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ARLINGTON, Texas — Lionel Messi will start Argentina‘s final group stage match against Jordan on Saturday from the substitutes’ bench, coach Lionel Scaloni said. “Leo will be a substitute tomorrow, to play later. We’ll announce the team tomorrow,” Scaloni said during Friday’s news conference ahead of the game at AT&T Stadium. – How can teams qualify for knockout rounds? – FIFA World Cup match schedule – Hunger, neglect, sexual abuse:…

Austria and Algeria have both insisted they will be going for a victory when the two teams face off on Saturday, despite other results potentially being more beneficial to their knockout round draw. By the time Austria and Algeria begin their Group J finale, both will know how the knockout bracket looks, and what the consequences will be for finishing second or third behind group winners Argentina. – Why Algeria…

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Didier Deschamps will fly back to Boston on Saturday and be reunited with the France squad after missing the 4-1 win against Norway on Friday to attend the funeral of his mother. “I have big thoughts for Didier. We are happy that he comes back,” said France assistant Guy Stephan, who oversaw the win with Deschamps away. “He will be with us tomorrow at training. Our duo…

Thomas Tuchel has confirmed Reece James will miss Saturday’s Group L finale against Panama, but Elliot Anderson and Declan Rice are available to start. All three players picked up issues in Wednesday’s 0-0 draw with Ghana but only James failed to travel to New Jersey, where England will aim to seal top spot with a win. “Reecey has a minor hamstring issue,” Tuchel said. “He was not able to train…

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Norway coach Stale Solbakken said his decision to rest ten first-team players including Erling Haaland against France was a “no-brainer” due to medical tests showing fatigue affecting several members of his squad. After making wholesale changes in Boston, Norway lost 4-1 against the World Cup favourites to finish as runners-up in Group I and head for a round of 32 tie against Ivory Coast on Tuesday. Solbakken’s…

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — France forward Ousmane Dembélé scored a first-half hat trick, including one off an assist from Kylian Mbappé, to give his team a 3-1 lead over Norway at the FIFA World Cup on Friday. Dembélé’s goals came in the seventh, 20th and 32nd minutes. It was the first first-half hat trick at the World Cup since Russia forward Oleg Salenko scored three of his five goals in the…

Former Germany player Bastian Schweinsteiger said Friday he was talking about Ivory Coast’s style and not its players when he spoke last weekend about what his country’s national team could expect from its African opponent during their World Cup group match. Schweinsteiger called it, “A bit African football, a bit unorthodox, a bit wild, a bit perhaps also not so conditioned by tactics” and added it was unpredictable. Ivory Coast…

England striker Ivan Toney has said his “clear the air” talks with Thomas Tuchel were over a misunderstanding of each other’s personalities. Toney’s World Cup dream looked over after he played just two minutes of last summer’s June camp — and then did not feature again until Tuchel surprisingly recalled him for the summer tournament. The German said he was disappointed with “the level of commitment” Toney had shown, but…

Panama’s preparations for their World Cup clash with England on Saturday were overshadowed by a training ground confrontation between two players. The Central Americans are already eliminated from the tournament after losing their first two games. They close their Group L campaign against Thomas Tuchel’s side at the MetLife Stadium, but their pre-match training session saw Cecilio Waterman and José Luis Rodríguez clash. – Who is playing in the 2026…