Month: June 2026

For 45 minutes, France looked like a disjointed tournament favorite. Senegal was quicker, sharper and a missed sitter away from leading at the break. After a slow start, France remembered it had Kylian Mbappé — and by full-time he’d dragged Les Bleus to a 3-1 win and himself into the history books. The scoreboard read 3-1, and Mbappé is now France’s greatest-ever men’s goalscorer. Mercifully for Les Bleus, the first half won’t be remembered at all.Here are my takeaways from France’s opening win: 1. Mbappé Made History, The Hard Way For an hour, this wasn’t the Mbappé anyone bought tickets for. Wasteful, heavy in the touch, robbed in good areas, beaten to everything by Senegal keeper Édouard Mendy. The France captain was poor in the first half, considering his lofty standards. Then he scored twice in the second half and rewrote the record books. The first, a clinical first-time finish from Michael Olise’s pass, drew Mbappé level with Les Bleus legend Olivier Giroud. The historic second goal — restoring the cushion seconds after Senegal pulled one back — made him France’s men’s all-time leading scorer with 58 goals, reached in his 99th cap. Giroud needed 137. And Mbappé is still only 27 years old.That’s the magnificent truth about Mbappé: He can be invisible for 45 minutes and still walk off as the most important player in his country’s history. He’s also up to 14 World Cup goals now — two shy of Germany legend Miroslav Klose’s all-time record. 2. France Can Win While Playing In Third Gear Here’s the slightly unfair truth about this team: It doesn’t need to be good to win. It just needs to be France for 20 minutes.The team was second best for a half. Senegal pressed, countered with pace and created the better chances. Nicolas Jackson rattled the post, and was dangerous on a few offside decisions. Ismaïla Sarr missed a near-open net before the break. On another night, France is chasing this at the halftime break.Instead, Senegal wasn’t clinical, France had a finisher who was historic, and the rest sorted itself out. Ibrahim Mbaye’s late strike was the goal their hour deserved — and it changed nothing.That’s the gap between the contenders and everyone else: Senegal did almost everything right given the opposition and lost by two 3. This Says Nothing About Senegal File this one under “means nothing.” Senegal played well, and a 3-1 scoreline doesn’t deserve criticism. This is not a team punching above its weight. Look at where these players earn their living: Nicolas Jackson at Bayern Munich, Ismaïla Sarr tormenting fullbacks and scoring more than 20 goals at Crystal Palace, Iliman Ndiaye and the evergreen Idrissa Gueye at Everton, Pape Matar Sarr at Tottenham, Habib Diarra at Sunderland, Lamine Camara at Monaco, Pape Gueye at Villarreal. Behind them, the experienced spine of Sadio Mané, Kalidou Koulibaly and Mendy. Seven Premier League players alone.Pape Thiaw’s side defend with discipline and counter with real venom. They were the better team for the first half and lost anyway — the cruelty of the margins at this level, not a verdict on Senegal. Norway and Iraq are next. Don’t be shocked if these guys trouble somebody in the knockouts. 4. What’s France’s Best Front Four — And Can It Afford It? Didier Deschamps has the problem every other coach dreams about: too many quality players, not enough balance. Tonight’s front leaned on Mbappé, Ousmané Dembélé, Olise and Desiré Doué — closer to a 4-2-4 than his usual 4-2-3-1 — and for a half it left Aurélien Tchouaméni and Adrien Rabiot stranded. France was wide open and the defense often forced to man mark. Mbappé’s never been famous for his pressing; he managed fewer interceptions in La Liga for Real Madrid last season than Joan García, who is a goalkeeper.We even got a Ryan Cherki cameo, and the Manchester City playmaker makes France’s best XI more fun without making it more balanced. Every flair merchant you add is another body not shielding that midfield two.The talent is absurd. The question for a manager in his final tournament is restraint: How much beauty can France afford before it costs this team a knockout game? Especially since the quality of the opposition will only strengthen in the knockout stages.​Latest Sports News from FOX Sports

Kylian Mbappé scored the 13th and 14th World Cup goals of his career Tuesday, moving the France forward past Pelé, Lionel Messi and countryman Just Fontaine and into a tie for third most in tournament history. He also set a scoring record for France’s national team. Mbappé first scored in the 66th minute of France’s 3-1 victory over Senegal after having several good scoring chances denied earlier by goalkeeper Édouard Mendy, including in the second half. He scored again from long range in stoppage time, giving him two in the game and 58 in international play to break a tie with Oliver Giroud for the national team record. Playing in his third World Cup, the 27-year-old Mbappé is now tied with Germany’s Gerd Müller and one behind Brazil’s Ronaldo. Germany’s Miroslav Klose has the record with 16 World Cup goals. Mbappé had little trouble finding room between Senegal defenders several times in the first 14 or so minutes. But he was sloppy with the ball for much of the rest of the first half before he and his teammates started to mesh. Mbappé scored 25 goals this past season with Real Madrid. Reporting by The Associated Press.​Latest Sports News from FOX Sports

U.S. men’s national team captain Tim Ream has accumulated more than 80 caps at the international level. Yet at age 38, he’s helping to maximize a new challenge. An up-tempo, high-press system. “This style,” Ream said while appearing on FOX Sports’ “The Herd” on Tuesday, “it’s fun to play. It’s enjoyable, but it’s harder than any style or system that I’ve ever played. But when it works, when you see what Friday brought, it is so enjoyable to be a part of.” USA’s 4-1 victory against Paraguay on Friday at Los Angeles Stadium was a result of a high-risk, high-reward system paying off. And paying off because of a wild card that the U.S. has struggled to find, in consistency. A creative and clinical striker, Folarin Balogun. “Flo is a natural striker,” Ream said. “He’s one of those guys that — you saw it on the second goal — loves getting in, and darting behind defenders and getting the ball in front of him and being able to take guys on. But he’s also out of this dimension of being able to hold the ball up and bring other players in. And now you find this connection.” Before the 2026 FIFA World Cup started, Ream emphasized that Balogun put in the effort to make a connection with the midfielders behind him — Christian Pulisic, Weston McKennie, Malik Tillman and others. “It’s a lot of things that are done not in front of the camera that people don’t see,” Ream explained. “Conversations and extra touches, extra drills.” That time together, away from the heat of competition leads to slotting away the chances that present themselves, and — even more crucially to this system — it leads to trust. Each attacker is assured their teammate will press if they lose the ball, giving them the confidence to take risks and make mistakes. Balogun found himself on the receiving end of that collective courage, as he scored two goals on Friday off his own skill but also sublime setups from teammates. The first was a low cross from Pulisic that landed right at Balogun’s foot for a one-time finish. The second was a through ball from Tillman that reached Balogun in stride, giving him the momentum to skirt around defenders and create the angle for a shot. Finishing those chances awarded the aggression the U.S. put forth to winning the ball back in the final third after just losing it there. “We will be attacking and we will lose the ball. Yeah, that’s a given,” Ream said. “But being in the right place before things happen is how you mitigate the negatives of playing that way.” Aside from Balogun, Ream is crucial to USA’s system because he is the eyes at the back, and an extension of manager Mauricio Pochettino on the field. His job has been made easier because of Balogun’s talent, plus team-wide trust. “I don’t really think about being on an island,” Ream said. “Sometimes I just think of, ‘OK, where do I have to be, and where do I have to put guys in order to make sure that we’re in a solid position to not have any crazy counter-attacks?'” The bedrock of that trust, in Ream’s opinion, is the manager, Pochettino. Because he cares for and empowers his players, they play for him in this high-intensity system. “Once you get to know him and his staff, it’s very easy. They’re very charismatic,” Ream said. “They’re very caring about the players. They have an interesting focus about them when we’re on the field, but this idea that they want to connect with the players individually and then that translates into the players connecting off the field in a larger group, in a bigger collective.” The U.S. is coming off an ultimate high — a performance Ream dubbed “one of, if not the best performances the guys have put in over my many years.” Part of that is because, in all Ream’s years, he hasn’t seen such a unique system flowing in synchronicity. He’s confident the U.S. has the pieces, starting with Balogun at the top, down through Ream and Pochettino, to keep the system working on Thursday against Australia, and throughout the World Cup.​Latest Sports News from FOX Sports

Lionel Messi has already made history at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, but Kylian Mbappé is on his heels. The France star has already broken the federation’s record for the most international goals scored, and he’s within striking distance of Messi’s ever-increasing record for the most goals scored ever at the World Cup. Will Mbappé catch Messi before the World Cup is over? Follow along as we track Mbappé’s road to potentially catching up to Messi: Mbappé At 2026 World Cup: 4 Goals France vs. Iraq Mbappé moved into a tie for the second-most goals scored by a men’s player at the FIFA World Cup after scoring two goals against Iraq on Tuesday. He scored his first goal of the day in the 14th minute, making a strong, left-footed shot from outside the box for his 15th career World Cup goal. Then, after a two-hour-long rain delay, Mbappé scored his 16th career World Cup goal thanks to a mistake by Iraq. The French star was able to go one-on-one with Iraq goalkeeper Ahmed Basil after he turned the ball over in his own penalty box. The goal moved Mbappé back to just two goals behind Lionel Messi for the most goals scored ever in the World Cup. Mbappé’s second goal of the day also helped him break a tie with former Brazil star Ronaldo for the third-most goals scored by a men’s player in the World Cup, while he tied former Germany star Miroslav Klose. France vs. Senegal Mbappé became France’s all-time leading goalscorer with his second goal of the tournament and his 58th for France.  Olivier Giroud, who retired from France’s national team following Euro 2024, was previously France’s all-time leading goalscorer, scoring his 57th goal in March 2024 at the age of 37. Mbappé also eclipsed France legend Just Fontaine and Lionel Messi to Gerd Müller for the third-most goals in World Cup history with 14. France World Cup Schedule FIFA Men’s World Cup All-Time Top Goalscorers Sitting tied for fourth place in all-time World Cup goals, Mbappé is chasing some legitimate legends. At the top of the heap is Argentina’s Lionel Messi, whose memorable hat trick tied him with Germany legend Miroslav Klose. Messi, who won the World Cup in 2022, is in his sixth tournament appearance, while Klose helped Germany win it in 2014 with his fourth and final appearance at the tournament. T1. Miroslav Klose (Germany) — 16 goals T1. Lionel Messi (Argentina) — 16 goals 3. Ronaldo (Brazil) — 15 goals T4. Gerd Müller (Germany) — 14 goals T4. Kylian Mbappé (France) — 14 goals 5. Just Fontaine (France) — 13 goals 6. Pelé (Brazil) — 12 goals Mbappé At 2022 World Cup: 8 Goals At the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, Mbappé had a remarkable tournament, scoring eight goals to win the Golden Boot. His tournament included a historic hat-trick in the final against Argentina, making him the first player to score three goals in a World Cup final since 1966. Nonetheless, Mbappé and France came up short against Argentina, losing on penalties. Mbappé At 2018 World Cup: 4 Goals At the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, Mbappé broke onto the international scene, scoring four goals as a 19-year-old and playing a key role in France’s championship run. During that campaign, he became only the second teenager to score in a World Cup final when he found the net in France’s 4-2 victory over Croatia in 2018.​Latest Sports News from FOX Sports