The Guardian

⚽ All the latest news from a huge World Cup Wednesday ⚽ Spain reach final | Player guide | Golden Boot | Mail us World Cup Daily has dropped, and I’m listening to it as I type. Get your ears round it now. Lots to chew on, including Philippe Auclair claiming that for the first time ever most of the world is backing England in a match against Argentina, which may rouse readers in Glasgow, Dublin, C…

Look beyond the flashpoints and flare-ups and perhaps this is the greatest and most romantic of footballing rivalries It’s about the ball, right up until the moment it isn’t. On Sunday afternoon Godoy Cruz played Defensores de Belgrano in Nacional B, the second division of Argentinian football, and among the sea of blue home banners were two crosses of St George, apparently expropriated from Engl…

The Argentina captain conserves his energy for bursts in key moments and his top speed compares favourably with his contemporaries England’s defenders will face an extreme challenge when they come up against Lionel Messi in their World Cup semi-final. It is not just that he is the greatest player of all time but the almost unique way in which he plays. The 39-year-old is renowned for ambling arou…

Plus: back-to-back heavy wins and defeats, and an unsurprising challenger to a Lionel Messi record Mail us with your all of your questions and answers “The top four teams in the Fifa rankings are also the four semi-finalists at the World Cup,” writes Henry Conroy. “Has this happened before?” The men’s rankings have updated after every match of the World Cup, and Fifa surely missed a trick by not …

Former player found guilty of three assault charges against woman AFL commission says ‘violence against women has no place’ The AFL has removed Nicky Winmar from the Australian Football Hall of Fame after the former St Kilda and Western Bulldogs player was in June found guilty of three assault charges involving violence against women. Winmar, who retired from playing in 1999 after 251 AFL games, …

Fee for forward could be as high as £850,000 The 26-year-old has one year remaining on contract Chelsea are closing in on a deal to sign the France forward Melvine Malard from Manchester United for a fee that would be a club-record sale. It is understood the transfer fee could be as high as approximately £850,000, although some sources have suggested the deal will be closer to £750,000. The discu…

Australian athlete, 27, won two Olympic gold medals in Paris Jack served a doping ban after Ligandrol was found in her system Australian swimmer Shayna Jack has announced she will retire after the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. In a video posted on Instagram in which Jack spoke with her coach Dean Boxall, the freestyler fought back tears as she said the Games – from 23 July to 2 August – would be…

Falklands conflict adds ‘emotional’ edge to semi-final Manager has ‘no problem’ with Bellingham after outburst Thomas Tuchel believes England will face an Argentina team “fuelled by history” in their World Cup semi-final in Atlanta on Wednesday. It will be the sixth time that the nations have met at the tournament with the previous three coming after the Falklands war of 1982. The most controvers…

Emerging stars need a leg up from media and marketing teams to ensure they get the recognition they deserve By any measure it is a remarkable achievement. While many have fantasised about how it might feel to score a try for the All Blacks, no one in history has now lived that dream more frequently than Will Jordan. At the weekend the New Zealand wing took his tally to 50 tries in only 56 appeara…

‘Boston cone’ arrives to fanfare in first-class seat from Glasgow before planned trip to raise money for mental health Fresh off its first-class flight from Glasgow, it received a reception befitting a visiting dignitary: a bagpiper in full regalia playing inside Boston Logan international airport. Waiting to greet it were diplomats, the governor and Boston’s mayor. The guest of honor? An orange …

The full-back was supposed to be busy shackling France’s vaunted front line but found time to score the killer goal at the other end “Let me loose in a prison and I’ll end up owning the place,” Pedro Porro once said. Let him loose in the penalty area and that will belong to him too. The whole world might: to him and the entire gang. When the Spain right-back burst into the box like a jail break, …

France finally let loose all their attacking power in this tournament and yet when the big test came against Spain they were too open Maybe Didier Deschamps was right all along. He has been criticised over his 14 years in the France job for being too cautious, for prioritising control, for not unleashing his great fleet of attacking players. In this tournament, his last as national manager, Desch…

England 258 lost to India 262-4 by six wickets All-rounders share century stand to secure victory A recent ascent to No 1 in the men’s T20 rankings saved one half of Brendon McCullum’s job as England head coach and yet half of that half – one-day international cricket – continues to be a struggle. A six-wicket defeat by India in the series opener at Edgbaston was England’s 13th ODI loss since McC…

Midfielder signs from Aston Villa for about £35m Villa to have Visit Rwanda as front-of-shirt sponsor Manchester United have confirmed the signing of Youri Tielemans for about £35m on a five-year deal, with the midfielder stating he wants to help “push for the biggest trophies”. The 29-year-old will join from Aston Villa and follows United’s recruitment of another midfielder, Andrey Santos, who i…