Weeks are loosely defined during the World Cup, as you can tell. We're two days away from the end of matchday two competition, and we've seen six teams already clinch advancement (USA, baby!) and three nations already guaranteed to head home before the knockouts (Haiti, Türkiye, and Tunisia).
A ton of great stories remain, though, and we're here to bring them to you.
One might have been forgiven for thinking Cabo Verde's all-time shocker of a draw against Spain was the pinnacle for that tiny West African island nation - the 0-0 draw made a global sensation of 40 year-old goalkeeper Vozinha. But the Blue Sharks aren't done. They scrapped out a pulsating 2-2 draw against powerhouse Uruguay to leave them on the brink of advancing to the Round of 32. Should Uruguay lose to Spain, all Cabo Verde would need to do is draw with Saudi Arabia to move on. A win over the Saudis guarantees them a spot in the next round.
Which will give us more goats.
Japan are poised to go through after a stirring 2-2 draw with the Netherlands and a 4-0 pasting of Tunisia. A draw or better against Sweden sends them through, and they may well already have done enough to qualify as a third-place team in the event they fall to the Swedes. Host cities hope they get the Japanese fans, for obvious reasons.
DR Congo play their second group match today, taking on Colombia in Guadalajara. Congo stunned heavily favored Portugal, earning a 1-1 draw in their opening match. They'll be supported by one of the most colorful fans in this World Cup.
Michel Kuka Mboladinga, who goes by “Lumumba Vea,” first gained attention at the last year's AFCON, the African continental championships. His nickname means Lumumba Lives, an homage to his nation's first prime minister, Patrice Lumumba. The leader of the Congolese independence movement, Lumumba was tortured and slain by Belgian mercenaries in 1961 and remains a powerful symbol of national pride.
Bit of a departure from the fans and the pageantry for a moment to honor one of the players. Côte d'Ivoire (and RB Leipzig) winger Yan Diomande is just 19 years old. He played high school soccer in the United States before catching the attention of European clubs. He's reportedly caught the interest of Liverpool, and may be joining the Premier League side on a massive transfer this summer.
He's also an older brother who desperately misses his late sister. Diomande penned this moving tribute to her in The Players Tribune last week. After you wipe your eyes, you can root for The Elephants to knock off Curaçao and advance on Thursday.
Okay, we're back. And we're bringing Aussies. The Aussies, they're doing shoeys, or what we might've called 'shooting the boot' back in the day. Oi! Oi! Oi!
— Jake (@jwilks09) June 19, 2026
Last, but definitely not least, the Norwegians are doing their level best to plunder our fair land. Here they are overwhelming Times Square in advance of their team's comprehensive 3-1 win over Senegal.
Posts
Is Ronaldo.....back?
ReplyDeletefuck no. he's a flat track bully.
ReplyDeleteThose are well behaved goats.
ReplyDeleteWhy are we using Cabo vs. Cape? Is this a Sammy Hagar thing? What does the G:TB style manual say?
ReplyDeleteI knew Rob would chime in in 30 minutes or less. I bet cr7 practices that dumb goal celebration.
ReplyDeleteghana are 16-1 dogs against england. i don't think they'll win, but that's good value.
ReplyDelete