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Zlatko Dalic bemoaned Croatia’s failure to get to grips with England’s set-pieces after some “disastrous” defending in Wednesday’s 4-2 World Cup defeat. Group L began with a bang in Texas as Martin Baturina brilliantly cancelled out Harry Kane’s retaken spot-kick after Luka Modric had brought down Noni Madueke when defending an early set-piece. Petar Musa scored an equaliser of his own after Croatia inexplicably left England’s captain free to head…

GUADALAJARA – Mexico coach Javier Aguirre admitted that he is looking for a more confident display in his team’s second match, after feeling “nervous” during their World Cup opening win over South Africa last week. “I’ve been in football for 50 years and I still get butterflies in my stomach before every single match. I get nervous,” said the veteran manager, whose side will face South Korea on Thursday in…

Canada captain Alphonso Davies will be available to play on Thursday against Qatar after he missed his team’s World Cup opener while recovering from a hamstring injury, coach Jesse Marsch said. The left back was injured last month while playing for Bayern Munich in the Champions League semifinals. In an open practice earlier this week, Davies was limited in training and was still in the return-to-play protocol. “He’s been in…

ALAMEDA, California — As reports of some of the world’s biggest clubs eyeing Australian talent start to emerge, Alessandro Circati, no stranger to the transfer rumour mill, says he and his younger teammates can’t afford to be distracted from the task at hand. There being nothing like a strong FIFA World Cup performance to drive interest, the Socceroos‘ stunning 2-0 upset of Türkiye in their opening Group D game last…

South Korea coach Hong Myung-Bo called the sight of a drone flying over a closed training session in Guadalajara ahead of the team’s World Cup clash with Mexico “unfortunate.” Mexican military forces intercepted and brought down a drone that flew near the South Korean national team’s training camp, a federal official told The Associated Press on Wednesday. – Every team’s odds to win the World Cup – Asian nations have…

Harry Kane equalled World Cup records of England legends Gary Lineker and David Beckham with his first-half double in the 4-2 win opening win against Croatia on Wednesday. With his goals, Kane joined Lineker on 10 in World Cups, while he also became just the second player to score for England at three different World Cups (2018, 2022, 2026), along with Beckham (1998, 2002, 2006). The Bayern Munich striker came…

ATLANTA, GA — South Africa captain Ronwen Williams has acknowledged that it has been painful to hear former South Africa internationals criticising the team in light of their opening World Cup defeat by Mexico last Thursday. South Africa’s build-up to their second group game — in Atlanta against Czechia on Thursday — has been dominated by criticism from back home at the team’s approach in the opener against Mexico, with…