France put emergency services and military forces on wildfire alert, restricted public alcohol consumption and canceled some outdoor sports events to cope with a heat wave scorching parts of Europe.
About a third of France is under the heat red alert Sunday, when temperatures are expected to reach 104 degrees Fahrenheit in some areas. The forecast for Monday is even hotter.
National and local authorities across Europe have announced a raft of measures to minimize the risks posed by the heat. The Eiffel Tower and other Paris venues set up misting stations to cool crowds. Tourists in Rome sought relief in fountains. Spain’s Basque Country canceled some sports and cultural events.
France’s annual Music Day on Sunday is of particular concern. The nationwide summer solstice celebration involves thousands of concerts in village squares, rave venues and Paris clubs, bringing communities together and increasingly drawing British and other international visitors.
The French government has banned public drinking in “red alert” zones, and ordered organizers of music day events to limit alcohol use to “preserve emergency services and allow medics to concentrate on taking care of the most vulnerable.”
High temperatures threaten thousands
In a region where air-conditioning isn’t widespread, this kind of heat is deadly. More than 200,000 people across Europe died from heat-related causes over the last four years, and most of the fatalities were preventable, the World Health Organization’s Europe office said this month. More above-average temperatures are expected this summer, which can cause heat exhaustion and life-threatening heat stroke.
Human-caused climate change is tied to increasing extreme weather events and U.N. climate agency projections say the next five years should shatter more heat records. A rapid study found that human-caused climate change was responsible for killing about 1,500 people in an unusually early European heat wave last month.
Authorities are notably worried about people living in the baking streets, and elderly people in nursing homes or isolated in their homes. About 15,000 older people died in France in a 2003 heat wave that became a national reckoning.
The government announced reinforced wildfire readiness and ordered tightened surveillance of water supplies to France’s many nuclear reactors, and ordered 845 schools to close Monday.
Some French trains were canceled, and the national rail authority dispatched thousands of extra staff to deal with potential problems as the heat threatened rails and electrical cables.
French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu is convening a new government heat crisis meeting Sunday, and ordered government ministers to plan for better adapting France to heat waves in the future — including “via air conditioning, if necessary.”
Spain, Italy, Germany swelter
Spain kicked off the summer with large parts of the country on alert due to temperatures expected to hover around 104 degrees — even in the interior of Basque Country, a northern region that typically experiences cooler temperatures.
Authorities have suspended outdoor sports and cultural activities in the region. The heat wave is expected to scorch Spain at least through Wednesday.
In Italy, authorities expanded heat warnings — referred to locally as “red flags” — to eight cities Sunday in northern and central parts of the country. Temperatures there are ranging from the high 90s to the low 100s.
At one farm outside Milan, owners set up fans and sprinklers to keep cows cool. In Rome, tourists dunked their arms and occasionally their faces into the city’s famed fountain pools.
Thunderstorms also threatened several regions.
Britain’s weather office issued an “extreme heat” warning for much of southern England and parts of Wales on Monday and Tuesday, saying temperatures could exceed 95 degrees, just one degree under the record, set in 1976, for hottest June day on record.
In Germany, temperatures are soaring into mid-90s. A 23-year-old man drowned Saturday in a lake near Rheinstetten in the southwestern region of Baden-Württemberg, the German news agency dpa reported. Three other people are missing after swimming in the Rhine River, which has strong currents, a police spokeswoman told dpa.
French media reported that four children drowned Saturday.

Dybantsa is at the top of most experts’ lists entering Tuesday’s NBA Draft, and if his name is called first, he’ll join Patrick Ewing in 1985 and Jimmy Walker in 1967 as the only Massachusetts products to be selected No. 1 overall.
What makes Dybantsa different from Ewing and Walker, though, is that he’s the only one of the three who was actually born here. Ewing’s mother moved their family to Cambridge from Jamaica when he was 12. Walker spent most of his childhood in Roxbury after his family moved there from Amherst, Va., when he was an infant.
Dybantsa seemed to understand his position in the time and lineage of Massachusetts basketball even as he navigated a unique path that took him from Massachusetts to California to Utah and now to the NBA.
“The last guy that we had besides Terrence was, like, Patrick Ewing — and that was 40 years ago,” Dybantsa said when his Utah Prep team made a tour stop at Emmanuel College in 2024. “I just want to be a guy that people know where Brockton is on the map. Everybody talks about the New Yorks of the world, the Cali’s of the world. But Mass. got some hoopers.”
If anything, Dybantsa’s path to draft night shows how much the road has changed.
For more than half a century — from 1947, when Springfield native Bob Hubbard was drafted by the Providence Steamrollers to 1999 when Fall River’s Chris Herren was drafted by the Denver Nuggets — the pipeline from Massachusetts to the NBA essentially went through high schools.
Ewing was the type of player that shifted the NBA once he arrived — the league’s television deal with CBS nearly quadrupled in value in 1985 and NBC Sports — but he earned his reputation at Cambridge Rindge and Latin.
Walker was an anomaly in his era.
He was discovered by Celtics legends Sam Jones and Satch Sanders, and Jones guided him to play high school ball at Laurinburg Institute in North Carolina. He thrived there, then returned to New England and became an All-American at Providence, then the Detroit Pistons took him with the No. 1 overall pick in 1967.
But in the 2000s, the landscape shifted.
Massachusetts became a pipeline for NBA talent — but it wasn’t necessarily churning out players from the area.
Dan Gadzuric came from the Netherlands to Governor Dummer Academy in Byfield to a second-round pick in 2000. Jarrett Jack left his home in Maryland to play at Worcester Academy and became a first-round pick in 2005. Antoine Wright traveled from California to play at Lawrence Academy and became a first-round pick in 2005. Michael Beasley went from Maryland to Notre Dame Prep and was taken with the No. 2 overall pick in 2008.
The state became known more for developing NBA talent from around the country than producing homegrown players itself.
Since 2001, nearly 30 players were drafted with ties to Massachusetts, but only 11 — Bruce Brown, Jake Layman, Georges Niang, Pat Connaughton, Noah Vonleh, Shabazz Napier, Nerlens Noel, Michael Carter-Williams, Demetris Nichols, Will Blalock, Michael Bradley — were actually born or bred here.
Dybantsa’s time at national prep schools has become par for the course for prominent prospects. But his roots in Brockton matter the same way that his predecessor’s did.
“I think it’s, No. 1, a source of pride for Brockton and the greater Boston community to see one of their own gain stature like that,” said Leo Papile, who’s been tapped into the area’s basketball talent for nearly a half-century as founder and director of the Boston Amateur Basketball Club. “Whenever someone from your area distinguishes themselves nationally or internationally, I think everyone that saw him in the corner store or taught him or had him in youth sports, they all kind of share in that success. So it’s a great thing. It’s a day everybody raises the AJ flag and says hey, another one made it.”
From Walker to Ewing to Clarke, that baton for Massachusetts basketball is now in Dybantsa’s hands, and he’ll hold it as high as it’s been in more than four decades.
“It’s great for the region,” Papile said. “It’s inspirational to younger kids. It’s great for the families. When you’re a pro athlete now, you’re a worldwide brand ambassador. And part of your brand is where you’re from.”

You are certainly familiar with the name “Alex Freeman” now.
The U.S. men’s national team dominated Australia 2–0 in its second World Cup match on Friday, and the 21-year-old defender, making his World Cup debut this summer, put his cape on and played a major part in the crucial victory under the Seattle sun.
When Freeman wasn’t battling the Socceroos’ explosive counterattacks, he was slashing their midfield lines and igniting the U.S.’s attack. He made a Super Man-esque leap into the air, soaring above Australia’s 6’3″ goalkeeper to header the U.S.’s second goal in the 43rd minute, crushing Australia’s spirits and hammering home the victory.
The resulted, followed up by Paraguay’s surprise defeat of Türkiye, cemented the Stars and Stripes’ place atop Group D and punched their ticket to the knockout stages with a match to spare. Freeman left the pitch a hero with his first-ever World Cup goal.
Yet, before Friday, there was another “Freeman” whose name echoed throughout American households for nearly a decade: Antonio Freeman, Alex’s father. The former NFL wide receiver, now 54, starred for the Green Bay Packers, playing eight of his nine total seasons in Wisconsin, including back-to-back Super Bowl appearances (1996, 1997) and winning Super Bowl XXXI (1996). In 1998, the elder Freeman took the league by storm with 1,424 receiving yards and 14 touchdowns on 84 receptions, earning a Pro Bowl selection and First-Time All-Pro honors. It ultimately landed him in the Packers’ Hall of Fame.
Yet if Antonio dominated the game of “football,” why did Alex choose “fútbol” instead?
‘This Happiness on the Soccer Field’
Alex, born in 2004 as the youngest on the USMNT roster, started out playing both American football, soccer and even a bit of basketball growing up; however, it quickly became evident that soccer was his primary love.
“I had dreams of coaching him in football and basketball and showing him how to shoot a 3-pointer, make a pump fake and different things,” Antonio told ESPN. “But his joy was on that soccer field, and when he became a teenager, he just played more and more soccer.”
“It was soccer every day, all day. He was watching it on his iPad, he was kicking the balls around the house against the furniture, which you’re not supposed to do. He kicked everything. It didn’t matter what it looked like, he would just kick it. And he just grew into the sport.”
It didn’t hurt that Alex had quite a knack for soccer, too.
“It was almost mesmerizing going to his soccer games and just every other word from all of the kids, was ‘Freeman, Freeman, Freeman, Freeman, Freeman,’” Antonio added. “And he just had this smile and this happiness on the soccer field. Even though he was good at other sports, that one seemed to come the easiest.”
Antonio knew Alex was always going to choose soccer, yet the decision didn’t appear as crystal clear to his son.
“I had my doubts when I first chose soccer,” Alex told ESPN. “In my heart, I wanted to continue playing football, but I knew that if I wanted to be the best, I had to limit my area of concentration and I had to limit it all to soccer at that point.”
Alex joined Orlando City’s youth academy in 2020 as young teen, slowly working his way up the ranks of the MLS side before making his first team breakthrough in the 2025 season. His career skyrocketed from there, seeing him secure a spot in the 2025 MLS All-Star Game and debuting for the USMNT in June of that year.
He moved up to Spanish La Liga’s Villarreal this January for a transfer fee of $4 million with incentives up to nearly $7 million, becoming the third-biggest outgoing transfer in Orlando City’s history and the most expensive academy product that the club had ever sold.
Antonio had a limited knowledge of soccer, yet as a highly successful athlete, he still ingrained values in Alex that the young star relies on today.
“As a football player, I think they have so much competitiveness, and it just kind of rubbed off on me a lot,” Freeman told CNN Sports before the World Cup. “And for me, it was just to have that role model that I could always look up to for any questions, any motivation I needed and just to be able to have that guy to look up to. It meant so much.”
Antonio was overjoyed when he discovered that Freeman had made Mauricio Pochettino’s final World Cup roster, as the youngster certainly wasn’t a lock for this summer.
“You always want to see your kids do better and to reach the heights…that I reached, which is pretty high,” Antonio said. “And then you have your kid come along and not even go from a national superstar but go to a global star, that’s next level. We see coach on the video congratulate him on making the team. And man, I just went ecstatic, man. I just lost it, ran around the room, kind of crazy.”
Alex isn’t the only USMNT player with a famous athlete for a parent. Winger Timothy Weah’s father is soccer legend George Weah of Liberia, the only African to win the Ballon d’Or and FIFA World Player of the Year, winning both awards in 1995. Midfielder Giovanni Reyna’s parents both played for U.S. Soccer. Claudio Reyna was the captain of the USMNT and played in three World Cups (1998, 2002, 2006), while Danielle Egan Reyna was a star at the University of North Carolina before featuring six times for the USWNT in 1993. Midfielder Sebastian Berhalter’s father, Gregg Berhalter, is the former manager of the USMNT (2018–23, 2023–24) and played for the squad himself between 1994–2006.
READ THE LATEST USMNT NEWS, ANALYSIS AND INSIGHT FROM SI FC

The competitive Group F continues play on Saturday as Sweden and Netherlands get the 2026 World Cup action underway for the day. Netherlands are favored in the group, but Sweden posted a 5-1 victory against Tunisia in their opener, building a substantial goal differential that could come in handy for group tiebreakers. The Netherlands and Japan, meanwhile, battled to a 2-2 draw in their opener.
Kickoff for Netherlands vs. Sweden is at 1 p.m. ET in Houston. The latest Netherlands vs. Sweden odds from FanDuel Sportsbook list Netherlands at -140 (risk $140 to win $100) on the 90-minute money line, with Sweden at +370 and a draw at +290. The over/under for total goals is 2.5. Before locking in any Netherlands vs. Sweden picks, check out the Sweden vs. Netherlands predictions from SportsLine’s Martin Green.
After working in the sports betting industry for several years, Green became a professional sports writer and handicapper and has covered the game worldwide. Last year, Green was profitable in multiple areas on his soccer betting picks, including the Champions League (+211.25) and Bundesliga (+100). He’s also been red-hot in 2026, posting an 18-8 record over his last 26 UCL picks, returning nearly $1,000 in profit. Anyone wanting to follow his World Cup betting advice at sportsbooks and on betting apps could see big returns.
Now, Green has studied Netherlands vs. Sweden and just revealed his 2026 World Cup picks and betting predictions. You can head to SportsLine now to see his picks. Here are several World Cup odds and soccer betting lines for Sweden vs. Netherlands:
Top Netherlands vs. Sweden predictions
After examining Sweden vs. Netherlands from every angle, Green is leaning Over 2.5 total goals (-160). These teams combined for seven goals in their openers. Brighton midfielder Yasin Ayari scored twice against Tunisia, and goals from Alexander Isak, Viktor Gyökeres, and substitute Mattias Svanberg made up for the rest against Tunisia. Virgil van Dijk and Crysencio Summerville both found the net for Sweden against Japan.
Green notes that, on paper, Netherlands have some of the best defensemen in the world, but they were “surprisingly porous” against Japan. On the other end, “Sweden’s defense looks a little suspect,” Green notes. “The Swedes have conceded in their last seven games, so it’s hard to see them keeping the Dutch attack at bay for 90 minutes.” See Green’s best bets for Sweden vs. Netherlands at SportsLine, and you can bet the Over 2.5 goals at FanDuel here:
How to make Sweden vs. Netherlands picks
After studying Netherlands vs. Sweden from every angle, Green has found a critical x-factor and locked in two best bets. You can head to SportsLine to see what they are.

Our betting expert expects high-flying Germany to upset African giants Ivory Coast in arguably Group E’s most challenging fixture.
Best Predictions for Germany vs Ivory Coast
Ivory Coast Moneyline or tie @ -125
Over 2.5 total goals & BTTS – @ +110
Kai Havertz to score anytime @ +130
All odds are courtesy of US Sportsbooks, correct at the time of publishing and subject to change.
Score sports bonuses at sign up with the BetMGM promo code
Or look into our experts World Cup betting promos ranking for the major WC 2026 betting apps in the US
Learn how to bet on the World Cup with out in-depth guide for this summer’s tournament
Elephants to test Germany early
Germany stormed to the biggest win of the 2026 World Cup so far, but their toughest challenge is still to come. In a group featuring Ivory Coast and Ecuador, they need to be at their machine-like best to cruise through to the next round unbeaten.
Julian Nagelsmann’s men took a first-half lead against Curacao. However, they were left exposed at the back when Livano Comenencia historically equalised midway through the half.
Ivory Coast are a different beast altogether. The Elephants struggled to score early against Ecuador, managing a first-half xG of just 0.70 from six attempts. Still, with pacey talents like Yan Diomande and Amad Diallo in their ranks, they can land an early blow.
Both sides will go at each other from the outset. Defences will play a big role in a closely-fought opening half before the gates open after the interval. A first-half double chance in Ivory Coast’s favour makes sense.
Germany vs Ivory Coast Prediction 1: Ivory Coast Moneyline or tie @ -125
BMO Field braces for a treat
Germany’s thrashing of minnows Curacao marked the tournament’s biggest win so far. With a +6-goal difference after the first round, they are favourites to top the group and progress to the next round.
All of Germany’s previous six matches have gone over 2.5 total goals, with four seeing them net at least four times. At the same time, Ivory Coast have crossed the 2.5 mark in three of their last five games.
As far as the BTTS market is concerned, four of Germany’s last five games saw both sides score. In contrast, only two of Ivory Coast’s last five have followed that pattern. Both defences are likely to be breached in what is expected to be a high-intensity encounter.
BMO Field is in for an entertaining treat. Germany and Ivory Coast last met in a 2009 friendly that ended 2-2. This time, another high-scoring encounter is on the cards.
Germany vs Ivory Coast Prediction 2: Over 2.5 total goals & BTTS – @ +110
Havertz to continue impressive form
Kai Havertz has been in stunning form for Germany since the end of his club season with Arsenal. He earned man-of-the-match honours in Germany’s 2-1 friendly win over the USA with a goal and assist. This was followed by opening his World Cup account with a brace against Curacao.
His second against the minnows was particularly significant as it took Germany’s all-time World Cup tally to 239 goals, surpassing Brazil’s record. In doing so, he became the first German player to have a multi-goal game in consecutive World Cups since Miroslav Klose in 2006 and 2010.
Havertz has proven to be a big-game player, but he is yet to fully translate that for Germany on the biggest stage. Since his national team debut in 2018, Havertz has scored 24 goals in 59 games.
The 27-year-old can trouble the best of defences with his clever runs, blistering pace and clinical finishing. Back Havertz to cause Ivory Coast’s defence problems – a goal is never far away for the enigmatic forward.
Germany vs Ivory Coast Prediction 3: Kai Havertz to score anytime @ +130
Our analysis: Form of both teams
Score prediction: Germany 2-1 Ivory Coast
Goalscorers prediction: Germany: Kai Havertz, Jamal Musiala; Ivory Coast: Yan Diomande
Germany stormed to an emphatic 7-1 victory over World Cup debutants Curacao in their opener. The “Blitzkrieg” marked the largest victory margin at the tournament so far, ahead of Sweden’s thrashing of Tunisia.
Die Mannschaft now sit atop Group E with a healthy goal difference. Their devastating attacking edge means they are already the top scorers in the tournament. The Germans carry strong momentum into this second-round clash.
Ivory Coast had already raised expectations before kick-off, having beaten France 2-1. The friendly victory in Lille served notice of Emese Fae’s Elephants ahead of the World Cup.
Unlike Germany’s comfortable win, Ivory Coast had to dig deep for three points against Ecuador. Amad Diallo struck a dramatic late winner to secure his first World Cup goal. In the process, they ended Ecuador’s 19-match unbeaten streak.
This clash in Ontario is arguably Group E’s most anticipated. Another comfortable German victory seems far-fetched as they prepare for their first real challenge this tournament.
Although the Africans are resilient, expect Die Mannschaft to pull through with a significant victory. Their superior team structure and disciplined defending should ultimately make the difference.
Probable lineups for Germany vs Ivory Coast
Germany expected lineup: Neuer, Kimmich, Rudiger, Schlotterbeck, Raum, Pavlovic, Nmecha, Sane, Musiala, Wirtz, Havertz