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≡ FIFA WORLD CUP ≡
One of the finalists for the World Cup is now known: Spain, the 2010 champions, who reached their second-ever championship final in dominant fashion.
● Spain 2, France 0 ● The first semi was in air-conditioned AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, a respite from 85 F temps and high humidity outside. Inside, Spain had possession as expected, with the French happy to counterattack.
Then a crazy play in the 20th created a penalty for Spain, as French defender Lucas Digne tried to clear a ball in the box and he ended up kicking pressing Spanish forward Lamine Yamal in the left thigh! Forward Mikel Oyarzabal took the penalty in the 22nd and scored with the left foot, to the top of the net. The hydration break came with Spain at 56% possession and 2-1 on shots, but up a goal.
The French suffered another loss in the 29th, with defender William Saliba injured and had to leave the game for Maxence Lacroix. And Spain almost got a second goal in the 38th, as a turnover led to a cross into the box by Yamal for Fabian Ruiz that looked like a goal-in-the-making, but it was blocked by French defender Dayot Upemecano.
France continued attacking, but the half ended 1-0, with Spain at 56% of possession and 5-2 on shots. And Spain continued to possess the ball at the start of the second half, and against the French press, the Spanish took control as defender Pedro Porro sent the ball to midfielder Dani Olmo at the top of the box and he wheeled to a cutting Porro, who had space in the middle of the box and sent a right-footed blast into the goal for a commanding, 2-0 lead in the 58th.
Yamal scored on a spectacular, 1×2 shot in the 61st off a fast-break pass over the top, but it was called for offsides. France got going after that, with star scorer Kylian Mbappe getting the team’s first shot-on-goal in the 65th. The hydro break came in the 69th, with Spain at 54% of the ball, 8-5 on shots, but France pressing.
But the Spanish continued in possession, keeping the game in the French half. France mounted more pressure after the 80-minute mark, with Spanish keeper Unai Simon coming out to slow one attack and blocking a cross on another at the endline. That was enough.
The game finished 2-0, with the Spanish at 51% possession and shots at 10-10. For Spain, they have allowed one goal in seven games and scored 13, seemingly a lifetime away from their opening 0-0 tie against Cape Verde. The French, brilliant throughout the tournament, were overmatched by the Spanish defense and will play for third.
≡ PANORAMA ≡
Three matches left:
● Semifinal: 15 July in Atlanta: England vs. Argentina (3 p.m. Eastern)
● Third: 18 July in Miami Gardens (5 p.m. Eastern)
● Final: 19 July in East Rutherford (3 p.m. Eastern)
The final at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey looked to be toasty: projected game-time temperature of 88 F with light rain in the forecast. That will have an impact.
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TicketData.com reporting showed that the lowest “get-in” price for the quarterfinals went down from the round-of-16:
● $913 for the Group Stage
● $1,015 for the Round-of-32
● $1,453 for the Round-of-16
● $1,188 for the Quarterfinals
As far as the “final four” matches go, prices have come down from the highest levels, back during the group stage:
● $1,315 for ESP-FRA semi ~ was $4,506 on 22 June (final pricing)
● $2,599 for ARG-ENG semi ~ was $4,596 on 22 June
● $1,603 for third place ~ was $2,409 on 25 June
● $7,243 for first place ~ was $12,200 on 22 June
Through 101 of 104 matches, the median (not average) of the lowest “get-in” prices is $914.
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FIFA President Gianni Infantino (SUI) continued to breathe life into the idea of a 64-team tournament for 2030, saying in an interview:
“When organising a World Cup, it’s important to organise it for the whole world – not just Europe and South America – but effectively the entire world. Every nation should be allowed to dream of participating in the World Cup.
“You can see that the quality of the teams is extremely high – and it’s getting higher and higher all over the world. If you don’t give smaller countries a chance to participate in the World Cup, they’ll lack the incentive to keep improving.”
The way the award of the 2030 World Cup was arranged, “centennial” single matches will be played in Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay as well as the majority of the tournament in Morocco, Portugal and Spain. This allowed FIFA, using its continental rotation, to skip directly to Asia and Saudi Arabia for 2034.
By expanding to 64 teams, the three South American hosts would at least get a full set of group matches. The idea was floated in April 2025 by FIFA Council member Ignacio Alonso of Uruguay, and again at the FIFA Congress Alessandro Dominguez (PAR), the President of the South American confederation, CONMEBOL.
The Asian, European and CONCACAF federations have all panned the idea.
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The Times (London) reported that the decision to waive the red-card suspension of American striker Falorin Balogun was made solely by the head of the FIFA Disciplinary Committee, Mohammad al-Kamali (UAE).
The story stated that none of the other 17 members of the committee were consulted. However, the decision was issued in the name of the Disciplinary Committee. Al-Kamali became the head of the Disciplinary Committee last year.
Questions have been raised about a red card shown to England’s Jarell Quansah against Mexico, but the Disciplinary Committee imposed a two-match ban.
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Fascinating LinkedIn post by the vastly-experienced Hill Carrow, the chief executive of the North Carolina 2029 World University Games, about what he saw during the World Cup:
“During my travels in recent weeks, I transited through several U.S. World Cup Host City airports. Because we are hosting the NC USA 2029 FISU World University Games in central North Carolina in July of 2029, I wanted to make sure and take note of how each of those airports were welcoming the world – particularly sports fans – to their communities, knowing the airport typically represents the first impression of a host city.
“The airports included Atlanta Hartsfield (Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport), Boston Logan, Newark Liberty (Newark Liberty Intl-Ewr), and San Francisco International Airport.
“I decided to rank them based on the best ‘event presentations’ in each airport and my rankings came out this way: #1 – Newark Liberty Terminal A: not only lots of very noticeable welcoming soccer signage, but really neat FIFA merch vending machines in the middle of the concourses; #2 San Francisco International: can’t miss the display of giant soccer balls, and the ball incorporated into the SFO logo was spot on; #3 Atlanta Hartsfield: for America’s busiest airport, while there was enough signage that you knew the World Cup was in town, they could have done a way better job of acknowledging and emphasizing the magnitude of the event; and #4 Boston Logan: here the lack of soccer-oriented signage, displays and the like led me to rank them lowest in my FIFA World Cup 2026 – Canada, Mexico and the United States Airport-Event Decor bracket.”
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