First Touch '26
April 29, 2026 — Newsletter #34
Remembering a Random World Cup Legend Every Week
German legend Gerd Muller!
Headlines:
Injuries are the news of the week, with the most notable being a Lamine Yamal hamstring injury that may impact his World Cup, as he will be out for the remainder of his La Liga season.
Brazil suffered a major blow as 18-year-old wonderkid Estevao will miss the World Cup. The seeming future face of Brazil had thrived under Head Coach Carlo Acelotti, and seemed prepared to feature throughout the summer.
Bayern’s Serge Gnabry will also miss the World Cup for Germany, confirming that bad news comes in threes.
Other headlines come from FIFA’s updated rules for this summer. Most critical is likely a kinder yellow card accumulation rule that sees yellow cards “reset” after both the group stage and quarterfinal this summer.
Another rule to watch is a new punishment for players approaching opponents speaking with their mouth covered, which will now see them issued a straight red.
For the U.S., the player who may have done the most for his World Cup campaign over the past few weeks is Matt Turner. The goalkeeper easily leads MLS in goals prevented across all data platforms, while current starter Matt Freese is toward the middle-of-the-pack.
Finally, Mexico announced the Liga MX players who will participate in their World Cup camp. Featured names include 17-year-old wonderkid Gilbert Mora and Toluca star Alexis Vega.
Let's Do Some Trivia!
Over eight percent of the managers at the 2026 World Cup have been fired by Chelsea.
Mauricio Pochettino (USA), Thomas Tuchel (Germany), Graham Potter (Sweden), and Carlo Ancelotti (Brazil) have all managed Chelsea in the past two decades, and been fired by the London club.
With both Enzo Maresca and Liam Rosenior fired by Chelsea in the last few months, there’s still time for Chelsea to get a fifth to the competition!
A Prediction:
Golden Glove:
5. Alisson (Brazil)
4. Bart Verbruggen (Netherlands)
3. Unai Simon (Spain)
2. Mike Maignon (France)
1. Emiliano Martinez (Argentina)
A Thing We're Excited About:
Penalty shootout hijinks!
With the additional sixteen knockout matches introduced through the Round of 32, there’s likely to be many more shoutouts. Combine that with the psychological warfare between the keeper and taker that has become the modern penalty shootout, we’re expecting some exceptional moments from the quirkiest players on the pitch.
Emiliano Martinez, of course, helped Argentina secure their third World Cup through a series of tricks and psych-outs, but we’re expecting the trend in 2026 to be the return of the last-minute subbed-on keeper specialist.
Episode 11 of First Touch Weekly is Out Now!
Introducing Kickback Soccer Media’s First Touch Weekly, our premium 2026 World Cup podcast, covering the biggest stories across global soccer—from players and matches to politics, culture, host cities, the fan experience, and beyond.
Hosted by Susannah Fuller and David Gass alongside a rotating cast of journalists and experts, the show delivers smart, inclusive analysis and deep dives into everything shaping the road to and through the FIFA World Cup 2026—and continues beyond the tournament as a weekly destination for what’s next in the global game.
- Listen here (Apple) or here (Spotify) or wherever you find your podcasts!
Every World Cup Nation, Previewed!
Over at our website kickbacksoccer.com, we’ve launched a first-of-its-kind team by team preview of every participating World Cup nation!
You can find both written overviews, and special video and podcast primers for every country, all right at your fingertips.
Check it out here and tell your friends!