Jubilant scenes erupted across Argentina and major diaspora communities in the United States this week as the national men’s football team sealed a dramatic semi-final victory over England, punching their ticket to the World Cup final. From bustling city plazas in Buenos Aires to suburban neighbourhoods in Miami and New York, millions of fans flooded the streets waving sky-blue and white striped flags, blowing vuvuzelas, and singing traditional chants long into the night. The win, which came after a tightly contested match that kept supporters on the edge of their seats, has united the global Argentina fanbase in collective excitement, with many describing the moment as a once-in-a-generation opportunity to lift football’s most coveted trophy. Local authorities in major Argentine cities reported large but peaceful gatherings, with fans sharing hugs and taking to social media to post clips of their celebrations that have since gone viral across platforms.
标签： South America
南美洲
-
NYC’s Rikers Island jail hosts World Cup watch party for inmates
NEW YORK – From downtown office break rooms to waterfront public parks and neighborhood sports bars, soccer fans across the city packed viewing gatherings for Wednesday’s World Cup semifinal between England and Argentina. But one watch party unfolded in a location few would expect to host such a communal, lighthearted event: Rikers Island, New York City’s sprawling, controversial correctional complex long plagued by headlines of overcrowding, mismanagement, and systemic failing.
On this Wednesday afternoon, more than 100 incarcerated people, clad in standard tan correctional uniforms, filled rows of tables facing a large projection screen set up in the main intake center’s gymnasium. Colorful balloon towers, capped with soccer-ball-shaped balloons, framed the screen, transforming the utilitarian space into a makeshift fan zone for the high-stakes match.
The jail system first launched these organized watch parties when the World Cup tournament kicked off last month, opening access only to incarcerated people who have maintained good behavior, requiring a minimum of 30 days incident-free to participate. The program has already brought more than 90 fan gatherings to the facility, drawing roughly 4,500 participants out of Rikers’ current population of approximately 6,600 incarcerated people.
Shortly before kickoff, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani arrived to join the event. Ditching his signature dark formal suit jacket, the Democratic mayor rolled up the sleeves of his white dress shirt, took a seat at one of the front tables, and dove straight into casual conversation about the tournament with the incarcerated guests.
One participant at the mayor’s table shared his prediction: he expected Argentina to defeat England, then go on to face Spain in the final, after Spain’s upset win over France in the earlier semifinal. “You never know,” Mamdani responded, noting he was a vocal supporter of Morocco, which had been eliminated in an earlier round of competition.
At a neighboring table, another incarcerated person told the mayor he was scheduled to be released from custody later that same day. Mamdani congratulated him warmly, shaking his hand and patting him on the back, saying “That’s amazing.”
Roughly 20 minutes into the match, the mayor departed the gathering, leaving the crowd of incarcerated fans to enjoy the rest of the game in the transformed gym space. The unusual program marks a rare effort to bring recreational, community-focused activities to a facility that has long been the center of criticism over poor conditions and lack of programming for incarcerated people.
-
A 12-year-old baseball prodigy trains through tears after Venezuela quakes leave him homeless
Nestled at the base of the mountain range that divides Venezuela’s coastal communities from the capital city of Caracas, an abandoned baseball stadium sits dust-bitten and quiet. Dirt kicks up in the gusting wind, but for a group of young ball players who have gathered here, the devastation that surrounds them fades into the background the moment they step onto the cracked dirt. Young athletes swap high fives, hugs, and quiet tears—tears for the teammates who can train alongside them today, and for the friends who will never pick up a glove again.
-
Lionel Messi delivers again for Argentina, defending champions reach another World Cup final
ATLANTA — In a match that will go down as one of the most dramatic chapters in modern World Cup history, Lionel Messi once again cemented his legacy as soccer’s ultimate big-game player, orchestrating a late comeback that lifted Argentina to a 2-1 semifinal victory over England on Wednesday. With just one win now standing between him and a second World Cup trophy for his nation, the 39-year-old superstar did not add to his tournament-leading goal tally, but his vision and precision in the final minutes turned a likely exit into a historic ticket to the final.
This comeback marks the second unlikely rally Argentina has pulled off in this tournament, coming just eight days after a similarly improbable last-gasp win over Egypt in the round of 16. For a career already widely regarded as the greatest in the sport’s history, Wednesday’s performance added another iconic entry to Messi’s already overflowing collection of legendary moments.
England looked poised to fulfill its dream of reaching its first World Cup final since 1966, when it claimed its only global title, after Anthony Gordon put the Three Lions ahead in the 55th minute. For the next half hour, England held on tightly to its lead, clinging to the chance of a historic upset. But Argentina, a side that has built its tournament run on resilience and never-say-die spirit, had other plans.
The turning point came in the 85th minute. Working a short corner routine, Messi received a quick return pass after pushing the ball out along the touchline, spotted Enzo Fernández unmarked 25 yards from goal, and played a perfectly weighted pass into his path. Fernández fired a blistering curling shot that sailed beyond England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford into the top corner, leveling the score and shifting all momentum to Argentina.
By the time stoppage time rolled around, an Argentine winner felt almost inevitable. Just two minutes into the added stoppage period, Messi delivered again, whipping a pinpoint cross into the six-yard box. Lautaro Martínez slipped between two England defenders and guided a calm header past Pickford for the game-winning goal.
Argentina saw out the remaining minutes without conceding, and when the final whistle blew, Messi dropped to his knees on the Atlanta pitch, pumping his fists in celebration of yet another unforgettable victory. The win sets up a World Cup final showdown with Spain on Sunday, where Argentina will have the chance to make history as the first men’s national team to repeat as World Cup champions since Brazil accomplished the feat back in 1958 and 1962.
Individually, Messi remains tied with France’s Kylian Mbappé in the race for the tournament’s Golden Boot, with both strikers having notched eight goals so far. He also holds the record for most goals scored in World Cup history across all tournaments, with a total of 21. Yet for Messi, all individual accolades pale in comparison to the prize that now sits one win away: a second World Cup trophy for Argentina.
-
Venezuela government to launch formal talks with opposition members
Six months after U.S. special forces carried out a dawn raid on Caracas that removed then-Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and transported him to New York to face long-standing drug-trafficking charges, the country’s interim administration has scheduled formal negotiations with a faction of the political opposition to kick off on August 1. The landmark talks, announced jointly by opposition representatives and the government-aligned National Assembly led by Jorge Rodríguez, comes as Venezuela grapples with the human and economic aftermath of devastating twin earthquakes that struck the country’s northern coastal region on June 24. As of mid-July, official counts confirm at least 4,734 fatalities from the disaster, with the death toll projected to climb further as rescue crews continue pulling bodies from the rubble of thousands of collapsed structures. Rodríguez, whose sister Delcy, a former Maduro vice president who has aligned with the U.S. government, currently holds the interim presidency, framed the negotiations as a necessary step for national recovery. “Only through unity can we move forward with reconstruction and maintain peace,” he said in a brief public statement, pointing directly to the widespread destruction caused by the earthquakes as the catalyst for opening dialogue. The opposition participating in the talks, a bloc of former lawmakers who won a National Assembly majority in 2015 — the last election widely recognized as free and fair for opposition parties — has framed the negotiations as a step toward building a democratic roadmap for the country. Dinorah Figuera, a former opposition legislator who returned to Venezuela in June after nearly eight years in exile, will lead the opposition negotiating team. Figuera confirmed upon her arrival in Caracas that she came at the invitation of the U.S. State Department, with a core goal of pushing for sweeping reform of the National Electoral Council (CNE), the body that oversees Venezuelan elections. The CNE has for years been controlled by hardline Maduro loyalists, and it drew widespread international condemnation after the 2024 presidential election when it declared Maduro the winner, despite independent observer vote tallies confirming a landslide victory for opposition candidate Edmundo González. In its official statement released Tuesday, the opposition bloc laid out its clear priorities for the talks: strengthening democratic institutions, overhauling the flawed electoral system, and establishing ironclad guarantees for full political participation for all factions across the country. For decades under Maduro’s United Socialist Party (PSUV), opposition figures and government critics faced systematic persecution: thousands were jailed, and hundreds of thousands fled into exile. Even after Maduro’s ouster earlier this year, 372 political opponents remain incarcerated, according to ongoing tallies from Venezuelan prisoners’ rights organization Foro Penal. The announcement of talks also brings to light a growing divide within Venezuela’s opposition coalition, and a clear preference from the Trump administration for Figuera’s faction over the movement led by María Corina Machado, the most prominent Venezuelan opposition leader. Machado, who was awarded the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize for her work advocating for democratic transition in Venezuela, secretly fled the country in late 2025 to accept the prize, and has not been permitted to return despite repeated attempts. She dedicated her Nobel honor to U.S. President Donald Trump, but the Trump administration has nevertheless backed Figuera as the lead negotiator, rather than Machado. Machado attempted to re-enter Venezuela shortly after the June earthquakes, but was turned away at the border. While Trump has denied his administration blocked her entry, U.S. media outlets have cited anonymous senior administration officials describing Machado’s return attempt as “potentially disruptive” to ongoing post-earthquake rescue and reconstruction efforts. Machado has not yet issued a public comment on the newly announced talks, but has called a meeting of her opposition coalition for Wednesday to discuss the next steps for her faction.
-
United by grief, mothers in Brazil demand reparations after police killed their sons
RIO DE JANEIRO — For Ana Paula Oliveira, the 2014 killing of her 19-year-old son Johnatha at the hands of a Rio de Janeiro police officer in the Manguinhos favela felt like an unbearable end. A mother of two, she never imagined she would outlive her child, let alone emerge from crippling grief as a leading activist demanding systemic change. Today, more than a decade later, she credits a collective of other grieving mothers with saving her life — and transforming their shared pain into a nationwide movement for justice.
“Without any doubt, if I had been alone I wouldn’t have made it here, 12 years later,” Oliveira shared at a recent memorial event held at her son’s former school to mark the anniversary of his death. “We need one another to cry together, to smile together and to fight together.”
Oliveira is one of dozens of Brazilian mothers who have turned personal loss into political action, pushing back against a rising tide of lethal police violence that has disproportionately impacted young Black men living in the country’s impoverished favela communities. Following the model of Argentina’s iconic Mothers of Plaza de Mayo — the grassroots human rights group founded by women whose children were disappeared during the country’s 1976–1983 military dictatorship — these women organize collectively to attend judicial hearings, lead public protests, host commemorative events, and provide critical mutual psychological support to one another. Their core mission is to ensure their sons are remembered as people, not just statistics in Brazil’s growing crisis of state violence. Now, they are calling on the federal government to enact a landmark national policy that guarantees support for family members of police violence victims, and to allocate public funding to sustain their grassroots work.
Official and nonprofit data underscores the urgency of their demands. The Brazilian Forum on Public Safety, a leading independent nonprofit, reports that more than 6,000 people have been killed by Brazilian police every year since 2018. In its 2025 annual report on national violence trends, the organization found that 82% of all victims of lethal police violence are Black, and the largest share of victims are young people between the ages of 18 and 24. In Rio de Janeiro alone, the nonprofit Crossfire Institute recorded 460 deaths from police operations last year — the highest annual total since 2016, and a 52% jump from 2023 figures.
Last year, Rio de Janeiro drew global condemnation for the state’s deadliest single police raid in history, when officers carried out an anti-gang operation targeting the Red Command criminal group in two Rio favelas that left 117 people dead, alongside five fallen police officers. Then-Rio Governor Cláudio Castro, an ally of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, defended the operation, labeling those targeted “narco-terrorists” — language that echoed former U.S. President Donald Trump, who last month formally classified both Red Command and its rival First Command Capital as foreign terrorist organizations. Police reported seizing 118 weapons, more than a ton of drugs, and arresting 113 people during the raid, but the incident renewed widespread international scrutiny of aggressive anti-gang tactics in Rio’s favelas.
The movement for accountability comes ahead of Brazil’s October general election, where crime and public security have emerged as top voting issues for the electorate. Supporters of presidential hopeful Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro, son of former President Jair Bolsonaro, argue that police must be given unrestricted support to combat heavily armed gang activity that has long plagued favela communities. But grieving mothers and allied nonprofits counter that Brazilian law enforcement routinely uses excessive, deadly force that disproportionately kills unarmed young Black residents with no links to gang activity.
Oliveira’s own case illustrates the long, frustrating fight for justice. Johnatha was shot in the back while walking through a Manguinhos street after visiting his grandmother, she says. Police claimed the shooting was carried out to disperse a crowd of protesters, but Oliveira has long pushed for the officer responsible to be convicted of intentional homicide. In 2024, a jury found the officer guilty of manslaughter without intent to kill; prosecutors have since successfully appealed the verdict, but a date for a retrial has not yet been scheduled.
For many mothers, activism has become a permanent calling rooted in personal loss. Monica Cunha, whose 20-year-old son was killed by police in 2006, went on to become a city councilwoman and will formally launch her pre-candidacy for state legislator in October’s upcoming elections. “I fight for memory, truth, justice, reparations and guarantees of nonrepetition — not only for myself, but so that no other family has to endure this pain,” Cunha wrote in an Instagram post marking the 18th anniversary of her son’s death. “The racism that kills our children and loved ones is not an isolated problem, and it must be confronted through state policies. I will keep going, turning grief into struggle.”
The movement has already secured small, hard-won victories that have kept other mothers hopeful. Sisters Nadia dos Santos and Glaucia dos Santos have lost three teenage sons between them to police violence: Nadia lost 18-year-old Cleyton in 2015 and 17-year-old Cleyverson in 2022, while Glaucia’s 17-year-old son Fabricio was killed by police in 2014. A large memorial to the three teenagers covers the front wall of the family’s home in Rio’s Chapadao favela complex. The pair founded their own support group and spent years pushing for accountability in Fabricio’s killing; in 2023, the officers responsible were sentenced to nine years in prison, a ruling that the wider movement celebrated as a rare win.
“We want others to stay alive, so we have to stay upright” despite the crushing weight of grief, Glaucia dos Santos said.
Last year, the movement traveled to Brazil’s capital Brasilia to meet with leaders from the judiciary, legislative, and executive branches to present their policy proposal, which was developed with support from Raave, a Rio-based network of organizations supporting people impacted by police killings. “Raave is negotiating with the federal government to implement a pilot project … developed by the mothers, so that we can provide care and guarantee the rights of this population,” explained Guilherme Pimental, a Raave coordinator.
The mothers are clear about what they want: a binding national public policy that provides financial and psychological reparations to families, alongside systemic changes to prevent future killings. Nadia dos Santos, who traveled to Brasilia to advocate for the policy, says the state bears a clear responsibility to support families whose loved ones are killed by state actors. “The state should have the obligation to give us mothers who lose our sons because of the state’s violence reparations. … We fight, we work, but we become ill. We need solutions,” she said.
Oliveira says reparations can take many forms beyond financial support, including permanent public commemoration of victims by naming schools, hospitals, daycares and other public facilities after them. Most critical, she adds, is policy change that stops the violence from happening to other families. “There are other forms of reparation as well, such as building other public policies of nonrepetition that would help prevent new cases. … Many things need to be done, repaired, so that this barbarity does not continue,” she said.
-
We shouldn’t confuse politics and football – Scaloni
One of the most iconic rivalries in international men’s football is set to reignite this Wednesday at Atlanta Stadium, as defending champions Argentina face England for a spot in the 2026 FIFA World Cup final. For England, a win would mark their first appearance in a World Cup final since their historic 1966 triumph, adding extra weight to an already charged encounter.
Long-running political tensions between the two nations have overshadowed this fixture for decades, rooted in the 1982 Falklands War – a 74-day conflict over the sovereignty of the South Atlantic territory (claimed as Las Malvinas by Argentina) that killed 649 Argentine soldiers, 255 British service members, and three civilians. The sovereignty dispute remains unresolved to this day, and off-pitch tensions have repeatedly spilled into on-pitch encounters, most notably Diego Maradona’s infamous 1986 World Cup quarter-final victory over England.
Speaking ahead of the high-stakes semi-final, Argentina head coach Lionel Scaloni – who led his nation to the 2022 World Cup title in Qatar – made clear he will not blend political history with the 90 minutes of football on Wednesday. “The reality is that this is a football match. I can’t mix things up, especially out of respect for what happened so many years ago,” Scaloni told reporters. “It was a very sad period in our history, and there isn’t much we can do about it, that’s the reality. Things are happening elsewhere in the world, and we criticise the existence of war. We certainly remember those people, of course. But it is a football match; we shouldn’t confuse the two.”
Organizers have implemented enhanced security protocols around the match to account for the decades of historical friction between the two fanbases. Tensions flared in the lead-up to the semi-final after video captured Argentine players singing a controversial pre-match chant referencing the disputed islands following their dramatic 3-2 last-16 win over Egypt. This encounter also marks the first time Lionel Messi, Argentina’s 39-year-old eight-time Ballon d’Or winner, has ever faced England in a World Cup fixture during his legendary career. Messi has carried Argentina through their 2026 tournament run, notching eight goals to tie France’s Kylian Mbappe for the tournament lead.
Despite reaching the semi-finals, Argentina have not yet hit their collective stride in this year’s knockout stage. Following a tough extra-time win over Cape Verde in the round of 32, the defending champions required another 30 minutes of extra play to defeat ten-man Switzerland in the quarter-finals. But Scaloni pushed back on any concerns over his side’s form or fatigue ahead of Wednesday’s clash. “A month-and-a-half ago I would have taken getting to the semi-final if you had offered me that, so I don’t mind how we got here,” he said. “I can’t reproach my players. Whether we are tired or not I don’t care. This is a World Cup semi-final.”
Scaloni confirmed that his coaching staff has been preparing the squad to handle England’s standout attacking duo: striker Harry Kane and midfielder Jude Bellingham, both of whom have netted six goals apiece through England’s run to the semi-final. “They are two great players, among the best in the world. Any coach would like to have them,” he acknowledged.
The match is scheduled to kick off at 20:00 BST on July 15, with full broadcast coverage available across BBC platforms. UK viewers can watch live UHD coverage on BBC One and BBC iPlayer starting from 19:00 BST, while radio commentary will air on BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Sounds from 18:00 BST. Live text updates, in-play clips, and post-match analysis will also be available via the BBC Sport website and mobile app.
-
The 91-year-old Argentine journalist covering his 18th World Cup
As Argentina prepares to lock horns with old rival England in the 2026 FIFA World Cup semifinal at 20:00 BST on July 15, one beloved figure in the press box is drawing global attention for a once-in-a-lifetime milestone: 91-year-old Spanish broadcaster Enrique Macaya Márquez, better known simply as Macaya, has covered every men’s World Cup since the iconic 1958 tournament in Sweden, an unmatched streak of 18 consecutive editions that spans nearly 70 years of football history.
Macaya was just 24 when he received his first World Cup assignment, sent to the 1958 Swedish tournament to cover a field that introduced 17-year-old Brazilian prodigy Pelé to the world. One of his earliest matches was Pelé’s Brazil against Austria, but the moment that remains indelibly etched in his memory is what Argentine football fans still call the “Disaster of Sweden” — Argentina’s stunning 6-1 defeat to Czechoslovakia. “We knew almost nothing about Czechoslovakia. We had no information, no data, and they surprised us,” Macaya recalled in an interview.
Over the course of his seven-decade career, Macaya has witnessed the transformation of men’s football from a regional pastime to a $30 billion global spectacle. He has reported from pitchside on every generation of the game’s greatest stars, from Pelé and Diego Maradona to the current era’s Lionel Messi, watching as analog broadcast technology evolved into high-definition digital streaming, and post-match print analysis shifted to real-time, data-driven instant statistics. Yet through all these sweeping changes, Macaya has held fast to one core journalistic principle: he refuses to rush to snap judgments.
That approach shaped his view back in 2018, when Lionel Scaloni — a relatively unknown former player — was unexpectedly appointed head coach of the Argentine national team. At the time, Macaya admitted he had little confidence in the appointment. “I didn’t have high hopes, I didn’t know him,” the DSPORTS Radio commentator said. But Scaloni’s tenure has defied all expectations: he has led Argentina to three major trophies, including the 2022 World Cup title, turning what was widely labeled one of the riskiest coaching appointments in football history into one of its greatest success stories. For Macaya, that turnaround only reinforced his long-held belief: “You can’t pass judgement without a much deeper, more complete understanding of the person being judged.”
Today, as Argentina returns to the World Cup semifinal stage to face England, Macaya is confident the South American side has what it takes to lift the trophy for a second consecutive time. “Of course they can,” he said. “If we’re talking about what is possible, about the future, I believe Argentina is capable of winning.”
When asked to name his favorite player in the current squad, he did not hesitate: “Clearly, it’s Messi.” But the iconic broadcaster pushed back against the perennial debate over who holds the title of the greatest footballer of all time, refusing to draw simplistic comparisons between eras. “That question deserves a smile,” he said. “There’s no way to measure players throughout history. Times have changed. Opponents have changed. Every player is unique. I can say who I personally liked, but that doesn’t mean I believe that player was the best in history.”
This nuanced perspective extends to all cross-era comparisons, from the rivalry between Messi and Maradona (two of Argentina’s greatest number 10s) to the 1970 Brazilian side led by Pelé and Maradona’s 1986 World Cup-winning team. “It is very difficult to make a cold comparison,” he explained. “The opponents were different. The needs were different. The support from their team-mates was different. Each had their own life and their own history.”
Macaya also noted that defeats are just as important to football history as victory. “Negative results are also part of that memory,” he said. Even so, he acknowledges that World Cup triumphs hold a special place in his heart as an Argentine journalist, particularly Maradona’s 1986 win. “Winning the World Cup is my favourite memory, and in Maradona’s case, I think the trophy had finally given him the answer he sought his entire life: to be a world champion.”
After nearly 70 years of traveling the world to cover football’s biggest tournament, Macaya says retirement is finally on the horizon. “I’m going to retire at some point,” he said with a laugh. “I’m retiring now… so I’ll hang up and leave it for another time.” For a man who has spent a lifetime documenting the history of the World Cup, a gentle, gradual goodbye feels like a fitting end to a remarkable career — one that has already cemented his place in football lore. True to his open-ended approach to the game, though, Macaya’s farewell never feels truly final.
The 2026 World Cup semifinal between England and Argentina will be broadcast live globally, with full UK coverage available on BBC One and BBC iPlayer starting at 19:00 BST, with radio commentary on BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Sounds from 18:00 BST.
-
Mates, mate and freedom – how Argentina got the best out of Messi
Lionel Messi’s 2026 FIFA World Cup campaign has been a rollercoaster of tangled emotions, capped by unguarded tears after Argentina’s dramatic comeback from a 2-0 deficit to book their quarter-final spot against Switzerland. This was not the first time Messi had broken down in tears during the tournament: just days after the opening match, he cried when he learned of a sudden health complication affecting his father. This time, however, the tears flowed from relief—relief that a missed penalty, which for a tense stretch looked set to end Argentina’s World Cup run early, did not end up letting his teammates down.
Widely expected to be his final World Cup appearance, this tournament has reconnected Messi with the joy of the game that defined him as a young prospect leaving his hometown of Rosario, Argentina. Under manager Lionel Scaloni, the 39-year-old Inter Miami forward has found a national squad built explicitly around his strengths, centered on collective unity rather than individual stardom.
Scaloni, who took over Argentina’s national side on an interim basis in 2018 when no other coach wanted the role, inherited a fractured, underperforming squad of fatigued star players under constant public scrutiny. He made the unpopular call to bench veteran big names and promote unheralded prospects, then built a system rooted in one core principle: let Messi lead. Where other coaches force Messi into rigid tactical structures, Scaloni lets the Argentine icon dictate his position on the pitch, with the entire squad adapting to his choices. Against Egypt, Messi shifted to the right flank; 38 minutes into the quarter-final against Switzerland, he moved central, and the entire team adjusted to open up space for their leader.
“The best moments of all, by far, are celebrations of the group. I coach for this, not because I like a 4-3-3,” Scaloni explained ahead of the quarter-final. “I like drinking mate with my friends and players, sharing a barbecue, playing truco, as we have always done.” It is a philosophy that aligns perfectly with Messi’s own preferences, and one that has delivered unprecedented results: under Scaloni, Argentina has lifted four trophies—two Copa Américas, the 2022 World Cup, and the 2022 Finalissima—and won their last three consecutive World Cup semi-finals.
At the heart of the squad’s special bond with Messi is midfielder Rodrigo de Paul, who has grown into Messi’s closest confidant and constant companion in the national setup. The pair’s friendship began unexpectedly when de Paul noticed a subdued Messi leaving training alone one afternoon. After waiting 40 minutes to give him space, de Paul knocked on Messi’s hotel door and invited him for a round of mate and truco. That small gesture grew into a daily routine: every morning, the pair share mate in de Paul’s room, with other squad members joining in strictly by order of arrival, no exceptions allowed. De Paul playfully teases Messi, calls him “El Pequeno” (the little one) despite his age and status, and treats him as just another member of the group—exactly what Messi has always craved, rather than being put on a pedestal as a global monument to the sport. When the team walks out onto the pitch, Messi leads with de Paul right at his side, the rest of the squad fanning out behind in a wedge, a unified group protecting their leader.
For most of the current Argentina squad, Messi was not just a teammate first—he was their childhood idol, the reason many of them picked up a football at all. Every player wears the same Adidas Adistar Messi boots, and for Messi’s June birthday, the squad wore custom T-shirts printed with photos of each player alongside Messi across his decades with the national team. Off the pitch, Messi has matched the squad’s commitment: he has put in months of double training sessions with de Paul and stuck to an obsessive nutrition plan that has boosted his top speed by 5% compared to the 2022 Qatar World Cup. While he covers just 631 meters at maximum speed across the tournament and walks for 47% of any given match, he is currently the tournament’s top goalscorer. He also joins Kylian Mbappé as one of only two players in history to register 10 or more direct goal involvements in two separate World Cups, having hit the mark in 2022 and again in 2026.
In Argentine culture, football success carries far more weight than just a trophy. For generations, the nation has linked football greatness to national identity, running through a line from Diego Maradona to Messi: a nation rich in talent, repeatedly held back by political and economic instability, sees a World Cup win as proof Argentina still belongs among the world’s very best. That is why the squad sings their unofficial tournament anthem “La Cuarta Estrella” after every win, led by de Paul. The song honors Messi, pays tribute to Maradona, references the 1990 World Cup final that many Argentines see as a stolen title, and calls for a fourth World Cup star to be added to the national shirt.
After the dramatic Egypt comeback that saw Messi in tears, midfielder Leandro Paredes summed up the squad’s commitment: when they saw their leader crying, the team embraced him not just to comfort him, but to remind him they are all in this together, and they will leave everything on the pitch to make his dream of a second consecutive World Cup title come true. As Argentina prepares to face England in the 2026 World Cup semi-final on 15 July, fans around the world can watch the match live on BBC One and BBC iPlayer, with full commentary available on BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Sounds.
### Broadcast Details for England v Argentina 2026 World Cup Semi-Final
– Date: 15 July
– Kickoff: 20:00 BST
– Coverage: UHD broadcast on BBC One and BBC iPlayer starting at 19:00 BST; build-up and full match commentary on BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Sounds from 18:00 BST; live text updates, in-play clips, highlights and analysis available on the BBC Sport website and app. -
Hundreds protest in Maine over the fatal shooting of a Colombian man by ICE
BIDDEFORD, Maine — Hundreds of demonstrators gathered across southern Maine on Tuesday to denounce the fatal shooting of 26-year-old Colombian national Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer, an incident that has sparked national outrage over conflicting official accounts of the deadly encounter and growing scrutiny of the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration enforcement agenda.
The shooting unfolded Monday as ICE agents carried out surveillance on a Biddeford residence connected to an individual facing a final deportation order for unlawful presence in the United States. Initial public accounts from federal officials have already shifted, creating confusion around the circumstances of Durán Guerrero’s death. In a post on the social platform X, the Department of Homeland Security claimed the ICE officer opened fire after the vehicle Durán Guerrero was driving attempted to flee the stop, saying the agent acted “fearing for public safety.”
This account contradicts an earlier description shared by Maine Senator Angus King, who said Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin told him the officer fired after Durán Guerrero attempted to use his vehicle as a weapon against agents. King also confirmed that agents were not serving an arrest warrant for Durán Guerrero at the time of the encounter, raising additional questions about why the 26-year-old was targeted.
The Colombian Embassy formally confirmed Durán Guerrero’s identity to the Associated Press, and outgoing Colombian President Gustavo Petro — who has had repeated public clashes with President Donald Trump — issued a scathing rebuke of the shooting on X. Petro called the incident a deliberate targeted killing “at the hands of the U.S. government,” accused ICE agents of treating Durán Guerrero as “an inferior being without rights,” and called on the Trump administration to release a full public explanation for the shooting.
Outrage over the killing quickly spread across Maine, with hundreds of protesters assembling outside the ICE detention center in Scarborough, a coastal community between Biddeford and Portland. Demonstrators carried signs reading “Stop the murder” and “End this terror,” with event organizer Todd Chretien telling the crowd, “These people are killers and they must leave our state now.”
The shooting marks the second fatal use of force by ICE in just one week, and the ninth deadly incident tied to the agency since Trump launched his administration-wide immigration crackdown. Compounding growing calls for transparency, the officers involved in the Biddeford shooting were not wearing body cameras, leaving key details of the encounter unaccounted for. Key unanswered questions include how close the officer was to the vehicle when shots were fired, whether agents ordered Durán Guerrero to stop before opening fire, and what specific threat to public safety ICE claims the driver posed. In a brief statement, an ICE spokesperson declined to disclose details of agency tactics, saying only, “We are always evaluating our procedures to keep our officers safe and criminals off our streets.”
Maine’s senior Republican Senator Susan Collins confirmed that the DHS Office of Inspector General is leading the investigation in partnership with the FBI. The Maine Attorney General’s office, which is also cooperating with federal investigators, said initial statements indicate Durán Guerrero was attempting to flee toward the shooting officer when shots were fired. The unnamed officer has been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of the probe, and photos of the vehicle show multiple bullet holes in the front windshield.
Security camera footage from a nearby local business obtained by the AP shows Durán Guerrero’s white car slowly approaching a nearby intersection before circling the area multiple times. A law enforcement SUV blocks the vehicle’s path, after which two officers pull open the driver’s side door and drag out a limp body. The timing of the gunfire is not visible in the clip. Daniel Boucher, a nearby resident who heard the gunshots and ran to the scene, said he saw Durán Guerrero bleeding from the face and head, and clearly heard the victim say, “I tried to stop.” Boucher also recalled the shooting officer telling him, “He tried to run me over,” shortly after the incident.
Community members who knew Durán Guerrero described him as a friendly, regular presence in the Biddeford neighborhood, where he lived with his wife and young daughter. Two advocacy groups, the Maine Immigrants’ Rights Coalition and Presente!, say Durán Guerrero held valid work authorization to live and work in the United States. Neighbors noted he rarely spoke with locals due to limited English proficiency, but was a familiar sight around the area. Sadie Dilboy, co-owner of a local laundromat that Durán Guerrero visited often, said he frequently came to the business with his young daughter, who he would give quarters to buy candy. “Everyone knows him,” Dilboy said. Claudia Morton, a nearby neighbor who often waved to Durán Guerrero, described herself as distraught over the killing, saying Tuesday, “The whole world should be crying.”
Just one week before the Maine shooting, another ICE officer fatally shot 52-year-old Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in Houston as he drove to a construction job site, following a pursuit by federal agents in unmarked vehicles. The back-to-back shootings come as the Trump administration ramps up its mass deportation agenda: ICE data shows the agency arrested more than 10,000 people over just five days at the end of June, a sharp surge in enforcement that signals an expansion of crackdown efforts after the administration shifted away from targeted city-wide raids. This is not the first time the administration’s enforcement policies have faced widespread condemnation: last winter, two killings in Minnesota — that of Alex Pretti and Renee Good — sparked national outcry over aggressive deportation tactics.
Reporting for this story was contributed by Astrid Suarez in Bogota, Colombia, Rebecca Santana in Washington, D.C., and John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio, with original reporting from AP correspondents in New Orleans and New York.