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Scott McKenna misses Scotland training ahead of World Cup clash with Morocco

Scott McKenna missed Scotland’s last training session before their World Cup clash against Morocco on Friday night. The 29-year-old Dinamo Zagreb centre-back was absent for the 1-0 Group C win over Haiti on Saturday with a calf injury, before returning to Steve Clarke’s group at the Atrium Health Performance Park on Tuesday morning. However, McKenna sat out Wednesday morning’s workout before the squad’s afternoon flight to Boston. – Scotland at…

Real Madrid demand ‘firm’ disciplinary action against Barcelona in Negreira case

Real Madrid have written to UEFA demanding “firm” and “exemplary” disciplinary action to be taken against Barcelona for historic payments made to the former vice president of the Spanish refereeing association. Barça paid companies linked to José María Enríquez Negreira more than €7 million between 2001 and 2018. The Spanish champions have always maintained the money was in exchange for “technical reports on referees and refereeing,” denying buying match officials.…

Commentator dropped at World Cup for mixing up Iran and New Zealand

ISTANBUL — Turkish state broadcaster TRT has removed a commentator from its World Cup roster after he mixed up Iran and New Zealand‘s teams. TRT said in a statement late on Tuesday that the commentator, identified by Turkish media as Murat Ekrem Çimen, had been withdrawn from the World Cup broadcast team in the U.S. pending investigation. It added that he would not continue to comment on matches during the…

World Cup attendance record broken by four matches on same day

The four World Cup matches on Tuesday set a new record for the most attended day in the history of the tournament. A new mark of 281,223 eclipsed the previous record of 277,070 set at the 1994 World Cup in the United States, which also featured four matches. The combined figure came from matches between France and Senegal (80,545), Argentina and Algeria (69,045), Austria and Jordan (68,527) and Iraq and…

Lyndon Dykes names Scotland teammate least likely to copy his shaved head at World Cup

Lyndon Dykes confirmed his Scotland team-mates’ preference for his shaved-head look after recently returning to a familiar appearance for the World Cup. The 30-year-old Charlton striker has alternated his hairstyle over the years but arrived in North America with his hair again shorn. Dykes came off the bench in the 1-0 opening Group C win against Haiti in Boston on Saturday night and hopes for more game time on Friday…

Cristiano Ronaldo preparing for sixth World Cup with same enthusiasm as first – Roberto Martinez

Portugal head coach Roberto Martinez has said that Cristiano Ronaldo is showing so much intensity and enthusiasm in training it seems as though he is preparing for his first World Cup, not a record-equalling sixth tournament. Once he appears in Portugal’s first game, Ronaldo will join Argentina captain Lionel Messi as the only men to play in six World Cups. Despite being a European Champion and five-time Champions League winner,…

Who is the referee for England vs. Croatia, and why did Thomas Tuchel previously call him ‘Grade E?’

The referee set to officiate England‘s World Cup opener against Croatia, Clement Turpin, was once referred to by head coach Thomas Tuchel as a “Grade E” official. So who is Turpin and why did Tuchel give him a “one out of 10” rating? The French official sent the German off during Bayern Munich‘s quarterfinal second leg against Manchester City in 2023, after he was shown two yellow cards. “Two things…

Argentina’s Scaloni at loss for words on record-setting Messi

Argentina national team manager Lionel Scaloni was left in awe after Lionel Messi‘s hat trick propelled La Albiceleste to a 3-0 victory over Algeria in their opening match of the 2026 World Cup. “At a loss for words about Leo. What can I say? He’s incredible,” Scaloni said after the match. Messi made history on Tuesday night when tying the record for most World Cup goals at 16 with Miroslav…

Socceroos star Mabil sends message to refugees: ‘We are with you’

ALAMEDA, California — Awer Mabil believes that a viral video documenting the diversity of the Socceroos found an audience in an Australian community that saw their own experiences reflected in it. And in Refugee Week, the South Sudanese-refugee has sent a message to displaced people the world over that they are not alone, and that “everything is possible.” Mabil, 30, was front and centre in a video distributed by Australian…