While You Were Sleeping: Messi scores again, Congo do unthinkable, Algeria and Austria play out classic...
HISTORY MAKERS: Congo DR players celebrate with supporters after securing a place in the knockout stages. Picture: Molly Darlington/Getty
Jude Bellingham dragged England out of a rainy New Jersey grind on Saturday, scoring one goal and creating another for Harry Kane as Thomas Tuchel's side beat Panama 2-0 to top Group L and avoid a nervy route through the World Cup knockout phase.
England finished with seven points, ahead of Croatia on six, after their 2-1 win against Ghana, who ended on four. Panama lost all three matches and finished bottom. England will play one of the eight best third-placed teams in the Round of 32.
ENGLAND BREAK THE DEADLOCK! 🔓
— ITV Football (@itvfootball) June 27, 2026
Jude Bellingham taps in from a corner... The Three Lions top the group as it stands pic.twitter.com/WVtY6x5Qbb
After a flat first half and a frustrating hour in which England dominated possession without cutting Panama open, Bellingham finally forced the breakthrough in the 62nd minute.
HARRY KANE MAKES IT TWO! 🏴
— ITV Football (@itvfootball) June 27, 2026
Bellingham turns provider and suddenly England are cruising
Kane becomes England's all-time top scorer at World Cup finals pic.twitter.com/cWdElDoCN2
Read the full match report here.
Pickford; Quansah (Spence 63), Konsa, Guehi, O'Reilly; Anderson (Henderson 84); Saka (Madueke 63), Rogers, Bellingham (Eze 71), Rashford; Kane (Watkins 84).
Quansah.
Mosquera; Murillo, Escobar, Cordoba, Andrade, Gutierrez (Davis 88); Martinez, Harvey (Quintero 88), Barcenas (Diaz 71), JL Rodriguez (Londono 71); T Rodriguez (Fajardo 45).
Andrade, Fajardo.
Abdulrahman Al-Jassim (Qatar).
Jude Bellingham (England).
"The tournament starts again now in the knockouts. Now we collect our strengths and energy and build on what we have — we have the team spirit, fighting and belief. We will step up. The bigger the games get, the bigger we will get."
"I am proud of how the team played under my direction. Although we played well, we didn't get points, we didn't get goals."
Harry Kane became England’s all-time leading goalscorer at the FIFA World Cup with 11 goals, overtaking Gary Lineker (10) - OptaAnalyst.
Make no mistake: England will be going home if they continue to defend like this against anyone with a functioning attack. Tuchel will not be fooled. Although his team secured top spot in Group L by wearing down Panama in the end, an achievement mainly down to Jude Bellingham again stepping up with two moments of class after a skittish first half, England were far from convincing and spent long spells demonstrating that anyone who thought an unusually gung-ho lineup would provide a vision of a post-Declan Rice world was sorely mistaken.
Nikola Vlasic headed in Luka Modric’s 83rd-minute corner to lift Croatia to a 2-1 victory over Ghana on Saturday and a second-place finish in World Cup Group L.
Vlasic’s perfect finish off the inside of the left post came 10 minutes after Derrick Luckassen had pulled Ghana level on his international debut, with half the time in between spent on a VAR review determining whether he was onside.
A beautiful strike from Croatia's Petar Sučić 🚀 pic.twitter.com/GGiTFab8Ix
— ITV Football (@itvfootball) June 27, 2026
Petar Susic scored early for Croatia, who needed only a draw to reach the last 32. Claiming the second-place spot guaranteed the 2022 third-place finishers a meeting with the second-placed team in Group K, most likely Portugal or Colombia, on Thursday in Toronto.
A four-minute VAR check is needed but it confirms Derrick Luckassen, volleys Ghana level against Croatia pic.twitter.com/yONQxVp6e0
— ITV Football (@itvfootball) June 27, 2026
A textbook assist from Luka Modric sees Nikola Vlasic put Croatia in front against Ghana
— ITV Football (@itvfootball) June 27, 2026
That celebration 😛 pic.twitter.com/B8Fgll3wjV
Read the full match report here.
Livakovic; Stanisic, Sutalo, Pongracic, Perisic; Modric, Kovacic (Mario Pasalic 78); Vlasic (Gvardiol 88), Sucic, Baturina (Marco Pasalic 88); Budimir (Matanovic 66).
Perisic.
Asare; Senaya, Adjetey (Oppong 45), Luckassen, Mensah; Partey; Semenyo, Owusu (Fatawu 45), Sibo (Yirenkyi 85), Sulemana (Nuamah 71); Ayew (Thomas-Asante 71).
Oppong.
Drew Fischer (Canada).
Petar Sucic (Croatia).
"Luka was truly fantastic ... That's his character and his energy. He's aware that this is the last World Cup and he's trying to do his best ... I hope that he will be healthy and that he stays with the Croatians for as long as possible."
"With so many teams qualifying for the World Cup, I think the value of the competition in terms of being rare to be in the World Cup, is, in my opinion, still debatable. Even the qualification matches in Europe and Africa, they start to lose significance, meaning, because everybody is qualified."
Luka Modric (40y 291d) is the oldest player on record (since 1966) to provide an assist at the FIFA World Cup.
The AC Milan midfielder, now 40 years old, still has plenty of tricks up his sleeve, as he proved against Ghana with an assist for Croatia's winner to push his country into the knockout phase. In trademark Modric style, the former Ballon d'Or winner whipped in a perfect corner right onto the crown on Nikola Vlasic who nodded into the bottom left corner.
Modric has been the standout orchestrator for Croatia once again at the 2026 finals, becoming the oldest player in the competition's history to provide an assist. However, Modric's most important action involved the midfielder blocking a Ghana effort in his own penalty area in stoppage time that denied the African side what would have otherwise been a certain goal. A true role model.
🗞️ Group L standings are in as England, Croatia and Ghana head to the Round of 32! ➡️#FIFAWorldCup
— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) June 27, 2026
Colombia and Portugal played out a breathless 0-0 draw that was anything but dull to a wall of sound at Miami Stadium on Saturday with both teams advancing to the last 32 of the World Cup as the top two in Group K.
The Colombians will rue their profligacy in front of goal but take encouragement from dominating quality European opposition for large periods as they head off to Kansas City as group winners to take on Ghana on Friday.
Davinson Sánchez came THIS close to securing all three points for Colombia 🇨🇴 pic.twitter.com/nzfrxZpm7m
— ITV Football (@itvfootball) June 28, 2026
Read the full match report here.
Vargas; S Arias (Munoz 87), Sanchez, Lucumi, Machado; J Arias (Castano 76), Lerma (Rios 60), Puerta; Rodriguez (Quintero 76), Cordoba (Suarez 60), Diaz.
Puerta.
D Costa; Cancelo (Dalot 45), Dias, Veiga, Mendes (Nunes 90); R Neves (J Neves 45), Vitinha (S Costa 70); Neto, Fernandes, Felix (Leao 70); Ronaldo.
Alireza Faghani (Iran).
Diogo Costa (Portugal).
"Cristiano is used to being in the right place at the right time. It's more a question of mentally being strong and always being disciplined in his position. There is no issue, physically or mentally, for Cristiano in today's game to play the 90 minutes. Maybe the next game we need to make a change, but that's like any other player."
"Truth be told, I believe people are hopeful. The other day I said that when they hired me, they hired me to qualify, and now people want you to win the World Cup."
Cristiano Ronaldo has been called offside 11 times over the last two FIFA World Cups, four more than any other player (France’s Kylian Mbappé & Colombia’s Luis Díaz – 7 each).
This contest was the hottest ticket in town:
Portugal vs Colombia is reportedly the most in-demand group stage match at the World Cup, with resale tickets at over ,000 😳 pic.twitter.com/7Tcx9qxRAM
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) June 27, 2026
While wonderful and typical theatre, it was plainly ridiculous. “I’m back!” roared Cristiano Ronaldo, as if playing a key part in Portugal’s dismissal of Uzbekistan was in any way significant. Ronaldo toiled against DR Congo and was comfortably kept quiet here by Colombia. The stars have turned up at this World Cup. Ronaldo, though, still has a way to go if seeking to prove his omnipresence at this tournament will not hinder Portuguese hopes of glory. Ronaldo actually wants to be in the same discussion as Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappé and Erling Haaland. He once was. Now? It is a tricky point to enforce.
Striker Yoane Wissa netted twice as the Democratic Republic of Congo reached the World Cup knockouts after fighting their way back from a halftime deficit to win 3-1 against Uzbekistan on Saturday and set up a last-32 meeting with England.
A penalty from Wissa and an opportunist finish from substitute striker Fiston Mayele saw the Congolese turn around the score with two goals in the space of 10 second-half minutes before Wissa got his second a minute into stoppage time.
The victory ensured DR Congo finished third in Group K, behind Colombia and Portugal, and they will now stay in Atlanta and take on England on Wednesday.
Read the full match report here.
Watch the best of the bunch below:
How’s he done that 🤯
— Match of the Day (@BBCMOTD) June 28, 2026
Eldor Shomurodov opened the scoring for Uzbekistan, and it was some finish. pic.twitter.com/sx9PSbUUL1
The goal that sealed Congo DR's place in the knockout stages 🇨🇩⚽
— Match of the Day (@BBCMOTD) June 28, 2026
Congo DR reached the round of 32 at the World Cup for the first time in their history. pic.twitter.com/JAsaR0PzT1
Mpasi; Wan-Bissaka, Mbemba, Tuanzebe, Masuaku (Kayembe 83); Mbuku (Elia 72), Moutoussamy (Mukau 72), Sadiki, Cipenga (Bongonda 72); Bakambu (Mayele 51), Wissa.
Mbuku, Moutoussamy, Sadiki.
Nematov; Ashurmatov, Khusanov, Urozov (Sergeev 82); Alijonov, Mozgovoy (Iskanderov 82), Shukurov (Khamrobekov 59), Nasrullaev; Khamdamov (Ganiev 59), Fayzullaev (Urunov 73); Shomurodov.
Khusanov, Nasrullaev.
Felix Zwayer (Germany).
Yoane Wissa (DR Congo).
“We’ll start work immediately on preparing. We’ve got a few players in the squad who play at clubs in the English league, so they will help us, but we’ll prepare in the best way we can for what is going to be a very big match for us."
A unique way to celebrate Congo DR's qualification to the last-32! 😂 pic.twitter.com/kCOrYhBq89
— Match of the Day (@BBCMOTD) June 28, 2026
"We made some mistakes, of course, but I cannot complain about my players. I never will complain about my players because I know and I told you, you were in the press conference and you know what I said the first day when we saw the draw. The World Cup is brutal. They gave everything? Yes. They are sad in the changing room. Wow, my friend, believe me. They suffer more than anyone in Uzbekistan."
Yoane Wissa scored Congo DR’s first two all-time goals in the FIFA World Cup. The only other player to score an African nation’s first two all-time World Cup goals was Abdelrahman Fawzi for Egypt in 1934 - OptaAnalyst.
Group K standings are set 🔒 #FIFAWorldCup
— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) June 28, 2026
Mercurial Lionel Messi became the first player to score in seven consecutive World Cup matches as a largely second-string Argentina continued their winning ways with a 3-1 victory over Jordan in their Group J clash in Dallas on Saturday.
Lionel Scaloni made nine changes to the line-up that beat Austria but goals from Giovani Lo Celso, Lautaro Martinez and Messi, who started on the bench, sealed a victory that sent a warning to Cape Verde, their opponents in the round of 32.
No Messi, no problem!
— Match of the Day (@BBCMOTD) June 28, 2026
There's no doubt Argentina's captain would've loved to take this free-kick, but Giovani Lo Celso places it perfectly in his absence 👌 pic.twitter.com/6y6p8BvcFs
Lo Celso gave Argentina the lead against the already eliminated Jordanians in the 19th minute with a curling free kick before Martinez doubled the advantage from the penalty spot 12 minutes later.
A first World Cup goal for Argentina's Lautaro Martinez, as the Inter Milan star converts from the spot 🎯 pic.twitter.com/H9gXa94nDy
— ITV Football (@itvfootball) June 28, 2026
Who else? 😏
— ITV Football (@itvfootball) June 28, 2026
Lionel Messi gets his sixth goal of the 2026 World Cup!! 🇦🇷 pic.twitter.com/XYfHXzLDvP
Read full match report here.
Al-Laila; Nasib, Al-Arab, Abudahab (Obaid 90); Haddad, Al-Rashdan (Jamous 76), Al-Rawabdeh, Abu Taha; Azaizeh (Tamari 45), Olwan (Sharara 90); Al-Fakhouri (Al-Mardi 45).
Al-Arab, Abu Taha, Sharara.
E Martinez; Palacios, Otamendi, Senesi, Tagliafico; Simeome (Barco 71), Paz (McAllister 61), Paredes, Lo Celso (Almada 60); Lautaro Martinez (Messi 60), Alvarez (Lopez 82).
Istvan Kovacs (Romania).
Giovani Lo Celso (Argentina).
"What we were looking for was the boys who had not played to have minutes, because the truth is they deserve it. I'm happy because we gave minutes to everyone and that's very important for us."
“We are out of the competition but proud of what we have achieved as a first experience. We went in wanting to learn as many lessons as possible and we did that.”
Jordan are the first team to score in each of their first three FIFA World Cup matches since Côte d’Ivoire in 2006.
Austria and Algeria played out an incredible 3-3 draw in Kansas City, both sides progressing to the knockout phase thanks to a last-gasp goal from Austrian substitute Sasa Kalajdzic.
There was some concern ahead of kick-off that there would be little competitive action on the pitch, with a draw guaranteeing both sides a spot in the last 32.
Those fears were extinguished in the early stages, which featured end-to-end action before Austria opened the scoring in the 27th minute through Marko Arnautovic.
Read the full match report here.
Here's the best of:
Sabitzer, 55:
"Sabitzer with a howitzer!!” 🇦🇹
— ITV Football (@itvfootball) June 28, 2026
How about this strike from Austria's Marcel Sabitzer 🚀 pic.twitter.com/oO58b3PGb4
Mahrez, 90+3
Riyad Mahrez puts Algeria ahead in added time with his second goal of the match 🇩🇿 pic.twitter.com/kgJ0A86yur
— ITV Football (@itvfootball) June 28, 2026
Kalajdzic, 90+6:
AUSTRIA SURVIVE!!
— ITV Football (@itvfootball) June 28, 2026
Saša Kalajdžić keeps their World Cup dreams alive with a 96th minute equaliser!! WOW!! pic.twitter.com/YQsES0sgyw
Benbot; Belghali (Chergui 71), Mandi, Bensebaini, Hadjam (Ait-Nouri 71); Chaibi, Bentaleb; Mahrez, Maza, Aouar (Ghedjemis 90); Gouiri (Belaid 71).
Schlager; Posch, Lienhart, Alaba (Danso 62), Mwene (Kalajdžić 90); Seiwald, Schlager (Grillitsch 45); Laimer, Schmid (Wanner 45), Sabitzer; Arnautovic (Gregoritsch 45).
Arnautovic.
Ilgiz Tantashev (Uzbekistan).
Riyad Mahrez (Algeria).
Austria have advanced beyond the initial group stage for the first time since 1982. That edition was hosted by Spain, who will be Austria’s opponent in the Round of 32 - OptaAnalyst.
Argentina finish on 🔝 of Group J!#FIFAWorldCup
— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) June 28, 2026
Here is every team that made it to the KO Phase:
Every team in the Round of 32!#FIFAWorldCup #Qualified | @Mcdonalds pic.twitter.com/I93Rzj0H3k
— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) June 28, 2026
Democratic Republic of Congo superfan Michel Kuka Mboladinga could not make it for his country’s dramatic World Cup win over Uzbekistan on Saturday, but there was an impersonator happy to stand in.
Mboladinga has won worldwide notoriety for standing motionless in the stands, looking eerily like the statue in Kinshasa of the country's first Prime Minister, Patrice Lumumba, a revered figure in DR Congo after being killed in 1961.
Mboladinga bears a remarkable resemblance to Lumumba, wearing colourful suits with his country's colours, but after supporting the Congolese in their last match in Mexico, he failed to get a visa for their must-win game in Atlanta against Uzbekistan, where they won 3-1 to advance to the last 32.
Enock Kabwende, a 28-year-old impersonator, stepped in, also looking like Lumumba but in a dark suit embellished with leopard print.
"I want to keep the culture going," Kabwende told Reuters, standing at the very top row of the stadium and getting fleeting exposure on the stadium’s giant television screen, eliciting a huge cheer from the almost 69,000-strong crowd.
"He didn't come here, but we have to represent our country. Patrice Lumumba represents liberty, strong power, prosperity, and freedom in our country,” Kabwende said.
If the real ‘Lumumba Vea’ is able to get a visa for DR Congo’s next match against England in Atlanta on Wednesday, Kabwende said he hoped they could stand together. "We are family," he added.
Scotland are looking for a new head coach after Steve Clarke stepped down from his post following their exit from the 2026 World Cup.
A statement on the national team’s official Twitter account read: “Scotland Men’s Head Coach Steve Clarke has stepped down from his role.
“Our most successful National Team Head Coach has called time on his seven years in charge following our participation at the FIFA World Cup 2026.” Clarke led Scotland to three out of the last four major tournaments and it was the national team’s first appearance in the World Cup finals since 1998.
In a lengthy open letter to supporters on the Scottish FA’s website, the 62-year-old said: “The most emotional part of this goodbye is for my players, without whom we wouldn’t have had any of the memories that we’ve accumulated from 2019 until now.
“They deserve all the praise and adulation that they receive and it was truly an honour to be called their Gaffer.
“Thanks for having me and good luck to my successor.” Ian Maxwell, Scottish FA chief executive, thanked Clarke for his “record-breaking contribution”.
He said: “While we are all disappointed to have exited the World Cup at the group stage, we must not lose sight of the undeniable progress made during Steve’s seven years in charge.
“From starting as a pot four team in 2019 to topping our World Cup qualifying group, he has more than delivered on the remit to take Scotland back to a major tournament.
“We thank Steve for his record-breaking contribution and know that when the disappointment of World Cup elimination subsides, the Scotland supporters will be thankful for the memories of marching with pride at major tournaments once again.”
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