2026 World Cup updates: England v Argentina, Spain v France in semifinals

The eight teams playing World Cup matches on Thursday are taking part in an International Day for Countering Hate Speech commemoration, with a pre-match exchange of pennants denouncing such language.

Captains involved in the Czechia-South Africa, Mexico-South Korea, Switzerland-Bosnia-Herzegovina and Canada-Qatar matches will have pennants reading "We Play Together. We Stand Against Hate" with the wording in English on one side and the teams' native language on the other.

FIFA says it has deleted more than 30 million abusive posts and comments since its social media protection service was created before the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

FIFA says it deleted nearly 400,000 negative or abusive posts in the first few days of this World Cup - more than it did in the entirety of the 2022 event.

Other stadium activations involving that message are planned during Thursday's matches.

The 2026 FIFA World Cup is now being immortalized with its own set of commemorative coins.

Workers at the U.S. Mint in Philadelphia are inspecting the coins before their official release.

Authorized by Congress, each coin is crafted to be rich in symbolic history and cultural significance, according to U.S. Mint.

The Mint says the limited edition half-dollar, silver dollar, and $5 gold coins will only be available this year.

Designs feature a soccer player making a kick, as well as the official World Cup emblem and trophy.

The Mint says the limited-edition half-dollar, silver dollar, and $5 gold coins will only be available this year.

Sales from the coins will go toward supporting youth soccer programs across the country.

You can preorder the limited-edition coins on the Mint website.

Fans came into Houston Stadium expecting heavy traffic and rain.

Several fans told ABC13 everything went smoothly, and they left with a great experience. They not only got to see one of the best in the world, Cristiano Ronaldo, but they also witnessed history.

According to FIFA, Wednesday's match marked the Democratic Republic of Congo's first World Cup goal.

According to FIFA, Wednesday's match marked the Democratic Republic of Congo's first World Cup goal.

Many of the fans say they're from out of town and arrived as early as Tuesday to avoid traffic congestion. They also booked nearby hotels so they could walk or use ride-share services to get to the stadium.

The rain was a concern on Wednesday morning during a major downpour. Luckily, it cleared about an hour before kickoff.

Fans say, rain or shine, they were determined to be here.

"It's very important. We need to come and encourage our players, our team, our countries. We need to lift up our flag," Nenette Tshish, visiting from Dallas, said.

The U.S. Customs and Border Protection is reminding people of the dangers of counterfeit items after the department said it seized more than $6M in fake World Cup merch.

In total, the CBP said it seized about 12,000 Adidas soccer jerseys, 4,500 Adidas FIFA soccer balls, nearly 4,400 pairs of athletic shoes, 69 FIFA packages with more than 2,200 fake Apple watches and earbuds with the FIFA trademark logo, and an array of toys and perfumes.

Authorities said most shipments originated from China and were going to locations within and outside the U.S.