FIFA president Gianni Infantino is insistent Iran will play at the World Cup despite the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.

“We have only one plan for this team. Iran has qualified for the World Cup, and will play in the tournament,” Infantino told Iranian media their 5-0 friendly win over Costa Rica in Turkey on Tuesday. “Personally, I will do ​whatever I can to make sure everything is in order.”

Iranian officials have previously said it is up to FIFA and the U.S. to keep the team safe during the World Cup. Iran is scheduled to play their matches in Los Angeles and Seattle against Belgium, Egypt and New Zealand in Group G.

However, Iran would prefer to relocate its matches to Mexico, citing the United States’ bombing campaign alongside the Israeli military across the region since Feb 28.

President Donald Trump’s recently said Iran would be welcome at the World Cup, while stating: “I really don’t believe it is appropriate that they be there, for their own life and safety.”

“We want them to play; they are going to play in the World Cup. There are no Plans B or C or D – Plan A is the only plan,” Infantino said in an appearance on Univision.

“We live in a complex geopolitical situation… but our work is to unite. We know it is a complicated situation, but we will work to be sure that Iran plays in this World Cup in the best conditions.”

While moving match venues may be out of the question, Infantino seemingly suggested Iran could hold its World Cup training sessions outside of the U.S.

“From now until the World Cup, I will do whatever I can to support the Iran national team,” Infantino told Iranian media. “If you want to organize a training camp or ⁠if ​there is any matter related to activities outside the ​country, whatever it is, I will help. Whenever you want, please stay in contact. I am at your service and ​will help with anything you need.”

NBA superstar James Harden is paying homage to his late friend and rapper Nipsey Hussle through his upcoming sneaker launch.

The Cleveland Cavaliers pro-baller and Adidas are collaborating with the rapper’s brand, The Marathon Clothing, with the release of the royal blue Harden Volume 10 kicks, according to a press release from Adidas.

The colorway and “The Marathon Continues” flag on the heel tab are an ode to Hussle. The logo, in particular, reflects the hip hop icon’s “enduring message of long-term vision and perseverance,” Adidas said.

Other intentional details on the insole include the word “Crenshaw,” the Grammy award-winning artist’s hometown in Los Angeles.

The shoes are set to drop on Tuesday, April 12, on the Adidas website, the brand’s app, and at select retailers for $160.

‘He was a leader,’ Harden says

According to Adidas, Harden will wear the new shoes during the Cavaliers vs. the Los Angeles game on Tuesday, March 31, the day Hussle died. The “Racks in the Middle” emcee was 33 when he wasfatally shot in front of his own Marathon Clothing store in 2019.

Harden, who is also from Los Angeles, was a close friend of Hussle. The athlete opened up about the news of the musician and entrepreneur’s death in an interview a few days later.

“He was powerful. Not just to a certain dynamic or a certain city, but just to the world. He was a leader. He was so many things,” Harden told reporters at the time. “His life got taken away off nonsense, off BS. It’s been sad, man. Not only myself, but a lot of people around this world were affected by it. It doesn’t seem real.”

In 2018, both Hussle and Harden were captured in a run-in with TMZ.

“The (expletive) that broke the NBA record for the highest (expletive) contract ever, went to Audubon,” Hussle said with his arm wrapped around Harden, referring to the middle school they reportedly both attended.

Harden was on the Houston Rockets at the time when he inked the deal.

Taylor Ardrey is a news reporter for USA TODAY. You can reach her at tardrey@usatodayco.com.

SACRAMENTO, CA — UCLA women’s basketball is still dancing in the 2026 Women’s NCAA Tournament, literally.

After No. 1 UCLA defeated No. 3 Duke 70-58 in the Elite Eight on Sunday, seniors Lauren Betts, Charlisse Leger-Walker and Gabriela Jaquez gave an encore performance of their choreographed dance in front of family and friends. There’s a lot to celebrate — UCLA is headed back to the Final Four for the second consecutive season.

“We did (the viral dance) in the locker room today, too,” said Lauren Betts, who finished with a 23-point, 10 rebound double-double. “I didn’t realize they were going to play (Tate McRae’s “Just Keep Watching”) on the court in front of everybody … then Gabs of course comes running over.”

Like the song name, fans get to keep watching UCLA as their March Madness run continues. And although the dance break marked a moment of pure jubilation for the Bruins, Betts experienced the opposite side of the spectrum just hours prior. “I was just pretty mad. I just didn’t like how that first half happened,” she said.

“This is the Elite Eight and my senior season is on the line,” Betts said.

The matchup between UCLA and Duke at the Golden 1 Center on Sunday was a tale of two halves. The Blue Devils led by as many as 10 points in the first half and the Bruins entered the locker room trailing for only the second time all season. UCLA completely flipped the script in the third quarter and went on to outscore Duke 39-19 in the second half to complete the comeback victory and keep their season alive.

But the Bruins didn’t need head coach Cori Close to muster up a motivational halftime speech to rally the troops. UCLA — made up of eight seniors, including all five of their starters — had already “taken care of things” and discussed adjustments long before Close stepped into the locker room. Experience was on their side.

“We could have gone into that locker room and just kept our head down and gotten mad at each other and been pissed off, but we want to win,” Betts, the Sacramento Regional 2’s most outstanding player, said. “I spoke to all the girls and held people accountable and I think I just came out with the mentality I’m just not going to lose. And so whether that’s me scoring or blocking shots or just getting extra rebounds, I was willing to do whatever the team needed.”

Senior forward Angela Dugalic, who was named to the Sacramento Regional 2 All-Tournament Team, said the team’s defensive effort was the first topic of conversation.

“We try to anchor ourselves on defense and we knew that wasn’t a great depiction of how we want to play defense, so I think that we just needed to adjust,” said Dugalic, who finished with 15 points, six rebounds and four assists off the bench. “I even told the guards I need you guys to get through the screen so we can properly help you guys and get back to our player. And then they had some things to say to us as well.”

Close has leaned on her team’s veteran leadership all season and trusts their instincts to get back to the fundamentals, although she joked she’d much rather have her players “listen to me before we went out and follow the game plan from the beginning.” Close said her main role at halftime was to bring a sense of calmness.

“I was going into the locker room talking to myself going, they’ve got this, be solid, stay really steady for them,” Close recalled. “When you have a mature group and when your culture is pretty intact in terms of the values, it’s better for me to be quick to listen and slow to speak so usually when I speak, I will have better things to say.”

UCLA will face the winner of No. 1 Texas vs. No. 2 Michigan at the Final Four in Phoenix on April 3.

Reach USA TODAY National Women’s Sports Reporter Cydney Henderson at chenderson@gannett.com and follow her on X at@CydHenderson.

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We have our Final Four.

After four rounds, 64 teams have been sent home and four remain in the hunt for a national championship. Connecticut, Arizona, Michigan and Illinois are en route to Indianapolis, two wins away from winning it all.

Some of the representatives aren’t much of a surprise, as the top-seeded Wildcats and Wolverines have looked like a tier above the rest of the sport, and anything less than a Final Four appearance would have been a disappointment. The Huskies stunned its away back to a familiar place, and Illinois isn’t really a shocker and are far from an underdog after a very successful season, proving worthy of its spot.

The results of the weekend not only impacted the championship race, but the sport as a whole. Here are the winners and losers of the Elite Eight:

Winners

UConn’s comeback

A return to the Final Four didn’t seem possible when Connecticut was down 19 points late in the first half against Duke, but did the Huskies respond.

UConn clawed back in the second half, slowly chipping away at the lead before a 7-0 run put it in striking distance with under four minutes left. The Blue Devils couldn’t stop the momentum and Connecticut pulled out a shocking victory, punctuated by Braylon Mullins’ 3-pointer at the final second. UConn outscored Duke 44-28 in the final 20 minutes for its third trip to the Final Four in four seasons.

It was one of the largest comebacks in NCAA Tournament history, and UConn made Duke the first No. 1 seed to lose a game after being up by at least 15 points at halftime in an ending for the ages.

Big Ten

The Big Ten rolls onto the biggest stage with the conference getting two teams into the Final Four with Michigan and Illinois. It’s the first time the conference has accomplished the feat since 2015 and fourth time since 1999.

The tournament has been a Big Ten showcase after seven of its nine teams won their first round game. It put a record four teams in the Elite Eight, and was guaranteed to get at least one Final Four team with the Illinois-Iowa winner, and could’ve had up to three, but two is still a very successful result.

It’s been the winner of every round so far. Now all that’s left is finishing it on top with a 50% shot at a national championship, the first since 2000. It could be sealed with an all-Big Ten title game, very much possible.

Breaking droughts

The 2026 Final Four is more than two decades in the making for Arizona and Illinois, getting back to the final stage after falling short so many times.

Arizona is in the Final Four for the first time since 2001, a relief on the shoulders of the Wildcats after losing all of its past five Elite Eight appearances. They did it in emphatic fashion with a major second half comeback over Purdue to cruise toward a stress-free finish against the Boilermakers. Illinois was able to put away the surprise run against Iowa to reach the semifinals for the first time since 2005, the last time it was close to winning its first national title.

Two successful programs redeemed years of frustrations, and not only have they finally broken through, but they are viable national championship contenders, with Arizona on the verge of its second title and Illinois on the cusp of its biggest accomplishment yet.

Andrej Stojakovic 

Watch out dad, son can definitely hoop, too. The son of Peja, Andrej Stojakovic came up clutch for Illinois, a catalyst for his team surviving and advancing.

Iowa jumped out to a quick double-digit lead, but Stojakovic came in and helped his team recover quickly and eventually win. He made some clutch shots at the end and most importantly, defended Iowa star Bennett Stirtz down the stretch to prevent any late heroics. Even though Keaton Wagler was the star with 25 points, Stojakovic had 17 points and his plus/minus of +19 was the best on the team, proving how vital he was to his team’s success.

The Elite Eight isn’t the only time Stojakovic has come up big in the tournament, but Illinois may have been cooked if he wasn’t the sparkplug he was against the Hawkeyes. His presence keeps his team’s title hopes alive and well.

Losers

Duke chokes

It’s another stunning March loss for Duke. The top overall seed looked destined for the Final Four after jumping to a 19-point lead against UConn in the first half.

Then came the second half.

The Blue Devils couldn’t stop UConn from rallying at the end, and had the game in its hands in the final seconds, but a shocking turnover turned into a game-winning 3-pointer by the Huskies. UConn outscored Duke 15-5 in the final five minutes. Duke now is the first No. 1 seed in NCAA Tournament history to lose after leading by at least 15 points at halftime, as they were 134-0 in such instances. The 19-point blown lead is tied for the sixth largest in the tournament.

The shocking loss keeps Duke away from winning its first national championship in the Jon Scheyer era, with the last title in 2015. Its the longest the Blue Devils have gone without a championship this century.

SEC

March doesn’t mean more in the SEC as the conference finishes with a dud to follow its historic past season.

It was going to be hard to follow up two teams in the Final Four en route to a national champion, but the SEC didn’t get close to replicating some of that success. It only got one team in the Elite Eight in Tennessee, and it got blown out by Michigan. The SEC will not be represented in the semifinals for the first time since 2023.

To add insult to injury, the conference did not do well against its fellow Power league in the Big Ten. The SEC went 0-5 vs. Big Ten teams in the tournament, which ended up getting two teams to the Final Four. After an amazing showing in 2025, this one has been a forgettable month in the Southeast.

Lower seeds

Make way for the heavyweights. The 2026 Final Four will feature two No. 1 seeds, a No. 2 and a No. 3 seed, another season of no surprise runs to the semifinals.

While it’s no surprise when the favorites at the start of the tournament ended up making it to the final weekend, it’s exactly what happened last season when we had an all-No. 1 group. This marks back-to-back years where the Final Four doesn’t feature a team seeded No. 4 or lower, which hasn’t happened since a three-year streak from 2007-09.

This year’s tournament had upsets and some magical runs, but none of them reached the final stage. Are even really solid teams going to have trouble winning a region, and are true Cinderellas dead?

Tennessee

Another Elite Eight, another exit for Rocky Top. The Volunteers are left searching again for their first Final Four after getting stopped at the doorstep.

Tennessee’s optimism was quickly wiped out early against Michigan, leading to a 33-point rout in one of the largest blowouts in Elite Eight history. While the Vols have nothing to be ashamed about given it was a good run as a No. 6 seed, it’s the third straight season the Vols were eliminated in the regional final.

Rick Barnes has maintained winning in Knoxville, but after coming up short so often, will Tennessee ever get over the hump? 

Five days to play three games across a seemingly endless sea of streamers and networks isn’t exactly the way baseball was meant to be staged.

But you made it. And Major League Baseball’s lovable slog should get more recognizable after this seemingly eternal opening weekend.

And while the sample produced was still remarkably small, there were still a few cogent data points, many of them apparently giving signal rather than noise.

With that, USA TODAY Sports takes a look at the winners and losers of opening weekend, with another week’s worth of oversized flags and home openers upon us already:

Winners

The youth brigade

And to think No. 1 prospect Konnor Griffin’s ticket to the minor leagues might have dimmed the start of the season for prospect heads.

Nope, the kids showed out beyond anyone’s wildest dreams right from the first pitches on Thursday – such as the one Kevin McGonigle smoked for a double seconds into his major league career, part of a four-hit debut for the Detroit Tigers.

Kevvy Mac (someone has to come up with a nickname, right?) added another hit and two more RBIs in his second game, starting at both third base and shortstop. An incredibly valuable piece already for the pennant-chasing Tigers.

And while he might make the most impact on the pennant race and, maybe, the playoffs, he was arguably not the most spectacular performer at their beautillion ball.

The dynamic JJ Wetherholt homered in his debut and notched a two-run walk-off hit in his second game and got another knock in his third as the rebuilding Cardinals took a series from Tampa Bay. The Mets’ Carson Benge homered on the first pitch he saw of his MLB debut.

And while Chase DeLauter technically got his feet wet with a wild card series cameo in 2025, he scorched four homers and broke up a no-hitter in his first four games for Cleveland. Same with Owen Caissie, who enjoyed a cortado-length stay with the Cubs last summer, got traded to the Marlins and hit a walk-off two-run homer to sweep the Rockies in his Miami debut.  

Konnor’s gonna have to play catch-up.

A Yankees-Blue Jays pennant race repeat

The death of the tiebreaker game can take some shine off a great divisional race. So it was last year when the Blue Jays and Yankees each won 94 games and Toronto won the division based on head-to-head record.

With the Blue Jays significantly altered yet also nursing a World Series hangover and the Yankees in apparent danger of run-it-back syndrome, it was unclear how the AL East beasts might break from the gate in 2026.

Turns out they missed nary a beat.

Both clubs registered convincing sweeps against decent but unproven opponents, as the Blue Jays got leadoff homers and walk-off hits and 21 combined punchouts from Kevin Gausman and Dylan Cease to sweep the A’s.

The Yankees, meanwhile, were in run-prevention mode in San Francisco, where the Giants are typically cooperative in such matters. Oh, Aaron Judge pounded a couple more home runs and Cam Schlittler looks very much like the playoff beast he was last year. Yeah – they’ll be fine ‘til Carlos Rodón and Gerrit Cole step back on the scene.

The Pirates, trying to win

Sometimes, fans and media alike can get a little too caught up in off-season transactions. Yet for Pittsburgh Pirates fans, screaming at management to “Do Anything” winter after winter almost always fell on deaf ears.

Finally, the Pirates did something this winter. And lo and behold, the product appears healthier!

Offseason trade acquisition Brandon Lowe pounded a pair of home runs in their opening series against a very good Mets team. Free agent signee Ryan O’Hearn – no, not a Kyle Schwarber splash but a very good acquisition – had three hits and drove in the winning run in the 10^th inning as they salvaged the final game of three.

Pittsburgh took New York to extra innings in Game 2, too, with Oneil Cruz’s sun-splashed outfield debacle the only element making them non-competitive all weekend. Not to say they can stay with the Brewers and Cubs all summer.

But trying really is a lot more fun.  

Japanese sluggers

They were the highest-profile hitters coming from foreign lands this winter, yet Kazuma Okamoto and Munetaka Murakami’s combined value of their contracts didn’t even reach $100 million. Contact concerns, and the worry that power in Japan would transfer to the big leagues.

Well, guess who’s trailing only DeLauter in major league home runs?

Murakami went deep thrice in Milwaukee, the bright spot in a Chicago White Sox sweep at the hands of the Brewers. Meanwhile, Okamoto had four hits in 12 at-bats, homered himself and posted a .429 OBP in his first three games for the Toronto Blue Jays.

Not a total endorsement just yet of the $60 million Toronto committed to Okamoto or the $34 million the White Sox are paying Murakami. Yet it’s a nice bit of relief for a pair of teams who rolled the dice and enjoyed positive first looks.

Losers

Rookie managers

Hey, not all of them. Beltways bros Craig Albernaz of Baltimore and Blake Butera of Washington each won their first two games, the Nationals startling the Cubs at windy Wrigley Field.

Yet it was two surprise hires – relative greenhorns – who had a rough go of it.

You’ve surely heard about Tony Vitello making the jump from collegiate ball to the majors. It’s a big deal and at the same time potentially not the big deal folks have made of it, so long as Tony V wins the usual 81 games near China Basin and doesn’t look too weird doing it.

Well, about that…

The Giants scored just one run in three games against the mighty Yankees, a series that featured a fiery pregame speech and then perhaps a little too much panic after their second shutout loss.

“We’re all major league players,” pitcher Robbie Ray said when asked whether Vitello got them too wound up. “We can handle the ups and downs.”

Stay tuned.

Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Angels’ latest see-if-this-sticks move was tossing Kurt Suzuki in the dugout after no on-field coaching experience. And giving him a one-year contract, perhaps the most cynical maneuver for an aimless franchise keeping one eye on a potential lockout.

Unlike Vitello, Suzuki’s weekend went south as a direct result of strategic button-pushing.

The Angels blew a six-run lead March 28 and a 6-4 lead a day later, his handling of starters Reid Detmers and Jack Kochanowicz and then the bullpen certainly questionable.

The Angels did come out of Houston with a split of four games. Yet this will still be a trial by fire for a guy who simply does not yet have the dugout reps.

NL West teams north and south of Vin Scully Way

They’re a combined 1-11.

The Arizona Diamondbacks suffered three particularly soul-crushing losses to the Los Angeles Dodgers, who wore their gold-lined championship togs all weekend and simply kept hitting balls over the fence, the last off Will Smith’s bat to cap the sweep.

The Giants were flattened. San Diego could not hang with the Tigers. And yes, the Rockies are winless, and it will only get more difficult for a 119-loss team that couldn’t ring in a new year with even one victory in Miami.

CB Bucknor

No, ABS was not meant to humiliate. It just works out that way sometimes.

Last baseball season, torpedo bats (remember those?) stole the show on opening weekend. They were all anyone could talk about.

But time – and technology – marches on. So what do we have dominating the discourse after the first series of games in 2026? ABS challenges, of course!

If the idea is to get the important balls and strikes calls correct, we’re off to a good start. Except for Twins manager Derek Shelton, who was tossed from a game on Sunday, March 29, for arguing an overturned Ball 4.

That incident sparked a memorable call from Orioles TV announcer Kevin Brown, who exclaimed: “He’s arguing with the robots! You can’t defeat the robots!!”

Meanwhile, fantasy baseball managers are waging their own battles with technology as the season gets rolling.

Are my projections on target? Is this guy’s hot start a fact or fluke? Why didn’t the computer give my top waiver pickup?

In the search for just a fraction of the clarity ABS provides, it’s time to recognize how easy it is to overreact to the small samples of the early season.

Our annual Tuffy Awards shine a spotlight on the lesser-known players off to hot starts who will raise fantasy managers’ expectations, and then predictably return to a near-replacement level of production.

The inspiration for the awards is unheralded Chicago Cubs outfielder Karl “Tuffy” Rhodes, who hit three home runs off Dwight Gooden on opening day in 1994. Fantasy teams who grabbed Rhodes off the waiver wire saw him hit .234 with five home runs from that point forward.

So with a mix of caution and skepticism, we begin our quest to uncover this year’s Tuffy.

They might be legit

Not every unexpectedly fast start is necessarily a fluke. There are always a few early-season waiver wire pickups who remain productive all year. Here are a few worth taking seriously.

OF Chase DeLauter, Cleveland Guardians. The No. 16 overall pick in 2022 out of James Madison made his MLB debut during last year’s playoffs. Then in his first official at-bat with the Guardians, he took the Mariners’ Logan Gilbert deep – and seemingly never stopped slugging. After one series, DeLauter led the majors with four home runs.

The 24-year-old has always been a highly regarded prospect, but persistent foot injuries have kept him from playing more than 57 games in any of his three pro seasons. Through it all, he’s consistently posted excellent numbers. It’s time DeLauter takes a big step forward.

3B Munetaka Murakami, Chicago White Sox. There was plenty of skepticism this offseason that Murakami’s outrageous power numbers in Japan would translate to the majors, where he’d see many more power arms. The former Triple Crown winner and Japan Central League MVP seems to have adjusted pretty well though, with three solo homers in his first three games. There are still concerns about his contact rate and propensity to strike out, but he did have as many walks as strikeouts (four) in his opening series.

SP Jose Soriano, Los Angeles Angels. We all should know better than to get too excited about Angels pitchers, but Soriano thrived in his first opening day start. He averaged 99.1 mph on his fastball – up 1.2 mph from last year’s average – in tossing six scoreless innings against the Astros. He also allowed just two hits and struck out seven.

Near-Tuffys

SP Emerson Hancock, Seattle Mariners. In the final game of opening week, Hancock stopped the Guardians (including DeLauter) cold. Sure, the chilly temperatures may have helped, but he struck out nine and allowed just one walk in six no-hit innings before departing. This performance came out of nowhere after Hancock posted ERAs near 5.00 while bouncing between Seattle and the minors the past two seasons. The former first-round pick should make a few more starts before Bryce Miller is healthy, but it’s hard to see him doing this again.

SP Randy Vasquez, San Diego Padres. In his first two seasons with the Padres, Vasquez averaged fewer than six strikeouts per nine innings with swinging-strike rates below 8.5%. In his first start of 2026, he fanned eight Tigers in six frames with a 14.3% swinging-strike rate. Like Hancock, Vasquez did gain more than a tick on his fastball from last season, but let’s see if it sticks.

SP Eric Lauer, Toronto Blue Jays. After fellow starters Kevin Gausman and Dylan Cease combined for 11 ⅓ scoreless innings against the Athletics, Lauer followed with four more of his own before allowing a two-run homer in the fifth. What was most eye-opening though: nine strikeouts in 5 ⅓ innings (part of a major league record 50 strikeouts for Toronto pitchers in the season’s first three games).

Jumping on the Jays bandwagon is easy at this point, but Lauer’s time in the rotation will only last until Trey Yesavage returns from a shoulder strain in a couple weeks.

2B David Hamilton, Milwaukee Brewers. One glance at the half-week stolen base leaders reveals Hamilton ahead of everyone with three. (On pace to top 70!) But Hamilton had just four at-bats and eight plate appearances in the Brewers’ opening series while platooning with Luis Rengifo at third base. If you need speed only, he swiped a total of 55 over the past two seasons in part-time duty with the Red Sox. But he won’t give you anything else.

3B Ben Williamson, Tampa Bay Rays. Also getting off to a hot start with his new team, Williamson went 5-for-9 and scored four runs in his first three games. Known primarily for his glove, he’s part of a platoon at third and will only see part-time at-bats until Gavin Lux returns from the IL Williamson has just one home run in 286 career at-bats through Sunday.

And the 2026 Tuffy Award goes to …

OF Joey Wiemer, Washington Nationals. It’s hard to be any better than Wiemer was in going 6-for-6 with a couple of walks and two home runs to start the season. The 27-year-old journeyman is playing for his fourth major league team in four seasons. On a rebuilding Nationals squad, it’s no surprise he went undrafted in just about every fantasy league after hitting .150 this spring.

Wiemer’s roster rate will skyrocket this week after he homered on opening day and followed it up with three-run blast on Sunday. But those heroics came against a pair of left-handed Cubs starters. He isn’t going to take away playing time from a true young talent like Daylen Lile in right field or a defensive whiz like Jacob Young in center.  

Wiemer is a nice story, but one we’ve seen many times before at this time of year.