The Guardian

It was a result that served everybody but, even though the mutual convenience of a draw became evident rapidly, at least this game conjured up two moments to cherish. Japan guaranteed the runners-up spot that always seemed likely to be theirs and will face Brazil in Houston on Monday; a point was enough for third-placed Sweden to run the gauntlet of some head-spinning round-of-32 permutations tha…

The Oranje bus had better get a move on. A comfortable victory over Tunisia after being sent on their way by a record-equalling 12th own goal of the tournament and further strikes from Brian Brobbey and Jan Paul van Hecke sealed top spot in Group F for the Netherlands ahead of Japan . Their prize is avoiding a meeting with Brazil in the last 32, with Ronald Koeman’s side now set for a mouthwateri…

⚽️ Kick-off time: 7pm local/10pm EDT/3pm BST/12pm AEST ⚽️ Third-place table | Player guide | Tables | And mail Beau ⚽️ Follow live coverage of Paraguay v Australia as it happens Oh, and the other thing to watch: Oh. As in Peter Oh and what witticism he will contribute. We also must consider the Golden Boot race, in which Own Goal is the runaway leader. I understand Liverpool are now offering 100 …

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 titbits that sounds like it shouldn’t be true, and yet here we are. An underwhelming 2-0 victory over Curaçao , courtesy of Nicolas Pépé’s double, put the Ivorians through to the last 32 as Group E runners-up. “Celebrate this historic qualification, like we should,” the Ivo…

⚽️ Kick-off time: 7pm local/12pm AEST/3am BST/10pm EDT ⚽️ Third-place table, who has qualified and who needs what? ⚽️ Player guide | Bracketology | Golden Boot | Mail Jonathan Let’s start the roundup with the Pod Squad dealing with a bumper six-game matchday , one dominated by Scotland’s hammering by Brazil. Feel free to keep me company by emailing your thoughts about today’s match, and anything …

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 …

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…

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…

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 …

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…