World Cup schedule, live updates: England, Portugal and Argentina back in action as group play ends – Yahoo Sports

Only eight of the best third-place teams will advance. Scotland are currently 10th in the third-place table on three points. In order to reach the round of 32, they will need the following to happen on the final day of group play:

The World Cup’s group stage wraps up on Saturday as teams in Groups J, K and L vie for last few spots and more favorable knockout-round matchups.

The stars will be out again with England and Portugal back on the field as Harry Kane and Cristiano Ronaldo try to add to their goal tallies. Lionel Messi will start on the bench, but will also see action on Saturday.

Read about the matchups here.

Lionel Messi will begin Argentina’s World Cup 2026 group stage match against Jordan on the bench, head coach Lionel Scaloni confirmed to reporters on Friday.

Messi, 39, has scored all five of Argentina’s goals in the 2026 World Cup. With his two versus Austria, he became the World Cup’s all-time leading goal scorer with 18. He’s the current favorite to win the Golden Boot.

Argentina has already won Group J. That gives La Albiceleste an opportunity to rest some of their players and rotate in others who have not yet played. Messi is not dealing with an injury, Scaloni clarified.

Read more right here.

The Round of 32 is nearly complete and we already know several matchups that’ll be played next week.

With that in mind, here are some odds and early picks for the knockout round, including a bet to make on the Canada-South Africa and USA-Bosnia and Herzegovina matches.

The U.S. Soccer Federation has offered men’s national team head coach Mauricio Pochettino an extension that would keep him under contract for another World Cup cycle, through 2030, according to a Friday report from The Athletic.

The proposal was made to Pochettino before this year’s tournament, per the report, which also stated that a decision won’t be made until after the 2026 World Cup. Pochettino’s current deal is set to expire following this year’s tournament, during which the USMNT guaranteed its spot in the Round of 32 as the winner of Group D.

Read more right here.

Seconds after tying Saudi Arabia 0-0 on Friday night, players from Cape Verde, the third-smallest nation to ever play in the World Cup, huddled around a phone and waited for the end of Spain’s win over Uruguay to go final for the dream to be real.

Would the biggest underdog story of the 2026 World Cup continue for at least one more game? The answer was yes. And, somehow, Cape Verde is now an even bigger underdog.

Up next for the Blue Sharks: Lionel Messi and Argentina in the Round of 32.

Read more right here.

Whether from exhaustion or disappointment, the Iranians had nothing left after the game ended. Many were collapsed or crying on the field still in disbelief.

The Iranians now await their fate as a third-place finisher after the stoppage-time goal from Shoja Khalilzadeh was overturned by VAR.

For a moment, Iran got to celebrate a stoppage time winner — but it got taken back. A long free kick leads to a chance that lands with Mohammad Ghorbani, whose shot is saved by Mostafa Shobeir, but the follow-through goes in.

However, after review, Iran was ruled offsides. No goal, and it stays tied.

A crucial corner kick from the Iranians ends with a great header from Mehdi Taremi, but it bounces off the top of the crossbar, tantalizingly close to an equalizer.

Egyptian goalkeeper Mostafa Shobeir is down for a moment, but is able to eventually get back to his feet.

The Egyptians erupted into cheers as New Zealand’s goal was announced in the stadium — a goal that gave the Pharaohs back the lead in the group with Egypt and Belgium tied on goal differential.

Moments later — like, genuinely a minute or so apart — the news the Belgium scored was not met with the same enthusiasm.

Romelu Lukaku, Belgium’s all-time leading goal scorer, immediately responds with a header to make it 4-1 Belgium. Quite a turn of events, as Belgium once again leads the group.

Elijah Just gets New Zealand on the board with a goal much bigger for Egypt than his own country. Egypt is back on top in the group.