分类： sports

As the 2026 FIFA World Cup group stage progresses, French football superstar Kylian Mbappé has already etched his name into the tournament’s record books before even hitting the pitch for his second group stage fixture against Iraq in Group I. The 27-year-old Real Madrid striker, who claimed the 2022 World Cup Golden Boot after a legendary final performance against Argentina, delivered a masterclass in France’s opening 3-1 win over Senegal, notching two goals that pushed him past multiple football icons.

Mbappé’s opening strike against Senegal pushed his total of international goals to 58, overtaking former French teammate Olivier Giroud to secure the all-time top goal-scoring spot for France’s senior men’s national team. A second strike minutes later moved Mbappé’s career World Cup goal tally to 14, breaking a tie with Brazilian legend Pelé on the tournament’s all-time scoring list and drawing him level with Germany’s Gerd Müller for fourth place on the ranking. Currently, Mbappé sits just one goal behind Brazil’s Ronaldo (15 World Cup goals) and two goals away from the shared all-time record of 16, held by Germany’s Miroslav Klose and Argentina’s Lionel Messi.

Monday’s match against Iraq will carry even more historic weight for Mbappé: the fixture marks his 100th senior cap for France, capping a glittering international career that includes a 2018 World Cup title and a 2022 World Cup runner-up finish, where he earned the Silver Ball as the tournament’s second-best player. If France advances deep into this year’s tournament, Mbappé is on track to surpass former France manager and player Didier Deschamps’ 103 career caps, and could eventually overtake goalkeeper Hugo Lloris’ all-time record of 145 appearances for Les Bleus if he continues his international career.

Facing the unenviable task of slowing down a player who is arguably the world’s most in-form striker, Iraq head coach Graham Arnold joked ahead of Monday’s fixture that he had attempted to bend the rules to stop Mbappé. “I asked if we could play three goalkeepers,” Arnold told reporters with a laugh on Sunday. “But they said no.”

While Arnold has yet to name his starting goalkeeper for the clash, following captain Jalal Hassan conceded four goals in Iraq’s 4-1 opening loss to Norway, the Iraqi manager emphasized his team is focused on controlling their own performance rather than worrying about stopping one of the game’s greatest talents. “We can’t control France’s performance, but we can control our own,” Arnold said. “And we’re making sure that the players are completely ready to go out there and show the world what they’re about.”

Iraq earned unexpected praise off the pitch after their opening match in Massachusetts, with the team cleaning up all trash and tidying their Gillette Stadium locker room after the defeat, leaving a heartfelt note for hosts that read “Thank you, Boston.” Arnold praised the gesture as a show of class and leadership from his squad, saying “They made the mess, so then they cleaned it up. Out of respect for who we are and where we are. It was great leadership.”

When pressed by reporters at a packed press conference hosted in the locker room of the NFL’s Philadelphia Eagles about whether he could cement his legacy as the greatest World Cup player of all time, Mbappé deflected the hype, keeping his focus firmly on the upcoming match and France’s pursuit of a third World Cup title. “It’s debate for the people,” Mbappé said in English. “It’s debate for the journalists, debate for the fans of football. I think it’s good to debate about players. See who’s the best. For me, it’s not a question in my head. It’s just about how can I help my team tomorrow against Iraq and can I bring the trophy home in July.”

Mbappé did acknowledge the historic weight of his 100th cap, saying “It’s always a pleasure to be able to play on the national team. There’s nothing bigger than the national team. One hundred, that’s historic. All the more when it’s the World Cup.”

The striker also touched on off-field questions, praising Messi as the current best player in world football and leaving the door open to a potential future move to Major League Soccer, after Inter Miami co-owner David Beckham reportedly reached out to recruit him. “There are no limits to ambitions, I like it” Mbappé said of American football culture, adding only that a future transfer stateside would be a “we’ll see” proposition far down the line.

Entering this year’s tournament, France are co-favorites to lift the trophy alongside Spain, with a dynamic attacking front line featuring Mbappé, rising star Désiré Doué and 2023 Ballon d’Or winner Ousmane Dembélé. Les Bleus, who won the World Cup in 1998 and 2018, fell to Argentina on penalties in the 2022 final, and will be eager to claim their third title this year.

ATLANTA – The weight of a lopsided defeat hung heavy over Saudi Arabia’s national men’s football team early in the second half of their 2024 World Cup group stage match against Spain, as striker Saleh Al-Shehri sat hunched on the substitutes’ bench, head buried in his hands, after La Roja stretched their advantage to four unanswered goals.

Coming into the fixture at Atlanta’s stadium, the Green Falcons were universally ranked as heavy underdogs against the reigning European champions, yet faint hopes of a shocking upset lingered among fans and players alike. Just two years prior at the 2022 Qatar World Cup, Saudi Arabia pulled off one of the biggest upsets in tournament history when they defeated eventual champions Argentina, and just six days before this clash with Spain, debutant side Cape Verd had held the Spanish to a goalless draw on the very same pitch.

But Sunday’s encounter was nowhere near the close contest many had speculated. Spain controlled possession and tempo from the opening kickoff, outshooting Saudi Arabia by a staggering 22 to three en route to a comprehensive 4-0 victory.

While the lopsided loss does not eliminate Saudi Arabia from knockout stage contention, a victory in their upcoming final group fixture against Cape Verde this Friday remains the only path for the side to advance. Even so, the defeat carries heavy psychological and symbolic weight for a kingdom that has poured billions of dollars into elite football over the past decade, as part of a broader push to legitimize its growing domestic top flight and build a competitive national squad ahead of its turn hosting the 2034 FIFA World Cup.

Nearly every player on Saudi Arabia’s current national roster competes domestically in the Saudi Pro League, a competition that has attracted high-profile aging global superstars including Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Sadio Mané in recent big-money transfers. While the Saudi government and football federation have begun scaling back extravagant spending on marquee international signings, Green Falcons head coach Georgios Donis insists the presence of these veteran talents has lifted the overall competitive standard of the league and accelerated the development of domestic players. Still, he acknowledged that turning those domestic improvements into tangible results on the global stage remains an ongoing, unmet challenge.

“The more competitive the competition, the better our players will be,” Donis told reporters after the match.

Despite the multi-billion dollar investment, one persistent challenge facing the national program is securing consistent first-team minutes for homegrown Saudi talent at the club level. Even starting national team goalkeeper Mohammed Al-Owais moved to a second-tier Saudi club last year solely to guarantee himself more regular playing time.

Instability at the highest coaching level has also created additional disruption: the national team has cycled through three different head coaches over the past two years, with Donis appointed to the role less than two months before the squad kicked off their 2024 World Cup campaign.

The tournament started on a far more promising note for Saudi Arabia, which earned a hard-fought 1-1 draw with Uruguay after holding a lead until the 80th minute last week. Against Spain, however, the side never managed to mount a consistent attacking threat, conceding three goals within the opening 25 minutes of play. Donis framed the result as an off day against elite opposition, calling the outcome a “bad result” against “one of the best teams in the tournament.”

Spanish head coach Luis de la Fuente praised Saudi Arabia’s cohesive attacking combinations in his post-match comments, but added that his side’s quality ultimately proved too much for the Green Falcons to handle, calling his team “very powerful” on the day.

Looking forward to the must-win matchup with Cape Verde, Donis expressed confidence that his squad could bounce back from the demoralizing loss and rediscover their competitive form. “We will come back to the level … where we’ll be very competitive,” he said.

ATLANTA — Just six days after one of the most humbling opening-match performances in modern World Cup history, Spanish forward Mikel Oyarzabal delivered a career-defining turnaround at Atlanta Stadium on Sunday, etching his name into the tournament’s record books while powering La Roja to a lopsided 4-0 victory over Saudi Arabia.

Oyarzabal’s World Cup introduction just one prior Monday had drawn widespread criticism: he became the first player in more than half a century, since 1966, to register zero touches on the ball across the opening 30 minutes of a World Cup group stage fixture. But the 29-year-old left that disappointing showing firmly in the rearview mirror, producing a breathtaking first-half display that saw him register two goals and one assist — making him only the second player in World Cup history to contribute to three goals in the opening 25 minutes of a match. No player has achieved that rare feat since Hungary’s László Fazekas pulled it off more than four decades ago in 1982.

Spain’s head coach Luis De La Fuente heaped glowing praise on his forward’s redemptive performance after the final whistle, emphasizing Oyarzabal’s irreplaceable influence on the national squad. “The impact Mikel has on the team is massive, probably bigger than any other player could have in the world,” De La Fuente said. “I’m convinced that he’s a footballer that can really make history in Spanish football. His numbers are crazy, so I do celebrate his performance, and hopefully, we will be able to value him properly.”

Oyarzabal set the tone for Spain’s dominant run early, playing a pinpoint deep cross to 18-year-old breakout star Lamine Yamal that handed La Roja a 10th-minute opening goal. He followed that game-setting assist with back-to-back strikes just three minutes apart, finding the back of the net in the 21st and 24th minutes to push Spain to a 3-0 lead going into halftime. By the time he was subbed off at the break, Oyarzabal had notched five total shots, three of which were on target, in just 45 minutes of play.

For a player whose 2026 World Cup run had already been defined by sharp highs and crushing lows, Oyarzabal said he remains unphased by both the criticism of his debut and the acclaim for his historic rebound. “In the end, it’s an anecdote,” Oyarzabal told reporters after the match. “I don’t give any importance to it. It is what it is. I’m happy to have scored, to have helped the team. One way or another, I’m always trying to do what’s best for the team.”

While the Eibar-born forward downplayed his new record-book distinction, he acknowledged that bouncing back from his underwhelming debut was a top priority for both him and the entire Spanish squad. “When you don’t do things well, when things don’t go your way, you criticize yourself, you look internally to try to improve. We knew we could do much better than the other day,” he explained. “We were looking forward to turning it around. It was very important to start with the right foot, and that’s what happened.”

AP Sports Writers James Robson and Tales Azzoni contributed reporting to this article.

ATLANTA — After an underwhelming opening draw left European champions Spain under intense pressure at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, 18-year-old phenom Lamine Yamal delivered exactly the statement performance the side needed, kickstarting their tournament campaign with a dominant 4-0 victory over Saudi Arabia on Sunday. Yamal, the Barcelona winger widely tipped to become soccer’s next global superstar, etched his name into World Cup history just 10 minutes into his first ever start on the sport’s biggest international stage.

Yamal rose to the occasion after Spain was held to a shock 0-0 draw by Cape Verde in their tournament opener, a result that left fans and analysts questioning La Roja’s readiness after years of underperformance at the World Cup. The teenage forward slid onto a low cross from Mikel Oyarzabal at the far post to tap home the opening goal, making him the eighth-youngest goalscorer in the 96-year history of the men’s World Cup. Before finding the back of the net, he had already carved through Saudi Arabia’s defense multiple times, announcing his threat early in the contest.

The result comes amid months of speculation around Yamal’s fitness: a hamstring injury forced him to miss the closing weeks of his club season with Barcelona, leaving doubt over how quickly he would be ready to lead Spain’s World Cup push. He only featured as a second-half substitute against Cape Verde, but coach Luis de la Fuente opted to name him in the starting XI against Saudi Arabia — a call that paid off instantly.

For Yamal, the moment was the fulfillment of a lifelong dream. “I’ve always dreamed of being at a World Cup, and being able to score in my first match as a starter is a dream,” he told reporters after the match. “I watched the last World Cup from a classroom so being able to score here with my mum and my family in the stands is a dream come true.” The crowd of predominantly Spain supporters at Atlanta’s packed stadium erupted when Yamal took the pitch for pre-game warmups, and their cheers reached a fever pitch as he celebrated his historic goal: sliding to his knees, offering a prayer, and kissing the playing turf.

Yamal’s opening goal unlocked a flood of first-half goals for Spain, which entered the tournament as one of the pre-tournament favorites. Oyarzabal, who faced heavy criticism after failing to touch the ball in the opening 30 minutes of the Cape Verde draw, bounced back in stunning fashion: he not only set up Yamal’s opener, but netted two more goals of his own with close-range finishes in the 21st and 24th minutes, putting Spain up 3-0 before halftime.

With the contest all but decided, de la Fuente pulled both Yamal and Oyarzabal off at the break to rest his key players for upcoming matches. Spain extended their lead four minutes into the second half, when Marc Cucurella’s shot bounced off Saudi defender Hassan Altambakti for an own goal that sealed the 4-0 rout.

Spain entered this World Cup looking to end a disappointing decades-long drought at the tournament: since lifting the World Cup trophy in 2010, La Roja have failed to advance past the round of 16 in every edition, winning just three matches across that stretch. Sunday’s dominant win has reignited hopes that this year could be different, with Yamal emerging as the breakout star of the tournament so far, joining global superstars Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe, Erling Haaland and Harry Kane in getting off to a flying start in this year’s competition. “The first game wasn’t really us, it was different, but now we’ve arrived and we’re going for more,” Yamal said.

MIAMI GARDENS, Florida — As the world prepares to celebrate Father’s Day this Sunday, one of the most heartwarming underdog stories of the 2024 FIFA World Cup has taken an even more uplifting turn: Cape Verde goalkeeper Vozinha will have his mother watching him from the stands when his Blue Sharks side faces Uruguay in their second Group Stage matchup.

Josimar José Évora Dias, known professionally by his nickname Vozinha, became a global sensation after Cape Verde pulled off one of the most stunning results in recent World Cup history: a scoreless draw against pre-tournament favorite Spain in their opening fixture. But the 40-year-old goalkeeper’s viral post-match moment carried a bittersweet edge: he teared up sharing that his mother Ana Candida Evora had been unable to join him for the match after being denied a U.S. travel visa, largely due to financial barriers covering the application costs. He also shared a touching tribute to his late grandparents, saying he wished they had lived to see him play on the world’s biggest soccer stage.

That emotional interview sparked an unprecedented collective effort to reunite mother and son. Officials from the U.S. State Department, FIFA, members of the U.S. Congress, and the Cape Verde Football Federation joined forces to cut through bureaucratic red tape and resolve Evora’s visa and funding issues. After more than 24 hours of nonstop travel from the small West African island nation, Evora landed in Miami on Friday afternoon, where she was greeted by a waiting group of FIFA staff and volunteers. Over the weekend, FIFA hosted her at the organization’s Florida tournament headquarters before she settled in to watch Sunday’s match.

The viral moment has already transformed Vozinha’s profile and turned the tiny Cape Verde side into global fan favorites. When the World Cup kicked off, Vozinha had roughly 50,000 followers on Instagram. By Sunday morning, that number had skyrocketed to nearly 15 million, as fans from across the world latched onto the team’s underdog narrative and the heartfelt story of Vozinha and his mother.

In a video message distributed by FIFA on Sunday, Evora expressed her gratitude for the outpouring of support that got her to Miami. “I want to thank all the fans, everyone who helped in the process, for the support you gave to the team, especially to Cabo Verde,” she said. “We’re all rooting for Cabo Verde to play well, to shine on the pitch. The players need to have faith and everything will go well. Keep your heads held high, go onto that pitch, push for a goal and you’ll perform beautifully, my boys. A kiss for you, be strong and brave. Blue Sharks!” The team’s nickname, Tubarões Azuis, translates directly to Blue Sharks in English.

While the off-pitch excitement and new global attention have been overwhelming, Cape Verde forward Garry Rodrigues said the squad is staying focused on their next challenge against Uruguay. “It’s been intense,” Rodrigues acknowledged. “But as we are professionals, the game against Spain is now in the past. … We’re still human. Seeing everything on the internet has been very intense. But we cannot use that as an excuse. We know our targets. We know our goals.”

One of Ireland’s most prominent annual motorsport events has been brought to a tragic early end after a 15-year-old spectator was killed when struck by a competing rally vehicle on Saturday, with two other attendees injured in the incident. The victim, identified by An Garda Síochána, Ireland’s national police service, as Tadhg Callaghan Carter, lost his life in the collision that unfolded shortly before 5 p.m. local time in the Trentagh area near Kilmacrennan, County Donegal.

Emergency responders rushed the teenager to Letterkenny University Hospital, where medical teams later confirmed he had died from his injuries. Two additional spectators who were hurt in the same incident were also transported to the same medical facility for treatment. Their injuries have been classified as non-life-threatening, and they are reported to be in stable condition as of the latest updates.

In the wake of the tragedy, rally organizers made the immediate decision to halt the ongoing event and scrap all remaining stages of the three-day gathering as a public mark of respect for the deceased teenager. Both Motorsport Ireland, the governing body for motorsport in the country, and the Donegal Motor Club, the primary organizer of the international rally, released official statements extending their deepest condolences to Callaghan Carter’s family and loved ones. They also issued a public request that the family be granted privacy to grieve in the coming days.

Irish police have launched a formal investigation into the circumstances that led to the fatal collision, and are actively asking members of the public who were at the location of the incident — marked as Location 15 on Special Stage 12 Gartan — to come forward with information. Investigators are particularly eager to obtain any mobile phone recordings or dashcam footage captured in the area at the time of the event, which could help clarify the sequence of events leading to the tragedy.

This death marks the latest in a string of fatal incidents stretching back decades at the Donegal International Rally, which is widely regarded as one of the largest and most prestigious motorsport competitions on the island of Ireland. The last fatality connected to the event occurred in 2019, when three-time rally champion Manus Kelly died behind the wheel during a competitive stage. Prior to that, an 18-year-old spectator was killed in 2008 when another competing car veered off the track, leading to the cancelation of that year’s remaining rally stages. In 1992, two event marshals died in a separate incident at the rally.

Across all events sanctioned by Motorsport Ireland, this is the first spectator fatality recorded since the 2012 Cavan Stages rally, where two attendees lost their lives in an on-course incident.