The Guardian

Sign in or sign up to post your question in the comments SidKirkwood asks: Can the wildcard Fery go all the way? Tumaini: This has been a truly incredible tournament from Fery. First he showed his fighting spirit in consecutive comeback victories over Zizou Bergs and Grigor Dimitrov, then he showed his quality and level in that incredible performance against Flavio Cobolli on Thursday, where he w…

Figures who worked with striker in his formative years recall a self-belief – even when his talent did not stand out There is another version of reality in which Harry Kane is not England’s greatest goalscorer but a goalkeeper. On his first day at Ridgeway Rovers, his first club, the coach Dave Bricknell asked whether anyone fancied going in goal. A six-year-old Kane threw up his hand – and he wa…

Switzerland international poised to sign from Freiburg Guimarães wants to leave and is target for Arsenal Newcastle have agreed a £51.5m deal with Freiburg that should see the Switzerland midfielder Johan Manzambi swap the Bundesliga for the Premier League. The 20-year-old, who has shone during this summer’s World Cup, is expected to sign a long-term contract at St James’ Park but the transfer wi…

Five days after T20 World Cup final misery tickets are selling fast for India clash in a rare fixture at the home of cricket England’s historic first Test at Lord’s, which begins on Friday against India, will be the swansong for at least one great of the game, after Tammy Beaumont announced her retirement from international cricket on Wednesday. It is possible that more retirements may follow at …

Second time in 2026 that inquest has been adjourned Sheffield United midfielder died in 2023, aged 27 An inquest into the death of the Sheffield United midfielder Maddy Cusack has been adjourned again, nearly three years after she died on 20 September 2023, aged 27. The coroner explained to the court that the inquest would not restart until 7 December at the earliest and apologised to the family.…

Updates from the 186.2km stage from Pau Stage-by-stage guide | Stage five report | Mail Andy The Spanish Grand Départ means paring down the classic climbs in the Pyrenees to avoid the race being settled as early as day six; the organisers can reasonably argue that stages two, three and four are demanding enough to avoid claims the race is being watered down. This stage includes the Aspin and Tour…

⚽ All the latest as we look ahead to the quarter-finals ⚽ Player guide | Bracketology | Golden Boot | Email us Morocco are looking to create more history, which would take their greatest ever shock. Over the past six decades, Morocco have achieved several performance milestones for Africa at the World Cup . The first country to qualify directly, for the 1970 finals in Mexico, they returned in 198…

With the World Cup down to eight teams, our writers assesses who’s left, identify the biggest remaining threats to France and make calls on who will lift the trophy Lionel Messi . As he proved in thrilling style against Egypt, Argentina’s No 10 still has magic in his boots even at the age of 39. While his penalty record of four from eight attempts is much worse than you’d expect, he is clinical w…

Tottenham’s strategies have changed over the years and this summer’s transfer splurge marks a sharp turn away from the Levy years A couple of weeks ago, Sotheby’s in London concluded one of its biggest art auctions. In all, the sale of 25 modern and contemporary works raised almost £300m. Seated Nude With Necklace, by Modigliani, went for £41.5m; La Belle Promenade, by Magritte, went for £13.5m. …

Using a digital flat-bed scanner, our picture editor Jonny Weeks adapts some of his favourite images from the tournament and explores the trend of alternative photography Although I’ve edited thousands of football photographs over the years, I’ve never attended a World Cup match. I envy those who get to be pitchside with their cameras for such big events. Yet, as I’ve discovered during this tourn…

Each of the eight teams has at least one key strength, from Swiss speed to Spanish defence The World Cup has reached the quarter-final stage and the favourites to reach the last four in descending order of likelihood, according to Opta, are France, Spain, Argentina and England. All eight remaining teams have positive data in their favour from the tournament, though. Continue reading...

Australian suffers muscle tear during training in Brisbane 18-year-old vows to return in 2027 ‘better and faster and stronger’ Australian sprint sensation Gout Gout has pulled out of the 2026 World Athletics U20 Championships and will be sidelined for the rest of the year after suffering a serious hamstring tear. The 18-year-old had set his sights on becoming a 200m under-20 world champion in the…

Australia call up flyhalf to face back-to-back Six Nations champions Jock Campbell replaced by Tom Wright in starting XV in Brisbane Declan Meredith will debut against France as the reconfigured Wallabies paper over the cracks created by more soft-tissue injury carnage in Brisbane. The ACT Brumbies flyhalf will wear the No 10 against the back-to-back Six Nations champions at Suncorp Stadium on Sa…

Damned by pre-match criticism, Blues halfback rises to the occasion and leads his team to series decider over Maroons In most major sports events – grand finals, heavyweight boxing contests, State of Origin deciders – there’s usually a moment, equal parts exhilarating and appalling, where one combatant is rising and the other is falling. Everyone on the field, in the stands and watching at home s…

Britain’s Paralympic dame is quitting after a stellar career that began in the swimming pool as a 14-year-old before five Games hoovering up cycling gold medals “This is the first time that I will speak about the next chapter,” Dame Sarah Storey says in a quiet corner of a busy cafe in Macclesfield as, after a remarkable career in which she won 74 world and Paralympic medals as the most successfu…