FA Cup · Midfielder · #6 · Scotland · 24 yrs
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It was a statistically weird game for Argentina’s talisman against England, full of outliers. It didn’t matterThomas Tuchel will have prepared for every eventuality before England’s match with Argentina. He will have considered how his team could prosper in attack while remaining solid in defence. What to change if they scored first or if the opening goal went against them and, like so many managers before him, he will have put plenty of thought into how best to deal with Lionel Messi.For the first hour he was largely peripheral, with the data showing how England were limiting his involvement in dangerous areas. Messi’s only possession in the centre of the penalty area was snuffed out by an Elliot Anderson tackle shortly after Anthony Gordon had scored. The proportion of the distance he covered that was defined by Fifa as sprinting speed (at least 20km/h) was 4.3%, lower than against Switzerland (4.6%) or Egypt (5.4%) in the previous two rounds. Continue reading...
FIFA explained the controversial goal that England scored to level the match against Norway. FIFA has moved to defend the officiating in England’s dramatic World Cup quarterfinal victory over Norway, addressing a controversial passage of play that saw Jude Bellingham’s equalizer stand despite replays appearing to show the ball striking an overhead camera cable moments earlier. The incident unfolded in the first half at Miami Stadium, where Norway goalkeeper Orjan Nyland sent a goal kick upfield that appeared to clip one of the suspended cables connected to the stadium’s robotic skycam system, altering its trajectory before it dropped to Elliot Anderson. After Anderson got the ball, England worked the ball forward and two passes later it found Bellingham, who finished emphatically to make it 1-1 just before halftime. Norway’s players and coaching staff, including manager Stale Solbakken, immediately protested to the officials, arguing the ball should have been ruled out of play once it made contact with an object outside the field of play. Before England’s goal in minute 45+2 against Norway, the sensor in the Connected Ball showed no peak in the 'heartbeat of the ball' when in the air, and therefore no evidence that the ball touched the overhead wire and changed the movement of the ball. pic.twitter.com/gYf9ukfveT— FIFA Media (@fifamedia) July 11, 2026 Referee Clement Turpin allowed play to continue without a VAR intervention, and FIFA later confirmed why. According to the governing body, the tournament’s connected match ball is fitted with a sensor that registers even minimal contact, and a check of that data showed no anomaly, or “peak,” at the moment in question, meaning there was no recorded evidence the ball had struck the cable at all. England awaits for rival Having sealed their place in the last four, England now know only half of the equation. The Three Lions will face the winner of Argentina and Switzerland, who meet at Kansas City Stadium for the tournament’s final semifinal spot. England’s semifinal is set for Wednesday, July 15, at the Atlanta Stadium. The other half of the bracket is already decided. France and Spain, both already through, meet a day earlier, on Tuesday, July 14, at Dallas Stadium, in a rematch of the 2024 Euro semifinals that will produce the first finalist of this tournament.
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