I set my alarm for the small hours on Tuesday, the way I have for every major tournament since I…
Two semi-finals, four of the best teams in the world, and a betting board where the obvious picks are all…
Here is a stat that stopped me cold when I read it: for the first time since FIFA started ranking…
The 2026 FIFA World Cup is over, and Spain are champions. They beat Argentina 1-0 in extra time on 19…
There is a number in this quarter-final that I cannot stop staring at: zero. Spain have not conceded a single…
Spain are world champions. A 1-0 victory over Argentina in extra time at MetLife Stadium on 19 July delivered La…
I was three coffees in and it was barely past midnight here when Gonçalo Ramos headed in the winner in…
The group stage is done. The Round of 32 closes today with three final ties, and then we are into…
I have been writing about Cristiano Ronaldo at World Cups for the best part of fifteen years, and in all…
The 2026 World Cup delivered one massive betting upset, and it wasn’t in the final. Rodri won the Golden Ball…
Of all the quarter-finals, this is the one I would pay to watch. Norway are the story of the tournament…
The last day of Matchday 2 is the kind of programme I enjoy most: two near-formalities, one straight shoot-out at…
This is it — the last day of the Round of 32. Three ties today and then the knockout bracket…
Records do two things to a betting market: they generate headlines, and they generate overreactions. Lionel Messi becoming the men’s…
Lionel Messi’s World Cup career ended on 19 July 2026 at MetLife Stadium, not with a trophy but with a…
Kylian Mbappé won the 2026 World Cup Golden Boot with 10 goals, became the all-time leading World Cup scorer with…
We have the Golden Boot race we always wanted. Kylian Mbappé’s goal against Morocco on Thursday — his eighth of…
They are calling it the final before the final, and for once the hype is honest. France against Spain in…
I have spent this whole tournament looking for the flaw in France, the loose thread you pull to talk yourself…
Of the two semi-finals, this is the one that makes the hair on your neck stand up. England against Argentina,…
There is a particular kind of group match I love to bet: two teams who both won their openers, meeting…
France are through to the semi-final, and the question everyone is now asking is the one I have been dodging…
Argentina are trying to do something no team has done since Brazil in 1958 and 1962: win back-to-back World Cups.…
There is a version of this preview where I run through the form numbers, the odds board, and the tactical…
Sixteen years of waiting, and it comes down to one match against Belgium. After the 3–1 defeat to Egypt, the…
