分类： sports

The 2026 FIFA World Cup enters its knockout stage with one of the most anticipated round of 16 matchups, as defending champions Argentina led by superstar Lionel Messi will square off against Mohamed Salah’s Egypt on Tuesday in Atlanta. The winner of this high-stakes encounter will advance to the quarter-finals and face the victor of the simultaneous last-16 tie between Switzerland and Colombia, held in Vancouver.

Argentina narrowly escaped a stunning upset in their opening knockout match against tournament debutants Cape Verde, scraping through to the round of 16 after an exhausting 120-minute extra time bout, secured only by a late own goal from Diney Borges. Now, Lionel Scaloni’s side is gearing up to face an Egyptian side that has never progressed past the round of 16 in World Cup history, but enters the fixture in confident form after eliminating Australia on penalties in the previous round.

Speaking ahead of the matchup, Argentina manager Scaloni emphasized his side is taking nothing for granted, echoing the focused preparation they brought to the Cape Verde game. “Egypt is also a good rival. It’s a very good team. They have important players and a coach that has been working with them for a while now. They play good football and always make it difficult for their rivals,” Scaloni told reporters. He added of Egyptian star Salah: “Salah is a great player — it will be a pleasure to face him. Our team knows how to face these great players and we always work hard for it.”

Scaloni also confirmed that 39-year-old Messi, who played the full 120 minutes against Cape Verde, is fully fit and will start Tuesday’s clash. Messi enters the game with plenty to play for beyond a quarter-final spot: he currently holds seven tournament goals, tied with France’s Kylian Mbappe and Norway’s Erling Haaland in the race for the Golden Boot, with Mbappe holding the narrow lead on assists. The two superstars are also neck-and-neck for the title of the World Cup’s all-time leading goalscorer, with Messi sitting just one goal ahead of Mbappe on 20 career World Cup strikes.

For Egypt, the matchup represents a historic chance to notch a breakthrough result at football’s biggest global tournament. Salah, currently a free agent after departing Liverpool, has only scored once in four matches so far at this World Cup, but remains one of the most dangerous attacking players in the world and a constant threat to Argentina’s backline. Egypt head coach Hossam Hassan said his side has prepared without fear of their opposition’s status, saying “This is a World Cup, a great opportunity to prove ourselves and that we belong here.”

Across the country in Vancouver, the other last-16 fixture on Tuesday will pit unbeaten Switzerland against unbeaten Colombia, with both sides vying for a spot in the quarter-finals. Colombia has been widely tipped as a dark horse contender for the tournament title, backed by thousands of passionate traveling fans, and boasts a stout defensive record that has conceded just one goal through four matches. Their attack is led by star winger Luis Diaz and 2014 Golden Boot winner James Rodriguez, giving the South American side plenty of attacking firepower.

Switzerland, by contrast, have not reached the World Cup quarter-finals since hosting the tournament in 1954, but turned heads with a convincing 2-0 win over Algeria in the previous round to book their spot in the knockout stage. The winner of this tie and the Argentina-Egypt clash will join an already confirmed star-studded quarter-final line-up that includes France, Morocco, Norway, England, Spain and Belgium.

In other late Monday results, Spain dashed Cristiano Ronaldo’s final World Cup hopes with a 1-0 win over Portugal, while Belgium secured a comfortable 4-1 victory over the United States. The defeat for the US means all three 2026 co-host nations have now been eliminated from the tournament, following earlier exits for Canada and Mexico. The US’ build-up to the Belgium clash was marred by controversy, however, after forward Folarin Balogun was surprisingly cleared to play despite receiving a red card in the final group stage match against Bosnia and Herzegovina. Reports later confirmed that the controversial ruling came after United States President Donald Trump personally called FIFA president Gianni Infantino to urge him to review Balogun’s suspension.

As National Rugby League clubs across the competition hold their breath waiting for fitness and availability updates on their State of Origin representatives, two of the league’s top playmakers have been cleared to work their way back into game day squads this weekend, bringing critical boosts to their respective teams.

One of the most anticipated comebacks belongs to North Queensland Cowboys co-captain Tom Dearden, who has been sidelined since a damaging syndesmosis injury against the Parramatta Eels in Round 10. The injury forced the 2023 Wally Lewis Medal winner to miss the entire 2024 State of Origin series, but he has earned a spot on the Cowboys’ extended bench for this weekend’s clash against the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles.

Cowboys head coach Todd Payten told reporters that Dearden’s recovery has progressed better than expected, with a final call on his inclusion coming after the team’s main training session and captain’s run. “He’s tracking along all right. He’s got a couple of boxes to tick,” Payten said. “The main session is tomorrow (so hopefully) he gets through that, and then we have the captain’s run. Depending on how he pulls up, we’ll make a judgment call on that. But things are looking promising.” If Dearden gets the green light to play, current playmaker Jaxon Purdue is expected to shift to the centres to accommodate his return.

Over at the Melbourne Storm, the club has secured a massive boost with former Dally M Medal winner Jahrome Hughes returning to the starting line-up for their match against the Gold Coast Titans, after recovering from a hamstring strain that kept him sidelined for multiple weeks. Hughes isn’t the only returnee for the Storm: Nick Meaney, Jack Howarth and Manaia Waitere are also back in the squad to reinforce the team’s backline. Mid-season recruit Oryn Keeley has been named to Melbourne’s extended bench and is in line to make his club debut this weekend if called up.

Wests Tigers have also received positive injury news, with playmaker Jarome Luai cleared to return after completing the NRL’s concussion protocols, while forward Samuela Fainu is back from a foot injury. The Tigers will be without hooker Api Koroisau, who continues to recover from a pectoral injury, so Josese Lanyon will step into the dummy-half role for the clash against the New Zealand Warriors. The Warriors have suffered a loss of their own, with winger Dallin Watene-Zelezniak ruled out with a hamstring injury, but they welcome back key forwards James Fisher-Harris and Leka Halasima to the squad.

The Dolphins and Cronulla Sharks have kept fans and analysts guessing, with all their State of Origin stars named only to extended benches pending late fitness checks. Down at the South Sydney Rabbitohs, head coach Wayne Bennett has made a surprising shake-up to his backline: experienced fullback Matt Dufty will replace young talent Jye Gray in the starting line-up, while Jayden Sullivan comes into the side to replace suspended playmaker Cody Walker. Gray has been dropped to the reserves bench for the clash.

For the Canterbury Bulldogs, forward Jacob Preston has been named as a reserve and could come in as a last-minute inclusion if any starter pulls out injured. The Canberra Raiders welcome back veteran forward Josh Papalii and youngster Noah Martin for their upcoming fixture. Raiders head coach Ricky Stuart chose not to name winger Savelio Tamale, who was taken out early in the team’s last match against the St George Illawarra Dragons after a messy first 30 minutes. However, Stuart has named playmaker Ethan Strange, who was considered a doubt for the State of Origin decider earlier this month with an ankle injury, confirming he will be available this weekend.

Finally, Sydney Roosters legend Daniel Tupou is set to hit a major career milestone this weekend, hitting 300 NRL games after overcoming a recent injury. The Roosters have also named Hugo Savala at halfback as a back-up, in case Queensland Maroons star Sam Walker is unable to back up after Origin decider duties.

Two dramatic knockout round matches on Monday closed out the 2026 FIFA World Cup round of 16, delivering a lopsided upset for co-hosts the United States and a bittersweet farewell to one of football’s greatest icons, Cristiano Ronaldo.

First at Seattle’s Lumen Field, a motivated and clinical Belgian side turned in a dominant 4-1 victory over the USA, bringing the co-hosts’ World Cup run to an abrupt end and booking a quarter-final clash with European champions Spain. The match was overshadowed by 24 hours of pre-match controversy surrounding US striker Folarin Balogun, whose eligibility was the subject of a heated international debate after a last-minute intervention.

Balogun was originally handed a one-game suspension by FIFA, but the governing body reversed the ruling just 24 hours before kickoff following public lobbying from United States President Donald Trump. Named in US manager Mauricio Pochettino’s starting eleven, Balogun failed to make a meaningful impact on the match, failing to register a single shot on target throughout 90 minutes.

For Belgium, the eligibility controversy only served to galvanize the squad. Belgium captain Youri Tielemans told reporters post-match that the team held an emergency meeting when news of the ruling broke, and agreed to respond to the perceived injustice with their performance on the pitch. That promise translated to an explosive start: Atalanta forward Charles De Ketelaere broke the deadlock for Belgium after just nine minutes with a clinical low finish past US keeper Matt Freese.

The USA pulled an unlikely equalizer in the 31st minute, when Malik Tillman’s deflected free kick wrong-footed Belgian keeper Koen Casteels to level the score at 1-1. But the hosts’ fightback lasted barely two minutes: just two minutes after the equalizer, De Ketelaere nodded home a second goal from a corner to restore Belgium’s lead. The Belgians extended their advantage in the 57th minute, when Hans Vanaken capitalized on a catastrophic goalkeeping error from Freese. The US keeper charged out of his penalty area to clear a long through ball, but lost possession under pressure, gifting Vanaken an open goal to make the score 3-1. Substitute striker Romelu Lukaku put the final nail in the coffin for the USA, slotting home a fourth goal in second-half stoppage time to seal the rout.

Post-match, Pochettino admitted his side had failed to show up on the biggest stage. “Today we were not the same team that we have been during the tournament,” the Argentine manager said. “It was a very bad day — it wasn’t our day in a collective and individual way.” For the USA, the defeat brings an end to a campaign that captivated the host nation, falling short of their goal of reaching the first World Cup quarter-final in 24 years. Belgian midfielder Nicolas Raskin said the sense of injustice over Balogun’s eligibility fueled the team’s dominant performance. “There was a sense of injustice within the squad,” Raskin said. “We were determined to respond on the field.”

In the second late knockout match in Arlington, Texas, Spain edged out Portugal 1-0 to secure their spot in the quarter-finals, in what has been confirmed as the final World Cup appearance of Portuguese legend Cristiano Ronaldo. The 41-year-old five-time Ballon d’Or winner, playing in his sixth consecutive World Cup, was a peripheral figure throughout the tight contest, as Portugal mustered only two shots on target compared to Spain’s six.

The match remained goalless through 90 minutes, until Spanish substitute Mikel Merino coolly slotted home the winner in the first minute of stoppage time, latching onto a quick free-kick through ball before beating Portuguese keeper Diogo Costa with a low finish. The result brings an end to Ronaldo’s decades-long dream of lifting the World Cup trophy, a honor that eluded him through a legendary career spanning three decades at the top of European club football.

Speaking after the match, Ronaldo said he would take time to reflect on his future in football, having closed the book on his World Cup career. “It was my last World Cup, yes, but I’ll have time to think about the rest, to be with my family, not make rash decisions, and just get on with life,” Ronaldo said. “That’s football, that’s the life of a footballer. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, and you have to move on.”

Spanish manager Luis de la Fuente praised his side’s gritty performance, calling the tight knockout clash an early final for his side. “It was a fantastic match — a final played early — and, inevitably, we had to sweat it out until the very end,” de la Fuente said. “We put in a complete performance.”

Belgium will now face Spain in the World Cup quarter-finals this Friday in Los Angeles, with a spot in the semi-finals on the line.

An explosive bench-clearing brawl between Collingwood and the Gold Coast Suns at Saturday’s Australian Football League clash has sparked a thoughtful balancing act from Collingwood head coach Craig McRae, who says he wants to bottle the raw ferocity his players displayed – without the costly rule breaches and heavy fines that followed the incident.

The chaotic scuffle broke out on the halftime siren after Gold Coast forward Ben Long delivered a hard gut punch to Collingwood’s veteran leader Brayden Maynard. Maynard responded immediately to the hit, triggering an all-in confrontation that drew every available player from both teams’ benches and left the AFL’s match review panel handing down multiple fines in the aftermath.

Speaking after the game, McRae admitted that the intensity and unity his players showed in the moments after the brawl was exactly the kind of fire most coaches spend the entire season trying to manufacture week in and week out. When his squad walked into the locker room at halftime, the sharp, focused determination in their eyes was something that cannot be easily manufactured through team talks or strategy sessions, he said.

“I think it’s great for the game this growing rivalry between our side and the Suns. Anyone who tuned into watch that match would have been gripped by the energy out there,” McRae told reporters. “Seeing our players walk in at halftime with that real look in their eye and that raw energy, as a coach you just think, ‘How do we get this every single week?’ Sometimes you have to manufacture that intensity, you want your players to be dialled in and hungry – that’s the culture we want to build inside our club. Now, that energy has to stay within the rules, because we don’t want to be coughing up $16,000 in fines every week. That doesn’t make any sense, and that’s not playing the game the right way. If we can walk that fine line, play on the edge without crossing it, we’ll hunt opposition sides every week, and that’s what we’ll aim to do this week within the rules.”

Maynard, the Collingwood captain, ended up copping fines for three separate incidents stemming from the melee, including a brush with an umpire as he moved to join the second cluster of the scuffle. McRae acknowledged there was room for match officials to issue a formal suspension charge over the umpire contact, but said he agreed with the grading that ruled the contact incidental.

“Oh look, I thought it was incidental as it was graded. I can see how you’d make a case for wanting to make a stand of protecting the umpires,” he said. “We want to make sure that’s the case too. I know they changed the positioning rules for contact with umpires in recent weeks, and there’s been a clear mandate from all clubs to make sure we look after them. We want to be a part of that, that’s significant in making sure this game operates well, but I do think it was incidental.”

The incident has shone a light on the growing on-field rivalry between the two AFL clubs, while prompting broader discussion about how the league balances on-field intensity with enforcement of game rules to keep players and officials safe.

Veteran Melbourne Football Club midfielder Jack Viney is clinging to his goal of returning to the pitch this season, even as a persistent combination of Achilles and back injuries has kept him sidelined and left his comeback timeline shrouded in uncertainty.

At 32, Viney has been unable to join his retooled Demons side under first-year senior coach Steven King throughout the 2024 campaign, sidelined by the complicated overlapping soft-tissue and spinal issues that have defied straightforward rehab timelines. Despite the setbacks, the club’s long-serving spiritual leader remains adamant he can still contribute to Melbourne’s push for September finals action as the Demons hold their position in a tightly contested top-four race.

Melbourne cemented its finals credentials with a crucial victory over third-placed Hawthorn in Launceston last Saturday, leaving the side locked in a congested battle for positions at the upper end of the AFL ladder ahead of this Sunday’s blockbuster clash against Richmond at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. A win would keep the Demons firmly in the hunt for a high seeding heading into the final rounds of the regular season.

While Viney still has not resumed running — a critical milestone required to map out a formal return to match action — he said his rehab program is making gradual progress, and he is prepared to contribute in any capacity if called upon this season. “They’re going OK, we’re ticking boxes, trying to keep pushing and play some footy this year, that’s the goal with the team going so well,” Viney said in an interview.

Unlike the clear-cut injury recoveries he has navigated throughout his career, the 32-year-old noted this current combination of Achilles and back pain has been far more complex to treat, with repeated revised targets forcing him to adapt to an unclear rehab process. “It hasn’t been a straightforward injury like I would’ve liked, it’s a more complex one we’re trying to find solutions to throughout the whole season,” he explained. “I feel like we’ll get there eventually, it’s just kind of hard to put an ETA on. Wherever, whenever the footy is, I’m just keen to get out there, play it, whether it’s a minute or 90, just get out there and play footy again.”

Viney added that the lack of a clear return date has created a unique mental challenge compared to previous long-term injuries he has overcome. “I am no stranger to injury, but they’ve been more like broken bones or ankle scopes, that kind of stuff, where once you have it done it’s pretty clear and linear,” he said. “Having the achilles and then having my back in the mix, it just hasn’t been as clear cut and it’s been focusing on the systems and building up my load again. It’s definitely tough… similar to an ACL or ruptured Achilles you know you’ve got 12 months of rehab. My process has been much more — (I) feel like we’re getting back … we thought we’d be back at round 8, but it didn’t seem to be the case.”

Until he can resume full running, Viney said the club’s strength and conditioning staff will continue to build his fitness base, with no formal projected return date set. All attention remains on Sunday’s clash with Richmond, where the Demons will look to solidify their place in the finals race as they wait for news on their inspirational leader’s recovery.