South African football news

⚽️ Kick-off time: 7pm local/8pm EDT/1am BST/10am AEST ⚽️ Third-place table | Player guide | Group tables | Mail Beau ⚽️ Uruguay v Spain – live match updates with Tom Lutz 1 min Choppy start, but now Saudi Arabia will control. Play stops, though, because Ryan Mendes is down after a knee-to-knee collision. Continue re…

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Just a reminder if you see Marcelo Bielsa on the apps DO NOT swipe. This from Sid Lowe’s preview of today’s game : When Uruguay were beaten 5-1 by the USA in November, he described himself as “toxic”, admitting: “Those who have a relationship with me come out of it worse. There are toxic people who only see errors,…

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Sensible choice or wrong decision? Norway leave Erling Haaland out as they make 10 changes against France - and lose heavily.

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Does anyone at the World Cup have the defensive strength to deny this hyper-mobile, supremely varied French attack? Not, it turns out, a second-string Norway, who were torn apart in the first half in Boston, as Ousmane Dembélé scored a beautifully precise 25-minute hat-trick en route to a 4-1 win. France now top Gro…

• FRA
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⚽️ World Cup kick-off time: 3pm EDT/8pm BST/5am AEST ⚽️ Third-place table | Player guide | Group tables | Mail Scott ⚽️ Senegal 5-0 Iraq – live reaction from group’s other game Pre-match postbag. “Off to our local village salle des fêtes shortly for what’s known in this part of France as an auberge espagnol - you al…

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⚽️ World Cup kick-off time: 3pm EDT/8pm BST/5am AEST ⚽️ Third-place table | Player guide | Group tables | Mail us ⚽️ Norway 1-4 France – live reaction; Dembélé steals show Norway have rested Haaland and have made 10 changes for the France game! Clearly this match here is the one to watch tonight. Continue reading...

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Reece James could miss the start of the World Cup knockout stage if England progress as he recovers from injury.

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From comparisons with Norway, undervalued broadcasting deals and unfulfilled potential, Ian Wright says he feels sorry for Scottish football fans - but is the former England striker right?

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YouTubers reveal how they are challenging traditional broadcast coverage of the tournament with their own audience interaction For decades, the World Cup belonged to broadcasters. Fans gathered around the television, watched the game live or caught the highlights later that evening. In the UK, BBC and ITV acted as g…

England midfielder’s remarkable rise started off in League Two and his £116m move to Manchester City is confirmation of his relentless progress At Bristol Rovers the players would fight to be on Elliot Anderson’s team in training five-a-sides because they knew they would be victorious. Even as a teenager, the midfie…

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Sign up now! Sign up now! Sign up now? Sign up now! When Paul the Octopus sadly died at an aquarium in Germany in 2010, there was a massive void to fill in the World Cup prediction space. It seemed a huge ask to find a tipster on the same level as the eight-legged maverick one-off. Others tried but Leon the Porcupin…

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Why has Donald Trump stayed away from the World Cup? And will he appear before the final?

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With Uruguay eliminated from the 2026 World Cup, BBC Sport looks at what has gone wrong for them under colourful coach Marcelo Bielsa.

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Did you enjoy England’s stalemate against Ghana? Panama are just as seasoned in the art of footballing nihilism Panama apparently have nothing to play for when they face England in New Jersey on Saturday. After an attritional 1-0 loss to Ghana in their opener, and a slightly unlucky 1-0 defeat by Croatia , there is…

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After a week of strange decisions many supporters have been left scratching their heads with VAR.

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Former Spain captain Cesar Azpilicueta explains why La Roja head coach Luis de la Fuente has the team and squad he needs for success in the next month.

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Who should start for England against Panama in their final World Cup group game? It's time to put yourself in Thomas Tuchel's shoes.

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Iran's coach refuses to discuss pride celebrations in Seattle, where his country face Egypt in a crucial Group G match.

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Thomas Tuchel’s team will be working on key details of how to combat a low block before their final Group L game on Saturday England’s goalless draw with Ghana reminded me of many games in my coaching career, when you’re facing a team who are extremely compact, positioned very low, and very well drilled. To break th…

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Are the surprise results achieved by lower-ranked teams in the World Cup a matter of luck - or clever planning and execution?

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Spain present a formidable obstacle for a Uruguay side needing a win to progress – and quell a rebellious dressing-room mood In the summer of 2011, at about the time Marcelo Bielsa was arriving at Athletic Bilbao, Luis de la Fuente was leaving. Bielsa was the revolution . De la Fuente was a former left-back with lon…

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