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12 June 2026
Jared Dublin delivers insight into Hull City's Premier League transfer planning
Hull City sporting director Jared Dublin says he's relaxed about the club's recruitment plans as work continues behind the scenes on adding to Sergej Jakirovic's squad. City are preparing for life in the Premier League, and with the transfer window opening on Monday, fans will be keen to see players arriving to help prepare for the club's first season in the top flight in a decade. Dublin, along with head of recruitment Martin Hodge, has had various meetings since the play-off final win at Wembley to discuss potential new recruits, having been working off a Championship and Premier League list prior to that victory over Middlesbrough last month. JOIN US ON FACEBOOK! Latest Hull City news and analysis on our Hull Live FB page Since promotion was rubber-stamped under the arch, Dublin and Hodge have been working vigorously to press on with snapping up targets sooner rather than later. "It's been a long, hard slog for Hodgey (Martin Hodge), his scouts and the recruitment department, but that's the job, and that's part of the work that needs to be done when you're having the season that we've had," Dublin told Hull Live. "You have to put in the hours and put in the graft and put in the travel hours to go watch players abroad if needed, and that's what we've been doing. It's all part of our planning and process." It's often said that clubs that win the final are at a disadvantage to those who go up automatically because of the extra time taken up by preparing for the play-offs, compared to Coventry City and Ipswich Town, who knew their fate much earlier. Dublin, though, doesn't believe City's work in the market will have been impacted by the extra couple of weeks the Tigers' season went on. The other factor thrown in is the World Cup, which got underway at the iconic Azteca Stadium in Mexico City on Thursday night, with that likely to have an impact on the worldwide market "I'm relaxed with where we are with things, to be honest," the American explained. "Sunderland obviously got promoted via the play-offs [last year], and they've done fantastically to retain their Premier League status. "It was asked before, 'Do you think you're gonna miss on free agents' - you might miss on one or two, and do I feel we're in danger of missing on anyone who's going to be a major part of what we do in the Premier League with regards to recruitment? I don't believe so, at the moment I'm pretty relaxed on that front. "It's a World Cup year, so everything is a bit more delayed in terms of your top-level players will go first and then everyone cascades down from there. "Any time you have a World Cup summer, you're always having a bit of a delay in terms of the transfer market activity happening off the back of that, so we're relaxed, but obviously a lot of work is going into planning." Here at Hull Live, we are dedicated to bringing you the best Hull City coverage and analysis. Make sure you don't miss out on the latest City news by joining our free WhatsApp group. You can get all the breaking news and best analysis sent straight to your phone by clicking here to subscribe. You can also subscribe to our free newsletter service. Click here to be sent all the day's biggest stories.
12 June 2026
It's not a 'green box'. But the BBC's World Cup studio has sparked a curious culture war
As national humiliations go, this was not the Suez Crisis but when BBC Sport announced it would be basing its World Cup coverage in Salford (the city in Greater Manchester, not the small town in Pennsylvania), cheeks were puffed out, eyebrows were raised, heads were shaken. The Daily Telegraph described the BBC's approach as the "work-from-home World Cup", while television network GB News claimed the corporation was "set to lose out" to rivals in signing up tournament pundits. For these culture-war critics, and others, the decision seemed to be another sign of Great Britain's 150-year decline, the BBC getting it wrong again and a victory for small-minded penny-pinchers. These sentiments were perhaps best summed up by Gary Lineker, the former England star who was meant to be the BBC's lead presenter for a seventh straight men's World Cup before a social-media mishap led to a high-profile divorce last year, when he said he was glad he would be presenting his new Netflix show from a bespoke studio overlooking New York's Times Square and not stuck in a "green box in Salford". It was a good line but it was wrong. His successors -- the revolving trio of Kelly Cates, Mark Chapman and Gabby Logan -- will not be forced to pretend they are somewhere exciting while sitting in front of a brightly lit green screen that is magicked away by video editors and overlaid with something worth watching. On the contrary, as I learned when the BBC invited some journalists to see their new studio this week. "It's not a green box in Salford, it's a beautiful, state-of-the-art studio, but that's fine, nobody had seen it until now," said BBC director of sport Alex Kay-Jelski, the man who joined the BBC from The Athletic in 2024 and ultimately made the decision for football to stay at home. In fact, the studio does not use green screens at all, so the presenter and pundits can wear green and/or sequins without fear of becoming invisible in the 'chroma keying' process. (Quick aside, if you are wondering why green screens are green, it is because green is the most distinct in hue from any human skin tone.) With its commercial rivals ITV having broadcast the tournament opener between Mexico and South Africa on Thursday, the BBC's first game is Canada versus Bosnia and Herzegovina on Friday, when Logan, former France striker Olivier Giroud and ex-England defender Micah Richards will try to prove that being perched high in a Brooklyn loft apartment (ITV's base for the next six weeks) does not equate to better football coverage. The key feature of the BBC's studio is a giant wraparound LED screen where you would expect the actual view of Times Square, Mount Rushmore, the Grand Canyon or, in ITV's case, Brooklyn Bridge to be. But -- and here's the clever bit -- this screen will show a picture of a downtown scene from whichever host city that evening's/morning's game is being played in. In the setups we were shown, the team can look like they are sitting on a pontoon in New York Harbor or Boston's Charles River, and the shot can be adjusted for the time of day and weather conditions. The studio is one of the biggest in MediaCity's dock10, which is one of Europe's largest studio complexes. The chairs, tables, potted plants, cameras and lights are all real (I checked) and there are even fans, out of shot, above the heads of "the talent" to trick their brains into thinking there is a breeze in the room. There have been upgrades in edit suites and production galleries to ensure BBC Sport can make use of the facilities beyond this summer -- on its Premier League highlights show Match of the Day, for example -- which, in Kay-Jelski's view, makes for a better use of finite resources than hiring an expensive room with a view in the States. Yet there will be some, maybe many, who will still knock the BBC for not being there. Dan Walker, another ex-BBC Sport presenter, contrasted ITV's "super-snazzy Brooklyn studio", used for the first time in England's final warm-up game against Costa Rica on Wednesday, with the BBC's decision to stay in Salford. "The location will have cost ITV a fortune and the BBC can't win. If they go then there is criticism every day about the cost and, if they don't go, they get hammered for staying at home," Walker posted on X. "Must feel very distant at the moment, though." But distant for whom? The talent or the audience? "If these people were sitting somewhere else, would your viewing be massively changed?" said Kay-Jelski. "We've still got pundits on the ground. Alan (Shearer, the Premier League's record goalscorer and lead BBC pundit/co-commentator) is there. Danny Murphy is there. Various commentators and journalists, too. "I don't think the answer from a financial and sustainability point of view is to say everyone can go. I don't think that's a very clever way for me to spend licence-fee money." This is the key point. For the uninitiated, people in the UK must pay a licence fee of £180 ($240) a year to own a television or watch online streaming services. That money is used to fund the BBC and, while there is a vocal minority who would defund the BBC tomorrow, the vast majority of Brits still like and consume it every day. And most importantly, we have not thought of a better way to fund it. For example, in return for a monopoly on the licence fee, the BBC cannot run adverts. For decades, that gave ITV a monopoly on the UK's advertising market, an arrangement it greatly enjoyed. This delineation of territory has blurred as the number of commercial channels has exploded, and also because the BBC's international-facing outlets have been allowed to carry advertising -- one of many initiatives introduced to wean the BBC off the licence fee. Others include encouraging it to be more "commercial" in its commissioning, so it can sell programmes and formats for programmes abroad (essentially, anything involving Sir David Attenborough). There has been progress on that front but licence fees still account for about 60 per cent of the BBC's near-£6billion total annual revenue. The other popular suggestion is the BBC should move behind a paywall, like Netflix, Sky, The Athletic and so on. But the other big quid pro quo the BBC offers in return for taxpayer cash is a public-service commitment to cover everything from local crime to long-forgotten crises on the other side of the planet, while delivering children's programming, edgy drama, experimental comedy, all while showcasing British talent and providing the most balanced coverage of major national and international events possible, despite being sniped at from all directions for being biased. So, in terms of funding, the licence fee remains the best of a bad bunch of options. But the BBC is in one of its semi-regular crises. Ex-Google executive Matt Brittin is taking over as director general, just in time for the next renewal of the BBC's royal charter, the 10-year deal it does with the government to keep the licence fee-based funding model in place. The BBC knows it cannot enter those negotiations without cutting 10 per cent off its current budget, or about 2,000 jobs. When you put it in those terms, what choice did Kay-Jelski have? Plenty, according to Lineker. "Come on, money's tight?" he said when The Athletic spoke to him last month about his post-playing career, exit from the BBC and Goalhanger podcast empire. "It's the World Cup. It's the biggest television event you get every four years. The top half-a-dozen audience figures this year will be from the World Cup. They could do it if they wanted to." Sure, but do the presenters need to be there? "Look, we didn't always go," he said. "I think in 2002 (when the World Cup was in Japan and South Korea), we didn't go out until the quarter-finals. But if there's a major news event, you've got to be there. You don't want to compare this, but if you look at what's been going on in the Middle East, the newsreaders go out. "I don't want to be critical of the BBC, I love the BBC. I know they'll make it look amazing but when you're in a green box, it's very difficult to get any enthusiasm and energy in the studio." I put that to Kay-Jelski. "I'm not saying there is no value," he said. "I'm just saying the budget isn't infinite and we have to make sensible and difficult decisions sometimes. I don't even see this one as a difficult decision. I just think it's really sensible. If I was stood here and said, 'Everything is going to be done from a studio in Dallas', you would rightly be saying, 'How can you justify that spend?'." Of course, the real savings come not through keeping presenters at home, but the hundreds of technical staff that would be needed to run the operation. Roger Mosey, one of his predecessors as BBC Sport tsar, revealed in an article in The Spectator this week that he sent 437 staff to the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Full disclosure: I was one of them but I did work really hard. For what is worth, Mosey thinks Kay-Jelski has got this right. The final word on this particular debate should probably go to Logan, who will become British TV's first female host of a World Cup final next month. "There are many, many good reasons why you would stay in one place in the UK for sustainability reasons," she said to a group of reporters last month. "As you all know, (this World Cup) will be very expensive. We have to think about that -- the belt is being tightened all the time." She then reminded us that the BBC has done this before, most notably for the last Women's Euros in Switzerland. The BBC's coverage of that tournament, which she fronted, won a BAFTA in April. "It's worked really, really well, and we've seen huge audiences enjoying that coverage," she added. "I think we're in a good hybrid situation."
12 June 2026
World Cup 2026: How to watch Canada vs. Bosnia and Toronto's FIFA Opening Ceremony -- Streaming, TV channels, start time, squads, and more
Today's the day as we welcome one of the most historic moments in Canadian sports history. On Friday, June 12, Canada will play its first-ever men's FIFA World Cup match on home soil. This team is good, this team is prepared, and this team could well win a World Cup match for the first time ever. Canada has lost each of its six previous World Cup encounters, three back in 1986 and then another three at the previous edition four years ago in Qatar. Bosnia and Herzegovina will be no pushovers, though, having grinded their way past both Wales and Italy to get here. They possess their own quality and have ambitions of advancing past the group stage for the first time in their history as well. Before all that will be an opening ceremony, 90 minutes before kick-off and featuring some of Canada's biggest and brightest stars. Here's how you can watch all the action unfold. Date: June 12, 2026. Ceremony start time: 1:30 p.m. EDT / 10:30 a.m. PDT Location: Toronto Stadium. TV Channels: TSN 1, 3, 4. CTV. Stream: TSN+ How to watch the FIFA World Cup Canadian Opening Ceremony? How to watch Canada vs. Bosnia and Herzegovina? Date: June 12, 2026. Kick-off: 3:00 p.m. EDT / 12:00 p.m. PDT Location: Toronto Stadium. TV Channels: TSN 1, 3, 4. CTV. Stream: TSN+ When and what time does Canada's World Cup begin? Each host nation has its own opening ceremony, and so Canada's iteration will begin at 1:30 p.m. EDT/10:30 a.m. PDT on Friday, June 12, 2026. Taking place 90 minutes before kick-off at Toronto Stadium, the opening ceremony will include Alessia Cara, Elyanna, Jessie Reyez, Michael Bublé, Nora Fatehi, Sanjoy, Vegedream and William Prince. TSN's coverage will begin at 11:00 a.m. EDT/8:00 a.m. PDT with a show titled "World Cup Today." CTV will begin airing coverage at 1:00 p.m. EDT/10:00 a.m. PDT. Specific pre-match coverage is set to begin at 2:30 p.m. EDT / 11:30 a.m. PDT. Alanis Morissette will perform the Canadian national anthem while Aleksandar Gajić will sing the national anthem of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Canadian actor and comedian Will Arnett, serving as an official FIFA World Cup Ambassador, will also be involved in the pre-match ceremony. The match will kick off at 3:00 p.m. EDT/12:00 p.m. PDT on Friday, June 12, 2026. What channel will have the opening ceremony and match? If you've subscribed to TSN through your cable package, such as through Bell or Rogers, you're covered. Just look for TSN 1, 3 or 4 per your channel guide. The same applies for CTV. How to stream the opening ceremony and Canada vs. Bosnia? You can stream the game via the TSN+ website on the pertinent days, with monthly plans starting at $8/month. If you've already paid for a cable subscription to TSN's TV channels, you can also sign into TSN+ using those login details. Digital services like Rogers Ignite TV and Bell Fibe can be used to access TSN and CTV. How can I watch the opening ceremony and Canada vs. Bosnia on my phone or mobile device? CTV, TSN, as well as digital watch services like Rogers Ignite TV and Bell Fibe, are available through apps that you can download for most devices, such as your phone. Who's playing for Canada? Canada enters this tournament with several injury concerns, beginning with their captain and best player Alphonso Davies. He won't start this match and is unlikely to feature as a substitute. Taking over the captain's armband will be Stephen Eustáquio. Star defender Moïse Bombito's status for the tournament is in greater doubt, and it's possible that he may even be replaced by Thursday afternoon. He suffered a fractured tibia in October 2025 and has yet to regain full fitness. Luc de Fougerolles started in his place against the Republic of Ireland on June 5 and is expected to continue in that role. Both Ali Ahmed and Jacob Shaffelburg are back in full training after hamstring trouble while Jayden Nelson has replaced Marcelo Flores in the squad, who suffered a torn ACL on May 30. Likely starting XI: Maxime Crepeau, Alistair Johnston, Luc de Fougerolles, Derek Cornelius, Richie Laryea, Tajon Buchanan, Stephen Eustáquio, Ismael Kone, Liam Millar, Cyle Larin, Jonathan David. Full 26-man squad: Goalkeepers (3): Maxime Crépeau, Owen Goodman, Dayne St. Clair. Full-backs (4): Alphonso Davies, Richie Laryea, Alistair Johnston, Niko Sigur. Central defenders (5): Moïse Bombito, Derek Cornelius, Luc de Fougerolles, Alfie Jones, Joel Waterman. Wingers (5): Ali Ahmed, Tajon Buchanan, Liam Millar, Jayden Nelson, Jacob Shaffelburg. Central midfielders (5): Mathieu Choinière. Stephen Eustáquio, Ismaël Koné, Jonathan Osorio, Nathan Saliba. Forwards (4): Jonathan David, Promise David, Cyle Larin, Tani Oluwaseyi. Who's playing for Bosnia and Herzegovina? The biggest news on the injury front for Bosnia and Herzegovina is that their legendary talisman Edin Džeko may not be fit to play against Canada due to a shoulder problem. The two-time Premier League winner with Manchester City has been limited to individual work in training. Haris Tabaković, who suffered a fractured metatarsal in mid-May, but was still included in the World Cup squad, has been undergoing physiotherapy and is limited to individual work as well. Defensive midfielder Ivan Šunjić, meanwhile, is back in full training after recovering from a muscle injury. Goalkeepers: Osman Hadzikic, Nikola Vasilj, Martin Zlomislic. Defenders: Nidal Celik, Amar Dedic, Dennis Hadzikadunic, Nikola Katic, Sead Kolasinac, Tarik Muharemovic, Nihad Mujakic, Stjepan Radeljic. Midfielders: Kerim Alajbegovic, Esmir Bajraktarevic, Ivan Basic, Dzenis Burnic, Armina Gigovic, Amir Hadziahmetovic, Ermin Mahmic, Amar Memic, Ivan Sunjic, Benjamin Tahirovic. Forwards: Samed Bazdar, Ermedin Demirovic, Edin Dzeko, Jovo Lukic, Haris Tabakovic.
12 June 2026
Man United Notebook - Left-back plan, Bayern want Rashford and goalkeeper sales
Manchester United are more likely to sign a left-back than a left-winger this summer after running the rule over options in both positions. Patrick Dorgu's emergence as a viable option on the wing is set to be extended into next season and the 21-year-old delivered another impactful display from an attacking area for Denmark last weekend, scoring a sensational goal against Ukraine from the wing. With Dorgu a serious option on the left and Matheus Cunha playing there for much of the second half of last season, the need to sign a left-winger has reduced in importance. United are still monitoring options in that area. They hold a longstanding interest in Morgan Rogers and like Iliman Ndiaye of Everton, but the focus will be on a full-back. If Dorgu is used as a winger next season, then it leaves Luke Shaw as the only left-back in the squad. Although Shaw started every Premier League game last season, it is doubtful he will be able to play twice a week next season, and he is out of contract in 12 months. That has made signing a successor a priority and Newcastle United's Lewis Hall is a player United are keen on. Newcastle don't need to sell after backing £69million for Anthony Gordon, which complicates matters, but Hall hasn't always been a guaranteed starter and was on the bench for 10 of the Magpies' Premier League games last season. United had scouted Eintracht Frankfurt left-back Nathaniel Brown, but the 22-year-old is understood to have agreed personal terms with Bayern Munich ahead of a move this summer. Myles Lews-Skelly was also of interest, but his situation has changed after his emergence in midfield for Arsenal at the end of the season. Rashford's regret Marcus Rashford was left blindsided by Barcelona's decision to spend big on Gordon, having felt he had done enough to earn a permanent deal at the Nou Camp. Although it is believed that the La Liga side could try and negotiate a cut-price fee or another loan, the chances of Rashford wearing the Barcelona shirt again appear slim. The Catalan club still have until Monday (June 15) to activate the option on his season-long loan and sign him for €30million (£26million), but that won't be happening. There has been no formal communication between Barcelona and United, however, and that means no developments with other interested parties until next week. Rashford performing well at the World Cup could spark a market for the 28-year-old, whose 28 goal contributions in 49 games for Barcelona were impressive. Premier League interest in the forward is expected, but the MEN understands that Bayern Munich are seriously considering making a move. Bayern wanted Gordon before he joined Barcelona and having seen Nicolas Jackson return to Chelsea after his loan spell ended, they need cover on the left and a back-up for Harry Kane. Rashford could fill both roles. The common thread in midfield United's decision to step away from the race to sign Elliot Anderson has shifted the search for midfield reinforcements elsewhere, but there is a common thread running through the targets currently at the top of the list that shouldn't be ignored. Anderson was the ideal target and he was 23 and had plenty of Premier League experience. Mateus Fernandes is now considered the most likely new arrival. The Portuguese is 21 and has two seasons in the Premier League under his belt. There is still interest in Carlos Baleba, who is 22 and has three seasons in the Premier League to his name, while United also like Alex Scott, 22, who has been in the top flight for three years with Bournemouth. These are crucial links for a lot of United's transfer business now. They are focusing on younger players with their best years still to come and also place a premium on Premier League-proven players. The success of Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo has only reinforced that view and it would be a big surprise if at least one of Fernandes, Baleba or Scott didn't end up at Old Trafford by the end of the transfer window. Three goalkeepers to leave It looks increasingly likely that at least three goalkeepers will be leaving Old Trafford this summer. Andre Onana is currently planning to return for pre-season in the second week of July, but has been told he has no future at the club. Altay Bayindir has spent the last three years as No. 2 but will leave during this transfer window in search of more regular game time. Clubs in Turkey are interested. Then there is Radek Vitek. The 22-year-old enjoyed an outstanding season in the Championship with Bristol City and consideration had been given to keeping him at Old Trafford next term as Senne Lammens' understudy. But Vitek is desperate to have another season of first-team football and is expected to leave again and could be sold, with his value high after his performances for the Robins. That means a new goalkeeper is needed and United have what has been described as a "long list" of options, which includes 33-year-old Sam Johnstone and 35-year-old Karl Darlow. Both of those would count as homegrown, while Johnstone is also club-trained, which would be beneficial for filling UEFA-allowed spots in the Champions League squad next season. Ederson's welcome Ederson was overlooked for the Brazil squad for the last 16 months of his Atalanta career, but within days of agreeing to join United he was back in the squad for the World Cup. His late call-up to replace Wesley is a blow for United in some ways. That deal will now only be completed after the World Cup and he won't be available for the start of pre-season. But it gives him a chance to get to know the club he is joining. Matheus Cunha has been a welcoming presence in North America and there is also the chance to pick the brains of Casemiro about United's midfield. Dispatch from Carrington United have been doing their best to keep the noise down when it comes to transfers this summer, but it's been well known that they really like Elliot Anderson for several months now. The problem was always likely to be Manchester City's interest and it seems the point has come where United admit defeat in that chase. The price has rocketed as well so there might not be too much disappointment there. Earlier this year, there was talk of Forest wanting £100million, with a possible compromise closer to £80million. The fact that they secured Premier League safety changed that and Anderson's performances in the second half of the campaign and his eye-catching displays for England have seen the price go up and up. Quote of the week "One of the goals that we've set out is to win the Premier League, the 21st league [title], before 2028. So, ideally, we do it next season and if not, then the following season." Technically, this is last week, but it came too late to make Notebook. Omar Berrada didn't shy away from the ambition for United to win the league in the next two years. I thought this line from his end-of-season club interview went under the radar, but it shows there is real belief that a title can be won pretty soon. What to look out for next week Don't expect white smoke to emerge from the Nou Camp on Monday. The day will pass with little action and it's safe to say Barcelona won't activate that option for Rashford before the deadline. Come Tuesday, the game changes for club and player, and they will need to be proactive. There might be little movement during the World Cup, but Tuesday is the day that plenty changes for United and Rashford.