The costs and challenges facing the 2026 World Cup

The World Cup officially kicked off this week - but alongside the football, there are questions around heat, cost, the environmental impact and travel restrictions. Copyright current_year BBC. All rights reserved. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking. Copyright current_year BBC. All rights reserved. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking. A BBC Verify border surrounds the Fifa World Cup trophy and a serious looking host to the right of frame. The costs and challenges facing the 2026 World Cup The BBC Analysis Editor Ros Atkins takes a look at the challenges facing this year's tournament. Football fans gathered at a FIFA World Cup watch party at Niagara Falls for the Canadian and USA teams' opening matches. All three leaders of the North America host nations have missed the tournament opening matches. The BBC spoke to US fans at the Fifa Fan Festival in Los Angeles ahead of the team's match against Paraguay. Bosnia-Herzegovina fans attending the team's game in Toronto, Canada spoke to the BBC about how costly their trip and seats were. Severe weather has torn through the midwest, destroying homes, disrupting flights, and knocking out power for thousands across the region. SpaceX founder Elon Musk said he gave the company "less than a 10% chance of succeeding at all" when it first started, and it is now going public "with the largest IPO ever". The eyewitness footage shows bright orbs in the sky over an undisclosed location in the northeastern US. Staff at the medical equipment distribution centre were evacuated and all personnel were accounted for, the company said. The company behind the campaign said the first 100 people who could prove they had their US visa rejected would receive a television to watch the matches from home. There were wild celebrations in host nation Mexico, as their team kicked off their World Cup campaign with a 2-0 win over South Africa. The BBC spoke to match-goers outside Azteca Stadium, where Mexico began the tournament with a 2-0 victory over South Africa. The BBC's Gary O'Donoghue looks at the US president's mixed messaging over the war and the questions it raises. White House reporter Bernd Debusmann gets a preview of the temporary structure that will host a UFC fight 14 June. Changeable and challenging weather conditions are expected throughout the Fifa World Cup 2026. The BBC's Will Grant got access inside the renovated venue ahead of the first game of the tournament. The billionaire testified to Congress about his relationship with the late convicted sex offender. After more than a century of sharing the main entrance, Canadians were barred from using the library's US-side door by the Trump administration in 2025. The president also revealed that the US is 'taking out' millions of barrels of oil from Iran, saying Tehran didn't know 'until right now'. Graham Platner, whose campaign was plagued by scandals, has won the Maine primary and will run as the state's Democratic candidate for the US Senate in the November midterms. The BBC’s Nada Tawfik reports on readiness concerns in the New York-New Jersey region, where eight matches will take place. The crew, who are all men, are scheduled to blast off in 2027 to test systems ahead of a planned Moon landing. For the first time since the start of a precarious ceasefire two months ago, Israel and Iran have traded missile strikes. President Trump denies having promised 'no new wars'. BBC Verify has found multiple examples of him saying this during the 2024 US election campaign. The players and staff will have to fly in and out of the US for each of their games in the group stage. Some wore matching suits and others carried identical green bags as they landed, just days before the tournament kicks off. Four people have been arrested and charged with trafficking more than $45 million in cocaine, according to federal officials. Will Grant spoke to a 70-year-old widow who says the inability to use her building's elevator during a power outage trapped her and her husband when he needed medical care. BBC's Brandon Livesay toured the Columbia Park Training Facility in Morris Township, New Jersey that will host the team in the coming weeks. BBC's Will Grant reports from a pro-government demonstration held after the US indictment of the former president. The DOJ charged the former leader of Cuba with murder and other crimes for his alleged role in the downing of two civilian aircraft in 1996. BBC correspondent Will Grant reports from Havana, hours after the US charged former Cuban leader with conspiracy to kill US nationals and other crimes. The US government has charged the former Cuban president with conspiracy to kill US nationals and other crimes over the downing of the two planes. Chinese President Xi Jinping welcomed Russia's Vladimir Putin with a near-identical ceremony to Trump's last week. Laura Bicker and Steven Rosenberg explain the relationship between the leaders as the pair meet in Beijing. Juan Orlando Hernández was controversially pardoned by Trump in December while serving a 45-year prison sentence in the US for drug trafficking. US fans of the Eurovision Song Contest gathered in Washington DC to cheer on their favourite European acts. The BBC's Tom Bateman asked President Trump about China's willingness to pressure Iran to open the Strait of Hormuz. President Trump has concluded a two-day visit to Beijing at a high-stakes summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping. The passengers spent hours on a floating life raft after their 20-minute flight between two islands went down. China welcomed US President Donald Trump with cheering children and a troop parade on Thursday, before a nearly two-hour long meeting with Xi-Jinping.