South African football news

The police were pelted with bottles in The Hague but there were hugs between sets of fans in Amsterdam after a tense last-32 tie In the Netherlands the country’s World Cup last-32 tie against Morocco was always going to be about more than football. When the Atlas Lions dumped Ronald Koeman’s team out of the tourname…

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Where were you when Ronaldinho lobbed David Seaman in England’s quarter-final game against Brazil at the 2002 World Cup? Our head of newsletters, Toby Moses, was sitting in an exam hall for his English A Level exam. It was heartbreak for England more than two decades ago, but perhaps they can go a couple of steps fu…

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Former England captain Wayne Rooney says he would start Manchester United midfielder Kobbie Mainoo instead of Elliot Anderson in Wednesday's World Cup last-32 tie with DR Congo.

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David Squires on … penalty pain for Dutch and Germany Email us | Bracketology | Golden Boot | World Cup Daily Tuesday’s World Cup Daily podcast has dropped . Max, Barry, Archie and Nicky chew over last night’s drama: A couple of videos for your delectation now . Photographer Shaun Botterill has a World Cup portfolio…

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From taking the photo that became the most-liked post on Instagram as of recording, to developing film in the stadium toilets, legendary World Cup photographer Shaun Botterill speaks with Guardian Australia's picture editor, Carly Earl, about how capturing the World Cup has changed throughout his 40-year career Cont…

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Historic run to the last 32 and a match against England have left proud fans back home dancing late into the night The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) had not been at a World Cup finals tournament for 52 years – but they are making up for lost time in North America. After a draw against Portugal , a narrow de…

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Former goalkeeper and US Soccer general manager is hosting the Spain team at his training camp in Chattanooga At the foot of Signal Mountain on a bend in the Tennessee river, over the little level crossing like a postcard of America, past the sheriff at the gate and through an avenue of pines, the perfect pitch awai…

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The Ecuador manager is a beautifully manicured buzz of energy with Bolivarian liberation in his heart. The tournament is all the better for him An underrated pleasure for spectators at every World Cup is observing the managers. If club football, an increasingly regimented domain of set pieces and systems, is all abo…

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Morocco’s players set off in pursuit of Ismael Saibari and, once they had caught up, lost one another in a pile of exhilarated bodies. Maybe they are about to do it all again and make a heavy dent in the latter stages of a World Cup. This was certainly a huge hurdle cleared and there were echoes of 2022 when Yassine…

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Germany make a shock last-32 exit against Paraguay, losing a World Cup penalty shootout for the first time to pile pressure on boss Julian Nagelsmann.

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Alan Shearer, Jurgen Klopp, Pat Nevin and Darren Cann feel Germany were hard done by as a VAR call rules out a potential winning goal before they lose on penalties to Paraguay.

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Four-time winners Germany are knocked out of the 2026 World Cup, losing to Paraguay 4-3 on penalties, following a 1-1 draw after extra time.

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⚽️ Kick-off time: 7pm local/9pm EDT/2am BST/11am AEST ⚽️ Player guide | Bracketology | Golden Boot | Mail Ella Mary Waltz writes in on the back of that Germany v Paraguay shootout: “ All England fans admit it. Germany losing by penalties is the ultimate of Schadenfreud.” The lack of a clinical goalscorer has hampere…

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Germany exited the World Cup in Boston not with a whimper or even a cry of pain, just an extended wrestle into the dust at the hands of a thrillingly dogged Paraguay, followed by the most extraordinary of penalty shootouts. Not only did Germany lose their first shootout since the original Panenka one of 1976. They d…

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Half-time in Houston and Brazil's players trudged off facing another early World Cup exit. But we should have known better than to doubt Carlo Ancelotti.

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Former Barcelona striker joins for two and a half seasons 37-year-old’s 697 goals is third best total for current players The Chicago Fire on Monday officially announced their acquisition of Robert Lewandowski ⁠through to the 2027-28 season. Poland’s record goalscorer will occupy a designated player slot pending the…

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Bournemouth reject an enquiry from Arsenal for Alex Scott and say the midfielder is not for sale this summer.

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⚽ Germany 1-1 Paraguay (aet, Paraguay win 4-3 on pens) ⚽ Bracketology | Player guide | Golden Boot standings Match report: Brazil 2-1 Japan Not for the first time in this tournament, there were long periods when Brazil did not impress. And not for the first time in this tournament, they got away with it. It may be i…

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Teams meet in round of 32 in New York on Tuesday ‘We’ve been labelled as favourites … we are confident’ Didier Deschamps has warned France’s rivals they will not change their attacking approach to this World Cup, saying as he prepared for the last-32 tie against Sweden on Tuesday: “We have a capacity for danger, and…

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Not for the first time in this tournament, there were long periods when Brazil did not impress. And not for the first time in this tournament, they got away with it. It may be inexplicable but the Carlo Ancelotti method that worked at Real Madrid is working again: stay in games and eventually either opponents will m…

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Liverpool target Yan Diomande would prefer to join Paris St-Germain, as the French club aim to agree a deal with RB Leipzig for the Ivory Coast winger.

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