An inspired Harry Kane scored a couple of goals that forever cemented himself in the history books and the hearts of England fans who denied what could have been one of those. Biggest World Cup upset ever. With his strike, 11 minutes apart, the Democratic Republic of the Congo looked hopeless in the game for 69 minutes. As England went away in jubilation, Congo’s brave men – who defied the footballing powerhouse for most of the game – crumbled inexorably. But the World Cup will not forget their courage. One of the deadliest strikers in the world to deny a

Read more

DR Congo’s Brian Sipenga’s first half strike was canceled out by Harry Kane in the 75th minute. Anthony Gordon was the provider whose looped cross found the head of Kane who guided it past the goalkeeper. Sipenga put the African nation ahead after just 7 minutes in their Round of 32 clash on Wednesday. Jed Spence failed to judge a ball coming in from the right which went over his head and found Sipenga who made no mistake to shoot the ball past England keeper Jordan Pickford at the near post. Jude Bellingham equalized in the 30th minute, but his

Read more

There was a 70-foot Messi in Kolkata. It came down on June 1, dismantled after officials determined it was unsafe, swaying too much in the wind and could not be trusted. A few weeks later, in a Patagonian oil town in Argentina, a towering one rose in its place. Aldo Berroisa’s sculpture stands 85 feet tall in Cuttall CoIt was unveiled on June 16, Argentina’s opening day of the World Cup. The moment after Argentina’s shootout victory in the 2022 final, Messi is pictured on his knees at Lucelle Stadium, holding the national jersey with one hand, the other pointing

Read more

Scary part of Unceasing waves of French attacks with whom they come. The metrics of dominance and momentum shifts don’t apply to a team that has yet to get out of second gear at the World Cup. Le Bleus average three goals a game with Ousmane Dembele, Kylian Mbappe, Michael Olise and Bradley Barcola in front of four goals, while ranking 44th out of 48 teams in terms of run distance per game. Their victories have come with minimal effort. Against Sweden, the quartet won a knockout game at the World Cup as more of a test drive than a

Read more

Read 3 minutes1 July 2026 06:19 PM IST Controversy erupted over Germany’s second goal against Paraguay in the round of 32, which could have been a possible winner, with FIFA now out and explaining the referee’s decision to call off the strike. With the score tied 1-1 on Monday, German defender Jonathan Tah’s headed goal in extra time was disallowed after a VAR review for a foul on Paraguay goalkeeper Orlando Gil. Germany’s Waldemar Anton pushed Gil to the ground in the replay, but the decision was criticized for the lack of contact. Germany would eventually lose the match in

Read more

A banner embroidered with flowers beside him welcomed France manager Didier Deschamps to the MetLife Arena after his mother’s death. The message was simple but touching: “Didier, we are with you.” The MC stopped the hip-hop music. The players went through their warm-up drills with unusual indifference. After the national anthem was performed, French fans chanted: “C’est vous, Didi!” You are the man.The understated French manager would be the man of the evening, though Kylian Mbappe scored two goals of artistic precision, Bradley Barkola showed off his velvety legs with a goal cut from silk and his flying Les Bleus

Read more

Amadou Onana’s first memory of Belgium is an inflatable mattress, he wrote in The Players’ Tribune. His mother brought him and his three-year-old sister from Senegal to Brussels, on a Belgian passport inherited from his father, to an apartment with no furniture or heat, and for the first weeks she slept on a small sofa so that the two children could have a mattress to themselves. Onana was eleven years old. Before that, there was a grandfather in Dakar, Senegal. No one else was allowed to sit on the big brown chair. A thatched room where the old man went

Read more

Read for 5 minutesUpdated: 1 July 2026 12:50 PM IST The ecstatic Aztec crowd chanted “Quinones, Quinones…” and showered their new object of affection, Julián Quinones, with beer and cardboard sombreros. After putting Mexico in front before the second set in Ecuador’s rout, the forward, basking in the adulation, told them to turn up the volume. The chant must have rung in his ears, as two years ago, the Mexican city of Guadalajara also chanted his name, but prefixed with racial slurs. He is Colombian by birth, his parents are of Afro-Colombian descent. He became a naturalized Mexican citizen in

Read more

Read 3 minutesUpdated: 1 July 2026 09:55 AM IST Ecuador left-back Piero Hincapi became the first player to receive a red card for covering his face in a FIFA World Cup knockout match, as his team crashed out of the tournament after losing 0-2 to Mexico in the round of 32 match in Mexico City. When Ecuadorian substitute Kensi Paez was yellow-carded for a rash swipe in stoppage time, Hincapie was seen covering his mouth and heading to Mexico’s Santiago Gimenez. After Gimenez appealed to the referee, the VAR decision ruled that Hincapie had violated the newly introduced rule at

Read more

Read for 2 minutes1 July 2026 08:26 AM IST FIFA World Cup 2026 Leading Goal-scorers: France beat Sweden 3-0 in the round of 32 on Tuesday night as Kylian Mbappe continued his sensational World Cup goal-scoring form. Mbappe has secured a second straight entry into France’s round of 16, where they will face Paraguay on July 5. The France captain, playing in his third World Cup, broke the all-time record for knockout goals by scoring nine goals in the World Cup. Mbappe is also breathing down the neck of Argentine superstar Lionel Messi on the all-time World Cup goal-scoring chart

Read more