• USSF chief exec focuses on ‘incredible support’ of fans

• Won’t say if federation regrets Trump involvement

• US president called Fifa to lobby for red card review

US Soccer Federation chief executive JT Batson made his first public remarks Thursday about the controversy surrounding Donald Trump’s involvement in this summer’s World Cup, participating in a media roundtable with US Soccer chief operating officer Dan Helfrich and Fifa head of global football development Arsène Wenger.

Before the United States’ last-16 encounter with Belgium, Trump revealed that he had made several calls to Fifa president Gianni Infantino, lobbying for a review of US forward Folarin Balogun’s red card in the last-32 match against Bosnia and Herzegovina. Fifa eventually suspended Balogun’s ban but denied that Trump’s repeated calls had influenced that decision.

There was a sense of deja vu as Argentina came from behind to win an intense semi-final. But the players also gave the nation some memorable highs

Historically, English football-supporting culture has had a well-known darker side. But in recent decades, as the England men’s team’s trophy drought has continued, some of its unofficial anthems have acquired an endearingly melancholy quality. “It was nearly complete, it was nearly so sweet”, as the Three Lions song had it in the 1990s, when England exited a World Cup and a European Championship at the semi-final stage.

This summer, Oasis’s Wonderwall has been the soundtrack as Harry Kane and co progressed to Wednesday’s climactic semi-final showdown with Argentina. This is a song which, very wisely in an England context, puts a heavy emphasis on the idea of “maybe”. In the end it turned out to be maybe not.

The tournament’s mascot came to herald the ubiquitous, commercial aims of a growing international spectacle

Deep within a dark warehouse in Hillsborough, North Carolina, there sits a severed head. Encased in plastic, perfectly preserved and seemingly begging to be reanimated, it belongs to an American soccer legend.

For a seismic summer 32 years ago, Striker the dog was more ubiquitous than any of World Cup 94’s players, plastered all over billboards, Coke cans, key chains, caps and hundreds of other items. Kids carried around Striker dolls. Grown men played Striker-themed pinball machines and Super Nintendo games and posed for photos with the pup in stadiums.

The Queens Classic – Kerr’s return, Lavelle’s stunner, wildfire smoke and all in between – shows how far the league has come and also where it can still improve

Ten years ago, a National Women’s Soccer League game at a baseball stadium was a sign of just how far the league had to go. A match during the 2016 season was played at a minor-league ballpark on a woefully small pitch, dubbed “shocking and embarrassing” by the league’s own stars.

Come 2026, NWSL games at ballparks are showpiece events. Attendance records were shattered at Chicago’s Wrigley Field and San Francisco’s Oracle Park in the previous two seasons. Wednesday night added another milestone: Gotham FC’s 1-0 win over the Washington Spirit on a hot, hazy night at Citi Field, the regular home of Major League Baseball’s New York Mets, drew the second-largest crowd in league history (42,175) and set the record for the most attended women’s sporting event in the city’s history.

The league is back in play after a six-week pause for the World Cup. We spotlight seven players to watch after their stints with their national teams

The 2026 MLS season resumes Thursday, cleverly holding its return on the days between the World Cup semi-finals and third-place game. Fans of any of the league’s 30 teams will be trying to recall the state of affairs after a six-week pause, with more than half of the regular season still to be played and the Leagues Cup further congesting the schedule.

The league was curiously absent from the World Cup, only cited during the broadcasts viewed by millions if a commentator named an involved player’s club and whose reach largely depended on the in-market efforts of its franchises. And yet, through the quarter-finals, MLS ranked sixth in total minutes by its players, the highest of any league outside Europe’s big five. Twenty-two of MLS’s 30 clubs had at least one man make a tournament squad.

All the reaction from England’s semi-final defeat, as the UK government calls for Fifa to investigate Argentina over a Falklands banner displayed after the game

Thomas Tuchel had already shown this week he’s not someone who is prone to mere pleasantries after a game. The head coach shouldered the blame for England becoming too passive after taking the lead against Argentina, but at the same time said he had “no regrets”.

I don’t believe so much in an English thing and a curse or whatever. It’s repeating itself in different moments. It’s different coaches, different players, different situations.

What cost us today was that we were not active enough in any structure. I can understand these discussions are out there and of course a million coaches after the game know it better. You can discuss this with a million coaches. I have to make a decision on the pitch. It’s how I analyse the match and I take the responsibility.

️Updates from the first-round action at Royal Birkdale
️Official leaderboard | R&A gets tough | And mail us

Bob Mac aside, it’s still a wee while until some of the more fancied stars take to the course. Time for a little scene setting, then. Ladies and gentlemen, on the tee, Ewan Murray …

A fast start for Bob MacIntyre! He sends his opening tee shot into the rough down the left, and only just finds the front of the green with his second. But he rolls in a 45-footer and birdie is not a bad way to start the week! Oban’s finest already has three top-ten finishes at the Open on his resumé, including a tie for seventh at Portrush last year. Keep an eye out.

The impact of a heatwave is laid bare by the Open venue’s scorched earth, making the competition for the Claret Jug even harder to gauge

A star was born in 1976 at Royal Birkdale. Seve Ballesteros was unable to press home his 54-hole advantage due to a combination of a Sunday 74 and Johnny Miller’s surge. Still, the swashbuckling style of the 19‑year‑old Spaniard captured hearts and minds. Ballesteros played golf – and successfully – from all parts of the famous links.

The 50th anniversary of Ballesteros’s emergence comes with an uncanny parallel: back at Birkdale, the grass is parched again. Firm, fiery, unpredictable Opens are the finest. Stand by, then, for a sporting feast over four days on the Sefton coast. Less green and pleasant land, more yellow brick road. Away from putting surfaces which have been lashed with water, the impact of a heatwave is laid bare.

• Staff told to eject hecklers among expected 300,000 fans

• Officials reject Faldo’s calls to fine miscreants $10,000

The R&A has warned golf fans who misbehave at the Open that they will be identified and slung out under its new code of conduct.

Its chairman, Mark Darbon, stopped short of endorsing calls by Sir Nick Faldo, the last Englishman to win an Open, for anyone that abuses a player to also be fined $10,000. However, he confirmed that a team of R&A staff, marshals and officials would be closely monitoring the expected 300,000 spectators at Royal Birkdale to ensure good behaviour.

The 154th Open starts at Royal Birkdale on Thursday with a host of compelling storylines to follow

Scottie Scheffler won the 2025 Open by four strokes, but the world No 1 arrives at Royal Birkdale having missed the cut at the Scottish Open last week. The out‑of‑form American has claimed his fewest wins in a season since 2021, having secured only one victory all year: the American Express tournament in January, in his first start of the year. Since then Scheffler has recorded four runner-up finishes, including at the Masters. “I didn’t really feel like I played that bad,” he said of his missed cut, his first in four years. “This golf course can be just tough at times.”

Match officials are enforcing tweaks to the laws of the game that have hardly been tested. The results? Drama, ‘mistaken identities’ and lots of confusion

In the comic strip Calvin and Hobbes, the titular characters occasionally played a game known as Calvinball.

The rules were amorphous. At any moment, something like a “30-yard base wicket” may become part of the game. Determining a “winner” was besides the point, as the score for one game was given as “Q to 12.” The fictional, farcical sport entered public consciousness and was even cited by US supreme court justice Ketanji Brown Jackson in a blistering dissent last year.

All the latest news after the first World Cup 2026 semi-final and the countdown towards the second

Over the next three hours – and when I’m subbed off thereafter – we’ll reflect on France 0-2 Spain, and look forward to England v Argentina. England v Argentina in the semi-finals of the World Cup, oh my complete and utter daze days.

Greetings one and all. Anyone got any plans for later?

• Cease and bullpen combine for three-hitter

• Bellinger named MVP after two-run single

• AL record first All-Star shutout since 2013

Dylan Cease struck out the side in the first inning, combining with 10 relievers on a three-hitter in a show of pitching dominance that led the American League to a 4-0 win over the National League in Tuesday night’s All-Star Game.

All-Star MVP Cody Bellinger hit a two-run single and Ben Rice followed with an RBI single in the first against Cristopher Sánchez of the host Philadelphia Phillies.

‘Boston cone’ arrives to fanfare in first-class seat from Glasgow before planned trip to raise money for mental health

Fresh off its first-class flight from Glasgow, it received a reception befitting a visiting dignitary: a bagpiper in full regalia playing inside Boston Logan international airport. Waiting to greet it were diplomats, the governor and Boston’s mayor.

The guest of honor? An orange traffic cone.

Chesley Sullenberger, 75, safely landed a US Airways flight carrying 155 people in New York’s Hudson River in 2009

Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger – the pilot known for the “Miracle on the Hudson” after safely landing a US Airways flight in New York City’s Hudson river during a 2009 emergency – announced on Tuesday that he was recently diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease.

“For now, this means a name may not come easily to me, I forget a story I have recently told, or I don’t sleep as well, but I am in the beginning of this long journey,” Sullenberger, 75, said in a statement. “This new phase of my life has challenged what it means to be of service. And the answer is to speak up. It is my hope that by sharing this, other families living in the shadows with this disease will feel they too can step forward.”

Spain grandly swatted aside strangely subdued France to reach Sunday’s final

France and Spain have only met once before at the World Cup. That was 20 years ago, back in the day when Les Bleus very much had La Roja’s number (the Euro 84 final, the Euro 2000 quarters, all that).

Spain have had the better of the tournament football since. Wins in the Euro 2012 quarters and the Euro 2024 semis, plus an absurd 5-4 victory in last year’s Nations League semis. France did win the 2021 Nations League final, though.

• US striker’s red card was suspended after Trump calls

• Fifa president accused of breaching neutrality rules

The United States striker Folarin Balogun has revealed he predicted Donald Trump’s involvement in overturning his World Cup suspension would “cause a lot of controversy”.

The Monaco forward was sent off with a red card in the United States’ round-of-32 meeting with Bosnia and Herzegovina, but Fifa’s disciplinary committee then suspended the one-match ban for a year, allowing Balogun to participate in the Americans’ last-16 loss to Belgium.

• Six-time Olympic medalist resumes training

• Tokyo all-around champion targets LA 2028

• Latest Paris gold medalist planning comeback

Suni Lee is making a run at a third Olympics.

The America gymnastics star announced she is returning to the sport on Tuesday, about two years out from the Los Angeles Games.

• St Louis Cardinal homers on final six swings

• 24-year-old outfielder wins $1m and title

• Schwarber, Contreras finish second and third

Jordan Walker silenced Philadelphia’s boo birds by homering on his last six swings, chasing down Phillies slugger Kyle Schwarber in the final round and becoming the first St Louis Cardinal to win the Home Run Derby on Monday night.

Schwarber hit 11 homers during his 15-swing turn in the final round. Philly fans, who loudly booed everyone but Schwarber and Bryce Harper throughout the night, quietly headed toward the exits when Walker’s winning shot soared over the left-field wall.

As the Home Run Derby and All-Star Game take over Philadelphia, we take a spin around the majors with an awards watch, an Ohtani update and lots in between

With more than half of the MLB season in the books, the baseball world has convened in Philadelphia for the annual All-Star festivities. What better time for owners and players to engage in Brotherly Love and figure out how to avoid the widely predicted 2027 labor strife that could cancel next season? Considering the storm clouds gathering, a near-term resolution seems unlikely, so we’d better soak in the season we’re having. How’s that going? Glad you asked.

France v Spain build-up and Atlanta police step up security for England v Argentina

Atlanta police are increasing staffing and resources for Wednesday’s World Cup semi-final between England and Argentina.

The department says additional officers will be deployed around the stadium and across the city’s entertainment and high-traffic areas, with large crowds expected before and after the match:

As Atlanta prepares to host an upcoming World Cup semi-final match and welcomes increased numbers of residents and visitors, the Atlanta Police Department has enhanced its citywide public safety and security posture. Additional personnel and resources are already deployed and will continue to be strategically assigned in and around the event venues, entertainment districts, and other high-traffic areas to help ensure a safe and enjoyable experience for everyone. These proactive measures are designed to protect the public, deter criminal activity, and ensure residents and visitors can safely enjoy this historic event.”

• Vick arrested in connection with Memphis shooting

• 29-year-old started on Jayhawks’ 2018 Final Four team

Lagerald Vick, a former University of Kansas basketball player and a starter on their 2018 Final Four team, has been charged with attempted first-degree murder in ⁠Tennessee.

Vick, 29, was a guard for the Jayhawks from 2015 to 2019.

• Saturday’s bout in Las Vegas finished in first round

• Irishman says he will undergo surgery on leg

Conor McGregor says he plans to fight again in UFC despite the fact that his return to competition lasted just 69 seconds before he suffered a leg injury, which he says will require ⁠surgery.

“Surgery. Prehab. Return ⁠to ​martial arts practice. Go again,” McGregor wrote on Instagram on Monday. “Final fight of the contract. ⁠Praise God!”

• Matches will take place on 10 and 13 October

• Washington DC and Chester, Pennsylvania to host

The top two teams in women’s soccer will meet in a pair of friendlies this fall, with the United States hosting Spain in Washington DC on 10 October and Chester, Pennsylvania three days later.

The meeting pits the 2024 Olympic gold medalist United States against a Spain side who won the 2023 women’s World Cup. It will serve as a benchmark for both sides in the run-up to the 2027 World Cup in Brazil.

The build-up to the semi-finals began earnest and Senegal sacked their head coach

Sidebar, Whatever bears such a striking resemblance to Neil Innes’ I’m Free to be an Idiot that the former Monty Python collaborator received a songwriting credit and a share of the royalties in an out of court settlement.

Wonderwall might be the England team’s Oasis song of choice, but surely they change it up to this more apposite (and far better imo) number.

• Bout with Holloway in Las Vegas finishes in first round

• UFC chief Dana White: ‘We’re assuming a blown ACL’

• Irish star’s last fight before Saturday was five years ago

Conor McGregor’s return against Max Holloway at UFC 329 in Las Vegas ended after just 69 seconds of the first round because of a knee injury.

Fighting for the first time in more than five years, the 37-year-old McGregor flew across the ring with a left roundhouse kick when the bout started and landed awkwardly on his right knee.

• Historic 11-under 60 sets LPGA major mark

• South Korean opens three-shot final-round lead

• Ryu chasing second major in three weeks

Haeran Ryu set the scoring record for LPGA majors on Saturday with an 11-under 60, giving the South Korean player a three-shot lead in the Evian Championship as she goes for a second straight major.

Two weeks after winning her first major at the Women’s PGA Championship, Ryu birdied four of her last five holes at Evian Golf Resort. She had a chance at tying the LPGA scoring record of 59 but settled for a lengthy two-putt birdie putt on the closing hole.

• Adebayo and Herro involved in altercation

• Young unfazed by scrutiny over Wizards deal

• NBPA vows fight against second apron

Former Miami Heat teammates Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro had a brief verbal and physical altercation at a practice facility for the NBA’s Summer League in Las Vegas on Friday, according to a person with knowledge of the matter.

Adebayo struck Herro at least once during the encounter, said the person, who spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity because neither player nor their teams revealed any details publicly.

The former England midfielder is everywhere at this World Cup, having reached a popularity in the US other Britons have rarely achieved

Watch US television for any length of time and the endless spume of adverts will eventually separate into three distinct types.

The first are adverts for units of generic food-substance, each one essentially the same hand-sized grenade of glossy and salted microminced matter; but each also with its own industrialised repertoire of colours and noise and packaging required to dress it as a distinct genre of actual human food. Try the delicious new Flame Sauced Philly Cheese Taco Wing Waffle Dog Deep Dish MegaDeath Burger Grenade-Shaped Eat Thing. You won’t be disappointed. Or you will be. Whatever.

As England prepared for their World Cup quarter-final against Norway, all the talk was about a round of golf 18 months before

The brilliant Cold War Steve is back with the latest of his special World Cup 2026-themed collages. Look closely!

More from Thomas Tuchel. Seize the day is his message.

Even White House interference and Fifa’s greed cannot spoil the celebrations. At last, an arena in which multiculturalism triumphs and underdogs score

Of all the outrageous things Donald Trump has done, from bombing other countries to appeasing dictators, his sneaky interference in last week’s USA v Belgium World Cup match sparked by far the most united and furious reaction across the world. Condemnation was all but universal. Trump’s cheating heart cannot understand the unmatched, ubiquitous power that the “beautiful game” exercises over ordinary lives everywhere. It massively surpasses his own. The world truly loves football. It doesn’t love him. And then USA lost the match anyway. Karma. This modern morality play joyously illuminated the limits of authoritarianism.

In an age dominated by overbearing, illiberal economic and military powers, the men’s World Cup is upending the conventional geopolitical pecking order and power balances in refreshing and instructive ways. In this alternative universe, smaller nations – and ordinary people – can and often do get a bigger shout. Despite huge state investment in all aspects of the game, China again failed to qualify. Russia, never much good at football in the first place, was kicked out after invading Ukraine. And despite all Trump’s Maga hooliganism, the US remains soccer small fry. So much for superpowers.

Simon Tisdall is a Guardian foreign affairs commentator

Company reports $1.4bn profit despite its highest quarterly fuel expense in history

Delta Airlines saidelevated airfares are likely to last despite a recent drop in oil prices, reporting strong appetite for travel and record-high revenue in its quarterly results Friday.

Though the company had its highest quarterly fuel expense in its history, demand has been high enough to pass along 60% of its extra fuel costs to consumers, Delta’s CEO, Ed Bastian, told CNBC, with plans to eventually pass along all elevated costs.

There is just one week to go until the winner of the World Cup is crowned, and it has been a memorable tournament, not least due to the extraordinary intervention by Donald Trump this week that shocked the football world. Lucy Hough speaks to global sports business correspondent Matt Hughes

• 4-1 defeat to Belgium averaged 33 million viewers on Fox

• Mexico v England neared 45 million across platforms

The US men’s national team officially broke the record for ⁠most-watched soccer telecast in US history twice in a row.

As disappointing as ⁠Monday’s 4-1 last-16 loss to Belgium was for fans, the pregame excitement helped attract 33.086 million ⁠viewers, according to Nielsen Media research. The audience peaked at 41.033 million during the ⁠9.15-9.30pm eastern time window.

After a fun World Cup with a dismal end, the US enters the 2030 cycle with numerous avenues to rebuild the squad

After an exciting home World Cup run ended with a disappointing thud in the last 16, there are massive questions lingering around the US men’s national team program. Mauricio Pochettino’s contract is up and US Soccer has made an extension offer, but both parties are taking some time. Matt Crocker’s abrupt exit as sporting director to take a similar job with Saudi Arabia before the World Cup begs more queries about the direction of the sport in this country. And while most of the 2026 squad’s core still projects to contend for 2030, four years is a long time.

From now, each year offers a major tournament. This is what the US should hope to clarify at every step of the way.

The crossover in the American sports calendar has made for a compelling collision of cultures, from Scots in Boston to a new English folk hero in Atlanta

First they sang for Harry Kane. Then they sang for Michael Harris II.

The Atlanta Braves center-fielder is not someone many Major League Baseball fans would consider a household name. A local kid made good, he has established himself as an above-average, everyday outfielder and at age 25 is enjoying a career-best season, but his face doesn’t dominate billboards and ads in the way of Shohei Ohtani or Aaron Judge.

Five years after his last fight, the Irishman returns to the octagon. His comeback says as much about the UFC’s appetite for its fallen star as it does about McGregor himself

These days Conor McGregor resembles an ace fighter the way a movie set depicts real life. Passing similarities are obvious but anything more than a quick, squinty glance reveals they are not the same.

For the 37-year-old Irishman, the line between genius athlete and performance artist was already blurred by the time he found himself destroyed in front of Dustin Poirier five years ago, yelping foul-mouthed barbs in the painful aftermath of his fourth stoppage loss in seven fights.

‘Violent disorder’ in London in the aftermath of France’s win over Morocco as Spain and Belgium build up towards quarter-final showdown

A 17-year-old girl fell off a truck and died while celebrating France’s World Cup quarter final win over Morocco, emergency services said Friday.

Celebrations erupted across France after the 2-0 win in the United States with hundreds dancing in the streets of Paris, watched by thousands of police on security duties.

Airline’s board ‘minded to recommend’ deal – after agreeing in principle to accept rival one from Castlelake

• Nils Pratley: two bidders are better than one

The board of easyJet has given the green light to a possible £5.7bn offer from the US private equity firm Apollo, as the low-cost airline becomes the subject of a surprise bidding war.

The company’s board said on Friday that it was “minded to recommend” the potential all-cash offer, which values the business at £7.15 a share, to shareholders.

• Milan forward was subbed out in a 4-1 loss

• Pulisic had been criticized for his lack of availability

Christian Pulisic suffered a microfracture and bone bruise in his leg in the United States’ 4-1 loss to Belgium in the World Cup last 16 on Monday, US Soccer announced.

Pulisic suffered the injury in the second half in Seattle and was removed shortly afterward. He underwent X-ray and MRI scans on Tuesday to determine the extent of the injury, which is expected to keep Pulisic out for several weeks. US Soccer said the federation and Milan are working collaboratively on his rehab plan.

As in the Gareth Southgate era, a diverse and passionately committed national team is offering a counter-narrative to the forces of social division

The identity of the worst performers at the men’s World Cup has come as no surprise. In the lead-up to the tournament, the world had seen more than enough of Donald Trump and Gianni Infantino in action to fear the worst once the games actually began. Mr Trump’s lobbying of Fifa to lift a one-match ban on the United States’ star striker confirmed that his bullying will-to-power extends to spheres that he neither cares about nor understands. Mr Infantino’s craven willingness to accommodate it has been an affront to sporting integrity.

From prohibitive ticket prices to the introduction of advertiser-friendly hydration breaks – conveniently replicating the lucrative four-quarter format common in US sports – there have been plenty of other reasons to question Fifa’s overly commercialised stewardship of the beautiful game. But the World Cup still delivers a unique spectacle, as anyone who marvelled at the heroic exploits of Cape Verde, or witnessed Scottish fans’ good‑humoured invasion of Boston, can testify.

Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.

• Czech 10th seed clinches a 6-2, 1-6, 7-6 (10) victory

• Muchova faces compatriot Noskova in Saturday’s final

She finds a first serve on match point and the contact is perfect: 117mph, punched hard down the centre line, and from the moment her hand receives the message from her strings, she must know this is it. Of course the ball may come back, and indeed the ball does come back, but only barely. And in those few seconds as it arcs over the net, springs back up off the grass and hangs there like a beautiful sweet fruit, Coco Gauff has a Wimbledon final in her grasp.

The afternoon has been hot: viciously hot, sadistically hot, the sort of heat that seems to take years from you. In the crowd, paper fans wave and flutter like butterflies, and this has been a match full of natural beauty, of clean swings and satisfying timing and brilliant shapes set against pale green. And still the return from Karolina Muchova hangs there, high and slow, a sentence demanding a punctuation mark, a piece of Centre Court cinema about to roll the credits.

• Clark has been on the end of hard fouls during career

• Black players routinely receive racist abuse in WNBA

Eleven Republican politicians have written to the WNBA asking the league to protect Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark from “multiple attacks” on court.

Clark has been on the receiving end of hard fouls since she entered the league in 2024 after a stellar college career with Iowa. Recently, the Phoenix Mercury forward Alyssa Thomas hit Clark in the throat during a game. Thomas was not called for a foul at the time but the WNBA later suspended her for one game. Thomas and her family received racist abuse and death threats after the incident.

• US officials have held talks with Fifa over tournament

• Unclear whether White House has been involved

The US has expressed interest in hosting the 2029 Club World Cup as it seeks to capitalise on the commercial and sporting success of staging the World Cup.

Fifa has held talks with US officials about its plans for 2029, but the World Cup co-hosts have yet to commit to a bid because the details of the selection process have not been confirmed. It is unclear whether there has been any involvement in the discussions from the White House or ­Donald Trump’s World Cup taskforce, chaired by Andrew Giuliani, who on Wednesday hailed the success of this summer’s tournament.

It’s a first all-Czech Wimbledon women’s final after Karolina Muchova saved a match point in a dramatic final-set tie-break and Linda Noskova was nerveless against Marta Kostyuk

Gauff does hold a 6-1 lead in their head-to-head, by the way, but I’m not sure we can read too much into that, as none of those matches were on grass. Gauff, arguably the best competitor in the women’s game, has made an art out of “winning ugly” – the phrase made famous by her former coach Brad Gilbert – and has consistently found a way to come through three-setters during this tournament even when she’s not been at her best. She may well need all that fight to combat Muchova’s mix of power and touch – which is so dangerous on grass – especially if Gauff’s serve and forehand wobble, as they sometimes do. Gauff’s backhand, though, is brilliant. Will temperament + backhand or power + hands prevail? It’s going to be so fun finding out.

And here they come to a big cheer from the crowd, not that it’s quite as warm as the red-hot weather, with the current temp around 33C, and not that Gauff can properly hear it either, because she’s got her headphones – and game face – on.

Mauricio Pochettino’s team delivered several thrilling performances on home soil. The way it ended was somewhat less exhilarating

So now what? How are we supposed to think about this supposedly golden generation of the United States men’s national team who have fallen short of expectations at this World Cup on home soil?

How do we come to terms with the sense that this team beat Paraguay 4-1 in their opener – the most impressive performance in the program’s history – but also lost dismally against Belgium by the same scoreline in the last 16?

Leander Schaerlaeckens is the author of The Long Game: U.S. Men’s Soccer and Its Savage, Four-Decade Journey to the Top, or Thereabouts, which is out now. He teaches at Marist University.

With marriage rates in decline, the appeal of a big wedding that we can live vicariously is stronger than ever

Finally, after decades, I have something in common with Taylor Swift. It feels great to say that out loud, in public. No, I’m not famous, rich, particularly attractive, or a woman. I really, really can’t sing. Like, not even my karaoke is tolerable for human ears (dogs seem to be fine with it). No, our sole point of connection in the cosmic swirl of life is that we’ve both been married. I can’t compare this achievement to winning a Grammy or selling out Crypto.com Arena 16 times, but it has to be on the list somewhere.

My wedding did not come close to the upwards of $50m floated by People Magazine as the cost of Swift’s. We got the venue for free because my wife’s family owned it, which is its own sort of privilege. Lena Dunham didn’t attend, but I certainly sent enough invites. Still, getting someone to agree to tolerate you “till death do you part” is no small feat. Did we get divorced three years later? Of course. I can’t believe she dealt with me even that long. Will Taylor and Travis Kelce beat our record? Depends on how often he forgets to put the toilet seat down in one of their numerous homes across the country. That guy just seems like the sort to make that mistake regularly. Don’t ask me how I came to this conclusion. I trust my own eyes.

Dave Schilling is a Los Angeles-based writer and humorist

England’s Jarell Quansah was banned for two games after his red card against Mexico while political jousting continued off the pitch

Our very own Jonny Weeks has been doing clever things with photos from across the World Cup.

Check them out!

With the World Cup down to eight teams, our writers assess who’s left, identify the biggest remaining threats to France and make calls on who will lift the trophy

Lionel Messi. As he proved in thrilling style against Egypt, Argentina’s No 10 still has magic in his boots even at the age of 39. While his penalty record of four from eight attempts is much worse than you’d expect, he is clinical when it matters most. EA