Global Pulse

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  • Japan faces heartbreak again as Brazil scores late to end another World Cup run in the round of 32

    Japan faces heartbreak again as Brazil scores late to end another World Cup run in the round of 32

    HOUSTON — For the third consecutive World Cup, Japan’s men’s national team exited the knockout round in devastating fashion, falling 2-1 to five-time tournament champion Brazil after a late Gabriel Martinelli goal in stoppage time sealed their elimination. Monday’s defeat extends the Samurai Blue’s decades-long hunt for their first ever knockout stage win at the World Cup, marking the fifth time the side has squandered a lead in a knockout match to exit the tournament.

    Japan got off to a dream start against the global powerhouse, taking a 1-0 lead in the 29th minute through a strike from Kaishu Sano. Brazil responded just past the hour mark, as star midfielder Casemiro nodded home a equalizing header in the 56th minute, setting the stage for a tense final stretch. With the match poised to go to extra time, Martinelli netted the decisive winning goal deep into injury time, sending Japan packing once again. Japan goalkeeper Zion Suzuki turned in an impressive performance against Brazil, recording four saves, but declined to speak to reporters after the final whistle.

    This exit follows a painful pattern for Japanese football at the sport’s biggest global stage. At the 2022 Qatar World Cup, Japan held an early lead against Croatia in the round of 16 before being eliminated on penalty kicks. Four years prior, in 2018, Japan infamously held a 2-0 lead over Belgium in the second half of their round of 16 match, only to concede three late goals, including a game-winner in stoppage time, to crash out of the tournament. Even with this latest devastating loss, Japan head coach Hajime Moriyasu remained focused on future progress, framing the pain of the defeat as a foundation for future success.

    “While we fell short of our goal this tournament, we can set our sights on the next World Cup, and the one beyond that,” Moriyasu said, speaking through a translator after the match. “That is the goal we will continue to work toward. I do not expect history to be kind to us for this result, but if we keep pushing past these disappointing moments, the day will come when our history changes.”

    Brazil have historically dominated Japan in head-to-head matchups, with Japan holding only one win in 15 total meetings between the two sides — a single friendly victory in October of last year. Despite this losing trend, Moriyasu emphasized that the competitive gap between Japan and the world’s top teams is narrowing rapidly.

    “Brazil is one of the best teams in the world, and we are clearly approaching their level,” Moriyasu said. “We have to use what we learned from the defeat in Qatar four years ago and lift our play to the next level.”

    After the final whistle, Moriyasu told his players to hold onto the sharp frustration of the loss, and use that feeling to fuel their growth in coming years. He also took full accountability for the result, saying: “Winning the World Cup was our shared dream and goal, and we could not reach it. As head coach, I told the players I am truly sorry that I was not able to lead this team to the level we needed to achieve that goal.”

    Back in Japan, the heart-breaking defeat did little to dim fan enthusiasm for the team’s performance. Hundreds of fans gathered at a public viewing site near Tokyo Tower to watch the match, which kicked off in the early hours of local time, ending around 4 a.m. Many supporters said they left inspired by Japan’s fight against a elite opponent.

    “I want to thank the players for never giving up, no matter how tough the situation got,” said fan Miyu Hashiguchi after the match. “They gave me the courage to take on my own challenges in life.”

    Twenty-year-old student Ryutaro Mori noted that even in defeat, putting the first goal on the scoreboard against a higher-ranked side like Brazil marked a major milestone for Japanese football. “That means a lot for our country,” Mori said.

    Alessandro Libri, an AP video journalist based in Tokyo, contributed reporting to this article.

  • Germany and Paraguay head to penalty kicks at 1-1 in the round of 32 at the World Cup

    Germany and Paraguay head to penalty kicks at 1-1 in the round of 32 at the World Cup

    FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — The World Cup’s round of 32 delivered a tense, evenly matched battle between Germany and Paraguay on Monday, with both sides forced into a decisive penalty shootout after finishing regulation and extra time deadlocked at 1 goal apiece.

    Paraguay drew first blood in the closing minutes of the first half, when forward Julio Enciso rose above the German defense to power a header into the back of the net, putting his side ahead going into the halftime break. Germany responded quickly after the interval, with Arsenal forward Kai Havertz finding the net in the 52nd minute to level the score and set the stage for a dramatic second half.

    As the final whistle of regulation blew with the score still tied, the contest moved to 30 minutes of extra time to find a winner. In the 102nd minute, it looked as though Germany had secured the go-ahead goal: defender Jonathan Tah directed a corner kick from Nathaniel Brown past Paraguay goalkeeper Orlando Gill, who could not reach the looping header. However, a VAR video review immediately intervened, ruling that German defender Waldemar Anton had illegally pushed Gill to the ground prior to the header. The goal was ruled out, leaving the score unchanged.

    This matchup marked only the second time these two nations have faced off at a men’s World Cup. Their only prior meeting came in the 2002 tournament’s round of 16, where Germany edged Paraguay 1-0 to advance. Monday’s clash was also a historic milestone for Germany: it marked the four-time world champions’ first knockout round match since their 2014 World Cup final win over Argentina in Brazil, where they lifted their fourth World Cup trophy with a 1-0 extra time victory.

  • ‘Football was always in our blood’: Canada midfielder’s journey to World Cup history

    ‘Football was always in our blood’: Canada midfielder’s journey to World Cup history

    The 2026 FIFA World Cup round of 16 dream for Canada was sealed by one magical moment on matchday: a perfectly placed finish from midfielder Stephen Eustáquio that proved to be the only goal in Canada’s tight round-of-32 clash with South Africa. The result marked the first time in Canadian men’s football history that the national side advanced to the tournament’s knockout stage, and the milestone is inextricably tied to the decades-long journey of the Eustáquio family, an immigrant story woven into the fabric of Canada’s thriving Portuguese-Canadian community.

    Watching the historic goal from his Toronto living room alongside Stephen’s older brother Mauro— a retired professional footballer and current head coach of local side Inter Toronto FC—Stephen’s cousin José Eustáquio could barely contain his emotion as he watched the play unfold. He broke down the strike in an interview, highlighting the precision and composure that turned a half-chance into a piece of Canadian sports history: “The chest control, the control of the ball, and a perfect shot into the corner. It couldn’t have been any better than that.”

    The Eustáquio family’s connection to football stretches across generations and the Atlantic Ocean. Like hundreds of thousands of Portuguese immigrants who moved to Canada in the late 20th century in search of greater economic opportunity, Stephen’s parents Esmeralda and Armando left their coastal hometown of Nazaré, Portugal, and settled in the small Ontario town of Leamington in 1997. Armando, a fisherman by trade, found work on Lake Erie, while Esmeralda took a job at a nearby fish processing plant. From the moment Stephen—who was born shortly after the family settled in Canada—and Mauro were young, the couple prioritized enrolling their sons in local youth football programs, nurturing a passion for the sport that ran in the family’s blood.

    José recalled the family’s long-held love for the game, remembering how generations of young relatives in Portugal would cobble together makeshift balls from old socks to play on cobblestone village streets when they had no equipment. As the two brothers began to show elite athletic promise, the family made the bold decision to move back to Portugal when Stephen was just seven years old, to give the pair access to top-tier youth training. Both went on to build impressive professional careers across clubs in Portugal and Canada, with Stephen rising through the ranks to play for Primeira Liga powerhouse FC Porto before joining Major League Soccer side Los Angeles FC earlier in 2026.

    Though Stephen was eligible to represent both Portugal and Canada at the international level, the 22-year-old made the decision in 2019 to pledge his allegiance to his parents’ adopted home. In his announcement at the time, he shared simply: “I have big dreams when it comes to playing for Canada.” José explained that the choice grew from the family’s deep gratitude for the opportunities Canada gave them. “At the core of the family has always been the love and affection for what Canada had provided them, an opportunity for a better life, and so he was always proud of that,” José said.

    This immigrant narrative is far from unique within Canada’s 2026 World Cup squad. The roster is a living reflection of the country’s cultural mosaic: it includes players born in Canada to immigrant parents, as well as athletes born in Nigeria, England, and the Ivory Coast. The team’s star, Alphonso Davies, was even born in a Ghanaian refugee camp before his family resettled in Canada. As policy analyst and columnist Aftab Ahmed wrote for Canadian publication The Line, “This group puts flesh and bone on the promise Canada has long projected to the world: families arriving, settling, working, struggling, raising children, and building excellence in communities across the country.”

    For immigrant communities across Canada, football has long served as a unique unifying force, especially in a country where ice hockey has historically dominated the national sports culture. Manuel DaCosta, a Portuguese-Canadian business owner who immigrated to Canada 56 years ago, noted that football gives immigrant communities a way to stay connected to their cultural roots while building bonds in their new home. “If you take away soccer and politics, the Portuguese don’t have much to talk about,” he joked. Beyond community connection, football is also far more accessible to working-class immigrant families than ice hockey, which requires costly equipment and training fees that put it out of reach for many new arrivals.

    That accessibility and community spirit inspired José to co-found Toronto’s Sporting FC academy back in 2011, the first official satellite academy of the famous Portuguese club located outside of Portugal. The academy offers both competitive and recreational youth football programs, rooted in José’s own childhood love of the game. “Canada has allowed us an opportunity to dream, and we dream through our children,” he said. He added that Stephen’s historic goal will be a transformative inspiration for young Portuguese-Canadian athletes across the country: “They’re going to wake up this morning wanting to be the next Stephen Eustáquio and have a dream like he did.”

    The historic moment comes amid unspoken grief for the Eustáquio family. Stephen lost his mother Esmeralda to brain cancer in April 2023, and his father Armando passed away a year later from a heart attack. The double loss has weighed heavily on Stephen and the entire family. After the final whistle, José observed the raw emotion on his cousin’s face as he walked around the pitch: “You could see when Stephen was walking around the field post game, and he was very emotional… we knew that he was having thoughts of his parents.”

    Sunday’s match remained locked in a scoreless deadlock deep into the second half, pushing Canada head coach Jesse Marsch to make a critical substitution: he brought star Alphonso Davies off the bench for the final 15 minutes, marking Davies’ first appearance of the tournament after recovering from a hamstring injury. Davies injected immediate energy and momentum into the Canadian attack, but it was Eustáquio who stepped up to write history.

    After the match, Marsch praised the midfielder’s perseverance and character, saying: “In a group of incredible human beings, maybe Steph is the most deserving to have a moment like that. Really happy for him, and I think from somewhere his parents are looking down, and they saw that.”

  • 45 minutes from Brazil ‘humiliation’ – but ‘Crafty Carlo’ does it again

    45 minutes from Brazil ‘humiliation’ – but ‘Crafty Carlo’ does it again

    When the first half whistle blew at the 2026 FIFA World Cup Round of 32 tie in Houston, Brazil’s squad walked back to the changing rooms under the shadow of potential national humiliation. One of the tournament’s most decorated sides, with five World Cup titles to their name, was staring down the barrel of an early exit – their swiftest elimination from football’s biggest global competition since 1966. Japan, the Asian underdogs, had held the five-time champions at bay, taken a surprise lead, and looked entirely comfortable defending their advantage. For Brazil, the stakes felt even heavier: the side had not pulled off a comeback win in a World Cup knockout fixture for 24 years, dating back to their 2002 semi-final against Turkey, making a Japanese upset look an increasingly plausible outcome.

    But to doubt Carlo Ancelotti, Brazil’s trailblazing first foreign head coach at a World Cup, is to ignore one of football’s most successful serial winners. With a record five UEFA Champions League trophies and domestic league titles across all five of Europe’s top competitions on his managerial resume, the 67-year-old Italian has built his legacy on keeping cool under the most intense pressure. When asked if he felt any anxiety heading into the half-time team talk, his response was unflinching: “No. Not really. I was confident in our team.”

    That unflappable calm, pundits agree, was the key to turning the tide on a night that could have ended in disaster. South American football expert Tim Vickery emphasized just how high the stakes were at the break, telling BBC Radio 5 Live: “I would like to impress on you the size of the humiliation that this Brazil side were facing at half-time. Brazil, for obvious reasons, they are traditionalist when it comes to their World Cup legacy. The idea of being knocked out not even in the quarter-final, but in the last 32 against a team from Asia, was unthinkable – even if Japan, as group runners-up, were the most dangerous possible opponent Brazil could have drawn as group winners.”

    With only one enforced change at the break – young prospect Endrick coming on for the injured Lucas Paqueta – Ancelotti chose stability over panic, a call that ultimately paid dividends. “Sometimes Ancelotti’s greatest ability is to do nothing,” Vickery noted. “He is an oasis of calm in all the chaos around him – and it has paid off again.”

    The same starting group of players took the pitch for the second half, but they delivered a completely transformed performance. Ditching the intricate short passing that had failed to break down Japan’s disciplined, well-organized backline in the first 45 minutes, the Brazilian side shifted to a far more direct approach, flooding the penalty area with crosses. Where they had managed just 12 crosses in the first half, they put 28 into the box in the second – an average of one cross every two minutes when including six minutes of stoppage time. Japan’s defense could not cope with the constant barrage of balls into dangerous areas, and it was from this approach that Brazil found their equalizer: a well-placed header from star midfielder Casemiro that leveled the scoreline.

    Pundits were quick to praise Ancelotti’s half-time adjustment. “Changes at half-time by Carlo Ancelotti made the difference,” former England full-back Stephen Warnock told BBC Radio 5 Live. “Japan couldn’t deal with their balls into the box.” Former Celtic striker Chris Sutton added: “It is about finding a way. All the experience Brazil have, and enough in the tank to knock an excellent Japanese team out of the World Cup.”

    For Ancelotti, the tactical shift was never about abandoning Brazil’s iconic attacking flair – just about doing what it takes to get the win. “The only acceptable outcome is victory. Is a brand of football enough? We can never be content with what we are doing,” he explained after the match. “Was it a step forward? This was the more complete game that we played. We had more trouble in the first half because Japan were coming in strongly. In the second half we overcame it. I believe this is an evolution for sure. We struggled to find space at first but we are able to solve this problem very well.”

    In the end, it came down to a moment of late drama that will be remembered for years. A stray mistake from Japan in the 95th minute was pounced on by Bruno Guimaraes, who played a calm through ball to Gabriel Martinelli – and the Arsenal winger made no mistake, slotting home a last-gasp winner to keep Brazil’s dream of a sixth World Cup title alive. Ancelotti reflected after the match: “We said before the World Cup, there is this aspect that football has its moments. There is no ‘not making mistakes’ because nobody is perfect, but you have to overcome them and push forward. That’s what the team did.”

    Now, Brazil advances to the Round of 16, where they will face the winner of the previous knockout tie between Ivory Coast and Norway. While the dramatic late win has injected much-needed momentum into the side, the overriding emotion at full time was unmistakeable relief. Former Brazil midfielder Lucas Leiva summed it up as “saving the nation,” while Vickery described the win as “climbing Everest the hard way.” For Ancelotti, though, there was never any panic. This is just how he wins: keeping his cool when all around him are losing theirs, and finding a way to get over the line. As Sutton put it: “They are on to something under Ancelotti. Crafty Carlo does it again. That is what he does.”

  • World Cup what to know: France, Norway, Mexico among teams in action as knockout rounds continue

    World Cup what to know: France, Norway, Mexico among teams in action as knockout rounds continue

    The knockout round of the men’s FIFA World Cup enters its second day of action on Tuesday, with three high-stakes elimination matchups spanning three North American venues, each packed with compelling pre-game narratives that have fans across the globe anticipating drama.

  • ‘Calmly resilient’: Injury-hit New Zealand guts out a rare test series win in England

    ‘Calmly resilient’: Injury-hit New Zealand guts out a rare test series win in England

    When the final test of New Zealand’s 2024 series against England kicked off at Nottingham’s Trent Bridge, few pundits gave the understaffed Kiwi side a chance. The Black Caps entered the series decider missing virtually all of their standout match-winners: top wicket-takers Matt Henry and Kyle Kyle Jamieson, first-innings century-maker Glenn Phillips, and franchise totem Kane Williamson – the team’s all-time leading run-scorer – who had pulled out of the clash while the camp was based in London. Adding to the pressure, New Zealand had not secured a test win on Trent Bridge soil in four decades, and had fallen to a humbling defeat against England just days earlier in the series. On the opposite side, England entered the match at full strength, retaining fast bowler Jofra Archer over Ollie Robinson – the star of England’s opening series victory at Lord’s – to lead their attack.

    Against all pre-match predictions, and despite even more injury setbacks unfolding during play, New Zealand walked away with a dominant 160-run win just after lunch on the fifth day, sealing a 2-1 series victory. This historic result marks only the fourth time New Zealand has claimed a test series win on English soil in 95 years of touring the country.

    The story of this win is one of relentless team resilience and depth, starting on the opening day amid a British heatwave. Long written off for their poor run of form leading into the match, opening pair Tom Latham and Devon Conway defied expectations to put on a 317-run opening stand that set the foundation for New Zealand’s total. Early in the match, enforced change Blair Tickner – one of the uncapped replacements brought in to cover the absentees – was forced out with concussion after being hit by a high bouncer, forcing 26-year-old allrounder Zac Foulkes into only his sixth test match. Foulkes stepped up immediately, claiming three key wickets on day three to help New Zealand secure an 84-run first-innings lead.

    A middle-order collapse that left New Zealand at 51-3 threatened to derail their progress, but 24-year-old rising star Rachin Ravindra steadied the innings, partnering with Daryl Mitchell to calm the dressing room and rebuild the total. Ravindra fell just six runs short of a century on the fourth morning, but Mitchell held firm, absorbing 13 blows to his body and gloves en route to his fourth career test century against England. The massive first-innings total left New Zealand with a 372-run lead heading into England’s second innings, putting the hosts under unrelenting pressure.

    More injury trouble hit New Zealand on the final morning: senior seamer Will O’Rourke, who had already been playing through a split fingertip, pulled his left hamstring and was forced to leave the field, leaving a second-string attack to finish the job with England on 133-6. The ragtag group of replacements – Nathan Smith, Foulkes, travelling reserve Ben Sears, and part-time spinner Mitchell Santner, backed up by wicketkeeper Tom Blundell’s sharp work behind the stumps – rose to the challenge, wrapping up England’s innings shortly after lunch to secure the win.

    The stunning result arrived alongside the sudden announcement of England captain Ben Stokes’ retirement from international test cricket, capping a dramatic final day of the series. Brendon McCullum, England’s head coach and former New Zealand captain, acknowledged the gulf in performance after the match, simply saying “We were outclassed.”

    This win extends New Zealand’s outstanding recent away form: the Black Caps have now claimed eight wins from their last nine test matches played outside of New Zealand. Latham, New Zealand’s stand-in captain for the series, made history as the first skipper in the 21st century to lead test series wins in both India and England in the same cycle.

    “Probably the most pleasing thing — different guys who have put their hands up at different times,” Latham told reporters after the win. Nathan Smith, who entered the series as the fourth-choice seamer in the Kiwi squad, finished the match with six wickets and ended the tournament as the series’ leading wicket-taker with 16, earning him player of the series honors. Daryl Mitchell, whose unbeaten century and five catches anchored New Zealand’s second innings, was named player of the match.

    “To come here and do it in a style that’s true to us as Black Caps and as Kiwis is something we’re really proud of. It’s going to be a cool one to reflect on,” Mitchell said. “We’re a small country down the bottom of the Earth and it’s something that I guess we pride ourselves on is that we just get stuck into whatever’s needed to be done and try and get the job done. Sometimes it’s been pretty and sometimes it’s getting dirty and doing the little things really well.”

    Former New Zealand captain Jeremy Coney, who led the first Kiwi side to win an English test series back in 1986, praised the current side’s unique team culture. “(This is a) different side than we had. But calmly resilient,” Coney told the BBC. “They play for each other. They care about each other. They’ve grown up together. If someone doesn’t have a good day, someone else fills the gap.”

  • Coach Didier Deschamps back with France at World Cup after flying to Europe for his mother’s funeral

    Coach Didier Deschamps back with France at World Cup after flying to Europe for his mother’s funeral

    Less than a week after stepping away from the French national men’s soccer team to attend his mother’s funeral, head coach Didier Deschamps has returned to the squad’s base in East Rutherford, New Jersey, ready to lead Les Bleus into their critical World Cup round of 32 matchup against Sweden on Tuesday.

    The devastating news of Deschamps’ mother’s passing reached the coach just one day after France secured a 2026 Men’s World Cup group stage win over Iraq on June 22, a result that locked in the team’s spot in the knockout round. With Deschamps traveling back to Europe for the funeral service, assistant coach Guy Stéphan stepped in to lead the squad against Norway on Friday, and the team delivered an impressive 4-1 victory to cap off a clean group stage sweep.

    Speaking to reporters Monday through a translator, just hours after touching back down in the United States the previous evening, Deschamps confirmed he was ready to rejoin the team’s preparations. “I’m here. I’m good, and it’s good to be busy,” he said, acknowledging the profound difficulty of the past week. “For me it was very difficult. And for me and for the French national team it was important that I left. They did what they had to do. And now we’re preparing a competition within the competition.”

    France’s undefeated run through the group stage marks the first time the nation has won all three of its group matches at a World Cup since 1998, the year Deschamps lifted the trophy as team captain. France joins Argentina and Mexico as the only three nations to claim three consecutive group stage wins at this year’s tournament. If Deschamps’ side gets past Sweden, they will advance to the round of 16 to face the winner of the Germany vs. Paraguay match. The team is still in the running for its third World Cup title, following 1998 and 2018.

    One of the team’s star midfielders, Adrien Rabiot, shared that Deschamps’ sudden departure came as a surprise to the squad, but the group pulled together to deliver a result in his absence. “It was somewhat of a shock. He completely trusted in us and we delivered the best way possible. We’re happy that he’s back,” Rabiot said through a translator. “I don’t think that it’s so easy to have to grieve in these conditions. This is football and now we have the World Cup and it is the way it is.” Rabiot added that Deschamps has returned focused on the tournament, working hard to keep his private grief from affecting the squad: “Didier came back with the willpower to go as far as possible in this World Cup. It is something that, of course, will also help him to forget a little bit about these tragic events. He smiled a lot. He tried to be enthusiastic, although I know that he’s very affected by his grief. I think he’s trying not to show it, not to transmit any negative to the squad.”

    Deschamps is one of the most decorated coaches in French soccer history, having led the national team to a World Cup title in 2018 and a runner-up finish at the 2022 tournament, where the side fell to Argentina in a penalty shootout. Appointed head coach in 2012, Deschamps announced earlier this year that he will retire from his post this summer. A win in this year’s tournament would make him just the second men’s coach in history to claim two World Cup titles, following Italy’s Vittorio Pozzo who won back-to-back trophies in 1934 and 1938.

    The French soccer federation’s request to allow the squad to wear black armbands during the match against Norway to honor Deschamps’ mother was denied by FIFA. When asked about the decision, Deschamps downplayed its impact. “It doesn’t change a lot for me, to be very honest with you. I didn’t need that to have an additional sign. I already had enough signs as it was, whether it was directly or indirectly,” he said. FIFA has not yet issued a public comment on the denial.

    Heading into Tuesday’s matchup, Deschamps confirmed that the squad will be without starting striker Marcus Thuram, who picked up a minor calf injury that will keep him sidelined for the round of 32. Thuram, the son of 1998 World Cup champion Lilian Thuram, has only made one appearance so far in this tournament, coming on as a late injury time substitute against Iraq. Star midfielder N’Golo Kanté is also listed as questionable for the starting lineup, Deschamps confirmed, noting that the issue is not muscular but may still keep him out of the first 11. Veteran defender William Saliba, who played the full 90 minutes in the first two group stage matches before resting against Norway, is dealing with a recurring back issue but is expected to be available. “He’s not at 100%, but if he’s at 99% it’s good for the matches. Everything is good,” Deschamps said.

    Tuesday’s matchup marks the first time France and Sweden have ever faced off at a men’s World Cup. France heads into the game with the best goal difference of any team in the tournament so far, at plus-8, with 10 goals scored and just 2 conceded across the group stage. Still, Deschamps said there is room for improvement ahead of the knockout round: “We could have scored more. We did concede two goals, but we did concede too many goal-scoring opportunities.”

  • ‘I’m done’: Ben Stokes has no regrets about England retirement call

    ‘I’m done’: Ben Stokes has no regrets about England retirement call

    One of the most influential figures in modern English cricket has closed the book on his 15-year international career, and Ben Stokes says he leaves with zero regrets. In an announcement that sent shockwaves through the global cricket community on Sunday, the 32-year-old all-rounder revealed his retirement from all international cricket mid-way through the third Test against New Zealand at Trent Bridge in Nottingham.

    Stokes’ final appearance in an England uniform came on Monday, as New Zealand sealed a 160-run victory to claim the series 2-1. The retiring star watched the closing hours of the match from the balcony of England’s dressing room, wrapping up an iconic tenure that redefined Test cricket under the “Bazball” revolution.

    A day after his bombshell announcement, the BBC asked Stokes how he would feel watching England’s upcoming 2025 home Ashes series against Australia from the comfort of his sofa. “I am incredibly content with everything right now,” Stokes responded. “It’s a decision that you don’t take lightly. It has taken a lot of time. I’ve spoken to a lot of people close to me. I’m done, mate, and I’m very happy.”

    The retirement caps a turbulent few weeks for Stokes, who captained England to an opening Test win at Lord’s before a controversial post-victory night out. The incident, which saw Stokes present at a nightclub where an England security staff member was allegedly assaulted by a Saracens rugby player, led to his suspension from the second Test for breaching team contractual rules. After an internal investigation concluded, he was reinstated to the side for the third Test.

    Stokes described the sequence of recent events as “unfortunate” and “interesting”, acknowledging that they “maybe” contributed to his final call to step away. But he emphasized that long-term physical and mental toll from 15 years at the top of the sport was the core driving factor behind his retirement. “Over the last 6-12 months I think everything that I’ve done over a long period of time has taken its toll,” he explained. “Being in this role as captain — as good as it is, as exciting as it is, how big an honor it is — there’s some negative effects to doing it. I guess that’s the unfortunate side that people don’t always get to see.”

    Reflecting on the controversy that marked his final match, Stokes joked that the off-field drama fit the narrative of his entire career. “I can probably look back on the week and have a bit of a laugh that there was a bit of controversy around my last game for England, but I guess you could relate that to me as a player throughout,” he said. “I’m a little bit hit and miss sometimes, here and there, and obviously something pretty simple ended up being a bit complicated.”

    Over his 15-year international tenure, Stokes cemented his legacy as one of England’s greatest ever match-winners. He played central roles in England’s historic 2019 50-over World Cup victory and 2022 T20 World Cup title, and took over Test captaincy in 2022 to launch the aggressive, win-at-all-costs “Bazball” approach that upended decades of conventional Test cricket strategy. Off the field, Stokes has long been open about his struggles with mental health, and previously made headlines after being acquitted of affray charges following a 2018 late-night street brawl in Bristol.

    Stokes’ sudden departure has thrown the future of England’s existing cricket leadership structure into question. Head coach Brendon McCullum, who partnered with Stokes to build the Bazball project, has confirmed he still intends to stay in his role, which now covers both Test and white-ball teams. McCullum, who said he tried to persuade Stokes to reverse his retirement decision, reaffirmed his long-term commitment to English cricket. “My commitment to English cricket has never wavered,” he said. “I firmly believe in the direction that we can get this team to take.”

    The New Zealand series was meant to serve as a reset for England after a lopsided 4-1 Ashes defeat in Australia, where questions were already raised about player professionalism and a problematic team drinking culture. Critics argue the recent nightclub incident involving Stokes shows no corrective action has been taken, and poor recent results — seven losses in nine Tests — point to a team in steady decline. Former England captain Michael Vaughan has said he would be shocked if the current leadership group remains in place. “There must be change,” Vaughan told the BBC, “after what we’ve seen here in terms of a cricketing sense now over a period of time.”

  • Kerr joins NWSL side Gotham FC

    Kerr joins NWSL side Gotham FC

    One of women’s football’s most decorated forwards, Australian striker Sam Kerr, has finalized a four-year contract with NJ/NY Gotham FC, bringing her legendary career back to the U.S. National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) following a trophy-laden five-and-a-half-year stint with England’s Chelsea. The 32-year-old, who departed Chelsea this summer as her contract expired, first announced her exit from the Women’s Super League (WSL) side back in May.

    Kerr leaves Chelsea as one of the most influential players in the club’s women’s history, sitting alongside Fran Kirby as the club’s all-time top WSL scorer. Across 158 appearances in all competitions for the Blues, she found the back of the net 116 times, including a fitting match-winning goal in her final home game against Manchester United before her exit. During her tenure starting in January 2020, Kerr helped Chelsea lift an extraordinary 11 major trophies: five WSL titles, three FA Cups, three League Cups, and one Community Shield. When she first joined Chelsea from the Chicago Red Stars, the transfer was widely hailed as the biggest incoming move in WSL history at that time, and she quickly lived up to the superstar billing, emerging as a cornerstone of former manager Emma Hayes’ title-winning squads.

    Her legendary status extends far beyond the WSL. Kerr still holds the record as the NWSL’s all-time leading top scorer years after leaving the U.S. for England. She claimed the NWSL Golden Boot three consecutive seasons, notching an 18-goal campaign that stood as the league’s single-season record until Temwa Chawinga broke it with 21 goals in 2024. She also previously held the Australian W-League all-time scoring record, and remains third on that league’s goal tally list to this day. In 2023, at the peak of her form, Kerr scored 29 goals in 38 appearances to lead Chelsea to a WSL and FA Cup double, earning her a second-place finish in that year’s Ballon d’Or Feminin voting.

    Her time at Chelsea hit an unexpected setback in January 2024, when she suffered a season-derailing anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury. The recovery process stretched more than 18 months, and she only regained full match fitness in the second half of the 2025-26 season, long after Chelsea’s title challenge had faded. Off the pitch, Kerr has marked several major life milestones during her recovery: she married former West Ham United and U.S. international midfielder Kristie Mewis, and the couple welcomed their first son in May 2025.

    For Kerr, the move to Gotham FC marks a homecoming. She previously played for the club between 2015 and 2017, when the side competed under its old name, Sky Blue FC. “I’m incredibly excited to return to Gotham FC and to this city,” the striker said in a statement confirming the transfer. “This club was an important part of my journey, and to come back at this moment, with everything Gotham has built, is really special. The ambition here is clear, and I’m looking forward to helping this team compete for trophies and create more history.”

  • Africa’s World Cup success leaves Asia looking for answers

    Africa’s World Cup success leaves Asia looking for answers

    The 2026 FIFA World Cup has delivered one of the most dramatic shifts in global football dynamics in recent memory, as African nations have mounted a historic breakout performance that vindicates the controversial tournament expansion pushed by FIFA President Gianni Infantino — a stark contrast to a underwhelming showing from Asian sides that has sparked crisis across the confederation.

    Just eight years ago at the 2018 Russia World Cup, African football hit a historic low point. None of the continent’s five competing nations advanced past the group stage, scraping together only three wins from a possible 15 matches. At the time, critics argued that Infantino’s plan to expand the World Cup from 32 to 48 teams, which allocated an additional four spots for African sides, lacked justification after the confederation’s underperformance. Critics questioned whether adding more African teams would simply dilute the quality of the tournament.

    Eight years on, those doubts have been completely erased. Of the 10 African teams that qualified for the 2026 tournament, nine have advanced to the expanded 32-team knockout round. Only Tunisia failed to progress, with Cape Verde, Egypt, Ivory Coast, Morocco and South Africa finishing second in their groups, while Algeria, DR Congo, Ghana and Senegal claimed third-place spots to punch their tickets to the knockout stage. To put this achievement in context, before the 2022 Qatar World Cup, only three African nations had ever reached the World Cup quarter-finals: Cameroon in 1990, Senegal in 2002 and Ghana in 2010. Four years ago, Morocco made history by becoming the first African side to reach the semi-finals, beating powerhouse sides Belgium, Spain and Portugal along the way.

    Confederation of African Football (Caf) president Patrice Motsepe attributes this turnaround to years of deliberate investment across the continent. “This progress is the result of hard work and targeted investments in youth football development, coaching education and the growth of professional domestic leagues,” he noted. Former Nigeria captain William Troost-Ekong added that Morocco’s success created a replicable blueprint for other African nations. “Morocco spent years and years investing in grassroots football and elite academies. They put in not just money, but time and effort, with a clear long-term vision for progress. The quality of their facilities and consistent development across all age groups is the model every country should follow,” Troost-Ekong told BBC Sport Africa.

    While the expanded 48-team format, which allows third-place group finishers to advance to the knockout round, created additional opportunities for African sides, it cannot fully explain the gap between African and Asian performance. The expanded structure spreads traditional powerhouse nations across 12 groups, with only four groups hosting two top-ranked sides, meaning most groups were more competitive than critics initially predicted. Even with this context, the difference in results is stark: only two of Asia’s nine qualifying nations advanced to the knockout round, a major regression from 2022, when three Asian teams reached the knockout stage.

    Across the group stage, African nations earned 1.33 points per game with 10 wins from 30 matches, while Asian sides managed just 0.67 points per game with only three wins from 27 matches. In five critical final group matches that pitted African against Asian teams for knockout qualification, Asian sides failed to win a single game, dropping four. The outcome has already triggered major fallout across Asian football. South Korea, a consistent World Cup qualifier, crashed out after a shock final-group defeat to South Africa, prompting South Korean President Lee Jae Myung to call for a full investigation into what he called “a failure of organisation and personnel” within the national team program. Within hours of elimination, head coach Hong Myung-bo stepped down. Rookie World Cup qualifier Jordan also lost all three of its group matches, and head coach Jamal Sellami pointed to a key structural gap explaining the performance difference between African and Asian sides: access to top-tier European club football.

    Statistics bear out this observation: 20 of Morocco’s 26-man 2026 World Cup squad play in Europe, 15 of them in the continent’s top five leagues. DR Congo has 24 of its 26 players based in Europe, while even Egypt, the country with the lowest share of European-based players among African qualifiers, has six players competing on the continent. Compare that to Asian sides: Jordan has only one player from its squad competing in Europe, while Iraq and Uzbekistan have three each, and Iran have four. Even Japan, Asia’s most successful representative this tournament, has 23 European-based players, matching the depth of top African sides, while Australia has 16 and South Korea 15, demonstrating that the most competitive Asian nations do share a similar development path with top African sides — but most of the confederation has not kept pace.

    Now, as the knockout round gets underway, African sides have a historic chance to build on their group stage success. DR Congo, thanks to two goals from Yoane Wissa, will face England in Atlanta on Wednesday, while Algeria, which claimed one of the best third-place spots, will face Switzerland in Vancouver on Thursday. South Africa became the first African knockout side to be eliminated, falling to a late winner from co-host Canada on Sunday, who will next face the winner of Morocco’s clash with the Netherlands. Morocco, currently ranked sixth in the FIFA global rankings — one spot above the Netherlands — enters the match as the slight favourite, a far cry from a decade ago, when the North African side would have been written off as heavy underdogs. A potential quarter-final clash against defending World Cup champions France awaits Morocco if they advance, setting up a rematch of their 2022 semi-final encounter. Defending champions Argentina, who face Cape Verde on Friday, are in a section of the knockout bracket that includes four African nations, setting up the possibility of an all-African last-16 tie between Algeria and Ghana.