A World Cup is about more than what happens on the grass. Behind every squad are stories of withdrawals, exclusions and internal tensions, and sometimes the drama off the pitch is just as fascinating as the matches themselves. The 2026 World Cup is no exception. Even before the first serious battle, several of the major nations have had to deal with conflicts, controversies and difficult choices.
For those who follow football, this is part of what makes the championship come alive. And for those who want to spice up the experience even further, there are online entertainment options such as Casino Days for adults, where it is always a good idea to set your own limits for time and money in advance. But let’s take a closer look at the stories that characterize the squads this summer.
France and the turmoil behind the scenes
France enters the World Cup as one of the big favourites, ranked at the top in the world and with a squad full of stars. But the road to get there has not been without friction. Just before the championship, it emerged that midfielder Aurélien Tchouaméni and Real Madrid colleague Federico Valverde had fallen foul during a training session, an episode that reportedly ended with Valverde having to see a doctor.
That such things happen between clubmates is not uncommon, but when it involves key national team players just before a World Cup, it gets extra attention. For France, who build much of their game around the Real Madrid axis, it is something coach Didier Deschamps must handle with caution in a squad where egos are many and expectations are enormous.
Deschamps, who has confirmed that this will be his last championship as national team manager, also had to make unpopular choices in the selection. Both Eduardo Camavinga and Randal Kolo Muani were scrapped from the final squad, decisions that caused debate in the French press. Captain Kylian Mbappé has also been struggling with a hamstring injury in the build-up, which has worried French supporters.
Iran and the politics that never let go
No squad illustrates how politics and football intertwine better than Iran. Ahead of the 2026 World Cup, one of the country’s biggest stars, Sardar Azmoun, was left out of the squad. The 31-year-old striker, known from his time at Bayer Leverkusen and Roma and dubbed “the Iranian Messi”, was dropped after what was referred to as an accusation of treason.
The background was a photo Azmoun posted on social media with the Emir of Dubai, which provoked strong reactions from the Iranian authorities. The player quickly deleted the photo, but by then the damage had already been done. For a player with millions of followers, the consequence was that he lost his place in the World Cup squad.
It is not the first time Iranian football has been characterized by political tensions. During the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, the Iranian players chose to stand silent during the national anthem in their opening match, interpreted as a support for the protest movement at home after the death of Mahsa Amini. Captain Ehsan Hajsafi was then one of the first players to express open sympathy with the protesters. For Iranian national team players, football is rarely just football, and that also follows the team into this championship.
When expectations become a burden
There is a common denominator in many of these stories. The greater the expectations, the more pressure is put on the troops, and the more easily tensions arise. A team like France, where almost every player is a star at a top European club, has to deal with a completely different internal pressure than a team that comes to the championship without being favourites.
History has shown us several examples of how this can go wrong. France’s own World Cup in 2010, when the entire squad almost rebelled against the coaching staff, still stands as a horror example of how internal conflicts can tear a team apart. The experience from that time lingers, and the French media are quick to sound the alarm at the first sign of unrest.
The human behind the façade
What makes these stories interesting is that they remind us that national team players, for all their status and wealth, are people who get into conflicts, make difficult choices and sometimes pay a high price for things that happen far beyond the football field.
A World Cup is in many ways a pressure cooker scenario. Players from different clubs, with different backgrounds and different agendas, gather for a few intense weeks where everything has to be right. That it occasionally squeaks is perhaps not so strange. The strange thing would be if it never happened.
When the matches first start, it is still what happens on the pitch that decides. But the behind-the-scenes stories add an extra dimension to the championship, reminding us that football, at its most fascinating, is always about more than just the result.
