World Cup 2026: Cole Palmer vs. Kevin De Bruyne, Bukayo Saka vs. Son Heung-min as The Cage gets underway

Association football is a sport played by 22 players - 11 on each team - on an outdoor field. But what if we replace turf with tarmac and seats with steel coverings for an intense 3v3 battle? This is where The Cage comes in - a concept developed by Nike for the 2002 World Cup, revived by Sports Mole for the 2026 World Cup.

Every day building up to the World Cup 2026 tournament in the USA, Mexico and Canada, we will pit three top talents another another trio of standout athletes in an 16-team competition, until only one remains.

Our readers will have the chance to vote for which team they think will come up trumps and would like to see progress to the next round, and with a plethora of star-studded names in our squad lists, we do not envy you having to eliminate one team each day.

Rather than group all of one nation's players together, we have spread them out to create a fully-fledged international competition, meaning that any of Bukayo Saka, Cole Palmer, Jude Bellingham or Harry Kane could end up squaring up to one another.

World Cup 2026: Can Cole Palmer prove Thomas Tuchel wrong in The Cage?

© Sports Mole / Johann Crochet

Saka, Bellingham and Kane will all be flying the English flag high in North America this summer, but Palmer will be consigned to fan duties, having been omitted from Thomas Tuchel's 26-man England World Cup squad to the bewilderment of many.

However, the Chelsea playmaker has nevertheless earned a spot in The Cage, joining forces with France's Desire Doue and Barcelona's Lamine Yamal in team Generation ¡Ole!, whose last-16 match comes against Kevin De Bruyne's Favela Royale - will Palmer best the man he was supposed to emulate at Manchester City?

Meanwhile, opposite ends of North London will cross paths when Saka's Diamants eclatants take on Son Heung-min's Seoul Storm, as we revive the Arsenal vs. Tottenham Hotspur battles of the early 2020s.

You will find daily duel articles on Sports Mole, where you can easily cast your vote for the winner via our X poll, right up to the final on June 10.

Who will conquer The Cage? The power is in your hands.