The inside story of how Norway became a World Cup force: 🇳🇴 “No a**hole” culture 🇳🇴 ‘Viking’ mentality 🇳🇴 A coaching revolution 🇳🇴 More artificial pitches 🇳🇴 … and, yes, some superstar talents 📝 @PJBuckingham FREE TO READ 🔗 nyti.ms/4aQ1ZRA

It’s their first World Cup in 28 years after storming through qualification. They have Haaland, Odegaard and ambitions to go deep into this tournament. The story of how Norway got good again 🇳🇴 nytimes.com/athletic/7351497…

RT @Dan_Sheldon_: 🚨 Exclusive: Thomas Partey is unavailable to play in Ghana’s opening World Cup match against Panama in Canada on June 17…

Welcome to Stars of Soccer, The Athletic’s World Cup player guide. Lionel Messi is here, and there’s room for Cristiano Ronaldo too. There are legends of the game, the current elite, rising stars and others who really make their teams tick. They are old and young, some at their first World Cup, some at their sixth. They are players you should enjoy this summer, and we are here to tell you all about them (and how to pronounce their names). 🔗 nytimes.com/athletic/7279880…

Culture secretary Lisa Nandy tonight asking for a “full and urgent explanation from the FA and West Ham.” Local MP Uma Kumaran calling on Sullivan to “do the right thing and step down as owner.”

NEW @TheAthleticFC Infantino floats in & out of the Oval Office, hangs out with Trump officials, squeezes host cities for cash & cloaks FIFA in MAGA. Now, FIFA wants to be considered powerless. Free to read column on Gianni’s visa disasterclass. nytimes.com/athletic/7344372…

The Athletic went to Europol’s headquarters in the Hague to learn about the fight with organised crime groups targeting football. We learned that: ◾️ Asian syndicates are cooperating with European gangs on fixing ◾️ Fixes bring in profit and allow gangs to launder dirty money at the same time ◾️ Fixing gangs are ‘polycriminal’, also involved in people smuggling, drug dealing and selling illegal weapons ◾️ Football is seen as a ‘soft touch’ because even when caught, gangs often avoid significant punishment 🔗 nytimes.com/athletic/7324067…

Is global sport being hit by a tidal wave of fixing? Over an eight-month long investigation, The Athletic has learned that: ▪️Two players going to the World Cup have been reported to the national federations where they play their club football for suspicions of spot fixing. ▪️There have been highly suspicious betting patterns around games involving a top tennis player ▪️Hundreds of football games around the world have been flagged as suspect by integrity experts in the last year ▪️ Amateur sporting events, even games between minors, are attracting multi-million dollar bets 📝 @jwhitey98 nytimes.com/athletic/7306675…

Forty-eight nations, each with a distinct football culture. The fans who believe their team is cursed. The country where early adopters were ridiculed and abused. The supporters who will bring 'the whip' with them. The nation where football has united the people when all else has failed. Over recent months, The Athletic has been speaking to supporters of every team that will compete at this summer's World Cup to explore each one's rich and diverse football culture. From Algeria to Argentina, Canada to Curacao, the Netherlands to New Zealand and all other corners of the globe, this new series takes in traditions, psychology, food, history and much more. Welcome to The Language of Soccer. 🔗 bit.ly/433qJBV

Budapest's Puskas Arena was built for occasions like Saturday's Champions League final between Paris Saint-Germain and Arsenal. But the man behind it - Hungary's recently ousted former prime minister Viktor Orban - won't be there to see it. “The show has been completely stolen from him,” says political science professor Zoltan Balazs. “That must be painful.” @PJBuckingham look at what the £500million ($672m) stadium represents, as Hungary enters a new era. FREE READ 🔗 nyti.ms/4ad78Tu

Up the Tigers!

Interview with Hull City boss Sergej Jakirovic ahead of the Championship play-off final. Talks transfer embargoes, Jurgen Klopp, style and belief. Hot take: he laughs a lot #hcafc nytimes.com/athletic/7297240…

The inside story of ‘Spygate’ and how it left the EFL in chaos: 📱 Incriminating WhatsApps by Southampton boss Eckert 👀 Analyst was supposed to watch Boro train a second time 🥸 Eastleigh disguise used to monitor Ipswich 🎄 Christmas Eve operation to snoop on Oxford 😡 Players left furious at club’s handling of affair 🐅 Hull anger at disruption to Wembley plans 📃 Saints feel punishment is disproportionate, confident over appeal nytimes.com/athletic/7293082…

Interview with Andy Morrison, the cult-hero captain who dragged Manchester City to promotion from the third tier in 1999. #MCFC memories, his turbulent career, his fight with alcohol (27 years sober 👏) and his latest battle — with Ramsay Hunt Syndrome nytimes.com/athletic/7276336…

Hull City head coach Sergej Jakirovic is urging the EFL not to rearrange next weekend’s Championship play-off final after seeing his team become “collateral damage” in the Southampton ‘spygate’ saga. An independent disciplinary hearing, scheduled for no later than next Tuesday, will decide Southampton’s fate but the EFL raised the prospect of the final, scheduled for a week on Saturday, being delayed. That means that Hull cannot currently be sure who they will face or when they will play a game potentially worth £200million to the winners. More from @PJBuckingham FREE TO READ: bit.ly/3R2Surz

I spent four months in the company of #Millwall captain Jake Cooper It was an eventful period that ended with a painful defeat in the playoffs this week This tells the story of that time and what life looks like for an EFL footballer (Free to read) nytimes.com/athletic/7272721…

Welcome to the world of prediction markets, where you can stake money, cash or crypto, on anything from Elon Musk’s X posts to Donald Trump’s speeches. Oh, and sports. With FIFA now involved ahead of the World Cup, @Dan_Sheldon_ and @PJBuckingham explain why they’re controversial, which states have banned them and whether they will rival traditional gambling. nytimes.com/athletic/7205237…

This is the making of Michael Olise, a unique kid who became a football genius: 📈 A football IQ way above his peers at the age of six 🔟 Putting the No 10 shirt on before the line-up had been announced 🧠 Why coaches had to rethink how to manage him 🔵 The reasons spells at Chelsea and Manchester City did not work @TBurrows16 & @stujames75 🔗 nytimes.com/athletic/7254915…