The Guardian

Sí, se puede – yes, we can – was the chant that rang out from the sea of 55,000 yellow shirts as Ecuador’s final group match kicked off. Despite a flat start to their World Cup campaign, there was a genuine belief that an upset against a full-strength Germany was possible. They had no other choice: having been shut out by Eloy Room’s heroics for Curaçao , Sebastián Beccacece’s side had to win to …

Côte d’Ivoire surviving the World Cup group stage for the first time, in the year of our football gods 2026, is one of those tidbits that sounds like it should not be true, and yet here we are. An underwhelming 2-0 victory, courtesy of Nicolas Pépé’s double, put the Ivorians through to the last 32 as group runners-up. But it was an imprecise contest here in Philadelphia, the cradle of American de…

England midfielder eager to move to Etihad Stadium Forest eye Lucas Bergvall as potential replacement Manchester City have agreed a deal with Nottingham Forest to sign Elliot Anderson, with the package expected to be a British record fee worth £130m. Forest’s owner, Evangelos Marinakis, had insisted any deal for Anderson would have to eclipse the £125m Liverpool paid to sign Alexander Isak from N…

⚽️ Kick-off time: 6pm local/7pm EDT/12am BST/9am AEST ⚽️ Third-place table | Player guide | Bracketology | Mail us Bryan will be here shortly. In the meantime, here’s the briefing from Graham Ruthven’s daily guide on what to know about this Group F matchup: Continue reading...

⚽️ Kick-off time: 6pm local/7pm EDT/12am BST/9am AEST ⚽️ Third-place table | Player guide | Bracketology | Tables Rob will be here shortly. In the meantime, here’s the briefing from Graham Ruthven’s daily guide on what to know about this Group F matchup: Continue reading...

Mercury star made contact with closed fist during jostle Fever coach slammed refs for ‘disrespectful’ no-calls Sign up for the WNBA 30 weekly newsletter The WNBA has suspended Phoenix Mercury forward Alyssa Thomas after she hit Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark in the throat with her fist during a game. The play occurred in the second quarter of Wednesday night’s 111-109 road win by Phoenix. Clar…

Former boxing world champion to appear in court in July Cordina’s WBO bout against Abdullah Mason called off The former boxing world champion Joe Cordina has been charged with “assault and threatening a person with an offensive weapon” following an incident at a petrol station in a Cardiff suburb in February. The 34-year-old, a two-time IBF super-featherweight champion who was due to face Abdulla…

Club owe HMRC £1.9m in tax and handed £1.25m penalty Relates to investigation of transfers under Mike Ashley Newcastle United have been hit with a demand for £3.2m from HM Revenue and Customs over a “deliberate” failure to pay tax, according to official disclosures that relate to a near decade-long investigation into player transfers under the club’s former owner, Mike Ashley. The Tyneside club, …

Shoaib Bashir toiled away – a missed review off his bowling cost England badly – while fans sought escape from the heat A series that started just three weeks ago amid sweaters, stormclouds and a flood of wickets at Lord’s, is reaching boiling point at Trent Bridge. Or at least the people watching it are, the action on the opening day of the concluding Test having been much less fiery than the we…

A mess against Brazil, Steve Clarke’s side are in purgatory, hanging around as a faint hope of a place in the last 32 lives on The sad thing is that in a matter of weeks, this will all have been forgotten about. The intensely tribal nature of Scotland’s football domain means that a new domestic campaign will lead to scratching, swearing and howling that will dominate for months on end. Some may a…

Sign up now! Sign up now! Sign up now? Sign up now! Sorry, I’m a Lady, The Devil Sent You to Lorado and Sleepy-Time-Toy are reminders that no one remembers the bad times, the mind is selective and focuses on the positives. Baccara’s back catalogue is roughly one song long, the others are rightly forgotten, a figment of only a few people’s imaginations. Scotland needed a certain song and took it a…

3rd Test, day one: New Zealand 361-4 Latham and Conway share 317-run opening stand Ben Stokes cut a relieved figure when his press conference before this third Test against New Zealand belatedly veered away from his recent absence for disciplinary reasons and into his favourite memories of Trent Bridge. The Ashes win at this venue in 2015 was the first that came to mind, Stuart Broad’s eight for …

Two of the best forwards in the game face each other in the World Cup on Friday. Their most dramatic contrast is in international football • Golden Boot: World Cup 2026 top goalscorers • All-time World Cup goalscorers Norway v France is arguably the most talent-loaded fixture in the World Cup group stage. Transfermarkt’s combined estimated market value of the two squads is higher than for any of …

Totoa Auvaa will not be disciplined for incident on 8 June ECB understood to be bemused at lack of action The Saracens academy player who triggered the Ben Stokes captaincy crisis by throwing a punch at his England teammate Gus Atkinson has escaped without being disciplined. The Guardian understands that Totoa Auvaa, a 21-year-old Samoan back-row, will not face formal disciplinary action from Sar…

I savour the memory of playing for Brazil at the 2022 tournament – but it was a privilege that took effort For a player the World Cup day begins with everyone gathering in the restaurant for breakfast at the scheduled time. Buffet options are determined by the nutritionist, who specifies which food and in what quantities each player can consume. The morning also includes on-field training, usuall…