Sport in 2026: Premier League, FIFA World Cup, Lando Norris defends F1 title, Luke Littler, Super Bowl, Solheim Cup and more

2026 promises to be another thrilling year in the world of sport, with plenty of drama expected and World Cups in football and cricket. From title races in the Premier League, Formula 1, darts and NFL, here's a taste of what's to come in the year ahead...

Mikel Arteta has led Arsenal to three consecutive runner-up finishes in the Premier League but now faces the challenge of turning a strong start to this year's campaign into a first title since 2003-04.

Summer signings included Viktor Gyokeres, Eberechi Eze, Noni Madueke and Martin Zubimendi have added depth to an already strong squad, while Declan Rice continues to play an integral role since joining the club in 2023.

Defending champions Liverpool have been a shadow of last season's title-winning side, although Manchester City have started to show signs of consistency seen in previous runs to the top spot.

If Arteta's Arsenal can stay above City, they will be firm favourites for Premier League glory.

Thomas Tuchel has been tasked with leading England to their first World Cup victory since their 1966 success, having seen his side breeze through qualification with a 100 per cent record and without conceding a goal.

England have reached the quarter-finals or better in each of their last four major tournaments, including runner-up finishes in the last two European Championship, leaving them again among the favourites to lift the Jules Rimet Trophy.

An expanded 48-team tournament will provide an extra round to negotiate, but the strength in depth at Tuchel's disposal and the past experience most of his core squad has in major tournaments can serve as two big advantages.

Luke Littler completing his goal of winning every PDC ranked TV tournament during his career is a realistic possibility in 2026, with 'The Nuke' closing in on ticking off every potential accolade there is to win off his darting CV.

Littler is one of only five players to have lifted the World Darts Championship, World Matchplay and Premier League in his career, while the teenage sensation won the UK Open, World Grand Prix and Players Championship Finals titles during an extraordinary 2025.

He now just needs to win the World Masters in January and European Championship in the autumn to have won every PDC TV major, which is remarkable when you consider he doesn't even turn 19 until January 21.

Losses to Luke Humphries in the Premier League final, Michael van Gerwen in the World Series of Darts Finals and Gian van Veen in the World Youth Championship semi-final over the past 12 months will fuel Littler, who keeps looking to create more darting history.

The start of any Formula 1 season is something to savour, but when it's time to go, go, go in 2026 - we have a new team joining us in Cadillac and a British champion defending his crown in Lando Norris.

Not just that, but there's a whole raft of regulation changes that means things could look very different to the last few years and it could be very exciting to see who embraces the change best. Can Max Verstappen climb back to the summit of the sport? Or can Oscar Piastri get the better of his team-mate this time?

So much British interest too! Adrian Newey is in charge at Aston Martin, there's another Brit on the grid in Arvid Lindblad, Lewis Hamilton will attempt to resurrect his career at Ferrari after failing to finish on the podium last season and George Russell will believe that he can potentially challenge if Mercedes can get their package right.

As the great Murray Walker used to say, anything can happen in Formula 1 - and it usually does!

England headed to Australia with their best hopes of an away Ashes win in a generation, yet they lost the series in 11 days of cricket amid a sea of rash strokes, some wayward bowling and a streamlined preparation that was panned by pundits.

The T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka across February and March gives the side a chance to bounce back, albeit in a different format, and you sense if it goes wrong, it could be curtains for coach Brendon McCullum and managing director Rob Key with pressure already on them after the Ashes defeat.

England's fall from grace in white-ball cricket has been well-documented - they held both World Cup titles simultaneously after their T20 triumph in 2022 before fading.

But that drop-off has largely come in ODIs, with the team making the T20 World Cup semi-finals in 2024 and slamming 300 in a bonkers game at home to South Africa during the 2025 summer.

With Harry Brook, Jos Buttler and Phil Salt among the hard hitters, plus the skills of seamer Jofra Archer and spinner Adil Rashid with the ball, England should prove a force to be reckoned with.

Rory McIlroy became the first player since Tiger Woods to complete the career Grand Slam by winning The Masters last April, but Scottie Scheffler can join golf's most exclusive club by winning the US Open this summer.

Scheffler just needs to win at Shinnecock Hills - where the final round takes place on his 30th birthday - to have won all four majors and complete golfing greatness, having already outshone McIlroy to dominate the top of the men's game in recent seasons.

McIlroy himself is just one major away from matching Sir Nick Faldo's record of six major wins and one Race to Dubai from equalling Colin Montgomerie's tally of Order of Merit titles on the DP World Tour. He remains the man most likely to challenge Scheffler's stint as world No 1.

England have not won the Women's T20 World Cup since the inaugural edition in 2009 - but that was also the last time they hosted the event so perhaps history will repeat itself?

Charlotte Edwards was captain when England lifted the trophy at Lord's 17 years ago and is now head coach, with the team displaying signs of improvement since she took over from Jon Lewis following a 16-0 Ashes whitewash and back-to-back disappointing T20 World Cup exits.

The 50-over World Cup in the autumn of 2025 saw a group-stage win over eventual champions India as England triumphed under pressure, a trait that often eluded them pre-Edwards.

A semi-final thumping by South Africa showed there is still work to do and they will need to be at their best to topple an ever-improving India, benchmark side Australia and others this summer.

After 10 consecutive postseason appearances, nine straight AFC West division titles, seven straight AFC Championship Game appearances and a trip to five of the last six Super Bowls, the Kansas City Chiefs will not feature in the NFL playoffs on the road to Super Bowl LX. Andy Reid's dynasty team have won three titles since 2019 but miss out after a disappointing 2025 campaign. The door is wide open in the AFC.

It would beckon as a golden opportunity for Josh Allen's nearly-men Buffalo Bills to end their agonising wait to reach a Super Bowl after seeing their familiar foes eliminated. But they aren't alone, with Bo Nix's Denver Broncos, Drake Maye's New England Patriots and Trevor Lawrence's Jacksonville Jaguars all springing into surprise contention at the top of the seedings.

Elsewhere in the NFC, the defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles may have punched their ticket back to the playoffs but have flattered to deceive behind one of the worst offenses in football 11 months since dominating the Chiefs in New Orleans. The NFC West boasts three Championship-calibre teams in Sam Darnold's Seattle Seahawks, Brock Purdy's San Francisco 49ers and Matthew Stafford's Los Angeles Rams, while Caleb Williams and Ben Johnson have ignited a fresh chapter for the Chicago Bears as one of the most dangerous teams in football.

There is a Lombardi Trophy up for grabs.

Since the big four era ended, men's tennis had been devoid of an extremely dominant rivalry. But it was not long before Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz stepped up to the challenge.

In 2025, just one other player, Alexander Zverev, made it to a Grand Slam final due to this pair dominating the season.

Winning two Slams apiece in 2025 will have left both players desperate to gain the edge over the other in a rivalry that has reignited men's tennis, with both eyeing a calendar Grand Slam.

Starting with the Australian Open in January, world No 1 Alcaraz will look to start his year on a strong note after being knocked out in the quarter-finals in Melbourne by Novak Djokovic in 2025.

Sinner, meanwhile, will be aiming to become just the second man to win the Australian Open three years running, joining Djokovic, who has achieved a trio of triumphs twice.

If 2025 saw England flip the narrative under Steve Borthwick with victory over the All Blacks and an 11‑game winning streak, then 2026 will be the year in which those foundations are tested to see whether they are sound.

The first measure of England's progress comes in the Six Nations, where home fixtures against Wales and Ireland, along with trips to Scotland and Italy in their first four matches, leave one obvious objective: setting up a round‑five Grand Slam decider against defending champions France.

There would be no shame in losing to France, but England must arrive at that game with the prospect of securing a first Grand Slam in a decade still alive. Achieve that, and it would extend their winning run to 16 games - just two shy of the record 18 set under Borthwick's predecessor Eddie Jones between October 2015 and March 2017.

The inaugural Nations Championship offers an additional measure of progress, beginning with rugby's acid test: South Africa, in South Africa. The Springboks remain the sport's dominant force, but with the 2027 Rugby World Cup a year away, England have an opportunity to lay down a marker - though that is easier said than done.