In an era primed for a great UFO movie, the film arrives with impeccable timing and almost nothing interesting to say, writes Will Rahn.

John Cornyn ran to the far-left New York Times, pledging to use his newfound freedom to undermine President Trump.

Friday, June 12th on RealClearPolitics - Joined by RCP Senior Elections Analyst Sean Trende and Josh Kraushaar, Editor-in-Chief of Jewish Insider: 00:00 Sett...

Congratulations to Sweden on winning this year’s World Cup … and also to France, Qatar, Uruguay, Norway, New Zealand and Switzerland for the same thing.

No, POLITICO hasn’t been engaging in match fixing, but we have been crunching the numbers to see how all 48 of this year’s World Cup participants rank in several other categories, and the countries mentioned above all did well. There are 10 EU countries taking part.

First of all, we took each country’s FIFA ranking from the world soccer governing body. In April, France was the number one country in the world, with Spain second and Argentina third, all the way down to New Zealand, which was the 85th-ranked country in the world and therefore the lowest-ranked team in the tournament.

Then, we looked at all 48 countries to see how they ranked in terms of five other categories, staring with gross domestic product per person, according to World Bank data for 2024 (the last year for which data is available).

Stay tuned for more data visualizations today and tomorrow.

The war has produced regime change, but Iran’s new leaders are more willing to take risks and believe they have already absorbed the worst that America and Israel can deliver.

At a moment when even the prospects of dialogue seem far-fetched, movements to redraw state lines to link like-minded regions, or even to secede from the union, are gaining strength.

A review of polling data shows an extraordinary swing among white working-class voters on the president’s handling of the economy.

From his post in New Delhi, Mr. Gor has become a force in U.S. foreign policy, chasing business deals and stunning diplomats by reversing a long-planned embassy building project.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. — Timothy Weah wasn’t among the eleven Americans who took the field at the start of Friday’s match against Paraguay. But he may already be the American left’s favorite player.

In the run-up to the World Cup, the Olympique de Marseille winger has appeared at an event with New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and echoed Democrats’ “affordability” messaging in his critique of FIFA’s ticket prices, earning a rebuke from Coach Mauricio Pochettino.

Hours before kickoff on Friday, former secretary of state Hillary Clinton showcased only Weah — the New York-born son of Liberian president George Weah — in a social-media post saluting the men’s national team.

“I'm looking forward to seeing the USMNT represent us in this World Cup,” wrote Clinton, accompanied by an image of Weah on the ball.

Last year, at an Oval Office photo op with his then-club team Juventus, Weah was among a group of players who stood behind President Donald Trump as he floated a possible military attack on Iran.

““It was all a surprise to me, honestly — they told us that we have to go and I had no choice but to go,” Weah later told journalists of the White House visit. “I was caught by surprise, honestly. It was a bit weird. When he started talking about the politics with Iran and everything, it’s kind of like, I just want to play football, man.”

A campus group the university banned after accusations of antisemitic behavior failed to prove it had its First Amendment rights violated, the court ruled.

The ruling accused the Trump administration of engaging in censorship by taking down materials at parks across the country.

INGLEWOOD, California — FIFA paid tribute to California’s Native American tribes as part of the pregame festivities ahead of Friday’s match at SoFi Stadium, the tournament’s first in the United States.

So-called native land acknowledgments have become common in North America, especially on the West Coast of the United States and across Canada, but have faced criticism and ridicule as the “latest woke ritual,” as one Wall Street Journal commentary put it.

The prerecorded video that played as the stadium filled up with U.S. and Paraguay fans acknowledged the Yuhaaviatam of San Manuel Nation and Gabrieleño Band of Mission Indians, among others, as “the original inhabitants of Los Angeles County.”

FIFA President Gianni Infantino’s campaign-style efforts to win support from local political officials across the United States last year included visits with tribal leaders, POLITICO reported at the time.

OTTAWA — The Canadian government defended its decision to ban Ghanaian midfielder Thomas Partey from entering the country as necessary for “maintaining the safety and security of Canadians.”

Partey has been charged with sexual assault and rape in the United Kingdom but has not been convicted of anything. He has pleaded guilty and is expected to stand trial in 2027.

“Under Canadian law, foreign nationals can be found inadmissible without a foreign conviction,” Matthew Krupovich of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada told POLITCO in a written statement. “When there are reasonable grounds to believe an act that would trigger inadmissibility has been committed by an applicant, they can be deemed inadmissible to Canada.”

Ghana will play its opening World Cup match against Panama next Wednesday in Toronto. Partey entered the United States with Ghana’s team last week and has been present at the team’s training camp in Rhode Island. Ghana’s other two matches are scheduled to take place in the United States.

“Canada is proud to be a host country for the 2026 FIFA World Cup and is working to facilitate a successful event while maintaining the safety and security of Canadians,” said Krupovich. “Canada has been consistent that hosting major events does not change Canada’s immigration laws.”

BARGERSVILLE, Ind. — Sen. Todd Young settled into a booth at a Belgian-style brewhouse in a suburb just south of Indianapolis to watch Canada square off against Bosnia and Herzegovina—a little bleary-eyed after a storm-stricken flight back from Washington left him in Columbus, Ohio.

His flight got redirected to Columbus after midnight, where he had to stay overnight. He boarded a flight this morning to Indianapolis, where he would spend just one night at home before jetting to New Jersey Saturday for the Brazil vs. Morocco match where he would headline a fundraiser for a Republican colleague that Young declined to name.

Nothing could keep Young, a co-chair of the Congressional Soccer Caucus, perhaps the Senate’s biggest soccer fan and likely its only member who can score off a scissors kick, from watching the tournament.

On this afternoon, the second of the tournament, he was here to watch a game with POLITICO and discuss the geopolitics of the day.

“One of the things I'm hopeful for is a really good showing by the United States, so that the game of soccer in the U.S. can use this as a springboard or a catalyst to continue to grow quite a bit into the next decade or so,” Young said.

He had blocked off tonight’s game to watch the U.S.’s opening match versus Paraguay with his soccer-playing daughter.

Young is also one of the key Republicans who is using the World Cup to squeeze Democrats on extending Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act as it expires today. Democrats have refused to support even a short-term extension of the law ever since President Donald Trump nominated Bill Pulte, a political ally with no national security experience, to serve as acting DNI.

“It would be a lot of finger-pointing,” Young said of a potential domestic security lapse. “You should just pull out every stop right now to make sure that there are no problems.”

When Canada went down 1-0 in the 21st minute, he was less interested in the fact that our allies were losing — “they're very close allies and important trading partners, and increasingly good at soccer, a new export for that country,” he told me — and more interested in the quality of the goal itself.

He dialed in on a replay of Jovo Lukić’s set piece goal.

“Hell of a goal: slip header, near-bar run,” said Young, nursing a Belgian-style blonde.

As halftime approached, our conversation turned to 2028, and the fact that Secretary of State Marco Rubio, a fellow Republican, and California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, were expected to share box seats.

“Oh, that’s good for the country,” Young said, “Good for Marco. And good for Gavin.”

Young, who has spent a significant amount of time thinking about the GOP’s future, was less enthusiastic at answering a question about who might be at the top of his party’s own ticket in 2028. Was he more Team Rubio or Team Vice President JD Vance, a fellow former Midwestern senator with whom he built a relationship before Vance’s ascension?

“Oh, shit,” Young said. “I'm Team USA, brother. I’m Team USA.”

The response came after a federal judge rebuked officials for failing to immediately comply with the order he issued last week.