What a crazy sports weekend that was — the NBA Finals concluded Saturday night, the World Cup kicked into high gear and the UFC staged fights last night on the White House lawn. Be sure to check the NBC News website for coverage of all those events.
Today, we have another great World Cup slate, headlined by the Iran-New Zealand game tonight in Southern California, which comes one day after the U.S. reached a framework of a peace deal with Iran to end the war and open the Strait of Hormuz. We’ll be live-blogging the games all day. Stuck at work? We’ll keep you posted on what’s happening.
After a highly fraught buildup, Iran starts its tournament tonight against New Zealand. Iran’s training camp was relocated from the U.S. after the war began and some members of their entourage have reportedly been denied visas.
Playing 85th-ranked New Zealand in Inglewood this evening, Iran will at least be buoyed by a fanatical local support base. New Zealand enters the tournament having lost friendlies against England, Chile and Haiti, 4-0. New Zealand will be relying on striker Chris Wood, who plays for Nottingham Forest in the Premier League, for goals.
This afternoon, Mohamed Salah and Egypt will take on Belgium, shorn of their “Golden Generation” tag but still boasting Kevin de Bruyne, Salah’s onetime Premier League rival. Egypt has never won a World Cup match, whereas Belgium finished third as recently as 2018.
Although Belgium failed to advance beyond the group stage in 2022 in Qatar, an early exit this time looks unlikely: Frenchman Rudi Garcia takes his side into the tournament in fine form, having topped their qualifying group undefeated. They’ve beaten the U.S., Croatia and Tunisia, in pre-tournament friendlies, as well as drawing with Mexico.
In the first game of the day, one of the pre-tournament favorites takes on one of the biggest underdogs — Spain faces Cape Verde in Atlanta in Group H. This will be 18-year-old Lamine Yamal’s first World Cup appearance for Spain. He’s widely considered the favorite to take the mantle from Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.
Cape Verde, ranked 67th in FIFA’s men’s world rankings to Spain’s 2nd, will be pinning their hopes on Yamal not making the starting lineup: although he has been cleared to play after missing the final weeks of the season for Barcelona due to injury, reports suggest he is unlikely to start.
Spain’s recent record in the tournament is also miserable. It has failed to advance past the Round of 16 since it won the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. Trying to stop Spain’s attack will be Cape Verde’s Dublin-born defender, Roberto “Pico” Lopes, who was recruited to the team via LinkedIn.
Here are the scores and headlines from yesterday’s World Cup games:
Australia beat Turkey 2-0, and joined the U.S. atop Group D.
Germany routed Curacao 7-1, but the tiny nation celebrated its lone goal.
Japan came back twice to tie the Netherlands 2-2.
The Ivory Coast scored late to top Ecuador, 1-0.
Sweden pounded Tunisia 5-1.
What an absolutely massive first weekend of the World Cup. Brazil looked surprisingly human against impressive Morocco, Japan stunned the mighty Netherlands with one of the first proper shocks of the tournament (along with the Socceroos taking down Turkey, of course), and Scotland’s Super John McGinn unleashed a deflected strike with the fury of 1,000 bagpipes to seal his side’s first win at the competition since 1990.
Did we mention last night’s 90th-minute winner from Ivory Coast’s Amad Diallo? Because somehow, that might’ve been the best finish of them all. Four days and 12 games down. 35 days, 92 games, and infinite moments of 🤯 left to go.
Today, we get four more matches to savor, including tournament favorites Spain taking on Cape Verde — the second-smallest country to ever qualify for the competition — at noon ET in Atlanta. Then, the final remnants of Belgium’s golden generation face Mohammed Salah’s Egypt at 3 p.m. ET in Seattle. For the full match schedule, head here.
For more World Cup coverage sent straight to your inbox every morning, subscribe to the Men in Blazers newsletter. We’ll be covering every match, every goal and every joyous moment that soccer’s biggest spectacle is sure to bring.
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The Knicks spent years looking for a giant. Jalen Brunson became something bigger.
Just one World Cup game in, Brazil and Carlo Ancelotti are already under fire.
Morocco’s draw against Brazil showed its potential to be the World Cup’s ultimate dark horse.
We have a star-studded slate today — Spain’s Lamine Yamal, followed by Egypt’s Mo Salah, and later, a politically important game between Iran and New Zealand. We’ll be live-blogging all the action, providing real-time updates and expert analysis along the way.
All times are Eastern:
That’s it for now! We’ll be back tomorrow.
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