Sports

*We Leave With Heads High, Made History For Our Country -Coach Lionel Messi and Argentina will move on to Atlanta and a last-16 tie against Egypt next week after a thrilling 3-2 victory against Cape Verde in the early hours of Saturday (Nigeria time), but this was still a wonderful night for the tiny archipelago nation of just about 600,000, whose players left Miami Stadium having created their own moment of sporting history. “First things, the pride I feel in my players and what they did, they did it with dignity and courage,” Bubista, the Cape Verde coach, said after…

*Messi On Scoresheet Cape Verde might have lost but it felt like they had won, on Saturday early morning Nigeria time. The way they applied themselves, the way they battled and fought with bravery and ambition. They took the defending world champions right to the edge. Immediately after the game,the Cape Verde players looked devastated – some in tears, others with their heads in their hands. Obviously they should be proud of themselves but it’s completely understandable, they were so close to pulling off the greatest sporting shock of all time. Messi looked a mix of bemused, relieved and shattered.…

Egypt cavort, Egypt dance, Egypt enjoy. They were far more clinical with the spot kicks; on balance, they were the more threatening over the 120 minutes of football, on Friday, 3 July. But the margins weren’t that big. Australia will be crushed, having once again failed to win a World Cup knockout game: that’s zero for three now. But Egypt have done it at last. At long last, because their previous chance was at the 1934 World Cup, when they were beaten by Hungary in the round of 16. A full 92 years later, they’re now going to be playing…

Julian Nagelsmann has agreed to step down as Germany’s head coach following the team’s disappointing showing at the World Cup, paving the way for Jürgen Klopp to replace the 38-year-old. Nagelsmann agreed to leave the post he took over from Hansi Flick a little under three years ago following talks with German Football Association (DFB) officials at their headquarters in Frankfurt on Thursday. The DFB said in a statement that Nagelsmann contract, which ran through to the 2028 European Championship, would end with immediate effect and that Klopp “has already indicated his fundamental readiness to take over the position." Klopp…

One of the biggest and most criticized innovations of the 2026 World Cup, which is breaking several attendance and financial records, has been the mandatory hydration breaks during both halves of the matches. English edition of prominent Spanish daily Mundo Deportivo writes that there has been much discussion since the start of the tournament about this situation, which, while common in American sports, is atypical for the rest of the world. These breaks, in true American style, the paper noted, are becoming a real party inside the stadium and a lucrative business for television. It added that several studies have…

*Smallest Nation At Mundial Zooms Into KO Rounds Undefeated In First Ever World Cup For as long as she can remember, 13-year-old Lauryn struggled to find a map that included Cape Verde. Now, to her great delight, the tiny African island nation is finally centre stage, making history as the smallest nation by population to ever reach the knockout rounds. They advanced by finishing second in Group H after an undefeated group stage, which included draws against Spain, Uruguay, and Saudi Arabia, and are now set to face Argentina in the Round of 32 on 3 uly. “Seeing our country…

It had to be Lionel Messi, it had to be on this day and perhaps it even needed to be in Dallas too. History was created in the way he knows best, a clinical left-footed flourish setting him out on his own as the World Cup’s highest goalscorer of all time --on Monday, 22 June. An occasion that already throbbed with an epic, cinematic quality had its moment for the ages and the genius who served it up will surely provide even more. A first golden boot would not be the worst present for an icon who turns 39 on…

Lamine Yamal was the story before kick-off on Sunday, 21 June, and is dominating conversation long after the final whistle too. The 18-year-old returned to Atlanta hoping to start his first World Cup match, having been limited to just 19 minutes in Spain's shock goalless draw with Cape Verde in their first match. Coach Luis de la Fuente insisted that cameo was part of a longer-term plan, with Yamal still carefully managing his recovery from the hamstring injury he suffered in April. Fit enough to start against Saudi Arabia, his impact was immediate. Even before his first touch, the impact…

*Germans Qualify For KO Rounds First Time In Over 10 Years *Ivorians Too Can Qualify And Achieve What Drogba, the Toures, Kalou Couldn't Les Elephants of Cote d'Ivoire, brimming with confidence from their 1-0 defeat of Ecuador in their World Cup Group E first game, took an early lead against the German Machine on Saturday night (Nigeria time) and resorted to frustrating the favourites. But then popped up Nigerian-German midfielder Felix Nmecha in the 94th minute. His surname in Igbo, a Nigerian language, means "Finishing, Completion," but on this occasion he did not finish the job. Outstanding throughout the tough…

They are taking Nigeria's place at the ongoing World Cup --but purely on merit, because they beat the Super Eagles at the Africa playoffs. To prove that their victory over highly rated Nigeria was no fluke, the Leopards took to the field yesterday against mighty Cristiano Ronaldo's star-studded Portugal, emerging with their heads held high. After the 1-1 opening game draw in Houston, US, the DR Congo players are upbeat about their chances in the tournament, insisting that they are not at the mundial just for sightseeing. Assuring of better days ahead after earning their first point in the history…