The Guardian

Keeper named player of the match against Euro winners ‘I have worked my whole life for this moment,’ he says Vozinha, the 40-year-old goalkeeper who was named player of the match after making seven saves in his side’s 0-0 draw against Spain, was in tears at full time. The mother of Cape Verde’s World Cup hero was not there to see history made because she could not afford the visa to the US. The g…

Fifa’s embrace of rapacious American capitalism may have found its limits in Miami, one of the entertainment capitals of the world. Despite just seven tickets showing as available on their official website at kick-off there were thousands of empty seats – and empty concourses – throughout most of this game, a hard-fought draw which leaves Group H deadlocked following Cape Verde’s stunning draw wi…

⚽️ Kick-off time: 6pm local/11am AEST/2am BST/9pm EDT ⚽️ Player guide | Bracketology | Wallchart | Mail Martin By Maree Mahony New Zealand, known as the All Whites, are back at the World Cup for just the third time, thanks to winning the Oceania region’s sole qualifying spot. Since their last World Cup in 2010 New Zealand have evolved from part-timers to professionals and there is belief they hav…

Norway coach Solbakken backs striker to make impact ‘He’s played better and better in training,’ 58-year-old says The venue where one footballing great’s World Cup journey ended will witness the beginning for another. Little did anybody know at the time that Diego Maradona’s appearance for Argentina against Nigeria in 1994 would be his last on football’s biggest stage. It was then the Foxboro Sta…

Images of Merlin, a two-year-old duck, parading on the streets of Mexico City celebrated by fans on social media Julián Quiñones and Raúl Jiménez may have scored the goals, but a duck stole the show. As Mexico celebrated its World Cup-opening victory over South Africa on Thursday, Merlin, a two-year-old duck dressed in the national team’s colors, became an unlikely internet sensation and the tour…

Martin joins Leicester after relegation to League One Ex-Gil Vicente coach Peixoto replaces Rob Edwards Leicester City have confirmed Russell Martin’s appointment as their new manager, on the same day as Wolves unveiled César Peixoto as their head coach, replacing Rob Edwards. The two Midlands clubs were relegated from the Championship and the Premier League respectively last season and have move…

Group G hotted up in earnest with presumptive frontrunners Belgium and Egypt opening their World Cup campaigns with a credible draw. A crowd of 66,775 watched on under the intense sun of the early North American summer, in a contest which warranted the contentious cooling breaks that have been universally adopted for this tournament. The group’s headline clash was slated as a noon affair under a …

Tuchel warns forward’s fitness being carefully monitored Saka keen to play but not to ‘go against the manager’ Bukayo Saka has admitted he is continuing to gamble on his fitness to play for England at the World Cup finals but said he “is ready to go” despite a nagging achilles injury. The Arsenal forward came off the bench in England’s last warm‑up game against Costa Rica but the England manager,…

VAR official Shaun Evans made ‘OK’ sign with right hand Resembles white power symbol used in far-right circles Fifa has been urged to suspend one of the World Cup video assistant referees by its official discrimination monitor after an Australian official was accused of making a hand gesture often used by white supremacists before Germany’s 7-1 win against Curaçao on Sunday. In a pre-recorded vid…

Against Paraguay, the Monaco striker provided the ruthless finishing the USMNT have often missed in recent years World Cup newsletter | Daily podcast | Download the app Even after they conceded an early goal on Friday, Paraguay kept affording the United States ample room up the channel. As the ball reached Malik Tillman and Weston McKennie in midfield, their disoriented opponents never quite seem…

Wow, just wow. At 1.57pm, Atlanta time, 3,291 miles from home, the final whistle went on Cape Verde’s first World Cup game, and they had only gone and done it and what they had done was madness – they had only gone and held the favourites . Bubista had said that he wanted the world to see who and what they are and, boy, did they see. Cape Verde’s coach had insisted that getting here was was more …

Immersed in the daily churn of Washington DC, I found an unexpected source of hope in the Knicks’ improbable season When it comes to the length of my relationship with the New York Knicks, I’m more Taylor Swift than Timothée Chalamet. But it was inevitable. For months, Knicks fever was slowly drawing me in. A close friend said the team was singularly healing her from a breakup. Another from depre…

The sport’s misguided morals mean England’s Test captain has been humbled for a meaningless infraction and kept off the stage for which he was made There are times when it’s possible to keep sport in a sensible perspective, and then there are weeks it challenges your very sanity. This has felt like one of those. Perhaps the US president erecting a cage‑fighting octagon in his back garden is – giv…

England Test captain has a lot of credit in the bank and if he comes back hopefully everyone has the compassion to move past his curfew breach The first Test against New Zealand seemed to be played in fast forward, and since England sealed victory on day four at Lord’s the cricket world has just carried on in the same vein. An often wild match ending with the MCC rushing out a statement reacting …

Sage joins after winning Coupe de France with Lens ‘We come here with a lot of ambition,’ Sage says Crystal Palace have confirmed the appointment of Pierre Sage as their head coach. The 47-year-old led Lens to second in Ligue 1 and won the Coupe de France this season and became Palace’s top choice after Andoni Iraola joined Liverpool. Sage had one season in charge of Lens and his only previous to…