Trevoh Chalobah News — Latest Headlines

World Cup 2026: England’s Livramento ruled out; Ghana seek to overturn Partey ban; Iran player’s visa expires – as it happened

Iran are deeply unhappy at what they perceive “oppressive treatment” by the US and Fifa and after their Group G opener, their head coach Amir Ghalenoei called for greater help from Gianni Infantino, who addressed the squad. Iran say they were forced to fly to their camp in Tijuana, Mexico, late on Monday night, after the 2-2 draw in Los Angeles, ripping up their hopes for a planned recovery session the next morning. Now the US department of homeland security have had their say. In a statement a spokesperson said: “The Iranian national football team agreed to these terms.” Andrew Giuliani, the executive director of the White House task force for the World Cup, said on the eve of the game that they would be asked to fly back to Mexico after the match. “The team will be allowed to come in match day minus one, so the day before the match. They’ll be asked to leave the day the match wraps up, so the evening of the match,” he said. “And they’ll be able to do that again in Los Angeles [on Sunday], and they’ll be able to do it again in Seattle [for their final Group G match a week on Friday].“ There is no early kick-off today but here are the fixtures for today’s matches: France v Senegal (8pm BST/3pm ET/12pm PT) Iraq v Norway (11pm BST/6pm ET/3pm PT) Argentina v Algeria (2am BST/9pm ET/6pm PT) South Korea players have boycotted media duties during the World Cup after reporters ⁠from the country allegedly mocked captain Son Heung-min’s military service, according to media reports. The reporters were allegedly caught ⁠on a hot mic ⁠mocking Son’s military service stint as the 33-year-old trained separately from the group. Military service is a contentious issue in South Korea, ⁠where all able-bodied men must complete about 21 months of service as part of efforts to maintain a deterrent against North ⁠Korea. However, exemptions are offered to athletes who win titles at the Asian Games or Olympic medals. Son and his ‌teammates earned that right ‌when they struck gold at the 2018 Asian Games. “The Korea Football Association expresses ‌regret over the inappropriate remarks made by some media personnel during the national football team’s training at the Guadalajara base camp,” the KFA said in a statement. “With a sense of responsibility to represent South Korea on the global stage of the World Cup, the Taegeuk Warriors are doing their best ‌to repay the support and expectations of the people. “However, the recent leak of inappropriate conversations between some media officials at a training site caused great shock and disappointment to the team.“ The KFA also requested media outlets to show “greater consideration and a responsible attitude” towards the squad. The South Korea team’s media officers did not respond to a request for comment. The team will, however, have to fulfil media duties mandated by Fifa. Son did undergo ‌a three-week basic military training in South Korea in 2020 which involved being exposed to tear gas, live-fire drills and 30-km hikes. Reuters. Let’s revisit this shall we: This is a great story about Algeria: They had come from the United Kingdom and from Dubai. A surprising number had come down from Montreal. They had come from Morocco, of course, from Marrakech and Casablanca, to witness their team take on mighty Brazil. To support Morocco, the administrative, off-again-on-again champions of Africa, and the semi-finalists at the last World Cup in Qatar. “We had a good World Cup in 2022 and a good African Cup of Nations,” Kamal Ait El Hadj said before the game, lounging in his seat in the New York New Jersey Stadium’s lower bowl. Soon enough, his section would be colored by Morocco’s blood red and splotches of green. “It was a minimum for me to be here.” Ait El Hadj, a 47-year-old who “builds villas” in Morocco, figured his travel from Marrakech just for this match would set him back some $5,000, even though he’d gotten a free ticket. He would go home after the game and planned to return for a round of 16 match – hopefully featuring Morocco – which would cost him another $5,000. Portugal begin their World Cup campaign tomorrow against DR Congo. They have not won the trophy before but can they do it this time? This piece attempts to answer that very question: There is around three hours until the first kick-off of the day and if any of you are unsure of how you can watch each match, we have you covered. Have a look at this helpful piece: Aussie players don’t need to be spoken to about their social media use before they take on the co-hosts US on Friday, according to the manager Hayden Foxe. Find out more: For all Argentinians, sitting down to watch the 2022 World Cup final was special – but for Luciana Alvarengue there was additional emotion. In the Argentina side were not one but two players to whom she had taught maths at school: Enzo Fernández and Julián Álvarez. “They are still my students, even if they are no longer in the classroom,” she says. “To see it with my son telling me: ‘Mamá, there are your students’ … that’s really nice.” We may have touched on this earlier but if you missed it is it worth a read. A duck has gone viral for wearing a Mexico shirt, the pictures alone will make your day: This sounds like a dream job: Thank you Michael and hello again everyone! Keep your reactions to today’s news coming in, we love hearing from you. And with that, I’ll hand back to Sarah Rendell, who will guide this good ship through the next couple of hours until our liveblog on France v Senegal launches (around 6pm BST). Football Daily is live! “Tuchel has consistently said he values flexibility above everything else this decision demonstrates why,” emails Richard Morris. “Chalobah isn’t replacing Livremento. He’s replacing Konsa and Konsa is now the reserve right back behind James. It actually makes perfect sense and shows why TT has been building a consistent squad that he knows he can flex.” Certainly a confident assessment from Richard, although I’m not sure I’m particularly excited about Konsa being the back-up right-back, even though he does have some experience there. I wonder if Ben White would have been on Tuchel’s radar had he not sustained an end-of-season injury. The Arsenal defender, who is presumably versatile enough to fit Tuchel’s brief, is also not particularly enterprising going forward but does at least have a good relationship with both Saka and Madueke on that right flank. Alexander Abnos was at Los Angeles Stadium to watch Iran v New Zealand, and has written this: Soccer unites. This is what we are told. It swoops in, majestic in the players’ grace, and gives a people – any people – a thing to rally around in good times and bad. It’s true, that does happen on occasion. But other times, as in Monday’s 2-2 draw between Iran and New Zealand here in southern California, the magic of this ridiculously simple game lies in its power to make one, or several, or several thousand, forget. Before the game, Iranians worldwide had been divided by decades of political and cultural difficulty and the Iran team were hamstrung by interrupted preparations for what should be the pinnacle of any players’ career. After the final whistle, those same divisions and problems still existed. Perhaps, in some cases, they had become worse. But then there were those glorious intervening minutes, featuring four goals and numerous big chances, crunching tackles and passionate play, in front of a heaving, heavily partisan crowd in the city with the largest Iranian expat population in the United States. You got the sense that most within the stadium’s confines, to say nothing of the millions watching, were given a welcome dose of temporary amnesia. Ghana’s government went to Canadian federal court on Tuesday seeking to overturn Ottawa’s refusal to issue a World Cup visa to player Thomas Partey, who is facing trial in Britain on rape charges. Canadian public broadcaster CBC reported the hearing was set for Tuesday morning, with Ghana pursuing an injunction application that could allow Partey to play against Panama on Wednesday in Toronto. Ghanaian Foreign Minister Sam Okudzeto Ablakwa has called Canada’s decision “high-handed and extremely unfair”, calling Partey “a key member of Ghana’s senior national team”. Accra has sent an official “note of protest” to Ottawa over the move and formally asked Canada to review the decision, Ablakwa said. Canada’s foreign ministry has not responded to a query regarding its response to Ghana’s protest. Partey is a Villarreal midfielder who previously played for Arsenal. He has pleaded not guilty to seven charges of rape and one count of sexual assault relating to allegations by four different women between 2020 and 2022. AFP “Just yesterday I was reflecting how nicely cinematic it would have been to have Hervé Renard in the dugout for Saudi Arabia,” emails Kári Tulinius. “While Tunisia’s group won’t offer him a managerial contrast quite as striking as Marcelo Bielsa, Renard remains one of international football’s great soap opera characters, and a good coach. If he gets Tunisia into the knockouts from here he can claim to be a miracle worker, but even if he doesn’t, he knows how to set a team up to frustrate opponents. Getting three points off the Eagles of Carthage isn’t a given anymore for the Oranje or Samurai Blue.” If you want a bit of background on Hervé Renard, I wrote this piece back in 2018, when he was manager of Morocco. The Frenchman has since been the head coach with Saudi Arabia (two spells), as well as France’s women’s side in 2023-24. I do think that England are a little undercooked when it comes to the squad as a whole – without Wharton, Alexander-Arnold – but the starting XI is as strong as ever. Form and fitness, though, means there are three spots up for grabs. Saka’s nagging achilles injury means he could easily be replaced by Arsenal teammate Noni Madueke on the right wing. Saka admitted on Monday that he is “ready to go” but also conceded that he is gambling on his fitness to play for England. Elsewhere, it’s a straight shoot out between Anthony Gordon and Marcus Rashford on the left wing, although one suspects that Gordon has got his nose in front after his excellent performance against Costa Rica. Gordon’s move to Barcelona from Newcastle also seems to have strengthened his case, perhaps subconsciously in the minds of fans and pundits. The last spot up for grabs is the second centre-back spot, alongside Marc Guéhi. I think Ezri Konsa will play against Croatia, but Tuchel does love Stones, who has been proving his fitness. There are lots of comments BTL regarding the Livramento fallout. Many of you seem baffled about how Chalobah has beaten Lewis Hall, Luke Shaw and Trent Alexander-Arnold to a call-up. I can’t say that I disagree. Re Trent … “Will the shocks and upsets continue?” emails krishnamoorthy. “Could we expect a France win tonight?” Something of a dig, there, but it’s certainly not impossible that France lose to Senegal. The Afcon finalists have a top squad and dominated qualifying. Senegal’s attack of Ismaïla Sarr, Nicolas Jackson, Iliman Ndiaye and Sadio Mané will be a threat to any team. It’s also worth noting that France (albeit a weakened France) lost to Côte d’Ivoire in a warm-up match last week. I wrote about that match – and a family connection – as part of Football Daily. We shouldn’t read into that Côte d’Ivoire too much but there are definitely nerves in the French media, despite their unbelievably stacked squad and proven manager. There are fears that much of the play will go through Kylian Mbappé, when Michael Olise and Ousmane Dembélé deserve to have as much influence on proceedings. Here’s Sid Lowe on Cape Verde’s centre-back hero Roberto Lopes, the Shamrock Rovers defender who was born and raised in Dublin and was only invited to play for the African nation (through his father) via LinkedIn. It’s a fair way off but Sweden’s game against Netherlands on Saturday is a huge one. Another victory for the free-scoring Swedes would leave the Dutch in a fight to qualify from their group. Sweden and Braga centre-back Gustaf Lagerbielke played all of the 5-1 win over Tunisia – the 26-year-old is a baron from a noble family in Sweden. His father and grandfather are counts. Lagerbielke grew up in Djursholm, a wealthy suburb in the Swedish capital, Stockholm. When he played soccer as a kid, he says he had the family’s coat of arms on his shin pad and it is reported that he is 254th in line to the Swedish throne. Lagerbielke is not so sure, though. “I don’t know if it’s true.” he said. “But I think for it to happen, a lot of people need to go away. And I don’t want that to happen.” Debutant watch: after the excitement of Cape Verde and that single goal for Curaçao, Jordan and Uzbekistan get ready to make their World Cup bows later this week. Jordan play Austria in about 15 hours, while Uzbekistan face a tricky opener against Colombia in the early hours (BST) of Thursday morning. Can either pull off another shock result? John Duerden has the latest. It’s very early days, of course, but you’ll notice that New Zealand’s Elijah Just is joint top of the Golden Boot standings after his two goals against Iran. They really were two expertly taken strikes after some lovely interplay with All Whites captain Chris Wood. The 26-year-old moved to Motherwell from Danish side Horsens in 2025, and was shortlisted for the PFA Scottish Premiership player of the year award after seven goals and seven assists in his debut season. Just – now linked with Rangers and Celtic – is under contract with Motherwell for another year and New Zealand head coach Darren Bazeley reckons his World Cup exploits will help him progress his career. I thought Eli was outstanding. It didn’t surprise me, I’ve known him for a long time and he’s played really well for the All Whites and scored goals and had great performances. He showed the world how dangerous he can be. He is slight-built but he gets into pockets, gets turned and he’s quick. He’s great with the ball, very intelligent, links with Woodsy really well, like for the goal. I think a lot of people are probably watching that and saying he’s a very good player. He’s building his career and this is probably going to help him a lot. Here are some of those goals and assists for Motherwell, by the way. Big news from the England camp, then, even if Livramento isn’t regarded as a starter. Tuchel spoke a lot in the lead up to this tournament about having specialists in the squad – Noni Madueke for his one-on-one ability, Ivan Toney for his penalty taking, Djed Spence for his one-on-one defending – but Livramento and his versatility was important balance all of those specialists. He can play off either flank and probably first reserve to replace both starters, Reece James and Nico O’Reilly, should they get injured/fatigued, etc. I’m not sure that Trevoh Chalobah brings the same energy, despite the Chelsea defender being fairly dependable. England have plenty of centre-backs that can also fill in at full-back if need be – Konsa, Burn, Quansah – and I personally would have gone for a specialist full-back to replace Livramento, rather than Chalobah. Trent Alexander-Arnold, Lewis Hall, even Myles Lewis-Skelly can feel unlucky to miss out again. Update: Tino Livramento is flying home with his injury – England are calling up Chelsea defender Trevoh Chalobah as his replacement. A blow for Thomas Tuchel as he really likes Livramento, who can play on both flanks. Hi everyone. Let’s start with today’s schedule (all times ET, so add five hours for BST). First up is France v Senegal, a repeat of the 2002 World Cup opener. Yara has already linked to our piece from today … … but this from Phillipe Auclair in 2022 is also well worth your time … I will hand over to Michael now to take you through the next few hours. England full-back Tino Livramento is a doubt for the World Cup after suffering a muscular injury in training. Chelsea’s Trevor Chalobah could be called up in his place. Luka Modric is one of the most experienced players at the World Cup with his debut in the tournament taking place in 2006. 20 years on he will grace the World Cup stage again and Croatia’s first game is against England: Let’s have a recap of what has happened so far today, here are the top lines: Renard has been appointed Tunisia boss Klopp apologises for Nagelsmann comment Iran player’s visa expires after opener VAR official cleared over gesture Fancy a cartoon? David Squires has you covered: Fifa’s disciplinary committee has cleared the World Cup video assistant referee Shaun Evans after he was accused of making a hand gesture associated with white supremacists. An investigation found no evidence that the Australian had breached Fifa’s ethics code and he issued a statement on Monday night claiming he had been unaware of making the controversial hand sign. Read more: England’s campaign begins on Wednesday and there are question marks over how much Bukayo Saka will feature. Manager Thomas Tuchel has said his fitness is being monitored but the Arsenal man said he is ready to play. More here: Erling Haaland is a name well-known in world football but it is one that has never graced the World Cup pitch before. That is until later today when Norway take on Iraq. Here’s a piece on the Manchester City star: Romelu Lukaku had been facing some criticism for his inclusion in the Belgium squad because of his lack of game time this season. He has only had 69 minutes of club football with Napoli because of injury but he had an instant impact in his side’s game against Egypt: The eve of Italia 90. Gazza’s tears, England’s heartache, and the cascading emotions of a World Cup that sang and ultimately stung still lie ahead. For now, the sports scientist tasked with acclimatising Bobby Robson’s side to the Italian summer is using cutting-edge technology to assess each player’s fitness: a BBC microcomputer, a dot-matrix printer, and a few clunky Polar heart-rate monitors. Some in the England setup initially regard Prof John Brewer, the Football Association’s first head of human performance, with suspicion. But after monitoring the squad with a bleep test at Lilleshall before they fly to Italy, again when they arrive, and for a third time after a fortnight’s training in the hottest part of the day, Brewer can prove to the players they have adapted to the heat, and can play their familiar high-tempo game. Gianni Infantino is planning to attend two World Cup games each day where possible for the rest of the tournament despite the huge distances involved. The Fifa president has access to a private jet provided by Qatar Airways as a value-in-kind element of its sponsorship deal with the world governing body, which will come in useful as Infantino journeys across the United States, Canada and Mexico. Read more: Jurgen Klopp has been criticised for a comment he made about the Germany manager Julian Nagelsmann. The former Liverpool manager is a pundit at the World Cup and he was critical of Germany’s starting line-up before their opener. He said he would have chosen a different XI and added “luckily, Julian Nagelsmann is still picking the team – for now.” Klopp has been linked to the Germany job since 2024. Former German players have criticised Klopp, including Lothar Matthaeus who said: “Jurgen should know better. His comments aren’t going to make Nagelsmann’s job any easier. I’d like to see what he would have said if, before an important Champions League match, a pundit had advised him to leave one of his key players on the bench.” Stefan Effenberg, who played for Germany 35 times, added the comments “unacceptable”. “You can make a remark like that over a beer at the bar, but certainly not in front of millions of television viewers. It’s a definite ’no go’.” Klopp has now apologised for the comment: “I could have slapped myself across the face for saying that. “It just slipped out casually – it has absolutely no significance.” There will be more reaction from yesterday’s matches throughout today but which fixtures are on today? Here’s a full list: France v Senegal (8pm BST/3pm ET/12pm PT) Iraq v Norway (11pm BST/6pm ET/3pm PT) Argentina v Algeria (2am BST/9pm ET/6pm PT) On a cold winter afternoon in Wellington, dozens gathered at the Four Kings sports bar to watch New Zealand’s football team, the All Whites, take on Iran. The politics and hostilities surrounding Iran’s World Cup opener may have dominated attention in the lead up to the match, but in New Zealand, fans on both sides turned out for one reason: the love of the game. “It’s hugely significant,” said Andy Brown. “It’s all about football, it’s the World Cup and how good is it to see New Zealand there now? I saw them in 82 as a young’n and I can’t believe its happening again. New Zealand are the lowest ranked team in the competition, sitting at No 85 according to Fifa, compared to world No 21 Iran. It was an electrifying match – Iran and New Zealand slugged it out under the global spotlight, the match ending in a 2-2 draw that had supporters on both sides coiled with anticipation until the final moments. The Iran captain Mehdi Taremi, midfielder Mohammad Mohebi, and head coach Amir Ghalenoei hit out at Fifa and hinted at resentment toward the US government after being told they needed to leave Los Angeles immediately after Monday night’s 2-2 draw against New Zealand in the World Cup. “Everything is like disaster, actually, for us,” said Taremi, who added that Fifa president, Gianni Infantino, visited the team in the dressing room and they expressed their concerns to him directly. Ghalenoei said the way they have been treated by Fifa makes them “the most oppressed” team at the tournament. “After the game today they said to us, ‘You have to leave immediately,’” Ghalenoi said. “Whereas today it’s very important for us to have recovery. “We’ve been asked to get on a plane and return to our camp in Tijuana and we are really troubled by that. They are forcing us to go back early. They are making the situation more and more difficult, more hurdles, but we’re not going to let that stop us from doing our best.” The Iran winger Mehdi Torabi’s US visa has expired after the team’s opening 2-2 draw against New Zealand on Monday, according to state media. The player only had a single-entry visa instead of a multiple-entry with Iran staying in Mexico and travelling into the US for their matches. “Following the national team’s trip to Los Angeles for the match against New Zealand and the conclusion of that game, Torabi’s visa has now expired,” the state news agency IRNA reported. The Iranian Football Federation “has taken steps to obtain a new visa for Torabi, so that he can accompany the national team in its upcoming matches”, it added. World Cup organisers and the US have not yet commented. Vozinha, the 40-year-old goalkeeper who was named player of the match after making seven saves in his side’s 0-0 draw against Spain, was in tears at full time. The mother of Cape Verde’s World Cup hero was not there to see history made because she could not afford the visa to the US. The goalkeeper described the game as the moment he had been working towards his “entire life” and said he wished he could have shared the moment with his late grandparents and his mother. “I cried because I grew up with my grandparents and unfortunately they were not here; they died a few years ago,” he said. “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, we didn’t manage to [get it done] on time. I would like her to be here, but I’m also very happy.” Thank you Yara and hello everyone. Well yesterday’s action may not have seen any winners with four draws but there was undoutedly drama and history made. The highlight for many would have been Cape Verde’s 0-0 draw to Spain with the African nation winning their first-ever World Cup point. It was the performance of goalkeeper Vozinha which stoodout and first up I will bring you some news on the 40-year-old. That is all from me today. Here is Sarah Rendell for the next bit. Uruguay: Marcelo Bielsa was involved in an awkward exchange with a reporter after his side’s 1-1 draw with Saudi Arabia which concluded with the Uruguay coach saying: “I’m not a model.” The 70-year-old Argentine was miffed after a journalist asked him about an official Fifa portrait. The colourful Bielsa – nicknamed El Loco (mad man) – was asked why he was looking downwards in the promotional video rather than straight into the lens. There have been suggestions it might be some kind of protest. “I don’t have to give any explanation, the picture was taken the way it was taken,” Bielsa said. “I’m not a model.” Rather than leave it there, Bielsa continued: “No, no, I have no answer for that. Should I also explain why I don’t look to the people who are speaking to me at this moment?” Bielsa was then asked a different question, but he refused to let it go. “There is a limit in terms of what we need to explain,” he told his post-match press conference. “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.” Asia: Jordan are feeling pride not pressure ahead of their debut against ⁠Austria and will fight ⁠to prove their worth in a new chapter in the country’s football history, the captain Ehsan Haddad said. Known for their strong counterattacking, Jordan scored ⁠32 goals in qualifying and are seeking to become the first team to reach the knockout stage in a debut appearance since Slovakia’s feat in 2010. “We are ⁠participating for the first time in our history. It is a great source of pride for us. This is pride more than pressure. It was the ‌dream to be here,” Haddad said. “We ‌have self-confidence,” he said. “The pressure that we used to feel got us here. So let us see ‌where it’s going to lead us to.” Uzbekistan also step on to stage for ⁠the first time when they ⁠face Colombia in their Group K opener, a meeting that represents the biggest moment in the country’s football history. After years of near misses in Asian qualifying, they finally secured a place at the ⁠finals by finishing second in their Asian group. Fabio Cannavaro, Italy’s 2006 ‌World Cup-winning captain and former Ballon d’Or winner, coaches Uzbekistan, bringing an elite tournament pedigree to a squad ‌lacking international experience. Much will depend on defensive organisation, with the Manchester City centre-back Abdukodir Khusanov expected to be a key figure, while the captain Eldor Shomurodov offers experience and threat in attack. Donald Trump: The US president is in France for the G7 summit where he is meeting with world leaders. The US-Iran agreement will be high on the agenda after Trump clashed with and threatened key allies. Why am I mentioning this in the Geopolitics World Cup blog? Because the German chancellor, Friedrich Merz, took a punt and opted to give Trump a belated 80th birthday gift: a Germany football top with the number 47 on the back and “Trump” written on it. It is quite rare for Trump to endorse anything that is not branded “USA! USA! USA! but he seemed pleased. Algeria: The Desert Warriors will hope to harness strong backing from local supporters ⁠when they open their campaign against the defending champions Argentina. Residents of Lawrence, Kansas have fallen in love ⁠with Algeria, who have made their base camp in the city 40 miles west of Kansas City and Petkovic praised the north African team’s newfound fans for their warm welcome. Videos of Algeria’s unexpected support ‌in Lawrence have gone viral, showing emotional scenes of fans – many dressed in Algeria scarves, some fighting back tears – embracing the team and the World Cup atmosphere. Here is more from Daniel Sperry in Lawrence: Lawrence is located a little over 40 miles from Kansas City, a roughly 40-minute drive from the Metropolitan area that is hosting the base camps of Argentina, the Netherlands, and England for the World Cup. All three are staying at boutique hotels around the city. Algeria? Well, they chose the humble Lawrence DoubleTree. So where did this come from? According to Stan Herd, a local artist, you have to go back to April, when it was officially announced that Lawrence would host Algeria. “I think everybody’s surprised at it,” Herd said. “We’re not.” Local organisers wanted to make sure that the country felt welcome in their city, according to Herd. So much so, they’ve commissioned artwork, and signs appear on the lamp-posts with the phrase “1,2,3, Viva l’Algérie!” Even McDonald’s drive-thru windows have signs welcoming Algeria and football fans to Lawrence. Herd says Lawrence is “a blue city in a red state”. The city of nearly 100,000 is home to 27,000 college students from the University of Kansas. Roughly 30% of that student population is minorities or international students. France: Right, on to what is ahead. France and their potent attack featuring Kylian Mbappé, the former Ballon d’Or winner Ousmane Dembélé and flying winger Michael Olise open their account against Senegal in New Jersey. The French will be desperate to avoid any repetition of the opening-day defeat by the Senegalese that they suffered at the 2002 World Cup in South Korea, a result which led to the then-reigning champions crashing out in the group stage. Luke Entwistle looks back on that unfortunate loss for Les Bleus and how the relationship between Mbappé and Dembélé must be positive from the off. Mbappé’s relationship on the pitch with Ousmane Dembélé is perhaps a bigger issue. Dembélé has never delivered his best football for the national team; lest we forget his calamitous performance in the World Cup final four years ago, when he was hooked at half-time. Dembélé’s recent Ballon d’Or win has led to a clamour for him to picked in the No 9 position – where he has thrived since his reconversion at PSG under Luis Enrique – but that spot is occupied by Mbappé at international level. When asked about Mbappé’s role as centre-forward, Deschamps’ retort is quite simple. Luis Enrique, Carlo Ancelotti, Xabi Alonso and Álvaro Arbeloa have all made the same decision at club level over the last three years. Repositioning him at this late juncture would be illogical. But Dembélé’s struggles on the right of the attack and inability to create a partnership with the France captain are feeding a national debate akin to the one in England in 2006, when there were similar concerns about the ability to fit Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard into the same team. And a look back on memory lane for that 2002 match – it truly was global news. World Cup Daily: Our team with the mics are on the ground giving you a podcast daily. In the latest episode Max Rushden is joined by Barry Glendenning, Barney Ronay, Dan Bardell and Sid Lowe to discuss all those draws. Have a listen. Saudi Arabia 1-1 Uruguay: Magic City did not have much enthusiasm for this Group H encounter with Matt Hughes reporting: Miami has more Instagram influencers per capita than Los Angeles and New York, which suggests that Fifa should have recruited some of them to help shift tickets rather than the ubiquitous IShowSpeed, whose hyperactivity has begun to irritate some A-list guests in Fifa’s VVIP areas. As their city is built on celebrity and glamour Miami residents are not easily impressed, and even sports fans are spoilt for choice. The Hard Rock Stadium has hosted six Super Bowls and is a regular staging post on the Formula One circuit, so a group stage World Cup game featuring two goal-shy sides was never going to be a red letter day. On to the football: Maximiliano Araújo rescued a point for La Celeste to deny Saudi Arabia another famous World Cup win as the sides drew 1-1 in Miami. Saudi Arabia, who shocked the eventual winners Argentina in their opener at the last World Cup, went ahead through Abdulelah al-Amri in the first half but came under sustained pressure late on and failed to hold out against the two-time winners. Uruguay dominated possession after the interval, with Manuel Ugarte hitting the post with a low effort from distance after an hour. The pressure finally told with 10 minutes remaining as Araujo steered home an equaliser from close range after Federico Viñas header had been saved by Mohammed al-Owais. Belgium 1-1 Egypt: It was another strong result for an African nation though it could have been better had Romelu Lukaku not forced Egypt into an own goal within seconds of entering the game as the favoured Belgium escaped with a draw in at Seattle. Emam Ashour scored his first international goal with a superb strike from 20 yards out to give Egypt a 1-0 ⁠lead in the 19th minute. The Egypt head coach, ⁠Hossam Hassan, opted to play Mohamed Salah centrally on the his 34th birthday and the move worked out well from the outset. After drawing an early yellow card, Salah delivered a clinical pass to a central Ashour. The midfielder used his first touch to ⁠set up the shot with his right foot, which he buried in the lower left corner of the net past the outstretched right arm of Thibaut Courtois. Lukaku entering in the 66th minute and 23 seconds later the Napoli striker split two defenders off a cross from Thomas Meunier and forced the own goal as the ball deflected off Mohamed Hany’s foot in a pile in front of Mostafa Shobeir. “He’s a target man,” the Belgium midfielder Youri Tielemans said. “He needs ‌to build up his fitness, which is understandable after being out for the season, but he helps us in this way.” Spain 0-0 Cape Verde: Sid Lowe’s opening words of his match report from the Atlanta Stadium were “Wow, just wow” and that somehow feels like an understatement. After all, the European champions Spain were held to a shock 0-0 draw by tiny World Cup debutants Cape Verde. Spain, regarded as one of the strong pre-tournament favourites, had been expected to cruise past Cape Verde in their Group H opener but despite enjoying 74% possession and laying siege to the Cape Verde goal, the 2010 world champions were unable to find a breakthrough against the underdogs from the volcanic archipelago of just 525,000 people. Not even the introduction off the bench of Barcelona’s Lamine Yamal could engineer a goal for Luis de la Fuente’s men. When the final whistle blew, Cape Verde’s players and supporters celebrated wildly after securing an improbable point in their first ever World Cup match. “The dream came true,” the goalkeeper Vozinha told reporters. “We competed against Spain, one of the best teams in the world. We are very happy and proud of all the players and people of Cape Verde.” Meanwhile, the Spain head coach, De la Fuente, insisted there was no reason to hit the panic button – and still confidently backed his squad to reach the final. “We are completely calm, convinced that there is a long way to go. As we see it, we have seven games left,” he said. Tunisia have sacked the head coach Sabri Lamouchi and replaced him ⁠with fellow Frenchman Hervé Renard after their 5-1 defeat by Sweden in their World Cup ⁠opener in Monterrey. Lamouchi, the first coaching casualty of the tournament, was appointed in January on ⁠a contract until 2028. He leaves the post with matches to come against Japan and the Netherlands. Tunisia won just one of their five games under Lamouchi, beating Haiti 1-0 in March, while ‌losing 1-0 to Austria ‌and being thrashed 5-0 by Belgium in a pair of World ‌Cup warm-up matches this month. The Tunisian Football Federation (FTF) said Renard would take charge until the end of Tunisia’s World Cup campaign. “The agreement also stipulates that negotiations will be opened after the World Cup campaign to consider a long-term partnership based ‌on specific sporting objectives,” their statement said. The country’s state-owned broadcaster Television Tunisienne reported that Renard would arrive in Monterrey later on Tuesday to link up with the squad. Renard, twice an Africa Cup of Nations winner, coached Saudi Arabia at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar and led them to a famous victory over eventual champions Argentina in the ⁠group stage. He left to coach the French women’s team at the World Cup in 2023 and the Paris Olympics, before returning to Saudi Arabia and helping the men’s side qualify ‌for a third successive World Cup. He was then replaced by Georgios Donis in the buildup to the tournament. Iran 2-2 New Zealand: It was a heavy match for Iran’s players as they played out a 2-2 draw against New Zealand after a backdrop of strife in the buildup to their tournament. After the match, the Iran head coach Amir Ghalenoei hit out at Fifa and hinted at resentment toward the US government after being told they needed to leave Los Angeles immediately. We’ve spent so much time commuting in the air. They didn’t even give us time to recover after the game today. They said we had to leave immediately. It’s very important for us to have time for recovery and yet we were asked to return to Tijuana and we are really troubled by that. We do not know why they are returning us. I think it’s very strange. It seems like others are doing the planning for us, decisions are made elsewhere, we were supposed to arrive two nights before the game and we were not permitted, we were supposed to stay tonight and return tomorrow lunchtime but I have no idea why, and they haven’t told us. Our team is the most oppressed one in the whole World Cup. The federation is absent here. Our media isn’t here. Our management team, many of them aren’t here. We used to have a part of a coaching team to help with substitutions but we didn’t have that. Many in the technical area had to deal with that. The Iran captain Mehdi Taremi described their treatment as a “disaster” and revealed the Fifa president Gianni Infantino had been in the dressing room, offering to “help” the team. Footage of Infantino published on X sees him telling the players “you are stronger than everything” adding that the team were “writing history, the whole world is watching you”. Infantino is also understood to have told the players he would do what he could to ensure more of the Iranian delegation, who did not receive visas, could travel to the USA for their remaining group games. We are officially 2/3 of the way through the first group games of the 2026 World Cup. How are we feeling? Excited, thrilled, enjoying the football? Tired, overwhelmed, exhausted? All of the above? Wherever you fall, strap in because there is so, so much to get to. Reaction from Spain 0-0 Cape Verde, Belgium 1-1 Egypt, Saudi Arabia 1-1 Uruguay and Iran 2-2 New Zealand (you get a draw, you get a draw, everyone gets a draw) before looking ahead to France v Senegal, Iraq v Norway, Argentina v Algeria and Austria v Jordan. How will our 2022 finalists fare? How about the African champions (or are they?) Or the fresh faces from Asia? This World Cup has already had a few surprises and, given the sheer number of games, I expect more to come. Have any thoughts on the performances we have seen? Or on what is to come? What is your World Cup setup? Are you watching from home or did you manage to nab tickets? Let me know along with any predictions, questions, comments or complaints via email.

2026-06-16

World Cup 2026: England’s Livramento ruled out; Ghana seek to overturn Partey ban; Iran player’s visa expires – as it happened

2026-06-16

Trevoh Chalobah

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