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USMNT World Cup player ratings: high marks for McKennie and Tillman, but Pulisic and Dest fall short
The Guardian has published player ratings for the United States men’s national team following their disappointing exit from the World Cup, assessing how each member of the squad performed across the tournament. While the campaign ended in frustration, the piece argues there were genuine positives, particularly from a younger core of players who enhanced their…
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‘Your boys took a hell of a beating’ – England and Norway’s football rivalry
England and Norway will meet in the quarter-finals of the 2026 World Cup in Miami on Saturday, reviving a rivalry defined less by football than by one legendary piece of radio commentary. The fixture recalls Norway’s shock 2-1 win over England in a 1981 World Cup qualifier in Oslo, after which NRK commentator Bjorge Lillelien…
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Is there such a thing as ‘the perfect penalty’ in football? – video
This Guardian Sport video, presented by Nikhita Chulani, examines whether a “perfect penalty” exists in football by drawing on statistics and academic research. With the 2026 World Cup under way, the piece stresses that penalty shootouts often decide knockout matches, making any edge in taking spot kicks potentially decisive for a team’s tournament fortunes. The…
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Watch: Gaza football fans watch World Cup from rubble
Hundreds of people cheered for Egypt, which shares a border with Gaza, in the match against Argentina.
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‘The Kitchen’ Director Alonso Ruizpalacios at BAM: ‘We Need More Trojan Horses’
At a masterclass during the Bogotá Audiovisual Market (BAM), Mexican director Alonso Ruizpalacios reflected on resilience, co-production and the growing role of artificial intelligence in filmmaking. The session, presented by Mediapro and delayed by an hour after Colombia’s World Cup defeat to Switzerland, saw the director address a subdued audience by reading Elizabeth Bishop’s poem…
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Is Neymar the first to bookend his international career with goals at the same venue? | The Knowledge
The Guardian’s “The Knowledge” column tackles a reader’s question prompted by Neymar’s international retirement: is he the first player to bookend his national-team career by scoring both his first and last international goals at the same venue? Neymar’s farewell was notable because his debut goal for Brazil in 2010 and his final goal in 2026…
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Furious Egyptians rant World Cup is ‘RIGGED’ as manager claims FIFA ‘wanted Lionel Messi to stay in the tournament’ after controversial VAR decisions in dramatic defeat
Egypt manager Hossam Hassan has accused FIFA of rigging the 2026 World Cup, claiming the governing body wanted Lionel Messi to remain in the tournament, after a series of contentious refereeing and VAR decisions went against his side during Argentina’s late comeback in Atlanta on Tuesday. The outburst matters because it levels a serious integrity…
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US Soccer officials barred by FIFA from Belgium World Cup match over apparent protocol violations: report
FIFA barred at least two US Soccer Federation staff members from Team USA’s World Cup last-16 match against Belgium on Monday, according to multiple reports. The two officials were named as team manager Sam Zapatka and vice-president of security Frank Pannell. The bans came at a highly sensitive moment for the US camp, though they…
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Chris Broussard says Team USA’s World Cup loss to Belgium exposed the gap with soccer’s elite
Speaking on Dan Dakich’s “Don’t @ Me” show, Fox Sports analyst Chris Broussard argued that Team USA’s heavy World Cup defeat to Belgium laid bare the distance still separating the United States men’s side from world football’s leading nations. The comments matter because they feed a wider debate, prominent in the coverage, over whether the…