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The Guardian FootballBudimir rescues Croatia with winner against Panama on Modric’s landmark day
When it was all done, and Ante Budimir had rescued Croatia’s World Cup campaign with the lone goal in a tight match, 25 Croats donned black T-shirts over their match kits and warm-up tops. “Infinite Legacy,” read the T-shirts, printed with the number 200 and an image of Luka Modric. He was the 26th man, but he had quickly taken his T-shirt off after his teammates had flung him in the air a few times. Continue reading...
BBC SportHave World Cup changes made final group stage games unfair?
With eight teams already having nothing to play for, has the jeopardy in the group stage at the World Cup been diminished? And are concerns over the integrity of competition justified?
The Guardian FootballFootball Daily | The World Cup stage is set for a Golden Boot shootout for the ages
Sign up now! Sign up now! Sign up now? Sign up now! In 10 of the past 12 World Cups, six goals has been the standard to bag yourself the Golden Boot. Usually a goal per game will suffice. In fact, on two occasions (in 2006 and 2010) a mere five strikes has been enough. Yet a quick glance at the current 2026 Geopolitics World Cup Golden Boot standings after most teams have played two games sees Lionel Messi top of the tree with five goals already from his two outings, having broken Miroslav Klose’s all-time tournament scoring record in the process. The Argentinian’s latest two goals came in a 2-0 victory over Austria in which neither Argentina nor Messi did anything of note other than score – aside from the great man shanking an early penalty miles wide, which is becoming quite the common occurrence for Messi. Think how many World Cup goals he would have if he could beat a goalkeeper from 12 yards (answer: 21, three more than he has). Lurking just behind are the pretenders to Messi’s golden throne, Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappé, who between them are tearing up Group I with four goals apiece. Both the Norwegian and French frontmen have been donated at least one goal by careless Iraqi and Senegalese defenders so far, but have looked razor-sharp up top and will soon meet in a tasty decider to see who tops the group. Both, you suspect, will have designs on ensuring Messi does not hold the World Cup scoring record for long, with Mbappé already level with Klose, two behind the Argentinian. Haaland, in his debut World Cup, is already one goal behind legends like Raul, Romario and Roger Milla, who only managed five across their careers. The Fifa suits must be loving the fact all the big sexy names are firing on their global stage. It’s as if Big Gianni himself wrote the script, beaming in the knowledge that goals are a universally beloved currency, a useful tool in helping brush all the unpleasantness under the carpet. Even aside from the aforementioned trio, Harry Kane has bagged a double in his only game, Vinícius Júnior has two for the tournament so far and two of the host nations have superstar strikers (of sorts) in the shape of USA USA USA figurehead Folarin Balogun and Canadian ace Jonathan David. There is a significant striking name missing from this list, a longtime rival of Messi’s, but Football Daily is struggling to remember who that might be. Gah . Consider that this unique GWC will give top strikers an extra game in which to fill their scoring boots and maybe Just Fontaine’s record of 13 goals in a single World Cup, which has stood since 1958, might come under threat. It is possible, likely even, we will get a player in double figures for the first time since Gerd Müller hit 10 in Mexico 1970. What seems certain is this is a golden boot race for the ages, contested by the best players on the planet. For all the cynicism and moral fatigue surrounding this GWC, that is something most lovers of football can get on board with. More goals please, guys. ITV’s Sam Matterface on Egypt scoring against New Zealand: ‘They’ll be celebrating that goal all the way from Cairo to Giza!’ Coming soon (hopefully): England celebrate a goal all the way from London to Heathrow airport” – Keith Razey. May I also wade into English v Spanish GWC viewing debate (Football Daily letters passim). I’m Team Telemundo, owing to existing subscriptions and a well-founded antipathy towards Fox Corp. While I can’t understand a thing, I was delighted to see journeyman striker Roque Santa Cruz acting as a pundit the other night. It also got me intrigued to know equivalent figures in each language’s coverage: I’d love to know from our Spanish-speaking friends if there are Telemundo Roy Keanes, Mark Chapmans, Kelly Cates, Ian Wrights, Andy Townsends or (shudder) Robbie Savages out there. ¡Te deseo lo mejor! “ – Martin Clifford. As a Spurs fan I am keener than ever for the GWC to be over and the new season of the Premier League to commence. However, if you call up the table for the 2026-27 season, it is listed in alphabetical order and by this sorting method, Tottenham already sit bottom. I never thought that I would find a reason to regret West Ham being relegated” – Greg Wynn. I fear James Vortkamp-Tong’s missive ( yesterday’s Football Daily letters ) is a familiar spin on an email seen here many moons ago. Possibly about Watford. However, like Dad’s Army repeats, it is admittedly more amusing than newer material. Can’t beat the classics” – Andrew Taylor. Continue reading...
ESPNHaaland is on a collision course with Mbappé, and ...
Norway's win over Senegal has set up a mouth-watering, top-of-Group-I clash between Norway and France.
The Guardian FootballScottish fans’ friendly USA invasion exemplifies the joy of the World Cup | Philipp Lahm
Major tournaments bring people together and Scotland’s welcome presence adds to the case for a 48-team event I could watch videos of the Scots online for hours. Wearing kilts, they marched through Boston playing bagpipes. In the stadium, the Tartan Army roared their team to victory against Haiti , their first World Cup win in 36 years. Afterwards they went to a baseball game and, singing and wearing knee-length red socks, turned a Boston Red Sox home game into part of the World Cup – and one of its highlights, too. In the stadium they had the rules of this sport, which we Europeans find difficult to understand, explained to them. Continue reading...
BBC SportA Golden Boot race for the ages - but who will come out on top?
It is fast turning into a Golden Boot race for the ages as the world's best strikers star at the World Cup. But who will come out on top?
The Guardian FootballIrrepressible Messi breaks World Cup scoring record as Argentina beat Austria
It had to be Lionel Messi, it had to be on this day and perhaps it even needed to be in Dallas too. History was created in the way he knows best, a clinical left-footed flourish setting him out on his own as the World Cup’s highest goalscorer of all time. An occasion that already throbbed with an epic, cinematic quality had its moment for the ages and the genius who served it up will surely provide even more. A first golden boot would not be the worst present for an icon who turns 39 on Wednesday. Nobody should expect anything less because Messi has no idea how to stop. Four minutes into added time this match was dying, a competent but blunt Austria showing no sign of dampening the mood. This was already Messi’s day, goal number 17 coming late in the first half and rarely looking anything but the winner in an otherwise unremarkable contest. Well, make that 18. There has never been a finer player because there has never been a brighter footballing mind, one that has been thoroughly exercised across a career spanning more than two decades but simply refuses to dull. Continue reading...
ESPNWatching Spain's Yamal score his first World Cup g...
The modest Catalan district of Rocafonda is where Barcelona and Spain star Lamine Yamal grew up. And ESPN was there to see him score his first World Cup goal.
ESPNIraq's plan to stop Mbappé? Ask to play 3 keepers
Iraq coach Graham Arnold -- tasked with slowing down Kylian Mbappé and the 2022 World Cup finalists France on Monday -- had an idea that might have worked.
The Guardian FootballWho are ya? Behind the scenes of the official World Cup portrait photographs
Poses and backstage snaps showcase the players’ personalities and the mechanics of Fifa’s obligatory photoshoots Lionel Messi of Argentina stands rigidly in front of the camera. Marc Cucurella of Spain whips his hair and appears to boogie. Diego Moreira of Belgium covers his eyes with his forearm and reveals an eerie tattoo. Harry Kane leans awkwardly on to one knee. There are 1,248 football players and 48 managers at the World Cup, and none could escape the obligatory media duty that is the official portrait – whether or not they had a fun pose in mind. (Above) Diego Moreira of Belgium obscures his eyes for an eerie portrait. (Below) Marc Cucurella of Spain, Ronald Araújo of Uruguay and various other familiar faces. Continue reading...
BBC SportSalah's World Cup pain ends as he fires Egypt to historic win
Mohamed Salah fires Egypt to their first ever World Cup win - 92 years on from their tournament debut.
The Guardian FootballThe French aristocrat and the all-American idiot: Henry v Lalas is the World Cup’s most compelling battle
Fox’s broadcast at the tournament has become a story of two contrasting styles. And there is one clear winner We all know someone like Alexi Lalas. He’s the ranter whose rants never actually say anything, the life of the party at the party no one enjoys attending, the “big personality” who’s always misjudging the size of the room. He’s corporate America’s idea of a fun guy, the type of workplace “character” whose business trip hangover never stops him from being first at the hotel breakfast buffet, hair wet, Untuckit shirt untucked. He would absolutely dominate karaoke night at a conference on infrastructure finance. If only this were the limit of Alexi Lalas’s actual impact on the world, our culture would live in blessed ignorance of his existence. But in the real world Alexi Lalas is not a small-time menace working the floor at an infrastructure conference. In the real world Alexi Lalas is American soccer’s brightest media star, and he is everywhere this World Cup. When Lalas’s Roger Ramjet jaw thrust into frame on Fox at the start of this tournament, it’s fair to assume that many viewers felt a sense of dread similar to that expressed in the Grand Theft Auto meme : “Ah shit, here we go again.” Lalas’s ubiquitousness every World Cup is American TV’s answer to the Iran war: no one wants it, everyone hates it, and as it drags on, it inevitably becomes a face-saving exercise in damage limitation. But there was also a glimmer of hope: for this tournament Fox has enlisted a pair of elite European strikers, Thierry Henry and Zlatan Ibrahimović, to terrorize Lalas and shake proceedings up. Steered by Rebecca Lowe, this new-look panel has promised a slightly more sophisticated approach to covering the tournament than the yahooing belligerence that was Fox’s stock in trade at the last two World Cups. Continue reading...
BBC SportFastest World Cup to 100 goals in 68 years - are balls and breaks behind it?
The 2026 World Cup becomes the fastest edition of the tournament to hit 100 goals since 1958 - with the landmark reached in the 33rd game. But what is behind the scoring spree?
ESPNWorld Cup 2026 Power Rankings after one game: U.S....
All 48 teams have played one group game, so let's revisit our Power Rankings. What do our writers and experts think the field of favorites looks like after one week?
The Guardian FootballLamine Yamal a genius ‘like Dalí or Michelangelo’, says Spain’s De la Fuente
‘What we think is exceptional, they consider normal’ Coach says Lamine Yamal fit to start against Saudi Arabia Luis de la Fuente urged people not to compare Lamine Yamal to Lionel Messi, Diego Maradona or “anyone”, but did compare him to Salvador Dalí and Michelangelo – “geniuses” for whom the exceptional comes naturally. On the eve of their second World Cup game, against Saudi Arabia in Atlanta, it was put to the Spain coach that Lamine Yamal is confronted by a process similar to those faced by Lionel Messi and Diego Maradona but at the age of 18. His image is everywhere in the United States, a global figure already, and the buildup to the selección ’s participation at the tournament has been dominated by his availability after an injury he suffered in April – a teenager cast as their hope and salvation. Continue reading...
BBC SportWhy Kane is different at this World Cup - Shearer
Former England captain Alan Shearer explains what has changed for Harry Kane since his struggles at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
The Guardian FootballFootball Daily | Turkey need another rebrand after failing to take flight at World Cup
Sign up now! Sign up now! Sign up now? Sign up now! When Turkey changed to Türkiye in 2022, president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced it was because the new name was “the best representation and expression of the Turkish people’s culture, civilisation, and values.” The rebrand, though, also had a less lofty reason. “The association with the bird genuinely annoys Erdoğan and the people around him,” explained Selim Koru of the Foreign Policy Research Institute, while even state broadcaster TRT conceded that the loose-necked Christmas bird was at least a factor in the revamp. When did it become a thing for the refereeing team to have their names on the backs of their shirts? I’m amazed that Fifa isn’t looking to cash in by selling replicas” – Phil Taverner. Re: yesterday’s Football Daily . Please, up your game! Australian rules football and American football do not play with anything egg-shaped. It’s a prolate spheroid. How different the game would be (could it even exist?) if it were” – Kate Clements. Re: Trevor Wastell and US commentary ( yesterday’s Football Daily letters ). I am lucky to speak Spanish but, even if I did not, anyone who would watch football in the USA USA USA (or anywhere else) in any other language is off their rocker. Also, one needs only the barest anglicised Spanglish to get the gist. Luckily for United Statesians, Peacock TV are showing my home nation’s characteristic enthusiasm for multilingual audiences, with the basic subscription having thrown in streaming of every GWC partido en Español, much like they would reruns of ‘Betty la Fea’ or ‘María la del Barrio’. I almost hear NBC suits saying: ‘Who would be watching this? I can’t even understand it!’ Highly recommended” – Thad Brown. This is an extract from our daily football email … Football Daily. To get the full version, just visit this page and follow the instructions . Continue reading...
The Guardian FootballSpaceship stadiums and Ronaldo-mania: Guardian writers’ first impressions of the World Cup
Tournament has completed its first week and while the logistics have sometimes been challenging, the people and the football have been good It was quite a contrast touching down in sleepy Kansas City hours after having witnessed the bedlam on the streets of New York when the Knicks won the NBA Finals and Brazil drew with Morocco . But this is a World Cup full of contrasts, from Fifa’s never-ending quest to make a quick buck ($5 a pop for a bottle of water in the media centre) to the warmth shown by locals I’ve encountered in the Big Apple, Kansas City and Dallas. Then there’s the football. It’s been hard to keep up with the volume of matches, but the opening round served up some classics, with DR Congo’s draw against Portugal on the same day as England beat Croatia capping a thrilling first week of action. Let’s hope it continues. Ed Aarons It took nearly the full opening round, but a US scene that is usually focused on other sports has fully turned its eyes to socc– sorry, I mean football, forgot to code-switch. Fitting, actually, because at times this state of affairs has been awkward, like when the standard “loud men yelling” sports talk shows are forced to reckon with international football being the No 1 talking point and employing nobody that knows the scene. But these are growing pains. The sport is on at bars and delis, it is being discussed at school pickups and on the rides home. It’s beautiful and exactly what so many of us here in the States have been fighting for. Alexander Abnos Continue reading...