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9 hours ago
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Key events
Swear alert swear alert … but the man has a point …
The suggestion that Australia is not a multicultural society is “bullshit”, Socceroo Awer Mabil has said, following One Nation leader Pauline Hanson’s claim that the national team embodies her vision of a monocultural Australia.
Mabil returned to Australia on Monday after featuring in the Socceroos’ defeat on penalties to Egypt in the last 32. Asked by reporters about suggestions that Australia was not a multicultural society, Mabil said: “It’s just all bullshit”.
Despite being used as a political football, the Socceroos had not been distracted, he said. “We know what we represent. We represent Australia at the biggest stage, and Australia ... is the best country in the world, and the Socceroos is the best representation of that,” he told reporters at Adelaide airport.
“If anybody’s trying to divide that, then they’re probably not Australian themselves, in a sense, respectfully. Because Australia is very inclusive, includes everybody. That’s what the Socceroos is.” Australian Associated Press
A little way down the page, in summing up the teams that had departed … just typing “Cape Verde” in that list made me feel a bit quivery lipped.
Despite the expanded World Cup, and frankly so much bloody football, Argentina 3-2 Cape Verde and Mexico 2-3 England feel like they had enough action between them to power an entire tournament on their own.
Let’s remember: Cape Verde were 10 minutes from taking the world champions to a penalty shootout. And I’d have backed them in it as well.
Going forward, no montage of World Cup goals will ever feel correct without Sidny Lopes Cabral’s astonishing curler from the left wing.
Belgium reportedly granted right to appeal Fifa's Balogun call
Belgium have been granted the right to appeal Fifa’s decision to suspend the one-game ban to USA striker Folarin Balogun, according to a report by The Athletic.
The ruling, which followed lobbying by US president Donald Trump, triggered widespread debate as well as a statement from the Royal Belgian Football Association (RBFA) that said it was exploring “all potential options”.
According to The Athletic, the RBFA formally wrote to Fifa to appeal the matter, which was granted. The RBFA and US Soccer were reportedly asked to make submissions by 1pm BST – exactly 12 hours before the scheduled start of the match at Seattle Stadium.
A member of the Fifa appeals committee has been selected to hear the case, according to the report. Belgium have not been guaranteed that a ruling will be made before Monday’s match. Reuters
South Korean FA president resigns
The aftershocks to South Korea’s group-stage exit continue. After fairly extraordinary comments from the country’s president Lee Jae Myung, head coach Hong Myung-bu resigned. Now the Korean FA president Chung Mong-gyu has also departed after 13 years in the role.
“There were moments when I lived up to expectations and moments when I left you deeply disappointed,” he said. “All the success is thanks to our players and fans, and all the mistakes are my responsibility. I am convinced that Korean football will overcome adversity and reach great heights once again, as it always has.”
ICYMI, Sid also spent time peppering Spain’s Luis de la Fuente with reader questions …
Anne Butterfield asked: Does Luis think the current midfield already is (or could be) as great as the one in the 2010 World Cup final?
Well … they’re two great midfields. In my opinion, and I say this with the greatest of respect to everyone, we have the best midfield in the world. We have two players per position who are the best players. I can list them: Rodrigo, Zubimendi, Fabián, Pedri, Olmo, Merino, Fabian, Baena, Gavi, Fermín who isn’t here [because of injury], etc … etc. I have probably left someone out and he will get angry; don’t get angry. I remember you all. That was an extraordinary midfield [in 2010] as well, it’s true. Football changes, but I would put us at almost the same level.
Loads more here …
And here’s Sid Lowe on Spain’s “quiet man” …
We have to talk about Mikel Oyarzabal. When Spain scored their third goal against Austria in Los Angeles, cameras caught Lamine Yamal’s little brother celebrating, fists clenched and shouting “come on!”. The picture couldn’t have been more perfect, and not just because Keyne is impossibly cute. Even the apparent imperfection was just right. On the row below, clapping and half-hiding the three-year-old, was a woman in sunglasses, prompting a Spanish TV commentator to post: “The blonde in front has denied us the best sticker of all time.” To which the striker Borja Iglesias replied: “The blonde in front has given you two goals today, my friend.”
Turns out the blonde woman is Oyarzabal’s mum: her name is Dorleta and it was her son who had just scored his second goal of the game and his fourth of the tournament.
Read more here …
So next up: a neighbourly clash between Portugal v Spain tonight.
Cristiano Ronaldo, who is, to be fair, 41, has offered a Keir Starmer-like timetable for the sun setting on his mainstream international career. When Portugal’s campaign ends, so will his time on the World Cup scene.
This will be my last World Cup; God willing tomorrow is not my last game. I’m not missing anything; God has been generous to me. I won’t be more Cristiano or less Cristiano if I win the World Cup or not.”
How the quarter-finals are looking
France v Morocco (Boston, Thursday 9pm BST, 4pm EDT)
Portugal or Spain v USA or Belgium (Los Angeles, Friday 8pm BST, 3pm EDT)
Norway v England (Miami, Saturday 10pm BST, 5pm EDT)
Argentina or Egypt v Switzerland or Colombia (Kansas City, Sunday 10pm BST, 5pm EDT)
Remaining last-16 fixtures
Portugal v Spain (Dallas, today 8pm BST, 3pm EDT)
USA v Belgium (Seattle, Tuesday 1am BST, Monday 8pm EDT)
Argentina v Egypt (Atlanta, Tuesday 5pm BST, noon EDT)
Switzerland v Colombia (Vancouver, Tuesday 9pm BST, 4pm EDT)
Teams that left us in the last 32
South Africa
Japan
Germany
Netherlands
Côte d’Ivoire
Sweden
Ecuador
DR Congo
Senegal
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Austria
Croatia
Algeria
Australia
Cape Verde
Ghana
Teams that have left us in the last 16
Canada
Paraguay
Brazil
Mexico
If you like your World Cup Daily to have moving pictures as well as sounds … I have great news for you …
Things have inevitably changed in the race for the Golden Boot. Erling Haaland’s fine double against Brazil means he has now joined Kylian Mbappé and Lionel Messi in joint first on seven goals, while Harry Kane – who tucked his penalty away against Mexico – is just one behind on six …
Krishna Moorthy writes:
Isn’t it time this travesty ended? A top referee sent back; reason cited – association with terrorist organisations. Atrocious ticket prices. Harassment of Iran. Markwayne Mullin gloating on the exit of Iran. The reversal of red cards – to freshen up the fading memories of people – first was that of CR7 and now more damningly, that of Balogun.
On Krishna’s last point, Fifa’s use of Article 27 of its disciplinary code has been somewhat … interesting. Ronaldo is set to feature against Spain tonight, but may have spent a fair bit of the group stage with splinters in his backside were it not for this last November …
Here’s Matt Hughes explaining how exactly Folarin Balogun has ended up eligible to face Belgium early tomorrow (1am BST) …
Charlie Dunmore asks a question I’ve been asking myself:
The one thought pinging around my sleep-deprived brain is: who makes the call to Infantino to get Jarell Quansah’s red-card suspension overturned? Keir Starmer? Andy Burnham? Maybe Becks would have more joy …
All of this quite aside from Balogun-gate. An astonishing story that couldn’t encapsulate the relative 2026 states of the White House and Fifa HQ if it tried.
In case you missed it … yeah, this has actually happened … and worked …
And to think that this piece from Barney Ronay felt absolutely fair enough last Thursday. Four days ago …
Here’s Nick Ames’s player ratings from the Azteca …
Jacob Steinberg, meanwhile, analysed Thomas Tuchel and found he was “at his strategising best. He barely put a foot wrong from the start and came into his own when England lost Jarell Quansah.”
World Cup Daily is in …
And here’s Jonny Weeks’s pick of the pics from the game. It feels a lot like, whatever happens now for England, some of these will be etched on to eyeballs in years to come …
Summary of what else happened
Yeah there was another last-16 tie as well.
Here’s David Hytner’s match report on Mexico 2-3 England …
Barney Ronay on the Azteca experience: “The most extraordinary, agonising night of football as an experience of the mind, body, bones, guts, blood and back of the neck …”
To add a further element of befuddlement, Jordan Henderson somehow suffered “quite a serious injury” during post-match celebrations. He’s only had a brief cameo against Panama in this tournament but it would be a heartbreaking way for it to end for him …
Thomas Tuchel salutes his “heroic” charges and has a pop at the officials: “The referees are just not good enough, fourth officials are just not good enough, that’s the bottom line.”
How does Brazil 1-2 Norway already feel like it took place in a different month?
This just in from Leander Schaerlaekens from the scene of a shock that was no fluke.
Endrick, the prodigy, couldn’t save Brazil. He came on in the second half and almost immediately was set free by a needle-threading through ball from Vinícius, only to misplay it and poke his finish harmlessly wide.
Neymar couldn’t save Brazil. He sent the Brazil fans into raptures merely by coming on as a substitute midway through the second half. He tried a few stepovers that somehow looked both quick and slow – much like Neymar himself in this late and diminished stage of his strange career. He rolled the late consolation goal past the wrongfooted Nyland from the penalty spot after the two exchanged some verbal hostilities, but it wasn’t nearly enough.
Carlo Ancelotti couldn’t save Brazil. The veteran coach managed to finally get Vinícius going, and to coax convincing 3-0 wins over Haiti and Scotland from his charges after a 1-1 draw with Morocco to open the tournament. He fashioned a late comeback win over a Japan team who perhaps deserved better. And that’s all he could do for Brazil, in the end.
In case you missed it, here’s Paul MacInnes’s match report …
And here’s Big Ol’ Erling Haaland and his head coach Ståle Solbakken on “the greatest day in Norwegian football history”. Replays of Haaland’s second were absolutely mesmerising – just an unbelievable strike of a football … and you know a hit from distance is good when an in-form Alisson at full stretch isn’t getting to it.
Cheers Mike, Hello world. As one of the foolhardy bunch who tried to navigate the overnight (BST) Mexico v England kick-off time with a series of tactical disco naps, I’m currently typing with hands driven by a brain that feels like it’s 90% pudding. That teeny-tiny one hour delay to the start … undeniably a blow.
Our north of England correspondent Hannah Al-Othman spoke to several who were trying to suss how the hell this was going to work.
Fellow sufferers: how’s it going?
Friends in time zones where this is generally how life always is for you when a major tournament rolls around: feel free to pass on tips, eye-rolls at how ridiculous we’re being etc.
Mike Hytner
And with that, I’ll hand you over to my colleague, Stuart Goodwin, who will take you through this next part of the day. Be kind to him, he hasn’t had much sleep. Bye for now.
“Hi Mike.” Hi Mark Fitzhenry. “I’m an American living in Vietnam who got up early (by my standards) to watch. England’s effort reminded me of improv wisdom from veteran improviser Joe Bill when things on stage go off-kilter: “Don’t play the show that you want. Play the show that you’re in.” This is not the way England would prefer to play, but given the altitude and venue and red card and everything else, they played exactly the way they had to, and were immense. Not saying they’re going to win (and I will certainly never say “f**tb*ll’s c*m*ng h*m*”) but any lingering doubts that this team can handle adversity should be gone.”
Max, Barry and the podcast crew have recorded the latest World Cup Daily episode, on all things England, “an unforgettable football match”, Haaland and Balogun.
“Text your bosses and tell them you’re not coming in.” Easy for Jude Bellingham to say, but the sentiment is fair, given the all-nighter England fans have pulled to stay up and watch their team’s heroics.
I have been an England fan since I was seven years old, the 2010 World Cup was my first one. Of course, in recent times we have had better moments but I remember watching a few tournaments and seeing a few of the players that are now on TV talking about it. They struggled in these types of nights and it was tough because it felt like the country never really got behind them.
To be part of an England team that gives so much to the country and can give them nights like this, then it means just as much as anything in my career. There are going to be videos galore when I get in the changing room and check my phone. Kids stay off school, parents don’t go to work, enjoy your day, have the day off if you can, these nights don’t come often.
The inimitable Barney Ronay has filed his take on the Azteca madness:
Incredible scenes in the Norwegian capital last night, where 100,000 people gathered to celebrate their team’s progress to the quarter-finals, according to the national broadcaster. The population of Oslo is approximately 700,000. With one in seven Oslovians out partying until the wee hours, you can imagine productivity in the city may take a hit today.
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Are we about to watch Cristiano Ronaldo perform at a World Cup for the very last time when Portugal meet Spain in around 12 hours from now? Perhaps. The 41-year-old has confirmed he certainly won’t be returning to the World Cup arena in four years’ time at the ripe old age of 45, which means that if Spain can do a number on their Iberian cousins in Dallas, it’ll be the end of Ronaldo on the biggest stage of them all.
We haven’t even mentioned Balogun-gate yet. The Belgian FA, and you can assume a large proportion of the football world, has been left “astonished” by Fifa’s decision after lobbying by Donald Trump to reverse the suspension given to the striker for his red card in the team’s win over Bosnia and Herzegovina. He is now free to play in the last-16 game against Belgium.
Sources have told the Guardian that Trump made three calls to Fifa, starting from Wednesday, to ensure that the change was made.
Needless to say, the decision gives the co-hosts a huge boost ahead of the game with Belgium – Balogun has scored three times so far this World Cup and proved a consistent attacking threat. Belgium manager Rudi Garcia said he thought it was an April Fools joke, and I’m pretty sure we haven’t heard the end of this. So many questions. At least Matt Hughes has a few covered off for now:
A final post on England for the time being. Nick Ames was listening to Thomas Tuchel in his post-match presser. “A heroic performance and a heroic result,” was the England coach’s verdict.
I’m so happy with the players, and also for me, to live this experience in the last two days. Such a special memory, and against all the adversity it makes it very special for us. If a team has heart and belief then it’s this team. They did it on pure will. No words. Iconic match, iconic stadium, we overcame so much adversity today.
And what of England’s next opponents, Norway? It seems like an age ago that they faced Brazil in their last-16 clash in East Rutherford, given all the drama that has come since. Erling Haaland was up to Erling Haaland things in the 2-1 win, hailed afterwards as “the greatest day in Norwegian football history” (Ståle Solbakken) and “one of the sickest days” in Norway’s history (Haaland). A pretty good day to be a Norway fan, then. Paul MacInnes was there to soak up a momentous moment:
Never mind the atmosphere at the Azteca, how was it at a World Cup fan park in the north of England?
“Manchester hasn’t seen a wild weeknight party like this since Oasis rolled into town for their run of homecoming gigs almost exactly a year ago,” writes Hannah Al-Othman. “The long-awaited final whistle saw plastic pint pots flying through the air, people lifted on to shoulders and scarves and flags held aloft as the DJ threw on Oasis’s Wonderwall.”
It was a big night for Thomas Tuchel, who masterminded an England restructure after Quansah’s red card that proved crucial to his team’s success.
“It took a collective effort from England to dent Mexico’s daunting record at the Azteca,” writes Jacob Steinberg. “But it comes back to Tuchel.”
Have a read of Jacob’s full piece here:
Spare a thought for poor Jordan Henderson, England’s experienced midfielder/cheerleader who has seemingly ‘done a Steve Morrow’ by injuring himself during post-match celebrations while attempting to vault over an advertising hoarding at the Azteca. Henderson, who didn’t see any playing time on the night but still managed to get booked, was taken to hospital with what Tuchel described as “quite a serious injury to his wrist”. His participation in the rest of the tournament is now under threat.
A few snaps from the Azteca. The final few pics in this gallery tell a clear story about England’s delight at holding on during a fraught period of injury time.
Jude Bellingham was immense in Mexico City, scoring twice in two minutes but also playing a huge part at the other end of the pitch in a moment when England needed him most. “A supreme display,” writes Nick Ames, although not supreme enough to warrant full marks in his player ratings. An honourable mention goes to Dan Burn – it’s not often a 75th-minute substitute gets an 8. Here’s how the players fared:
What a night at the Azteca. So much happened over the course of 100-or so minutes of football. Where to start? How about this from David Hytner, who was there to witness what he reckons was “England’s finest World Cup knockout phase victory since 1966”.
Preamble
Mike Hytner
Hello football fans, wherever in the world you are. How’s the ticker? That was quite the heartstopper we’ve just witnessed in Mexico City. Five goals, two penalties, one red card, 12 minutes of injury time, a febrile atmosphere in a proper stadium and, ultimately, England delight contrasting with Mexico heartbreak. There’s quite a bit to unpack from that game, which we’ll attempt to do here, and plenty of other news to catch up on from a rather wild day at the World Cup, including the day’s other last-16 game between Norway and Brazil.
We’ll also look ahead to matches 93 and 94 of this World Cup – the small matter of a Spain v Portugal clash and then the co-hosts USA v Belgium, a game which Folarin Balogun will, against all normal convention, feature in.
If you have any thoughts on any of the above, or indeed anything else World Cup related, do get in touch with an email – [email protected]. Let’s get into it!
