Wales had hoped for exotic World Cup opposition but must now aim to beat neighbours for the first time in 38 yearsI watched Wales’s second game of the World Cup at Clwb Ifor Bach, Cardiff. The same venue I saw the Strokes, Afrika Bambaataa and Roots Manuva play in my 20s, but there has never been a headliner at Clwb like Wales v Iran. As I walked through Cardiff city centre last Friday morning I saw pubs fill and football fans greet each other, alongside office workers purchasing that pillar of the 21st-century Welsh economy, the Boots Meal Deal. People having a pint at 9.35am because Wales are playing in the World Cup against opposition we haven’t met since 1978....
The World Cup favourites showed enough in their win against Serbia to suggest they can perform well against Switzerland even without their star playerBrazil had a decent start to their 2022 World Cup. The first game of the tournament is always a little bit more difficult. An early wrong turn, a miscontrolled ball or a badly placed pass can dictate the story of the game. A team that wants to go on to win the tournament need to realise that and manage the raw emotions and the overall energy of those first minutes. Brazil did that in their 2-0 win against Serbia. But let’s be careful. The three points does not guarantee anything, not even progress to the knockout stage....
There were no goals until Álvaro Morata and Niclas Füllkrug came on, changing the scoreline if not the outcomeWell, there’s a thing. Maybe there is something to be said for these so‑called experts after all. For 53 minutes of this 1-1 draw Germany and Spain played out a carefully hedged, engrossingly mannered game of football. This was a game of midfield squared, of Big Midfield Energy, a quiet debauchery of midfield.Al Bayt Stadium is essentially a vast illuminated fibreglass tent dumped down in the desert scrub. It was packed here, or almost packed. But at times in the second half it was so quiet in the stands you could hear the air conditioning hiss. This is, it seems likely, not...
Argentina’s captain and maestro was never going to give up the dream of winning his final World Cup lightlyListen, mortals, the sacred cry. Freedom, freedom, freedom. Suddenly, there it was, there he was, and it was all let out. In a moment, a flash of that left boot Lionel Messi was liberated and so were they, released with a single shot. All around this place, thousands of Argentinians absolutely lost it. Below them, so did Argentina’s captain, clinging hard to his last chance. He wasn’t going to let this end yet. Not just this game, not just this World Cup, but all of it.It was too early for that, even as it started to feel late at Lusail, time slipping...
England manager remains impressively unruffled as he blocks out the criticism that followed the tepid draw with the USAAt times like these, you really have to hand it to Gareth Southgate. Suffocating tension, an underwhelming performance, the fans booing and he remains inscrutable, immaculate, not a bead on him.When you have lived what Southgate has lived – two World Cups as an England player, now into his second as the manager – it is easier to put a game like Friday night’s slog against the USA into perspective, to blot out the noise. Continue reading...