One shot. One touch. One World Cup career, over. Spain beat Portugal 1-0 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, on July 7, 2026, in a World Cup Round of 16 tie decided by substitute Mikel Merino’s goal deep into stoppage time. Cristiano Ronaldo, at 41 and almost certainly playing his last major tournament, finished the … Read more
Haaland Breaks Brazil’s Hearts as Norway Reach First World Cup Quarterfinal in 2026 Everyone will say the numbers back Brazil. They are missing the real story. Norway beat Brazil 2-1 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, on July 6, 2026, in a World Cup Round of 16 tie that sends Stale Solbakken’s team … Read more
Two Goals From Oyarzabal Send Spain Cruising Past Austria Eleven goals in his last ten appearances for Spain. That is the number Mikel Oyarzabal carried into this one, and by full time it had grown again. Spain beat Austria 3-0 at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, on July 3, 2026, in a Round of 32 … Read more
Argentina Needed Extra Time to Survive Cape Verde at the 2026 World Cup Ten saves. That is how many times Vozinha had to deny Argentina before Cape Verde’s World Cup finally ran out of minutes. Argentina beat Cape Verde 3-2 after extra time at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens on July 4, 2026, in … Read more
Nine men short, one goal up, and ninety minutes to survive. Paraguay had a plan at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara on June 20, 2026. Losing Miguel Almiron to a red card in first-half stoppage time was not part of it. Paraguay beat Turkey 1-0 in their 2026 World Cup Group D match at Levi’s … Read more
Cunha Clicked, Vinicius Finished It and Brazil Are Through in 2026 Three goals, all before half-time, and a Raphinha injury to dampen the mood slightly. That is the Brazil story from Philadelphia on June 20, 2026, and it is mostly a good one. Brazil beat Haiti 3-0 at Lincoln Financial Field in a 2026 World … Read more
0.65 xG. From 75 percent possession. That is Portugal’s first-half-and-full-match combined attacking return against a team ranked 63 places below them in the world, and it tells you everything the scoreline is too polite to say. Portugal drew 1-1 with Congo DR in their Group K opener at NRG Stadium in Houston on June 17, … Read more
Sixteen goals. Two World Cups apart. One number that now belongs to both Miroslav Klose and Lionel Messi. Argentina beat Algeria 3-0 at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri, on June 17, 2026, in their Group J opener at the World Cup. Messi scored all three goals himself, in the 17th, 60th, and 76th minutes, … Read more
Twenty-nine minutes. That is how long Erling Haaland waited to score his first ever World Cup goal, and by full time he had two of them plus a small role in two more. Norway beat Iraq 4-1 at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, on June 17, 2026, in their Group I opener at the World … Read more
For 65 minutes, France looked like a team still finding its rhythm. Then Kylian Mbappe decided the wait was over, and by full time he had rewritten a piece of his country’s history along the way. France beat Senegal 3-1 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, on June 17, 2026, in their Group … Read more