The countdown is almost over. In just one day, the FIFA World Cup 2026 will get underway, launching what is widely regarded as the world’s greatest sporting event.

Football fans across Afghanistan and around the globe are preparing for a month of excitement as 48 nations compete for the most coveted prize in international football.

What is the FIFA World Cup?

The FIFA World Cup is the premier international football tournament, held every four years and featuring the world’s best national teams.

The 2026 edition will be the largest in the tournament’s history, expanding from 32 to 48 teams and featuring a record 104 matches.

Where is the tournament being held?

For the first time, the World Cup will be jointly hosted by three countries:

United States

Canada

Mexico

Matches will be played across 16 host cities throughout North America.

When does the tournament start?

The tournament kicks off on June 11, with hosts Mexico facing South Africa in the opening match in Mexico City.

The final will be played on July 19 in New York.

Why is this World Cup historic?

The 2026 tournament marks several major milestones:

First World Cup hosted by three nations.

First World Cup featuring 48 teams.

Largest World Cup ever with 104 matches.

First time Canada hosts World Cup matches.

Organizers expect millions of fans to attend matches, while billions around the world are expected to follow the tournament on television and digital platforms.

Which teams are among the favourites?

Several traditional football powers enter the tournament among the leading contenders, including:

Argentina (defending champions)

France

Brazil

England

Spain

Germany

Portugal

Stars such as Kylian Mbappé, Erling Haaland, Vinícius Júnior, Jude Bellingham, Harry Kane and Lionel Messi are expected to be among the tournament’s biggest attractions.

How can fans in Afghanistan watch the World Cup?

Football supporters across Afghanistan will be able to follow every moment of the tournament through Ariana Radio and Television Network’s (ATN) extensive coverage – on both TV and radio.

Ariana Television will broadcast FIFA World Cup 2026 matches live across Afghanistan, bringing viewers comprehensive coverage of the world’s biggest football event.

For fans on the move or unable to watch television, Ariana FM will also provide live match broadcasts throughout the tournament, ensuring supporters can stay connected to the action wherever they are.

What can fans expect?

From dramatic goals and unforgettable upsets to emerging stars and title contenders battling for glory, the FIFA World Cup consistently delivers some of sport’s most memorable moments.

With one day remaining until kickoff, anticipation is building around the world as football prepares to take centre stage once again.

Fans in Afghanistan can tune in to Ariana Television from 11:30pm to watch kick off between Mexico and South Africa on Thursday night, June 11.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they had carried out attacks against a U.S. base in Jordan and 21 other targets in the Gulf on Wednesday in retaliation for American strikes around ​the Strait of Hormuz, Iranian media reported.

The clashes mark one of the biggest exchanges in hostilities since the two countries agreed to a ceasefire in April, Reuters reported.

The Iranian strikes, which included attacks in ‌Kuwait and Bahrain, came after the U.S. military said on X it had targeted Iranian air defence, ground control stations and surveillance radar sites near the strait in response to what U.S. President Donald Trump said was the downing of a U.S. Apache helicopter on Tuesday.

“I believe the response should be very strong, very powerful, and that’s what this one is,” Trump told ABC News on Tuesday.

The escalation in violence deepens doubts about the prospects for a deal to end the war that started on February 28 with joint U.S.-Israeli strikes against Iran. Tehran ​responded by firing on Gulf neighbours that host U.S. bases and all but choked off the Strait of Hormuz, a vital conduit for oil and gas.

The latest U.S. strikes lasted around four hours before the ​U.S. Central Command posted just before 9 p.m. ET (0100 GMT Wednesday) that they had ended. A U.S. official said almost 20 Iranian targets had been struck.

Iran’s state media reported that ⁠Qeshm island and the port city of Sirik in the Strait of Hormuz were attacked.

Sounds of explosions were heard in nearby Bandar Abbas, and later in the vicinity of Jask, near the entrance to the strait, Iranian media reported, citing local ​sources and residents.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said in response they had targeted four sites at the U.S. al-Azraq base in Jordan using long-range missiles, Iranian media reported.

The Guards said the targets included F-35 fighter jet hangars and a command-and-control centre, and ​warned they were ready to deliver a “crushing and decisive” response to any further U.S. attack.

Jordanian armed forces said on Wednesday they had intercepted and shot down five missiles launched from Iran toward al-Azraq. The military added that debris from the interception operation fell on Jordanian territory but caused no injuries or material damage.

The Kuwaiti army said its air defence systems were engaging hostile aerial targets and urged the public to follow official safety instructions, after Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they had targeted the Ali Al Salem base in Kuwait with drones.

Iran’s Revolutionary ​Guards said earlier they attacked the U.S. Fifth Fleet in Bahrain with drones and threatened “more severe responses” if hostilities continued, according to media.

Bahrain’s Interior Ministry said a warning siren had been sounded and urged the public to head to safety. ​Air defences had repelled Iranian attacks, a media adviser to Bahrain’s king said soon after in a post on X.

A U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said initial assessments showed nearly all missiles and drones launched by Iran were intercepted and they ‌were not immediately ⁠aware of any reports of harm to U.S. personnel or damage to U.S. locations.

The Pentagon did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Reuters could not immediately verify the battlefield reports.

Oil prices climbed about 1% in early Asian trade on Wednesday following the escalation in hostilities.

NOT A BIG DEAL?

On Tuesday, a U.S. Apache helicopter was brought down by a one-way Iranian attack drone, according to a U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity. Two U.S. pilots involved in the helicopter incident were uninjured, Trump said.

Iran’s state media cited a military source as saying that no offensive air military operations had been conducted in the Strait of Hormuz in the previous 24 hours.

A U.S. Navy surface drone found and rescued the two ​crew, the U.S. military said, after the U.S. Army attack ​helicopter went down in waters near Oman’s coast while ⁠on patrol at around 3 a.m. on Tuesday (2300 GMT on Monday).

The U.S. military’s Central Command gave no reason for the crash. It said the two crew were rescued after two hours and said they were in stable condition – a more cautious assessment than Trump’s description.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi did not directly address the helicopter incident, but said in a ​post on X that foreign forces in the region risked being involved in accidents or crossfire.

“To reduce risk, best solution is for them to leave,” he wrote.

Trump told ​The Wall Street Journal during a ⁠phone call on Tuesday that the helicopter incident “wasn’t a big deal” and stressed that “the pilot is fine.”

However, the episode could well add further strain to efforts to broker a peace deal to end the wider Middle East war and reopen Hormuz.

Trump has repeatedly said Iran and the United States are close to an agreement, though there have been few signs of progress since a tenuous ceasefire took effect in early April.

Fighting between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah militants in Lebanon has continued, and Tehran has maintained its ⁠restrictions on most ​shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, which before the war carried a fifth of the world’s crude oil and liquefied natural gas. Washington has ​imposed its own blockade of Iranian ports.

U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said on Tuesday that ship traffic through Hormuz is rising “very meaningfully,” but added it would take many months to get back to normal flows of energy once the war is over.

Trump has said any peace deal must ensure ​Iran cannot develop a nuclear weapon. Iran denies any such ambitions.

Iran’s demands include the lifting of international sanctions, the release of billions of dollars in frozen assets and recognition of its control of the strait.

The Chairman of the Afghanistan Chamber of Commerce and Investment (ACCI), Sayed Karim Hashemi, held separate meetings with Jeffrey Grieco, Chairman of the Afghanistan-American Joint Chamber of Commerce (AACC), and Dmitry Zhirnov, Russia’s ambassador to Afghanistan, to discuss expanding trade, investment, and economic cooperation.

During his meeting with Grieco at ACCI headquarters, Hashemi emphasized the importance of strengthening economic and commercial ties between the private sectors of Afghanistan and the United States. He called for greater cooperation to connect Afghan businesses with American companies and investors, including Afghan-Americans, and highlighted opportunities for increasing Afghan exports to the U.S. market.

Hashemi also stressed the need for direct engagement between companies, traders, and investors from both countries, as well as cooperation in technology transfer, management expertise, and support for entrepreneurs and small and medium-sized enterprises. He further called for efforts to facilitate the release of Afghanistan’s frozen assets, describing them as belonging to the Afghan people.

Grieco reaffirmed the Afghanistan-American Joint Chamber of Commerce’s commitment to working closely with ACCI and noted that several American companies have expressed interest in investing in Afghanistan’s mining sector. He also invited Hashemi to meet a large delegation of American traders and investors expected to attend an upcoming economic event in Uzbekistan, where Afghanistan’s investment opportunities could be presented.

In a separate meeting, Hashemi met with Russian Ambassador Dmitry Zhirnov and discussed ways to strengthen trade and investment relations between Afghanistan and Russia. The discussions focused on expanding commercial ties, exchanging trade delegations, attracting joint investments, and creating stronger links between the private sectors of the two countries.

Hashemi called for the deployment of Russian specialists to assist Afghanistan’s private sector and support the transfer of technical knowledge and industrial expertise. He also proposed enhancing cooperation between the chambers of commerce of both countries and exchanging lists of active traders, investors, and companies to develop practical market-driven initiatives for economic cooperation.

For his part, Ambassador Zhirnov said trade between Afghanistan and Russia had shown positive growth over the past year but remained below its full potential. He stressed the need for greater efforts to increase bilateral trade and promote practical economic cooperation.

The Russian envoy also pledged to support ACCI’s efforts at international conferences and forums by promoting Afghanistan’s investment opportunities and major economic projects to Russian businesses and investors. He emphasized that stronger ties between the private sectors of the two countries would play a key role in expanding broader economic relations between Afghanistan and Russia.

The meetings reflect ACCI’s ongoing efforts to attract foreign investment, expand international trade partnerships, and strengthen Afghanistan’s economic engagement with both regional and global partners.