World Cup 2026

[Durhamfootman]

extra time for Aus v Egypt

Aus applying pressure, but Egypt so nearly won in stoppage time

[Durhamfootman]

which pen will Salah take?

[Durhamfootman]

sub your goalie at your peril

He hadn't had a touch during the match and by the end of the shoot out, he still hadn't

it was easy to predict the players who were going to miss in this one

[mikesiva]

Salah scored a cheeky third penalty down the middle, as Egypt win the shootout 4-2.

Not a great World Cup for the Asian confederation. Only two reached the round of 32, but both are now.

[Durhamfootman]

They had a few more teams this year, I think

didn't make a blind bit of difference

Japan was the shocker, for me. I thought they'd go well

[bigfluffylemon]

Heartbreak for Australia, but those were some England level crap penalties.

[GarlicJam]

Heartbreak for Australia, but those were some England level crap penalties.

that first one...

[alfie]

Sad that it was two of Australia's best on the night who missed their penalties. But have to question why those two defenders were up for the shots ... where were all the forwards ? OK some subbed off ; but considering we've been reading a lot about careful preparations for shootouts I'm a little surprised at the whole business (keeper change too , obviously).

Egypt will be delighted to have got through a knockout but not sure Argentina will be too scared of them : they might have just survived their biggest unexpected fright already ! Cape Verde haven't half made an impact and arguably more or less justified the expansion of the WC to 48 teams...

[Durhamfootman]

The magnificent Cape Verde bow out after making Argentina, and by Argentina I mean Messi, because they're almost a one man team, work really, really hard. Only a fingertip save late on prevented Argentina being taken to penalties

Gianni Infantile will be really happy, because he will be able to point to Cape Verde when he increases the WC to 64 teams and 3 hydration breaks every half for the 2034 WC in Saudi Arabia...... those coffers won't burst apart at the seams by themselves

Meanwhile Columbia showed England how to break down Ghana... only once, but once was all it took.

[Durhamfootman]

Mexico v England to be moved to 7pm Sunday because of the threat of thunderstorms

Will the pubs get their new extensions cancelled?

And.... back to where we started

1am BST kick off after a U turn by FIFA, following complaints from both England and Mexico.

[Durhamfootman]

It would be foolish to rule Argentina out of the WC race, especially with Messi scoring every game despite his zimmer frame, but boy they struggled to put Cape Verde away last night. Quite the eye opener

I did think it would be a France Argentina final, and it still might be, but France would win that easily, I reckon. There has to be a decent chance of Colombia beating Argentina in the QF's. I would even make them favourites to reach the SF's tbh, after Argentina's display last night.

France v Spain SF, could go either way, but my money would be on France

I have no idea from England's quarter, because I can't tell who is favourite to prevail from all four of Mexico, England, Norway, Brazil, or even who wins the R16 encounters

[Durhamfootman]

The biggest question in R16 might be whether the England players get any sleep

Could be like the Ryder cup with phone calls to wake them up every hour. If Rob Key was in charge the England team would have been in a hotel with no air con too

[Durhamfootman]

all going to plan for Paraguay. They are slipping seamlessly between 5-4-1, 5-5-0 and 6-4-0. Stopping play, slowing play, rolling around, pulling shirts, hitting the deck.... Lawrence Olivier ain't in it. But they are doing it all very well and France look as though they are running out of ideas. They've tried patiently moving the ball around... not today. They've tried shooting from range.... no way, Jose. France are doing what a lot of teams do, they've stopped moving the ball quickly. They've been sucked into playing at Paraguay's preferred pace. Deschamps will be going nuts with them at HT, I reckon.... hairdryer will be coming out.

Odd, given the number of cynical fouls Paraguay have committed, that the only yellow went to Barcola, who I'm not even sure touched the player who went down, rolled 10 yards to his left, rolled 10 yards back, then set off rolling again. If Barcola did touch him it was butterfly wing grazing the bootlace. Ref got the card out really quickly... really quickly.... very odd that that was the one he laid a marker down on, but then having set the bar really low, let Paraguay get away with murder over and over again. I can't work it out

Paraguay will have been delighted with the way France reacted to a tug and a foul on Mbappe. Handbags came out, so France are definitely rattled

[Durhamfootman]

we won't see this ref again, if you ask me. It's astonishing the fouls he's let go. Over and over again. Paraguay are repeatedly encroaching at corners to stop France taking them, they tried several times to stop the penalty (which the ref didn't give initially, btw, he had to be sent to the screen). Surrounding the ref whilst someone else scuffs up the penalty spot, all that sort of stuff

It's been a typically cynical South American performance. However they have to come out now, because they're a goal down

[Gingerfinch]

Good riddance, Paraguay.