Por Esteban Campanela, CNN en Español

Las predicciones sobre quién será el próximo campeón del mundo fallan con frecuencia. La presión en este torneo es la más agobiante para cualquier jugador y son muy finos los detalles que pueden dejar afuera a un gigante. Sin embargo, también es cierto que solo ocho países en toda la historia han logrado coronarse campeones.

A menos de un mes del comienzo del torneo, son seis las selecciones que lideran la preferencia de los analistas y los rankings de las casas de apuestas: España, Francia, Inglaterra, Brasil, Argentina y Portugal.

Es una de las dos grandes favoritas. En las cuatro temporadas que nos separan de Qatar 2022, los españoles han ganado la UEFA Nations League 2022-2023, la Eurocopa 2024 y los Juegos Olímpicos de París 2024. En las eliminatorias europeas se clasificaron con comodidad, liderando invictos su grupo. En el ranking FIFA ocupan la segunda posición.

España es un equipo muy goleador y ofensivo. Ha sumado velocidad y verticalidad al estilo de posesión del balón que la llevó a coronarse campeón en 2010. El país ibérico juega más rápido y es más agresivo. Sus puntos fuertes son el desequilibrio por las bandas y una presión asfixiante tras perder la pelota. Sus puntos débiles: un equipo demasiado joven y un exceso de ataque que puede dejar desprotegido su propio arco.

Su figura es Lamine Yamal, un crack de 18 años que, a fuerza de récords, ya empieza a erigirse como el heredero de Lionel Messi. A él se suman Nico Williams, un extremo que brilla por su velocidad en la banda izquierda, y Pedri, el director de la orquesta ibérica. Tiene un plantel extenso y con variantes en todas las líneas.

El entrenador es Luis de la Fuente, quien logró explotar al máximo el talento individual de esta nueva generación dorada.

El actual subcampeón del mundo llega como el otro gran candidato. El equipo galo viene de disputar dos finales seguidas: ganó ante Croacia en Rusia 2018 y perdió ante Argentina en Qatar 2022. Si lograse una tercera final consecutiva, conseguiría algo que no sucede desde Corea-Japón 2002, cuando Brasil fue campeón tras ser subcampeón en 1998 y campeón en 1994. También lo había logrado Alemania, que estuvo presente en las finales de 1982, 1986 y 1990.

Francia tiene una de las delanteras más temibles del torneo. Hay tanto talento que a veces hasta se da el lujo de dejar en el banco a Dembelé, el actual Balón de Oro. Mbappé es indiscutible: ha sido la gran figura de la selección desde Rusia 2018, convirtió nada menos que tres goles en la final de Qatar 2022 y es el jugador franquicia del Real Madrid. Dembelé fue campeón de la Champions League con el PSG y está nuevamente en la final, y si bien algunas lesiones en la segunda mitad de 2025 lo dejaron fuera de las eliminatorias europeas, ya parece haber recuperado la forma. Olise es el extremo derecho del Bayern Munich y una de sus armas más peligrosas, aunque muchas veces juega de media punta, detrás de Mbappé.

Es un conjunto que no depende exclusivamente de la posesión del balón y muchas veces se siente cómodo de contragolpe, aprovechando la velocidad supersónica de sus delanteros. A esto se le suma un mediocampo con muchísima dinámica y una defensa de primer nivel.

Su plantel combina algo muy difícil de conseguir y que es clave en equipos que quieren ser una dinastía: experiencia y juventud. Haber disputado los 14 partidos en los últimos dos mundiales le da un plus a la hora de los playoffs. Sabe manejar la presión.

Su entrenador es Didier Deschamps, quien ya fue campeón como capitán en 1998, campeón como entrenador en 2018 y subcampeón en 2022. Ya anunció que este será su último torneo al frente del equipo.

El vigente campeón del mundo es otro de los candidatos. Buscará algo que solo lograron Italia (1934-1938) y Brasil (1958-1962): ser bicampeón de manera consecutiva.

En los años que separan el

By Patrick Svitek, CNN

(CNN) — President Donald Trump wants to take down Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy, who voted to convict Trump during his second impeachment and has been a critic of parts of his “Make America Healthy Again” agenda. Trump endorsed Rep. Julia Letlow to run against Cassidy and most other challengers dropped out.

There’s just one problem: John Fleming.

The Louisiana state treasurer, who is largely self-funding his campaign, has remained a stubborn force in the race, complicating Trump’s revenge plot and making it a near-certainty that Saturday’s primary will head to a June runoff. In doing so, Fleming is testing Trump’s political operation and the power the second-term president has over the Republican base.

“What people expect from an endorsement from President Trump is really a candidate like me, but what they got was a candidate very similar to Cassidy,” Fleming said in an interview.

Letlow’s campaign has spent the final weeks of the primary attacking him more than the incumbent, even as Cassidy pummels her on the airwaves. A super PAC supporting her has spent about 10 times more money targeting Fleming in its advertising compared to Cassidy, according to AdImpact.

“Louisiana Republicans know Julia Letlow is President Trump’s choice in this race, while Fleming is a desperate career politician trying to lie his way into another office,” said Katherine Thordahl, a spokeswoman for Letlow’s campaign, in a statement.

Cassidy appears delighted. After Fleming and Letlow participated in a debate last week that he skipped, Cassidy’s campaign issued a statement promoting the escalating “cage match” between his two challengers, complete with images of popcorn.

The Senate seat in deep-red Louisiana is expected to stay in Republican hands in November regardless of who the party nominates. But Saturday’s primary is a gauge of Trump’s sway over the GOP at a crucial time, coming three days before a higher-profile test of his revenge in Kentucky against Rep. Thomas Massie.

There is little independent polling in Louisiana’s primary and no clear front-runner despite the president’s involvement.

Cassidy has mostly ignored Fleming and trained his attacks on Letlow, saying he sees the race as hers to lose. A Cassidy adviser, Mark Harris, told reporters Monday that Fleming was “putting on a hard charge” in the final days of the primary but that the Cassidy campaign would remain focused on Letlow.

Claims of job offers and endorsements withdrawn

Fleming first won a House seat in 2008 and served until 2017, a tenure during which he helped start the far-right House Freedom Caucus. Fleming waged an unsuccessful Senate bid in 2016 and then went to work in the first Trump administration, ultimately working in the White House as assistant to the president for planning and implementation. He was elected Louisiana state treasurer in 2023.

Fleming announced in December 2024 that he would run against Cassidy, citing the senator’s vote to convict Trump over the January 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol.

Cassidy was one of seven Senate Republicans who voted to convict Trump, but one of only three left in the chamber, along with Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine. Among them, Cassidy represents the most pro-Trump state. The president carried Louisiana by 22 percentage points in 2024, his widest margin there through three campaigns.

Cassidy issued a brief statement on his vote at the time, saying: “Our Constitution and our country is more important than any one person. I v

By Karina Tsui, CNN

(CNN) — Richard Glossip, 63, was released on bond Thursday –– the latest dramatic turn in a nearly three-decade legal saga that had seen the former Oklahoma death row inmate scheduled for execution nine times before his conviction was overturned last year by the Supreme Court.

Over the years, the case evolved into one of the nation’s most closely watched death penalty battles –– marked by last-minute reprieves and questions over the integrity of his conviction in the alleged murder-for-hire plot of his boss.

The case centers on the 1997 killing of Oklahoma City motel owner, Barry Van Treese, and testimony against Glossip from Van Treese’s admitted killer, Justin Sneed, the only evidence linking Glossip to the murder.

Sneed’s testimony became the foundation of the prosecution’s case, and has, over the decades, spurred doubts about his conviction – Glossip has never wavered in maintaining his innocence.

Here’s a look at how the case unfolded over the past 29 years:

January 7, 1997 – Van Treese is killed the motel. Within days, Sneed, a hired handyman, and Glossip, the motel’s manager, are arrested.

Sneed, then 19, admitted to beating Van Treese to death with a baseball bat. He avoided the death penalty by pleading guilty and agreeing to testify that Glossip orchestrated the killing as part of a murder-for-hire plot.

1998 – Glossip is convicted of murder and sentenced to death after Sneed testified Glossip asked him to carry out the killing so he could run the motel himself.

2001 – The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals overturns Glossip’s conviction, ruling he received ineffective legal representation during his trial.

2004 – Glossip’s second trial ends with him again being convicted and sentenced to death.

June 2022 – An independent review commissioned by a bipartisan group of Oklahoma lawmakers raises sweeping concerns about the integrity of the investigation and prosecution that sent Glossip to death row.

The review “revealed the state’s intentional destruction of evidence” including financial records that could disprove prosecutors’ theory Glossip was motivated to kill Van Treese because he was embezzling money from the motel.

The review also found Sneed’s testimony was tainted by detectives’ tactics during questioning.

“Our conclusion is that no reasonable jury, hearing the complete record and the uncovered facts detailed in this report, would have convicted Richard Glossip of capital murder,” said attorney Stan Perry with the law firm Reed Smith, which conducted the investigation.

An amendment to the review also found letters written by Sneed in prison indicating he wanted to recant his testimony.

A second independent review commissioned by Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond found Glossip’s conviction should be vacated, and he should be granted a new trial.

April 6, 2023 – Drummond formally asks the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals to vacate Glossip’s conviction and grant a new trial, writing that he believes Glossip did not receive a fair trial.

“While the State has previously opposed relief for Glossip, it has changed its position based on a careful review of the new information that has come to li

CNN, KOCO, KFOR, OKLAHOMA DEPT. OF CORRECTIONS

By Karina Tsui, CNN

(CNN) — Richard Glossip, 63, was released on bond Thursday –– the latest dramatic turn in a nearly three-decade legal saga that had seen the former Oklahoma death row inmate scheduled for execution nine times before his conviction was overturned last year by the Supreme Court.

Over the years, the case evolved into one of the nation’s most closely watched death penalty battles –– marked by last-minute reprieves and questions over the integrity of his conviction in the alleged murder-for-hire plot of his boss.

The case centers on the 1997 killing of Oklahoma City motel owner, Barry Van Treese, and testimony against Glossip from Van Treese’s admitted killer, Justin Sneed, the only evidence linking Glossip to the murder.

Sneed’s testimony became the foundation of the prosecution’s case, and has, over the decades, spurred doubts about his conviction – Glossip has never wavered in maintaining his innocence.

Here’s a look at how the case unfolded over the past 29 years:

January 7, 1997 – Van Treese is killed the motel. Within days, Sneed, a hired handyman, and Glossip, the motel’s manager, are arrested.

Sneed, then 19, admitted to beating Van Treese to death with a baseball bat. He avoided the death penalty by pleading guilty and agreeing to testify that Glossip orchestrated the killing as part of a murder-for-hire plot.

1998 – Glossip is convicted of murder and sentenced to death after Sneed testified Glossip asked him to carry out the killing so he could run the motel himself.

2001 – The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals overturns Glossip’s conviction, ruling he received ineffective legal representation during his trial.

2004 – Glossip’s second trial ends with him again being convicted and sentenced to death.

June 2022 – An independent review commissioned by a bipartisan group of Oklahoma lawmakers raises sweeping concerns about the integrity of the investigation and prosecution that sent Glossip to death row.

The review “revealed the state’s intentional destruction of evidence” including financial records that could disprove prosecutors’ theory Glossip was motivated to kill Van Treese because he was embezzling money from the motel.

The review also found Sneed’s testimony was tainted by detectives’ tactics during questioning.

“Our conclusion is that no reasonable jury, hearing the complete record and the uncovered facts detailed in this report, would have convicted Richard Glossip of capital murder,” said attorney Stan Perry with the law firm Reed Smith, which conducted the investigation.

An amendment to the review also found letters written by Sneed in pris

By Jessie Yeung, Sylvie Zhuang, CNN

(CNN) — US President Donald Trump spent his final morning in Beijing in Zhongnanhai — the highly secretive, tightly guarded leadership compound of China’s ruling Communist Party.

Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping strolled through its pristine gardens, with Trump admiring the roses and Xi offering to send seeds before they held talks over tea and lunch.

The central seat of power in China, the venue is sometimes compared to the White House or the Kremlin. Only a handful of American leaders have ever stepped beyond the centuries-old red ochre walls that separate the compound from the rest of the capital.

Security is extremely tight, with access to the compound overseen by an elite military unit responsible for the personal safety of top party leaders. Images of the enclosure are tightly censored and obscured on digital mapping platforms.

Xi himself called attention to the location on Friday, saying he had chosen it as thanks for Trump hosting him at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida in 2017. That meeting was the first time the men had met, just a few months after Trump took office in his first term.

Zhongnanhai – which takes its name from two large lakes located within its grounds – “is the place where leaders of the (communist) party and the central government of China work and live, including myself,” Xi told Trump on Friday.”

“After the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, we (the communist party) have been here, including Chinese leaders: Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai, Deng Xiaoping, Jiang Zemin, Hu Jintao and so on,” said Xi.

Garden of emperors

Zhongnanhai was once an imperial garden, used by emperors to relax and enjoy leisure time when they weren’t living and working in Beijing’s Forbidden City.

The gardens’ centuries-long history was a point of pride on Friday, with Xi pointing out the age of various trees in the compound — including a large tree one he said was about 490 years old. “In other places within this compound, there are trees that have lived to be over 1,000 years old,” Xi told Trump.

At one point, Xi encouraged Trump to touch the trees, voicing his appreciation for the garden’s life and history.

Later in their stroll, Trump remarked to Xi: “Nice place. I like it. I could get used to this.”

After China’s imperial era ended in 1912, Zhongnanhai was repurposed as a presidential compound. Decades later, Chairman Mao Zedong established it as the center of political power after the communist victory in China’s civil war.

Back then, Mao deliberately didn’t choose the Forbidden City for his office – wanting to distance the new China from its past failed imperial system. And, working and living in the previous emperor’s palace would have been inconsistent with the Communist Party ideology of “serving the people.”

Since then, Zhongnanhai has undergone significant razing and renovation, including the addition of office buildings, swimming pools, and more. Today, the 1,500-acre site boasts repurposed pavilions and temples, and is synonymous with the party’s elite.

Later during Xi and Trump’s stroll, video from Chinese state media shows, the two took photos in front of a room that was once used for ballroom dancing and to display foreign and Chinese films when the party leadership first moved to the compound.

US presidents visit

Former US President Richard Nixon met Mao in Zhongnanhai during his groundbreaking trip in 1972 – the first time an American president had visited China.

Thirty years later, President George W. Bush also entered Zhongnanhai, alongside China’s then-President Jiang Zemin. The last US president to see Zhongnanhai was <