KSR Today: USMNT begins FIFA World Cup run

Do you smell that? It’s the sweet, sweet aroma of freedom on this beautiful Friday morning. The sun is shining and the bald eagles are chirping as the United States prepares to kick ass and take names in the 2026 FIFA World Cup, starting this evening in the group stage.

The Americas are hosting the biggest worldwide sporting event of the year, spread across the U.S., Mexico and Canada, with a pair of matches already in the books to kick things off on Thursday. The field has expanded to 48 teams to make it the biggest World Cup of all time, but all eyes are on the U.S. Men’s National Team for us locals, the stars and stripes set to begin their run to glory with a late-night battle vs. Paraguay. That starts at 9 p.m. ET, live on FOX with the good guys opening as a 0.5-goal favorite.

BetMGM lists the odds at +105 for the United States, +220 for a tie and +290 for Paraguay. France and Spain are tied as World Cup favorites at +450, followed by England and Portugal at +700 each, Brazil and Argentina at +900, Germany at +1400, Netherlands at +2000, Belgium and Norway at +3300, Colombia and Morocco at +4000 and USA, Mexico and Japan all tied at +5000.

Tied for 13th means great value and a better opportunity to prove to the world why this is the year to not only win their first knockout stage match since 2002, but the whole damn thing. Get out your red, white and blue and put that Country Boy on ice — it’s gonna be a fun handful of weeks.

World Cup Results and Weekend Schedule

Thursday, June 11

• Group A: Mexico def. South Africa 2-0 (Mexico City)
• Group A: South Korea def. Czechia 2-1 (Zapopan, Mexico)

Friday, June 12

• Group B: Canada vs. Bosnia and Herzegovina – 3 p.m. ET (Toronto)
• Group D: United States vs. Paraguay – 9 p.m. ET (Inglewood, CA)

Saturday, June 13

• Group B: Qatar vs. Switzerland (Santa Clara, CA), 3 p.m. ET
• Group C: Brazil vs. Morocco (East Rutherford, NJ), 6 p.m. ET
• Group C: Haiti vs. Scotland (Foxborough, MA), 9 p.m. ET
• Group D: Australia vs. Turkey (Vancouver, Canada), 12 a.m. ET (June 14)

Sunday, June 14

• Group E: Germany vs. Curacao (Houston, TX), 1 p.m. ET
  Group F: Netherlands vs. Japan (Arlington, TX), 4 p.m. ET
  Group E: Ivory Coast vs. Ecuador (Philadelphia, PA), 7 p.m. ET
  Group F: Sweden vs. Tunisia (Guadalupe, Mexico), 10 p.m. ET

Hurricanes one win away from Stanley Cup

The world’s focus is on soccer, but the United States has plenty going on to keep everyone busy. That includes the Stanley Cup Final, now led by the Carolina Hurricanes following a massive 4-2 win over the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday to take a 3-2 series lead.

Andrei Svechnikov scored a pair of goals to help earn the win while Jordan Staal and Sebastian Aho added one apiece, as well. Pavel Dorofeyev scored two for Vegas in the losing effort.

Carolina is one win away from the franchise’s first-ever Stanley Cup, with Game 6 scheduled for Sunday, June 14 at 8 p.m. ET, live on ABC.

Multiple Cats advance to finals at 2026 NCAA Championships

Track U is at it again with another dominant effort in Eugene, the Kentucky Wildcats adding a handful of national final qualifiers on day two of the 2026 NCAA Championships.

Emmi Scales advanced with a 12.72 run in the 100m hurdles semifinals while Janet Jepkemboi Amimo ran the 800m semifinal in 1:59.75 to finish fifth and advance to the finals. Freshman Vanice Kerubo Nyagisera earned a spot in the 400m hurdles final after a 55.41 semifinal finish, followed by a 4×400 ticket punched by A’Laji Bradley, Hannah Douglas, Kerubo Nyagisera and Cha’iel Johnson.

Friday will feature Julia Gunnell in the 100m hurdles, 200m, high jump and shot put for the heptathlon, plus Theo Mudzengerere in the men’s triple jump final and Collins Kiprop Kipngok in the men’s 3000m steeplechase.

Time to bring home some hardware (again), Cats.

Four UKFB players named to Preseason All-SEC teams

We’re still several months away from Will Stein’s coaching debut in Lexington, but the accolades are already rolling in for his Wildcats.

Phil Steele‘s annual college football preview dropped this week, and four different Kentucky standouts were named to Preseason All-SEC teams — including a pair of Second Team members.

That group includes three offensive pieces — two on the offensive line to protect QB1 Kenny Minchey — and one on the defensive side.

• C Coleton Price (Sr.) | Second Team
• TE Willie Rodriguez (Jr.) | Second Team
• DB Ty Bryant (Sr.) | Third Team
• OL Lance Heard (Sr.) | Third Team

Not too shabby.

Four Cats named to Phil Steele's 2026 Preseason All-SEC 🌟😼@C_Price72 @w_rodriguez10 @Ty_Bryant32 @lanceheard2 pic.twitter.com/UUKCKCQttd

— Kentucky Football (@UKFootball) June 11, 2026

That’s all for this morning, folks. Lock in for a long day ahead of the USMNT debut in the World Cup at 9 p.m. ET.

Go Cats.