Tournaments

Egypt took a shock lead through Yasser Ibrahim’s header at 15 minutes of the game through header from a beautiful cross from Egyptian Marwan Attia made it 1-0.

Shortly after the goal on 17 minutes, the Argentinian player maker missed a penalty from Haissem Hassan with a foul on Nicolas Tagliafico which could have given Argentina a chance to score an instant equalizer.

With this penalty missed, Messi has now missed HALF of the penalties he’s taken at the World Cup.

❌ vs. Iceland (2018)
⚽ vs. Saudi Arabia (2022)
❌ vs. Poland (2022)
⚽ vs. Netherlands (2022)
⚽ vs. Croatia (2022)
⚽ vs. France (2022)
❌ vs. Austria (2026)
❌ vs. Egypt (2026)

He’s the FIRST player in World Cup history to miss two penalties in a single edition.

The game continues to show no lack of confidence from Egypt, they’re not giving Argentina any respect.
They’re getting in their faces, they’re pressing high, and they’re quite happy to take them on at the moment.
Toward the end of the first half, it was all Argentina led them to have a good chance with a Lionel Messi free-kick from a central position and 25 yards out. It curls around the wall but just wide of goal. Close, but not close enough, and Egypt got to the end of halftime with that clean sheet.

The second half begins. Argentina are pressing forward while Egypt sit back. Mohamed Salah is isolated getting ready for a counter-attack.
On 67 minutes, the Egyptian got their patter right as he finished off a rapid counter-attack involving Salah and Hassan to get a goal which actually made somebody think it over.

In 79 minutes, Argentina regained the fight through an assist to pull one out as he slugged the ball into the box from the right and Tottenham defender Cristian Romero was free and uses all of his neck muscles to power the header at goal make the game 2-1.

On 83 minutes mess do again create brilliant drama by hitting ball on the half-volley from a Gonzalo Montiel’s assist to result 2–2 draw.

It has been all about Argentina since they got back into their confidence. Incredible happened in the 90th+2 minute when the third goal was got from Lautaro Martinez who crossed from the right and Chelsea midfielder Enzo Fernández was there at the back post and did it with a super header make it end of 79 minutes Egypt 2-0 led now Argentina are 3-2 ahead and leading through. What a game.

More history for Messi

With goals in today’s game, Argentina’s Lionel Messi became the first player in World Cup history to score in six consecutive knockout stage matches.

Lionel Messi is now with 13 goals in this World Cup, and he is now on 21 among the all-time top goal scorers with two clear of Kalian Mbappe’s, but none can judge if Mbappé’s game on Thursday against Morocco.

As it is now, Spain will play Belgium in the quarterfinals on Friday as Belgium beat the US 4-1 in the round of 16 of the FIFA world tournament on Monday night.

The first half gave US hope as Malik Tillman equalized a 9th-minute goal from C.D. Ketelaere,deflecting a shot from a Belgian player who was jumping as part of a wall on 31 minutes.

The Americans kept showing some game standards, until Charles. D. Ketelaere scored with a header on a cross into the box just two minutes after their goal made the first period end 2-1 in favor of Belgium.

In the second half, things only got worse for the Americans. In the 57th minute, Freeze made a critical error. He came way out of the goal to play a ball, only to lose possession and allow Belgium’s Hans Vanaken to score. Shortly after, the Americans’ leader, Christian Pulisic, was subbed out of the game with an apparent injury.

In stoppage time, 90+3, Romulus Lukaku tacked on the final goal to seal the Americans’ fate.

The game finally ended 4-1 in favor of Belgium 🇧🇪.

Who will win Friday’s game ?
Let’s look into their past encounters.
In normal games played, both have been able to meet seven times, although none of them are the FIFA World Cup but qualifiers and international games where Spain won six and drew one in all encounters with Belgium. I can judge the results on Friday. No one can really say, because the recent form of both countries is commendable which show below
Belgium form
3–2 vs Senegal (H)
1 Jul 2026
FIFA World Cup Round of 32
5–1 vs New Zealand (A)
27 Jun 2026
FIFA World Cup Group G
0–0 vs Iran (H)
21 Jun 2026
FIFA World Cup Group G 1–1 vs Egypt (H)
15 Jun 2026
FIFA World Cup Group G
5–0 vs Tunisia (H)
6 Jun 2026
International Match
2 – 0vs Croatia (A)
2 Jun 2026
International Match

Spain form
3–0 vs Austria (H)
2 Jul 2026
FIFA World Cup Round of 32
1–0 vs Uruguay (A)
27 Jun 2026
FIFA World Cup Group H
4–0 vs Saudi Arabia (H)
21 Jun 2026
FIFA World Cup Group H
0–0 vs Cape Verde (H)
15 Jun 2026
FIFA World Cup Group H
3–1 vs Peru (A)
9 Jun 2026
International Match
1–1 vs Iraq (H)
4 Jun 2026

Belgium have played 15 FIFA World Cups and the first FIFA World Cup in 1930 which their best finish in the World Cup is third at the 2018 tournament in Russia and fourth in the 1986 edition in Mexico.

Spain had 17 appearances in the FIFA World Cup out of the 23 editions of the tournaments. They only won it once, which was in the year 2010, and their best World Cup result was a fourth-place finish in 1950.

Portugal lost 1-0 in the match against Spain in FIFA World Round 16 magnifying the statement by 41 years plus Portugal’s goals machine before the game ‘ This will now be my last World Cup ‘. I think it will not only be the World Cup but international football because Ronaldo will be 43 by the time the next major tournament comes around — the 2028 European Championships hosted in the UK & Ireland.
I think cr7 should remember his performance at the World Cup will not define his career — but it will follow him around. The fact he never got past the quarter-final stage of a competition Messi won will be the stick that many will beat him with in the biggest modern era debate there is.

He is not the only generational player in the modern era to not guide his country to World Cup glory. But he will likely go down as the best player to have ever won the main international prize, and he could be Cristiano Ronaldo Jr. (also known as Cristiano), who is 16 years old now born on June 17, 2010, in La Mesa, California, USA, who will win the world in the next World Cup for Portugal.

Cristiano Ronaldo Record in World Cup

Cristiano Ronaldo made his FIFA World Cup debut during the 2006 tournament in Germany. The then-21-year-old Portuguese forward made six appearances, scored a goal, netted a penalty and helped Portugal to a fourth-place finish.

Since they reached the semi-finals in 2006, Portugal have not really done well.

2010: Round of 16
2014: Group stage
2018: Round of 16
2022: Quarter-finals
2026: Round of 16
But the 41-year-old is the first man to score in six separate World Cups during this tournament.

If that is the end of his international, then let’s take a look at his impressive stats for Portugal:

Games: 233
Goals: 146
Assists: 46
European Championships: 1 (2016)
Nations League: 2 (2019, 2025)

Portugal’s all-time top goalscorer in the competition.

The first player to score 25+ goals in the Men’s World Cup and European Championships.

The oldest player to score in the knockout rounds of the competition.
All this contribution should wave away this brutal static
In 9 knockout matches at the World Cup from the Round of 16 onwards, Cristiano Ronaldo has never scored or assisted.

Last 16 vs. Spain (2026)
Last 16 vs. Morocco (2022)
Quarter-final vs. Morocco (2022)
Last 16 vs. Uruguay (2018)
Last 16 vs. Spain (2010)
Third-place playoff vs. Germany (2006)
Semi-final vs. France (2006)
Quarter-final vs. England (2006)
Last 16 vs. Netherlands (2006)

It shows this football legend had no luck at the FIFA World Cup.

Remember that the game against Spain on July 6th 2026 had extra time and penalties written all over it, until Merino came off the bench and changed the game with a breakthrough goal in the 91st minute.
It was a tough watch at times, with both sides canceling each other out, but Spain got the job done, and they marched into the quarterfinals.
To repeat a 16-year history

16 years ago, Spain knocked Portugal out of the World Cup in the round of 16 before going on to win the whole tournament 🇪🇸🏆 good one for Spain, who is Yet to concede a goal at this FIFA World Cup 2026.

Mon, 6 Jul 1-0 win vs. Portugal 🇵🇹
Thu, 2 Jul 3-0 win vs. Austria 🇦🇹
Sat, 27 Jun 1-0 win vs. Uruguay 🇺🇾
Sun, 21jun 4-0 win vs. Saudi Arabia 🇸🇦
Mon, 15 Jun 0-0 draw vs. Cape Verde 🇨🇻

On Sunday night of 5ft July 2026 in the FIFA World Cup, stars dropped and mountains were crawled as Norway put a stop to the five-time world title winners Brazil. The results made Brazil have their earliest World Cup exit since 1990, while Norway reached the last eight for the first time by 2-1 and England secured one of their greatest FIFA World Cup victories over Mexico at 3-2 having Bellingham produced two goals.

Norway has reached the last eight of the FIFA World Cup for the first time with Erling Haaland’s brave and brilliant display by scoring two goals.

The first half of the game ended in a 0-0 draw having both sides displaying good technique but no single record.

The second half saw a bit of an increase in tempo, with both teams getting to 74 minutes. Andreas Schjelderup, the man who came on for Nus, broke free down the left after a slick seven-pass sequence and stood up the perfect cross for Harland to smash a downward header past Alison secured leading for Norway 1-0.
The game looks more interesting. Everybody keeps doing what they think is right till regulation time.
Haaland then grabbed a second goal as he steered a shot through the legs of Danilo and past a diving Alison to spark jubilant scenes among the throng of Norway supporters. A late Neymar penalty, coming in the tenth minute of stoppage time, was nothing more than a consolation goal.

England vs Mexico

With kick-off being delayed by an hour due to a storm, this game was England’s big performance, delivering Jarel Quantum’s red card.

England got two goals inside two minutes, although Mexico dominated possession in the game’s opening stages until 36 minutes. Bukayo Saka’s inviting cross was well-connected by Bellingham with his head to open the scoring for England. A minute after the first goal, Mexico was with the ball, but pressure from Elliot Anderson and Gordon saw England gain possession, with Bellingham playing wide to Kane and meeting the skipper’s low ball from close range and square pass for Bellingham to a quick-fire them double swung the game in England’s favor. On the 42nd, Mexico hit back as Quinones smashed in at a soft free-kick to
Making the game 2-1 in favor of England , England goalkeeper Pickford made a wonderful save by flying high to his right to tip over Jimenez’s header at the first end.
England made a fast start in the second half, but they couldn’t score goals and in the 54th minute this is moment England were reduced to ten men when Jarell Quansah the England right-back, recklessly slid and was sent off for a challenge on Jesus Gallardo with a straight red. The game went on balance till when Gordon was brought down by the goalkeeper and the penalty was awarded to England by Harry Kane in the 60th minute for his sixth goal in the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
The game continued for 68 minutes. Nicolas Gallo sent referee Faghani to the monitor for a penalty review was given and Kane was penalized by VAR for a foul.
This makes Raul Jimenez pull one back with a penalty. The result was 3-2 for England.

At 90+11, Mexico City Stadium was spell-checked as the referee ended the game and England heroically held on in 11 minutes of added time to earn a famous victory.

As the match finished in a heated, physical battle between the two teams. France beat Paraguay 1-0 with Kylian Mbappé’s 70th minute penalty.

The first half of the match ended 0-0. It has billions of dollars’ worth of talent. France on the field had no success with goal scoring but created five goal attempts with 75 % ball possession, while counterpart Paraguay had just 24% ball possession with two goal attempts.
In two minutes of added time in the first, Mbps made very poor decisions, faced with having two defenders in front of him, and he had several passing options around him, but decided to place the ball between the two defenders.

Starting from the beginning of the second half, Paraguay were an aggressive, managed attacking force of France. Although they didn’t even have any good attack against France, they still balance on 0-0 until the quality of movement of the Desire Doue of France penetration into Paraguay’s defense made Diego Gomez of Paraguay concede a foul which led to penalty taking by Kalian Mbappé’s which making him second in 2026 golden race as haven Messi in first. Below is the comprehensive list of golden boot races.

7 goals: Lionel Messi, Argentina
7 goals: Kalian Mbps, France
5 goals: Erling Haaland, Norway
5 goals: Harry Kane, England
4 goals: Vinícius Junior Brazil
4 goals:Mikel Oyarzabal , Spain
4 goals: Ousmane Dembélé, France
4 goals: Ismail Sarr , Senegal.

How many goals will he end up with during this year’s campaign ? He’s the second Lionel Messi’s top goalscorer in world history. Here is a chart of the top goalscorers in World Cup History.

Top goalscorers in World Cup history:

🇦🇷 Lionel Messi — 20 goals
🇫🇷 Kylin Mbps — 19 goals
🇩🇪 Miroslav Klose — 16 goals
🇧🇷 Ronaldo — 15 goals
🇩🇪 Gerd Müller — 14 goals
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Harry Kane — 13 goals
🇫🇷 Just Fontaine — 13 goals

Apart from the fact that France won today’s game. I still see Paraguay as a very competitive team who lost a game without no yellow card.

Co-host Canada’s World Cup 2026 dream ended as they lost 3-0 against Morocco to exit the competition in the round of 16 after two goals scored by Azzedine Ounahi.

However, Morocco is the first African nation ever to reach the quarter-finals of two World Cup tournaments in 2022 and 2026.

Although the damage had already done to Canada’s ambition, how did the whole thing happen?

Canada was the better team during the first half and failed to use opportunities against Morocco, creating any clear-cut chances, which it appeared the Morocco team came out slow.

The first half ended with both teams engaging on momentum swinging the float of the football, but neither side was able to impact the scoreboard.

Morocco had a strong chance after the break while three of them were converted to goals.

The first goal was scored by Ounahi as a result of received a free kick from Achraf Hakimi and fired a right-footed shot through traffic from outside the box into the bottom right corner.

Momentum of the game still continued till the 82nd minute when Ounahi receive a pass from Brahim Diaz through a quick counterattack using his right foot to shoot the ball from the middle of the box and Soufiane Rahimi added the third in the 90+ 8 minute of stoppage time, assisted by Brahim Diaz again.

Morocco have now beaten Canada in back-to-back World Cups — having defeated them in the 2022 group stage — and are unbeaten in five meetings.

Substitute player from both sides.

Morocco have brought on Soufiane Rahimi ,Marwane Saadane and Samir El Mourabet to replace Ismael Saibari due to Potential InjuryIssa, Diop and goalscorer Azzedine Onehunga.

Canada, meanwhile, have brought on Jonathan Osorio and Jayden Nelson in place of Niko Sig and Tajon Buchanan.

Can history made by the Atlas Lions as the first African country to enter semi-finalists at Qatar 2022 improve to title winners ?

Let’s see if Morocco face the winner of France vs Paraguay in the World Cup quarter-finals on July 9th in Boston and if Morocco reaches the Semifinals, the next opponent could be one of the following teams: Portugal, Spain,Belgium or the United States.

Morocco progressed to the last 16 of the World Cup in a thrilling penalty shootout victory over the Netherlands after the sides drew 1-1 in Guadalupe, Mexico.

Morocco edged past the Dutch 3-2 on penalties.
Remember Morocco has qualified for the FIFA World Cup on seven occasions, which were in 1970, 1986, 1994, 1998, 2018, 2022 and 2026 when they finished in fourth place in 2022 to become both the first African and Arab nation to reach a semi-final at a World Cup.

Three African countries teams crashed out at ongoing FIFA World Cup from 80th minute above goal after two of them have been taking leading

In the match between the Ivory Coast and Norway, Erling Haaland scored the deciding goal in the 86th minute as Norway won their first ever World Cup knockout match, advancing to the round of 16 with a 2-1 victory over the Ivory Coast on Tuesday.

Although in this game it was Norway who first scored goals and later equalized in the 74th.

How the leading goal was scored

The goal was scored when three defenders converged on Patrick Berg as he moved into the penalty box with the ball, and he kicked it over to a wide-open Harland for him to score the winning goal.

England came from behind to beat Congo DR after a 7th minute goal from Brian Cipenga to be the first time they had won a World Cup match after conceding their first since 1966. England looked paralyzed until Gordon lifted over a cross from the left and Kane’s header just had too much for MPasi , setting up a box office conclusion at 75 minutes. It was a magical moment in the 86th minute when Kane received the ball on the edge of the box and smartly made space to unleash a fierce drive into the roof of the net.this is how DR Congo crashed out in Atlanta at the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

In the game between Belgium and Senegal

Belgium were 2-0 down and ended up winning 3-2!

Senegal converted their pressure into a lead after Sarr once again hit the woodwork. Mane served a beautiful inswinging cross and Sarr outjumped the Belgium centrobaric, before Diarra was the quickest to the rebound 24 minutes and got their second shortly after the break with Senegal Centre-back Moussa Niakhate fired a precise long ball to locate Sarr and Sarr was able to bring down with his chest as he broke past the Belgium centrobaric, before firing past Courtois.

Belgium appeared to be down, but Thomas Meunier and Romulus Lukaku combined moments to give Lukaku their 86th goal and a fantastic cross from Leandro Trossard , well collected by Tie lemans in the 89th minute, a draw beckoned Belgium to extra time. The game drama continued before Tielemans was brought down in the box and, following a VAR review, awarded a penalty to Belgium at 125 minutes, which marked an end for the third African country at the round 32 in FIFA World Cup 2026.

This particular loss sends a lot of signs to the African continent in their tactical awareness of both players and technical crew .

WHY CONGO LOST:
!Could not maintain the early intensity
!Lost defensive shape under pressure
!Missed the chance to close the game out

For instances Congo might have snatched a second goal when Yoane Wissa turned Wan Bissaka’s low centre against the post.

Look at the second goal of Norway three defenders converged on Patrick while the other side of the field was a bit free.