The Guardian

Argentina’s Lionel Messi (left) is now two goals clear of Miroslav Klose in the all-time World Cup goal standings. It had to be Lionel Messi, it had to be on this day and perhaps it even needed to be in Dallas too. History was made in the way he knows best, a clinical left-footed flourish setting him out on his own as the World Cup’s highest goalscorer of all time. Another followed with the game’…

French media outlet distanced itself from criticism of Doku’s plan to fly back from World Cup for birth of first child The French media outlet L’Équipe has apologised to the Belgian footballer Jérémy Doku after he was criticised by one of its pundits for saying he would duck out of the World Cup to be present at the birth of his first child. News of the apology came as the Belgian football federa…

Draper defeats Marcos Giron 6-4, 7-6 (5) in first round Murray in player box alongside fellow coach Trotman An amusing question at the beginning of this new, hopeful chapter in Jack Draper’s career was tendered to the 24-year-old without hesitation before his return to competition in Eastbourne this week. In the heat of a dispiriting, stressful battle on court, when things are going badly and he …

Rade Bogdanovic made comments on public broadcaster Questioned over the remark, former player doubled down The former Yugoslavia and Atlético Madrid striker Rade Bogdanovic has sparked controversy on Serbian TV after saying that “Black players lack concentration beyond 60 to 80 minutes” during the Belgium v Iran World Cup match . Bogdanovic, 56, made the comment on a World Cup programme aired by …

⚽️ World Cup kick-off: 5pm ET/10pm BST/7am AEST ⚽️ Player guide | Bracketology | Golden Boot | Email Tim Evening everyone and welcome to the Kylian Mbappé show. He’s the captain of France, he’s the biggest name in a team full of stars, in fact the biggest name in this World Cup among all those who have yet to turn 38. He needs only a hat-trick to grab the all-time World Cup record, and he’s alrea…

Carlos Queiroz’s squad hope to repeat the form that almost made Ghana the first African team to reach the semi-finals Antoine Semenyo was only 10 years old when Ghana came within a Luis Suárez handball of becoming the first African team ever to reach the semi-finals of the World Cup. The Manchester City forward can still vividly recall the emotions that night as he watched with his family in Bexl…

Pet in a replica shirt is unofficial mascot of the World Cup Merlin’s owner, Karla Gómez, says it was ‘an honour’ Merlin, the pet duck in a mini Mexico shirt who has ⁠become a viral sensation and an unofficial mascot of the World Cup, met Mexico’s president on Monday. The duck waddled on ⁠to the stage ⁠at the ​start of Claudia Sheinbaum’s regular morning press conference, took a seat where minist…

Head coach wants players to use energy in the right spaces and is also getting the best out of an in-form Harry Kane It didn’t take long for one wag in the travelling England caravan to come up with a deeply inappropriate nickname for that jazzed-up high-energy start to the second-half performance in Dallas last Wednesday. That name was: Packetball. The word packet is, the Urban Dictionary confir…

Saints have fallen a long way since being crowned world champions in 2023 with coach vowing to fix things With the midway point of the Super League season now passed the pressure is rising across the competition – but few, if any, clubs have the burden of expectation and history weighing upon them quite like St Helens. This midsummer afternoon’s waltz in the sunshine against a woeful Huddersfield…

The goalkeeper’s 59th-minute save left mouths agape but it’s not the first time he has created an indelible moment for the team As they prepared for the future, the Iran national team looked to its past. Before Sunday’s matchup against a No 9-ranked Belgium with plenty of stars, the team was played a motivational video; a clip containing what midfielder Alireza Jahanbakhsh said were the indelible…

Former world No 4 backs best man at his wedding to reignite Raducanu and hopes to entice Jannik Sinner to join Team Europe at the O2 “Tennis is in a good place, but I think it could be better,” says Tim Henman when asked about the state of the sport that has consumed most of his life. He will soon outline ways tennis could be improved but, first, it helps to remember that the 51-year-old played i…

Czech’s audacious defiance of Sepp Maier in Belgrade has slipped into football folklore: ‘The only disadvantage is that I don’t get any royalties from it’ Antonin Panenka laughs like a bear might, a low rumble, suggesting mischief among the memories. He is sat in an office at Bohemians football club in Prague, recounting the story of his impudent, revolutionary penalty that not only won the 1976 …

Nobody wants more stoppages in the game but it allows us, whether on TV or the touchline, to analyse what we see In the NFL or NBA, a head coach can sometimes affect momentum in the game during a timeout. Even as a head coach in American football you get three timeouts per half. In most cases in soccer, players have to problem-solve and think on their feet. I’m not a fan of the hydration breaks t…

Caluori, Fisilau, Janse van Rensburg, Sela, Kloska selected Fin Smith says he had to ‘fake’ confidence after Lions tour At some stage there will be better times ahead for English rugby. They have an encouraging amount of young talent, a decent age profile and another 15 months to develop prior to the 2027 Rugby World Cup. Get it right – and they have a more than promising draw – and the sunlit up…

There are twice as many teams from Caf at this World Cup than in 2022, but their results so far have been hit and miss • Predict the winner | Daily podcast | Download our app On Monday evening local time at New York New Jersey Stadium, Senegal will face Norway in a game that is not only crucial in terms of who qualifies from Group I, but will go a long way in determining how African performance a…