Sophie Cunningham has seen her star power rise enormously since becoming teammates with WNBA phenom Caitlin Clark. Since joining the Fever, where she has embraced the role of Clark’s “enforcer,” Cunningham has launched a podcast, joined USA Network as an active player analyst, become a meme, and, over the weekend, even debuted as a UFC ring girl.

Cunningham has also shown a willingness to talk about controversial issues in the WNBA, even when comments get her into trouble. Atlthough Cunningahm has bristled from at fans linknig her to the MAGA movement or Donald Trump directly (some fans call her “MAGA Barbie”), her recent dodging of a question about the current administration using her viral finger-pointing meme has reignited talks about her political affiliations.

In fact, ESPN Page 2 writer Chuck Klosterman has predicted that Cunningham will be on a presidential ticket within the next 25 years.

“Sophie Cunningham … I’m going to say 2050, is going to be Vice President of the United States,” Klosterman said in an appearance on The Bill Simmons Podcast. “I don’t know what party she’ll be in, I don’t know anything about her political views. But she will be the vice presidential candidate, at least the candidate.”

@CKlosterman‘s bold prediction for 2050 pic.twitter.com/Ex7PCCy55V

— The Ringer (@ringer) July 13, 2026

“I don’t know what it is. It’s something about the fact that she wears those sleeves on the court, something about the way she triggers in-bound plays at the end of games, makes me think she will be someone’s ideal vice president. You know, she has a damn likable personality.”

In fairness, Klosterman’s prediction should be taken with a grain of salt consdiering how he quickly acknowledged that he knows little about her political leanings or ambitions.

Still, in a cultural where celebrities have become prime Presidential candidates, and with the White House have already been home to one female vice president, Cunningham could end up being a pretty savvy prediction, especially considering her willingness to get her hands dirty both on the court and when it comes to dealing with the media.

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Argentinian superstar Lionel Messi has turned back the clock and is arguably turning in the most impressive World Cup performance in his career during the 2026 FIFA World Cup in North America.

Entering Argentina’s semifinal matchup against England, Messi has scored eight goals and provided two assists. However, as great as Messi has been, a lot of the conversation around Argentina has surrounded what many have found to be preferential treatment during its games.

After losing 3-2 to Argentina 3-2 in the round of 16, Egypt coach Hossam Hassan did not hold back when discussing what he felt was a match where his country had to overcome not only the great Messi, but the FIFA referees as well.

“We haven’t seen respect or fair play,” he told media members. “A penalty was ruled out and a second (incident) that should have been checked for a penalty for us was not even checked by the VAR. A second goal was remarkably, for whatever reason, disallowed.

“There seems to have been pressure on the Argentinian side on the referee that has brought about this outcome. Life is unfair. The world is unfair. OK, but why isn’t there any fairness in sports? I’m not convinced by this outcome and by the way things unfolded in this match.”

Even New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani referenced Egypt being treated unfairly in an address to the city.

“VARgentina”

One controversial moment in the match occurred when Egypt had what would’ve been its second goal of the match overturned by a VAR review that left even Fox’s announcers stunned.

Many fans have felt that Argentina has received favorable rulings throughout the entirety of its World Cup run, leading them to dub the squad as “VARgentina.” Now, a delve into the numbers has revealed the truth behind Argentina’s relationship with VAR reviews.

A chart created by NetSI Sport and provided by Northeastern Global News shows “which teams during this year’s World Cup have seen the most favorable VAR outcomes (in blue) and which have seen the least (in red) using a baseline of per 100-fouls committed or won.”

Per the graph, which was provided on July 11th before Argentina’s quarterfinals win over Switzerland, which saw a Swiss player sent off after a VAR review, of all the teams that reached the quarterfinals, only Argentina didn’t have a single foul committed be reviewed by VAR, while also having the most fouls in its favor reviewed by a wide margin.

Still, Brennan Klein, director of the Northeastern NetSI Sport research group, is not going as far as to say that Argentina has received preferential treatment.

“Why are Argentina and Mexico topping this list?” he said. “They are topping this list because the referees missed fouls that the VAR thought should have been fouls. There’s a hop, step and a jump away from: ‘They’re biased against my team or for this team.’”

Still, these findings certainly won’t help quell any fan narratives that FIFA is favoring Argentina.

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Indiana Fever point guard Caitlin Clark has been named to the All-Star Game for the third time in as many seasons despite playing a career low in minutes. Unfortunately, a segment of the population seems set on perpetually discussing anything but her outstanding play on the court night after night, even as she deals with a back injury that has lingered throughout the season.

Last week, several Republican members of Congress penned a letter to WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert demanding that the WNBA take action to prevent what they deemed to be ” repeated acts of unnecessary physical hostility and violence” against Clark, and even mentioned that the acts “may be racially motivated.”

In a recent appearance on Fox News, conservative political commentator and former collegiate swimmer Riley Gaines commented on Clark’s treatment by the league and opposing players.

“Here’s what I’ll say about Caitlin Clark,” Gaines said. “It goes without saying that she is the golden goose of the WNBA. Do they hate her because she’s white? Maybe. Do they hate her because she’s straight? Maybe. I think it is rooted in jealousy.”

“I think she was the queen of the WNBA before she ever stepped foot on a WNBA court, and they hate her for it,” she added.

The Indiana Fever quickly attempted to distance the organization from any outside political agendas trying to be attached to its star player, but the damage seems to already have been done. Unfortunately for Gaines and the members of Congress behind the letter, their support has seemed to alienate more people against Clark.

“Caitlin Congress.”

Clark faced criticism for what many perceived to be her flopping in Sunday night’s game win against the Las Vegas Aces, and not only did she face some intense criticism, but some fans on social media slapped her with some unfortunate and undeserving nicknames.

“Confederate Clark back at it again,” one fan posted on X.

“Caitlin is getting bullied and needs more intervention from congress!!!! Karen’s tears after she crumpled to the ground after seeing the missed shot and heard the whistle got the refs to review for ‘hostile act’ after the review she still yelled at the refs. Pathetic,” another fan posted.

“Caitlin is an embarrassment to Women’s Basketball! First Calling Congress because they don’t let her get her way plus all the Flopping and showing out on the court like a Toddler! She is Weak and deserves Zero respect in the league!” someone else added.

“CaitlinCongress is a classic passive aggressive. If a player has status she’ll pretend they hurt her,” one account wrote.

“None of that is OK.”

What many of her harshest critics fail to realize, however, is that Clark has never voiced support for anyone’s political agenda, and has even come out against the hate that black women around the league have received online.

“The harassment, the hate. None of that is OK …” she said prior to Sunday’s game, via ESPN. “There should never be a question of character like I’ve always stood up here and said that, and that’s truly what I believe, that’s how I was raised. So, none of that is okay, and I don’t want anyone to experience that.”

The WNBA will be in a much better place when the conversations surrounding it are centered on basketball and made in good faith. Hopefully, that will begin to happen sooner rather than later, and more fans will begin to appreciate Clark’s exceptional ability on the court.

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The 2026 FIFA World Cup featured the largest field of teams yet, featuring 48 teams compared to the 32 teams previously involved in the tournament. However, it sounds like further expansion could be in the cards.

During a recent interview, FIFA President Gianni Infantino confirmed that after this World Cup, which is set to conclude next week, FIFA will look into the possibility of further expanding the field.

Possible Expansion?

During a recent interview with Swiss broadcaster Blue Sport, Infantino was asked about the possibility of expanding the field to 64 teams after the recent expansion from 32 teams to 48 teams. Infantino certainly did not rule it out.

“This is certainly an issue that will be looked at and discussed in the relevant committees after this World Cup,” Infantino said via ESPN. “When you organize a World Cup, it’s important that you organize it for the whole world. It’s not just Europe and South America, but the entire world, effectively. Every nation should be able to dream of taking part in the World Cup.

“We can see that the quality of the teams is extremely high, and it’s getting higher and higher everywhere in the world. If you don’t give smaller countries the chance to participate in the World Cup, they also lose the incentive to keep improving.”

Back in March 2025, South American confederation CONMEBOL proposed expanding the field to 64 teams for the 2030 tournament, which marks the World Cup’s centenary.

“We believe in a historic 2030 World Cup. We want to call for unity, creativity and believing big. Because when football is shared by everyone, the celebration is truly global,” CONMEBOL president Alejandro Domínguez said at the time.

What would it look like?

If the 64-team proposal were to be approved, the expanded tournament would double the number of matches played during the previous 32-team format that was used from 1998 to 2022.

A 64-team World Cup would feature 128 matches, whereas the 32-team format used from 1998 to 2022 included 64 matches. This year’s expanded tournament will feature 104 matches.

The biggest benefit to an expanded field would be a cleaner system for teams advancing to the knockout round. In this tournament, eight third-place teams advanced out of the group stage and made the knockout round, using various tiebreakers.. Under an expanded 64-team format, no third-place teams would advance.

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