feeling about that ecosystem now and the infrastructure for players?
You’ve seen it grow ever since guys like myself, Kevin Love and countless others came out and started to share. The infrastructure that they started to build of making it accessible for us to have therapy, having therapists on-site to travel with us on a daily basis. It becomes 100 percent confidential for the players. It’s not someone who’s connected to the front office, where the therapist will go back and say (what was shared). They really (built) something that made guys feel comfortable to have access on a daily basis to have help. I had teammates recently, playing in Chicago, where before practice, after practice or even on the road, they’ll go to dinner with the therapist, and it really helped them through a lot of things. I never asked the specifics of things that they talked about, but it was used frequently. You see the connection that players have with the therapist, whether it was at breakfast before practice, laughing and joking about certain things, (interactions) that give a comfort for guys to be able to go and handle whatever business they need to handle within.
It wasn’t even a thing when I first came into the league. You had all your other necessities when it came to sports as far as weight training, nutritionists, film guys, workout guys. But that’s kind of where it stopped. You didn’t really have the personal infrastructure that was needed for certain players, especially young players.
I thought it was pretty neat that Spurs coach Gregg Popovich wrote the foreword. You talk in the book about how he was really there for you when your father died, and then I heard over the summer that — because of the relationship you have there — the Spurs made it clear to you in free agency that they were willing to help you get where you wanted to go if a scenario like that emerged.
(Per league sources, the Spurs showed interest in bringing DeRozan back to San Antonio to aid in the Victor Wembanyama era. But the Spurs also made it clear they would be willing to help him get to the team of his choice by helping facilitate a three-team trade. DeRozan, who played for the Spurs from 2018 to 2021 before signing with the Bulls, was sent to Sacramento in a deal that moved Harrison Barnes to the Spurs and Chris Duarte, along with two second-round picks, to the Bulls.)
Yeah, (that gesture) just shows the character of not just Pop, but the whole Spurs organization. Everything about that place — it’s hard to even find words to put it into detail. They treated me like I was Tim Duncan. And that’s just the amount of respect, love and admiration I’m gonna forever have toward Pop and that whole organization. There’s a lot of things they didn’t have to do for me, and there’s a lot of things I didn’t even ask for. You’ve got to give them all the credit, because they’re definitely special people.
I mean, I’ll never forget the first conversation I had with him (after the Raptors trade). It was “I didn’t trade you. I traded for you.” That kind of stuck, and from there on out, he just challenged me to be an even better player than what I was in ways that I never could have expected. And it was such a necessity for me for my career, for longevity, understanding and the knowledge that he really gave to me. It meant a lot, on and off the court. That’s what makes it so special, and that’s why I had to have him do the foreword for the book.
You’re pretty open in the book about wanting to play in your hometown. But this summer, it sounds like that interest wasn’t reciprocated by the Lakers or the Clippers. There’s a pretty strong argument to be made that both teams could use you, so how did that hit you?
Yeah, you just learn how to deal with it from a business standpoint. Obviously I have my selfish reasons of wanting to be able to play at home, (but) sometimes it just doesn’t work out that way. And sometimes it probably isn’t the best decision for me either. So after that didn’t happen, I didn’t dwell on it. I wasn’t mad. They made their choice, and I just left it at that.
GO DEEPER
Hollinger: Don’t expect rings, but Kings’ floor-raising DeMar DeRozan trade adds up
On the Lakers’ side, it sounded like LeBron James and Anthony Davis were pretty big on the idea. But just like three years ago (before the Lakers did the Russell Westbrook deal), it didn’t go anywhere. Did it seem like it was going to happen this time?
Yeah. Yeah, it did. But after the last time, the last situation, you really don’t get your hopes all the way up. I think the first time before I went to Chicago (in 2021), that was the closest it had been. And even for me, I thought it was going to be that. But when that didn’t happen, I didn’t have high hopes because you already see how it could play out.
This Kings move has been received pretty well across the league, but I still feel like folks aren’t truly gripping how good you still are at this age. To that point, I looked at a stat the other day that blew me away: If you score at a similar rate for the Kings in the next three seasons that you did the past three seasons with the Bulls, you’d be pushing for top 10 all-time in NBA scoring (DeRozan is 31st, just 86 points behind Stephen Curry).
That sort of history doesn’t really reconcile with the way you’re talked about, though. So with that in mind, how do you feel about the discussion that surrounds you in terms of your career?
To be honest, I think I just look at it like I want to give it everything I’ve got while I’m doing it. And when it’s all said and done, I’ll let everything speak for itself, you know what I mean? I don’t try to overdo it. I just try to stay consistent. Whenever I choose to hang it up, I want to be able to say I gave it everything I had on the court, off the court and be able to just really sit back and soak it all in.
How do you see the Kings’ situation and what it can become? We all know they’re not typically on players’ short lists in free agency, and you already go down as the highest-profile free agent pickup in their history.
No, it definitely took me a minute (to consider them). To tell you that they were on my radar beforehand — no, they definitely weren’t. But sometimes you’ve gotta let the fog clear to make a decision, and that’s kind of what I did. You try to look at the landscape to make everything make sense, and where you feel you’re going somewhere where you’re getting what you deserve and you have an opportunity to compete at the highest level. Both ends of that were met. And looking at it, it just felt like it was the perfect opportunity.
I am extremely excited, just for the opportunity of feeling like I could be the missing piece that they needed. Me just being a fan of the game, I pay attention to everything that comes about in our league. And you see the excitement that they had two years ago (when they made the playoffs for the first time since 2006). You see the fan base. You see the winning culture that they were fighting towards. And anything (related to) winning — when you see it from the outside, it lets you know as a competitor and as a winner, that it’s something you want to be a part of. Even when they had the theme of lighting the beam, it just shows you how connected they were to the fans. The organization was connected with the players in a sense of doing everything we possibly can to compete at the highest level to win. And it’s just something I see myself being a part of and feel like I can take it over the top.
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Sports
Thunder lose star Jalen Williams for Western Conference Finals Game 7 as hamstring injury lingers
Spurs force Game 7 vs. Thunder, SGA struggles, Will Wemby carry this momentum? | The Herd
Victor Wembanyama scored 28 points and 10 rebounds in the San Antonio Spurs’ 118-91 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 6 of the WCF. Jason McIntyre says that Wemby showed up in the biggest moments, and asks if he can carry this momentum into Game 7. Plus, he discusses Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s struggles and asks if he will cost the Thunder the series.
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The Oklahoma City Thunder will be shorthanded in Saturday’s pivotal Game 7, as one of Oklahoma’s key contributors has been sidelined with an injury.
OKC guard Jalen Williams has been ruled out for Game 7 with a hamstring issue, ESPN reported on Friday. Williams appeared to aggravate his left hamstring during the Thunder’s 122-113 victory in Game 2. He missed the next three games before returning for Game 6, but logged just 10 minutes off the bench in Oklahoma City’s loss to the San Antonio Spurs on Thursday, which forced a winner-take-all Game 7.
“He’s obviously not 100%,” Mark Daigneault, the head coach of the Thunder, said.
Oklahoma City Thunder guard Jalen Williams watches during the fourth quarter against the San Antonio Spurs in Game One of the NBA Western Conference Finals at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma on May 18, 2026. (Alex Slitz/Getty Images)
Daigneault applauded Williams for fighting through the injury and doing everything he could to help Oklahoma City.
“He didn’t know what to expect. I didn’t know what to expect. So, it was a matter of getting him out there in kind of an insulated role and see what he can bring to the team. He’s an All-Star player, he’s an All-NBA player. He hasn’t done a full return to play [protocol] like he would if this was the regular season, and yet, he just wants to do whatever he can to try to contribute whatever he can to the team.”
BLOCKBUSTER GAME 7 SHOWDOWN: FOUR BEST BETS FOR SAN ANTONIO SPURS AT OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER
“I give him a lot of credit to get himself out there. He did the best he could. He’s certainly not the reason we lost.”
Oklahoma City Thunder forward Jalen Williams reacts to a shot by forward Luguentz Dort in the third quarter against the San Antonio Spurs during game one of the Western Conference finals for the 2026 NBA playoffs at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, on May 18, 2026. (Alonzo Adams/Imagn Images)
Williams did not talk to reporters after Thursday’s game in San Antonio.
Williams underwent surgery last offseason to repair a wrist injury but still played a key role in the Thunder’s run to the NBA Finals last season. He appeared in just 33 regular-season games before this year’s playoffs.
Oklahoma City Thunder guard Jalen Williams drives into the paint during the first quarter of Game Two of the NBA Western Conference Finals against the San Antonio Spurs at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma on May 20, 2026. (Alex Slitz/Getty Images)
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The winner of Saturday’s Game 7 will advance to the NBA Finals to face the New York Knicks. New York snapped a nearly three-decade Finals drought by sweeping the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference finals.
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CLOVIS — Cool conditions produced a bunch of fast times Friday at the CIF state track and field championships.
Rosary Academy sprint coach Jon Gilmer was worried 4×100-meter relayers Tra’via Flournoy, Justine Wilson, Pfeiffer Lee and Maliyah Collins might get complacent at prelims, but the Royals were the top qualifiers in 45.13 seconds — nearly a full second faster than Canyon Country Canyon (46.07) — at Buchanan High School.
“It’s different not having Calabasas here,” Gilmer said. “Now we’ve got to push ourselves.”
Rosary set a state record (44.23) at the Arcadia Invitational on April 11, but lost to the Coyotes one week later at the Mt. SAC Relays. However, the anticipated state finals clash was not to be as Calabasas dropped the baton in the Southern Section finals and failed to advance.
Collins had a huge lead by the time she received the stick for the anchor leg Friday.
“This is maybe our fourth- or fifth-fastest time but we just wanted to make finals,” said Wilson, who ran the second leg before handing off to Lee. “We want to run faster tomorrow when we go for a PR, the meet and the state record.”
Calabasas might be out of the relay, but three Coyotes remain in contention in the 100, led by Malia Rainey (the top qualifier in 11.54), Marley Scoggins (11.63) and Olivia Kirk (11.63).
Calabasas sprinter Marley Scoggins, center, wins her 100-meter heat at the CIF state track and field preliminaries on Friday.
(Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)
Collins won her heat in 11.62, the third-fastest time.
Servite won the first heat in the boys 4×100 relay in 40.29 — two hundredths off its winning time at last year’s state finals — and is primed to defend its title in the event. Concord De La Salle (40.81) was the second-fastest qualifier, followed by the other heat winners, Rancho Cucamonga (40.87) and Loyola (40.93).
“We got the stick around pretty good today,” said Jorden Wells, who ran the first leg Friday instead of his customary second leg, which was run by Jaelen Hunter. “Did it feel different? Not really, I’ve done it before.”
Wells said his twin brother Jace will run the first leg Saturday, he will run the second while Kamil Pelovello and Benjamin Harris will stay in the third and fourth positions.
Harris, the favorite to win the 100 meters, won his heat in a wind-legal 10.36, but three others were fractions faster in wind-aided times — Elk Grove’s Cy Lugo (10.20), Will Wood’s Deshawn Seymour (10.34) and De La Salle’s Damari Dean (10.34). Newbury Park’s Jaden Griffin won the last heat in 10.37, setting the stage for an exciting finals sprint as all nine qualifiers ran under 10.48.
Harris put himself in position for a Saturday double by winning his 200 heat in 21.10 but as he did in the 100, Lugo (the Sac-Joaquin Section record holder) had the fastest time (20.73), followed by Seymour (20.88), Camren Hughes (20.93) of Palos Verdes and Jace Wells (21.02). Jordan Wells (21.11) also made the cut.
Newbury Park’s Jaden Griffin, center, shouts after winning his heat in the 100 meters at the CIF state track and field preliminaries on Friday.
(Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)
Servite (3:15.43) had the second-fastest qualifying time in the 4×400-meter relay behind only El Cerrito (3:14.96) of the North Coast Section.
Coming off a state-record 3:33.83 at the Masters Meet in Moorpark, Long Beach Wilson’s 4×400 girls relay had the fourth-fastest qualifying time (3:46.73) without two out of its best runners (Clara Adams and Saniah Varnado), taking second in the first heat behind San Luis Obispo (3:45.85) and safely advancing to the finals along with Heat 2 runner-up Rosary (3:45.08) and Heat 3 winner Canyon Country Canyon (3:46.77).
Having broken the Southern Section record in the 400 meters six days earlier in 51.98, Adams put it in cruise control to win her heat in 53.53, the fastest qualifying mark. Joining her in the final will be her three relay teammates Varnado (54.42), Wilson (54.57) and Fowler (54.62). Adams later won her 200 heat in 23.60, a tenth of a second behind fastest qualifier Naiaja Sizemore of Vanden.
San Jacinto Valley Academy’s Kaahliyah Lacy ran a wind-legal 13.59 for the top qualifying spot in the girls 100 hurdles and Varnado (40.85) was the top qualifier in the 300 hurdles.
Another showdown is brewing in the boys 400, where Loyola’s Ejam Yohannes (47.08) and Hunter (47.21) won their heats in the two fastest times Friday. Hunter clocked 46.32 to set a California freshman record last spring, but lost to Yohannes by 11 hundredths of a second at the Masters Meet.
City Section champion Jayden Rendon showed good form in his bid to defend the state 300 hurdles crown, posting the fastest prelims time (36.80). He also advanced to the finals in the 110 hurdles with a 13.83 effort. Moorpark’s Davis Benson (14.03) nabbed the last spot.
Corona Santiago’s Braelyn Combe, right, wins the first heat of the 800 meters at the CIF state track and field preliminaries on Friday.
(Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)
Corona Santiago senior Braelyn Combe won her 1,600 heat in 4:46.88 and is set for a four-lap battle with San Diego Section champion Chiara Dailey of La Jolla, who won the second heat in 4:46.00. Combe is the defending champion, having edged Hanne Thomsen of Santa Rosa Montgomery by five hundredths of a second in the finals last year.
“I just wanted to advance with as little effort as possible,” Combe said. “It was not as hard as I expected. I don’t want to leave any regrets. I’m taking it one race at a time.”
Combe also had the fastest time (2:08:25) of three heats in the 800 meters.
Venice senior Lawrence Kensinger, who set the City Section shot put record with a state-leading throw of 65 feet 11 inches last week, had the third-best mark at prelims (59-6¾) and easily advanced to the finals. Defending state high jump champion JJ Harel of Sherman Oaks Notre Dame tied nine others for the second-best mark (6-6) heading into the second day.
Aliso Niguel senior Jaslene Massey had the top marks in the girls shot put (51-3¾) and discus (175-6) and transgender athlete AB Hernandez from Jurupa Valley was the leading qualifier in the girls long jump (20-5½) and triple jump (41-8½) and was one of 13 qualifiers in the high jump.
AB Hernandez competes at the CIF state track and field preliminaries at Buchanan High School on Friday.
(Tomas Ovalle / For The Times)
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We’re approaching the biggest sporting event North America has ever hosted.
The 2026 FIFA World Cup takes place across the USA, Canada and Mexico in 13 days.
Bettors and fans already have their sights set on the global spectacle, which will kick off on June 11. The World Cup final will be held at New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium on July 19, 2026.
After the World Cup groups were announced in December, Spain opened as the favorite at +450, followed by England (+550) and France (+750).
Now, with less than two weeks to go, Spain has slightly drifted to +475, with both France and England making up ground on the oddsboard.
Let’s dive into the odds via DraftKings Sportsbook as of May 29.
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2026 World Cup winner odds
Spain: +475 (bet $10 to win $57.5 total)
France: +500 (bet $10 to win $60 total)
England: +650 (bet $10 to win $75 total)
Brazil: +850 (bet $10 to win $95 total)
Argentina: +900 (bet $10 to win $100 total)
Portugal: +1000 (bet $10 to win $110 total)
Germany: +1400 (bet $10 to win $150 total)
Netherlands: +2200 (bet $10 to win $230 total)
Norway: +3500 (bet $10 to win $360 total)
Belgium: +3500 (bet $10 to win $360 total)
Colombia: +4000 (bet $10 to win $410 total)
Morocco: +5000 (bet $10 to win $510 total)
Uruguay: +5000 (bet $10 to win $510 total)
United States: +6000 (bet $10 to win $610 total)
Switzerland: +6500 (bet $10 to win $660 total)
Japan: +6500 (bet $10 to win $660 total)
Mexico: +8000 (bet $10 to win $810 total)
Croatia: +8000 (bet $10 to win $810 total)
Ecuador: +8000 (bet $10 to win $810 total)
Senegal: +9000 (bet $10 to win $910 total)
Sweden: +10000 (bet $10 to win $1,010 total)
HOST NATIONS
United States
The United States is led by Christian Pulisic, Weston McKennie, Tyler Adams, and Chris Richards, with several players competing in Europe’s top leagues. The U.S. has appeared in 11 previous World Cups, with its best finish coming in 1930 when the team reached the semifinals.
Canada
Canada’s key players include Alphonso Davies and Jonathan David, giving the squad top-tier pace and goal-scoring ability. Canada has made two previous World Cup appearances, and is still looking for its first win ever in the tournament.
Mexico
Mexico’s top contributors include Raul Giménez and Edson Álvarez, forming a strong mix of attacking talent and midfield stability. Mexico has played in 17 previous World Cups and reached the quarterfinals twice, in 1970 and 1986.
UEFA TEAMS TO KNOW
Spain
Spain’s top talents include Pedri, Lamine Yamal and Rodri, forming a core that blends elite playmaking with scoring depth. Spain has appeared in 16 previous World Cups and won the tournament once, lifting the trophy in 2010. The team also won the 2024 Euros.
France
France enters with Kylian Mbappé as the star player, with the 26-year-old just five goals shy of passing Miroslav Klose (16) for the most career goals at the World Cup. France has made 16 previous World Cup appearances and won the title twice, in 1998 and 2018.
England
England’s key players include Harry Kane, Jude Bellingham and Declan Rice, forming one of the nation’s strongest generations in decades. England has reached 16 previous World Cups and won the trophy once, in 1966.
Germany
Germany features Florian Wirtz, Jamal Musiala and Joshua Kimmich as central figures in a talented squad. Germany has participated in 20 previous World Cups and won four titles, most recently in 2014.
Portugal
Portugal’s top group includes Bruno Fernandes, Vitinha, with Cristiano Ronaldo still involved as the team’s all-time leading scorer and cap leader. Portugal has competed in eight previous World Cups and recorded its best finish in 2006, reaching the semifinals.
Netherlands
The Netherlands features top players such as Virgil van Dijk, Ryan Gravenberch and Denzel Dumfries, forming a core built around elite defending and midfield control. Memphis Depay should also be on the team, the country’s all-time leading goalscorer. The Netherlands has appeared in 11 previous World Cups and finished as runner-up three times, in 1974, 1978 and 2010.
CONMEBOL TEAMS TO KNOW
Argentina
Argentina is anchored by Lionel Messi, with Julián Álvarez, Enzo Fernández and Lautaro Martínez— headlining one of the most talented rosters in the tournament. Argentina has played in 18 previous World Cups and won three, including the most recent tournament in 2022.
Brazil
Brazil’s roster is led by Vinícius Júnior, Raphinha and Marquinhos, giving the team elite attacking and defensive quality. Brazil has appeared in every World Cup and holds a record five titles, with its most recent one coming in 2002.
Uruguay
Uruguay’s leading players include Federico Valverde, Darwin Núñez and Ronald Araújo, forming a core with elite midfield range and speed. Uruguay has appeared in 14 previous World Cups and won the tournament twice, in 1930 and 1950.
Colombia
Colombia is headlined by Luis Díaz and James Rodríguez, with the former playing for Bayern Munich and the latter having a decorated World Cup résumé. Colombia has made six previous World Cupsand recorded its best finish in 2014, reaching the quarterfinals.
CAF TEAMS TO KNOW
Morocco
Morocco’s key contributors include Achraf Hakimi, Noussair Mazaroui and Brahm Díaz, each with major European club experience. Morocco has appeared in six previous World Cups and achieved its historic best finish in 2022, reaching the semifinals.
Senegal
Senegal’s top players include Sadio Mané, Kalidou Koulibaly and Idrissa Gueye, forming one of Africa’s most experienced cores. Senegal has appeared in three World Cups and reached its best finish in 2002, advancing to the quarterfinals.
Ghana
Ghana is led by Mohammed Kudus, Antoine Semenyo and Inaki Williams, giving the squad strong playmaking and midfield presence. Ghana has competed in four previous World Cups and reached its best result in 2010, making the quarterfinals.
AFC TEAMS TO KNOW
South Korea
South Korea is headlined by Son Heung-min, supported by key players such as Kim Min-jae and Lee Kang-in. South Korea has played in 11 previous World Cups and reached its best finish in 2002, advancing to the semifinals as co-host.
Japan
Japan features Takefusa Kubo and Kaoru Mitoma as its leading players, blending top European experience with emerging talent. Japan has appeared in seven previous World Cups and reached the Round of 16 four times, its best result to date.
Australia
Australia’s top players include Jackson Irvine and keeper Mathew Ryan as its most experienced members. Australia has competed in six previous World Cups and reached the round of 16 twice, in 2006 and 2022.
OFC TEAMS TO KNOW
New Zealand
New Zealand is led by all-time leading scorer Chris Wood, with 45 international goals to his name. New Zealand has appeared in two previous World Cups (1982, 2010), and did not advance from the group stage in either appearance.
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