Sports
With Alcaraz sidelined, Spain finds new Wimbledon hope in Jodar
With Carlos Alcaraz sidelined by a wrist injury and retired legend Rafa Nadal relaxing on his boat off Mallorca, Spain has found a new Wimbledon contender in rising teenage star Rafael Jodar.
The 19-year-old made his main draw debut at the All England Club on Monday and looked immediately at home in his first professional match on a grass court as he eased to a 6-3, 6-3, 7-5 victory over British wildcard Felix Gill.
Facing a callow Spaniard in the first match on a lush Court Three might have been seen as an opportunity for 220th-ranked Gill to cause an upset against the 23rd seed.
But that never looked remotely likely as Jodar emulated two-time Wimbledon champions Alcaraz and Nadal by reaching the second round as a teenage debutant.
“It was a very tough match and Felix played very well,” Jodar said on court. “I feel my game is very good on this surface even though I haven’t played much on it, so I need to get used to it. That’s why I came early to Wimbledon to have a few more days. Now it’s on to the second match.”
Ranked around 500 in the world a year ago, the 1.9-meter Jodar has rocketed up the rankings since and announced himself on the big stage by reaching the French Open quarterfinals this year on his debut, having won his first ATP title in Marrakech.
While Spanish players used to be renowned as claycourt warriors whose weapons were rendered harmless on the lawns, Nadal and then Alcaraz changed all that.
With a hugely powerful baseline game, a potent serve and an ability to mix it up, Jodar showed he will be a threat in a dominant display against the willing Gill.
Only when he went a break down early in the third set did it look as though he might get dragged into a duel, but he quickly found another gear, breaking back twice to wrap up a quick win.
Jodar’s next assignment promised to be a tougher one against vastly experienced fellow Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta.
Stephen Eustaquio scored from a powerful 92nd-minute strike from the edge of the penalty area to give Canada a 1-0 win over South Africa Sunday, sending the co-hosts into the World Cup last 16 for the first time in their history.
Eustaquio received the ball on the edge of the South Africa penalty area and powered it past diving goalkeeper Ronwen Williams in a thrilling conclusion to the first knockout-round match of the World Cup.
South Africa, who had had seemed content to play for extra time and a possible penalty shootout, made a few furious but unsuccessful attempts to level before the final whistle as the sun broke through the clouds at Los Angeles Stadium.
Canada will next face either the Netherlands or Morocco on July 4 in Houston for a place in the quarterfinals.
“We just kept believing, we kept pushing and I think we couldn’t have imagined it any other way,” Eustaquio said.
“It was an amazing goal. When I shot it, I felt everybody shot it with me. Everybody put a little bit of power on it, and it went to the back of the net, so I’m very happy.”
Canada coach Jesse Marsch said his team had chances throughout the match but were not “lethal enough.”
“And then it falls to Steph and I just hope he’ll put it on frame and give it a chance and he buries it,” Marsch said.
“The hard work from these guys, the character – they’re Canadian heroes. That’s what I told them at the end. They are now Canadian heroes. I’m so happy for them.”
Tense match in LA
Chances were scarce in a cagey first half, with little to separate the sides, who were both playing in the knockout rounds for the first time.
Canada’s best opening came just before halftime when a corner sparked a scramble in the South Africa box, Moise Bombito sending a header goalward that was cleared off the line by Aubrey Modiba before Tajon Buchanan’s close-range effort struck Williams in the chest.
Moments later, Richie Laryea went down in the area, prompting Canadian appeals for a penalty, but the decision not to award a spot kick stood after a VAR review, prompting loud boos from Canada’s red-clad army of supporters, who dominated the stands.
Marsch continued to protest as the teams left the field at halftime, with Bombito appearing to urge him away from the referee.
Frustration grew for Canada in the second half as South Africa showed little urgency to press forward while maintaining an impenetrable defense.
Canada had another chance just before the second-half hydration break when Tani Oluwaseyi’s shot hit the keeper and Jonathan David was unable to head the ricochet home thanks to an excellent defensive effort by Mbekezeli Mbokazi to clear the ball.
But Eustaquio’s strike deep in stoppage time ended Canada’s torment and sent their supporters into raptures.
Having advanced from the group stage for the first time in three World Cup appearances, the co-hosts had to play their first game outside Canada at this year’s World Cup Sunday, with only three days’ rest after a disappointing 2-1 defeat by Switzerland in their final group-stage match Wednesday.
‘We’re going to be ready’
Canada, who have battled injuries, were boosted by Bombito’s return to the starting lineup and captain Alphonso Davies’ comeback off the bench, the Bayern Munich wide player providing a second-half spark in his 2026 World Cup debut.
Marsch said he was flying to Mexico later Sunday to see the Netherlands take on Morocco at Estadio Monterrey Monday.
“We’re going to be ready to throw everything we have at a giant,” he said.
South Africa can hold their heads high after reaching the knockout stage for the first time in four attempts, though they will rue a tame exit.
“Everyone is sad,” said Teboho Mokoena, who added that he had come agonisingly close to preventing the winner.
“If I had taken three more steps, I could have stopped that shot,” he said.
The match marked the World Cup finale for 74-year-old South Africa coach Hugo Broos and potentially brings down the curtain on a career spanning more than five decades as both a player and manager.
“I will see in the next days what I will do for the future,” he said.
“For sure, this is my last World Cup.”
The World Cup knockout stages continue Tuesday with a pair of compelling Round of 32 matchups, where a star-studded France will face a gritty Sweden side and Norway will unleash a well-rested Erling Haaland against a highly versatile Ivory Coast.
France swept through Group I with a perfect record, scoring 10 goals in victories over Senegal, Iraq, and Norway. Their frontline of Kylian Mbappe, Ousmane Dembele, and Michael Olise has formed arguably the most devastating attacking unit in the tournament.
However, head coach Didier Deschamps still has defensive and transitional issues to solve on the left side of his team before squaring off against Sweden.
Theo Hernandez has failed to fully convince at left back. As a result, Lucas Digne is expected to enter the starting lineup to provide greater defensive security and steadier delivery from wide areas.
Further up the pitch on the left wing, Bradley Barcola is projected to replace Desire Doue. Deschamps is looking for more direct running, transitional pace, and natural width to counterbalance the heavy right-side bias of the Olise-Mbappe-Dembele axis.
These adjustments aim to give France a more coherent shape against a Sweden team likely to defend deep, threaten on set pieces and exploit spaces behind a French defense that has occasionally been caught off guard.
Fortunately for Les Bleus, the return of William Saliba to central defense will inject much-needed stability. If the starters falter, France boast unmatched bench power with options like Doue, Rayan Cherki, Jean-Philippe Mateta, and Marcus Thuram.
Sweden, on the other hand, arrive as awkward, highly organized opponents rather than spectacular ones. They finished second in Group F behind the Netherlands, sandwiching a 5-1 loss to the Dutch between a 5-1 thrashing of Tunisia and a 1-1 draw with Japan.
Armed with physical presence and top-tier talent like Alexander Isak, Viktor Gyokeres and Anthony Elanga, Sweden can make life uncomfortable if France lose their patience.
Despite occasional defensive lapses, France have not lost a World Cup knockout game since 2014, excluding the legendary 2022 final against Argentina. Former England great Gary Lineker remains highly skeptical of a Swedish upset.
“I don’t buy it. Sweden have Alexander Isak, Viktor Gyokeres and Anthony Elanga. They are not a bad side, but they are nowhere near France’s firepower,” Lineker told French sports daily L’Equipe.
“Of course, with four genuine forwards, Les Bleus could be vulnerable on the counter, as we saw against Norway’s second string on Friday, but they will score more goals than the other teams,” he said.
The winner of this clash will advance to the Round of 16 to face either Germany or Paraguay.
Norway Meet Ivorians in Dallas
In Tuesday’s other high-profile fixture, Norway face Ivory Coast in Dallas, where Erling Haaland will command the spotlight. The predatory Norwegian striker already has four goals in just two appearances this tournament.
Haaland is set to return to the starting lineup after being rested during Norway’s final group game against France, alongside the majority of the team’s first-choice squad.
Norway coach Stale Solbakken defended his tactical decision to rest 10 core players as a “no-brainer” due to severe squad fatigue.
“This is simple. We did a summary after (their second game against) Senegal, and the entire defence and some midfielders were very affected,” Solbakken said.
He will likely be relieved that Dallas’s midday kickoff will not be marred by oppressive heat, thanks to the stadium’s climate-cooling technology.
Ivory Coast will focus heavily on containing Haaland, a task that falls on a defense featuring highly rated 22-year-old Ousmane Diomande, who is widely expected to leave Sporting Lisbon for the English Premier League this summer.
However, Ivorian coach Emerse Fae also intends to play on the front foot to keep Haaland starved of possession.
The Ivorians possess an exciting, deep attacking arsenal of their own. The squad features nine attacking options, including teenage sensation Yan Diomande, resurgent former Arsenal winger Nicolas Pepe, who scored twice against Curacao, and Inter Milan’s Ange-Yoan Bonny, who switched his international allegiance from France just before the tournament.
“I think that spreading the goals around is a real strength of ours, which we can use to catch our opponents off guard and be a threat from all over the pitch, including players coming off the bench to make a telling contribution,” Fae said.
Heavyweights Brazil will kick off their World Cup Round of 32 campaign against Japan Monday, in a match that carries added weight for Carlo Ancelotti’s squad.
The tie will offer both a chance for revenge after an earlier setback in Tokyo and a key test of how far the team has progressed under his leadership since that defeat.
The five-time world champions were beaten 3-2 by Japan in October 2025 after leading 2-0 in a friendly, conceding three goals in less than 20 minutes as the hosts claimed their first win over Brazil in 14 meetings.
It was another reminder of the job Ancelotti had inherited after leaving Real Madrid with only a year to turn a disjointed team into World Cup challengers.
Brazil were wobbling when the Italian arrived, about to complete their worst South American qualifying campaign, finishing fifth after working under four different managers.
With only five international breaks before selecting his 26-man squad, Ancelotti used the last three to broaden Brazil’s horizons, taking on opponents from Asia, Europe and Africa.
The Asia leg began smoothly enough. Brazil thrashed South Korea 5-0 in Seoul and looked on course for another comfortable win in Tokyo after racing into a 2-0 lead inside a little over half an hour.
However, Japan roared back in the second half and Brazil were left with an uncomfortable souvenir.
Monday’s match in Houston, however, will be a very different affair.
“Perhaps … they will be even more motivated,” Japan manager Hajime Moriyasu told reporters after his side’s 1-1 draw with Sweden secured second place in Group F behind the Netherlands.
“We will be playing against a Brazil side that is very keen to win. I’m looking forward to it.”
Japan will be much changed from the side that stunned Brazil, with injuries depriving Moriyasu of captain Wataru Endo, wingers Kaoru Mitoma and Takefusa Kubo and forward Takumi Minamino, who scored in the October victory.
Brazil also look different. The defense that started in Tokyo has disappeared from Ancelotti’s World Cup squad entirely and the team have been improving after opening the tournament with a 1-1 draw against Morocco.
Back-to-back wins have sharpened the mood, Vinicius Jr. has scored four goals and Neymar has returned to the national team after three years out because of persistent injuries.
“We’re not perfect. We can improve. For example, our pace on the ball. We can be quicker,” Ancelotti said after Brazil beat Scotland 3-0.
“But I’m pleased because the team has improved a lot since the first match. Now it’s a knockout competition. We need to show real grit.”
The fixture also carries a deeper historical thread. Brazil have long been a reference point for Japanese football, a relationship embodied by Zico.
After success with Flamengo, Udinese and Brazil, he came out of retirement to play for Sumitomo Metal, later Kashima Antlers, from 1991 to 1994, helping shape Japan’s developing professional game.
He later managed Kashima and now works as a technical adviser at the club.
Zico also coached Japan from 2002 to 2006, winning the 2004 Asian Cup and guiding them to the 2006 World Cup, where Brazil beat them 4-1 in the group stage to seal Japan’s elimination.
So both teams will have old scores to settle in Houston.
Substitute Lionel Messi came off the bench to score his sixth goal of the World Cup as Argentina beat Jordan 3-1 on Saturday, extending their winning momentum ahead of a last-32 with Cape Verde.
The ageless Messi tops the scoring charts in North America as the tournament heads into the last 32.
Cape Verde’s players will be wondering how they can stop Messi when the debutants, ranked 67, face the champions on July 3 in Miami.
With qualification already in the bag, Messi started on the bench but came on after an hour in Texas to huge cheers to get his side’s third with a free kick.
Argentina finished emphatically top of Group J with maximum points after also beating Algeria 3-0 and defeating Austria 2-0, all those goals coming from Messi.
The holders and their 39-year-old talisman look formidable, albeit in one of the weaker groups.
Coach Lionel Scaloni said Messi could have played the full game.
“But he chose to let his teammates have minutes, he chose to think about what’s coming and that speaks volumes about him,” he said.
Giovani Lo Celso, who scored Argentina’s first of the evening, said it had been almost the perfect group stage.
“We knew we had very tough opponents, that it wasn’t going to be easy,” he said.
“It’s a pity about the goal we conceded today, we would’ve liked to end with a clean sheet.”
“Still, I think it was a very good group stage. Now the most important part begins.”
“From now on, it’s about turning the page and thinking about Cape Verde, who will be a very tough opponent,” he added.
Fans demand Messi
A much-changed Argentina scored in the first half through a Lo Celso free-kick and a penalty by Lautaro Martinez.
Mousa al-Tamari pulled one back 10 minutes after halftime for Jordan, whose first World Cup was already over.
Scaloni made nine changes, retaining only goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez and forward Lautaro Martinez from the Austria win.
Jordan were already eliminated after defeats to Algeria and Austria, rendering the match inconsequential in terms of the tournament.
But competition in the Argentina squad is fierce and Scaloni wanted his side to join France and co-hosts Mexico with nine points.
Argentina also wanted to make a statement ahead of the meeting with surprise packages Cape Verde as they attempt to become the first team since Brazil in 1962 to win back-to-back World Cups.
The home of the Dallas Cowboys was packed with Argentina fans and their team dominated from the off.
Lo Celso got the party started, bending in a free kick on 19 minutes that goalkeeper Yazeed Abulaila got nowhere near having, inexplicably moved in the opposite direction.
A relaxed-looking Messi smiled broadly from the sidelines.
Soon after, the champions doubled their lead when Martinez rifled in a penalty following a VAR review when Marcos Senesi appeared to be kicked in the face as he went for a diving header.
Minutes after halftime the crowd began calling for their captain Messi, the leading scorer in World Cup history.
As he stripped off to come on, Tamari stabbed in from close range to pull a goal back and stun much of the stadium.
The match felt like a friendly after that, before Messi bent in a tame free kick with 10 minutes left to go with his hat trick against Algeria and brace versus Austria.
Ivory Coast coach Emerse Fae has launched a strong rebuke against former Germany international Bastian Schweinsteiger, after comments made during World Cup punditry sparked accusations of stereotyping African football and reignited debate over bias in sports broadcasting.
The controversy emerged ahead of Germany’s Group E match against Ivory Coast in Toronto, when Bastian Schweinsteiger, working as a television analyst for German broadcaster ARD, described the Ivorian team as playing a style he labeled “a bit African football, a bit unorthodox, a bit wild, a bit perhaps not so conditioned by tactics,” adding that Germany should prepare for an unpredictable and chaotic opponent.
The phrasing immediately drew scrutiny for its generalization of an entire continent’s football identity. Critics said it reduced African teams to long-standing cliches about physicality and unpredictability, while downplaying tactical sophistication and structured play that many national teams, including Ivory Coast, now consistently demonstrate at elite level.
On the pitch, the match itself undercut any notion of imbalance. Germany edged a 2-1 win in Toronto, with substitute Deniz Undav scoring twice late on, including a stoppage-time winner after Ivory Coast captain Franck Kessie had put his side ahead. Ivory Coast still progressed from the group and later secured a historic milestone by reaching the knockout stage for the first time in their World Cup history following a 2-0 victory over Curaçao.
Fae addressed the remarks after that qualifying win in Philadelphia, expressing both personal disappointment and professional disagreement. He said he had long admired Schweinsteiger’s playing career, noting how deeply he respected the former Bayern Munich midfielder, making the comments even harder to accept.
“When I heard his comment, I was disappointed in the man,” Fae said. “It is odd he would speak that way.” He added that while he could not control outside opinions, Ivory Coast’s performances demonstrated a balanced identity built on tactical discipline, technical execution, and physical strength.
Fae went further in questioning the intent behind the remarks, suggesting they may have been “clumsy” or influenced by the pressures of punditry. He also pointed to what he described as a modern tendency among some analysts to lean on simplified narratives that generate attention but do not reflect the complexity of teams on the pitch.
The backlash extended beyond Ivory Coast’s camp. Journalist Philipp Awounou wrote in Der Spiegel that language such as “wild” and “unpredictable” carries historical weight rooted in colonial-era stereotypes that portrayed African societies as undisciplined or less developed. He emphasized that even when not intended as racist, such framing can reinforce harmful assumptions.
Anti-discrimination organization Kick It Out also criticized the remarks, highlighting ongoing concerns in football over how Black and African players and teams are described in media analysis.
Commentators and journalists in Germany similarly debated whether unconscious bias still shapes the vocabulary used to describe teams outside Europe.
Former Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp also reacted indirectly, declining to engage when questioned during a media appearance, calling the issue too serious for off-the-cuff comment.
Schweinsteiger later posted on social media acknowledging Ivory Coast’s technical quality and physical strength, but he did not directly address the wording that triggered criticism. As of the latest reports, neither he nor ARD had issued a formal apology or detailed clarification.
The incident has become part of a broader conversation in global football about how language shapes perception.
Ivory Coast’s squad, featuring players with top-level European experience such as Kessie and others, has been widely cited as an example of how African teams now operate with tactical structure comparable to the world’s elite.
A pre-match moment involving England defender Djed Spence and Ghana midfielder Thomas Partey has sparked widespread discussion after footage circulating on social media appeared to show Spence declining to take part in the traditional handshake before their World Cup Group L clash in Boston on Tuesday.
The video shows both squads lining up in the customary pre-kickoff greeting, with players moving down the line exchanging brief handshakes.
As Partey approached, Spence appeared to keep his hand in his pocket and did not visibly engage, instead moving past him. The moment was brief, partially obscured in broadcast coverage, but alternative angles shared online quickly amplified the incident and triggered debate among fans and pundits.
Neither Spence nor the Football Association addressed the moment publicly after the match, and there has been no official explanation from the England camp regarding the apparent snub. The lack of comment has only intensified scrutiny, particularly given the wider context surrounding Partey’s presence at the tournament.
The Ghana midfielder, 33, was met with a hostile reception throughout the match at Gillette Stadium. He was booed during the announcement of the starting lineups and again whenever he touched the ball in the opening stages of the Group L encounter. It marked his first appearance of the tournament after missing Ghana’s opener against Panama.
Partey’s participation has been closely watched due to ongoing legal proceedings in the United Kingdom. He has pleaded not guilty to multiple counts of rape and sexual assault relating to allegations involving four women between 2020 and 2022. He is scheduled to stand trial next year and remains on bail, with the case continuing to draw significant public attention whenever he appears in a high-profile setting.
The midfielder’s travel and eligibility have also been a talking point during the tournament. Earlier in the competition, he was denied entry into Canada ahead of Ghana’s match against Panama before later being allowed into the United States after border officials confirmed his visa status and noted he had no criminal conviction.
Before the match against England, Partey said he felt “ready to play” despite the scrutiny surrounding him. Ghana coach Carlos Queiroz has repeatedly defended his selection, arguing that players should be judged on the pitch while the legal process runs its course, and emphasizing the presumption of innocence.
The match itself ended in a 0-0 draw, a disciplined and physical contest that left both sides level in Group L heading into a decisive final round of fixtures.
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