Read 6 minutes28 Jun 2026 10:09 AM IST It’s about goals, yet it’s not just about goals. Four of the sport’s greatest figures – Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland, each different from the others – are locked in a Golden Boot race for the ages. Yet, the broader meaning, the symbolism, is different for everyone and intertwined with personal glory, identity, legacy and pure joy, which leads them to the ultimate destination. World Cup. Lionel Messi leads the race with six strikes in three games. Messi-26 is different from all its previous iterations. Here is Messi

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Read 3 minutesUpdated: June 29, 2026 03:22 AM IST Stefan Eustaquio’s late 92nd-minute winner helped the current FIFA World Cup co-hosts beat South Africa to become the first team to reach the last 16. The match looked set to go to extra time or penalties when Eustaquio fired his shot to the right of South African goalkeeper Ronwen Williams at the Los Angeles Stadium. “You guys are Canadian heroes! Canadian heroes!” Canada coach Jesse Marsh could be heard saying to his players in confusion after the final whistle. It was a battle between two teams that have never reached the

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Read 4 minutesUpdated: June 28, 2026 11:28 AM IST With seven goals each at an average of 2.33 per game, Brazil and Japan have two of the most effective attacks at the 2026 FIFA World Cup. From a purely statistical point of view, there is little to distinguish them. Opting for a more potent attack would therefore have been a matter of opinion had they not met in the 32nd match on Monday. Brazil v Japan headlines the first wave of knockout fixtures as the bracket for the last 32 is set after a fascinating group stage. Here’s a quick

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Read for 5 minutesKolkata28 June 2026 12:09 PM IST Over the years, England have entered the World Cup with a so-called golden generation. With the local media hype machinery building them up before every tournament, expectations surrounding the Three Lions have always been sky-high and, at times, quite unfairly so. But more often than not, England have failed to make it to the big stage as countless so-called golden generations have fallen on their swords. The early stages of the 2026 edition suggest that they are setting their fans up for yet another bitter disappointment. England’s performance, especially in the

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A perfect 45 minutes. And it came with the best player in the world sitting on the bench. Argentina unleashed their full force against Jordan in the current Asian Cup final – sitting nine of their starting eleven, including the ageless, six-goal and counting Lionel Messi – and yet delivered an Argentine football experience championed by Lionel Scaloni. In a way, the team was Scaloni’s last as a player and the first Messi entered. Reminiscent of Argentina in 2006, he has created a group that acts as an intense cluster of neural networks in the center of the park, all

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After Cape Verde qualified for the knockout stages of the World Cup, the night of celebration was endless in the Boston suburb of Brockton. Approximately 5,000 kilometers from Praia, the capital of the African archipelago, the area has about 20,000 residents of Cape Verdean descent. “We call it the eleventh island of Cape Verde,” says Tatiana Moniz, a member of the Cape Verdean Association in Brockton. “Except for the palm trees and the beaches, it’s like our islands, the restaurants, the culture, everything. You see Cape Verdeans everywhere and we’re a tight-knit community,” she says. Most streets had watch parties

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Read for 2 minutes28 Jun 2026 07:12 PM IST South Korean President Lee Jae-myung lashed out at coach Hong Myung-bo, accusing selection bias of the country’s group-stage exit from the World Cup. He has also demanded a sports ministry-led inquiry into the team’s performance. “I am not only shocked by this unexpected result, I am completely shocked,” Lee wrote. X On Sunday, reaction to the team’s early elimination. South Korea were expected to qualify for the knockout stages from a relatively easy group. But losses to Mexico and South Africa left the Taeguk Warriors with three points and a place

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Ghana coach Carlos Queiroz has criticized the expanded 48-team FIFA World Cup format, calling it “vulgar and banal” and warning that the tournament risks losing the uniqueness that has traditionally made it football’s biggest prize. The former Real Madrid manager questioned whether qualification still held the same importance when almost a quarter of FIFA’s 211 member associations could reach the finals. “I believe value comes when things are rare. The number of teams that can qualify for this tournament can turn it into something vulgar and ordinary. When so many teams can qualify, is value still rare? It’s debatable, but

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Read 3 minutesUpdated: June 28, 2026 03:15 PM IST Harry Kane had a scathing message for Gary Lineker after he overtook the giants as England’s all-time leading World Cup goal-scorer on Sunday. “Sorry Gary, I’m one over you now,” the superstar Bayern Munich forward told reporters. Kane scored his 11th tournament goal with a superb header from Jude Bellingham’s cross as the Three Lions beat Panama 2-0 at East Rutherford. This was one more than Lineker, who scored 10 goals in two tournaments. The 65-year-old former England striker won the Golden Boot in Mexico in 1986 with six goals, before

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Read 3 minutes28 Jun 2026 01:43 PM IST Portugal coach Roberto Martinez has described Cristiano Ronaldo as “childish” and insists his captain is fully capable of playing every minute of the World Cup, as he should have rested Cristiano Ronaldo in the same way as Lionel Messi and Erling Haaland. Ronaldo completed another full game in Portugal’s goalless draw against Colombia on Saturday, meaning the 41-year-old has played every minute of Portugal’s group-stage campaign. Messi was left out of the starting XI for Argentina’s final Group J match against Jordan, but came on as a substitute and scored in a

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