Sports
Why flag football's Olympics inclusion has been 'rocket fuel' for growth, especially among women
LAS VEGAS — Seventeen-year-old Maci Joncich sat in the bleachers at Coronado High School’s football stadium in Las Vegas on a spring day in April, her future in football crystalizing.
Joncich had recently become the youngest player to make the U.S. Women’s Flag Football National Team. While she had no doubts about where she was headed as she took a break from class, she reflected on how cloudy her football prospects once looked.
Just four years prior, Joncich’s options for role models in the world of flag football were slim and she was charting unexplored territory.
“The biggest point of discussion was, ‘What comes next with flag football?’” Joncich said. “When I started, there was no flag in college. There were no Olympics. It was a bit of a struggle at first just getting the motivation to keep playing.”
All that has changed because of the expeditious rise of the sport.
There are 11 states where flag football is sanctioned as a girls’ varsity high school sport. Women’s flag football scholarships are offered at 25 NAIA colleges, and five NCAA Division III colleges will follow suit in 2025. There aren’t currently options for boys or men beyond the club level, but there will soon be a professional option, as the American Flag Football League plans to launch the first men’s and women’s leagues in 2025. And, in perhaps the biggest news for the sport in the United States, flag football will become an Olympic sport in 2028 when the Summer Games return to Los Angeles.
According to USA Football, there were over 230,000 girls from ages 6 to 17 playing flag football in the U.S. in 2023, which marked a 44 percent increase from 2014. Including boys, there were over 1.6 million American youths playing flag football as of 2023. The sport is played in 100 countries around the world.
The NFL has also heavily invested in flag football. In May, the league hired Stephanie Kwok as its first vice president of flag football. The league hopes its growth will increase the number of women who watch and play the sport.
“All of a sudden, you see these opportunities to compete at the highest level,” Kwok said. “With the popularity of the WNBA right now and professional women’s sports as a whole, I think it’s really interesting to be thinking about what other opportunities there could be.
“You have so many girls who are playing flag football. … Now, they can see in a more real way what you can aspire to do knowing that there’s a path to the Olympics.”
A path for women like Joncich. After making USA Football’s final 12-player roster in June, the wide receiver/defensive back will compete in the 2024 International Federation of American Football (IFAF) Flag Football World Championship in August.
This summer, Joncich will enroll at the University of Florida, where she intends to play club flag football. She ultimately has her eyes set on representing the U.S. in the 2028 Summer Games in L.A. While she isn’t guaranteed a spot on the team, she now has a road map to follow.
“Before the Olympics, there hasn’t been a North Star for girls who participate in football,” said Sam Rapoport, NFL senior director of diversity, equity and inclusion. “And so, when you create that North Star, then there’s a flag pipeline for girls.”
A strengthened flag pipeline could open doors for women in football when it comes to playing, coaching and executive careers at the amateur, collegiate and professional levels.
“It creates a pathway for people,” Joncich said. “Not only for me, but for a lot of women.”
Brianna Hernandez-Silva had a winding path to flag football. She was a longtime baseball and softball player before a coach at Bonanza High School in Las Vegas convinced her to join the flag football team.
“I gave it a shot,” Hernandez-Silva said. “And it was probably the best decision I ever made. … It started out as a hobby, but it turned into something way more.”
Florida was the first state to sanction girls’ flag football as a varsity high school sport in 2003, but it took time to catch on elsewhere. It wasn’t until 2015 that Nevada became the second state to approve it.
There were still no college scholarships for flag football when Hernandez-Silva graduated in 2018, so she attended the College of Southern Nevada where she played softball. But when the NAIA added flag football in 2020, she transferred the following year to Kansas Wesleyan University to pursue it. Three years later, the defensive back/quarterback was named an alternate for the 2024 U.S. Women’s Flag National Team.
“The game itself has grown so much.” Hernandez-Silva said. “(The Olympics are) going to give the sport the credit it’s fought so hard to get for so long. And, eventually, everyone will start recognizing flag football as a sport that is moving very fast.”
As flag football has shifted from a recreational sport to one both athletes and fans take more seriously, the opportunities for youth and high school athletes to receive more specialized training have improved dramatically.
Last year, former Kansas Wesleyan coach Melinda Nguyen helped get Hernandez-Silva into USA Football’s The One Flag Championship, an annual, prestigious, invite-only tournament. Through that experience, she made the connections that led to her transferring to Keiser University (Fla.) in 2024. There, she played with fellow U.S. national teamers Kennedy Foster, Ashlea Klam and Brenna Ramirez, was a first-team All-Sun Conference selection at running back and appeared in the 2024 NAIA national championship game.
“I was able to compete at a higher level,” Hernandez-Silva said. “I’m very big on iron sharpening iron. … I was playing in tournaments almost every other weekend. I was traveling and playing on teams that had girls from the national team. I was able to make those connections and kind of grow my resume and who I am as a player outside of the collegiate world.”
“It was kind of our responsibility to get the word out about flag football … and why it being at the collegiate level was so important,” said Brianna Hernandez-Silva. “We were trailblazing.”
As a girl, Kwok wanted to play organized football, but it’d be decades before such an opportunity emerged.
Raised in New York as the child of immigrants from Hong Kong, she wasn’t a huge football fan but grew interested in it after hearing classmates talk about it in school. Her only option in high school, however, was playing pickup football with friends. She went on to play intramural touch football as an undergrad at Stanford and had her first flag football experience on an intramural team at Harvard Business School.
When Kwok graduated and moved back to New York, she brought her newfound hobby with her. Over the next 10 years, she played in flag football leagues multiple times a week. She co-founded Pickup Football, an adult flag football tournament, and helped run it until the pandemic hit in 2020. She’d fallen in love with the sport and the camaraderie that came with it. In her new role with the NFL, she hopes to provide an avenue for girls and boys to play the sport and avoid having to wait as long as she did.
“There weren’t opportunities for me to play growing up,” Kwok said. “Now, I get to help shape how we increase accessibility.”
Kwok runs NFL FLAG, which is the league’s official flag football program. All 32 NFL teams participate, and the broad focus is on providing opportunities for athletes from age 4 to 17. The organization has over 600,000 participants and teams in all 50 states.
“I want everyone who wants to play flag football at every level to be able to do that,” Kwok said. “It’s just making sure they have that access and opportunity no matter who they are at every level of the game.”
NFL FLAG will host the NFL Flag Championships, a youth tournament, beginning July 18. For the first time, the 30-game showcase will be broadcast live on NFL+, ESPN and other Disney platforms. It’s yet another sign of the growing interest in the sport.
The @NFLFlag Championship kicks off in ☝️ week!
📅July 19-21
📍HERE in Canton, OH!
📺Watch on ESPN and ABC. pic.twitter.com/vQkGhiboID— Pro Football Hall of Fame (@ProFootballHOF) July 13, 2024
The reasons for the NFL’s effort to grow flag football are multifaceted. From a health perspective, flag provides a safer alternative to tackle football. For youth athletes, it’s a way to learn the fundamentals of the sport without being subjected to violent blows to the head and other significant injuries that come with contact.
For Joncich, that process started when she joined the Apex Predators, a youth flag football club in Las Vegas. It provided exposure to coaches equipped to properly teach the sport. Club vice president Todd Thomson has coached both tackle and flag football at the high school, club and national levels. He knows as well as anyone that there are key differences between the two versions of football — for example, that there’s no contact or linemen in flag — but there’s still some overlap.
“To get on the field playing flag, you’ve got to have footwork,” Thomson said. “Obviously, in tackle, you’re working on blocking schemes, whereas in flag, you don’t have that. But the skill set, the athleticism, all the agility training that you do in flag directly translates over to tackle.”
The NFL also wants to improve its international reach. The league increased its number of international games to raise awareness of the sport around the world and has used the International Player Pathway program to discover and develop tackle football prospects outside of North America. The NFL believes flag football can drive interest in the sport on an international level.
While playing tackle football requires expensive equipment and 22 players, flag football doesn’t require as much of an investment — the only equipment needed is a football and flags — and it can be played in five-on-five and seven-on-seven formats. That makes it more widely accessible.
“This is the easiest, fastest and most cost-effective way to grow the sport,” USA Football CEO/executive director Scott Hallenbeck said. “You can scale it very quickly. I think the NFL is already seeing that both drive fandom and just drive general participation. … It’s just great for the game overall.”
Several NFL players have expressed a desire to compete in the 2028 Olympics, but that’d require a major adjustment. The NFL Pro Bowl shifted to a seven-on-seven flag football format in 2023, but it isn’t officiated as strictly as it would be in international competition. Teaching interested players to adjust to those rules is something the NFL and USA Football have discussed.
Who would you draft to play for your flag football team? @OmahaProd
Visit https://t.co/u9u8C2UgX8 to find a league near you pic.twitter.com/wlw4DmTwCJ
— NFL (@NFL) July 15, 2024
“If a defender and an offensive player go up for a traditional end zone pass, it would be the perfect defensed play in the NFL, but if there’s the slightest contact, they’ll call the defender for a penalty,” Hallenbeck said. “It’s to the point where I’m on the international federation board and I’m like, ‘Guys, we’ve got to loosen these rules up a little bit.’ I mean, fans aren’t going to enjoy literally no contact.”
USA Football has worked with the U.S. Olympic Committee and sport performance experts to build a pathway to teach players of all ages the fundamentals, movement skills and biomechanics necessary to succeed in flag football.
Players with a background in flag and tackle football tend to be the focus — but they also draw athletes from other sports. As with any new competition, the 2028 Summer Games will serve as a high-stakes trial period for USA Football to refine its process.
IFAF has 74 member nations, and that number is expected to increase by the time the 2028 Olympics arrive. While it can be assumed that both the U.S. men’s and women’s teams will have a leg up on other countries less familiar with American football, there’s still plenty of work to be done when it comes to developing their talent pipeline. Canada, Mexico, Panama and Brazil are examples of other countries with elite flag football programs that’ll be fierce competition.
“We’re talking about now creating world-class athletes,” Hallenbeck said. “Four years scares me to death because it’s not long enough (to prepare competitive teams), but our job is to get that ready.”
The U.S. flag football national team during a training camp in May.
Despite the NFL’s efforts to grow the game internationally, football is still largely known as an American sport. But if the inclusion of flag football in the 2028 Olympics is a success, there’s a chance it could become a watershed moment for football’s worldwide presence — similar to how the 1992 Summer Games were a breakthrough for basketball via Team USA’s “Dream Team.”
The Olympics will put a spotlight on football in general. But given the men’s side of the sport is already massive, its effects could be greater for women.
“I refer to the announcement of the Olympics as rocket fuel,” Hallenbeck said. “It ignited something that was already burning and ready to take off. For a long time, girls have wanted to play football. They’ve done it here and there, but now the floodgates are truly open. … That side of things is scaling like nothing I’ve ever seen.”
The “Dream Team” had a dynamic superstar who captured a global audience in Michael Jordan. Looking ahead to the 2028 Games in L.A., those who’ve witnessed Joncich’s journey believe she could play a similar role for the women’s flag football team.
“When this is all said and done and those first Olympics happen, all these young girls are going to watch on TV and she will be that M.J.,” Thomson said. “She is the future. Barring something shocking, she’ll be the face of women’s flag football on the international stage.”
(All photos: Lester Barnes / USA Football)
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.
This page may contain affiliate links to legal sports betting partners. If you sign up or place a wager, FOX Sports may be compensated. Read more about Sports Betting on FOX Sports.
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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