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The story of Cabo Verde’s Goal Keeper - Vozinha

Nobody is talking about Vozinha AKA Grandma. Let us change that.
His name is Josimar José Évora Dias. Born in Mindelo, Cape Verde. He turned 40 years old this month and today he's playing in his FIRST ever FIFA World Cup.

Not at 23. Not as a golden boy. At FORTY.

#CaboverdeVsSpain #FifaWorldcup2026 #Vozinha #España

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KICK-OFF!
England vs Ghana is UNDERWAY
Three Lions roaring after that 4-2 thriller vs Croatia, Kane chasing history.
Black Stars dangerous on the break after toppling Panama.

#ENGGHA #WorldCup2026 #ThreeLions

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Final numbers:

Possession: POR 66% - UZB 34%
Shots:
POR 17 (9 on target)
UZB 7 (2 on target)

Portugal's 4-3-3 never let Uzbekistan's back line breathe - wide combinations down both flanks all match.
Martínez rotated heavily after 3-0 (Bernardo Silva, Leão, Conceição all introduced), managing fitness ahead of the Colombia decider while still chasing more history for Ronaldo.
Uzbekistan's only real spell was that disallowed Ganiev strike - Diogo Costa barely tested otherwise (Fayzullaev's drive the exception).

#VaiDarPortugal #PORUZB

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Portugal Vs Uzbekistan - Full-Time Breakdown

FULL TIME: Portugal 5 - 0 Uzbekistan

A Ronaldo brace, a Nuno Mendes free-kick, an own goal, and a Rafael Leão finish off the bench. Total domination. Here's how it all unfolded

#VaiDarPortugal #FIFAWORLDCUP #PORUZB

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6' - GOAL Ronaldo (1-0) Right-side overload from kickoff (Cancelo high, Neto + Fernandes combining inside). Ronaldo gets across his man in the box and finishes - his 144th international goal, and the moment he becomes the first man ever to score at SIX different World Cups.

17' - GOAL Nuno Mendes (2-0) Free kick won after a foul on Ronaldo. Everyone expects the captain to step up - Mendes takes it himself instead, bending a low left-footed strike around the wall. Disguise that catches Uzbekistan completely cold.

28' - Uzbekistan's goal DISALLOWED Best spell of their half: loose ball breaks to Ganiev, who smashes a 25-yard strike into the top corner. Stadium nearly erupts - then VAR chalks it off for a foul earlier in the move. The one moment that could've changed the tempo, gone.

39' - GOAL Ronaldo again (3-0, HT) Brace number, his 145th international goal. Game essentially decided before the break - Martínez has the platform to manage the rest of the match with one eye on the Colombia decider.

60' - OWN GOAL (4-0) Set-piece pressure pays off again: Bruno Fernandes whips in a corner, Joao Félix gets a touch, it cannons off Khusanov and loops in off keeper Nematov. Portugal's corner routines were a problem the entire match - 3 corners, constant scrambles.

87' - GOAL Rafael Leão (5-0) Fresh legs make the difference: Bruno Fernandes slides a through ball, Nélson Semedo drives to the byline and cuts a low cross back, Leão finishes with power on the turn. Bench impact - exactly what Martínez wanted to see with squad depth in mind.

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38' - GOAL Ronaldo again (3-0) Ronaldo's second of the day, 145th international goal.

Numbers don't lie: Possession: POR 68% - UZB 32% Shots: POR 8 (3 on target) - UZB 3 (1 on target)

Why it's been one-way:

Portugal's 4-3-3 stretches Uzbekistan's back three horizontally - both fullbacks (Cancelo, Mendes) pin high and wide, opening half-spaces for Bruno Fernandes & Joao Felix to operate freely.

Uzbekistan's 3-4-2-1 leaves Shomurodov isolated up top, so they've barely had the ball to threaten - their only route in has been quick transition, exactly how the disallowed Ganiev goal came.

Persistent fouling out wide (Abdullaev repeatedly pulled for fouls on Fernandes/Mendes) shows a side stretched and out of ideas defensively.

#VarDaiPortugal #FIFAWORLDCUP #PORUZB

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HALFTIME: Portugal 3 - 0 Uzbekistan

Ronaldo brace + a Nuno Mendes free-kick special have blown this one open. A breakdown of how every key moment happened

5' - GOAL Ronaldo (1-0) Portugal overload the right from kickoff - Cancelo bombing on, Mendes mirroring on the left half-space. Ronaldo gets in front of his marker in the box and finishes from close range.

17' - GOAL Nuno Mendes (2-0) Free kick won after a foul on Ronaldo just outside the box. Everyone expects Ronaldo to step up - instead Mendes takes it himself and curls a low left-footed strike around the wall. Disguise that completely wrong-foots Uzbekistan's setup.

28' - Uzbekistan's goal DISALLOWED Best moment of their half: Cancelo dispossessed near the box, the loose ball breaks to Ganiev who absolutely leathers a 25-yard strike into the top corner. Stadium goes quiet for a second - then VAR steps in. Foul earlier in the move wipes it off.

Huge swing moment. 2-1 there changes this whole game's tempo.

#VarDaiPortugal #PORUZB

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GOAL - PORTUGAL

Nuno Mendes scores from Freekick

Portugal 2 - 0 Uzbekistan

#VarDaiPortugal #PORUZB

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GOAAAAAL - PORTUGAL

Cristiano Ronaldo Scores his First goal of the night.
Assisted by Joao Cancelo

Portugal 1 - 0 Uzbekistan

#VaiDarPortugal #FIFAWORLDCUP #PORUZB

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KICKOFF - Portugal Vs Uzbekistan

Portugal need this win after a shocking 1-1 draw vs DR Congo
Uzbekistan - making just their 2nd World Cup appearance ever.

The Seleção have something to prove.

#PORUZB #FIFAWC2026 #VaiDarPortugal

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GOAL - FRANCE

Mbappe opens the scoring for France
Assisted by M. Olise

France 1 - 0 Iraq

#FRAIRQ #FIFAWC2026

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What Argentina Exposed

Austria were brave, physical and committed. Sabitzer's curling free-kick in the second half forced a proper save from Emiliano Martínez. Danso headed behind at the back post from a late set-piece. Rangnick threw on Arnautovic, went long balls - but it was chasing shadows against a side who knew exactly how to manage a lead.

The passing numbers tell the control story: 89% completed passes for Argentina vs 86% for Austria. Duels were almost even but the scoreline was never really in doubt.
Argentina advance to the Round of 32 with a perfect 6 points, having scored 5 goals in 2 games. Austria's press was fierce. Their xG was non-existent. And Messi - missed penalty and all - finished with a brace and two more history books rewritten. The Last Dance rolls on.

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The Stats Tells the Real Story
Despite Argentina holding only a modest 50% possession to Austria's 43% and 7% in Contest. Austria looked competitive on the ball. But they never truly threatened.

Argentina put 5 of 12 shots on target . Austria managed just 1 of 6. And crucially, both sides created exactly 1 big chance each - but Argentina converted theirs twice, Austria converted none. That's the Scaloni difference. Not dominance. Efficiency.

Kevin Danso was man-of-the-match material defensively - blocking Nico González clean through, denying Enzo Fernández, making multiple crucial interventions and still Austria lost 2–0. That's how clinical Argentina were.

#Argentina #ARGAUT

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The Goals: Pure Intelligence

38'. Facundo Medina plays it through, Almada lets it run - directly onto Messi's left foot. He curls it into the bottom corner. Goal 17. The Messi stands alone as the all-time leading scorer in men's World Cup history.

90'+5. A counter. Messi plays Álvarez in, his effort is blocked by Austria, the ball bounces back - Messi drives his follow-up into the right corner. Goal 18. Two clear of Klose. Game over. Messi also became just the third player in World Cup history to score in six consecutive games, joining Just Fontaine (1958) and Jairzinho (1970). Neither goal was from a set piece, neither was a tap-in. Both came from pure football intelligence - creating angles where none existed.

#FIFAWC2026 #Argentina #ARGAUT

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ARGENTINA 2–0 AUSTRIA | Full Time Breakdown

The Penalty, The Press & The Chaos

8 mins. VAR confirms the Penalty. Messi steps up to break Klose's record outright. He drags it wide right. Schlager dives the right way, and Messi now holds the unwanted record of most missed penalties in World Cup history - three, surpassing Ghana's Asamoah Gyan, with previous misses against Iceland (2018) and Poland (2022).

What followed was textbook Rangnick. Austria's press immediately kicked into gear - cutting off Argentina's build-up, pinning them into their own half, and tracking Messi with three or four players every time he touched the ball.

#Argentina #FIFAWC2026 #ARGAUT #LionelMessi

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FULLTIME
Argentina 2 - 0 Austria

Messi Scores His brace.
Messi's 17th goal surpassed the men's Worldcup record previously held by Germany's Miroslav Klose (16 goals)

#ARGAUT #FIFAWC2026 #LionelMessi

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GOAAAAAAL - ARGENTINA

LIONEL MESSI SCORES HIS SECOND GOAL OF THE NIGHT

Argentina 2 - 0 Austria

#FIFAWC2026 #ARGAUT #LionelMessi

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THE GOAL. History.

Collective buildup. Messi drops into the right half-space - his favourite pocket. Medina plays a cheeky one-two back to him. Messi receives, controls, and -with basically zero backlift - curls it past Schlager.

17 World Cup goals. The record is his. Alone. Forever.

#ARGAUT #mundialdefútbol2026 #LionelMessi

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HALF-TIME THREAD
Argentina 1 – 0 Austria

Messi missed a pen. Austria ran the game for 20 mins.
Here's everything that happened - and WHY.

THE SETUPS
Argentina: 4-4-2. Messi in the right half-space. Mac Allister + De Paul + Enzo as the engine. Almada wide left.

Austria: 5-3-2. Rangnick's trademark - a back 5, a press that doesn't stop, and Laimer shunted into a hybrid LWB role to neutralize Argentina's right side.

#FIFAWC2026 #ARGAUT #mundialdefútbol2026

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Almada flagged offside
The first sign Argentina were trying to play themselves back into the game. Mac Allister pings it through the Austrian high line - Almada runs onto it but the flag goes up.

This moment actually tells you something important tactically: Argentina spotted Austria's back 5 was pushing high. The ball over the top was their answer.
Austria's high line is their biggest risk. Argentina clocked it early. It would matter later.

Mac Allister AND Enzo takes the wheel
Mac Allister just quietly grabbed the game and slowed everything down.
He started sitting deeper, receiving between the Austrian press lines, and recycling quick to De Paul on the right. Argentina's possession 80% . That's not stats - that's Midfield player deciding.

Messi keeps knocking

Three big moments in this window:
- Enzo Fernández's pass deflected by Schlager. Messi found the loose ball, shot - Austrian defender blocks it on the line.
-Messi drives into the box, goes for an extra touch, the angle closes, shot goes wide.
- Alaba produces an incredible last-ditch block to deny him again.

Austria defending for their lives. One moment of quality away from conceding.
Alaba was Austria's best player in this period - reading Messi's movement, positioning his body to block every cutback. He's why the scoreline stayed 0-0 as long as it did.

#FIFAWC2026 #ARGAUT