Key events
Andrew Beasley runs the stats and data on the World Cup’s first two round of group-stage matches.
While it’s reasonable to think the rate might dip as the tournament progresses and the stakes increase, that wasn’t the case in 2022 or in Russia in 2018. The goal rate increased after the conclusion of the group stage, albeit extra-time played a part. If that pattern continues, we could be set to enjoy one of the all-time great international tournaments.
Derek McInnes, the new Rangers manager, spoke at his first press conference today.
“Obviously a very special moment for myself, my family, there’s a lot of people I can think of on a day like this. But obviously, having known the club for a long time, supported the club, I’m well aware of the responsibility that being the manager brings.
“I feel it’s the right time for me and I feel I’m ready for it. I feel as if I belong here and I’m ready to get going. We just want to deliver a team that meets the demand here. I feel as though the Rangers fans, with one title in 15 years, they’ve suffered for a long time and it’s up to us to play a key role in driving the standards and get a winning Rangers team on the pitch more often than not.
“I’ve got an idea of what my Rangers team needs to look like and hopefully it’s something similar to what the Rangers fans want as well. They need something to believe in, they need something real.”
David Wall gets in touch: “On the subject of the various pundits across the BBC and ITV (15:41), I’ve also been impressed by Thomas Frank.
“The discussion at half time between him, Ellen White, and Micah Richards was both entertaining and enlightening (and whatever the worth of pundits on ITV they get so little time to go into depth between the adverts and competition promotions, they feel wasted). The fact that the players at Spurs didn’t want to listen to him reflects worse on them than him.”
Yes, both Frank and Big Ange have been good, and Ellen White was very good last night when I was watching the Croatia v Panama game in the dead of night.
One of the stars of 2002 is back in the game. Cristiano Ronaldo likes this.
Here’s today’s Football Daily, as penned by, well, me. It’s a celebration of Englishness.
Stadium red-tape latest via Reuters:
Fans entering World Cup matches have been shocked to find they can’t take their big purses or backpacks in with them due to a clear-bag policy in place for security reasons.
Many find themselves scrambling to get their belongings out of their own bag and transferred into clear plastic bags — and for that, most stadiums are surrounded by clear-bag hawkers selling their product usually for around $20.
Manager news, again via PA Media: “Wales seem set to lose manager Craig Bellamy with talks to take charge at Championship club Burnley.
“Bellamy – who is halfway through a four-year contract – was initially prepared to commit himself to Wales and their Euro 2028 campaign amid speculation linking him to Celtic and Burnley. But Burnley have pushed hard for their former coach to succeed Scott Parker following their relegation from the Premier League, and the Press Association now understands Bellamy is in contract talks with the Clarets.”
Transfer news, via PA Media: “Tottenham have made Martin Dubravka their fourth signing of the summer in a move which will pave the way for Antonin Kinsky to become first-choice goalkeeper.
“Experienced former Newcastle and Manchester United stopper Dubravka has agreed to join Spurs on a free transfer after he left Burnley at the end of the 2025-26 campaign. The decision to turn to Dubravka instead of target a high-profile keeper is the latest show of faith in Kinsky.”
Adrian Chiles
Adrian Chiles has divided loyalties at this World Cup.
Having enjoyed the uncomplicated letdown of our (as in England’s) match against Ghana, it was time to watch us (as in Croatia) kick off at midnight against lowly Panama. A win was essential. I was so overwhelmed by the purity of this need that I’m afraid I fell asleep. I woke up with five harrowing minutes left to play as we (Croatia) clung on for a 1-0 win.
Nick Ames spoke to the Arsenal player who is just as important to his national team.
Havertz is speaking at Germany’s World Cup base in Winston, North Carolina, where a sense of momentum is building. For one thing, Germany have a monkey off their back. Group stage eliminations in 2018 and 2022 added to this year’s mental burden, but they have already been confirmed winners of Group E.
In the second of those exits, Havertz scored twice against Costa Rica but they still tumbled out. “Qatar was anything but successful for us as a team and for me personally,” he says. “There’s a different energy in our squad now. I was quickly convinced that things would go better this year. We knew we had a duty not to fail early on again. We are Germany. But now the tournament is really just beginning.”
Good afternoon, is tonight when the phoney war closes. There will Caledonian hearts a fluttering.
Righto, that’s it from me for now; here’s John Brewin to take you closer to football.
For context, Lord’s – where I’m headed in a few minutes – has relaxed its pavilion dress code. Summer shirts, shorts and trainers are all allowed; whatever next? I don’t know: the UK used to be a country…
Question: are schools being closed because of global warming, or because previous generations of kids were sent in when really, they ought to have been kept home?
There are still people who think that politics can and should be kept out of an event featuring nation-states competing against one another, whole flags are displayed and anthems sung. Er, OK.
More generally, and perhaps for the first time since ITV’s famous 1970 panel, their coverage has been the better – principally thanks to the wonderful Emmas Hayes. Her refusal to dumb-down, delivering bitesized analysis with seriousness and detail, has been the revelation we’ve known we’ve needed for about two decades, and though Wayne Rooney has been excellent on BBC, he’s learning that game – Hayes is already an all time great.
BBC will be relatively happy with their England v Ghana viewing figures – though, as the Guardian’s Matt Hughes points out, the key number is the same as watched the Croatia game on the ITV channel.
BBC Sport’s live page on the website and app had over 10 million page views with audiences following the late-night match.
BBC Sport’s new 3D Experience continues to provide audiences with an alternative way to watch the World Cup with the feature used 300k times during England v Ghana alone and 2.2 million times during the tournament so far.
“If Ben N thinks England are a mediocre side,” retorts Peter Mumola, I suspect he hasn’t watched much of Mexico. Of course, they’re one of the hosts, but I think their ceiling is well below England’s.”
I agree with that. Mexico could absolutely beat them, but they’d need to no-show. Should they meet, most likely, some combination of Harry Kane and England’s athletic power proves to be too much.
Norway are another team I’m absolutely rattling to see in the knockouts. But before that, I’m excited to see how they go against France – though I think there’s a strong chance both managers rotate. Either way, though, with Sander Berge and Martin Ødegaard in their midfield, with Antonio Nusa and Erling Haaland up front, they’re a threat to pretty much anyone.
Norway’s ‘Viking row’ celebration irks neighbours
Norway’s success at the World Cup has triggered euphoria at home, but the team’s trademark “Viking row” celebration is beginning to test the patience of their Scandinavian neighbours, drawing shrugs from Sweden and envy from Denmark.
The “Viking row” celebration has become a phenomenon at the World Cup, with captain Martin Odegaard even leading the players, coaching staff and supporters in a synchronised performance after the final whistle in their 3-2 win over Senegal, with Norwegian fans later trying to get the King of Norway to join in during the subsequent celebrations.
For the Swedes, however, their neighbours’ celebration is more of a nuisance than a novelty, with some finding the rowing simulation too reminiscent of the “thunderclap” made famous by Iceland fans in previous tournaments.
“I am never going to do it. We just sigh. Perhaps mostly at the TV crew who choose to zoom in on it every single time,” Sweden defender Gustaf Lagerbielke told reporters at a press conference on Tuesday. “It is very similar to the Icelandic volcano, after all. But, whatever floats your boat.“ Other members of the Swedish squad were similarly underwhelmed.
“It is probably starting to get a bit overused. It feels like they run it every time they get the chance. But it does work well for them, after all,” teammate Elliot Stroud added. Yet while the Swedes can remain focused on their own camp, the Danes, absent from the tournament after a qualification play-off defeat to the Czech Republic, are finding the Norwegian euphoria much harder to stomach.
“It is bordering on Nordic adult bullying. The Norwegians are currently experiencing the party of their lives. And what is more, in the company of a national team that can actually play football,” Danish journalist Johnny Wojciech Kokborg wrote in the tabloid B.T.
“The fact is — unfortunately — that the Norwegians could end up hurting a lot of teams. But most of all, it hurts us Danes to admit that we are no longer the best in the Nordic region.”
He added: “It is simply unbearable. You are mocking us, Norway.”
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It’s going down in Miami tonight. Imagine if Scotland get a result!
I feel similarly about Senegal, so impressive against France. If Ismaïla Sarr scores that chance just before half-time, when in front of a gaping net, who knows; now, even a win over Iraq might not be enough. And what a travesty that’d be – they’re a top-16 team, not one of the 16 worst.
I mentioned Côte d’Ivoire a few minutes ago – they’re another team I’m really looking forward to seeing assuming they do enough against Curaçao to make the knockouts. Simon Adingra opting not to shoot first time and give them the win over Germany might come back to haunt them, but I really enjoy the bravery and aggression in their play.
“I suspect this is quite a mediocre England side, with, furthermore, a positively not very good defence, writes Ben N. “If they win the group they will probably struggle to make it past Mexico in the last 16. Would say on Ghana, while they are getting bigged up to some extent (as reflected in the player ratings), and, yes, they should have had a penalty, they otherwise, to state the obvious, didn’t do much, except try to stop England playing. They achieved that, but it is dull as all heck. As such, I’m not bothered they were denied the penalty. Carlos Quieroz is like the Darth Maul of football management, an out of time, second-rate, bad guy. I feel that’s over generous, because Darth Maul was actually quite good, but I cannot remember any other Darths, beyond the obvious (Darth Vader = Jose Mourinho?). Anyway, you get the idea.”
I think that’s harsh on Quieroz, who is elite at setting up a defence, but less so at the rest of the stuff. As for England, I think they’re a lot better than mediocre, but I don’t like the midfield balance, nor the attacking options for when things don’t go to plan – a problem entirely self-inflicted. The players were there, they were just left at home.
Nevertheless, they are potential winners, but an outside shot – I don’t think their defence could cope with France’s attack, though I’d give it a better chance if Harry Maguire and Lewis Hall were in it.
Of course, what USA don’t have that Spurs had is the goals of Harry Kane. But over the course of a tournament, relative to a season, it’s possible to spread them around or win narrowly, just as it is for one player to hit a seam unsustainable over the stretch but enough to influence a cup competition.
lSo how do we think USA will fare in this competition? I really like their chances of going deep, if you don’t mind my slipping into local sportese: they’re settled, confident and physical while, for the first time since he was at Spurs, Mauricio Pochettino has a squad with the capacity and desire to do what is required to make his football effective. No one will relish facing them, and that’s even before we consider home advantage.
Like Mr Pleat and I imagine, pretty much everyone else, I’m taken with Ayyoub Bouaddi. I do, though want to see more incisive forward passing from him – to be the complete midfielder, it’s essential, the absence of it a major reason England didn’t create much against Ghana. Morocco aren’t anyone’s idea of prolific scorers, which may be by design but, as they move through the tournament, they’ll need to find a way of altering that – they can’t rely on penalties, which got them past Spain and Portugal in 2022.
I’ve a name i’d like to add to that list. This boy is a player.
Hello, hello. It’s good to be back, good to be back.
Looking at this week’s The Knowledge, below, I’m reminded of, topically enough, being in the away end when Ghana visited Wembley in 2011. Daniel Welbeck made his England debut that night and, as a British-Ghanaian, was given all sorts of aggravation from the visiting support.
However, Welbz was already doing his best for the motherland – when he broke into the Manchester United team, he was still living with his parents, so would bring Ghanaian rice, stew and meat into training for Wayne Rooney and Tom Cleverley. I’m absolutely certain that changed their lives – it certainly did mine when I started seeing my wife, also British-Ghanaian.
Thanks Tom and high again everyone. We’re six hours away from football…
Right, that’s my stint in the chair done. Time to hand back over to Daniel Harris to lighten your long hot afternoon/morning/evening.
Seattle sticking with World Cup ‘Pride Match’
Seattle’s LGBTQ community members say they hope that this Friday’s World Cup “Pride Match” between Egypt and Iran, two countries where homosexuality is criminalised, can be an opportunity to change minds. Seattle revels in its reputation as a welcoming place and Pride flags are visible all over the city, all year round. Its June Pride weekend is one of the biggest in the United States.
So, before December’s World Cup draw, it was only natural that local organisers designated the 26 June match to be held in the city as a “Pride Match.“ Then the draw happened — and the two teams scheduled to play the game were Egypt and Iran.
Egypt’s Football Association urged global soccer governing body Fifa to prevent any Pride-related activities, arguing such events clashed with the Muslim-majority country’s cultural and religious values. The governing body in Iran, where same-sex relations can carry the death penalty, filed an objection with Fifa.
But in Seattle, there is no question that the Pride Match will go ahead as planned. “The World Cup is going to come and go in three weeks,” Hedda McLendon, from Seattle’s local World Cup organising committee, told Reuters. “The Pride celebration … has happened on this weekend for 50-plus years. It is going to happen this weekend, it is going to happen long after the World Cup.” Reuters
Seems a strange day for Derek MacInnes to be conducting his first press conference as Rangers manager, with Scottish focus on Miami later in the day, but then the Old Firm have always lived in their own bubble (and a large chunk of the Tartan Army have no time for either of them, to put it mildly).
More Brazil now, and Carlo Ancelotti says Scotland need to be respected, as PA Media reports. “It will be a difficult game. Scotland has quality, they are fighters, they are well organised,” said the Brazil manager. They have good players, [Scott] McTominay, [John] McGinn that are experienced players. Easy games at the World Cup were finished a long time ago. We are ready to play a difficult game.
As, inevitably, for Neymar, Ancelotti said: “He is available, he trained very well this week, he is fit and able and ready to play. We are very happy that he is back, he is a high-quality player.”
“He can play half the time or the whole 90 minutes. He is very well, he worked very, hard so he is ready.
“His attitude is very good, he is in very good spirits, he’s a good player and team-mate, he’s very serious and we want to put him back to play as soon as possible. He brings experience and knowledge, he is doing very well.”
One player who will miss out is Raphinha, who sustained a hamstring injury in Brazil’s 3-0 win over Haiti.
One of the tastiest fixtures of the final round of first-phase fixtures is Group J’s Algeria-Austria face-off on Sunday in Kansas City, the first meeting of the countries since the notorious “anschluss” match between West Germany and Austria, when the teams played out at walking pace the 1-0 win for the former that would take both through, at Algeria’s expense. Forty-four years on, both sides could similarly play out a draw to progress. As Finchleyjohn points out BTL:
The Group stages conclude with Group J … By then, the 3rd place qualification requirements will be crystal clear, so a “Disgrace of Kansas City” between Algeria and Austria is a looming probability. An uneventful draw would see both through, likely at the expense of a team with 3 points and a negative goal difference. Are the Scottish media, players, management and fans prepared for potentially being sent home in this manner?
I actually reckon it’s worth lumping on a swashbuckling attackfest – 4-2 Austria (Algeria’s defence has looked wobbly so far). Don’t thank me.
As healthy multiple national identities become more acknowledged. this week’s Knowledge looks at international players not celebrating goals against countries with whom they have a connection, in the light of Sweden’s Yasin Ayari not celebrating scoring against Tunisia.
“It might just be the massive pedant in me,” admits Steve on email, “but was anyone else irrationally enraged by the commentator chortling over Queiroz’s ‘spin’ last night with his ‘we don’t lose, we win or learn’ as if Queiroz had made some silly phrase up?
“For a start it’s something Mourinho said in a football context a few years ago so it’s hardly new, and he himself stole it from Nelson Mandela. I’d put money on how if Kane had quoted Mourinho quoting Mandela it’d be seen as Churchill-esque iron spirit too, not ‘spin’.”
We’re a year out from the next Fifa World Cup, the 2027 edition of the Women’s World Cup in Brazil, and enthusiasm is mounting, as Júlia Belas Trindade documents in this week’s Moving the Goalposts newsletter:
“Brazilian women’s football has a history marked by great struggle and resilience, … It was built by women who dared to play football during periods when it was banned, and also in the years that followed, when they still faced many barriers. Listening to, valuing and honouring these stories is essential if we are to make historical amends.”
Attendances on track for record highs
The US knows how to fill its stadiums, and official crowds are heading towards record levels, reports Reuters:
World Cup attendances are on track for record highs despite daunting ticket prices and Trump administration travel restrictions. Experts say it is less a reflection of America’s fondness for soccer, and more a measure of its love of spectacle.
Through 44 matches, total attendance topped 2.85 million, with the average stadium about 99.6% full, according to a Reuters analysis based on Fifa data.
“Americans like big events,” said Dan Rascher, a sports economics expert at the University of San Francisco. “They want to be there for the big moments.“
While this year’s World Cup is bigger than its predecessors – totalling 104 matches, up from 64 – attendance is on pace to break the all-time record well before this year’s 64th game. The existing mark of nearly 3.6 million spectators was set in 1994, the last time the U.S. hosted.
“Part of it is that we have these gigantic stadiums,” said Victor Matheson, an economist and sports business expert at the College of the Holy Cross.
But stadiums in 2026 are also fuller, on a percentage basis, than nearly any World Cup this century, with the possible exception of Germany’s in 2006, according to FIFA annual reports and a Reuters attendance analysis.
There are some stunning images in this here gallery on the different ways fans around the world are watching the World Cup. Am a particular fan of the big screen in a Stuttgart church. Fill yer boots …
A delve below the line now, and English failings, on the pitch and in the stands, are still exercising many of you. Here’s ChrisBedford:
At one point the BBC highlighted that Guehi and Konsa had both made more passes than the entire Ghana team.
They didn’t point out that most of these were sideways from one to the other and back, over and over again.
While Chris282 has a valid cringe about one song sung by England’s fans:
I especially enjoyed the England fans singing “Rule Britania… Britons never, never, never will be slaves” to two teams, one composed of Ghanaians and the other largely composed of players with some Afro-Caribbean heritage. Those back in the studio didn’t try and unpick that one but I’d have been grateful if they’d had a go at explaining the thought processes there.
Some transfer news now: the Yorkshire Evening Post is reporting that Leeds have sealed an agreement to sign Harry Wilson from Fulham. The Wales midfielder becomes a free agent on 1 July and has interest from Aston Villa and Everton but it now looks as if Daniel Farke has sealed a handy deal to bring Wilson to Elland Road.
My pleas for pessimism are granted: here’s Tom Sanderson on the mood in Brazil:
Expectations back home are low. Brazil could face Japan or the Netherlands in the next round, then possibly Germany or France in the last-16 depending on results. A quarter-final showdown with England can’t be ruled out either.
On the subject of Brazil v Scotland, here’s Stephen Pye on one of the Scots’ most famous World Cup goals: the best Scotland team to go to a World Cup, for my money.
World Cup gripe: I’ve just been watching Sky Sports do vox pops with Brazil and Scotland fans in Miami and Glasgow and every single one of them predicted a favourable result for their team? Do they sound like the sort of people you go to matches with week-in, week-out? Where’s the gloom and pessimism and “I’ve got a bad feeling about today” that you’d get in every pub or cafe before any football match in the real world?
Lazio to pay compensation after landmark Cas pregnancy ruling
Tom Garry
Away from the men’s World Cup, an important legal ruling in the women’s game, as Tom Garry reports
Lazio Women unlawfully ended the Swedish footballer Maja Göthberg’s time at the club because of her pregnancy, the court of arbitration for sport (Cas) has ruled, ordering the Italian club to pay compensation.
The landmark case revolved around Fifa’s maternity regulations, which were enhanced in 2024. This was the first case in which Cas found a club unlawfully ended an employment relationship because of a player’s pregnancy and, significantly, the court found in the players’ favour even though she had not signed her proposed new contract at the time.
Göthberg had helped Lazio win promotion to Italy’s top tier in the 2023-24 campaign, before entering contract negotiations. No deal was signed but both parties had agreed on the key terms of the 28-year-old’s contract. Before signing, Göthberg discovered she was pregnant. Despite not being obliged to inform Lazio of her pregnancy at that stage, the former Sweden youth international chose to tell the club. Cas heard that Lazio then withdrew from the contract agreement. Cas also heard that Göthberg’s teammates had been informed of her pregnancy without her consent.
On this day in World Cup history: who can forget this one, from 2014?
Thanks Daniel. Not sure “chill” is the easiest thing to do right now amid this oppressive London swelter (the only way in which I felt jealous of anyone in Boston Stadium yesterday was of the murky drizzle they were all blessed with).
Nevertheless, we persist, and look ahead to what is surely the busiest day of any World Cup ever: has there ever been six games in a single tournament day before? Am looking forward to Switzerland v Canada first off – I’ve enjoyed the attacking cut of each’s jib so far, particularly that of the co-hosts.
Righto, that’s me done for now. I’ll be back this afternoon but, in the meantime, here’s Tom Davies to chill with you for the next bit.
Of course, this won’t be the first time we’ve seen Scotland take on Brazil, needing a result to progress.
The Tartan Army in Miami is one of those pairings no one would ever have thought to make, but now we have it, we can see it’s immense.
I’m not certain where Neymar fits into Ancelotti’s XI, and Clarke is right to be respectful of a player who, bafflingly, doesn’t seem to get the vast quantities of respect he deserves. But behind closed doors, he’s not one I’d especially fear.
