Tag: 2026 FIFA World Cup

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Mexico ends a 40-year knockout drought; beats Ecuador 2-0

Julián Quiñones and Raúl Jiménez scored goals in a nine-minute span in the first half and Mexico defeated Ecuador 2-0 on Tuesday night to break a 40-year drought without a win in the knockout stage and progressed to the World Cup round of 16.

Quiñones opened the scoring in the 22nd minute while Jiménez added a strike in the 31st minute for the Mexicans, who had not won a knockout-stage match since defeating Bulgaria in the round of 16 when they hosted the tournament in 1986.

Mexico subsequently lost seven consecutive times at that same stage from 1994 to 2018.

In Qatar 2022, they were eliminated in the group stage for the first time since Argentina in 1978.

It was Quiñones third goal of the tournament and he is now El Tri’s second-best scorer in World Cup history behind Luis “Matador” Hernández and Javier “Chicharito” Hernández, who scored four each.

Jiménez scored his second goal of the tournament and has 47 with the national team to break a tie with Jared Borgetti. He is five away from tying “Chicharito” Hernández as the all-time leading scorer for Mexico.

Mexico will play another home match Sunday against the winner of Wednesday’s match between England and Congo.

Playing at the iconic Azteca Stadium, the Mexican squad boasts an undefeated record across 10 World Cup matches. Mexico has just two official losses at the venue — the last being a World Cup qualifying defeat to Honduras on Sept. 6, 2013.

With the win, Mexico extended its unbeaten run to 12 games, dating back to a friendly loss against Paraguay in November.

Mexico also became the first CONCACAF side to eliminate a CONMEBOL side in a World Cup knockout match. Teams from South America won the previous five meetings.

Ecuador was trying to advance to the round of 16 for the second time in their history and the first since Germany 2006.

The match started one hour after the original scheduled time due to a thunderstorm.

It was the second match of the tournament affected by weather. A storm during the France-Iraq match at Philadelphia on June 22 caused a 2-hour, 11-minute suspension at the end of the first half. (JapanToday)

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South Korea fans target coach Hong with boos as World Cup squad returns

South Korean soccer fans angered by the country’s World Cup first-round exit greeted the returning squad early Tuesday with one message for head coach Hong: his time was up.

Hong, a former national team defender, resigned on Sunday after South Korea finished the group stage with one win and two losses, dashing hopes of a deep run led by captain Son Heung-min.

South Korea crashed out after failing to qualify for the knockout stage as one of the tournament’s eight best third-placed teams.

The Round of 32 had appeared within reach until a shock 1-0 defeat to lower-ranked South Africa in their final group match ended their campaign.

Hong walked silently out of the arrival gate at Incheon International Airport under heavy media scrutiny, declining to answer reporters’ questions.

Fans booed and chanted “Hong out!” as he made his way out of the airport, but applauded the players who followed behind him.

“Thanks for all your hard work!” one fan shouted as the players emerged, in stark contrast to the jeers aimed at Hong.

Police cordoned off a route extending from inside the terminal to the waiting bus outside, as several dozen protesters gathered nearby.

“South Korean football is dead,” read one banner held aloft by fans who had waited for hours at Incheon International Airport.

“Hong, you must quit,” the crowd chanted, beating drums to amplify their protest.

Hong’s post-match admission that he was struggling to understand what had gone wrong did little to stem the criticism.

And his Sunday resignation did little to satisfy Kim Gi-mo, who came to the airport to voice his frustration.

“I question whether his resignation was sincere, given his attitude when he made the announcement,” Kim told AFP. “He ruined this festival that only comes once every four years. I came here to see the person responsible for that.”

Questions had already lingered over the Korea Football Association’s 2024 decision to appoint Hong to be in charge, with critics arguing the selection process lacked transparency even before the World Cup campaign unravelled.

The KFA did not organize an official welcome ceremony for the returning squad.

It was not the first hostile reception for Hong.

In 2014, angry supporters threw Korean sweets at the team after they returned from Brazil, where they were eliminated in the group stage during Hong’s first spell as national team coach.

South Korean media had labelled the 2026 squad a “golden generation”, featuring internationally established players such as former Tottenham Hotspur captain Son, Bayern Munich defender Kim Min-jae and Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Lee Kang-in.

Expectations were high, with many fans believing the team could reach the Round of 16, particularly as the tournament was widely expected to be Son’s last World Cup.

The captain turns 34 next month.

But Hong’s decision to leave Son on the bench in the first half for the decisive match against South Africa baffled and angered many supporters.

“I was very shocked that he benched Son against South Africa,” Song Min-kyung, a 20-year-old university student, told AFP at the airport. “I think that was the beginning of everything that went wrong at this World Cup.” (JapanToday)

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Congo rallies to 3-1 win against Uzbekistan to seal place in knockout stage

For 52 years, Congo’s standout World Cup memory was a humiliating 9-0 rout at the hands of Yugoslavia in its only other appearance on soccer’s biggest stage.

Not anymore. Not after a new generation of players made history by advancing to the knockout stage of the World Cup for the first time and set up a clash with England.

“The weight on our shoulders was hard to bear,” said striker Yoane Wissa, whose two goals helped Congo rally to a 3-1 win against Uzbekistan on Saturday night.

Fiston Mayele was also on target in a dramatic second-half comeback as Congo joined Cape Verde as another surprise qualifier for the round of 32.

“We told ourselves we can’t give up,” Mayele said.

Congo has been one of the surprise stories of this World Cup, with few expecting it to emerge from a group that included Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal and Colombia. And history was hardly on its side.

Congo’s previous appearance was when it competed as Zaire in 1974 and lost all three games, including the rout by Yugoslavia.

It’s a completely different story now.After holding Cristiano Ronaldo and Portugal to a surprise 1-1 draw earlier in the tournament, Congo needed a win in its final Group K game to advance as one of the best third-place teams.

And it did just that with a breathless fight back after trailing to Eldor Shomurodov’s lobbed goal in the 10th minute.

“We’re a team that knows how to respond when we concede a goal; we keep fighting with determination,” coach Sébastien Desabre’s said.

If the weight of the occasion was evident in Congo’s first-half performance, the resilience of its players proved irresistible after the break.

The game was level in the 68th when Wissa was brought down by Abdukodir Khusanov for a penalty.

Wissa picked himself up and sent Uzbekistan goalkeeper Abduvohid Nematov the wrong way by rolling the ball into the bottom corner for the first of a late flurry of goals.

Mayele put Congo ahead 10 minutes later when flicking past Nematov at the near post and was mobbed teammates and even substitutes, who raced off the bench and across the field to join in the wild celebrations. (ABC)

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Martinelli scores late as Brazil beat Japan 2-1, into World Cup last 16

Gabriel Martinelli scored the winner late in injury time to give five-time champions Brazil a 2-1 win over Japan in the World Cup round of 32 in Houston.

Martinelli, who had come on as a second-half substitute, scored in the sixth minute of stoppage time as the match on Monday appeared to be heading to extra time.

Brazil will next face either the Ivory Coast or Norway on Sunday in East Rutherford, New Jersey, in the round of 16.

Casemiro had earlier equalised with a header in the 56th minute off an assist from Gabriel Magalhaes after just missing another chance two minutes earlier. The shot sailed just out of reach of the outstretched hand of Japan goalkeeper Zion Suzuki and into the net.

Kaishu Sano stole a misplaced pass in midfield before his right-footed shot from above the half-circle put Japan ahead after 29 minutes.

Vinicius Junior, who has scored four goals so far in the tournament, had a chance to put Brazil on top in the 58th minute, but his shot from the left was deflected by goalkeeper Suzuki and went past the far post.

Brazil had two chances to even the score early in the second half before breaking through late on. First, Suzuki blocked a header from Bruno Guimaraes in the 52nd minute. Soon after, Casemiro’s header bounced off a defender’s head and Suzuki’s face.

Japan have never won a World Cup knockout match.The win was Brazil’s 12th in 15 games against Japan.

The teams have also played to two draws, while Japan got their first win in the series in a friendly in Tokyo in October.

This was a match-up between two countries with deep ties, Brazil being home to about 2.7 million Japanese descendants, which is the largest Japanese population outside of Japan.

Those ties extend to football, where Brazil superstar Zico moved to Japan in 1991 to play for Kashima Antlers and help build Japan’s professional football network.

He coached the Japan national team from 2002–06, leading the team to the World Cup in 2006.That team lost to Brazil 4-1 in the only previous meeting between the teams at the World Cup.

Brazil won Group C after a draw with Morocco and victories over Haiti and Scotland.

Monday’s victory came on the anniversary of their first World Cup championship in Sweden in 1958, when a 17-year-old Pele scored two goals in the final against the host country.

Japan reached the round of 32 as runner-up in Group F after draws with the Netherlands and Sweden and a win over Tunisia. The loss snaps a 10-game unbeaten streak dating back to a 2-0 defeat to the United States in September. (AlJazeera)

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Austria and Algeria draw 3-3 to advance to knockout round and send Iranians home

Austria and Algeria played to a thrilling 3-3 draw Saturday night in what amounted to a win-win result in their World Cup group-stage finale, allowing both to advance to the knockout round while eliminating Iran from the tournament.

The game was tied 2-all in the closing minutes, and Algeria looked as if it was content to run out the clock, when captain Riyad Mahrez scored his second goal with about a minute left in stoppage time. That put Austria on the verge of elimination, only for Sasa Kalajdzic to head in the equalizing goal moments later and rescue Das Team’s World Cup hopes.

Marko Arnautovic and Marcel Sabitzer also had goals for Austria, which finished second behind Argentina in Group J to advance for the first time since 1982. Its reward is a matchup with European champion Spain on Thursday in Los Angeles.

Rafik Belghali also scored for Les Fennecs, who became the ninth of 10 teams from Africa to advance. They finished third in the group but get a potentially easier Round of 32 showdown with Switzerland on Thursday night in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Iran would have advanced as one of the eight best third-place teams had Austria or Algeria won. But when Mahrez tied the game in the 60th minute, and the 2-2 score held the rest of the way, it was Team Melli that was sent home. (JapanToday)

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Messi scores again as Argentina beats Jordan 3-1

Giovani Lo Celso became the first Argentina player other than Lionel Messi to score in this World Cup as the defending champions finished the group stage with a three-game sweep after a 3-1 victory over Jordan on Saturday night.

Lo Celso, in his first World Cup start, put Argentina ahead to stay when he scored on a direct free kick in the 19th minute. Messi added one of his own after entering the game in the second half, and the top scorer in World Cup history extended his mark to 19 goals.

Messi, the leader in this tournament with six goals, was among nine Argentina starters changed from the previous game since Group J was already clinched before the match. He entered in the 60th minute, three days after his 39th birthday, and in the same stadium where he broke the scoring mark last Monday, and scored in the 80th minute.

Their captain had scored all five of Argentina’s goals in wins over Algeria and Austria, including his first-ever World Cup hat trick and then two goals in his record-setting game on Monday. He has scored in seven consecutive World Cup games, breaking a tie with France’s Just Fontaine and Brazil great Jairzinho for the longest all-time streak.

In the first half, Lautaro Martinez put Argentina up 2-0 when he scored on a penalty kick in the 31st minute, in the same sequence when his close-range shot ricocheted off the crossbar.

Martinez, who was subbed out for Messi, and goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez were the only players to start all three of Argentina’s group matches.

Argentina, which has seven wins and two draws in its last nine World Cup games, plays in the round of 32 on Friday against Cape Verde, the smallest country to earn a spot in the knockout round. That game is in Miami, the home of Messi’s Major League Soccer team.

This is the fifth time Argentina has won all of its matches in group stage, and first since back-to-back tournaments in 2010 and 2014. Argentina has 14 wins, two losses and three draws in its last 19 group games.

France and Mexico were the only other squads in this expanded 48-team World Cup to get the maximum nine points in the group stage.

Jordan, the world’s 72nd-ranked team, lost all three of its games in the squad’s first appearance in the international tournament. The team was outscored 8-3.

Mousa Altamari, who entered the game at the start of the second half, scored in the 55th minute for Jordan.

Lo Celso and Martinez both scored their first World Cup goals.

Only a couple of minutes after Lo Celso was offside when he kicked the ball in the net but not counting for a goal, he got a free kick after being tripped up just outside the penalty box by Mohannad Abutaha, who drew a yellow card.

That was the first direct free kick for an Argentina goal in a World Cup since Messi against Nigeria in 2014.

After Martinez shot off the crossbar, Julian Alvarez followed with a header that was deflected by keeper Yazeed Abulaila over the net. But a VAR replay showed that Alvarez took a kick to the face on the play, setting up the penalty.

Messi had scored all five of Argentina’s goals in wins over Algeria and Austria, including his first World Cup hat trick and then two goals in his record-setting game on Monday.

Nicolás Paz, who made his World Cup debut subbing in for Messi late in the 3-0 win over Algeria in the opener, made his first start in his spot this time. Paz and Lo Celso were joined by forwards Marcos Senesi and Giuliano Simeone making first World Cup starts.

Paz and Simeone are the first sons of former Argentina national team players to compete in a World Cup. Both were born in Europe. (JapanToday)

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Colombia top World Cup 2026 group after breathless 0-0 draw with Portugal

Colombia and Portugal played out a breathless 0-0 draw to a wall of sound at Miami Stadium, with both teams advancing to the last 32 ⁠of the 2026 FIFA World Cup as the top two in Group K.

The Colombians will rue their profligacy in front of goal on Saturday, 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.

Portugal, who needed to win to top the group, go north to Toronto to play Croatia on Thursday, knowing they have not quite yet found a way to blend all the talent in their squad into an effective team.

The match started to a cacophony of noise from the massed ranks of yellow-shirted South Americans, and the decibel levels went up a notch when striker Jhon Cordoba headed the ball over ‌the bar in the first minute.

Jhon Arias caused Portugal problems every time he ran at them, and he set Cordoba free in the 17th minute, the big target man unleashing a rocket of a shot that keeper Diogo Costa did well to stop.

After a lovely flowing move five minutes later, winger Arias took the shot himself and screwed the ball towards the far corner of the net, only for Ruben Neves to arrive just in time to flick it off the line.

Colombia struggled to clear their lines cleanly sometimes, however, and it was this frailty that allowed Portugal their best chances towards the end of the first ⁠half.

Bruno Fernandes found himself free in front of goal in the 39th minute, with ⁠his shot bringing a fine point-blank save out of Camilo Vargas in the Colombia goal.

Three minutes before half-time, Joao Felix cleverly chested the ball over a defender and flashed an acrobatic volley over the bar.

Colombia pressed forward, looking for the goal their dominance deserved, and both Gustavo Puerta and playmaker James Rodriguez troubled the ⁠goalkeeper with shots before the break.

Portugal attacked more after the break, but it was Colombia who continued to carve out the best chances, with Arias setting up substitute Richard Rios for a shot that ⁠went wide.

Arias curled a shot at goal, which was well saved by Costa, and ⁠Puerta drilled another chance wide just before the hydration break.

A Rodriguez volley was deflected away from its target in the 73rd minute, just before he and Arias were substituted, but Colombia continued to tear forward at every opportunity.

Davinson Sanchez thought he had scored the winner with a far-post header a minute from time, but it ‌was called back for a very tight offside after a VAR check.

Rafael Leao went close to winning it for Portugal in stoppage time with a shot that flashed across goal, before the referee finally called time on the entertaining match, played out in front of ‌a ‌crowd of 64,478 sweltering in the Miami evening heat.

Portugal’s totem Cristiano Ronaldo, booed every time he touched the ball and starved of service, had barely a sniff of a chance, his one shot on target a long-range free kick that went straight to the goalkeeper. (AlJazeera)

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Curacao, Ecuador draw 0-0

Curacao goalkeeper Eloy Room made 15 saves against a relentless Ecuador attack, allowing The Blue Wave to earn a 0-0 draw against the heavily favored La Tri on Saturday night and earn the tiny island nation its first-ever World Cup point.

The outcome also allowed Germany, which beat Ivory Coast earlier in the day, to clinch Group E.

The 37-year-old Room, whose shutout of Jamaica last November sent Curacao to its first World Cup, bounced back from a 7-1 loss to Germany with one of the finest performances by a goalkeeper in World Cup history. His save total was one shy of the record — since saves became an official stat in 1966 — of 16 set by Tim Howard of the U.S. against Belgium on July 1, 2014.

The draw doesn’t eliminate either team from knockout play, but it put Ecuador in dire shape going into its group finale. Those matches take place Thursday with Curacao facing Ivory Coast in Philadelphia and Ecuador playing Germany in New York.

Ecuador certainly had a home-field advantage Saturday night at the home of the Kansas City Chiefs. Its fanbase, dressed like its players in bright yellow shirts, filled the stadium to the brim, making it look like a convention of Minions. There was only a couple of small pockets of blue-clad Curacao fans in a stadium whose capacity could house half of its island citizenry.

Among those in the crowd were Kansas City Royals players Bobby Witt Jr., Salvador Perez and Starling Marte.

The pressure mounted on Ecuador earlier Saturday, when Deniz Undav’s goal in stoppage time gave Germany a 2-1 win over Ivory Coast. The outcome of that match in Toronto meant that La Tri faced World Cup elimination with a loss to The Blue Wave.

Curacao made sure the pressure continued once play began.

Throughout the first half, 78-year-old coach Dick Advocaat’s team kept finding seams through the middle of the Ecuadorean defense, creating open looks at the goal. But each time, Curacao would end the runs with a sloppy pass or a shot wide of net.

Ecuador wasted its best scoring chance in the opening minutes, when World Cup veteran Enner Valencia found nothing between him and the goalkeeper. But Room guessed right, dived to his left and deflected the shot to keep the game scoreless.

The relentless pressure of La Tri picked up in the second half — and each time, Room was standing in the way.

Moises Caicedo forced him into making a spectacular save early on, then Valencia did the same with a well-placed header that Room knocked wide. On the ensuing corner kick, Room made two more sensational saves before Curacao finally cleared it.

It was that kind of night for Room. And that kind of night for Ecuador. (JapanToday)

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Ueda scores twice in Japan’s 4-0 win against Tunisia in 1,000th men’s World Cup match

Japan moved one step closer to reaching the knockout stages of the World Cup for the fourth consecutive time after pummeling Tunisia 4-0 in Group F.

Japan’s four goals were the most the Samurai Blue had ever scored in a World Cup game, as Japan comfortably dismantled a Tunisia side that became the first to ever fire its coach after the opening game.

Ayase Ueda scored twice, along with Daichi Kamada and Junya Ito to put Japan level with the Netherlands on four points. The Dutch are currently top the group due to having scored one more goal than Japan in its two matches.

The loss for Tunisia means it is eliminated from the tournament. Japan is guaranteed at least third in the group, which could be enough to advance to the knockout stages.

Tunisia appointed two-time Africa Cup of Nations winner Hervé Renard to try and rescue the Eagles of Carthage after its humiliating 5-1 loss to Sweden, but the North African nation could not contain Japan’s speedy attack nor create any clear chances of their own.

Kamada opened the scoring in the fourth minute, the fastest in Japan’s World Cup history. The Crystal Palace midfielder was perfectly positioned for Keito Nakamura’s cross and barely had to move to tap in his second goal of the tournament.

In the 31st minute, Ueda received the ball in the midfield and drove toward the Tunisia box. When Ueda opted not to pass to a few advancing runners, any chance of a goal seemed lost — but the 27-year-old fired an angled shot from outside the box which flew into the left corner of the goal to make it 2-0.

The Feyenoord striker had an impressive club season with Feyenoord, scoring 24 goals in the Eredivisie to earn the league’s top scorer award.

In the 69th minute, Ito slotted a third goal for Japan after a Ueda’s flick put Ito in a one-on-one with Tunisia’s goalkeeper Aymen Dahmen, which he finished calmly.

Ueda’s masterful looping header in the 83rd minute, his second of the night, capped off an impressive night for the Samurai Blue.

Japan, which has not lost to a European opponent in 90 minutes since 2019, will play Sweden in Dallas on Thursday. Tunisia will play the Netherlands in Kansas City on the same day. (JapanToday)

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Netherlands routs Sweden 5-1 to lead Group F

Brian Brobbey and Cody Gakpo scored two goals apiece to power Netherlands to a 5-1 win over Sweden on Saturday in the World Cup to bounce back after a disappointing draw in its opener and move atop the Group F standings.

Brobbey’s goals came in the first half, helping the Netherlands get off to a great start and roll to the big win after playing Japan to a 2-2 draw Sunday.

The victory gives Netherlands a group-leading four points. Sweden has three points, with Japan and Tunisia scheduled to play later Saturday.

Gakpo, who also had an assist, extended the lead to 3-0 just after halftime, scoring in the 47th minute off a cross from Denzel Dumfries. He matched Brobbey when he scored on a right-footed shot from the left box in the 54th minute.

Sweden couldn’t build on its strong performance in a 5-1 walloping of Tunisia in its first match. The loss to the Dutch was its biggest World Cup defeat since losing 7-1 to Brazil in 1950.

The Dutch gameplan to play out wide to open up Sweden and cross to Brobbey worked perfectly early. He put the Netherlands on top in the fifth minute when Gakpo crossed into the middle of the box and Brobbey one-timed it with his right foot before tumbling forward to the grass.

His second goal came when he took a cross from Dumfries while sliding and just got his right foot on the ball, scoring inside the far post in the 17th minute.

Anthony Elanga’s left-footed goal cut the lead to 4-1 in the 59th minute and allowed Sweden to avoid the shutout.

Sweden had plenty of chances to score before that, but Netherlands’ goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen was brilliant in the first half with four saves.

Sweden appeared to have cut the lead to 2-1 on a header by Gustaf Lagerbielke in the 44th minute, but he was ruled offside. Lagerbielke is a baron from a noble family in Sweden. His father and grandfather are counts.But he wasn’t the only royalty in the stadium Saturday as the Netherlands had two very special guests cheering them on with King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima watching from a luxury suite.

But he wasn’t the only royalty in the stadium Saturday as the Netherlands had two very special guests cheering them on with King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima watching from a luxury suite.

The crowd of 68,777 was largely made up of fans of the Netherlands, many of whom made their Oranje Fanwalk 2 1/2 miles from Rice University to Houston Stadium on Saturday morning.

Crysencio Summerville, who assisted on Gakpo’s second goal, tacked on a goal for Netherlands in the 89th minute and celebrated with NBA star Steph Curry’s “night night” gesture.

Sweden finishes group play Thursday night against Japan at Dallas Stadium, and Netherlands meets Tunisia that night in Kansas City. (JapanToday)