分类： sports

Germany’s men’s national soccer program is facing a leadership shakeup after a historic third straight early World Cup exit, with head coach Julian Nagelsmann stepping down and former Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp emerging as the leading candidate to take over the role, the German Football Federation (DFB) confirmed in an official announcement Friday.

Nagelsmann’s departure comes four days after Germany suffered a stunning penalty shootout defeat to Paraguay in the round of 32, a result that extended the country’s decades-long drought of knockout-stage success at the world’s biggest soccer tournament. Germany has not won a World Cup knockout match since claiming its 2014 title in a final against Argentina, with the latest early exit following group-stage eliminations at the 2018 Russia World Cup and 2022 Qatar tournament.

The 38-year-old coach, who took the reins of the national side in 2023 and extended his contract last year through Euro 2028, initially said he would honor the remaining two years of his deal — which reportedly made him one of the highest-paid coaches at this year’s tournament — and insisted after the exit that he was “not one to walk away.” But after returning to Germany for crisis talks with DFB leadership Thursday, he reversed course, saying a clean break was in the best interest of the team.

“In the days since we went out I’ve done a lot of thinking and spoken with trusted people in my personal life and at the federation,” Nagelsmann said in a public statement. “This decision was anything but easy for me. My main aim has always been the team’s success. After such a bitter disappointment, they’ve earned the chance for a completely fresh start.”

Nagelsmann faced intense public and media criticism throughout the tournament over his tactical choices and squad selection. Controversial calls included recalling 40-year-old veteran goalkeeper Manuel Neuer to the starting squad ahead of the tournament after using Oliver Baumann for all qualifying matches, repositioning regular Bayern Munich midfielder Joshua Kimmich to right-back instead of fielding a specialist in the role, and consistently starting winger Leroy Sane — a former Bayern colleague of Nagelsmann’s. The fallout from these choices was visible in Germany’s loss to Paraguay: amateur stand-in Waldemar Anton, a natural central defender, was forced to cover Kimmich’s right-back position late in the match, while in-form striker Nick Woltemade — who played every minute of Germany’s qualifying campaign — remained benched until the final minutes of the knockout fixture.

The DFB confirmed Friday that it intends to open formal talks with Klopp, who has already privately signaled he is open to taking the national team job. This would mark Klopp’s first senior coaching position since he stepped down from Liverpool at the end of the 2023-2024 Premier League season. Currently, Klopp serves as global head of soccer for the Red Bull Group, and worked as a high-profile pundit for German television during this year’s World Cup, even conducting pitchside post-match interviews with Nagelsmann during the tournament. When asked about the vacancy earlier this week, Klopp downplayed the speculation, saying “I haven’t thought about it” and calling it “not the moment to really talk about it.”

The news of Nagelsmann’s resignation drew a formal statement of recognition from German Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s office. “The chancellor thanks Julian Nagelsmann for his commitment and service in recent years as national team coach,” Merz spokesperson Stefan Kornelius told reporters during a scheduled press conference where the breaking news broke.

Nagelsmann is far from the only high-profile men’s head coach to exit his post after an early elimination from this year’s World Cup. Just hours after Germany’s defeat to Paraguay, Netherlands manager Ronald Koeman stepped down following his own side’s surprise penalty shootout exit. Coaches leading Ecuador, South Korea, Scotland and the Czech Republic have all departed their roles after early exits, while Argentina legend Marcelo Bielsa moved forward with a pre-planned departure from Uruguay even before the team’s group-stage elimination was confirmed.

Germany does not return to competitive action until a September 24 Nations League fixture against the Netherlands, giving the DFB time to finalize a deal for Klopp before the new national team cycle begins.

The 2026 FIFA World Cup knockout stage delivered one of the most dramatic and debated finishes in tournament history on Wednesday, as a last-gasp VAR ruling eliminated Croatia in cruel fashion and sent Portugal through to the quarter-finals. What unfolded over 90-plus minutes at Toronto Stadium packed in every element of high-stakes football: last-minute goals, offside disputes, generational career milestones and a technology-driven controversy that has reignited debate over the role of VAR in the modern game.

Portugal entered the match as marginal favorites, but the first half was largely underwhelming until Croatia broke the deadlock early in the second half through veteran winger Ivan Perisic. What followed was a chaotic second half that shifted momentum repeatedly. Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo, appearing in his sixth World Cup, had a stunning equalizer ruled out by a tight offside call before converting a controversial penalty to level the score at 1-1. The strike marked Ronaldo’s first ever knockout-stage goal at a World Cup, a milestone that added extra narrative to a night already thick with subplots.

Ronaldo was substituted in the 81st minute, leaving a dejected figure on the bench, but his evening was far from over. Portugal substitute Goncalo Ramos netted a go-ahead goal in the fourth minute of stoppage time, putting Portugal up 2-1 and prompting Ronaldo to sprint onto the pitch to celebrate with his teammates. With seconds remaining, and extra time seeming inevitable, Croatia thought they had forced an additional 30 minutes when defender Josko Gvardiol tapped home from close range in the 13th minute of stoppage time. Croatian players erupted in wild celebration, while Ronaldo sat stunned on the Portuguese bench.

That celebration was cut short when VAR intervened. Premier League official Jarred Gillett, the video assistant referee for the match, called for a full offside check, centered on whether Croatian forward Igor Matanovic had made contact with the ball in the build-up to Gvardiol’s finish. If Matanovic had touched the ball, he was in an offside position and the goal would be ruled out; if no contact was made, the goal would stand. Referee Espen Eskas reviewed multiple replay angles, which looked visually inconclusive, but a Snickometer-style ball-tracking technology, adapted from cricket and integrated with a microchip in the official Adidas Trionda match ball, detected a faint touch. The goal was disallowed, drawing immediate fury from the Croatian camp and fans in attendance.

Angry Croatian supporters threw plastic bottles onto the pitch in protest, as the final whistle blew moments later, ending the Balkan nation’s World Cup campaign. The result also brings a close to what is almost certainly the final World Cup appearance for Croatian legend Luka Modric, the 40-year-old Real Madrid midfielder who made his tournament debut in 2006. Modric, who hit the 200-cap milestone for his country earlier in the tournament, was consoled by his former Real Madrid teammate Ronaldo after the final whistle, ending an era for one of the game’s most decorated midfielders.

Post-match reactions highlighted the deep divide over the controversial call. Croatian manager Zlatko Dalic launched a scathing attack on officiating and the impact of VAR on the sport. “I will not comment much about it but I will say the refereeing was very bad,” Dalic told reporters. “No fouls, no set-pieces on our side which should have been but that’s no reason to talk about the defeat. It was very bad refereeing. You were able to see to what extent emotions had been killed, and altogether all these decisions take you back and actually take the joy out of football. VAR kills emotions, it kills everything within you. We have gone too far with VAR.”

Portuguese manager Roberto Martinez defended the call, pointing to the precision of the in-ball sensor technology. “It’s a shame one of the two teams had to lose,” Martinez said. “But there is no bad decision or lucky decision. It was a clear moment. The balls now have a chip and the sensor shows the ball was touched.”

Pundits and former players were split on the ruling. Former England defender Matt Upson, commentating for BBC Radio 5 Live, said he remained unconvinced of a touch after reviewing multiple angles. “From what I can see, I don’t see any change in direction of the ball. What the telling thing is, is the spin on the ball doesn’t change and it looks like Matanovic has touched that ball but it’s interesting that they’re saying beyond any reasonable doubt he has. I can’t quite see that,” Upson said. Former Premier League assistant referee Darren Cann, however, backed the decision, saying the Snickometer technology “100% proves that he touched it with the flick-on.”

For Ronaldo, the result keeps his World Cup dream alive, just days after his sister labeled the tournament his “last dance”. The Portuguese captain had played every minute of his side’s tournament up to the knockout clash, and his substitution has reignited debate over whether he should retain his starting spot for the quarter-finals. Former England forward Theo Walcott backed Martinez’s call to withdraw Ronaldo, saying: “I think it was the right decision in the end, it really was.”

Tributes poured in for Modric after the match, with former Brazil midfielder Lucas Leiva calling the result a harsh end to an iconic career. “It is very harsh for Croatia to go out like this, for Luka Modric, probably his last game in the World Cup,” Leiva told BBC Sport. “A legend of the game. I think he has shown for 20-odd years how good he is. You feel sad for him, but he has had a great career. He took Croatia to the highest level in the World Cup. A great player.”

INGLEWOOD, California — Unai Simón, Spain’s standout starting goalkeeper, has cemented his place in World Cup history after breaking one of the tournament’s most enduring records, posting the longest consecutive shutout streak across men’s World Cup competition. The historic milestone came during Spain’s dominant 3-0 Group Stage victory over Austria on Thursday, which marked Simón’s fourth consecutive clean sheet at the ongoing tournament.

Across the last two editions of the World Cup, Simón has not conceded a single goal across 519 consecutive minutes of play. That two-game streak surpasses the 517-minute record set 36 years ago by iconic Italian goalkeeper Walter Zenga, who notched five straight shutouts while Italy hosted the 1990 World Cup. The 29-year-old, a lifelong starter for Spain’s Athletic Bilbao, has long flown under the radar compared to other global soccer stars — even within his own national squad — but his elite command of Spain’s backline, paired with the team’s standout defensive organization, has pushed him into the record books.

Heading into the knockout round, Spain has yet to allow a single goal at this tournament, and Simón has only been called on to make four total saves through four matches. Against Austria, he did not need to make a single stop, as none of the Austrian side’s five shot attempts found their way on target.

Spain head coach Luis De La Fuente, who has stood by Simón as his starter through years of calls to promote higher-profile backup goalkeepers, expressed nothing but pride for his goalkeeper after the record-breaking win. “I feel proud of him,” De La Fuente said. “I feel like he is a member of my family. I’m very happy for him.”

Simón has served as Spain’s first-choice goalkeeper for the majority of the past five years, holding onto his starting spot despite fierce competition from two of the most successful keepers in top European club soccer: David Raya, who just claimed a Premier League title with Arsenal, and Joan Garcia, Barcelona’s breakout young starter. Unlike his two backups, Simón has spent his entire club career at the less prominent Athletic Bilbao, who only qualified for the Champions League for the first time in his tenure last season.

Simón’s long-running trust with De La Fuente dates back nearly a decade, a bond that has been central to his continued place as the national team’s starter. The pair first worked together in 2015, when a then 18-year-old Simón helped De La Fuente’s Spanish squad win the European Under-19 Championship in Greece. They continued working together through Spain’s youth national team program, before reuniting in early 2023 when De La Fuente took over the senior men’s squad, kicking off one of the most successful runs in Spanish soccer history.

Under De La Fuente’s leadership, Spain has dropped just one loss across 37 competitive matches, going unbeaten in 35 consecutive outings — a run that includes a penalty shootout defeat to Portugal in the 2025 Nations League. With Simón in goal, Spain claimed the 2023 Nations League title and the 2024 European Championship, and have now advanced to a World Cup knockout round for the first time in 16 years.

Simón’s record-breaking shutout streak traces back to the 2022 Qatar World Cup, where Spain conceded just three goals in four matches before bowing out in an early upset. The streak began during Spain’s 2-1 group stage loss to Japan, and continued through a regulation scoreless draw with Morocco in the round of 16 — a match Spain ultimately lost on penalties, with Morocco converting three of four spot kicks against Simón.

At this year’s tournament co-hosted in North America, no side has managed to put the ball in the back of the net past Simón. Among Spain’s four group stage opponents, only Uruguay managed to register more than one shot on target. De La Fuente was quick to emphasize that Simón’s historic milestone is a testament to the entire team’s defensive effort, not just individual brilliance. “(Simón) played a very big role in the victory, but it’s not just about individuals,” De La Fuente said after beating Austria. “It’s about the whole group coming together for that defensive effort.”

Early in the second half against Austria, Simón also surpassed another iconic record: the consecutive World Cup shutout streak set by Spanish legend Iker Casillas across the 2010 and 2014 tournaments. His consistent elite performance has been more than enough to fend off his two high-profile challengers as Spain advances to the round of 16.

Raya, who has won three consecutive Premier League Golden Glove awards for leading the league in clean sheets, backstopped Arsenal to their first top-flight title since 2004 and a Champions League final appearance this season — yet he remains confined to a backup role for La Roja. Garcia, meanwhile, has emerged as one of the most promising young goalkeeping talents in world soccer after taking over Barcelona’s starting job last season, but he is also expected to remain on the sidelines for the duration of the tournament.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. — Eighteen-year-old Spanish winger Lamine Yamal is steadily regaining his match sharpness at his maiden World Cup, turning in a dynamic attacking performance even as he walked away without a goal in Spain’s commanding 3-0 knockout round win over Austria.

The young superstar, one of the most anticipated emerging talents in global football, has spent the past two months working to rebuild full fitness after pulling his hamstring during a Barcelona La Liga fixture — an injury that left him fearing he would be forced to miss the entire tournament entirely.

Despite his recent recovery, Yamal put on an unforgettable attacking display for the sellout crowd of 72,492 spectators at SoFi Stadium on Thursday. The match, which ended with Spain advancing to the next round without conceding a single goal through their first four tournament matches, earned Yamal the Player of the Match honors, a silver trophy he clutched proudly after the final whistle. He finished the game with six total shots, constantly testing Austria’s backline and creating space for his teammates with his relentless movement.

“I didn’t get on the scoresheet today, but I’m over the moon that we’re through to the next round,” Yamal told reporters after the match.

The sold-out crowd leaned heavily in support of La Roja, and counted A-list celebrities Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem among its attendees. Yamal’s 3-year-old half-brother Keyne was also in attendance, wrapped in the Spanish flag celebrating the team’s third goal as the stadium erupted.

“It means the world to me to see my mom and my little brother living the life we always dreamed of together,” Yamal said. “My brother is like my son; I adore him more than anything.”

Across Spain’s three group stage matches, Yamal only logged 141 minutes of playing time, notching one goal as global headlines focused on veteran superstars like Lionel Messi, Harry Kane and Kylian Mbappe. But the teen says he is steadily getting back to his best form ahead of the tournament’s knockout stages.

“Little by little, I’m starting to feel like myself again — I can make the runs, pull off the dribbles, and take on defenders just like I usually do,” Yamal explained. “I’m at 100% fitness now, whatever the coach needs from me I’m ready. I just need to keep resting and taking care of my body to stay sharp.”

This knockout clash marked Yamal’s longest appearance of the tournament, with the winger playing 85 minutes before being substituted off. He came inches away from scoring on multiple occasions, each time denied by impressive Austrian defending.

His closest chance came just before he came off the pitch: a left-footed strike cleared off the goal line by Austrian captain David Alaba, keeping Yamal off the scoresheet. In first-half stoppage time, after Alex Baena’s 25-yard free kick hit the post and the Austrian defense failed to clear the loose ball, Yamal latched onto the chance at the back post only for goalkeeper Alexander Schlager to block his close-range effort. Early in the first half, Yamal found himself unmarked in front of goal only to send his shot sailing over the crossbar, and he even opened the game with a long solo run that ended with a shot straight into Schlager’s arms.

Austria manager Ralf Rangnick acknowledged Yamal’s elite ability, while praising his side’s defensive organization to keep the teen from finding the back of the net. “Lamine Yamal is an incredible talent, one of the best we’ve ever seen at his age, and we knew what we were up against today,” Rangnick said. “But I think we defended him really well, and we managed to stop him from scoring.”

With the win, Spain advances to the next round of the World Cup, where they will face higher stakes as they chase the tournament title — and Yamal says he is ready to step up when his team needs him.

As the world’s attention fixated on teen sensation Lamine Yamal ahead of Spain’s 2026 FIFA World Cup round-of-32 clash against Austria at Los Angeles Stadium, it was an unsung veteran of the squad who stole the show to secure the European champions’ place in the last 16. While fans packed the stands with Yamal’s name on the back of their match shirts, and cameras followed the 18-year-old Barcelona star everywhere from his team bus arrival to pre-match warmups, it was 29-year-old Mikel Oyarzabal who delivered a masterclass in finishing, scoring two unanswered goals to anchor a comfortable 3-0 victory over Austria.

This result marks Spain’s first knockout stage win at a men’s World Cup in 16 years, a milestone that cements La Roja’s status as one of the tournament’s leading title contenders. For Oyarzabal, the moment is the culmination of a long, hard-fought road back to top-level competition. A product of Real Sociedad’s youth academy who has never played for another top-flight club, the striker missed the 2022 Qatar World Cup after suffering a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee. Four years on, he has entered the peak of his career, bringing blistering scoring form to his long-awaited World Cup debut.

Going into the Austria clash, Oyarzabal had already notched 12 goals in 12 international appearances, and his double on Thursday extended that incredible run to 17 goals in his last 16 starts for Spain, bringing his total tournament tally to four. Since the start of 2025, only Norwegian superstar Erling Haaland has scored more international goals among all European players than Oyarzabal. He also made history with his performance, becoming the first Spanish player to net twice in a World Cup knockout match since Emilio Butragueno did so against Denmark in the 1986 tournament’s round of 16.

Many football pundits have highlighted that Oyarzabal’s understated profile allows him to exploit the space created by defenders’ focus on Yamal. Speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live, prominent Spanish football analyst Guillem Balague called Oyarzabal the side’s “invisible match-winner”, noting that the striker has a historic track record of scoring in major finals. “He is one of the most intelligent players we have, and our most decisive player at this tournament, no doubt,” Balague added. Former Spain defender Cesar Azpilicueta echoed that sentiment, telling BBC One that Oyarzabal has solved longstanding questions about La Roja’s centre-forward position, after transitioning from a wide right role to a central starting spot. Former Germany midfielder Thomas Hitzlsperger also pointed to the dynamic between Yamal and Oyarzabal: “When you have someone in your team like Lamine Yamal who attracts so much attention, you know you will get more space. Oyarzabal uses that space, gets the ball, and scores goals.”

Off the pitch, Oyarzabal credits his innate goalscoring instinct to his early childhood playing hockey, a sport that taught him to shake off missed chances and keep hunting for more. “I always had this voice in my head, ‘It doesn’t matter if you missed one – there will be more,’” he explained. “I could smell goals, and that voice was always in my head.” Playing as a central striker fits that mentality perfectly, he added: “If you play higher up the pitch, and especially if you’re a striker like myself, it all comes down to a few moments. We often have to smell where the ball might drop or where you have to stand to have a chance at goal.”

This victory extends Spain’s incredible unbeaten run to 34 matches, just one game short of the national team’s all-time record. La Roja got off to a slow start in the tournament with an unexpected goalless draw against first-time qualifiers Cape Verde, but have grown in strength with each match, now scoring eight goals across four games without conceding a single goal. They will next face a tough last-16 test against either Portugal or Croatia, and pundits warn that the side has not even hit top gear yet. Former England striker Dion Dublin told BBC Radio 5 Live: “They were comfortable playing in third or fourth gear against Austria because they knew the opposition didn’t have anything to offer. When they are playing against France or Portugal, whoever it may be, they will just up their game again. I think they have a lot more to offer which is a frightening thing for the rest of the teams in the competition.”