The Guardian

“I think a medal of some sort will come. I pray and hope that it is the gold one.” Ally MacLeod was never to live down his hubris of 1978 . A Scotland loss to Peru and draw with Iran saw to that. Unlike MacLeod, Steve Clarke has never been prone to bold or rash predictions. Excitement will be left to everyone else. Who can reasonably deny them that? In a last outing before a first World Cup appea…

It was a glorified training game, mainly about acclimatisation for Thomas Tuchel’s England players; unsexy stuff like the right amount of loading, re-connecting with the manager’s principles. But the win was good, too, and it was welcome after the stodge of the March internationals, which had seen the draw against Uruguay and the loss to Japan . With the temperature peaking at 33C and the humidit…

Widow of French ex-president Jacques Chirac was a steely behind-the-scenes operator known for her charity work Bernadette Chirac, the formidable widow of the former French president Jacques Chirac and a driving force behind his political rise, has died at the age of 93. As France’s first lady for 12 years, Chirac was a steely behind-the-scenes operator in support of her husband, who served twice …

Antonee Robinson scores the Americans’ only goal US open World Cup on 12 June against Paraguay World Cup newsletter | Daily podcast | Get the app Ready or not, here comes the group stage. The US men concluded their pre-World Cup preparations with a 2-1 loss against Germany on Saturday at Soldier Field, in front of a lively sellout crowd of 63,636. The fans made their way to the historic venue on …

Samantha Ross was suspicious about Adam’s sweet disposition. Then a surprising act of kindness brought her guard down • Find more stories from the moment I knew series It was the year 2000 and my belief in love was crushed. I’d been in a five-year relationship, only to find out my ex had cheated the entire time. In some small part, I saw it as my own fault – I’d always been attracted to proverbia…

The history of gynaecology fuses innovation, authority and violation – and radical surgery is not the unavoidable answer to suffering Until just a few weeks ago, Polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome was reduced to ovarian cysts, much to the frustration and confusion of many patients with this systemic endocrine condition. The struggles of people with endometriosis to access patient-centred an…

After living in the Argentina idol’s shadow, the 39-year-old star of Qatar is still capable of a final glorious chapter Lionel Messi in Qatar felt like the perfect story. It was the great finale. He is doomed always to be compared with Diego Maradona and, placed alongside a life of operatic ups and downs, of injury and addiction, drugs bans and organised crime, the highest highs and the lowest lo…

USA face Germany in final World Cup tune-up match Bracketology: predict a path to World Cup victory Reach out to Bryan on Bluesky or by email USA midfielder Tyler Adams speaks with a Fox sideline reporter on the telecast. Asked what will be important for his team in today’s game, he says: “Minimizing spaces, but that’s easier said than done when you’re playing against such high-level players. We …

Pre-World Cup friendly updates from 9pm UK time Who might England play if they reach final? You can email Scott with your thoughts … so having talked about not getting too far ahead of ourselves too soon, here’s a piece about England’s route to glory, as determined by Opta and their big calculator. Hey, we’re nothing if not a broad church. Let’s be honest with ourselves and each other: this reall…

Minute-by-minute updates from 9pm UK time Essential guide to all 1,248 World Cup players You can email John | Sign up for Football Daily Ewan also wrote our Scotland preview. Clarke is pragmatic in approach but it will be a shock if he does not start with two strikers for game one against Haiti. Victory there and Scotland have a genuine chance of progression from the first round for the first tim…

Ukrainian leader will attend UK meeting along with French president and German chancellor Keir Starmer will host Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Emmanuel Macron and Friedrich Merz for talks in Downing Street on Sunday to discuss support for Ukraine. The Ukrainian leader will visit the UK with the French president and German chancellor after a week of heightened hostilities and Vladimir Putin’s rejection of …

Workers found coins and note from 1964 under a statue Writer urged them to back horse with Christmassy name A construction site manager is cashing in after placing a bet on the winner of Saturday’s Derby horse race at Epsom, after he was encouraged to do so by a note found under a statue in a 1960s time capsule. Josh Smalls, site manager on the restoration project at Crystal Palace Park in south …

England’s heaviest defeat for decades does not signal the end for Sarina Wiegman’s European champions It was a tough night for Sarina Wiegman and her charges at the Estadi Mallorca Son Moix. England’s biggest loss since a 6-2 defeat by Germany in the Euro 2009 final and their first loss in a qualifier since 2002 shattered their ambition of securing top spot in their 2027 World Cup group and autom…

Iraq striker questioned for seven hours at O’Hare Team photographer denied entry after more 10 hours Iraq return to World Cup for first time since 1986 Iraq’s World Cup striker, Aymen Hussein, was held and questioned for nearly seven hours at Chicago’s O’Hare airport after arriving with the squad early on Saturday, an Iraqi sporting official said. Hussein was finally allowed in, but the team’s ph…

Technology secretary Liz Kendall says she is ‘very concerned’ about role of social media but will not be ‘bullied off’ X The government is considering fresh action to halt the spread of misinformation during public crises, Liz Kendall has said, insisting she will not be “bullied off” Elon Musk’s X. The technology secretary was speaking after rioting broke out in Southampton over the police respon…

Pontiff to make marginalised a focus of first papal visit since 2011 including meeting with migrants in the Canaries Pope Leo has urged political leaders to seek unity, rather than divide their populations for political gain, and said they must fight for peace, in the opening speech of his tour in Spain. The pope has made the marginalised a focus of his visit – his first tour of an EU country, ap…

Mercedes driver goes 0.043 quicker than Red Bull rival Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton third, George Russell sixth Mercedes’s Kimi Antonelli snatched pole position for the Monaco Grand Prix with an exceptional lap around the streets of Monte Carlo. In a gripping qualifying, the 19-year-old Italian was flawless in edging out Red Bull’s Max Verstappen. Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc were thi…

Russian, 19, beats qualifier 6-3, 6-2 for first slam title Poland’s Chwalinska fails to emulate Raducanu’s feats Twenty minutes into the first grand slam final of her young career, it looked like Mirra Andreeva’s head was already in danger of exiting Court Philippe-Chatrier. Between the weight of such a potentially career-defining occasion, the excruciating windy conditions and a resourceful oppo…

Kylian Mbappé, Ousmane Dembélé and Michael Olise have the attacking power to shred opponents but will Didier Deschamps let them off the leash? This article is part of the Guardian’s 2026 World Cup Experts’ Network , a cooperation between some of the best media organisations from the 48 countries who qualified. theguardian.com is running previews from three countries each day in the run-up to the …

Sullivan hoped football would legitimise him but claims about historical conduct have led to his resignation from West Ham • Sullivan steps down at West Ham to fight claims about private life When David Sullivan was growing up in a council house in Cardiff, he dreamed of becoming a professional footballer. Short and squat, he would never be a player, but later in life the fortune he built through…