The Guardian

⚽️ World Cup kick-off 9pm EST/2am BST/11am AEST ⚽️ Player guide | Bracketology | Golden Boot | Email Tom Back when Kenny McClean put the cherry on the cake of Scotland’s dramatic playoff win against Denmark in November, the concept of this game was a cause for wild celebration, but now, facing World Cup minnows Haiti, this game represents opportunity. A win, especially one by a convincing scoreli…

Houston is a host city but those gathered there for a GOP convention are far more concerned with contentious politics – and an elephant Greg Abbott, the governor of Texas, has just finished a 25-minute address and most of the hits have been played. The radical Democrats must be destroyed in November’s midterms; an Austin-style woke agenda should be avoided at all costs; it is essential the Lone S…

Sign up now! Sign up now! Sign up now? Sign up now! There’s an elemental force to football that can never be bottled and sold off. For reasons only known to Gianni Infantino and attendant pen pushers, the Azteca has been renamed the Mexico City Stadium for the Geopolitics World Cup. You can change a name for admin purposes, make punters pay through the nose for tickets, and charge 280 pesos ($17)…

Qatar snatched their first ever World Cup point with a stoppage-time goal to draw 1-1 against Switzerland in an energetic Group B opener. Switzerland went ahead in the 17th minute when Breel Embolo coolly stroked home a penalty but paid the price for failing to score more after 26 attempts on goal in a match they dominated from the kick-off. Continue reading...

⚽️ World Cup kick-off 6pm EST, 11pm BST, 8am Sun AEST ⚽️ Player guide | Bracketology | Golden Boot | Email Jeff While it was always a reach to project this tournament would feel like 104 Super Bowls, some matchups inevitably fit the blockbuster billing. Brazil and Morocco’s opener in Group C is this tournament’s first glamour fixture, pitting the five-time champions against the dark horse darling…

Despite missing key players, Hajime Moriyasu’s side have built strength in depth to challenge the traditional order In 2002 there was a sense that Japan had slightly missed an opportunity. South Korea may have enjoyed the benefit of some favourable refereeing, but they also impressed. They were quick, technically good and tactically extremely flexible and they progressed to the semi-final of thei…

11-time All-Star released on $100 bond Police spotted handgun in player’s Mercedes Cleveland Cavaliers guard James Harden was released from a Houston jail after he was arrested early on Saturday morning on a misdemeanor gun violation. Harden was driving through downtown Houston with four others when he was stopped by police just before 4am. When Harden drove up behind another vehicle, an officer …

Semi-final: Bath 26-27 Exeter Chiefs meet Northampton at Twickenham on Saturday For the first time since the greatest game in Premiership history, the away team have won a playoff. This was not a comeback to match that of Harlequins at Bristol in 2021 , but Exeter looked every bit as dead and buried at half-time. And then a new team took to the field for the second half. And so we will have a new…

‘I feel like my old self again. It’s a bit of a relief’ Lewis Hamilton second ahead of Kimi Antonelli George Russell scorched to pole position for Sunday’s Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix after Lewis Hamilton narrowly failed to pip him with a thrilling last-ditch effort for Ferrari. Another dramatic qualifying session was stopped early in Q3 when Charles Leclerc, Hamilton’s Ferrari teammate, suffe…

Lima police dress as mascots in raid on suspect Zayu the Jaguar left out of police operation While tensions between Canada and the United States have risen in the last few years as Donald Trump has made threats to turn his northern neighbour into a 51st state of America, there has been some mutual cooperation in crime fighting. Earlier this week, Clutch the Bald Eagle and Maple the Moose – the ma…

Czech billionaire to increase his stake from 27% to 43% Kretinsky and Gold ‘deeply concerned’ by revelations Daniel Kretinsky, the owner of Royal Mail, is set to overtake David Sullivan as West Ham’s largest shareholder after agreeing to buy an additional stake in the club from the Gold family. The Czech billionaire has moved to increase his power at West Ham after Sullivan stepped down as a dire…

Sign up now! Sign up now! Sign up now? Sign up now! We’re almost a 25th of the way through the Geopolitics World Cup – four games down, 100 to go – so it’s the perfect time to reflect on what we’ve learned and noticed so far. Continue reading...

Raducanu to face Jovic later after 6-3, 7-5 win British No 1 falls in second set of quarter-final Everything seemed to be progressing perfectly for Emma Raducanu in the early stages of a day that, in the best case scenario, would require a marathon effort like no other. The British No 1 was in the middle of putting together a cool, efficient performance on a mercifully sunny day in Barons Court. …

Group 2: Scotland, 161-5, beat Ireland, 121, by 40 runs Kathryn Bryce struck 60 from 39 balls Scotland notched up a historic maiden World Cup win on Saturday, coming out on top against Ireland by 40 runs. The Scotland captain, Kathryn Bryce, struck a powerful 60 from 39 balls and followed it up with a brilliant one-handed caught-and-bowled to see off Alana Dalzell in the first over of Ireland’s c…

Footy Addicts helps amateur players find a game at short notice – and tackles the problem of loneliness Cries of “Boss! Boss! Boss!” emerge from the pitch during a hard-fought game of football in a London park. There aren’t a lot of names used in this game, because most players only met just before kick-off. They were brought together by an app that’s injecting life into grassroots football. Foot…