Blog

June 19 : Elena Rybakina has suffered another setback in her Wimbledon preparations after withdrawing from the Bad Homburg Open with a hip issue, tournament organisers said on Friday.

The world number two pulled out a day after a surprise round-of-16 defeat to 35th-ranked Alexandra Eala at the Berlin Open.

“Unfortunately, I have to withdraw from Bad Homburg due to some discomfort in my right hip,” Rybakina, 27, said in a story shared by the tournament’s official Instagram page.

“I need to consult with my medical team and undergo further assessment before making any decisions about the next steps. Thank you for your understanding and support.”

The 2022 Wimbledon champion has now lost three of her last four matches, a run that began with a second-round defeat to Yuliia Starodubtseva at the French Open. 

On grass, she won her opening match at Queen’s Club before losing to Katie Boulter in the quarter-finals, and then fell 7-5 6-4 to Eala in Berlin on Thursday.

Rybakina is 32-10 this season, having won titles at the Australian Open and Stuttgart, but will now focus on regaining fitness ahead of Wimbledon, which begins on June 29, as she bids for a second title at the All England Club.

LONDON, June 19 : French player Corentin Moutet has lost nearly all his prize money from the Queen’s Club tournament after being fined for an expletive-laden post-match interview.

Moutet was fined $40,000 for swearing seven times while being interviewed on court by the BBC following his opening-round win over compatriot Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard.

In a statement the ATP said the 27-year-old was punished for unsportsmanlike conduct but has appealed.

Moutet, who lost his next match to Spain’s Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, made $43,000 for reaching the second round.

The world number 36 was asked by the interviewer not to repeat the swear word after uttering it to describe being aced on match point by a 142mph second serve.

He then said it three more times before the interview was cut short and apologies were made to the crowd and TV viewers. Afterwards he wrote on Instagram that he was ‘just joking’.

Moutet has found himself in disciplinary trouble before.

In 2022 he was defaulted from the Adelaide International for swearing at the umpire in a match against Serbia’s Laslo Djere.

The French Tennis Federation (FFT) also cut him off that year because of issues with his behaviour.

June 19 : Norway’s players have mounted a strong defence of captain Martin Odegaard following intense domestic media criticism of his performance in their opening match at the World Cup.

Odegaard struggled in the 4-1 win against Iraq on Tuesday, appearing off the pace and failing to produce his usual creative fluency. He did, however, provide the assist for Leo Ostigard to head in Norway’s third goal before being substituted nine minutes from time.

Norwegian commentators rated the midfielder poorly, with television pundits pointing to recent injury struggles, but his teammates strongly defended the Arsenal player ahead of their match against Senegal.

“It is nonsense,” defender David Moller Wolfe told Norwegian TV2. “He is one of our most important players and one of the best Norwegian footballers of all time. We know how important he has been over a very long period.”

Winger Jens Petter Hauge said the squad remained unfazed by the media scrutiny and midfielder Kristian Thorstvedt dismissed the criticism as “rubbish”, emphasising Odegaard’s vital leadership role on and off the pitch.

Norway’s player liaison officer Brede Hangeland acknowledged that the team had room for individual improvement.

“I think many players felt after the Iraq game that they had more to give individually, and I think Martin would be completely honest about that too,” Hangeland said. “We expect that we will look stronger both individually and collectively in the next match.”

Norway play Senegal on Tuesday and France on June 26.

VANCOUVER,, June 19 : Canada midfielder Ismael Kone expressed his gratitude to God, his teammates and their fans after suffering a broken leg in his side’s 6-0 thrashing of Qatar in World Cup Group B on Thursday. 

The 24-year-old was caught by ​a clumsy second-half tackle from Qatar’s Assim Madibo, and underwent surgery to repair the damage. 

“Your love and support has been felt, honestly thank you so much. You can’t even imagine, how grateful I am to everyone who reached out and that has me in their prayers. I thank god for that because not everyone is this fortunate,” Kone wrote on Instagram on Friday. 

Several of Kone’s teammates looked on in shock as he received treatment on the field before having his leg placed in an inflatable support. 

“I wanted you to know that I love you guys from the bottom of my heart and our brotherhood is everything to me,” Kone wrote.

“What you guys did yesterday will stay with me forever. I’ll be back very soon and we’ll keep making more memories together.”

Canada are due to train at the National Soccer Development Centre at the University of British Columbia on Friday before having a team barbecue. Their final group game against Switzerland is on June 24. 

CHATTANOOGA, Tennessee, June 19 : Spain winger Lamine Yamal said on Friday he is not yet ready to play a full match at the World Cup as he continues his carefully managed return from a hamstring injury, though the 18-year-old remains available for limited minutes in Sunday’s game against Saudi Arabia.

The Barcelona forward played 25 minutes in Spain’s lacklustre 0-0 draw with Cape Verde in their opening, his first appearance in nearly two months.

Spain face Saudi Arabia on Sunday, with Yamal’s fitness already a central talking point as the European champions look to ignite a campaign that began with a splutter rather than a sparkle.

“I’m fine, I’m feeling good, but it’s too soon, it’s unnecessary; I’m still settling in – it’s not the right time to play a full match yet – but I can play for as many minutes as the manager wants,” Yamal told Spanish public television TVE.

“I want to be on the pitch; at the end of the day, even if you know you can’t play for 90 minutes, you always want to get out there and help the team.”

Yamal, who helped Spain win a record-extending fourth European Championship title in 2024, said the injury had inevitably made him think about the World Cup.

“All players in the final stages of the season – with every injury, you think about the World Cup, and obviously about your team, but the World Cup is always on your mind,” he said.

“After I’ve heard about the injury, thank God the doctors told me I was going to be ready, and here we are, happy. I hope I never get injured again.”

Spain’s draw with Cape Verde prompted criticism, but Yamal said the reaction should not become a drama.

“It’s best to move on,” he said. “There was a bit of a fuss over a draw, but in the end lots of teams have struggled in the first round – it doesn’t mean anything.

“Obviously, we have to win on Sunday because we’re among the favourites, but just because you’ve drawn doesn’t mean you’re one of the worst teams in the World Cup.”

ATLANTA, June 19 : Algeria have lodged a complaint about alleged poor refereeing during their 3-0 World Cup defeat by Argentina this week, a source with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters on Friday.

Algeria sent a letter to FIFA’s refereeing commission, with particular reference to the first-half incident when Argentina’s Lionel Messi stood on the calf of Algeria captain Aissa Mandi.

Algeria supporters screamed for Messi to be sent off as he caught Mandi from behind flush on the calf with a raised boot, but the forward was not punished and went on to score a hat-trick.

Algeria also allege an elbow from Argentina midfielder Alexis Mac Allister in the face of Ibrahim Maza in the second half of the Group J clash in Kansas City went unpunished by Poland’s Szymon Marciniak.

The experienced referee, who was in charge of the 2022 World Cup final in Qatar in which Argentina beat France on penalties, was within a meter of the incident when Mac Allister appeared to body-check Maza with a raised elbow.

RAISES QUESTIONS

Algeria’s complaint raises questions about Marciniak’s performance and that of his VAR team, led by compatriot Tomasz Kwiatkowski.

The Messi incident caused a social media storm with fans debating whether his star status played any part in a lack of punishment.

It was also referenced by South Africa coach Hugo Broos when he was asked on Wednesday to react to his midfielder Themba Zwane having his ban at the World Cup extended to three matches after a red card in the opening game against Mexico.

“When I see what happened with Messi, I don’t agree, certainly not, with what happened to my player. When you see the situation, the Mexican player blocked my player, and Themba tried to get over him, and he put his arm over his shoulder. That’s all he does,” said Broos.

“And you get a red card for that and then a three-game suspension? Sorry, but this is much, much, much too severe. I don’t want that Messi gets a red card, because a player of that quality has to be on the pitch as you saw (against Algeria), but what was the difference between that and Zwane?” the coach asked.

Argentina face Austria in Dallas on Monday and Algeria meet Jordan in San Francisco.

SEATTLE, June 19 : United States winger Christian Pulisic will miss Friday’s Group D World Cup game against Australia due to injury, after training separately from his teammates this week.

* Pulisic, who has 83 international caps, was withdrawn at halftime in the opening World Cup game against Paraguay.

* Ricardo Pepi, who came off the bench in the Paraguay game, replaces Pulisic as the only change.

* Socceroos coach Tony Popovic makes two changes from the side which upset Turkey 2-0 in the first match, with goalscorers Nestory Irankunda and Connor Metcalfe on the bench.

* Australia’s 22-year-old goalkeeper Patrick Beach once again starts in place of Mat Ryan; defender Harry Souttar takes the captain’s armband.

Lineups:

United States: Matt Freese; Alex Freeman, Chris Richards, Tim Ream, Antonee Robinson; Tyler Adams, Malik Tillman; Sergino Dest, Weston McKennie, Ricardo Pepi; Folarin Balogun

Australia: Patrick Beach; Jacob Italiano, Alessandro Circati, Harry Souttar, Cameron Burgess, Jordan Bos; Mathew Leckie, Aiden O’Neill, Paul Okon-Engstler, Nishan Velupillay; Mohamed Toure

June 19 : New Zealand and Egypt both came close to securing their first World Cup wins when they drew their opening games at the 2026 tournament, and the two sides meet on Sunday knowing victory would leave them with one foot in the knockout stage. 

With all four teams drawing their first game, Group G remains extremely tight, and the need for a win is all the more pressing for Darren Bazeley’s New Zealand, who were twice pegged back by Iran and who face Belgium in their final group game.

“When you’re leading twice in a game you come away with that ‘what if?’,” he said after his side were held to a stalemate by Iran. “We were probably as close as we’ve ever been to ‌winning a ⁠game at the World Cup, and we couldn’t quite do that today.”

The New Zealanders drew all three games at their previous World Cup appearance in 2010 and looked set for a historic first win against Iran thanks to two goals from Elijah Just. They will be hoping that giant striker Chris Wood can bring his physicality to bear against the Egyptians. 

That could prove to be a tough task against a team that only conceded two goals in their 10-game qualifying campaign and who held Belgium to a 1-1 draw in their opener. 

Mohamed Salah netted nine goals in their qualifying campaign and is again expected to play a key role for Egypt, but coach Hossam Hassan is keen to ease his side’s dependence on the winger. 

“The whole world is waiting to see the face of Egypt as a respected team, with all of the players, with Salah as well. But we don’t want to rely on one single star. We want to rely on the group and work within that framework of a project,” Hassan said prior to the tournament.

Hassan’s intent to build a team for the future would receive a serious boost if they can grab a win over New Zealand that could see them make the World Cup knockout stage.

“I told them (the Egyptian people) that we have to have a new ⁠national identity ​for our national squad … we try to work on the mindset ​of the players, prepare our players and try to build their confidence that they are a strong team.”

VANCOUVER, June 19 : As World Cup fever grips Vancouver, the tournament is proving a tale of two cities for local businesses – with some riding a wave of international customers while others find themselves locked out of the action.

Near BC Place stadium, Coast Crafts is experiencing what owner Kingsley Bailey calls “pandemonium” as football fans from around the globe snap up souvenirs.

“Absolutely amazing. I couldn’t think of it being any worse than what it is now. It’s craziness,” Bailey, originally from Wolverhampton in Britain, told Reuters.

“The customers are from everywhere. They’re from around the world.

“I don’t think the Canadians really knew how big soccer was until they saw Australia v Turkey, with no skin in the game, not from this country, how crazy they went. The fans, it was just pandemonium.”

The souvenir shop has become a magnet for visitors eager for affordable World Cup memorabilia, with Bailey’s homemade “Vancouver BC 2026” fridge magnets proving an unexpected hit.

“My son said, Dad, that’s a loser. You’re not going to make any money on this,” Bailey added.

“And then when he realised what the prices of licensed merchandise were, he came around really quickly because the value was definitely there. Unbelievable. I can’t keep enough of them.”

But FIFA’s strict licensing rules have created headaches for some other entrepreneurs.

Dawn Moulton, who runs Cascadia Natural Pet Supply on Main Street, said she was asked by a distributor to remove references to FIFA from football-themed bears she had advertised online.

“About a year ago, there were many suppliers that contacted the store about FIFA-related materials. There were balls, bears, stuffies, and I chose one (bears) of them, with the wording saying ‘get them in time for FIFA (World Cup)’,” Moulton said.

“Then I posted them on my website as FIFA bears and I was told I needed to change that wording.”

Asked whether it impacted her business, she replied: “Not really. I didn’t buy many of these bears. I bought 30. So my profit would be like 100 dollars. I didn’t really care about these bears. That’s why I was surprised that anybody else really cared about these bears.

“There’s no impact to me now. It’s just business as usual. I’m not going to see any more business.”

She later gave away the remaining bears to a dog rescue.

PLUMMETING FOOT TRAFFIC

For some businesses, the World Cup has meant shutting up shop entirely.

Aquariums West, a tropical fish store near the stadium, is closing for all seven games due to access problems and plummeting foot traffic.

“If customers can’t get here or are unwilling to come, and the soccer fans aren’t going to come in and probably spend any money with us, so that was a hard decision but we had to make it,” manager and partner Kreig LeBlanc said.

“It makes us nervous, losing seven days of income. We are hoping that people support us in between those days. It’s going to be a huge hit, and it’s going to affect our months going forward. Hopefully we can recoup those losses.”

He added there had been little support to offset the disruption.

“There hasn’t really been any meaningful conversation about how it impacts us. We just have to do the best we can and get through it,” LeBlanc said.

NEW YORK, June 19 : Japan and Tunisia will meet on Saturday in the 1,000th soccer World Cup match, FIFA said, with the Group F game at Monterrey Stadium serving as each side’s second fixture at the expanded 48-team tournament.

Japan drew 2-2 with the Netherlands in their opener in Dallas, while Tunisia lost 5-1 to Sweden, also in Monterrey, ahead of the milestone meeting.

• A record 209 teams began qualifying for this tournament, compared with 13 entrants at the first World Cup in 1930.

• Africa and Asia received a combined 17 direct qualifying slots plus two playoff places.

• FIFA granted Oceania a direct World Cup berth for the first time.

• The FIFA Forward programme has channelled more than $5 billion into domestic and regional football development since its 2016 launch.

• Tunisia are competing in their third consecutive World Cup.

• “Being able to take part in the 1,000th World Cup match is truly symbolic,” said Tunisia midfielder and captain Ellyes Skhiri.