"It's a radical change. It changes the essence of the game," says English coach Thomas Tuchel. "I think we're not going to get rid of it now," adds Dutch defender Virgil Van Dijk. "Basically, we no longer have a two-half football, now we have four," concludes Didier Deschamps, French coach. This summer's World Cup may go down in history as the one that forever changed this sport. The hydration breaks, theoretically imposed to protect players from high temperatures, have divided the game into four quarters.

Ferran Martínez (Barcelona, 1968) shone with Barça, Penya, the Spanish national team, or Panathinaikòs during the 80s and 90s. But even then, he was preparing for a new life as an entrepreneur and financial advisor. Martínez meets with ARA on a terrace in Barcelona, where for over an hour he talks about companies, quantum computing, or AI. And about basketball, of course. He now publishes El Algoritmo del éxito (EmpreBooks), a book where he uses his sporting experience to understand the business world.

22 years later, a Japanese rider has won a MotoGP Grand Prix. Ai Ogura (Aprilia RS-GP) achieved his first victory at the Dutch MotoGP Grand Prix, at the cathedral of Assen, on a day when the World Championship leader, Marco Bezzecchi, crashed out and lost the overall classification lead. Marc Márquez, therefore, continues to chip away at the points, even though he ended up penalized. The rider from Cervera did not have the best weekend, but he managed to stay in contention both on the day of the sprint race and today, in a chaotic race with a surprising winner.

When the Japanese anthem began to play before the Japan-Netherlands match on the first day of this World Cup, the Japanese coach started to cry. He remained serious, while singing the Kimigayo, but tears streamed down his cheeks. "It's always an emotion to lead my country. Many things have crossed my mind here," he said. The Japanese press deduced, since Hajime Moriyasu (1968) gave no further explanation, that he was referring to being in the United States, as his life, in large part, is marked by the atomic bombs of Nagasaki and Hiroshima.

The sun beats down strongly in the capital of Alt Camp. Marta Galimany Guasch (Valls, 1985) receives ARA at the athletics tracks in her city and walks past a mural where she appears. She glances at it and smiles. "When I come with my son, it's very fun," she explains, as the little one remains captivated watching that large mural where his mother appears. A few years ago, the Valls City Council named the municipal tracks after Marta, an Olympian in Tokyo in 2021. A prodigious athlete who a few years ago broke the Spanish record for marathons in which men and women run together. And a few weeks ago, she did it again in a marathon with only women. She is 40 years old, just turned. A woman who, curiously, took a long time to discover this calling.

It is incredible how a moment you have been waiting for years can be tarnished. Those of us from Sabadell wished for a promotion like the one experienced a few days ago. It had been more than 30 years since we achieved a promotion at home. The team and the city deserved a day like this, but everything ended up very dirty with mud when the goalkeeper Diego Fuoli, who has been one of the pillars of the team, decided to start a chant against Pedro Sánchez. A large part of the young people present in the square continued it. Then there was an uncomfortable silence... and even more people booed. The magic had been broken. What happened next can no longer be controlled.

Only Pelé had managed to score the first goal of a World Cup match at eighteen years old or younger. Until Lamine Yamal arrived. The Rocafonda genius was in charge of scoring the first goal in Spain's thrashing of Saudi Arabia in Atlanta (4-0), a match where Luis de la Fuente's team shook off the bad feelings from their weak debut against Cape Verde. If against the Africans Spain couldn't even score a single goal, against the Saudis they already had three in 25 minutes. Between Lamine Yamal and a brilliant Mikel Oyarzabal, Spain thrashed in a match that became increasingly disjointed as the minutes passed, as Luis De la Fuente's team had quickly finished the job. In fact, he substituted Lamine Yamal at halftime to protect him, because the future of the national team in the World Cup depends heavily on him.

An old bus from the 60s, the kind that takes children to school, was arriving at the Florida Atlantic University campus in Boca Raton. Inside the vehicle, music was playing at full volume. Rhythms of soca, tumba or seú. The rhythms that are played on the Caribbean island of Curaçao. The smallest selection in World Cup history debuted in the final phase, being thrashed 7-1 by Germany, but they haven't lost optimism. "Just being here is already a success. We will enjoy every minute," said player Leandro Bacuna before playing his second match against Ecuador. The players have once again used this bus, which they have painted blue, like the team's jersey. Inside, they have put palm leaves, and decorated it in tribute to the buses you can find on the island, rundown second-hand vehicles bought by the local government. It has brought them luck, as they have drawn against Ecuador in a match where they had some clear goal opportunities. The hero, however, has been the veteran 37-year-old goalkeeper Eloy Room, who has become the goalkeeper with the most saves in a World Cup match, with 15 meritorious performances.

When the Moroccan national team achieved a brilliant and deserved draw against Brazil in their World Cup debut, many people reacted with a grimace. For the first time, a team played in the final phase of a World Cup where none of the footballers had been born in their country. The initial squad had only one player born in Morocco, Ounahi. But with substitutions, 11 players born abroad coincided, two of whom were from Catalonia, Ismael Saibari and Ayoube Amaimouni. All with roots in Morocco, in this case. But born abroad, children of the Moroccan diaspora. Morocco opened an office in Spain years ago where a group of people work to identify players throughout Europe who are sons or grandsons of Moroccans, in order to recruit them, as they tried to do with Lamine Yamal without success.

One June night, fans of the Boston Red Sox, a popular North American baseball team, understood nothing. Their famous stadium, Fenway Park, was fuller than usual for a regular league game when the team wasn't performing well and was at the bottom of its division. But on this night, just a few days ago, thousands of fans began to sing Yes sir, I can Boogie, a song by the group Baccara, made up of two Spanish women who made a fortune with some hits in the late 70s. The Red Sox followers understood nothing, but they let themselves be carried away by the good atmosphere and many also began to sing the song, surrounded by 10,000 fans of the Scottish football team, many of them in the traditional kilt, the Scottish skirt. The United States has been invaded by the Tartan Army, the Scottish fans. An army that always seems to win because everyone lets themselves be invaded when it arrives.

Three cries in the early morning woke many residents in Catalonia. They were Argentinians living here or Catalans who miss Messi. The former Barça player debuted on Wednesday morning in Kansas City in his sixth World Cup. He did so exactly on the day that marked 20 years since his first match in a World Cup, a distant 2006 in Germany. Messi entered the field defending the crown won four years ago in Qatar, when he finally became champion. The Argentinians faced Algeria in a test that was supposed to allow an understanding of their level of play, after playing few high-level friendlies in recent months. And they passed the test with flying colors thanks to three goals from their captain. There were people who said he shouldn't be a starter because he's already a veteran. Others said he lives permanently on vacation in Miami. In reality, Messi is eternal and scored the three goals for the albiceleste. He even scored a fourth goal that didn't make it onto the scoreboard. He also made a mistake when he stepped heavily on an opponent, playing with fire. The Algerians asked for a red card, but the referee didn't send him off.

Barcelona is warming up its engines for the start of the Tour de France, which for the first time will start from the Catalan capital. The race will begin on July 4th with a team time trial ending in Montjuïc, 19.7 km long, which will start from the seafront and pass through iconic points of the city such as the Sagrada Família, Passeig de Gràcia, and Barceloneta beach. The second stage will be on Sunday, July 5th, starting from Tarragona and arriving in Barcelona after 178 km that will pass through Torredembarra, Sitges, El Garraf, a demanding climb to Begues, and three short but explosive climbs to Montjuïc Castle after entering Barcelona with a route modified due to the African swine fever outbreak in Collserola. The third stage, on Monday, July 6th, will start from Granollers and go through Centelles, Vic, Ripoll, and will reach the Pyrenees with the Collada de Toses as an attractive point, before seeing the cyclists head towards French territory, with the finish line at Les Angles.

It was supposed to be Spain's and Lamine Yamal's day, but it was Josimar Dias Vozinha's, a nickname that in Portuguese sounds very similar to "grandmother". It was a fairy tale. One of those stories that, if a screenwriter invented it to make a television series, many would say it's impossible to believe. Sometimes it seems that in this modern football full of money where the rich get richer and richer, it's not possible for a 40-year-old man without a team to shine against Lamine Yamal, Ferran Torres, Pedri, and company. But at the Football World Cup, luckily, these things still happen. No 40-year-old goalkeeper had ever managed to finish a World Cup match without conceding goals. Vozinhaachieved it.

Tired and weary, the Iranian players circled the Los Angeles stadium pitch, applauding the fans. In the stands, thousands of Iranian-American citizens were cheering them on while displaying monarchist flags. That is, symbols banned in present-day Iran. But for a moment, if only for a moment, it seemed that all Iranians could walk side-by-side, united. Iran's national team debuted at the World Cup by drawing 2-2 in a beautiful match against a combative New Zealand that surprised with its daring. It was a day when football triumphed, with goals and spectacle, even though in the preceding days, the talk, as expected, had only been about politics. A country's anthem doesn't always play on the territory of the country that has bombed it.

Colombia is divided. As happens in other Latin American countries, it seems that half the country will vote for a far-right candidate, Abelardo de la Espriella, and the other half for a left-wing candidate, Iván Cepeda. Both reached the second round of the presidential elections scheduled for June 21, with De la Espriella being the most voted candidate. This lawyer who lives in Barranquilla claims to admire Trump, Milei, or the Salvadoran Bukele, with a markedly populist discourse in which he has used a very powerful weapon: the jersey of the Colombian national football team just as the World Cup is on.

It's hard to imagine what could make Carlo Ancelotti nervous. The veteran Italian coach has managed some of the most high-pressure clubs in the world, such as Madrid, Juve, and Chelsea. He has worked under the watchful eyes of Florentino Pérez, Silvio Berlusconi, or Roman Abramovich. He has learned how to talk to selfish young players and eccentric businessmen. He knows how to treat generous footballers and others who are selfish. It's hard to explain his favorite tactical system, but he knows how to manage people and motivate them. That's why he received the call from the Brazilian Football Confederation less than two years ago. Brazil, the national team that has won the World Cup the most times, entrusted him with the task of being great again. For the first time in history, Brazil is entering a World Cup with a foreign coach. Ancelotti doesn't seem nervous, though. He looks happy.

Italians are feeling sad, now that the Football World Cup is here and their national team is not participating. The failure of Italian football curiously coincides with a very good era in Italian sport in general, with a record number of medals at the Summer and Winter Olympic Games, with Jannik Sinner shining in tennis, Marco Bezzecchi leading the MotoGP World Championship, and the rugby team defeating the English for the first time. And also thanks to Andrea Kimi Antonelli. The young 19-year-old driver arrives at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya (Montmeló) this weekend leading the Formula 1 World Championship. He is a kid with a child-like face, but in the first Grands Prix of the season, he has had no rivals, as he showed in Monte Carlo a few days ago. Montmeló will receive more Italians than ever this Sunday. And if historically they came dressed in red as Ferrari fans, now some prioritize Mercedes caps, as they have surrendered to the feet of this boy born in Bologna.

A few months ago, this March, Donald Trump received a delegation from the North American Football Federation and asked the coach, the Argentine Mauricio Pochettino, if the United States can win the World Cup. "I told him that we can win it," said the former Espanyol player. Pochettino has a challenge ahead: achieve good results and get the team to excite a country that arrives very divided at the event. The debut will be against the Paraguay team on Saturday at three in the morning.

In 1994, the United States hosted a World Cup for the first time. One of the novelties of that event was the introduction of a new rule that changed the game: it became forbidden to pass the ball to the goalkeeper and for him to catch it with his hand, as had been the case until then, which led to significant time-wasting. This year's event will also be remembered for the introduction of new rules that will significantly modify the game, always with the intention of avoiding time-wasting, according to IFAB (International Football Association Board), the body that determines the rules of the game.

A World Cup had never had 48 teams nor had it been played in three different states. For six weeks, the United States, Canada, and Mexico will host 104 matches, creating a different scenario. A total of 16 stadiums will host matches, most of them in the United States, although there will also be three Mexican venues and two in Canada. Most stadiums are relatively new and for a good part of the season, American football matches are played there, with some exceptions. Some stadiums, like those in Atlanta or Seattle, have become the home of local football teams, although they combine it with other sports. All stadiums in the United States, in fact, are venues prepared to host different disciplines, concerts, or events, with top-level technology. However, the state of the grass worries the coaches, as it would not be the best.