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≡ FIFA WORLD CUP ≡
The second day of group-stage final games started with an upset of Germany by Ecuador, and a taut match between Japan and Sweden, while the Netherlands was running past Tunisia to win Group F. The U.S. plays later.
● Group E: Ecuador 2, Germany 1 ● Ecuador (0-1-1 W-L-T) needed a win in this game against 2-0 Germany in East Rutherford, and it went wrong right away, as Germany got a goal in the second minute from striker Leroy Sane, with a left-footed boot off of a loose ball in the middle of the box, despite what looked like a foul by midfielder Aleksandar Pavlovic in the box in kicking the ball over a defender. Midfielder Florian Wirtz forwarded the ball to Sane.
But Ecuador was undaunted and a fabulous strike from midfielder Nilson Angulo at the top of the box in the 9th minute got them even, with their first goal of the tournament. Ecuador continued pressing, but the Germans had 55% of the ball at the hydration break and a 4-1 edge on shots.
The Germans maintained control and were up to 62% possession at half and up 7-2 on shots as Ecuador played a more defense-oriented style through halftime.
In the 46th, Ecuador was called for a penalty on defender Joel Ordonez in the box, but it was wiped off after a video review that showed a foul by Sane on midfielder Pedro Vite in the build-up. Germany had 59% possession at the second hydro break and was 8-4 on shots, but Ecuador kept finding chances.
German keeper Manuel Neuer had to punch away a dangerous strike from forward Enner Valencia in the 62nd and runs into the box kept misfiring. But off a corner in the 77th, forward Kevin Rodriguez headed the ball backwards in the front of goal and forward Gonzalo Plata flicked his left foot at it and popped it over Neuer’s head for a 2-1 lead!
Ecuador then settled into a defensive posture they know so well and ran out the clock for the win and will advance to the elimination round. The Germans ended with 61% and 11 shots to seven, but it was not enough.
● Group E: Ivory Coast 1, Curacao 0 ● Playing in Philadelphia, Ivory Coast (1-0-1) took charge quickly vs. Curacao (0-1-1) with a goal from striker Nicolas Pepe in the box in the 7th, on forward Yan Diomande’s cross back from the endline after dispossessing the defender.
The Elephants, as Ivory Coast are known, controlled the game up to the hydro break, with 75% possession and a 4-2 shots edge. The Elephants kept control, with 70% of possession by halftime, but Curacao got a couple more shots, with both at four at halftime.
The Ivory Coast pressure continued and resulted in a second goal, with Pepe scoring in the 64th off a seeing-eye pass from midfielder Ibrahim Sangare. At the hydro break, the Elephants had 65% possession, but shots were 6-6.
The rest of the game played out with Ivory Coast in control and ending with 63% of the ball and taking just seven shots all together, vs. 11 for Curacao.
● Group E ● Germany (2-1) had won the group coming in and moves on as expected. Ivory Coast was also 2-1 and finished second after losing, 2-1, to the Germans. Ecuador, with its surprise finish, was 1-1-1 and with four points, should move on as a third-place team.
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● Group F: Japan 1, Sweden 1 ● At AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Japan (1-0-1) and Sweden (1-1) were not sure of advancing, especially with the Netherlands expected to have little trouble with Tunisia.
Japan had the best of possession until the hydro break and 55% possession, but just two shots to one for Sweden. There was a lot of close defending, and the best runs were from Japan, and a noteworthy shot in the box by striker Keito Nakamura to the far corner in the 45th that had to be saved by Swedish keeper Jacob Zetterstrom. The half ended 0-0, with Japan at 55% possession and 4-2 on shots.
Japan had all the pressure in the second half, and finally got a goal in the 56th, on a perfect lead pass from midfielder Ritsu Doan beyond the box and down the middle to a streaking striker Daizen Maeda. Maeda ran onto the ball in stride and finished with authority for the 1-0 lead.
The Swedes, pressing on offense now, saw striker Anthony Elanga with the ball on the right side at the top right corner of the box, and he sent a rocket to the far side of the Japan goal for the 1-1 tie in the 62nd. Wow.
The hydro break came with Japan possession down to 53% and a 7-5 shots advantage. Sweden had the ball for most of the final “period” and Japan keeper Zion Suzuki had to make two saves to maintain the tie. He punched away a right-to-left shot by Elanga at 90+2 and then off of a corner at 90+3, a header by forward Alexander Isak was rejected with lightning reflexes.
It ended 1-1 with Japan at 52% of the ball and Sweden had 10 shots to eight.
● Group F: Netherlands 3, Tunisia 1 ● In Kansas City, the Dutch came in 1-0-1 and Tunisia had been eliminated at 0-2 already, and the Netherlands was on offense immediately, scoring in the third minute on an own goal by Tunisia’s Ellyes Skhiri! Dutch defender Denzel Dumfries sent a cross from the right side into the box, mis-hit into the goal.
It was 2-0 in the seventh minute as striker Brian Brobbey got his third goal of the tournament off a header from defender Virgil van Dijk from left to right across the goal off of a free kick, with Brobbey making an easy, right-footed finish. The Dutch had 66% possession at the hydro break, but the shots were 3-3.
The game slowed and the score remained the same at half; the Dutch had 70% possession and a 12-4 edge on shots. But Tunisia fired up in the second half and got a header from striker Hazem Mastouri in the 54th to close to 2-1. Midfielder Hannibal Mejbri sent a cross into the box and Mastouri was ready with the header to surprise the Dutch.
However, it was 3-1 quickly, as midfielder Tijjani Reijnders sent a left-side corner kick into the box and defender Jan Paul van Hecke headed it in off of midfielder Anis Slimane and into the goal in the 62nd.
The Dutch continued with 73% of the ball and a commanding 17-6 shots edge, and in control of the game. It finished at 3-1 with 72% possession for Netherlands and a 20-10 shots edge, to clinch the group.
● Group F ● The Dutch finished 2-0-1, and won the group with 10 goals (to four); they are off to play Morocco in the Round of 32. Japan finished second at 1-0-2 and five points with Sweden third (1-1-1: 4) and should go through as a third-place team. All three will be tough to deal with.
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● Group D: Turkey vs. United States ● Inglewood (10 p.m. Eastern)
● Group D: Paraguay vs. Australia ● Santa Clara (10 p.m. Eastern)
Reports will be added once these games are completed.
≡ PANORAMA ≡
The schedule for Friday, 26 June will complete three more groups:
● Group I: Norway vs. France, in Foxborough (3 p.m. Eastern)
● Group I: Senegal vs. Iraq, in Toronto (3 p.m. Eastern)
● Group H: Cape Verde vs. Saudi Arabia, in Houston (8 p.m. Eastern)
● Group H: Uruguay vs. Spain, in Guadalajara (8 p.m. Eastern)
● Group G: Egypt vs. Iran, in Seattle (11 p.m. Eastern)
● Group G: New Zealand vs. Belgium, Vancouver (11 p.m. Eastern)
On Saturday, 27 June, group play will finish:
● Group L: Panama vs. England, in East Rutherford (5 p.m. Eastern)
● Group L: Croatia vs. Ghana, in Philadelphia (5 p.m. Eastern)
● Group K: Colombia vs. Portugal, in Miami Gardens (7:30 p.m. Eastern)
● Group K: DR Congo vs. Uzbekistan, in Atlanta (7:30 p.m. Eastern)
● Group J: Algeria vs. Austria, in Kansas City (10 p.m. Eastern)
● Group J: Jordan vs. Argentina, in Arlington (10 p.m. Eastern)
The elimination round-of-32 will start on Sunday (28th) in Inglewood, California, between South Africa and Canada, as noon local time.
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It was announced during the Germany-Ecuador game that total attendance at the 2026 World Cup has reached a record 3,605,357 in the 56th match, finally surpassing the 1994 World Cup total of 3,587,538, in 52 matches.
Both, of course, were held in the U.S., with some matches in Canada and Mexico this year.
What is the impact of this? FIFA will want to find any way it can to hold its major tournaments in the U.S. Period.
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Reiterating a complaint originally lodged months ago, the Iranian Football Federation has asked FIFA to try and cancel pro-LGBTQ activities at Lumen Field as the event had been locally designated a “Pride Match” in Seattle for many months ahead of time. The Iranian federation statement noted:
“Iran and Egypt are two Muslim countries with deep cultural and religious commonalities, and the views expressed by both federations reflect the values and beliefs shared by the peoples of both countries. Our position is that no ceremonies or promotional activities related to this movement should be held in the stadium before or during matches.”
FIFA rejected the request and said in a statement:
“The FIFA World Cup 2026 is an inclusive event that welcomes people from all backgrounds. Fans of all sexual orientations and gender identities are welcome at matches and events.
“General statements of human rights, including rainbow flags and other flags representing sexual orientation and gender identity, are permitted under the FIFA World Cup 2026 Stadium Code of Conduct and may be displayed inside stadiums.”
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Canada’s CTV reported that the Canadian government processed almost 17,000 visa applications related to the World Cup from 160 countries and territories, but approved only 41% of them.
Applications for “Temporary Resident Visas” were approved at a 32% rate, while 96% of “Electronic Travel Authorizations” from allowed countries between 14 November 2025 and 31 March 2026 were approved.
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Multiple reports have surfaced concerning delivery of tickets – or the lack thereof – by StubHub as a reseller of World Cup tickets that have not been delivered to buyers.
A CBC story noted, “Stubhub has acknowledged it is having issues, which it blames on FIFA’s ticketing technology and an app FIFA introduced a month ago, which restricts the use and transfer of tickets” with StubHub spokesperson Jack Sterne explaining:
“Even with these limitations, we’ve taken steps to improve reliability and support fans. Every order on StubHub is also backed by our FanProtect Guarantee, which provides alternative tickets or a full refund.”
A Yahoo! Sports story about ticketing issues with a StubHub statement explaining that “issues fans are experiencing are tied to performance problems with the event organizer’s ticketing infrastructure, which it said has caused transfer failures across resale platforms.” StubHub added:
“Every StubHub order is backed by our FanProtect Guarantee, so when ticket transfer is interrupted, we work to find a comparable replacement ticket or issue a full refund. Getting fans to their matches is always the priority, and our teams are working through every case with that goal.”
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