World Cup 2026: Jordan fan dies in crowd crush; criticism of Ronaldo and Portugal ‘unfair’; England face Ghana – live

If you are going to score one international goal, you might as well make it special. José Luis Brown scoring for Argentina in the 1986 World Cup final takes some beating. Kieran Trippier scored his only England goal in a World Cup semi-final. Gary Mackay’s only goal for Scotland helped the Republic of Ireland reach Euro 88. And the general hilarity of Davide Gualtieri’s sole strike for San Marino ensures that it lives on in the memory.

Steven Pye on David Narey’s one and only international goal.

It does mean that Ronaldo is getting another go and I am sure he will be doing everything to spite his critics.

Portugal: Costa, Joao Cancelo, Dias, Veiga, Nuno Mendes, Joao Neves, Vitinha, Pedro Neto, Fernandes, Joao Felix, Ronaldo.

Subs: Jose Sa, Rui Silva, Nelson Semedo, Araujo, Dalot, Matheus Luiz, Goncalo Ramos, Silva, Inacio, Trincao, Leao, Goncalo Guedes, Ruben Neves, Samu, Francisco Conceicao.

Uzbekistan: Nematov, Khusanov, Abdullayev, Ashurmatov, Karimov, Hamrobekov, Shukurov, Nasrullayev, Fayzullaev, Ganiev, Shomurodov.

Subs: Yusupov, Ergashev, Alizhonov, Sayfiev, Mozgovoy, Iskanderov, Jiyanov, Urunov, Eshmurodov, Khamdamov, Amonov, Sergeev, Esanov, Ulmasaliev, Urozov.

Referee: Jalal Jayed (Morocco)

Good luck to all those people who have just collected young children from school or nursery in the UK. I am sure they had a tough day in the heat.

No, I do not know why one of those England fans is wearing a Real Madrid shirt either. I assume it is a protest against Trent Alexander-Arnold not getting the call up.

The England fans are getting ready in Boston … but it’s a touch damp.

Once again, I am fuming I am not asked to write this.

Senegal captain Kalidou Koulibaly owned up to key mistakes in his side’s loss to Norway that left the African side in danger of early elimination.

Koulibaly’s slips allowed Norway ⁠to win 3-2 ⁠and book ​their place in the next round along with France, while Senegal, who before the tournament had been touted as strong ⁠outsiders, have yet to pick up any points and must win their match against Iraq in Toronto on Friday if they are to ⁠have any chance of being one of the best third-placed finishers.

“At the top level, ​football comes down to the details. ‌The team that makes ‌the fewest mistakes wins. Today, I made a lot of mistakes and that’s a ‌real shame,” Koulibaly told reporters after the game. “The standard at the World Cup is very high and so there is no room for error. We made too many mistakes to stand any chance of winning the match.”

Koulibaly misjudged a clearance and goalkeeper Edouard Mendy was unable to keep out substitute Marcus Pedersen’s rasping ‌shot to give Norway the lead close to halftime.

The 35-year-old defender, whose place had been questioned after the defeat to France in ​their opening game in Group I, was also culpable for Erling Haaland’s two goals in the second half. Reuters

Peter Rehwaldt emails: “The more I watch what is happening around the GWC, the more I see something unique about the US as a host nation. The US has a *lof* of residents (US citizens, non-citizen immigrants, or folks on temporary long-term visas) who came here from all these different countries, and they are coming out in droves to cheer the teams of their heritage.

“Here in KC, a couple of Algerian students at the University of Kansas in Lawrence were so delighted that the Algerians had chosen KU to be their base, that they reached out to the Algerian community in the southern suburbs of KC to create a huge welcome for the Algerian team, and got a whole bunch of their neighbors to learn about Algeria and join in the cheering. The neighbors may still cheer for USA USA USA, but have no problem embracing their Algerian neighbor’s team along the way. A local sports clothing shop notes they have sold more Algeria jerseys than USA jerseys!

“Residents of Dutch heritage seem to have inspired their neighbors to buy up every piece of orange clothing and every can of orange paint in town, and a local bar has become such a supporter of the Oranje that the Dutch supporters who have come to KC are in tears at their reception.

“And it’s not just KC. LA has a large population of folks of Iranian heritage. Some came years ago, under the Shah’s reign, while others were refugee followers of the then-exiled Ayatollah Khomeni. Some came after the 1978-89 revolution, fleeing the new regime, and others have come to seek out a new future. But at Iran’s game against Belgium, all these Iranian ex-pats, with all their various political views, all of them came out to support their team.

“The diversity of the US is really shining through with the World Cup, and the best part of it is that it makes a mockery of Trump’s claims of the US being a white Christian country. Gotta love it.”

We have Portugal v Uzbekistan soon enough. What a fine first full season Khusanov had at City. He was unreliable after he signed 18 months ago but looks a quality defender now with plenty of pace.

Watching football at school were some of my first memories. Let them watch it, lads.

Gary O’Neil has been appointed Ipswich manager on a three-year contract, the Premier League club have announced.

“It is an honour to be appointed Manager of this great football club,” O’Neil said.

“I have followed the progress the club has made over the last few years closely and to now have the opportunity to lead Ipswich Town in the Premier League is something I am hugely excited by.

“There is a strong vision and ambition at this club and I am fully aware of the responsibility that brings, given how much it means to its supporters and to the community of Ipswich and Suffolk.

“We all know the challenge ahead as we prepare for the season together and I’m excited to meet everyone and get to work.”

I will only be doing this blog if my laptop survives the the heat.

Right, here’s Will Unwin to steer the blog for the next bit of time. Stay cool out there people.

Semenyo will dominate the preamble to England v Ghana, but if I were to pick out another Black Stars player who should be concerning Thomas Tuchel it would be Brandon Thomas-Asante.

The Coventry City forward came off the bench to good effect against Panama, setting up Caleb Yirenkyi for the winner.

In some very unsurprising news …

I think Tuchel will stick very closely to the team that beat Croatia when selecting his lineup versus Ghana tonight. But if England get a favourable result, don’t be surprised to see him rotate against Panama. Kobbie Mainoo for Rice in midfield seems one obvious change Tuchel would make, as well as switching in the likes of Djed Spence and Marc Guéhi at the back. Maybe he would even wrap Harry Kane in cotton wool if England can assure themselves of top spot in Group L.

Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice has been managing a hamstring injury for a while and has been talking about how he’s got the mental and physical resilience to deal with a World Cup campaign with England.

Rice was taken off by Thomas Tuchel during England’s 4-2 win over Croatia and his game-time may have to be managed throughout the tournament.

I’ve been lucky enough to play in Europe for the last six years, my last three years at West Ham, my first three with Arsenal, so my body’s been conditioned and built for these moments for playing long seasons.

I’ll probably say this season has been mentally tougher than physically, just because the emotions of a football player is crazy, the feelings and emotions we go through in a season is up and down, you need to find that balance.

I think at this moment in time, [I’m] in a mentally very good space, physically I feel really good as well. So I want to keep taking this into the end of the end of tournament.

Hmm… I know Ronaldo-bashing is becoming a ‘thing’ at this tournament, but I wouldn’t be betting against the Al-Nassr man today. Portugal face World Cup first-timers Uzbekistan in Houston later.

US agencies ⁠have seized more than 300 ⁠drones ⁠near ​World Cup sites ⁠since the start of the tournament ⁠on 11 June, ‌the ‌Transportation Security Administration ‌has told Reuters.

During match days, all aircraft operations, including drones, ‌are prohibited within a ​radius of three nautical miles and ⁠up to 3,000 ​feet above ​ground ​level around ​the ‌stadiums ​unless ​specifically authorised by air traffic controllers.

Sorry to drone on …

I wrote today’s Football Daily newsletter so I implore you all, shamelessly, to read and sign up. Cheers.

Former Italy head coach Gennaro Gattuso, who ⁠left the national team after they failed to qualify ⁠for the World ⁠Cup, ​has joined Lazio as manager, the Serie A ⁠club has confirmed.

Lazio parted ways with manager Maurizio Sarri ⁠in May after finishing ninth ​in the Italian ‌top flight ‌and losing the Coppa Italia final ‌to Inter. Gattuso has now managed AC Milan, Napoli, Fiorentina, the Italian team and now Lazio, plus Valencia, Marseille and Hadjuk Split among others.

“The club warmly welcomes its new manager and is confident that his experience, professionalism and determination will help the club achieve ‌its sporting objectives,” Lazio said in a statement.

“I really enjoyed David Hytner’s recent article about England’s ‘finishers’ (Rashford, Rogers, Saka…),” emails Jeremy Boyce. “And was struck by how he didn’t draw a parallel with rugby, where ‘finishers’ have been part of the plan for years, and there are no questions raised about them not being starters. A great example is the England rugby hooker position, currently occupied by Jamie George (starter) and Luke Cowan-Dickie (finisher). Last year in the Six Nations they gave Cowan-Dickie a chance to be a starter with catastrophic results.

“We should look at our footie finishers in the same way. Rashford seems more relaxed as a sub and scorer than as a starter. Sake needs protection till he’s back to full fitness. Rogers is an explosive talent who can pull surprises. They’re as valuable a part of the team as the starters and put the fear of whatever into opposing teams when they appear.”

England versus Ghana tonight will be a full circle moment for the Black Stars’ key player, Antoine Semenyo.

The London-born winger is a very familiar face to Premier League-watching audiences these days but his journey to facing the country of his birth at the World Cup has been an unorthodox one. From being rejected by a host of professional academies in London, to being persuaded by former Forest Green and Leeds boss Dave Hockaday to join an academy program at South Gloucestershire and Stroud College, which led to him being signed by Bristol City.

After a stint at Hellenic League side Highworth Town, a loan to Newport County and then a breakout spell in Bristol City’s first team, Semenyo is now one of the Premier League’s top players at Manchester City, via Bournemouth, and someone England will be worrying about before their clash with Ghana in Boston later.

Ghana’s 2010 World Cup quarter-final defeat to Uruguay is, by all accounts, a key footballing memory of Semenyo, whose parents are Ghanaian. Even a point for Ghana tonight would give them a great chance of reaching the knockout stages.

Some people are taking issue with Lionel Messi’s rate of scoring when it comes to World Cup goals. Which is fair(ish). You’ve still gotta score ‘em.

Krishna adds on email: “The stunning aspect of the WC leading scorers is Mbappé. He has scored in one World Cup as much as CR7’s total, and he is now level with Klose. I will not be surprised if he ends this edition as the leading scorer with 28 goals . He has another two World Cups in him, bare minimum. His WC goals tally will remain forever like Bradman’s 99.94 [cricket average].

Wild overnight celebrations erupted across Norway as the ⁠men’s national team secured qualification to the World Cup knockout stages – and a ⁠tide of ⁠elated ​supporters headed to the palace of 89-year-old King Harald V to see if ⁠he would join their party. Despite the match ending at around 4am local time on Tuesday, Norwegian supporters took to the streets ​to party after ‌seeing their team ‌qualify for the last 32 after a thrilling ‌3-2 win against Senegal in Group I.

World Cup fever engulfed Oslo, with the capital full of people celebrating the win, even though Tuesday is a regular working day. A ‌large crowd marched up Oslo’s main thoroughfare towards the royal residence chanting: “We’re going to ​wake up the king.” Upon reaching the palace square, hundreds of fans sat on the ground to perform the “Viking rowing” celebration.

The Norwegian Royal House declined ⁠to comment on whether the King and Queen ​Sonja ​had been awoken by ​the festivities, or if the monarch had ​stayed up ‌to watch ​the match.

It ​said: “The Royal House rejoices with the rest of the country over the men’s national team’s victory last night.”

After Lionel Messi’s heroics last night, I’ve been looking quite intently at the list of all-time World Cup top goalscorers today.

It’s hard to believe Cristiano Ronaldo fails to make the top 20, having only scored eight across his six World Cups so far. French legend Just Fontaine managed 13 in a single tournament back in 1958 – and he only played six games.

England’s Harry Kane and Gary Lineker are on a respectable 10 each.

Thanks Martin. C’or it’s warm in the UK right now. Is this why England players ‘wilt’ in the heat of a summer World Cup so often?

That is my stint done – I will be back on Monday as I’m going away for a few days. I’ll leave you in the very capable hands of Dominic Booth.

Barcelona have signed Egypt forward Hamza ⁠Abdelkarim on a three-year deal, the LaLiga club ⁠said in ⁠a ​statement on Tuesday, Reuters reports.

The 18-year-old international joined Barcelona on ⁠loan from Al Ahly in the winter transfer window, with ⁠a purchase option at the ​end of ‌the season. ‌Abdelkarim scored six goals in 11 ‌appearances for the club’s under-19 side.

Due to our historic rivalry I was quietly narrowing my eyes slightly at people cheering on Argentina in a pub in England yesterday, but that is nothing to the strength of support for La Albiceleste in Bangladesh, where these incredible pictures come from.

Predictably, I was very much against the expansion of the tournament and consider 48 teams and approximately one gazillion group stage matches too much football. Also predictably, once it started, I have been absolutely lapping it up, and very much enjoyed the moments when the likes of Qatar, Curaçao and Cape Verde have snatched points against more fancied opposition.

However, the third-place qualifiers thing is still grinding my gears. This chart purports to show your possibilities of qualifying with various combinations of points and goal difference.

The picture will shakedown considerably after tomorrow. One of Bosnia and Herzegovina or Qatar could end up on four points, and one of Czechia or South Africa could end on four points by the close of matchday 3 in Group A and B. Sweden, Scotland, Algeria and Paraguay all have three points already in third place, and Scotland’s group concludes tomorrow as well. At that point it should be clear which of Group A, B or C are likely sending teams through to the Round of 32, which will then eliminate various of the *counts on fingers* 495 possible combinations of fixtures, and start to sort out who can and can’t play each other as the bracket develops. What a palaver.