AC Milan fullback Theo Hernandez has made World Cup history with France.
The 25-year-old came off the bench against Australia, due to his brother Lucas’ injury, and he responded with an assist for Adrien Rabiot.
Then last night, he started and assisted Kylian Mbappe’s first goal.
As highlighted by Opta, it’s the first time a French defender has bagged an assist in two consecutive games at the World Cup since 1966 (when they started collecting the data).
Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk has hit back at Dutch great Marco van Basten after Holland’s 1-1 draw with Ecuador.
Van Basten blamed Van Dijk for Enner Valencia’s goal and also questioned the defender’s captaincy.
Van Dijk responded this morning stating: “He never says positive things.
“What do you want me to do? It’s easy to talk from the studio.
“Am I failing as a captain? What do you want me to do with that information? I’m always direct and lead the team in the best way possible…”
Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti says he’s supporting Canada at the World Cup.
Speaking on Italian radio, the 63-year-old expanded on his reason for backing the Maple Leafs.
“I will be cheering for Canada at the World Cup, as it has been absent for many years and is my second home. The president of the Canadian Federation is from Abruzzo, so everyone is cheering for Canada,” he said.
Ancelotti has long held ties with the North American nation. His wife Mariann Auger McClay hails from Canada, and the pair resided in the country after the end of his first stint in charge of Real Madrid in 2015.
“Yes, there could be a national team, but it’s too early now. Certainly not for this World Cup. The 2026 one, why not? It could happen. If it’s Canada, why not? I’d like that, of course. Canada has done very well.”
France coach Didier Deschamps has put Manchester United defender Raphael Varane on notice.
Deschamps says Varane is fit for Saturday’s World Cup tie with Denmark.
He said: “Raphaël Varane? He could have played the first game. He was fit.
“It is not yesterday’s session (Thursday) that will change a lot. He is no less fit or more for the second. Afterwards, these are choices that can be linked to experience… He has it, that’s for sure.
“He must be ready in his head and his body. I know he is. I will make the decision about that, especially.”
Manchester United and Portugal midfielder Bruno Fernandes has revealed Cristiano Ronaldo gets his best form for being criticised.
Bruno admits he and Cristiano Ronaldo are roommates at the World Cup in Qatar.
Ronaldo scored and Fernandes was outstanding in Portugal’s victory over Ghana last night.
Asked about his now former United teammate, Fernandes said: “I think he likes to work under this kind of criticism, so I hope you keep doing it, because he gets the best out of himself.
“I still share a room with him here on the national team, and the most important thing for me is that Portugal is doing as best we can in this tournament. Because if we do, Cristiano will be happy and then I will be happy and then everyone in Portugal will be happy with us.”
Roma striker Tammy Abraham admits missing on England’s World Cup squad in Qatar brought him back down to earth.
The striker said he’s enjoying his World Cup break.
Abraham is currently with Roma’s squad in Japan.
He said at a local media conference: “I am not so anxious to go back to playing, I enjoy the World Cup and train for January.
“I would have liked to be there but it is something that made me grow as a footballer and person. I am still young.
“It made me come back down to earth and I said I still have a lot to do. I hope to go to the next one.”
Barcelona star Gavi broke records by scoring in Spain’s World Cup 7-0 victory over Costa Rica on Wednesday.
The Barcelona midfielder started the game and scored the fifth, becoming the third youngest scorer in the competition since Pele.
Pele was 17 years and 239 days old when he scored in 1958 World Cup. Manuel Rosas scored in the competition aged 18 years and 93 days.
Gavi becomes the youngest scorer for Spain in the World Cup at 18 years and 110 days and the youngest in the finals since Pele 64 years ago.
Brazil captain Thiago Silva says we will see a “better Neymar” in Qatar after injury hampered his past two tournaments.
PSG star Neymar missed the 2014 semi-final with a back injury and struggled for full fitness during the 2018 tournament after foot surgery earlier in the year.
However, he arrives in Qatar for the 2022 Wold Cup fully fit and having scored 15 goals in 20 games for Paris St-Germain this season.
“I think Neymar is coming into this competition in great form,” said Silva.
“His preparation this time has been different. In 2014 he got injured just as he was playing so well, and in 2018 he came into the tournament in a different way because he had a serious injury so hadn’t played much.
“Now with a different preparation, without any injury and any worry, we see a better Neymar.”
A stunning late comeback from Japan saw four-time winners Germany fall to a shock defeat in their opening World Cup game in Qatar.
Germany dominated a frenetic match for large spells but failed to capitalise on their pressure – before Japan caused the Khalifa International Stadium to erupt into a mix of mixed celebration and surprise.
Substitute Takuma Asano squeezed in a thumping strike from a tight angle to make it 2-1 to Japan and ran over to the photographers in the corner of the stadium in sheer delight.
There was a collective pause in the arena as the ball rolled down from the roof of the net before supporters realised it had gone in.
Manchester City’s Ilkay Gundogan had given Germany the lead from the penalty spot in the first half, before Japan substitute Ritsu Doan equalised in the 75th minute.
The equaliser came after a string of stunning saves at each end – Japan’s Shuichi Gonda pulling off a double stop to deny Serge Gnabry and Jonas Hofmann, before Germany’s Manuel Neuer got his fingertips to Junya Ito’s effort.
Germany, who finished bottom of their group in Russia in 2018, had missed several chances to extend their lead when the score was 1-0.
They face stiff opposition in Group E with 2010 winners Spain to come on Sunday, then a final group game against Costa Rica.
Before kick-off, Germany’s players put their hands over their mouths during a team photo and in the stands a German government minister, Nancy Faeser, wore the OneLove armband.
It comes after news the German football federation is investigating whether it is legal for Fifa to threaten players with sanction for wearing the OneLove armband in Qatar.
The Germany team later tweeted that human rights are “non-negotiable” and “we stand by our position”.
Argentina captain Lionel Messi has reacted 2-1 humiliation by Saudi Arabia in the World Cup fixture in Qatar.
The first half was marked by a series of Argentina goals ruled out for offside. The calls were the correct ones by the refereeing and VAR teams, but they appeared to affect Argentina nonetheless.
“We had those disallowed goals, at that time we thought we would have a lot of chances and we made the mistake of speeding up and going route one, instead of moving the ball from side to side,” said PSG attacker Messi.
“We knew that they would play a high line and we got caught up in that a bit.
“Then we went 2-1 down and we became disorganised, playing desperately.”
An honest assessment, but one that should be worrying for Argentina and showed their inability to navigate difficult situations in what should have been, overall, a relatively simple game for them. There will be bigger tests to come and they will have to improve quickly if they are to live up to their tag as contenders.
Barcelona legend Messi also conceded that scoring so early may have not been the best thing for them. He also confessed that the squad took the result hard, but insists they remain united and ready to bounce back.
“The goal so early wasn’t good for us, it confused us. We knew that in the first game it could happen that we didn’t play as well as we can and we have been,” commented Messi.
“When the scoreline goes against you, it becomes even more difficult. The group is dead right now, because it’s a tough blow to take, because we were confident of getting off to a good start, of winning, and that calms you.
“But this group stands out for its unity, its strength and now is the time to be more united than ever and know we can go back to the start, to our way of playing to try to win.”
Despite the setback, Messi wanted to end on a positive, looking ahead to the coming games. Next up for the Albiceleste is Mexico on Saturday.
“Calmness [is my message for the fans]. We know it’s a tough blow, one that hurts,” said Messi.
“But we have to keep believing and we need the people to keep believing that this group won’t let them down.
“We’re going to go and try to win against Mexico.”
The disallowed goals undoubtedly affected Argentina, but Messi doesn’t want to make excuses. VAR got the calls right, even though many pointed to how tight they were.
“I saw some photos, they were very tight,” said Messi.
“I couldn’t tell from the images, but if they ruled them out then it’s because they were no doubt offside.
“There’s no excuse.”