The Guardian

Rudi Garcia says his team can benefit from Balogun red card saga ‘Everyone is talking about us going home but we can do it,’ coach says Rudi Garcia has claimed that Belgium have got “millions and millions” of new supporters after Donald Trump lobbied Fifa to overturn Folarin Balogun’s red card ahead of their victory against the USA in the last 16 – and that they will take “incredible strength” fr…

Swimmer withdraws from Australia team due to bout of glandular fever Illness to prevent 24-year-old from defending four titles in Glasgow Swim champion Kaylee McKeown is “gutted” that illness has forced her out of the Commonwealth Games in a major blow to Australia’s team. McKeown’s Commonwealth Games career is over after battling glandular fever ahead of the Glasgow edition starting in 13 days. …

Britain’s Paralympic dame is quitting after a stellar career that began in the swimming pool as a 14-year-old before five Games hoovering up cycling gold medals “This is the first time that I will speak about the next chapter,” Dame Sarah Storey says in a quiet corner of a busy cafe in Macclesfield as, after a remarkable career in which she won 74 world and Paralympic medals as the most successfu…

Milan forward was subbed out in a 4-1 loss Pulisic had been criticized for his lack of availability Christian Pulisic suffered a microfracture and bone bruise in his leg in the United States’ 4-1 loss to Belgium in the World Cup last 16 on Monday, US Soccer announced. Pulisic suffered the injury in the second half in Seattle and was removed shortly afterward. He underwent X-ray and MRI scans on T…

With Saudi spending restricted and a glut of departures and arrivals the stakes are high for Eddie Howe, and his captain, amid uncertain times on Tyneside Is it the end of the road for Bruno Guimarães and Newcastle or are they destined to share at least one more adventure? With Arsenal anxious to add Eddie Howe’s Brazil midfielder to their armoury and Guimarães receptive to such advances , it rem…

Czech 10th seed clinched a 6-2, 1-6, 7-6 (10) victory Faces compatriot Noskova or Ukraine’s Kostyuk next She finds a first serve on match point and the contact is perfect : 117mph, punched hard down the centre line, and from the moment her hand receives the message from her strings, she must know this is it. Of course the ball may come back, and indeed the ball does come back, but only barely. An…

Predecessor Andrew Cornish accused of misconduct Julie Harrington could end up taking role permanently Middlesex have appointed the former British Cycling CEO Julie Harrington as interim chief executive in a strong indication that Andrew Cornish will not be returning to the club. Cornish has been absent from Middlesex since November when the club received a complaint of alleged misconduct from a …

There is a relentlessness to this France that might make them irresistible. Morocco no doubt had the best of intentions, ideas of how they could hurt the side that had beaten them in the semi-final in Qatar, but France press so well that they soon accepted they had no option but to retreat and endure, and France have such attacking quality that simply surviving isn’t really a viable option. Kylia…

Striker says England one of the ‘clear favourites’ to win World Cup Also makes knowing reference to famous ‘Stay humble’ remark Erling Haaland has ramped up the World Cup mind games by saying England are the team under ­pressure when they face Norway in their ­quarter-final tie on Saturday. Haaland has enjoyed a ­sensational tournament , scoring seven times in four games, including twice in ­Sund…

Two architects of Arsenal’s title triumph are likely to have starring roles for their country in pursuit of a place in the World Cup semi-finals It is one of those times when WhatsApp group chats quieten down. Friendships tend to be suspended when a World Cup quarter-final comes around and club mates, flung against one another for their countries, turn their eyes towards the biggest prize. Declan…

The Spain goalkeeper Unai Simón has not conceded a goal at the World Cup and, worryingly for Belgium, he has not had to face that many shots “We’re the villains, there to stop the goals that football lives off,” Unai Simón says. If so, there has never been a bad guy as bad as him, the keeper who could do with an introduction from Don LaFontaine: In a World Cup dominated by forwards, one man resis…

Fourth T20i: England, 159-1 beat India, 158-6, by 9 wickets Brook scores 79, Salt 59 to win with six overs remaining England’s recent heatwave continued in Bristol, India wilting to lose their cool, the game and the series in what turned into another bizarrely one-sided encounter. Timid with the bat, poor in the field, error-prone with the ball and swift to accept the inevitability of defeat, thi…

British player faces Zverev in semi-final on Friday Nosebleeds have stopped since procedure Arthur Fery has revealed that his spectacular second week at Wimbledon has been aided by a secret procedure on his nose and the Godfather trilogy as he prepares for the biggest match of his career on Friday, against Alexander Zverev in the semi-finals. Fery’s run through the draw to meet the French Open ch…

The two greats face off at Wimbledon on Friday with both having questions to answer about their fitness and form respectively Novak Djokovic has conducted about as many press conferences in his career as any other tennis player in history. He knows the deal: after a victory, particularly a big one, he will usually be asked by a journalist to preview his next match. He is always ready with a long,…

Former Crystal Palace academy player gives evidence ‘There is much more to be done’, says Moses Swaibu Match-fixing has increased at an “extraordinary” rate across the world, a select committee of the House of Lords has been told, with organised crime networks even infiltrating chess as they look to launder proceeds from drug and human trafficking. The International Agreements Committee heard sta…