The Guardian

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,…

⚽️ World Cup kick-off: 6pm EDT/11pm BST/8am AEST ⚽️ Spain 0-0 Cape Verde | Player guide | Bracketology Hello and welcome to live, minute-by-minute coverage of Saudi Arabia v Uruguay at the Miami Stadium. Saudi Arabia started the last World Cup with a stunning victory over Argentina. They’d love to do the same another South American giant tonight – not least because it would increase their chances…

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 …

Ståle Solbakken’s fast, flexible side are far from the no-frills unit that last made the World Cup but new challenges await If Norway’s highly fancied generation need a warning from history they need only look back 32 years and study the lessons from another searing, suspenseful American summer. They had raced through qualifying at England’s expense to reach their first World Cup since 1938; thei…

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…

Stunning Barcelona triumph has kickstarted veteran’s push to win record eighth drivers’ championship but Kimi Antonelli still stands in way When the soaring emotions began to settle one question remained. After his life-affirming maiden win for Ferrari in Barcelona, is Lewis Hamilton in contention for the Formula One drivers’ championship? Typically, in a sport where there are innumerable competi…

The all-time great’s Stud is represented by Daryz at the premier Flat meeting of the year on Wednesday There are high hopes for a royal winner at Ascot this week, when the king and queen are expected to have a runner on the first four days of the meeting. Many fans, though, will also hope to see the green and red of the Aga Khan Studs in the winner’s enclosure after the weekend brought final clos…

Portuguese will replace Massimiliano Allegri at San Siro United will not need to pay full £16.7m compensation Ruben Amorim is poised to return to management after agreeing to become Milan’s head coach. The move will make Manchester United a significant saving on his compensation package, the club having dismissed him in January . Amorim will replace Massimiliano Allegri at Milan after accepting a…

Tournament open to all Fifa members, including Russia Infantino wants to use football to promote peace Fifa wants to schedule a symbolic match between Israel and Palestine as the opening game of a new under-15s tournament in the United States in September. Although not an official Under-15 World Cup, the competition will be open to all 211 Fifa members, including Russia, who remain banned at seni…