World Cup 2026: Mexico vs England, France battle past Paraguay, Morocco march – live | 2026 World Cup
Important events
Man Utd target £50m Andrey Santos from Chelsea
He will take out
Home news now and specials from our own Will Unwin. After missing out on Elliot Anderson and Mateus Fernandes, Manchester United are eyeing Chelsea midfielder Andrey Santos.
To ease the fear of altitude, here’s the Memory Lane I wrote for Football Daily yesterday. I hope that Motty’s words will help England fans to relax.
MEMORY LANE
While that the game against Argentina in the 1986 World Cup is the one we associate with England at the Azteca, it is good to be reminded that the Three Lions have winning form in Mexico’s home stadium. Fresh from a hat-trick against Poland in their last group game, Gary Lineker scored twice in a 3-0 win over Paraguay in the last 16. Just before Gary Stevens’ two assists set up Lineker’s second goal, the BBC’s John Motson tweeted: “England set us up really well… [the group games took place in Monterrey, a mere 1,800 feet above sea level] but we are running hard like in Paraguay.” Lineker quickly checked to see if he was offside before celebrating with Tottenham’s Gary Stevens and a host of England white shirts in a crowd of 98,728.
Here’s England’s Jordan Henderson training at the high ground in Mexico City. Is it a problem?
“You hear it a little, you hear something, I heard a little, even if you just come to the hotel and walk around, you hear something.
“And today, in training, for me personally I felt that maybe in the first 10-15 minutes and when the training was over I stopped thinking about it and just focused on training.
“So I hope that when the game comes tomorrow, when the boys are prepared and have moved on, then the focus will be on the game, and that’s what the focus is on.”
Joint count: one down, two to go. Can England eliminate Mexico? And what about Belgium taking out the USA? Here’s Alexander Abnos at the game in Seattle on Monday.
“This will not be the first meeting between the teams in 2026. In March, Belgium defeated the US 5-2 in Atlanta – a result that cast serious doubt on America’s hopes at the World Cup.
De Cuyper warned against jumping to too many conclusions from Belgium’s victory in March, saying the scoreline gave the game a “distorted picture”. He also praised the way Senne Lammens played in that game, saying the result would have been different without the goalkeeper.”
Mbappe v Galarza gallery. You all wanted it.
Here is French coach Didier Deschamps in the victory over Paraguay.
“It wasn’t easy. If we had taken one of our chances towards the end of the game, it would have been a comfortable finish. Paraguay used every trick in the book. It’s not really the type of football that people enjoy watching, but we stayed focused and that’s not easy to do.” Fair play. And fair play to Mbappe for laughing at the continued attempts to abuse him. Wrong target I guess.
However, while the Paraguayans didn’t get a booking between them (kind of good at that; it makes for a good line), the French picked up three. Here’s how:
Bradley Barcola (acting)
Manu Kone (tripping)
Michael Olise (Unsportsmanlike conduct)
The Paraguayan players did not do that at all. Absolutely not.
Many of you BTL had a big fight with the referee Ilgiz Tantashev after his good performance in the match between France and Paraguay. I would argue that it wasn’t his best hour but at least he completed the full 90 minutes…
(From AP 2024 threads): “The first player sent off in the Olympic soccer semi-final between Morocco and Spain on Monday was the referee. The referee, Ilgiz Tantashev of Uzbekistan, left the field 15 minutes into the match shortly after he was knocked down by Spanish defender Marc Pubill near the pitch. Tantashev’s right leg was immobilized for several minutes while Tantashev received treatment but was replaced by a fourth official Glenn Nyberg.
That display of Paraguay against France, eh! Absolute shithousery. And the fact that no Paraguayan player has been booked should easily make the ‘Top 10 Extraordinary Things at the 2026 World Cup’ list. Watch the match and explain how Matias Galarza and Juan Caceres did not receive 12 yellow cards between them. Absolute scoundrels. Truly amazing stuff. Let’s not get on the high horse though. I’m thinking a lot about the documentary about 20 years ago when Mbappe is reunited with his mates in a bar in Paris/Asunción and they all laugh about it.
Jacob Steinberg
Speaking of Harry Kane, here’s Jacob Steinberg’s piece on the England striker. Can he be the difference again when the Three Lions face Mexico?
“This is the best of modern times and a long-term representative. We had this debate on the Stick to Football podcast this week; it wasn’t stupid when Gary Neville, Roy Keane, Ian Wright and Jill Scott had Kane up with Bobby Moore and Sir Bobby Charlton in England’s top three.”
Kylian Mbappe has drawn level with Lionel Messi at the top of the Golden Boot charts. Both icons have seven after the Frenchman scored the winner against Paraguay.
Erling Haaland (5), Harry Kane (5) and Vinícius Júnior (4) all have the chance to close the gap in the next 24 hours. Also look out for Mikel Oyarzabal (4) from Spain who is on track.
Seven have already beaten the number of the leading goalscorer from 10 of the 12 previous World Cups.
Brazilian star Rodrygo returned home after sampling the World Cup in the United States. In his latest column for us, he sees the difference between a country that enjoys the World Cup and one that is obsessed with it. A reminder that Brazil is playing Norway in the last 16 today. Starts at 9pm BST.
“The rhythm of life in Brazil – “soccer country” as we call it – is determined by the team’s progress in the World Cup. Work schedules are affected, as is the operation of certain public services. Daily life does not stop, but we make a great effort to adjust it around the Brazilian games. Then, as one of our sayings goes, “we play an important role in everyday life.”
Maybe life doesn’t start at the age of 40 but it doesn’t mean the end of a world class footballer. So says Emma Hayes in her latest World Cup column.
Sid Lowe
Q&A time with none other than Luis de la Fuente! The Spain manager answers your questions on Lamine Yamal’s advice, the hardest part of being a coach and how the current team compares to the 2010 winners. Sid Lowe has it all together.
Canadian manager Jesse Marsch is a polarizing figure. In fact, you’d be forgiven for thinking his first name is ‘Theinsufferable’ when he scrolls and asks around. Was Canada the better side, as he says here? You should appreciate the answer of the Moroccan manager Mohamed Ouahbi. “It takes courage to say that when you’re losing 3-0.” Excerpts here after the Moroccan clinical show of elimination.
David Hytner
It just left at 1.30am in Mexico City. Is there a cacophony of noise outside the hotel? Can England players sleep? The game starts at 6pm local time or, as those in the UK know, 1am BST. Here is David Hytner’s latest report from Mexico City.
“England was eliminated for the seventh time in 12 days on Friday and is about to play its fourth game in 13 days.
Nick Ames
Our reporters are in Mexico City in the big and in between running 5ks to show the results of the elevation, write some words. Let’s start with Nick Ames, who has quotes from both managers: England’s Thomas Tuchel and Mexico’s Javier Aguirre.
Morocco ends the hosts’ run in partnership with Canada
Jonathan Wilson
Jonathan Wilson was at Houston Stadium to witness the 2022 semi finals Morocco beat Canada. Three goals in the second half settled this team as Mohamed Ouahbi became the first African country to reach the quarter finals of the World Cup twice.
“This was not really a new style. This was the old game of Morocco, hard and fun, with admirable competition, and the undoubted skill of the players with a lot of intelligence that is shown almost entirely in the attack. Whether their cage started by design or because they were forced by the cruelty of Canada, however, was not clear.”
France will face Paraguay to reach the quarterfinals
Paul MacInnes
Let’s start with Paul MacInnes’ game report from the hot and sweaty Philadelphia stadium. France’s 1-0 win was a repeat of their last 16 match in 1998 and we all know how that world cup ended.
“The favorites for the World Cup were forced to down one or two gears but they are still very strong in the Paraguayan team that was determined to fight but ended up being a nuisance.”
Background
Good morning/afternoon/evening wherever you are! It seems that we are getting closer to the end of the World Cup now that the first two players who appeared in the quarter finals have been highlighted. Morocco was very ill compared to hosts Canada while France faced Paraguay.
We will have all the reactions to those two last 16 matches and the preparation for the highly anticipated match between Mexico and England at the Azteca. There is also the small matter of Brazil v Norway tonight so, yes, serious things are really happening now. Are you ready for the 25th day of the World Cup? Let’s do it!
