The Guardian

The United States are out of the World Cup as Belgium eliminated the co-hosts in the last 16 at Seattle Stadium on Monday night. The US were looking to reach the World Cup quarter-finals for the first time since 2002 but they looked nervy and unsettled from the start of the match, and quickly fell behind when Charles De Ketelaere poked home in the ninth minute. Continue reading...

Last 16 tie will be the first international meeting between two modern legends who may yet go on making history As Mohamed Salah savoured the feeling of Egypt’s historic victory over Australia , the narrative had already moved on. The former Liverpool forward could not contain his delight after his scuffed penalty helped to seal a redemptive shootout triumph in Dallas for the Pharaohs on Friday. …

Having battled back from injury to make the World Cup, the matchwinner’s goal was a deserved payoff for unsung sacrifices And then, suddenly, there was Mikel Merino circling the corner flag again, another marvellous moment to emulate his father Ángel Miguel and embrace his son Marco. To hold those who got him here and the whole of Spain, who would have hugged him back if they had the chance. Ther…

A decidedly unremarkable Brazilian team had looked tentative at this tournament. A sixth World Cup title looks a long way off Brazil were 1-0 down . At first, a few yellow jerseys wandered up the aisles and out to the concourse, writing off the small fortunes they had invested in being here, never mind the chances of their nation lifting a sixth World Cup. Then it was a steady stream of Brazil fa…

Fritz eases past 10th seed in straight-sets victory De Minaur in ‘gut-wrenching’ defeat to Cobolli It is 26 years since an American man last won Wimbledon, when Pete ­Sampras picked up the last of his seven titles. Taylor Fritz has aspirations to break that drought and on the evidence of his performance on Court No 1 he has a fighting chance. A semi-finalist here two years ago, Fritz did a passab…

Nat Sciver-Brunt and Sophie Molineux led their teams expertly, and Australia v India at Lord’s felt like a final It’s easy to understand why Beth Mooney was chosen as player of the tournament after her magnificent innings in the final . Also in the running must surely be Danni Wyatt-Hodge, whose hundred on the opening night at Edgbaston set the tone for a confident campaign by England (at least u…

It ended with a goal from a tall, slightly ungainly figure driving through the centre-forward position – but perhaps not the one that the narrative demanded. In injury time, Mikel Merino ran on to Ferran Torres’s through-ball and, with an impressive calm after a scrappy game that had largely lacked it, rolled the winner past Diogo Costa. He celebrated, as he had at the Euros two years ago, with a…

Tuchel critical of ‘unreliable’ officiating against Mexico FA could launch appeal against Quansah’s red card Thomas Tuchel called the ­standard of refereeing at the World Cup unreliable and erratic as he insisted ­England are capable of going all the way following their dramatic 3-2 victory against Mexico. Tuchel fumed after his side held on with 10 men at the Azteca stadium on Sunday night, sayi…

Despite ‘a setback that will hurt for eternity’, co-hosts exit with heads held high after bringing pride, passion and soul usic pulsated from some of the bars on Monday morning on Calle Genova, a narrow thoroughfare in Mexico City’s heart that rarely lives in silence. The clock was yet to strike 11am, but, spilling out on to the street, a healthy crowd of patrons were picking up where they had le…

Celeste Amarilla called striker a ‘colonised Cameroonian’ French Football Federation to file criminal charges The France striker Kylian Mbappé has hit back at a Paraguayan senator, describing her ⁠as a “despicable woman” after she launched a racist attack on him. Mbappé’s ⁠penalty proved ​the difference in an ill-tempered match as France beat Paraguay 1-0 in Philadelphia on Saturday to advance ⁠t…

Cusack’s former manager gave evidence on Monday Morgan says player ‘omitted information’ to her family’ Continue reading...

In today’s newsletter: a tree that has provided for the game over hundreds of years is now protecting it for the future In those dog days of late June, when it was too hot to do anything but count down the hours until the sun went down, sport frazzled as well. Horse races were cancelled, a guest village provided shade at the Wimbledon qualifiers, and all around the UK school activities were wiped…

Briton beats fellow wildcard 7-5, 3-6, 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7) Fery will play No 9 seed Flavio Cobolli in quarter-finals Nearly four hours into the most significant occasion of his career, deep into a fifth set tie-break against a storied opponent he has spent his lifetime watching, what did Arthur Fery have left for a home crowd on his Centre Court debut? At six points all, after a long change of ends…

Eala loses her first grand slam last-16 match 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 Paolini inspired by seeing ‘idol’ Federer in Royal Box Alexandra Eala left Centre Court with her hands shaped into a heart and a simple mantra for her millions of followers. “Never say die, and play every point like your life depends on it,” she said. “That about sums it up.” The 21-year-old certainly lived up to those words before her W…

No 9 seed beats American 6-4, 7-6 (2) on Court One Marta Kostyuk and Elise Mertens also in quarter-finals The ninth seed Linda Noskova produced a composed display under pressure to end Madison Keys’ Wimbledon run in straight sets, sealing a 6-4, 7-6 (2) victory on Court One to reach the quarter-finals of a grand slam for just the second time in her career. Keys had arrived full of confidence afte…