World Cup: The Iberian Derby

We're down to the Round of 16 in the World Cup, and it's been downright thrilling so far.  The first half of the Round of 16 was played over the weekend, and here are the results:

July 4:

Canada 0 - 3 Morocco

Paraguay 0 - 1 France

Morocco and France will meet in the quarterfinals on July 9

July 5:

Brazil 1 - 2 Norway

Mexico 2 - 3 England

Norway and England will meet in the quarterfinals on July 11.

Today we have these matchups:

2 P.M. Central:  Portugal v. Spain (the Iberian Derby!)

7 P.M. Central:  United States v. Belgium

I have nothing to say about the politics of the USA/Belgium game, but that was a stupid and unjustified red card, and I'm glad it got overturned.

Here are the lineups for the Iberian Derby.  These are two big-time teams:

PORTUGAL:

GK:  Diogo Costa, Porto (POR)

DF:  Joao Cancelo, Barcelona (ESP)

DF:  Ruben Dias, Manchester City (ENG)
DF:  Renato Veiga, Villareal (ESP)

DF:  Nuno Mendes, Paris Saint-Germain (FRA)

MF:  Joao Neves, Paris Saint-Germain (FRA)

MF:  Vitinha, Paris Saint-Germain (FRA)
FW:  Pedro Neto, Chelsea (ENG)

MF:  Bruno Fernandes, Manchester Utd (ENG)
FW:  Joao Felix, Al-Nassr (KSA)
FW:  Cristiano Ronaldo (Captain), Al-Nassr (KSA)

SPAIN:

GK:  Unai Simon, Athletic Bilbao (ESP)

DF:  Pedro Porro, Tottenham Hotspur (ENG)
DF:  Pau Cubarsi, Barcelona (ESP)

DF:  Aymeric Laporte, Athletic Bilbao (ESP)

DF:  Marc Cucurella, Real Madrid (ESP)

MF:  Pedri, Barcelona (ESP)

MF:  Rodri (Captain), Manchester City (ENG)

FW:  Lamine Yamal, Barcelona (ESP)

MF:  Dani Olmo, Barcelona (ESP)

MF:  Alex Baena, Atletico Madrid (ESP)

FW:  Mikel Oyarzabal, Real Socieadad (ESP)

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World Cup: England v. Dem. Rep. of the Congo

This game kicked off at 11 A.M. Central, and England promptly fell behind 1-0 after only seven minutes.  The English defense fell completely asleep, and a DRC player was left with an easy shot that he blasted past the goalkeeper.  England have been chasing the game ever since.  They have outshot the DRC 10 to 3, but the DRC have had 43 percent of the possession, so the traffic has not all gone one way.  We are now in the 62d minute, and my guess is that England are probably going out.  Which will be a humiliating result for England, but on the other hand they weren't ever getting past Mexico in the next round anyway.  They just aren't good enough.

Anyway, there are about 30 minutes left in England's 2026 World Cup campaign, and they should be entertaining.

World Cup: Ivory Coast v. Norway

Last night, Morocco wrapped up thrilling day with a win in penalty kicks over the Netherlands.  So two of the sport's biggest traditional powers -- Germany and the Netherlands -- will not make the round of 16.  Another great power -- Italy -- didn't even qualify for the tournament.

Today's action kicks off with the Ivory Coast and Norway.  Whoever wins this match will face Brazil in the Round of 16.  Africa started with 10 teams in this tournament, and eight of them are still dancing.

World Cup: Germany v. Paraguay

We have reached the knockout stage of the 2026 World Cup.  So far, we have had two games in the Round of 32.  Yesterday, Canada scored in injury time to beat South Africa 1-0.  Earlier today, Brazil trailed 1-0 at the half, but fought back to beat Japan 2-0.

Now we have Germany v. Paraguay.  Germany dominated possession in the first half, but failed to score.  On the other hand, Paraguay did score late in the first half to take a 1-0 lead into the break.  Now Paraguay just has to defend that lead for approximately 55 minutes, and they will be in the Round of 16.