分类： sports

For British wildcard Arthur Fery, the dream run at this year’s Wimbledon has come to a close, but the 24-year-old (who celebrates his birthday in just two days) leaves the All England Club with his head held high, a massive career breakthrough, and no regrets about skipping a Greek vacation with friends to chase glory on home soil.

Coming into the Championships ranked world No. 114, with never a Grand Slam third-round appearance to his name, Fery defied every pre-tournament prediction to march all the way to the men’s singles semi-finals, becoming the first men’s wildcard to reach this stage of Wimbledon since legendary champion Goran Ivanisevic’s iconic title run in 2001. His run captivated the British crowd after a brutal opening week that saw 15 of his fellow British players crash out in the first round, leaving Fery to carry the home nation’s singles hopes far further than any pundit had dared to imagine.

Fery’s path to the semi-final was nothing short of dramatic. The French-born Brit, who grew up just a short walk from the Wimbledon grounds, clawed back from a set down to win his first three matches, stunned former world No. 3 Grigor Dimitrov in a marathon five-set thriller on his Centre Court debut, and blew past French Open runner-up and ninth seed Flavio Cobolli in the quarter-finals to cement his place in tournament history. His relentless never-say-die attitude and unshakable self-belief won over fans across the grounds, from Centre Court to the crowds packed on Henman Hill.

Looking back on the choice that changed his career trajectory, Fery laughed off the near-miss of his planned holiday: “I was meant to be going to Greece with some friends. One of my friends went ahead early, hoping I would lose so I could join him. He ended up coming back two days later to cheer me on. I’m so glad I stuck with this tournament and kept fighting.” It would have been easy to fold in his third-round clash against Zizou Bergs, when Bergs claimed two breaks in the fourth set, but Fery refused to let the moment slip. “I just kept fighting, came back to the court every time and gave my best. I was mentally locked in the whole way,” he said.

That mental grit ran out just one step short of the final on Friday, as second seed Alexander Zverev of Germany – the recently-crowned French Open champion – proved too strong in a straight-sets 7-6(7-0), 6-2, 6-4 win. Though Fery matched Zverev stroke for stroke through the opening set, the German shifted into another gear in the tie-break, reeling off seven consecutive points to take the set without dropping a single point. From there, Zverev never looked back, dominating his service game through the final two sets to secure his place in his first ever Wimbledon final.

After the final point, the 14,979 fans packed into Centre Court rose as one for a standing ovation for Fery, who shared a warm post-match embrace with Zverev at the net. Fery admitted after the match that the run had caught up with him, and that he lacked his usual sharp energy against a top-tier opponent. “It might have been just a step too far. The opponent was a step up again,” he acknowledged. “I lacked a bit of that fight I had through the rest of the tournament today.”

Even in defeat, Fery leaves Wimbledon with a career-changing haul. On Monday, he will be crowned the new British No. 1 and jump to world No. 36 in the ATP rankings – an astronomical rise for a player who had never cracked the top 100 before the tournament. He also takes home £900,000 in prize money, a sum £240,000 larger than his entire career earnings before this Championships. The new ranking guarantees him direct entry into all future Grand Slams for the foreseeable future, a massive boost for his young career.

Speaking about the changes ahead, Fery said: “It’s going to change things, for sure. It will be interesting to see how I handle this new chapter, and the new expectations from myself and the public.”

For Zverev, the win marks a historic milestone of his own. The 29-year-old, who had never advanced past the fourth round at Wimbledon in his career before this year, will face defending champion Jannik Sinner in Sunday’s final, and will rise to world No. 2 in the rankings after the tournament, overtaking Carlos Alcaraz. Fresh off claiming his first ever Grand Slam title at the French Open last month, Zverev will now chase a second major trophy at SW19.

Heaping praise on his young opponent after the match, Zverev said: “I have to give all the credit to Arthur. He’s an unbelievable player, and this is just the beginning of his career. I think he will be a staple on our tour for the next 15-plus years.” Zverev added of his own breakthrough: “This Grand Slam has always been the one that I struggled with the most, and all of a sudden I am in the final, so I am incredibly happy.”

Ahead of one of the most anticipated quarterfinal matches of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, European dark horse Norway has defied pre-tournament expectations to reach the final eight, and all eyes are now on how Thomas Tuchel’s England side can shut down Stale Solbakken’s in-form attacking unit led by lethal striker Erling Haaland.

Few predicted Norway would advance this far, even with their status as an early dark horse pick. After finishing second in Group I ahead of Senegal, the Scandinavian side has knocked out both Ivory Coast and Brazil, netting 12 goals across five matches with Haaland already notching seven tournament goals to his name. Their success stems from a flexible, multi-faceted attacking system built around intelligent build-up play and dynamic off-ball movement that has confounded every opponent they’ve faced so far.

At the root of Norway’s offensive efficiency is their varied approach to playing out from the back. Starting with goalkeeper Orjan Nyland, who has turned in elite distribution throughout the tournament, Norway typically opens with a short build-up: Nyland joins a wide four-man backline to create a numerical overload in the defensive third, while two holding midfielders drop into central spaces to offer passing options. When short passing lanes are closed off, Nyland has a reliable backup: playing long diagonal balls to 6ft 5in target man Alexander Sorloth, who lines up on the right wing to win aerial duels and bring the ball under control. This puts England’s left-back Nico O’Reilly, a 6ft 4in physical defender, in a far more evenly matched aerial battle than Sorloth has enjoyed in previous rounds.

To disrupt this well-oiled build-up structure, Tuchel has two primary tactical options, each carrying distinct trade-offs. The most straightforward approach is a full-pitch man-to-man press, which eliminates Norway’s numerical advantage and puts O’Reilly in position to win physical battles against Sorloth. The major risk of this approach, however, is that it leaves Haaland one-on-one with a single center-back in open central space, a matchup nearly any striker in the world would favor. Most coaches would opt to leave an extra defender near Haaland to crowd him out, but that leaves England outnumbered in the press against Norway’s three-man central build-up.

The second option is a dropped defensive block that prioritizes cutting off passing lanes and limiting space. This approach also carries downsides: it runs counter to Tuchel’s preferred front-foot, aggressive identity, and it allows Norway to control possession, slow the match tempo, and frustrate opponents with patient circulation—something they executed masterfully against Brazil, with playmaker Martin Odegaard dropping deep to dictate play and make it nearly impossible for opponents to win the ball back. This intelligent game management has become a hallmark of Norway’s tournament run.

Drawing lessons from Brazil’s largely successful tactical approach against Norway could give England an edge. The Seleção successfully forced Nyland onto his weaker left foot by cutting off passing options on the right half of the pitch, positioning wingers to pressure Norway’s full-backs and central attackers to mark holding midfielders and free center-backs. Even with Nyland reliably finding Sorloth from long left-footed passes, forcing this pass and committing players to win the second ball around Sorloth could disrupt Norway’s rhythm. For England, which typically lines up with a front two of Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham, pushing holding midfielder Declan Rice higher up the pitch to add extra pressing numbers can create chaotic, high-turnover situations that play to England’s strengths.

While disrupting build-up is important, the biggest challenge remains stopping Haaland, who has already proven unmarkable for most defenses this tournament. The most effective strategy to mute Haaland is cutting off his service rather than trying to mark him one-on-one, and Norway creates most of his chances through intelligent wide movement and overlapping runs. Left-back David Moller Wolfe makes regular underlapping runs that pull opposition midfielders deep, opening up space for left wingers Antonio Nusa and Andreas Schjelderup to cut inside and deliver deep in-swinging crosses to the back post—one of Haaland’s favorite goal-scoring scenarios, alongside runs onto through balls on the left and attacking cut-backs against retreating defenses.

Crowding Haaland out with multiple defenders is one of the only proven ways to limit his influence, as West Ham demonstrated in a 1-1 draw against Haaland’s Manchester City last season, when they used three center-backs and a holding midfielder to man-mark him closely. For England, the challenge is that doubling up on wide players to stop crosses leaves Moller Wolfe free to receive the ball and deliver his own cross into the box—a tricky tactical puzzle that Tuchel must solve.

It would not be surprising to see Bellingham drop deeper into a five-man midfield when England is out of possession to add extra defensive cover, matching the dynamic attacking structure that Norway uses. Beyond defense, one of England’s best tools to neutralize Norway is sustained possession: keeping the ball pins Norway back and allows England to create their own chances using similar wide attacking dynamics that Norway relies on. Just as Moller Wolfe’s underlaps open space for Norway’s wingers, England’s Nico O’Reilly can use the same runs to create 2v1 opportunities against Norway’s full-backs, with pacy wingers drawing defenders deep and cutting the ball back for late arriving attackers— a tactic that has worked for Anthony Gordon throughout the tournament.

Finally, Norway’s commitment to attacking possession often leaves them short of defenders when they turn the ball over. Brazil created multiple high-quality chances on the counter-attack after winning the ball back against Norway, and England’s pacey attacking options including Gordon, Bellingham, Rice and Noni Madueke are well-suited to exploit the open spaces left by Norway’s high pushing defense.

With a spot in the World Cup semifinals on the line, both sides will look to impose their tactical identity, with England tasked with solving a complex puzzle to neutralize one of the most dangerous attacking sides in this year’s tournament.

When the 2026 FIFA World Cup kicked off 30 days ago, barely any football pundits or fans counted Belgium among the tournament’s potential contenders. Many of the star names that anchored the Red Devils’ campaigns in past iterations of the competition had retired or moved on from international football, and few expected the current squad to advance deep into the knockout stage. That scepticism only grew deeper when Belgium found themselves trailing Senegal 2-0 with just five minutes of regulation time left to play in their Round of 32 clash. What has followed since that dire opening, however, has been one of the most remarkable turnaround stories of this World Cup: a legendary comeback to eliminate Senegal, followed by a dominant 4-1 victory over the United States on American soil that has carried Belgium into the tournament’s quarter-finals.

Gone are iconic Belgian figures like Eden Hazard, Mousa Dembele, Marouane Fellaini, and Vincent Kompany, who led the side to quarter-final finishes in 2014 and a historic semi-final run at the 2018 Russia World Cup – widely considered the peak of the country’s so-called golden generation. After a dismal 2022 Qatar World Cup campaign that saw Belgium crash out in the group stage, many wrote this veteran core off entirely. But the remaining veterans of that golden era – goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, forward Romelu Lukaku, midfielder Kevin de Bruyne, and midfielder Axel Witsel – have helped transform a shaky start into a legitimate shot at World Cup glory. Now, as Belgium prepares to face Spain for a semi-final spot on Friday at 20:00 BST, the question looms: was the Belgian golden generation written off too soon, or has manager Rudi Garcia unlocked a new way to harness their veteran experience alongside emerging young talent?

Courtois, the Real Madrid shot-stopper competing in his fourth World Cup, framed this squad as a new chapter for Belgian football ahead of the USA match. “It is true that there are some players from the golden era, but the World Cup in Qatar for us was not that good,” he explained. “Now we have another generation with younger people, new people, willing to do great things and writing in the history pages for Belgium.”

Courtois’ assessment holds up under scrutiny. Of the four remaining veterans from the 2014 and 2018 squads, only 34-year-old Courtois has played every minute of the 2026 tournament. De Bruyne, 35, suffered an injury early in the Senegal clash, while 37-year-old Witsel has seen limited minutes off the bench. Thirty-three-year-old Lukaku has racked up an impressive three goals, but has played fewer than 50% of the team’s total minutes, mostly coming off the bench to exploit tired defences stretched thin by the high pressing of 25-year-old Atalanta forward Charles de Ketelaere. Full-back Thomas Meunier, another 2018 World Cup veteran, has also seen his playing time decrease as the tournament has progressed.

This does not mean the veteran core has not been integral to Belgium’s run. Courtois remains one of the top goalkeepers in the world, Lukaku’s clutch goals have swung critical matches, and De Bruyne delivered some of the squad’s best performances before his injury. But their role has shifted: rather than carrying the full weight of the team’s performance over 90 minutes, they now step up to make the difference in high-stakes key moments. So far, Garcia and Belgium have navigated this generational transition far more smoothly than most international sides manage when their golden generation begins to age.

For Garcia, the constant focus on the veterans’ age misses the point entirely, and downplays the quality he has in his squad. “I really can’t stand it when my four leaders are called ‘veterans’,” he said earlier in the tournament. “It is ugly. It is awful. If you are lucky enough as a country to have players of this calibre, then encourage them. This is what Belgium’s ‘old-timers’ can do.”

The veterans’ leadership has been complemented by standout performances from a new cohort of players who did not experience the pressure of the 2014 and 2018 runs, but already hold extensive experience at top European clubs. Arsenal winger Leandro Trossard has been particularly outstanding: he has created more chances (17) than any other player in the tournament so far, and notched two goals and two assists to put him 15th in the tournament for total goal contributions. De Ketelaere, while not a prolific goalscorer, has contributed two goals and one assist while creating critical space for wide attackers to operate inside the penalty area. Club Brugge midfielder Hans Vanaken, 33, who has spent his entire domestic career in Belgium, has added one goal and two assists, while captain Youri Tielemans scored both the equalizer and match-winner to pull off the incredible comeback against Senegal.

Of the 13 squad members aged 25 or younger, only Manchester City winger Jeremy Doku is already considered an elite talent at this stage, though fellow wingers Diego Moreira and Matias Fernandez-Pardo have shown clear potential, and Aston Villa midfielder Amadou Onana turned in strong performances before suffering an ACL injury against the USA.

The squad was further galvanized by controversy surrounding FIFA’s last-minute decision to uphold a one-match suspension for USA striker Folarin Balogun ahead of the Round of 16 clash. In a show of unity and defiance, Belgian players mocked former US President Donald Trump by mimicking his signature campaign trail dance on the pitch after scoring. After the match, Garcia praised the squad’s tight chemistry: “The group is very mature. We have leaders to help us.”

Beyond on-pitch chemistry, Belgium’s dressing room has a unique quirk that has shaped its leadership dynamic: linguistic diversity rooted in the country’s history and position at the heart of the European Union. The Belgian squad includes players with heritage from across the globe, including DR Congo, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Senegal, France, Italy, Portugal, and Spain. Lukaku alone speaks six languages fluently. With native Dutch speakers from northern Flanders and native French speakers from southern Wallonia, the team has intentionally adopted English as its primary shared language to avoid the political and identity tensions that can surround language use in Belgian public life.

“It’s a very strategic thing to do,” explained Dr. Jim Ureel, senior lecturer in applied linguistics at the University of Antwerp. “Language is a very sensitive topic in Belgium – it’s heavily linked to identity and politics. Dutch-speaking people don’t necessarily want to adapt for the French, and vice-versa. If the players were choosing one or the other, it could become a problem. English therefore becomes very useful – you can avoid those issues and it all becomes neutral, especially because young footballers almost always speak good English and lots play in English-speaking countries. When things become more personal, in smaller groups, they might switch into what they’re most comfortable with. I think it’s very clever how they do it.”

As Belgium prepares for their quarter-final showdown with Spain, the team’s veteran leaders will need to draw on all their experience to inspire the young squad to another upset. This run is not just the last hurrah for Belgium’s golden generation; it is a transition: a core of seasoned veterans stepping into new leadership roles, guiding the young players who will soon take over the future of Belgian football.