FIFA World Cup 2026 - players.bio

Australia draw with Paraguay to clinch World Cup last 32 place

SANTA CLARA: Australia qualified for the World Cup knockout rounds on Thursday after battling to a 0-0 draw with Paraguay in Santa Clara to claim second place in Group D. The Socceroos, who defeated Turkiye in their opening match before losing to the United States, were never seriously threatened on their way to securing a point to reach the last 32 at the Levi’s Stadium in northern California. It marks only the third time that Australia have advanced beyond the group stage in seven appearances at the World Cup. The draw also left Paraguay firmly on course for the knockout rounds as one of the eight best third-placed teams in the group stage. The United States had already secured top spot in Group D despite their 3-2 defeat to Turkiye in Los Angeles on Thursday.

Arab teams at World Cup 2026: Tunisia boss Renard has ‘no regrets’ despite World Cup flop

KANSAS: Herve Renard said Thursday he had no regrets about taking on the job as Tunisia’s emergency coach at the World Cup despite the North African nation’s catastrophic campaign. Tunisia were beaten 3-1 by the Netherlands in Kansas City on Thursday, following a 5-1 defeat against Sweden and a 4-0 reverse against Japan to finish bottom of Group F. Veteran French coach Renard was hired last week after Sabri Lamouchi was fired following their opening loss but he was unable to stop the rot. Speaking after the defeat against the Dutch, the 57-year-old delivered a frank assessment of Tunisia’s lack of quality. “We were not at the level for this World Cup,” he said. “This is clear.

US uses Pulisic as substitute, sends out 9 new starters vs. Turkiye in World Cup group finale

INGLEWOOD, Calif: Christian Pulisic came on as a second-half substitute in the United States’ final World Cup group match against Turkiye on Thursday night. The Americans sent out nine new starters for this meaningless game with their knockout-round place already secured, but Pulisic replaced Tim Weah in the 58th minute for his first game action since the first half of their 4-1 victory over Paraguay nearly two weeks ago. Pulisic said this week that he is ready to play again after coming out at halftime with a calf injury in the Americans’ home World Cup opener. The AC Milan midfielder entered the 2-2 game to an enormous roar from the sellout crowd at SoFi Stadium, and he created a scoring opportunity just a couple of minutes later with a dynamic run down the left side. Pulisic nearly scored again in the 63rd minute, but his quick shot off a nice pass from Sebastian Berhalter was knocked off the goalpost by Turkiye goalkeeper Ugurcan Cakir, and Brenden Aaronson botched his follow-up chance. The American team has already won its group and clinched a matchup with Bosnia-Herzegovina in the Round of 32 next week, so coach Mauricio Pochettino used this meaningless final match to give playing time to the second string on his 26-man squad. Auston Trusty scored for the Americans in the third minute, but Turkiye took a 2-1 lead into halftime.

Tunisia head home from 2026 World Cup after 3-1 defeat by the Netherlands

DUBAI: The Netherlands marched into the 2026 World Cup Round of 32 as Group F winners after a 3-1 win over a Tunisian side that heads home from the tournament with no points, 12 goals conceded and only two scored.

Japan and Sweden play to 1-1 draw as both advance to knockout round at the World Cup

ARLINGTON, Texas: Daizen Maeda gave Japan the lead and Anthony Elanga took it away six minutes later, helping Sweden to a 1-1 draw Thursday night that sent both teams to the knockout round of the World Cup. Elanga’s impressive left-footed strike from just outside the right corner of the box in the 62nd minute was his second goal of this year’s tournament. Elanga has scored only three goals in 49 games for Newcastle, but zero in 32 Premier League matches. Six minutes earlier, Maeda settled a nifty pass from Ritsu Doan with his left foot in the penalty area and easily beat Jacob Widell Zetterstrom with his right foot. It was Japan’s seventh goal of the tournament, the country’s most for an entire World Cup.

Pepe steers Ivory Coast into World Cup last 32 as Curacao go home

PHILADELPHIA: Nicolas Pepe scored twice as Ivory Coast beat Curacao 2-0 on Thursday to reach the World Cup knockout rounds for the first time ever and bring the tiny Caribbean country’s run at the tournament to an end. Former Arsenal forward Pepe, now playing in Spain for Villarreal, opened the scoring for the Elephants after just seven minutes in Philadelphia and netted again just after the hour mark. Ivory Coast finish with six points in Group E with this victory following their opening 1-0 win over Ecuador and a 2-1 loss to Germany. They therefore go through in second place behind Germany on head-to-head — the Germans lost 2-1 to Ecuador in New Jersey at the same time. The 2024 African champions had never previously got out of their group in three previous appearances at the World Cup, and their reward for this historic performance is a last-32 tie next Tuesday in Dallas. That will be against the runners-up in Group I, which means a very tough test against either France — the country where Pepe and several other Ivorian players were born — or Norway. Curacao, with its population of barely 160,000, had already made history just by being at the World Cup, but the smallest nation ever to reach the finals go home after finishing bottom of the section without a win. Dick Advocaat’s team were thrashed 7-1 by Germany on their tournament debut, but the high point came in their next game as they withstood a barrage to hold Ecuador to a 0-0 draw. They couldn’t repeat that performance here, but still did their fans proud in a game watched by a sell-out crowd of 68,324 at Lincoln Financial Field — such an attendance on a Thursday afternoon is proof that the World Cup has definitely made its mark on the United States. Orange

Ecuador edge Germany to squeeze into World Cup last 32

EAST RUTHERFORD, United States: Ecuador kept their World Cup campaign alive as Gonzalo Plata’s winner completed a memorable come-from-behind 2-1 victory over Germany to send them through to the last 32 on Thursday. Leroy Sane controversially fired Germany ahead less than two minutes into the Group E clash, but Ecuador hit back through a fine strike from Sunderland winger Nilson Angulo. Plata then prodded home from close range 13 minutes from time, sparking wild celebrations among a largely Ecuadorian crowd in New Jersey as the South Americans ensured they will advance as one of the eight best third-placed teams. Germany will travel to Foxborough for their last-32 tie against another third-placed finisher on Monday, in their first World Cup knockout match since lifting the trophy in 2014. Julian Nagelsmann made two injury-enforced changes with Antonio Rudiger replacing Nico Schlotterbeck after the Borussia Dortmund defender was ruled out of the World Cup with ankle ligament damage. David Raum came in for Nathaniel Brown at left-back, but Nagelsmann resisted the temptation to start Deniz Undav despite his heroics off the bench against Ivory Coast when he scored both goals in the 2-1 win. Germany, with top spot in the group already assured, took the lead in a manner that enraged an Ecuador side fighting to stay in the tournament after picking up just one point in their first two games. Sane swept in a first-time shot from Florian Wirtz’s lay-off in the area, but Ecuador were incensed that a foul was not given earlier in the move, when Aleksandar Pavlovic caught Pedro Vite in the head with a high boot. The decision to let the goal stand sparked a furious reaction from Ecuador, who levelled seven minutes later as Angulo

Demolition greets Sweden at its World Cup base camp during FC Dallas renovation project

TEXAS, USA: No, a storm didn’t roll through Sweden’s base camp at the World Cup. It’s just a home renovation. The Swedes were taken by surprise seeing mangled metal and other demolished construction material on one side of Toyota Stadium — the home of MLS team FC Dallas — during their training session Wednesday night. “I just thought, ‘what happened?’ As far as I knew there hadn’t been any storm,” Sweden midfielder Besfort Zeneli told Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet. That scheduled work, done earlier in the day before Sweden’s session, is part of a years-long renovation project at the stadium. That area has been blocked off since before Sweden started using the stadium as their base camp after arriving in the United States in early June. The construction has had no impact on the pitch or any facilities being used by the team in Frisco, Texas, about 30 miles north of downtown Dallas. Still, that very visible demolition from the latest work caught some players by surprise when they arrived for training ahead of their final Group F match against Japan. FC Dallas said in a statement Thursday that the work “was part of a planned and controlled demolition within an active construction zone.

Contacts

FIFA World Cup 2026 Sport News

Australia draw with Paraguay to clinch World Cup last 32 place

Arab teams at World Cup 2026: Tunisia boss Renard has ‘no regrets’ despite World Cup flop

US uses Pulisic as substitute, sends out 9 new starters vs. Turkiye in World Cup group finale

Tunisia head home from 2026 World Cup after 3-1 defeat by the Netherlands

Japan and Sweden play to 1-1 draw as both advance to knockout round at the World Cup

Pepe steers Ivory Coast into World Cup last 32 as Curacao go home

Ecuador edge Germany to squeeze into World Cup last 32

Demolition greets Sweden at its World Cup base camp during FC Dallas renovation project