As England prepared for their World Cup 2026 quarter-final against Norway, the Guardian's live coverage was dominated by captain Harry Kane's confirmation that he played a round of golf with US President Donald Trump around 18 months earlier. The admission stirred considerable debate among readers, with the paper framing Kane as an old-school, apolitical figure who is simply a keen golfer rather than a political actor. Alongside the golf story, the blog wound down its buildup to the last two quarter-finals, with the winners of Norway v England set to meet in a semi-final in Atlanta the following Wednesday.

Kane is described as the England camp's best golfer, playing off scratch, and has also teed off with five-time major winner Brooks Koepka at the squad's Florida training base. Norway coach Ståle Solbakken spoke warmly of his country's deep ties to English football, which began when broadcaster NRK started showing weekly English league games in 1969, and he sent best wishes to the former England captain Kevin Keegan, who recently revealed he is battling stage-four cancer. Solbakken called Keegan's failure to score against hosts Spain in 1982 his biggest World Cup regret. Other news items included Jürgen Klopp agreeing to become Germany head coach, Manchester City signing Monga from Leicester for £12.5m, Fifa selling pieces of the final pitch for £335, and the deaths of former Chelsea chair Ken Bates, aged 94, and South Africa midfielder Jayden Adams, aged 25.