New polling from Ipsos Sports, provided exclusively to The Associated Press, shows that the World Cup has excited soccer fans and piqued many Americans’ interest, even as the sport continues to face an uphill climb to reach mainstream popularity in the United States.

Cristiano Ronaldo is one of the greatest and most popular soccer players of all time, and he leads Portugal into the knockout round on Thursday as one of three 2026 World Cup Round of 32 matches taking place today.

The USA's Round of 32 match was historic from a gambling perspective, and the Round of 16 should be even bigger, Patrick Everson reports.

Advancing beyond the Round of 16 would be considered an over-achievement. Kylian Mbappe of France celebrates scoring his team's first goal during a FIFA World Cup 2026 qualifier against Iceland at Parc des Princes on September 09,

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The 2026 FIFA World Cup kicked off in North America on June 11, with matches happening in 16 different cities across the United States, Mexico and Canada until the final on July 19. “Baby loves sports ⚽️⚽️,

The 2026 World Cup continues on Thursday, with Spain vs. Austria at 3 p.m. ET, followed by Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal squad in action at 7 p.m. ET, creating top contests to take advantage of the latest DraftKings promo code,

When Portugal steps on to the pitch at Toronto's BMO Field Thursday night for their World Cup Round of 32 matchup against Croatia, they will do so with an extra man in their presence. At the time of kick off,