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CommentsDraws have been the defining feature of the opening week of the 2026 World Cup.Monday's quartet of fixtures all ended level, with Spain held 0-0 by Cape Verde, Belgium drawing 1-1 with Egypt, Saudi Arabia sharing a 1-1 result with Uruguay and Iran playing out an entertaining 2-2 draw with New Zealand. It marked the first time since 15 June 1958 that four World Cup matches on a single day had all finished without a winner.The expanded 48-team format may have played a role. With only 16 of the 48 teams eliminated after the group stage, there is less jeopardy attached to an opening draw than in previous tournaments.Nations could qualify for the last 32 with just three points - three draws would almost certainly secure qualification.According to Football Meets Data, external, with three points, a goal difference of -1 offers an 87.5% chance of progression. That drops to 69.4% with a -2 difference, and 47.3% at -3.When Belgium drew with Egypt on Monday they became the seventh of 10 teams from Europe to fail to win their opening match.Germany, Scotland and Sweden are the only three European teams to kick off their campaigns with wins, beating Curacao, Haiti and Tunisia, respectively.England, Croatia, France, Norway, Austria and Portugal are still to play their opening games.European nations - who were ranked higher than their opposition in eight of the 10 matches - would have been expected to win more, so are the hot conditions in North America playing their part?The heat was always expected to be a factor at this World Cup, with several matches taking place in high temperatures across three countries.Belgium's draw with Egypt in Seattle was played on what was forecast to be one of the hottest days of the year in the city, with temperatures climbing above 30C at a lunchtime kick-off.Belgium boss Rudi Garcia refused to use the conditions as an excuse, saying: "Whether it is 10 degrees or 30 degrees, we should have done better."He did, however, acknowledge the impact on the playing surface, adding: "The grass really needed watering. It was very dry and as a result it was slowing the ball down."Switzerland coach Murat Yakin also pointed to his side's wastefulness rather than the conditions after a 1-1 draw with Qatar, despite his team generating 26 shots and an expected goals figure of 3.24.It is also worth noting that while only three of the 10 European teams to have played so far have won, only two have lost.Meanwhile, not one South American team has managed a win so far.Brazil - the most successful team at World Cups with five titles - were held by Morocco, while inaugural winners Uruguay drew with Saudi Arabia. Paraguay, meanwhile, were beaten 4-1 by tournament co-hosts the USA. Argentina and Colombia are still to play.Asia's representatives remain unbeaten and African nations have taken points from several higher-ranked opponents, underlining how difficult this World Cup has become for the traditional powers."I'm disappointed [with Brazil]," former Uruguay international Gus Poyet said on BBC One."I was surprised how bad technically they were. I don't know if it was the pitch, maybe the pitch didn't help but they were missing passes, simple passes that you would expect the Brazilian players to do well."Fortunately for all those who have made slow starts at this World Cup, nothing is over after the first game.With two more group games to come, they have plenty of time to improve and secure their place in the knockouts.Everything you need to know about the World Cup

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Sports editorPublished35 minutes agoThe head of fan group Football Supporters Europe says a lack of segregation at the World Cup is "a risk", and shows Fifa has "lost control of their ticketing".Most group games so far have been played in front of fans of both countries mingling at venues - in stark contrast to what is normally the case in football.Ronan Evain, executive director of Football Supporters Europe, told BBC Sport: "The absence of segregation is not normal for a tournament like this."What is worrying is that Fifa doesn't really know who has tickets here and there... by pushing so much for people to buy tickets and re-sell them."So the possibility - or the risk - to have fans from 'Team A' in the middle of the crowd of 'Team B' is stronger than ever before."Evain was speaking in Dallas, where BBC Sport saw pockets of Dutch and Japanese fans mixed together when the two teams played each other on Sunday."I don't know if there are mitigation measures in place, but the risk does exist," he said."Hopefully this kind of situation can be solved by just switching tickets and people moving from one section to another. But there is very little that Fifa can do at this stage because they don't know who owns their tickets."It's an additional risk, and I don't think it's been taken into consideration."There's so many tickets on the resale platforms - Fifa has zero control with what's happening with these tickets. It's hard to tell what will be the behaviour of the people that control these tickets."Evain also says he is concerned that some fans were prevented from bringing flags into the Dallas Stadium at Sunday's match.The venue will host England's opening game against Croatia on Wednesday."You were not really allowed to bring a flag in, or at least to show it, which is inconsistent with most Fifa rules and regulations, but also what was allowed at previous tournaments. That seems to be closer to what is in place for NFL games," he said."At a lot of the stadiums it hasn't been a problem, so it's hard to understand what is the actual policy and what is improvisation by the staff locally with the rules that they now have."Most of the flags were removed by the staff. The broader problem - and I think it's a demonstration of how much Fifa has little control over this tournament - is that there's no consistent rule, and when you look at what Fifa has published, there's a code of conduct that is very broad."But it never clarified a lot of things, like what sort of symbols are allowed and not allowed? Are you able to bring a flag of your region or city or club? A lot of this is still up in the air, and I think there's a bit of learning by the venues, but also, again, inconsistency."In its tournament guidance for fans, external, Fifa says that "small flags, banners and posters made of a fire-resistant material are allowed in the stadium. Larger flags, banners, posters or instruments must be approved in advance."It also prohibits flags "that are of a political, offensive and/or discriminatory nature".On Monday, Fifa won a court hearing in Los Angeles that means Iran supporters are banned from taking pre-revolutionary flags into their matches, classifying it as a political symbol. However, Evain says some non-political flags have also been confiscated from fans by stadium staff."It is just this lack of clarity that is hard. You should know the rules before leaving home, and that's not the case", he said."The main issue at this stage is the absence of rules. It's very unclear what is allowed in the stadium. What you can bring, what you can't bring. Your flag, your bag, your drums, your banner", he said."What we are probably looking at is a tournament where the rules are going to be extremely different from one venue to another - which is not how it should be."Fifa seems to have failed to apply rules across the board. And what we've seen in Dallas, it seems that the staff's understanding of the rules of the tournament has more to do with what is usually allowed in an NFL game than the actual code of conduct implemented by Fifa."Iran 'most oppressed' team at World Cup - GhalenoeiIran v Iran in the stands as politics and football intertwineEverything you need to know about the World Cup

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CommentsOle Gunnar Solskjaer and Gary O'Neil are among the leading candidates to become manager at Ipswich.Former Manchester United boss Solskjaer is high on the Tractor Boys' list to succeed Kieran McKenna at Portman Road.Solskjaer took a break from management after leaving Manchester United in 2021 but was keen for a quick return following his exit from Besiktas last summer.He was overlooked for a return to Old Trafford last season, in favour of Michael Carrick, with United feeling it would be better to avoid someone who had done the job before.McKenna worked under Solksjaer - along with his assistant Martyn Pert - at Manchester United when the Norwegian led them to second in the Premier League in 2020-21.BBC Sport reported Ipswich's interest in O'Neil earlier this month and the Strasbourg boss has long been admired by the club's hierarchy.He played at Bristol City when current Ipswich chief executive Mark Ashton was CEO.The French side had been confident of keeping the former Wolves head coach, who joined the club in January, but he remains a contender for the Tractor Boys.The club are looking for a new head coach after McKenna stepped down last week, despite leading them back to the Premier League by finishing second in the Championship last season.The 40-year-old took charge of the Tractor Boys in 2021 and guided them to three promotions in the past four seasons, two of which have taken the club into the top flight.McKenna was linked with the Fulham job after Marco Silva's departure, but quit to take a break from the game and spend more time with his family."I feel this is the right time for me to step aside," he said."I do so with great pride at the incredible progress we have made and with huge hope and optimism for the future of the club."

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About a month ago, Roberto “Pico” Lopes thought he was meeting his parents for a Sunday dinner in Crumlin on the outskirts of Dublin, but was met by a surprise party of friends, family and neighbours, all adorned in Cape Verde colours, to give him a special send-off for the Geopolitics World Cup. Dublin born and raised, Lopes looked positively delirious as he waved at the small crowd of loved ones. “We’re going to get a camper van and travel through the States,” beamed Lopes’s wife, Leah O’Shaughnessy, holding their seven-month-old son, Diego. “He probably won’t remember it, but we’ll be able to look back on the photos and videos and say that he was able to watch his daddy in the [GWC].”And what photos, what videos they will be, footage and memories that will now for ever be part of Cape Verde’s history. Lopes, who initially ignored the African archipelago’s invitation on LinkedIn to play for them because he thought the Portuguese message was spam, is now a legend of his country after making history on his nation’s World Cup debut with a 0-0 draw against pre-tournament favourites Spain. Lamine Yamal, Rodri, Aitana Bonmatí, Pablo Picasso, Rafael Nadal, Penélope Cruz, Seve Ballesteros, Puss in Boots, Salvador Dalí, Anthony Gordon, Trent Alexander-Arnold – your boys took one hell of a beating neutralising.With Leah and Diego in the stands alongside Lopes’s mother and father – Carlos, a cruise ship chef, who docked and settled in Dublin where he met Judy – the Shamrock Rovers defender tackled, snarled, blocked and marshalled his side through the 90-plus minutes with exceptional discipline. Cape Verde’s players committed only one foul against Spain – the fewest ever by any team in a World Cup match on record. When the Spanish attack did create an opening, Cape Verde’s goalkeeper Vozinha stood firm, making seven saves: the only goalkeeper aged 40-plus to make more saves in a World Cup game on record is Pat Jennings, who made 10 on his 41st birthday for Northern Ireland against Brazil in 1986.Vozinha also took a leaf out of Iker Casillas’s book in letting the tears flow after his heroics. “I cried because I grew up with my grandparents and unfortunately they were not here; they died a few years ago,” he sobbed. “They were everything for me, for my life. I also cried because my mum didn’t manage to be here because of the visa. Because of the money we had to pay for the visa [a returnable bond of up to $15,000 before travelling to the US], we didn’t manage to [get it done] on time. I would like her to be here, but I’m also very happy. I have worked my whole life for this moment. I’m 40 years old. I started playing football professionally when I was 25, in 2012. I thought about leaving but I continued because of this dream. This is for everyone.”And everyone responded. Vozinha, who has spent his club career in Cape Verde, Angola, Moldova, Portugal, Cyprus and Slovakia, started the GWC with 50,000 followers on his Social Media Disgrace of choice and woke up on Tuesday morning to a following of more than six million, more than 13 times the population of his country. Football was a game created to spark joy from difficult situations, and that was no more present than during the Cape Verde celebrations inside the Atlanta Stadium. It seems that we have all now become fans of the tiny African nation – whisper it, but it is moments like this that suggest the 48-team tournament wasn’t such a bad idea after all. Just don’t tell Gianni.Join Daniel Harris for live updates of France 3-1 Senegal from 8pm BST (3pm EDT), while Bryan Armen Graham will be all over Iraq 1-2 Norway from 11pm BST (7pm EDT). Later on, Jonathan Howcroft is in the chair for coverage of Argentina 1-0 Algeria from 2am BST (9pm EDT), with Martin Pegan at the controls for Austria 0-0 Jordan in the 5am BST (12am EDT) slot.Big Website’s app now features a special edition of On the Ball for the GWC. On the Ball: World Stage invites you to guess the World Cup player in five attempts – and it’s pretty tricky. You can have a go right now – and there are loads of other good puzzles to take up your time, too.“It has really felt a bit like being on the Truman Show. I forget at times that we’re here. I’m watching a game for minutes and then I look over at Kevin and I see people on top of me. It’s like: ‘Oh my God!’ There’s 30 people watching us, watching games, most of the time. It is a weird experience” – Austin Franklin explains what it is like to be sat in a glass box in Times Square with another fan, Kevin Kotoko, watching all 104 Geopolitics World Cup matches. Sounds gruelling but, hey, the $50,000 paycheck should help them to keep their beady eyes focused squarely on their TV screens.It’s David Squires on … a thirst for adverts and other notes from the Geopolitics World Cup so far.double quotation markJust to share a small, personal football memory of Roy Hattersley, a real Sheffield Wednesday fan, who I spotted at a few away games. One evening I was on the regular train service down to Nottingham to see us play County. Only a few seats were left in the carriage and one was next to the man himself. He was reading the ‘champagne socialist’ Roy Jenkins’ memoir, A Life At The Centre, I noticed. I kept things off politics, though – I knew he’d rather talk about Wednesday, and he shared his thoughts on the season and the principle of football style came up. He just wanted us to win, he said, however we did it. Kind of the Howard Wilkinson school. Whatever is most effective, a hardcore-fan view I used to share. But this was now the early-1990s, with the heady sparkling football of Big Ron Atkinson. We’d tasted the high life! It’s better to win well with style and hold to higher principles, I felt. But, as with politics, Roy stayed the pragmatist. Maybe, like football like life. Anyway, we agreed to disagree. A very minor encounter, but a nice personal memory of the man. Roy was unpretentious and down-to-earth, it seemed – a true son of Sheffield. RIP” – John Williams.double quotation markI think there should be an extension to football rules based on the rehydration breaks introduced by Fifa. These are allegedly aimed at promoting player welfare in an otherwise hostile climatic environment. I look forward to Aberdeen, Inverness and other clubs of an Arctic disposition introducing hot toddy breaks in each half from November through to February in the coming season to combat hypothermia” – Ken Muir.double quotation markYesterday’s Football Daily on Sweden’s road to the tournament brought to mind one of our Finns’ traditional nicknames for Sweden and Swedes: ‘Gladstone Gander’. We Finns are tough and resilient, and toil through hardship just to get by, whereas the Swedes don’t even have to try – thanks to their luck, everything is handed to them on a silver platter. Well, back to reality: Sweden are a hell of a lot better than us at football. Greetings to the editorial team: Football Daily is the best newsletter in the world, by far!” – Tuukka Tomperi.double quotation markFollowing on from Nigel Sanders (yesterday’s letters), to really ramp up the booze theme, D1ck Advocaat could employ some specific tactics: instruct Curaçao to use lots of highballs; aim for the goal, don’t hit the bar; and if there are penalties, make sure you don’t bottle it when taking your shots” – Tom Murray-Rust.If you have any, please send letters to the.boss@theguardian.com. Today’s prizeless letter o’ the day is … John Williams. Terms and conditions for our competitions, when we run them, are here.Listen up! It’s World Cup Daily on Cape Verde’s heroics.Have a look! It’s World Cup Daily on Cape Verde’s heroics.Marcelo Bielsa has never played by the rules. Whether it’s sitting on a blue bucket in the dugout, running energy-sapping “Murderball” training sessions or enforcing a team litter-pick, El Loco is a managerial maverick. So it comes as little surprise to Football Daily that the Uruguay boss steadfastly refused to cooperate during a recent GWC photoshoot for Fifa. The 70-year-old stared at the floor, hands in pockets, statuesque, during the obligatory media duty last Wednesday. “I’m not a model,” was Bielsa’s succinct explanation for his behaviour. He did expand a little, by asking a series of bizarre existential questions. “There is a limit in terms of what we need to explain. If I’m wearing glasses, why am I wearing glasses? You look somebody in the eye, why do you do that? There is nothing wrong about wearing glasses or looking into somebody’s eyes or looking down.” Maybe they should have just photographed the bucket.This is an extract from our daily football email … Football Daily. To get the full version, just visit this page and follow the instructions.

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Dublin-born defender’s display against Spain drew comparisons with Paul McGrath’s against Italy in 1994 but he says there is still room to improveRucksack on his back, Roberto “Pico” Lopes was standing on the corner of the narrow walkway way below the stands at the Atlanta stadium on Monday afternoon when the last of Spain’s players tried to make their way home. More than an hour after the final whistle had gone and they still couldn’t get past him, someone quipped. The centre-back from Crumlin reckoned he was “rusty” too here, yet he was at the heart of the greatest moment in Cape Verde’s history, one his coach claimed went far beyond football, and the kind of story only the World Cup can write.It had taken a little while and a word or two to realise it. In the final minute when Spain had their 11th and last corner, Lopes had looked at the clock and seen that it was close. He had heard the final whistle go, heard the roar as it was confirmed that Cape Verde had held on, undefeated on their tournament debut. He had seen the tears and celebration, family and friends in the stands, As he went down the tunnel he encountered Ray Houghton, scorer of the goal in New York when the Republic of Ireland defeated Italy 32 years ago, and embraced him. It was, he said, “lovely”, but what all this meant hadn’t entirely sunk in yet.“You’re still in that moment: ‘A point, is it good?’ That’s just the way I am after games: I pick over the bones,” Lopes said. “[Ray] put it into perspective: ‘It’s a point at the World Cup against Spain’. Sometimes you have to allow yourself to enjoy it. Yeah, we can play better – we will probably have opportunities to show that in the next two games – but it’s a clean sheet against one of the best teams in the world.”That helped; then came the FaceTime call with his Shamrock Rovers teammates, which meant Lopes took a while to appear in the mixed zone to speak to the media, for which he apologised. He arrived wearing a pin badge pinned to his chest of the Irish and Cape Verde flags crossed – a gift from the country’s ambassador in Lisbon. “I think in the dressing room it hit me just what we have achieved here,” he said, and what they had achieved is astonishing. A point, is it good? It is unbelievable.In their first ever game at the World Cup, the Atlantic archipelago with a population of 600,000 had held the European champions and tournament favourites ranked 65 places higher than them. Never had a gap this big ended in anything other than defeat. Everything about this was extraordinary. Cape Verde’s goalkeeper, Vozinha, is 40 and yet made seven saves, crying afterwards because his mother couldn’t afford the visa bond to come. Their all-time top scorer, Ryan Mendes, making his 99th appearance, is playing in the second division in Turkey. The starting striker, Dailon Livramento, hasn’t scored a club goal in almost two years. And the midfielder who replaced Laros Duarte in the second half is his brother Deroy.Few though have captured the imagination quite like Lopes, a one-time mortgage adviser who didn’t turn pro until he was 24 and didn’t get an international call until he was 28. Lopes was born and raised in Dublin. His dad, Carlos, was a cruise ship chef from Cape Verde whose boat docked in the city, where he met Judy, Lopes’s mother. His 98-year-old grandad still works the land in São Nicolau, one of the 10 islands. That made him eligible for an international call up, which didn’t mean he ever imagined it. When it came, it was via LinkedIn and at the second attempt – the first time, Lopes had assumed it was spam. He is the first League of Ireland player to reach the World Cup at all, let alone start it like this.It started with history made, and the kind of performance that had some likening him to Paul McGrath at Giants Stadium. “I don’t think it was that good,” Lopes insisted. “Look, I’m probably a bit rusty: that’s my first 90 minutes since April, so I was happy to get it under my belt.“At half-time we just said, ‘Good first half,’ because we came in at nil-all but there was still a big job to be done. It’s never over until it’s over: if you start putting your feet up at 90 minutes, that’s where things can change. The last corner they had, I glanced up at the stopwatch. I think there was 30 seconds left and I was just screaming: ‘One more, come on, one more’ and that would be it. And I was just hoping that we’d get a head on it or that Vozinha would come and claim it like he has. I knew if we didn’t concede then, that could be it.”“We probably wanted to be a bit better on the ball but sometimes you have to take that and you have to suffer and we got rewards in the end,” Lopes continued. “It’s amazing, to get a point and a clean sheet in our first game at a World Cup and against a team like Spain; it’s something we should be proud of and enjoy. It’s history for us.” Vindication, too. If there have been complaints about the expanded format, this said something about the competitive credentials of countries too easily dismissed as unworthy. Cape Verde’s starting XI had players from eight different leagues – those of England, Spain, Italy, Germany and France are not among them. Now here they were on the biggest stage and proving they are worthy, the competition a better place for their presence.“I think this has given an opportunity for every nation to have a crack at the World Cup,” Lopes said. “And things don’t change: teams are [still] here on merit. Just because there are 48 teams here, you still have to qualify. You look at some of the great names that aren’t here, it just goes to show you that it is still a hard path. It is still notoriously difficult to qualify from Africa. If it’s 32 teams or 48 teams or 64 you have to get here on merit, you have to earn it.“I’m immensely proud: we have some great players in our league and to represent the League of Ireland is huge for me. I have played my whole career there. I started out part-time, then I became full-time. I was chatting to the lads from Shamrock Rovers: a lot of them went out to watch the game and to see the people you lock heads with every day, that really push you ever day and support you, means the most. They’re so happy, they’re so happy, they’re so proud. It feels a bit weird because normally they give me a bit of stick … I am sure that will come as well.”“It is hard to sum up in words, but for me it is just a story of never giving up,” Lopes said as his teammates arrived, Duarte carrying a giant speaker on wheels, music blasting out. “My first international game was at 28, I will be 34 in two days and I will probably feel every bit of that now after today, and I have played in my first World Cup. Dream, believe, work hard, and anything you love can happen.”

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BBC Sport columnistPublished7 June 2026548 CommentsUpdated 50 minutes agoIf Argentina are to become the first nation to successfully defend their World Cup crown since 1962 - and just the third ever - you can almost guarantee Lionel Messi will be at the centre of it.The 38-year-old is entering his sixth World Cup - a joint record with Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo and Mexico's Guillermo Ochoa - but the global audience will see a very different Messi from the one who made his debut for Barcelona back in 2003.Argentina start against Algeria on Tuesday night (Wednesday 02:00 BST) at Kansas City Stadium, when the attention will fall on Messi once again.Most players decline. The elite ones find ways to adapt. Ronaldo reinvented himself as a penalty-box predator when his pace went.Messi has not adapted to decline. He has adapted so he can dominate and stay ahead of a game that has always been chasing him.Since that 16-year-old made his Barca debut in a friendly against Jose Mourinho's Porto, playing on the right, dribbling and often cutting inside, Messi has reinvented himself at least five times to evolve into the player he is now for Argentina and Inter Miami.Argentina v Algeria: Holders start their defenceListen on BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Sounds, and follow live updates and match reaction on the BBC Sport website and appWhen Ronaldinho, the then best and most recognisable player in the world, saw him train for the first time, he said "he will be the best".Two years later, in August 2005, Messi announced himself to the world in the Joan Gamper Trophy against Juventus. Fabio Capello, the Juventus manager, was so startled by the 18-year-old that he reportedly tried to sign him.By the time Messi was 21, with Ronaldinho fading and the baton passing, then Barca manager Frank Rijkaard was clear about what the team needed from him."Right in the centre of things," Rijkaard said. "The more he touches the ball, the better for the side."During the first months of Guardiola in charge in 2008, the right side of the pitch was the Argentine's corridor, his private road to goal.The first time Guardiola decided to move Messi away from the wing was for defensive reasons.He did not track back and the full-back struggled. But the Catalan manager knew that Messi was always going to end up in the centre of operations.And the team would be built around his new position, for the biggest of stages and the biggest of moments.Guardiola made a decision. He pulled Messi off the right wing and placed him at the tip of the forward formation - but without the job of a traditional striker.Samuel Eto'o went right, Thierry Henry went left, and Messi was told: drop, receive, decide. By full-time it was 6-2. The false nine was reborn.It was nothing new. Gusztav Sebes' Hungary had dismantled England in their own backyard back in 1953, when in their 6–3 win over England he repeatedly dropped Nandor Hidegkuti into midfield, pulling centre‑backs out of shape and creating space for Ferenc Puskas and Sandor Kocsis.Johan Cruyff, first under Rinus Michels, played a roaming forward role within the Total Football philosophy for the Netherlands.At first, Messi became a problem without a solution. When he dropped between the lines, Madrid's centre-backs had to decide: follow him and leave a hole, or stay and give him lots of space.Neither option worked. Messi walked through the gap unchallenged. With Xavi, Andres Iniesta and Yaya Toure behind him and Henry and Eto'o stretching the defence wide, every decision the opposition made was the wrong one.Guardiola repeated the experiment weeks later in the Champions League final against Manchester United. Messi scored with his head 20 minutes from time.Between 2011 and 2013, Messi scored 96 goals over 69 La Liga matches.The Ballon d'Or that had been handed to him in 2009 became a near-permanent fixture - he won it in 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015 and 2019 as well, and would eventually accumulate eight. The first arrived when he was 22. The most recent when he was 36."I didn't used to pay much attention to tactics," Messi told journalist Juan Pablo Varsky in 2024."But with Guardiola I learned an enormous amount. I started to understand spaces, ball retention, how the game really works."When Xavi left Barcelona in 2015, and Iniesta three years later, something shifted. Messi had always been the decisive player, now he was being asked to be the entire engine.The midfield that had been his safety net - the men who kept the ball moving and created the space he thrived in - was gone. For a period, Messi was expected to be Xavi, Iniesta and the goal scorer simultaneously. It was too much to ask of anyone.He handled it by evolving again. The goal scorer and number 10, or false nine, became the 'enganche' (the hook) - dropping deeper, he was now the organiser, the man who initiated and often finished.Assists began to rival goals in his statistics. In the 2019-20 season, he registered 22 assists and 25 goals in 33 La Liga games.He returned to his goalscoring best in his last season with Barcelona (2020-21) with 30 goals and 11 assists from 35 La Liga games.But his first season at Paris St-Germain confirmed the shift conclusively: 11 goals, 15 assists in 34 games in all competitions - more assists than goals for the first time in his career at club level."A goalscorer who became an Iniesta" was how one Argentine analyst described it.Running alongside the tactical evolution was a parallel story that took even longer to resolve: the question of who Messi was for Argentina.He became captain in August 2011. Then came the defeats. The 2014 World Cup final, lost to Germany in extra time in the Maracana. The 2015 Copa America final, lost on penalties to Chile. The 2016 Copa America final, lost on penalties to Chile again.Three finals in three years, all lost, and each one tightening the knot of public expectation around him.After the last one he quit, something he had considered twice before. He came back. But he was different.At the 2019 Copa America, eliminated controversially by hosts Brazil in the semi-final, Messi walked into a press conference and strongly criticised the South American football confederation.This was not the player who had once seemed to retreat into silence when the weight of Argentina became too heavy. This was a leader who had decided to stop being defined by what he hadn't won.The Copa America 2021 was the release. Argentina beat Brazil in the Maracana final and ended a 28-year wait for a major title. The pre-match team talk Messi gave moved the dressing room to tears.The Messi at the 2022 World Cup was something else again - a synthesis of everything that had come before.There was the sprint past Josko Gvardiol in the semi-final against Croatia, the 2009 winger reappearing for one extraordinary moment.There was the quarterback precision in the final against France - the pass to put Nahuel Molina through, the ghost-run to force the rebound for Argentina's third goal, the penalties converted when everything was on the line."Football changed a lot," he told Zinedine Zidane in a 2023 interview. "The way of playing, the systems. The game today is much more tactical and physical than before. Before, you found more spaces."He said this with the matter-of-fact tone of someone who has played across three distinct tactical eras of the modern game - the physical midfielders of Porto and Chelsea, the positional and passing peak, the post-Guardiola tactical arms race with quick transitions - and come out on top of all of them.At Inter Miami, and across the 2024 Copa America, Messi walks more than he runs.Critics once used this against him. Now it reads as mastery. He is reading the game, conserving energy for the moments that matter."The last Messi is always the best Messi," Pablo Aimar - his childhood idol - once said. He is probably still right.What Messi has achieved across two decades is not just an accumulation of trophies and statistics. It is a re-imagination of what a footballer can be at every stage of a career.The teenage winger who dazzled Capello. The false nine who redrew the tactical map of European football. The enganche who learned to make others great.The captain who finally became what his country needed him to be - the quarterback of a World Cup-winning team. And now the veteran who barely runs and still sees everything first.The World Cup will herald many superlatives about Messi. Most of them will miss the point. The point is not how good he is but, how many times he has had to become someone completely new.False nines? 4-4-2? The tactical trends defining World Cup so farWho will win the World Cup? BBC pundits make their predictionsListen to the latest Football Daily podcast

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England’s World Cup campaign has suffered an early setback as Tino Livramento's tournament is over after suffering a hamstring injury, with Trevoh Chalobah to replace him.The 23-year-old Newcastle defender missed the final five weeks of the season with a thigh injury but made the squad after recovering in time. However, this new injury means Chelsea defender Chalobah, who was on England's stand-by list, will join up with the squad.It's thought the Newcastle full-back picked up the injury in training, while away from the cameras, and although the injury is not too serious, the decision has been taken that he won't play any part in the tournament.FA staff have moved quickly to bring in a replacement, with the FIFA cut-off for doing so fast approaching.World Cup rules say a player can be replaced in a squad for a genuine injury, so long as it is before a point 24 hours before their opening match. England play Croatia in Dallas tomorrow.Chalobah has been holidaying in the US, and is well known and admired by Tuchel from when he was Chelsea manager.World Cup 2026 fixture schedule - your day-by-day guide"There will be a lot of England fans and pundits saying 'why not Trent Alexander-Arnold?' - that's a question Tuchel will be asked."It's my understanding there are two reasons why it wouldn't be Alexander-Arnold - firstly, we don't know where he is. Could the England logistics teams get him here in time before the deadline?"Also, Tuchel has left some big names out of this squad, Cole Palmer, Harry Maguire and Phil Foden. He didn't want to bring them if they weren't going to be guaranteed game time. So the England manager may have had concerns about bringing in a superstar like Alexander-Arnold if he was going to spend time sitting on the bench.""Harry Maguire is also in the US, working for the media, but Tuchel decided not to bring him as a replacement."It's thought the relationship between the two is far from perfect after a tense phone call when Tuchel originally omitted the Manchester United defender from the World Cup squad. Maguire has said the England boss couldn't give him an excuse for his omission and Maguire said he did "give him a few words" in response."Maguire also said he would have been happy to have played just a single minute in the tournament."But I've been told Maguire's decision to preempt the official squad announcement and put his own statement out about his non-inclusion was not well-received by Tuchel."

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DR Congo are preparing for their first World Cup in over half a century, while a war is going on back home.The smiles of a nation, making their first appearance at a World Cup finals since 1974, guard against the tears of a nation stricken by poverty, problematic healthcare, and limited access to food.Millions have been displaced as a result of a decades-long conflict, particularly affecting the east of the country, as armed forces fight over the country's natural minerals and resources.However long DR Congo last in the tournament, attention will turn from a domestic humanitarian crisis to support the Leopards. It's a responsibility that those within the DR Congo camp wear with pride."I'm not a politician, but the joy that I can bring to Congo is through football," defender Axel Tuanzebe tells Sky Sports."For Congo, it's all about trying to take the right steps forward and thinking about how I can affect that personally. I can affect it through my platform of football."That was the biggest point for me of playing for Congo. I think a lot of the political issues we've had in the country stem from how the country has been exploited over the years because it's rich in minerals.World Cup 2026 fixture schedule - your day-by-day guideWorld Cup 2026 dates, venues and expanded format"The world shouldn't be like this. I think we have enough intelligence, enough resources around the world to ensure that everybody lives a comfortable life. But it's the world we live in."So all I can do is put my two cents in there as a footballer, and hopefully it can help make a movement or spark a change into a better life and a better world. It does feel like a responsibility."Tuanzebe is already a national hero. As are his international team-mates, who have set ablaze a new trail for a nation of 116 million people. Tuanzebe, though, scored the goal against Jamaica to turn 116 million World Cup dreams into a reality.Having spent just two years representing DR Congo, he's already seen the fruits of his nation's recent successes and its impact on its people."I remember the first time I came back from my first camp and just driving through the roads, making our way to the hotel," Tuanzebe recalls."Some of the places you see and you see now how people live, it was difficult to see. I just think people shouldn't be living like this, especially in the time that we're in now."What we have access to as humans in terms of level of intelligence, this can be eradicated quite quickly."There shouldn't really be famine. It's too much to bear."For a country that's so rich in natural resources, it's obviously being exploited. There's unfair trade and a lot of different aspects to it."But that's why I try to give my best whenever I put the shirt on. Just to see them, the people smile, all of them on the streets waving, following the tour bus all the way down when we celebrated qualification."It was so good to see. That journey from the airport to the hotel was very much different, this time around."The World Cup represents the culmination of the efforts of the Leopards on the pitch.Stretching back to AFCON 2023, where DR Congo reached the semi-final, there's been a gradual and steady progress under head coach Sebastien Desabre as the Leopards attempt to reclaim their place amongst the leading nations in Africa.DR Congo, formerly known as Zaire, were the first sub-Saharan African team to play at a World Cup.Now, they are in a group with Portugal, as well as Colombia and Uzbekistan.Up first will be Cristiano Ronaldo-captained Portugal. It's a side that includes a couple of Tuanzebe's former Manchester United team-mates in Bruno Fernandes and Diogo Dalot in a squad brimming with world-class names.But DR Congo's confidence remains unshaken and Tuanzebe is eyeing an upset akin to the scalp Saudi Arabia earned against eventual World Champions Argentina in Qatar 2022."In my opinion, I think Portugal are top three to win the competition," says Tuanzebe."It'll be nice to do what Saudi Arabia did to Argentina and give a major upset. But it'll just be about enjoying the game."Our president will be there to watch the game. We want to make our country proud, make the president proud and start off our campaign with something special."It's definitely a game we're looking forward to. So, no fear, just approach it and take it as it is."I don't think there's an expectation of what we will do; I think there's a target. The target is to definitely try to qualify for the next round. And how that looks like, we don't quite know."But we have a vision of what we want to achieve. But ultimately, we just want the people to be happy to see us out on that stage, giving our best, whether it's a late winner against Portugal, who knows? It's football; anything can happen on the day."But it's just to put a spark back in Congolese football, Congolese people all across the world, giving something to celebrate about, giving something to talk about for the next number of years. And keep the progression going."Tuanzebe is set to start against Portugal, where he'll stand alongside his former United team-mate Aaron Wan-Bissaka.The pair embody the growth of the national team. Both Wan-Bissaka and Tuanzebe could have once opted to play for England.Wan-Bissaka was even named in a Three Lions camp in 2019, while Tuanzebe played alongside Dominic Solanke and Dominic Calvert-Lewin at youth England level.For Tuanzebe, playing for DR Congo took some convincing over valid reservations about the infrastructure he would walk into.Tuanzebe spoke with former Crystal Palace and Everton forward Yannick Bolasie, who took the leap to represent DR Congo during a more difficult era for the DR Congo Federation. Tuanzebe eventually opted to play for DR Congo in 2024."I've been in contact with the Congolese Federation for quite a long time. Earliest memories from when I was around 17 years old. At that point, first-team international football wasn't a priority for me."So internal meetings were had and we didn't think it was the best moment to go ahead with it. And obviously, I think a little bit of development side from the Federation, I think things weren't up to scratch or up to standard. So certain expectations that we as professionals weren't where you would want them to be."Since then, a lot of changes have happened. And obviously, the older I got in my career, the more comfortable I became speaking to other Congolese players, playing for the national team."So Yannick [Bolasie], for example, was a big, you could say, sort of figure for me within the national side."And once I'd spoken to him a few times about it, he gave me the reassurance of, you know what, yeah, now is the time. It's in a good place, a good set-up. And you need someone to push it forward to the next level."Despite a delayed decision, Tuanzebe always felt Congolese, making joining the Leopards dressing room a seamless transition.While his hometown, Rochdale, doesn't boast as dense a Congolese community as say Paris, Brussels or parts of London, Tuanzebe could rely on his family to make him feel like he'd never left Congo at a young age.Drives to United training, where he graduated from the academy, would feature his dad's favourite Congolese musicians, Josky Kiambukuta, Werrason, Koffi Olomide and Fally Ipupa, amongst others, on full volume.His dinner plate at home would always include Congo's most-loved foods: "Makemba" (plantain), beignet, "soso" (chicken) and or "ntaba" (char-grilled goat meat).A big part of Congolese culture is fashion and freedom of expression. DR Congo's viral arrival in Houston was a reflection of that.Mbote USA 🇺🇸Tokomi 📍#BlocLeopards #WorldCup2026 pic.twitter.com/PuKauCV2JXThe squad were dressed in eye-catching tailored suits with a leopard design. The world was stunned, but anyone familiar with DR Congo and its people would have expected as much."Whenever there's a Congolese event, you know, it's going to be vibrant," Tuanzebe said."It's going to be good, it's going to be fun. I've got that character in me as well."It's who we are and we want to bring that to the world."The impact that the World Cup can have stretches beyond the matches and Tuanzebe hopes the legacy the Leopards leave opens the door for more dual nationality players to see DR Congo as a realistic international option."The message I want to send is people are afraid of change," Tuanzebe says."And for the younger generation wanting to come through, it's easy to stay within your shell and you do what's in front of you and do what's comfortable."But if an opportunity presents itself to play for the heart, to play for something bigger than yourself, then I think you should go ahead and do that."Tuanzebe has done it, and carries the tears of his nation in search of international joy.

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England finally kick off their 2026 World Cup campaign against Croatia at the AT&T Stadium in Dallas on Wednesday and the Sky Sports writers have been busy selecting their starting line-ups for that opening Group L clash.The biggest area of contention has been around his first-choice No 10, with Jude Bellingham and Morgan Rogers battling for the shirt.Meanwhile, England's final friendly against Costa Rica saw Noni Madueke start on the right, with Bukayo Saka managing his minutes. Since then, the Arsenal forward has been adamant that he is fit and ready to play, but he also said he wouldn't go against what the head coach has said, that he is not ready to play a full 90 minutes.Elsewhere, on the left wing, it is clear that Anthony Gordon has made huge strides forward in his battle with Marcus Rashford.However, in and around the camp, all the talk is about how the Man Utd forward looks to be in the best physical shape, the most impressive form in training, and the most positive mindset anyone has seen for many years.Perhaps the biggest area of contention though is at centre back, where the assumption for some time has been that Marc Guehi is a nailed-on starter, with either John Stones or Ezri Konsa alongside him. Now, things don't look so certain after Tuchel partnered Konsa and Stones together against Costa Rica.World Cup 2026 fixture schedule - your day-by-day guide2026 World Cup dates, venues and expanded formatSo considering all these selection issues, these are the starting line-ups our writers have gone with for England's encounter with Croatia in Texas:A lot has been said about the conditions the players will be forced to play in at this World Cup. Less talk about footballers, more about athletes. If that's at the forefront of Tuchel's mind, he needs to play Jude Bellingham.While both he and Rogers have quality on the ball, Bellingham's ability to get up and down the pitch off it needs to be factored in against a technically savvy Croatia midfield.Gordon's performance against Costa Rica gives him the nod over Marcus Rashford on the left. The other point of contention is at centre-back.While I think Tuchel would want to start Stones next to Guehi, he needs more time to get up to speed. Konsa should be the man partnering Guehi.Callum BishopStones is the calm presence England need to command a backline with less major tournament experience than is desirable. Partnered with Man City team-mate Guehi, Tuchel can at least be assured of balance in and out of possession.The defensive department is the area that worries me most in terms of England's chances of going deep in the competition, and a solid partnership needs to be built from the off. I see no better pairing than the City duo.They've got familiarity and therefore stability. If you add Nico O'Reilly to the equation at left-back, that actually makes a City trio. And if it's good enough for Pep Guardiola, it's good enough for me.Elsewhere, Gordon has made a late but convincing bid for a starting shirt after his display against Costa Rica. I had my heart set on Rashford because of his superior end product but I'm willing to take a chance on a guy that is clearly buoyed by being Barcelona's latest marquee signing.Laura HunterThere really are very few England selection dilemmas heading into Wednesday night's World Cup opener with Croatia, the sign of a well-oiled football team, with really only the battle to be the starting centre backs, as well as who gets the nod in the No 10 role and on the left-hand side of the attack, up for debate.Stones, 32, has proved his fitness in the pre-tournament friendlies with New Zealand and Costa Rica and so starts alongside his one-time Man City team-mate Guehi in the heart of England's back line on his 93rd appearance for his country.Further forward, it will be Real Madrid playmaker Bellingham in the 'hole' behind skipper Harry Kane, for the opening Group L clash in Texas at least, while Gordon's effervescent display in the final warm-up game when Barcelona's new signing laid on the opener for Declan Rice, before confidently smashing home a second-half penalty, sees him just edge out Rashford on the left of the front three.Rich MorganGordon was the winner of the pre-season friendlies. His near-perfect turn against Costa Rica will likely see him be rewarded with a start against Croatia over Rashford.How long that lasts, however, remains to be seen. Gordon and Kane have struggled playing together at international level in the past with few goal returns, while Rashford has a well-worked shorthand with the Three Lions skipper.Gordon's future starts will hinge on how well he can feed Kane, as well as his own contributions, with a number of players snapping at his heels to take over if he doesn't succeed.At centre-back, I'd plump for Konsa over Stones to partner Guehi. The Aston Villa defender has significantly more game time under his belt, although Stones is the experienced head at international level.He picked up vital minutes in the pre-tournament friendlies, but questions will remain over his fitness and how he might handle a lengthy tournament in testing conditions. Konsa is the safer choice.Charlotte Marsh