Read 4 minutes21 Jun 2026 02:51 PM IST Belgium desperately need a positive result against Iran in Los Angeles after being held to a draw against Egypt. They can do without debating one of the key players in their fatherhood. Pacy winger Jeremy Doku is known for his dribbling skills, but the Manchester City star may have caught Belgian fans and some of his teammates and coaching staff off guard when he announced he would be leaving the North American team and heading back home to welcome the arrival of his first child. That Doku will also not play against

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FIFA World Cup 2026 Match Today Live Score: ESP vs KSA in FIFA World Cup. (AP) FIFA World Cup 2026 Match Today Live Score: After failing to score in Cape Verde, Spain will look to go all out against a resolute Saudi Arabia side on Sunday. In their first match, both sides dropped points, with Spain holding Cape Verde and Saudi Arabia to a 0-0 draw against Uruguay. Spain, who came into the World Cup as favourites, were shocked by Cape Verde’s defensive prowess which absorbed everything the Spanish Armada threw at them. With their best player Lamine Yamal playing

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Read 6 minutes21 Jun 2026 06:59 PM IST The Haiti was defeatedBut they shed no tears in the Philadelphia arena. They danced and chanted, uttering the most powerful phrase in their history, ‘grenadi, alasso’. Or march the grenadiers, a tribute to the revolutionaries who ousted Napoleon’s French army. “We lost, but we fought. We’re proud of it, and that’s our tradition,” says Thomas Ihiogene, an ardent fan in his 30s. “Just to qualify for the tournament is a huge achievement and it brings a nation together,” he says. He does not resort to the usual Mino-speak, but from his own

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Read 3 minutesUpdated: June 21, 2026 05:31 PM IST New Zealand are not the most talented team FIFA World Cup But what they lack in nature, they try to make up for it with attitude, hard work and fitness. After a 2-2 draw against Iran, the All Whites will want to keep their Round of 32 hopes alive by defeating Egypt in Vancouver before their final group game against Belgium. While the presence of midfielder Sarpreet Singh in the squad has fueled Indian interest, the players’ fitness and match preparation is also in the hands of someone with Indian heritage.

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Read 3 minutes21 Jun 2026 03:27 PM IST Iran coach Amir Ghalenoi has questioned why the other 47 managers at the 2026 FIFA World Cup have remained silent about the treatment of his team by the United States, saying they would have spoken up if another nation had faced a similar situation. “I ask a question to 47 other coaches, and none of them responded to me,” Ghalenoi said ahead of Iran’s Group G clash with Belgium on Saturday. “We’re here for football, not politics. Our complaints are about the way they treat us. I haven’t heard anything from the

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Read 3 minutes21 Jun 2026 01:57 PM IST An Argentine TV presenter has quit her role following the country’s 2026 FIFA World Cup opener against Algeria after falsely reporting the death of Lionel Messi’s father. Florencia Pena claimed on Argentinian streaming channel Luzu TV, saying on live broadcast that Messi’s father had died and that his death was “sudden”. “I don’t want to break bad news, but Messi’s father just passed away. It was sudden. In the middle of the World Cup,” she said. Pena later issued a public apology, saying that the information was given to her during the

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For ignorant millennials, the FIFA World Cup was a better atlas than school geography lessons. Korea-Japan 2002 taught us where Henri Camera’s Senegal is. Germany 2006 made it impossible to know about Andriy Shevchenko’s Ukraine. South Africa 2010 made a generation learn about Asamoah Gyan’s Ghana. Had USA-Mexico-Canada 2026 been played during that time, we would have been in trouble. We would have scoured the world map to find Curacao – the team that held Ecuador to a 0-0 draw on Sunday – and found nothing. They are a small dot on the physical map. Curaçao’s oldest distillery and producer

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Read 4 minutesUpdated: June 21, 2026 08:32 AM IST Days after Curacao’s terrible start to the 2026 FIFA World Cup, losing 1-7 to Germany, the smallest nation to qualify for the quadrennial tournament redeemed itself through their goalkeeper, Eloy Room. The 37-year-old Curacao’s second Group E performance was inspired by a goalless draw against Ecuador at the Kansas City Stadium on Saturday night. The Netherlands-born goalkeeper was unstoppable as Ecuador unleashed an avalanche on target, making 27 shots in total, taking away the World Cup record for most shots saved in regulation time for only the second time. Room’s Player

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In the final minutes of a World Cup qualifier against Jamaica, with Curacao 90 minutes away from their first-ever World Cup, the referee pointed to the spot. Eloy Room turned to him and said: “It doesn’t matter if you pay the penalty. I’ll save it anyway.” The referee was looking at him like he was crazy. VAR overturned it. He didn’t need to find out if he was right. This is the same guy who stood in the Kansas City goal Saturday night and made 15 saves against Ecuador. In 1966, the official record for the number of saves made

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A man who has always had to wait a long time for his opportunities, Deniz Undav has perfected the act of grabbing them with both hands when they come. Like on Saturday, when Julian Nagelsmann was sent on as a substitute in the 60th minute in a desperate roll of the dice. FIFA World Cup Match Ivory Coast vs. It took him just eight minutes to equalize against Germany. And then, in the 94th minute, scored their winner in one of his best nights in Germany colours. It’s a remarkable Cinderella story for a man who, at the age of

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