Day 30 until kickoff
Thirty days from the opening whistle and the tournament's biggest storyline isn't a group draw or a squad announcement — it's a Spanish injury ward that keeps filling up.
Spain arrived at this moment as the consensus favorites, and they still are. But ESPN's 30-day power rankings put La Roja at the top of the table with an asterisk the size of the Bernabéu: Lamine Yamal is nursing a torn hamstring, and now Nico Williams has joined him on the treatment table.
Williams went off before half-time in Athletic Bilbao's 1-0 loss to Valencia on Sunday, limping off with a pad on his left hamstring and a look on his face that said everything. His brother Iñaki didn't sugarcoat it: "He was limping a lot. He hadn't felt that type of pain before." Williams had already missed several weeks earlier this year with a separate injury. Spain coach Luis de la Fuente is set to announce a 55-name preliminary squad this week — and he'll be doing it while crossing his fingers.
The cruel irony is that Spain's group — Cape Verde, Saudi Arabia, Uruguay — is genuinely manageable. Their first two matches are in Atlanta, their third in Guadalajara. They have the depth to absorb losses. But Yamal and Williams aren't just starters; they're the creative heartbeat of the entire system. Losing both would force De la Fuente into a tactical rethink that no amount of squad depth fully solves. ESPN's analysts note that first-place votes for Spain have already spread more equitably among voters — a sign that the confidence, while still there, has a crack in it.
Canada's stadiums are ready — or close enough. With a month to go, B.C. Place in Vancouver and BMO Field in Toronto are in their final construction stretch, with stadium officials describing work as "on time and on budget." BMO Field — renamed Toronto Stadium for the tournament — got its dress rehearsal Saturday when Inter Miami beat Toronto FC in front of a record crowd of 44,828, the first time the new 17,000-seat grandstand addition was used at full capacity. The $146-million renovation was required to push the venue past FIFA's 40,000-seat minimum. Canada opens its group stage June 12 against Bosnia-Herzegovina in Toronto.
Mexico's third kit is the best story in the kit wars right now. El Tri and Adidas have unveiled a third alternate jersey that is predominantly black with a subtle Aztec-influenced zig-zag pattern built from stylized M and X lettering — and the design was created by rural artists supported by Mexican clothing brand Someone Somewhere.
The trim runs the tricolor (green, red, white) across the crest, the Adidas trefoil, and the sleeve stripes.