Itโs been a very hectic week, one Iโve waited for all my life.
A couple of days ago we welcomed our twin baby boys into the world! God did it for us!!!๐
I cannot put it into words how it felt holding them in my arms the first time. A truly beautiful feeling โค๏ธ
Iโm a twin dad!๐ฅน
The Spurs are emerging as a potential third team for Jaylen Brown in Giannis Antetokounmpo trade talks, with a deal that would send the No. 20 pick to Milwaukee with multiple future picks, per @GrantAfseth
Soccer has always been defined by free-flowing, unbroken action. But for the World Cup in America, FIFA is using โhydration breaksโ to shoehorn in commercials. ๐ https://t.co/pFuy90orj6
In desperation Spain turn to their superstar, the man who has battled with injury but returned in time for the biggest tournament in the world.
...
Lamine Yamal has also come on.
5 - Last night for @equipenatciv vs Ecuador, Yan Diomande became the first player Opta has on record since 1966 to create 5+ chances (5), make 5+ tackles (5), win 10+ duels (11) and have 10+ touches in the oppositionโs box (12) in a FIFA World Cup match.
๐จ๐ฎ Star.
Curaรงao didnโt play badly at all and this wasnโt a 7-1 game.
They just showed a bit of naivety and didnโt finish their chances well.
Germany also beat Brazil 7-1 not so long ago.
On the face of it, Germany's 7-1 win against Curacao was the sort of result that those opposed to the expanded World Cup format have been warning us about.
With 48 teams comes an inevitable dilution of quality, the argument goes, and with that will come more uncompetitive games, more thrashings like this.
But if that is the price for moments like Curacaoโs goal, it is one we should all live with.
Itโs not that it doesnโt matter they then went on to lose heavily but itโs only half the point of the game. The rest is the joy.
๐ @NickMiller79
FREE TO READ ๐ https://t.co/tXdzyXnfjz
Fox paid $485 million for the rights to broadcast this World Cup. The New York Times put the fair market value at $1 to $1.5 billion. The hydration break is how Fox gets its money's worth.
FIFA announced mandatory 3-minute pauses midway through each half of all 104 World Cup 2026 matches, not just hot ones. That includes games inside climate-controlled domed stadiums with roofs. The announcement came at a World Broadcaster Meeting in Washington DC. FIFA said the decision was made after consultation with coaches and broadcasters.
A few months later, FIFA gave broadcasters the green light to sell ads during the pauses. Fox gets 2 minutes and 10 seconds per break, starting 20 seconds after the whistle and ending 30 seconds before play resumes. Across all 104 games, that's 832 potential ad slots that didn't exist in soccer before this tournament. Fox and Telemundo project a combined $850 million in ad revenue from the 2026 World Cup.
The player welfare argument is also real. Argentina's Enzo Fernandez said he felt "dizzy" in "very dangerous" temperatures during last summer's Club World Cup in the US, where some games approached 100 degrees Fahrenheit. FIFA had reason to act. But it applied those breaks to every match regardless of conditions, and opened a commercial window that makes this World Cup more ad-friendly than any before it.
Fox proved the point on day one. In the opener between Mexico and South Africa, Fox missed the 30-second return window FIFA mandated. The ball was already in play when the network came back from commercials.
Coca-Cola, a top-tier global FIFA partner for decades, runs the hydration stations on the field. That same 3-minute pause serves three commercial interests at once: the field sponsor, Fox's ad revenue, and Fox's streaming subscribers.
The 2030 World Cup goes to Spain, Portugal, and Morocco. The 2034 tournament lands in Saudi Arabia. Both regions see extreme summer heat. FIFA has not confirmed whether the pauses will outlast this summer's tournament. But $850 million in new advertising inventory tends to answer that question on its own.
๐จ Arsenal have been stepping up their interest in Morgan Rogers, although his future will NOT be determined until after the World Cup with England. Arsenal have also watched Bradley Barcola & Yan Diomande, as well as Jean-Matteo Bahoya. ๐ต๏ธโโ๏ธ [@SkySportsNews]
๐จ๐น๐ณ ๐๐ฅ๐๐๐๐๐ก๐: Tunisia have dismissed Sabri Lamouchi after their first World Cup game which they lost 5-1 to Sweden!
โ @Romain_Molina
One benefit of having so many teams is the sheer amount of time the teams have between games in the first round.
Almost a week between your first game and your next, enough time for recovery.