Page 3 - Sports News

Fifa World Cup 2026: Croatia stay alive, eliminate Panama With 1-0 win

Josip Stanisic lifted a curving cross onto the boot of Ante Budimir, who tapped it into an open net in the 54th minute Tuesday, giving Croatia a 1-0 win over Panama in the World Cup. Croatia remains in contention for the knockout round ahead of its third and final group-stage match against Ghana on Saturday. Panama was eliminated and is still seeking its first World Cup point in two appearances. After a slow-moving first half at BMO Field, Croatia broke through Panama's strong back line after the break, with substitute Budimir finding the net just four minutes after coming on. The Vatreni nearly added another goal three minutes later when 40-year-old Luka Modric -- making his 200th international appearance -- passed ahead to Marco Pasalic on a breakaway, but Panama goalkeeper Orlando Mosquera blocked Pasalic's shot. Panama had three straight chances in the 67th minute to knot things up. Croatia goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic made a trio of dazzling saves; on the third, he just manage

England, Ghana play out goalless draw after late World Cup drama

England dominated possession but came up empty on several late scoring opportunities in a 0-0 draw with Ghana on Tuesday at the World Cup. Both teams won their opening matches, with Ghana beating Panama 1-0 and England defeating Croatia 4-2. Now both still have work to do in Group L before securing a spot in the knockout round. England, which has not lost to an African country at the World Cup in nine meetings, outshot Ghana 19-1 but failed capitalise on multiple chances in the closing minutes. England lost to France in the quarterfinals at the 2022 tournament in Qatar. Ghana has not made it to the knockout round since reaching the quarterfinals at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. The Three Lions had a chance to take the lead in the 86th minute when Nico O'Reilly's header hit the crossbar. Harry Kane gathered the rebound but could not get enough on it with his left foot and shot high. Ghana's best chance came in the 78th minute came when Abdul Fatawu outfought England midfielde

IPL insurers may see fewer claims this year on lower weather disruptions

Insurers' loss ratio is estimated at 60-70%, 10-15 percentage points lower than last season

World Cup 2026 Group E scenarios: Germany through, race wide open for R32

Germany are through to the Round of 32 at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, but Group E remains open as Ivory Coast, Ecuador and Curacao battle to qualify.

Task force to be set up for F1's India return: Sports Minister Mandaviya

Seeking to accelerate the process of reviving Formula One in India, Sports Minister Manuskh Mandaviya on Saturday said a Task Force would be instituted "as soon as possible" to assess the challenges and benefits of hosting major motorsport events here. In an interaction with select media, Mandaviya revealed that the move was an outcome of a recent meeting with all stakeholders, including officials from Formula One, Buddh International Circuit owners, the Adani Group, representatives of the Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India (FMSCI), and young racers and motorsport enthusiasts. "...major outcome of the meeting is that the Ministry will constitute a dedicated four-five member Task Force to undertake a detailed assessment of the motorsports ecosystem in the country and examine the challenges associated with its growth," Mandaviya said. "The Task Force will evaluate the international, economic, tourism, and investment benefits arising from hosting major motorsport events in India

Doha Diamond League 2026: Neeraj Chopra's event live time (IST), streaming

The 28-year-old has not competed since the World Championships in Tokyo last September, where he struggled with a back injury and finished eighth with a best effort of 84.03 m

Fifa deletes more abusive posts during 2026 World Cup than Qatar 2022

The eight teams playing World Cup matches on Thursday are taking part in an International Day for Countering Hate Speech commemoration, with a pre-match exchange of pennants denouncing such language. Captains involved in the Czechia-South Africa, Mexico-South Korea, Switzerland-Bosnia-Herzegovina and Canada-Qatar matches will have pennants reading "We Play Together. We Stand Against Hate" with the wording in English on one side and the teams' native language on the other. FIFA says it has deleted more than 30 million abusive posts and comments since its social media protection service was created before the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. FIFA says it deleted nearly 400,000 negative or abusive posts in the first few days of this World Cup - more than it did in the entirety of the 2022 event. Other stadium activations involving that message are planned during Thursday's matches.

Portugal vs Congo live streaming: Where to watch Ronaldo live in FIFA WC?

Football fans can watch the live streaming of Portugal vs Congo match on Zee5 by buying subscription of Rs 799 or Rs 1699.

Fifa World Cup 2026 exposes growing global prediction market rift

The World Cup could generate roughly $3 billion in additional wagers and drive as much as $10 billion in betting volume across sports-betting and prediction-market platforms, according to analysts

Fifa World Cup 2026: Haaland stars with brace in Norway's 4-1 win over Iraq

Erling Haaland scored the first two FIFA World Cup goals of his career and set up another as Norway defeated Iraq 4-1 in their Group I opener on Wednesday morning

Norway embraces Viking theme for World Cup return and provokes some debate

First it was their fans performing a synchronized "Viking row" in the stands at matches. Then it was their players donning authentic Viking attire, complete with weapons, shields and long boats, to the backdrop of a fjord for a moody, dramatic photo shoot. "A dream 28 years in the making... let's do this!" Norway star Erling Haaland wrote on the X platform Monday, reposting the photo of the team along with one of his father, Alfie Haaland, competing for the national team in the 1994 World Cup. Norway is leaning into the country's centuries-old history as its star-studded men's team, containing Haaland and Martin Odegaard, heads into a first World Cup in 28 years. It has created plenty of excitement and debate. "It was an ask or a question from the (photographers)," Norway manager Stale Solbakken said Monday in advance of his team's World Cup opener against Iraq. "The players wanted me to do it. They were positive. The federation was positive. And I was average positive. And then w

Fifa WC: Araujo rescues Uruguay in 1-1 World Cup draw with Saudi Arabia

Maxi Araujo finally gave the crowd of mostly Uruguay fans in South Florida something to cheer about with his tying goal late in Monday's World Cup opener against Saudi Arabia. La Celeste salvaged a point, but they were not thrilled with the result. "We gave it away. We have to be honest," midfielder Federico Valverde said in Spanish after his side played to a 1-1 draw, making up for a flat first half by controlling the second. "We gave away the first half," Valverde added. "We didn't play the way we had trained. It wasn't what we were aiming for. We rushed things too much. We wanted to win the game in the very first minute. Sometimes you need a bit more patience and just play our game. We improved a lot in the second half." Abdulelah Al-Amri scored on a rebound in the 41st minute for Saudi Arabia, and Araujo got the equalizer in the 80th, firing a rebound past goalkeeper Mohammed Al-Owais from close range. La Celeste dominated possession and had 29 attempts on goal to Saudi Arabia

World Cup official blames twitch for gesture; Fifa sees no breach

A World Cup video review official said his hand gesture resembling a white supremacist sign was caused by an involuntary twitch, and a FIFA committee concluded the Australian didn't breach the sport's disciplinary code. FIFA's discrimination monitor had called for Shaun Evans to be removed from the tournament. Evans worked Germany's opening 7-1 win over Curacao on Sunday as an assistant to the video assistant referee, based at the World Cup broadcast centre in Dallas. When the official broadcast cut before the game to show the video review officials, Evans made an "OK" symbol with his right hand in front of his right leg. "I did not intentionally make a hand gesture or symbol to communicate a message, affiliation, game or belief of any kind," Evans said in a statement released Monday by FIFA. "The only explanation I can offer is that the movement was an involuntary, subconscious twitch and I was unaware I had done it at the time. Images taken later during the match showed that I .

FIFA World Cup: Belgium's 'Golden Generation' off to underwhelming start

Seeking to avoid a repeat of its early World Cup exit in 2022, Belgium got off to an unimpressive start. Romelu Lukaku entered in the 66th minute against Egypt on Monday and the veteran striker immediately created a scoring chance that led to an equalizing own goal, but that was all Belgium could manage in a 1-1 draw. "No game's an easy game in the World Cup," coach Rudi Garcia said in French. Perhaps not, but Belgium was expected to handle an Egypt squad that has never won a World Cup game. Instead, the Red Devils were outmaneuvered in the first half, with the speed of Egypt's younger players making the Pharaohs the aggressors. "We know that we had a bad start in the match," captain Youri Tielemans said. Now the question becomes whether Belgium can make one last World Cup run with the remaining veterans from its "Golden Generation" of stars - including the 33-year-old Lukaku and two 34-year-olds in midfielder Kevin De Bruyne and goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois. Belgium held the top

Fifa World Cup: Iran say they were denied recovery time, ordered out of US

Iran coach described his side as "perhaps the most oppressed team at the World Cup" after players were denied recovery time and ordered to leave the US immediately following their 2-2 draw with NZ

Mexico-South Africa Fifa World Cup opener sets US English viewership record

The World Cup game between host Mexico and South Africa drew 7.1 million viewers, making it the most-watched opening match for an English-language broadcast in the United States. Mexico's 2-0 win on Thursday on Fox, Fox One and Tubi also was the most-watched English-language broadcast in any World Cup group-stage match not involving the U.S., Fox announced Monday. The previous high was in 2022, when 2.8 million viewers watched host Qatar play Ecuador. The Americans' 4-1 win over Paraguay also set an English-language U.S. record, drawing 15.9 million viewers, more than double the previous record of 7.7 million in 2022. The match had a peak audience of 18.8 million from 10:45 p.m.-11 p.m. Eastern. It also was the most-streamed English-language match for the U.S. team at 1.1 million viewers. The Mexico-South Africa match had a peak of 9.1 million viewers.

The Vozinha's story: Cape Verde's goalie who kept Spanish strikers at bay

As the final whistle blew, Vozinha broke down in tears. For Cape Verde, it was a historic World Cup arrival; for the 40-year-old keeper, the reward for a lifetime of struggle.

Odisha plans Sports Valley, stadiums in every block under ₹5,000-cr push

The state government will invest more than ₹5,000 crore in sports infrastructure, including a mega Sports Valley near Bhubaneswar and stadiums across all 314 blocks

Fifa World Cup 2026: Ayari double fires Sweden to 5-1 win over Tunisia

Yasin Ayari scored twice and Sweden showed it belonged at the 2026 World Cup, pounding Tunisia 5-1 to move atop Group F. Alexander Isak and Viktor Gyokeres each had a goal and an assist, and Mattias Svanberg also scored for Sweden, which entered ranked 39th in the world and missed the 2022 World Cup after reaching the quarterfinals eight years ago in Russia. Omar Rekik scored for 45th-ranked Tunisia, which is playing in its seventh World Cup but has never advanced beyond the group stage. The higher-ranked teams in the group, the Netherlands and Japan, played to a 2-2 draw earlier Sunday at Arlington, Texas. Ayari bookended the scoring for the Swedes at Estadio BBVA with long-range goals in the seventh minute and in second-half stoppage time. He was muted in his celebration of the first goal, raising his hands out of respect for the country where his father was born. Isak scored his 18th international goal in the 30th minute when Gyokeres found the Liverpool striker - who was sidel

Fifa World Cup 2026 faces new controversy as referee gesture sparks outrage

Referee Shaun Evans faces scrutiny after anti-discrimination campaigners accused him of making a hand gesture linked to white supremacist groups during Germany's World Cup match vs Curacao in Houston