LITTLER LANDS THE NINE! ☢️
LUKE LITTLER PRODUCES PERFECTION IN THE OPENING LEG OF THE MATCH!
Absolutely astonishing! 🤯
📺 https://t.co/xXnQhVoUPy
#MatchplayDarts
Wayne Rooney on the half-time show:
“My favourite bit of the half time show was when it finished… I like all of them artists but I thought it was crap.” 😂😂
🚨🎙️Roy Keane on Egypt’s Second Goal & the Earlier Disallowed Strike vs Argentina
🗣️ “There you go! Egypt break quick, Salah does the thing, slips it through and Zico just slots it first time — bang, bottom corner, job done. 2-0. Proper finish, proper technique. Even with all this Big Name favouritism and dodgy refereeing messing about, you can’t hide real quality like that. Egypt have been brilliant.
But that first one? Zico taps in another belter on the counter, looks clean as anything, and what do they do? VAR and Letexier jump in and bin it for some poxy little nudge in the build-up that wouldn’t even be a foul down the park. Too soft to chalk off a goal. Give me a break. They’re not even pretending anymore. On any other day those two goals stand and Egypt are laughing. But nah, can’t let the Big Names get embarrassed, can we? FIFA and this lot have their favourites sorted. Absolute joke. The game’s gone soft.”
🚨 𝗕𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗞𝗜𝗡𝗚: The Belgian federation has released a new statement:
"After learning through media reports of FIFA’s decision to lift the automatic suspension of player Balogun, the RBFA sent a letter to FIFA requesting a copy of the decision, an explanation of the process that had been followed, and setting out its position regarding the applicable regulations."
"As its only response, FIFA sent a letter to the RBFA stating that it considered this correspondence to constitute an appeal, that a judge had been appointed, and that the RBFA had only a few hours to complete that appeal. No information whatsoever was provided by FIFA."
"All of this occurred while FIFA simultaneously refused to respond to the RBFA’s legitimate requests."
"Furthermore, during the match coordination meeting, FIFA deliberately removed the section concerning the automatic suspension of players from its presentation. This topic had nonetheless been part of all such meetings before each of the previous four matches. The RBFA questioned FIFA, both orally and in writing, about the reasons for this change, yet once again received no response."
"To be clear, as of this moment, the RBFA has still not received any decision or any explanation from FIFA regarding this matter. It therefore has no alternative but to challenge the player's eligibility for the upcoming match."
"Regardless of the sporting outcome of this match, the RBFA is deeply saddened by the course of events and will continue to fight in the coming hours, days and months in defence of the fundamental principles of ethics, fair competition, and the interests of football as a whole."
🚨 𝗕𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗞𝗜𝗡𝗚: The Royal Belgian Football Association has released a statement in regard to Folarin Balogun being able to play against them.
"The Royal Belgian Football Association (RBFA) is astonished by FIFA's decision to declare suspended United States player Folarin Balogun eligible to play in the USA–Belgium match on Monday, 6 July at 5:00 p.m. (Seattle time)."
"FIFA bases its decision on Article 27 of the FIFA Disciplinary Code. This provision states that the FIFA Disciplinary Committee may decide to suspend the enforcement of a previously imposed disciplinary sanction."
"However, Article 66.4 of the same FIFA Disciplinary Code clearly provides that a red card (sending-off) automatically results in a suspension for the team's next match, as has been the case for all previous red cards issued during this FIFA World Cup."
"Furthermore, and irrespective of the above, the decision is in direct contradiction with the provisions of the FIFA World Cup 2026 Competition Regulations, as set out in Article 10.5:
"If a player or team official is sent off as a result of a direct or indirect red card (second caution), they will automatically be suspended from their team's subsequent match. In addition, further sanctions may be imposed."
"The automatic nature of such a suspension was also explicitly reaffirmed in FIFA World Cup 2026 Circular No. 16, which was distributed to all participating member associations on 12 May 2026."
"The same rule is reiterated at every FIFA World Cup 2026 Match Coordination Meeting prior to each match and is included in all FIFA World Cup 2026 workshop presentations.
"In order to safeguard the legitimate rights of all participating teams and to protect the fundamental principles of fair play in our sport, both at this FIFA World Cup and at future editions of the tournament, the RBFA is investigating all potential options."