Sickies & warnings | World Cup 2026 - are employers missing a morale open goal?

The 2026 World Cup is finally here, kicking off in style with Mexico vs South Africa at the Azteca Stadium on Thursday evening. But what does it mean to you?

For tournament Godfather and trophy eponym Jules Rimet, the competition represented an idyllic possibility of peace through football.

For this editor, it’s glorious memories of Cole, Tshabalala, and Rodríguez thumping home from 30 yards, endlessly recreated for years to come in the back garden.

For many, the World Cup has become a grim spectre of ugly geopolitics, most recently darkened by controversial visa issues affecting, among others, Somalian referee Omar Attan.