Good to see England returning to what worked best.

Thomas Tuchel’s side attempted 35 crosses in open play against the DRC. Not since 1966 had they delivered as many in one match at a World Cup. Seven of their top-10 examples occurred under Alf Ramsey, with other instances in 1982 and 1998. It was a real throwback performance for cross volume.

Here’s the pod squad with some “snicko” reflections.

Three years after shocking the football world with a move to Major League Soccer, Messi’s status as a Miami everyman (at least as much as he can be) and his deity-like reputation for his country will collide on Friday night when Argentina faces Cape Verde at Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium. The match will be a homecoming for Messi, who arrived in the image-obsessed city in 2023 as just another megacelebrity and has since been welcomed wholeheartedly as something approaching a native son – undoubtedly the most at home he’s felt since his days in Barcelona.

I’d love to compare Macclesfield to the European champions.

vastariner

03 July 2026 9:35am

Spain looked ominous in beating Austria.

I think it helped that Austria showed less ambition than they did in Gijon 1982. Why bother even entering of the summit of ambition is abject surrender to the first decent side? Compare Macclesfield v the European champions.

See if you can beat my score of 14/15 here. It’s almost as if we have to keep up with sports news on the desk at the Guardian.

Georgia Stanway is back in the WSL, and has joined Arsenal.

Stanway left Bayern Munich at the end of the season and spent four years with the Frauen-Bundesliga side, winning eight trophies and featuring 128 times. She began her career with Blackburn before joining Manchester City in summer 2015, where she made 186 appearances and scored 67 goals in seven seasons, lifting one Women’s Super League title, three FA Cups and three League Cups.

This is what the World Cup can achieve, and is one argument for an expanded competition.

Ninety minutes of tension were followed by a night of ecstasy that lasted long past the 8am close of the festival as Cape Verdeans celebrated the nation’s 0-0 draw that saw them reach the knockouts of the World Cup. Now they face Argentina in Miami on Friday.

Riyad Mahrez has retired from international football following Algeria’s exit.

“There were good times and difficult times as well, of course. That’s part of a career,” he said, “But representing Algeria has been a dream of mine ever since I was young, to play for my country. It’s been an immense honor and a great source of pride. It is the new generation’s turn to play.”

For the first time in the history of the tournament four goals were disallowed in the same game, with Croatia seeing three separate efforts chalked off, while Ronaldo also had a goal overturned. The final incident came in the very last seconds when Josko Gvardiol thought he had equalised in the 103rd minute of the match, only to be called offside. A snick-o-meter had detected the slightest of contacts between the ball and a teammate’s head as it crossed the box.

That pundit was Ange Postecoglou, and now, Asia’s No 1 team need him to not just talk the talk but walk the nation to the top level of the global game. The federation in Tokyo should do all they can to get his signature on a lengthy contract as he is going to be in demand this summer.

Some fine 1994 memories from Republic of Ireland’s adventures in Orlando.

The first game of Friday sees the Socceroos take on Egypt.

Australia coach Tony Popovic said his team will be prepared whether Salah is on the pitch or not.

“We have prepared for Salah playing, we’ve seen when he’s not on the pitch the players in those positions where he may play,” he said. “So we’ve prepared for both scenarios and we’ll see tomorrow.”

The other co-hosts, the daddy hosts, are falling in love with soccer, and their national team.

The game had an average of 24.429 million viewers on Fox, making it the most-watched English-language soccer broadcast in US history, the broadcaster said. The Fox telecast peaked at 31.883 million. Telemundo, which holds the Spanish language rights to World Cup broadcasts in the US, reported 9.1 million viewers over the total game window.

A weekend of buildup for Mexico v England, and Nick Ames is in Mexico City.

Nobody needs an excuse to pump Sunday’s occasion up. With the final whistle nearing in England’s win over the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the local television commentator reeled off the names of England’s players one by one. In a manner redolent of the Norwegian broadcaster Bjørge Lillelien, whose “Can you hear me Maggie Thatcher?” oration in 1981 is etched into folklore, the Mexican equivalent welcomed Harry Kane and company to the bubbling cauldron that awaits.

Spain looked ominous in beating Austria.

The group stage is something you have to do but the World Cup starts here, Lamine Yamal had insisted, and down on the Pacific that was how it played out. It wasn’t just that Spain defeated Austria to reach the last 16 against Portugal or Croatia, their first victory at the knockout stage since they were champions in 2010; it was that on an enjoyable sunny afternoon they were Spain again. Two goals from Mikel Oyarzabal and another from Pedro Porro completed a 3-0 win that was as recognisably theirs as their coach had requested beforehand. “Almost perfect,” Luis de la Fuente called it afterwards.

The World Cup is a place to unearth stars, and the Swiss may just have one.

No wonder Newcastle United are working overtime to wrap up a deal for Johan Manzambi. The secret, if there was such a thing, is well and truly out when it comes to the 20-year-old Freiburg forward who destroyed the Algeria defence to tee up Breel Embolo for Switzerland’s opener in an ominously comfortable victory to reach the last 16.

What a game last night in Toronto. Farewell, Luka Modric. The Ronaldo show rolls on.

Ronaldo hung away from the melée until the penalty was confirmed, then began his march to the spot. He framed himself around the ball, he performed all the necessary rituals, he stepped up, sat Livaković down and converted. He ran to the corner as the ground exploded, performed his trademark celebration and the crowd ‘siuuuuued’ back to him.