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A hat-trick against Algeria equalled Miroslav Klose’s World Cup scoring record, but Messi and his teammates insist the mark doesn’t matter to himLong after the dust had settled on Argentina’s 3-0 group-stage victory over Algeria on Tuesday night, Algeria and Bayern Munich midfielder Ibrahim Maza wearily emerged from behind a curtain and stepped up to the microphone.Maza had played well, even assisting on Algeria’s disallowed first goal. He’d also had a front row seat to a Lionel Messi masterclass, just a few yards away from Argentina’s captain when he scored his third goal of the evening and tied Miroslav Klose as the World Cup’s all-time leading goalscorer. In short order, he was asked to expand on what made Messi unplayable on Tuesday evening.“Messi things,” Maza said, a smile creeping across his face. “I don’t think I need to explain to you [what that means]. I think you just have to watch the game and then you’ll know what I mean by Messi things. He can decide the game on his own, as we saw today.”Messi did indeed decide the game on his own on Tuesday, scoring a trio of clinically-taken goals to bury Algeria and push Argentina to the brink of the knockout round.He did so 20 years to the day after scoring his first World Cup goal for Argentina. It feels sometimes like Messi is ageless, but rolling the tape on that strike – which came in Argentina’s 2006 group stage opener against Serbia and Montenegro – reveals a mop-headed teenager with alien-like speed and reflexes. He blurs across the area and smashes a finish across the face of goal, announcing his presence on the world stage.He became Argentina’s youngest-ever World Cup goalscorer that day and on Tuesday he became their oldest, eclipsing former Argentina great Martin Palermo’s record by over two full years. Messi moves slower now and undoubtedly enjoys the space he’s frequently given by defenders who fear humiliation at his hands. Twenty years on, Messi lacks a little pace but his mind is as sharp as ever, as is his ability to find space where there isn’t any to be found. He remains awe-inspiring.Not long after Maza slipped back through the curtain and headed towards the team bus, Messi himself emerged, smiling and clutching a Michelob Ultra “Superior Player of the Match” trophy, probably the least important silverware he’s ever touched.Messi, of course, is famously competitive and frequently minimizes these types of individual accomplishments, something he did on Tuesday.“Honestly [the record doesn’t matter],” he told a gaggle of reporters. “It’s an honor to be there, for what it means to be next to Klose, [Brazilian] Ronaldo is also there. [Kylian] Mbappé too, he scored twice today. At the end of the day it’s just a statistic and nothing more. ”It’s easy to question the veracity of Messi’s feelings, of course. He is relentlessly competitive, sometimes to the point of pettiness. The mere mention of Mbappé’s goals, scored hours earlier, and of the other participants on the list, demonstrates his interest.Messi’s Argentina and Inter Miami teammate Rodrigo De Paul, who assisted on Messi’s first goal on Tuesday, laughed when he was asked about Messi’s record.“I swear he doesn’t care. Sometimes we’ll be in a room drinking mate and we’ll tell him ‘hey man, you’re just one away or two away’ or whatever. And I swear he has no idea. I don’t know how that works.”Messi left Tuesday’s match after 80 minutes to a thunderous ovation. The nearly 70,000 in attendance chanted his name, while Messi raised his arms in acknowledgement. His head coach, Lionel Scaloni, met him at the touchline. He was visibly emotional, holding back tears as he eventually sat down on the bench next to Messi. It was not the only time that emotion got the best of him. He welled up after Messi’s third goal, and again on the field as Argentine supporters serenaded their team after the match.“There are no words; anything I say would be superfluous,” Scaloni said after the match. “It’s what he’s been doing for 20 years, it’s what the people of this sport want to see.”“He’s an animal,” added De Paul. “What makes me the happiest is that I feel like he’s enjoying it. That he doesn’t feel the weight of the pressure that he felt for so long. Everyone knows his mentality. He doesn’t let himself enjoy things much because he’s always focused in helping us and the team. But I see him good now, I see him happy. That’s contagious among the group.”Messi’s happiness was easy enough to see on Tuesday night. He beamed after every goal, celebrating much like the 19-year-old who found the back of the net for the first time 20 years ago. He lingered on the pitch after the final whistle, waving at fans and embracing his teammates. He had a warm smile on his face even as he walked towards the team bus, in the wee hours of the morning.

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Carlos Queiroz has plenty to deal with as the Black Stars enter the fray against Panama looking to banish a long record of underachievementThat it took Ghana until 2006 to qualify for the World Cup, despite being African football’s dominant team of the 1960s, 70s and the early 80s, winning the Africa Cup of Nations four times during this period, reflects the topsy-turvy nature of their football odyssey.“The journey of the Black Stars over the last four decades has been marked by long periods of disappointment,” says Gary Al-Smith, one of the country’s most respected football journalists. “We had a surge between 2006 and 2017, when we qualified for eight straight semi-finals at Afcon but never won anything. Yes, we had a quarter-final appearance at the 2010 World Cup, but our record overall has been pockmarked with great highlights but never a trophy. There has been nothing to celebrate.”The lack of managerial stability has certainly not helped Ghana’s quest for Afcon and World Cup glory. In the past five years they have had five coaches – Charles Akonnor, Milovan Rajevac, Chris Hughton and Otto Addo (in two spells) – before Carlos Queiroz, the former Real Madrid manager, was handed the mantle a month before the start of the World Cup.The revolving door of coaches, as Al-Smith says, has done little for team-building and competitiveness. “Teams need rhythm to grow,” he says. “Where there has to be a change in coaches, the philosophies need to match, in order for there to be continuity. In Ghana’s case, the frequent chopping and changing has meant that different coaches have brought different methods, philosophies and ways of playing. It’s not helped in the way that players are selected. The changes have certainly not helped, in terms of giving us the continuity that we have desired and needed.”The decision of Canada’s immigration authorities not to allow Thomas Partey into the country for the opener against Panama in Toronto on Wednesday, has not helped, especially with Tottenham’s Mohammed Kudus, Ghana’s most influential player, ruled out of the tournament because of injury.“For Canada, which is a party to many international treaties, that accepts the presumption of innocence until proven guilty by a competent court, to decide that they have some rules that will not allow you to be admitted into their country is unfair and an overreaction,” said Kofi Adams, Ghana’s sports minister. “We have strongly protested against that.” Ghana’s appeal against the decision was rejected on Tuesday night.“Ever since his [Partey’s] issue started, we knew that once we qualified for the World Cup and we had been drawn against England, there would be trouble and headlines,” Al-Smith says. “The Ghana FA knew that there would be trouble too. They have been doing all sort of work to mitigate the effects, the blowback.“What they did not foresee was the action of the Canadians. They had got some assurances from somewhere that nothing was going to happen because it is a World Cup.”Ensuring fans of the Black Stars could travel to the United States, Mexico and Canada to cheer on the team, despite the severe immigration restrictions placed on travel by the United States and Canada, was the initial priority of the government. But there was a sudden change of strategy from John Dramani Mahama, Ghana’s president, after the financial realities of the plan made it unsustainable for a country battling with severe economic difficulties.“When I interviewed President Mahama last year he told me that the government will not spend money on taking Ghanaians abroad and that they will engage the private sector to do so,” says Al-Smith. “These amounts would have been used to pay for supporters to go from Ghana to the US. That was going to cost $10,000 (£7,450) per head.“But a few weeks ago, in London, he announced the plan had changed as the government didn’t think that was value for money. Instead they would locate the Ghanaian communities in the major cities of the diaspora, like Boston, Philadelphia, Washington and Toronto and, through some mechanisms, tickets will be given to them to support the team instead. With a few days to go to the games, they have not received any tickets from the embassies in Washington and Ottawa.”With tough group games against England and Croatia to come, Ghana will need their vibrant, colourful supporters more than ever.

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⚽️ Kick-off time: 9pm local/2pm AEST/5am BST/12am EDT⚽️ Player guide | Bracketology | Golden Boot | Mail MartinSupporters on both sides have descended on San Francisco with Jordan making their World Cup debut and Austria returning to the stage for the first time in 28 years.It’s a comfortable 15C in San Francisco which should suit Austria more than Jordan ahead of a 9pm kick-off. The players have finished warming up and should be out with their game faces on shortly. Continue reading...

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Those in attendance at Argentina’s opening match against Algeria could be forgiven, for a moment, for thinking they were at one of the great Argentinian cathedrals of football – La Bombonera, or maybe the national stadium, El Monumental. Kansas City Stadium, awash in the colors of the Albiceleste, roared with the sound of nearly 70,000 Argentine supporters serenading their team, and their hero, in rapturous song on Tuesday night.Argentina rose to the occasion, and so did Lionel Messi, who in his 200th cap took another step towards solidifying his place as the greatest footballer in the history of the sport, scoring three splendid goals and tying Germany’s Miroslav Klose for the all-time goal scoring mark in World Cup play (16), the performance coming just hours after France’s Kylian Mbappé leapfrogged him, with 14.The Inter Miami midfielder also became the first male player to appear at six World Cups, a record that feels certain to be equalled by Cristiano Ronaldo when Portugal begin play. Messi had been recovering from a muscle injury in recent weeks but any doubt surrounding the Argentinian captain’s status was quickly wiped away when he was named to Lionel Scaloni’s starting XI, and those doubts were ancient history once the match began.Messi had very nearly nabbed Argentina’s opener just five minutes in when a through-ball found him at the near side of the box. His shot was perfectly placed, but assistant referee Tomasz Listkiewicz correctly flagged him offside by the smallest margin. Not two minutes later, Algeria winger Farès Chaïbi had an equally clinical finish waved off after finding himself offside by a similarly narrow margin.Messi wasted little time putting Argentina ahead, finding the back of the net in the 17th minute. His Inter Miami teammate Rodrigo De Paul found Messi 40 yards out, after which the former Barcelona star turned and took three touches towards goal. With no defenders in sight, his driven shot from the edge of the area was too powerful for Algeria keeper Luca Zidane, glancing off his fingertips and into goal.The one negative mark on an otherwise brilliant performance came in the first half, with Messi fortunate to escape without punishment after a rash challenge in which he raked his cleats across the back of Algerian defender Aïssa Mandi’s calf. The Argentinian likely deserved a yellow, and potentially even a red. He received neither, and the play was not reviewed on the field.Messi’s second goal of the night was even more easily taken than his first. Liverpool midfielder Alexis Mac Allister’s speculative effort from 30 yards was pushed away by Zidane directly into the path of Messi, who coolly slotted it home from close range in the 60th minute. Again, Algeria’s backline was nowhere to be found. Argentina, on the other hand, were excellent defensively throughout the entire match.The Argentinian legend completed his hat-trick in the 76th minute with a vintage finish, threading his strike through a trio of defenders and just out of reach of Zidane. He left the match minutes later.Both fanbases have been well-represented for days in Kansas City and nearby Lawrence, Kansas, where Algeria will be based for the entirety of their tournament. Thousands of Argentinian supporters packed a local park on Monday night for a banderazo, singing, chanting and dancing into the wee hours. The party moved Tuesday evening to the stadium, which was full of noise hours ahead of kickoff.Algeria’s supporters have been the subject of a remarkable story in Lawrence, where residents have welcomed them with open arms. Though understandably outnumbered by opposing fans, loud, vibrant pockets of green emerged from Argentina’s blue-and-white at times, urging the underdogs on.The 28th-ranked Algerians will have hoped for a happier return to the World Cup after a 12-year absence, having been revitalized under head coach Vladimir Petković. Algeria earned a reputation during qualifying for their high-energy approach, glimpses of which were present on Tuesday, particularly in the closing moments of the first half. Despite some promising exchanges, they were undone by poor finishing and never looked particularly competitive.Algeria’s encounter with Jordan now has the makings of a must-win; they feel much more evenly matched with Austria.Scaloni had tempered expectations out of Tuesday’s match in the lead-up, going as far on Monday as to say that a win against the Desert Foxes was far from necessary. Scaloni should know; he was at the helm in 2022 when Argentina narrowly lost in their group stage opener to Saudi Arabia, among the most shocking results in World Cup history.Expectations aside, Scaloni will surely be pleased with three points, which bring Argentina towards the precipice of the last 32. They’ll meet Austria in Arlington, Texas, on Monday. Messi, as is his custom, will be expected to make even more history there.

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His team and opponents laud him, but Wednesday’s game with the DRC is a test of his powers at a sixth World CupInside the home of Houston’s world-famous rodeo, Cristiano Ronaldo enters the last-chance saloon. His sixth World Cup will, with no little thanks to Fifa’s munificence, begin on Wednesday against the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), and one of international football’s longest-running soap operas begins winding towards its denouement. Portugal have rarely looked better equipped to grant him the crowning achievement of his career and the question, as ever, concerns who is carrying whom.One assumption seems reasonable: Ronaldo could wield a huge influence over the trophy’s ultimate destination. It remains to be seen whether that is channelled positively. Portugal can field arguably the best first-choice midfield in this summer’s competition, an experienced defence and an admirable array of wide forwards. At the heart of their attack stands, depending on your perspective, either a free-scoring icon primed to fire them all the way or a 41-year-old passenger whose presence sucks an otherwise fluent team into an inescapable void.Ronaldo more closely resembled the latter back at Euro 2024, signing off with a mind-numbingly static performance in the quarter-final against France. At the World Cup in Qatar, Portugal cut loose when he was dropped in the last 16 and scored six against Switzerland. His last consequential interventions at a major tournament were a pair of penalties against France at Euro 2020 and it seems a gigantic stretch to believe he can turn the clock back this time around.Yet there will be something magnetic about the spectacle either way. Fifa ensured that would be true of Wednesday’s game when its disciplinary committee decided to suspend the final two games of a three-match ban he had picked up in the qualifying defeat to the Republic of Ireland. A box-office occasion is guaranteed under the closed roof in south-east Texas, which is on flood watch until Thursday after a number of biblical downpours in the past two days.Will the goals run dry for Ronaldo? “He’s probably one of the best players in football history,” said the DRC’s coach, Sébastien Desabre. “It’s a challenge for our defenders and, when it comes to set pieces, he is one of the best.” Whether intentionally or not he had identified that open play tends, at levels higher than the Saudi Pro League, to be a tougher matter for Ronaldo nowadays. He will need to lean on teammates who, in their public utterances, remain deferential.“I never imagined playing with Cristiano, it’s a huge honour to be here with him,” said Matheus Nunes, the Manchester City utility player. “Everyone knows what a great figure he is. If we can win the title for him, it would be something very big.” Speaking on Wednesday evening, Bruno Fernandes repeated the word “honour” when asked about the prospect of accompanying Ronaldo once again. He pointed out that Euro 2004, in which Ronaldo played, was the first tournament he watched as a boy.To some extent both men were paying lip service to journalists’ questions but Portugal, while satisfying the craving of a nation, would delight in adorning their greatest ever sportsman. The task for Roberto Martínez is to ensure the heavy focus on Ronaldo, who managed five goals during the qualifiers in games against Hungary and Armenia, provides liberation for others rather than a millstone.“It’s his sixth World Cup but I can tell you that, internally, it feels like his first when it comes to intensity, emotions and how important it is to be ready,” said Martínez, who did not address reports that he would stand down after the tournament, save to note his contract expires in July. “He’s essential to the team, he’s the striker, the killer, he can open up space for other players and he’s got excellent numbers.”Martínez is banking on the Ronaldo who, it is worth pointing out, scored six times against tough opposition on Portugal’s victorious Nations League run in 2024-25. Every element will need optimising if that run is to continue and it was a blow when, on Sunday, their training session was cancelled because of storms around their base near Miami.There was a further ripple in their preparations when the team drew criticism back home for spending time at a private beach by their hotel. It is important to have “those relaxed moments that are going to be good for the overall experience”, Fernandes said. Rúben Dias, who trained alone after picking up an unspecified injury, is unlikely to be risked against the DRC.By Wednesday the gaze will be back on Ronaldo, who will play in the US for the first time since August 2014. It has been a long time coming but anyone in Houston unable to afford the cheapest resale tickets for the start of his final fling, which were priced at £929 ($1,247) on Tuesday evening, has alternative options.One of the features of this World Cup is that local sport simply goes on, occupying a largely parallel universe. The Houston Astros will begin their Major League Baseball game against Detroit Tigers at Daikin Park, seven miles away, around the time Portugal and the DRC kick off the second half and prices start at the equivalent of £4.58 ($6.15). It remains to be seen whether Ronaldo, cleared by football’s authorities to provide the day’s shot of celebrity stardust, is capable of justifying the difference in outlay.

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From Christian Pulisic and Antonee Robinson to Sergiño Dest and Folarin Balogun, the Socceroos will have their hands full in the Group D clashIn the so-called “Battle of Seattle”, the Socceroos face a range of threats against the USA on Friday (Saturday AEST): physical, technical and tactical. A draw will almost certainly secure a place in the round of 32 for the Socceroos and, after their heroics against Turkey, Australia can rightfully feel this is a game they can win. To do so, they will need to neutralise the most dangerous components of the USA menace.The focal point of the USA attack, and the face of the team across many of the advertisements screening during the World Cup, Pulisic has become a consistent performer for AC Milan since the end of his up-and-down stint Chelsea in 2023.The 27-year-old operates in an inverted left wing role, leaving him the scope to cut inside when the team has possession or drive wide on counter-attacks. Both strategies were evident in his electric first half display against Paraguay.Pulisic suffered a knock in that game and came off at half-time, but is due to play against Australia. He will pose a challenge for Alessandro Circati on the right-side of the Socceroos’ three central defenders. The young defender will not always be marking the American, but will be responsible for ensuring the right full-back – likely Jacob Italiano – and the right-sided central midfielder – probably Aiden O’Neill – are on Pulisic watch.The problem for Circati and the others on the Socceroos’ right flank is that they cannot worry about just Pulisic. The preference of Mauricio Pochettino to use wingbacks – which is not dissimilar to Tony Popovic’s preferred system – means Robinson becomes an outlet in possession and an attacking complement to Pulisic on the left side.The Socceroos are likely to concede the bulk of possession to the tournament hosts, leaving Connor Metcalfe – set to be Australia’s right winger again – as the first line of defence against Robinson. The American finished last season strongly for Fulham, and offers pace, endurance and capacity to overlap in an area targeted by Switzerland in the World Cup warm-up game and Turkey at the weekend. They both clearly saw something they liked down Australia’s right.Unfortunately for the Socceroos, the USA pose threats on both flanks. Dest is a skilful right-sided wingback or winger who helped PSV to the Dutch title. His duel with Jordy Bos, Australia’s dangerous left full-back, is set to be the game’s most compelling one-on-one contest. The pair played each other twice in the Eredivisie last season, and Bos’s Feyenoord – who finished second in the league – were beaten on both occasions.Of course, they will not always face down each other in possession. Both players will also be marked at times by opposition midfielders, but Dest’s tendency to attack is likely to place him in the proximity of Bos more often than not. The Australian’s ability to gain possession behind Dest, and force the Americans onto the back foot, will help relieve pressure in what is likely to be a 100-minute-long assault from the hosts.The striker scored twice against Paraguay, including a gorgeous second which highlights the risk for Australia. Balogun’s speed will test Australia’s loping central defence, whether that’s Harry Souttar in the middle, or on the left where Cam Burgess or perhaps Lucas Herrington will be called upon.The Socceroos conceded a similar goal to Balogun’s second against the USA in their friendly last year, when a quick free-kick in midfield found Burgess napping. That time it was Haji Wright – a likely substitute on Friday – who cut in and scored. The danger will be even more intense with Balogun, who finished with 19 goals in all competitions for Monaco last season.The midfielder looms as a lock-pick against what is likely to be Australia’s low block, even if he comes off the bench as he did against Paraguay. Reyna has the technical ability to find spaces for him and his teammates in between the lines, and the polish to make the most of half chances. His finish against Paraguay, with the outside of his right foot, was a delight.Paraguay came into the World Cup with a similar reputation to the Socceroos, as conservative and physical opponents. Despite the Paraguayans’ outstanding defensive record in South American qualifying, they were dismantled by an irresistible American display in the first half last week.The USA players can take credit, but the foundation of their success was coach Pochettino. The Argentinian – whose tactical nous helped Tottenham to their first Champions League final in 2019 – is not afraid to tweak his system to exploit opponents’ weaknesses. That pragmatism, together with the technical flexibility and athleticism of his squad, mean Australia will need to be prepared for surprises. Or, hopefully, have some of their own.

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The tournament favorites were far from their best in their first half against a strong Senegal side. Their star forward made sure things finished fineAfter the whistle blew for half-time, Kylian Mbappé ran to the player tunnel at a good clip, followed by Ousmane Dembélé. Behind them, the rest of the French team were in no such hurry, sauntering off the pitch. The forward widely considered the best in the world – or at least the most famous in the Non-Ronaldo-and-Messi Division – and the reigning Ballon d’Or winner had much to discuss.The scoreless first half Tuesday against a Senegal side who had organized and pressed cohesively and forged much the better chances, including a clipped post, was a disjointed mess for the 2018 World Cup champions and the 2022 runners-up. But having the world’s best corps of forwards means getting to comprehensively beat the (former) African champions 3-1 despite spending the first hour looking like your front four had never played together before. And possibly didn’t even know one another’s names.Because France have Mbappé. And Dembélé. And Michael Olise.It seemed there was little connective tissue holding the French attack together in the first half. Olise roamed every which way from his right flank, once nearly traveling to the other touch line just to get involved in the play, but couldn’t figure out how to affect the game. Désiré Doué hardly factored on the left. And then there was the slapstick series of misunderstandings between Dembélé, playing in the pocket, and Mbappé up front.The latter was nearly sprung in the fourth minute, served by Adrien Rabiot – French manager Didier Deschamps’ longtime and much-maligned pet playmaker. Mbappé received the ball with his right ass cheek, which evidently lacked the suppleness of his feet. He exchanged several hopeful balls with Dembélé, but their partnership never quite seemed to produce any real peril for the Senegalese defense, which enjoyed a pleasant afternoon of casual work on a sunny day that was neither hot nor humid.Olise, sticking to the right for once, eviscerated El Hadji Malick Diouf late in the first half and set off into the vacant corridor. He and Mbappé seemed to lock eyes but never entirely worked out who was going where. Nothing was working.Mbappé and Dembélé, the main protagonists up the middle, were having a very miserable time, gesticulating at one another, willing the other to just read their minds already. The French looked every bit like a team with an innately defensive manager who had set up his attackers in positions or roles they don’t play for their clubs. They were a collective in search of ideas and solutions, aware that they were far too good to look this bad.And yet. The Senegalese pressed and cut right through the French lines to create several good chances. Nicolas Jackson’s shot off Mike Maignan’s near post followed an Mbappé turnover upfield. When Mbappé lost the ball yet again on a hideous turnover, a French journalist in the press box could no longer contain himself. “Oh la la la la la laaah,” he moaned. Really.“From time to time, you do have a rough start,” Deschamps said. “It’s quite hard to meet the high expectation at a World Cup.”Whatever message was delivered at the intermission worked. So too did switching Olise to the middle and Dembélé to the right. Deschamps’ men dialed up their intensity and finally managed to slip the right sprockets into the correct gears around the hour mark.Olise was denied by Senegal keeper Édouard Mendy. So was Mbappé. And Sadio Mané was spared what seemed a stone-cold penalty kick on Mbappé, when even the assistance of VAR could not convince referee Alireza Faghani to make the right call.No matter. In the 64th minute, Olise spun into space centrally and rolled a beautiful through ball against the grain for Mbappé, who couldn’t quite get a toe to it. Nonetheless, they had found another at last. Proof of concept.Two minutes later, the two connected for much the same play. Mbappé made a run across goal and Olise found him with a splendid diagonal pass, paced and placed just so. Mbappé slotted past Mendy. The goal equalled Olivier Giroud’s all-time France scoring record at 57.After a smashed finish from Jackson was ruled offside, Rabiot scampered into the vacant midfield on a break in the 82nd minute and sent Bradley Barcola, fresh on to the pitch for Dembélé, through on goal and the substitute finished with a delicate chip.The 18-year-old Ibrahim Mbaye blasted Senegal on to the scoreboard, but Olise and Mbappé had one final treat for the 82,000 congregants in New Jersey. At the death, Olise fought through a Senegalese scrum and fed Mbappé up the middle about 30 yards from goal.And then Mbappé did the sort of thing that makes a nation pin its hopes on you, that moves children to beg their parents for your jersey, that compels a manager to leave you on the field even when you’ve had an objectively ugly game. He turned and, without any questioning or compunction about the propriety of even trying such a thing, unloosed a shot that swerved past Mendy. Fifty-eight international goals. 3-1.“He told me that he didn’t want to strike in a friendly match but wanted to score in a real match,” Deschamps joked about Mbappé’s record-setting goals. “He wanted to do it here.”No Frenchman on the field will remember this game as one of their best. Senegal, meanwhile, were good. Very good at times. And still. Mbappé. And Olise. Also Dembélé. The sorts of players who give their side, and themselves, a vast margin for error.“Kylian was efficient, ruthlessly efficient,” Deschamps said. “People will still criticize him. He’s an iconic player, I’ve always said that. He can sometimes miss a game but on one action he can really tip the scales.”There were smiles and hugs now. Mbappé led Les Bleus to the sea of French fans to thank them for their support. The first-half grimaces, all the poor touches, the passes played to the wrong foot, the routes misread, the signals crossed, all of it long forgotten.The French would be just fine. Because they have, well, all of them.

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Manager confident match will showcase side’s abilities‘We should play brave and to the strengths of the players’Thomas Tuchel has said the occasion and tension will bring the best out of England when they open their World Cup campaign with an ­awkward game against Croatia on Wednesday.England cruised through ­qualifying, but have a patchy record against top opposition and much to prove before their first encounter in Group L. They have faced top-20 sides on three occasions under Tuchel, drawing with Uruguay and losing to Japan and Senegal.Yet Tuchel is confident ­England will have a different mindset in a competitive game. The German cannot wait for his first World Cup to begin and believes his side will be ready for the challenge posed by ­Croatia under the Dallas Stadium roof.“Because it’s not a friendly match, we will not try stuff,” England’s head coach said. “We will rely on us and the occasion and the tension will bring out the best in us.”Tuchel’s aim is for England to play with the intensity of a Premier League side. “We should play brave and play to the strengths of the players,” he said. “I feel clearly that the players want it and that they are successful in club football like this.“They compete in the ­strongest league, most of them. The others who are not in the league ­compete in the highest level in Europe and ­Champions League and they play in brave and active teams. It makes things excited and creates a ­certain energy and we need a connection with our fans who are here, with the fans at home, to create something special.”England’s carefully planned buildup involved them ­acclimatising to the heat by flying to a Florida for a pre-tournament training camp two weeks ago. They have stepped up preparations at their base in Kansas City and Tuchel, who is expected to start Jude Bellingham over Morgan Rogers at No 10, feels his players require no special messaging about their World Cup starting here.“They know,” he said. “I don’t feel any emotional fuel is needed to make everyone clear what is happening. We know.“I see it even as an advantage that we’re very focused on what we can influence. We don’t put it in the ­bigger picture – just put it where it is. Go day by day, influence what you can ­influence. If we can stay there, I think we have an even ­better chance to compete and perform on our highest level.”England could overpower an ­ageing Croatia side, but they must be wary of the craft of Mateo Kovacic and the 40-year-old Luka Modric in midfield. The 37-year-old Ivan ­Perisic is another danger and scored in ­Croatia’s semi-final win over ­England at the 2018 World Cup.“It is a very difficult start,” Tuchel said. “It is an experienced team, an experienced coach, in tournament knockout football. It’s a top football nation and a very strong opponent. The centre of gravity in their game has dropped a bit, into a back three, we expect.“From a midfield three, which was the core of Croatia, it has only Kovacic and Modric still there. They’re ­playing in a midfield two now. They play with fluid No 10s and wing-backs. But the core is still Modric and Kovacic.“Then they have Perisic, who is always a threat with the crosses. That is one of the most dangerous crossers in world football, maybe – left foot, right foot, he does not even need space to put a cross in. It is ­remarkable. And they are strong in set pieces”.England have been working on their own set-pieces and looked in good shape when they thrashed Costa Rica last week.There are few selection headaches for Tuchel. He must decide whether to risk Bukayo Saka, with the winger troubled by an achilles problem. Noni Madueke is an option to start instead of his Arsenal teammate while Ezri Konsa and John Stones are expected to get the nod over Marc Guéhi in central defence.The full-back Tino Livramento is out of the tournament after ­suffering a muscular injury in ­training; Tuche said scans indicated the Newcastle man would be out for four-to-five weeks. ­Chelsea’s Trevoh Chalobah has been called up in his place, a move that will free up Jarell Quansah to be a full-back option on both sides, together with Djed Spence. Chalobah will come in as a centre-half option.The squad will play a behind-closed-doors game at their Kansas City base on Thursday, Tuchel said, to keep the players who do not get many minutes against Croatia ticking over. The opposition could be the local MLS team, Sporting Kansas City. England did the same thing after their friendly against Costa Rica last Wednesday, when they had a training match against Miami United in Florida the next day. England’s second World Cup group game is not until Tuesday, against Ghana at Boston Stadium.“It is true that we try to play an in-house match after Croatia to use the time [well], we have many days [before the Ghana game],” Tuchel said. “It can give the players who don’t play minutes an extra match load. We did it after the Costa Rica game and we do it one last time on the day after Croatia.”

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England’s ‘footballaholic’ head coach may not be motivated by a fan’s passion but he is more than just a gun for hireIdentity lies at the heart of the World Cup. Who are we and how do we play? Does our academy system work better than yours? What do your coaching pathways look like compared with ours? And do you still get a bit emotional every time you watch that BBC montage of England’s penalty shootout win over Colombia at the 2018 World Cup?Maybe not if you happen to be Thomas Tuchel. This is not a man weighed down by the ghosts of England tournaments past. There is no missed penalty haunting this gangly German intellectual in his sleep, no costly red card in a knockout tie stalking his nightmares. For Tuchel, meaning is found merely in the pursuit of victory. At first glance there is no deeper cultural connection here and, for all the breezy talk of putting a second star on the shirt, there are times when it is hard to understand why Tuchel wants to bring an end to England men’s 60 years of hurt this summer.Of course, winning the World Cup would look good on the CV. The attraction of the job is obvious. The rewards are vast and the players are elite. Yet even if it makes sense on a sporting level, it is still fascinating to consider the wider motivation for Tuchel given it is safe to assume he was not supporting England when they lost those semi-finals to the Germans at Italia 90 and Euro 96.It comes back to the idea that what separates international football from the club game is playing for something bigger. For some, the aim is to go down as a legend in your own country, but Tuchel is not from England. He will not sing the national anthem when England face Croatia in their opening game in Group L in Dallas on Thursday. Will there be criticism from the usual suspects? Perhaps, but Tuchel is unlikely to care. He knows the words – “It is not so difficult,” he said with a grin – and explained that he still feels too shy to join in when the music strikes up.Tuchel’s predecessor brought a different energy. Gareth Southgate almost treated the England job as a higher calling. He spoke about politics and behaved like a man trying to heal the nation. Southgate wrote an open letter about society’s divisions and ended up being played by Joseph Fiennes in the stage and television versions of Dear England.There is none of that with Tuchel. His title is head coach rather than manager. He is not interested in talking about politics and his background means he is never going to become as overwhelmed by the job as Southgate was by the end of his time in charge.Still, though, there are layers to Tuchel. As a young coach he rose through the German pressing school. He has been described as a “footballaholic” and is bright, engaging and funny. His eccentric streak appeals to England’s love of a maverick, yet the willingness to speak his mind can sometimes feel very un-English. It is hard, for instance, to picture Southgate ever calling one of his players repulsive.“Thomas is almost Latin in the way he speaks,” the FA’s technical director, John McDermott, said in Inside England, a book about the team’s journey over the past decade. “There’s a warmth and there’s a tactileness. He comes alive when he’s speaking about the team, the players, the games.”Tuchel did not click with the French media when he managed Paris Saint-Germain and has a reputation for being a hothead in Germany. He fell out with Joshua Kimmich at Bayern Munich and has always sounded ambivalent when talking about German football.England is where he most comes alive. It felt right for Tuchel when he became Chelsea’s manager in January 2021 and led them to Champions League glory four months later. Lockdown measures were still in place, but the 52-year-old talked enthusiastically about wanting to discover London’s bookshops and best coffee spots. “It’s the country, it’s the humour, it’s the way of life,” Tuchel once said of his love of England as a country.He is not putting it on. He likes zooming around the capital on Lime bikes. He has found his favourite gastropub and when he was younger he loved to pretend to be Chris Waddle “with the collar up in my garden” after watching the England winger during the 1990 World Cup.Perhaps Tuchel’s desire to lead England to glory is not such a mystery. Unlike Fabio Capello, he gets the culture. His favourite novel? TC Boyle’s Water Music, a story about a London thief and a Scottish explorer as they seek the source of the Niger River in Africa in the 18th century. The impression is that Tuchel feels a connection with England. Asked if he is an anglophile, he says: “I can’t explain it but it felt like this from the first weeks at Chelsea. It just felt so good to be in the country and a part of the Premier League. Every day was a gift almost.“What the league brings out of players and what the fans expect from the players, the coach made me feel very comfortable. I liked it from the first day. I cannot say often enough, it’s an honour for me to be England head coach. I feel basically at home when I land. I would say now: ‘I fly home.’ I fly home to my home in London. It feels like home when I land in London and I’m in England.”This is more than an expensive gun for hire. Tuchel cares. The longer he stays the less he feels like an outsider.