— ESPN: It's a World Cup semifinal lineup for the ages. Four previous champions and the four top teams in the world, a first since FIFA introduced its rankings in 1992. Five of the six top scorers, one GOAT and one of the bitterest rivalries in soccer.
— "It's completely not understandable," Switzerland's head coach, Murat Yakin, said afterward. "I know that they will protect their referee but this rule destroyed the game today. First of all, there was definitely no reason to award that yellow card," Yakin said. "I don't understand it, it was a harmless situation."It's just a disaster," the Switzerland midfielder Remo Freuler said. "I don't know what the referee is doing here. I don't understand why they call him for a situation like this because there are many fouls [like this] in the first half. Maybe he has to call them for yellow card too."
— Guardian: Guillermo Pacheco Larios, the video assistant referee, recommended a review for mistaken identity after reviewing the footage, which showed Embolo leaving his feet and beginning his fall to the ground before Paredes made contact. The offense was then changed from recklessness by Paredes to simulation on Embolo, both of which are punished with a yellow card. Embolo, though, had already received a yellow card in the first half, and thus he was ejected from the game[...], leaving the Swiss forward Breel Embolo in tears and the European side a man down for a total of 67 minutes against the defending champions.
— Before the United States' loss on Monday, the cheapest ticket hovered around $3,200 on TickPick. Prices have dropped significantly since then, to $1,100 for the afternoon game in Los Angeles. As for Mexico, their loss on Sunday against England sent prices down 45%, TickPick said. Prices for the cheapest tickets were nearly $4,000 but have since declined to $2,000 for Saturday's showdown in Miami.
— Across five matches, Messi has covered just 35.87 km — an average of 6.88 km per game, 4.41km at walking pace. No other player at the tournament comes close to that volume of low-intensity movement. That figure is well below the standard recorded by most midfielders and attackers at the elite level. In the overall tournament distance rankings, Messi sits 186th. France's Michael Olise — another creative midfielder — is second, having covered more than 64 km. Harry Kane, a centre-forward, has covered 53 km.
— USA's World Cup stars earned $16 million in prize money for reaching the last 16 but must split it equally with the women's team. As per Daily Mail, the men's and women's teams share World Cup prize money equally under terms of the collective bargaining agreement that was signed back in 2022. The deal was signed off after almost six years of campaigning and legal action by the women's team, spearheaded by Megan Rapinoe and Alex Morgan, in an effort to secure equal pay.
— The figure will be split between the 26 men on the World Cup roster and the 26 women who are selected to play in next year's Women's World Cup, if they qualify under Emma Hayes' stewardship. Women's team earned $3.2m. Men's team earned $13.2m. Total $16.4m. Federation takes 20% - $3.28m. Remaining shared equally. Each team: $6.5m = $250K each.
— "We were better than Argentina. We had a clear penalty that the referee didn't award, and Ziko's goal at the start of the second half was disallowed, even though it was perfectly legitimate."
— It was reported that when Argentina were 2-0 down, tickets for the quarter-finals had dropped from the $1,900 mark earlier in the day to just under $1000, before shooting straight back up to $2000 when the full-time whistle had blown and Messi was 100% certain to be appearing in the next stage of the tournament.
— Who was carded and for what?
— Substitute Mikel Merino scored a late winner to put Spain in the quarter-finals and end Ronaldo's World Cup career on Tuesday morning. The European champions will face the United States - the only one of the co-hosts remaining - or Belgium on Friday in Los Angeles.
—FoxNews: Manager Martínez copped criticism for his reluctance to bring off Ronaldo, who played the whole 90 minutes without throwing any punches. "There's only one man to blame for this, the gutless manager," former England forward Chris Sutton said on BBC Radio 5 Live.
— "After the match, he entered the field of play to celebrate with his teammates despite his expulsion… On 5 July 2026, the FIFA Disciplinary Committee found Balogun guilty of both infringements, imposed a one-match suspension (suspended on probation for one year) and a USD 40,000 fine, and notified the parties of the decision… The US Soccer Federation was declared jointly liable for payment of the fine pursuant to Article 6.5 of the FIFA Disciplinary Code."
— "You'd almost certainly forgotten that Cristiano Ronaldo should have been banned for his country's opening two games (the suspension of the final two games of Ronaldo's mandatory three-match ban for getting sent off in a World Cup qualifier last November). Everyone remembers now, though, because the current iteration of FIFA never ceases to provide us with regular reminders of its hypocrisy, double standards and total lack of integrity.
— The Royal Belgian Football Association (RBFA) admitted that it was "astonished" by Balogun's ban being lifted. The FIFA Disciplinary Code "clearly provides that a red card (sending-off) automatically results in a suspension for the team's next match, as has been the case for all previous red cards issued during this FIFA World Cup. Furthermore, and irrespective of the above, the decision is in direct contradiction with the provisions of the FIFA World Cup 2026 Competition Regulations, as set out in Article 10.5: 'If a player or team official is sent off as a result of a direct or indirect red card (second caution), they will automatically be suspended from their team's subsequent match. In addition, further sanctions may be imposed.'"
— With 7,500 digital printing presses around the world, the company holds about 66% of the digital printing market. In flexible packaging, the colorful crinkly bags everyone knows, it holds about 92% of the market, meaning that nine out of every 10 such packaging products worldwide are printed on its machines. In label printing, it has crossed the mark of 3,000 digital presses sold.
— Mexico are committed to Adidas until 2034 in a deal which is estimated to be worth in the region of $30m annually After Javier Aguirre's side reached the knockouts, Adidas revealed that the Mexico kit was the best-selling that they had made for this summer's World Cup as well as the best-selling in the national team's history. By last week, they had sold over three million units and nearly burned through their entire stock of home shirts. Had Mexico beaten England, sales would have been further turbocharged. But now that Mexico are out, Adidas will move into a much slower gear.
— A capacity crowd of 80,824 was made to wait as kickoff was delayed by an hour because of lightning storms.
— Kane became the first player on record since 1966 to score and concede a penalty in the same World Cup match.
— This was only Mexico's third home defeat in 90 matches, and England did it playing with 10 men for 36 minutes.
— Referees' chief Pierluigi Collina brought in a raft of new laws: it was decided that any player who receives medical treatment for an injury would be required to leave the pitch for one minute and could not return until the time was up. However, this was not the case in one moment during Argentina vs Cape Verde. Defender Nicolas Tagliafico required treatment on a bloody nose from a collision with Emiliano Martinez and also had to change his shirt. According to IFAB's Laws of the Game, "a player bleeding from a wound must immediately leave the pitch to receive treatment and will only be permitted to return once the referee is fully satisfied that the bleeding has stopped and all traces of blood are completely removed from their uniform or equipment". Because the issue is bleeding, the one-minute rule is not valid and so the decision to wait for Tagliafico was technically correct.
— The 'Snicko' technology, best known for its widespread use in cricket, inside the Trionda ball was able to prove that Matanovic got a slight touch on the ball before it fell to Pasalic.
— Frequently cited successful predictions include foretelling the Donald Trump presidency, the censorship of Michaelangelo's David, Disney's acquisition of 21st Century Fox, and the 2015 FIFA corruption scandal. There were even viral posts this year suggesting that the show had warned viewers about Epstein island as far back as 2000.
— In the Season 9 episode, "The Cartridge Family", a TV ad promotes a soccer match to determine "which nation is the greatest on Earth". The game sees Mexico facing off against Portugal.
— Back in December of last year, FIFA made the announcement that all 104 games of the World Cup would have three-minute breaks midway through each half. Some have argued that it has been a ploy to make money. This is because it allows broadcasters to air additional commercials, which, in turn, offers the opportunity to boost their revenues. Fans inside the stadiums — especially the domed ones that have air conditioning — have made their feelings known about the mandatory hydration breaks, booing when the referee blows their whistle for the stoppage.
— On Tuesday night, though, in the game between co-hosts Mexico and Ecuador at the Estadio Azteca, which featured home fans singing a homophobic chant, the hydration breaks caused yet more controversy. Having pushed back kickoff to 8pm local time because of thunderstorms and lightning, FIFA also announced in a statement on its official website live blog that hydration breaks would not occur. However, they ultimately reversed their decision in a sharp U-turn, with FIFA issuing an updated statement on X (formerly Twitter), leaving out the original mention of the hydration breaks being omitted on this occasion. Once play got underway, the hydration breaks were taken as has been the norm during the tournament, despite the temperature being just 14C degrees, and rain having been falling all day.
— Julián Quiñones became just the second Mexico player to score in three games at a single World Cup, and El Tri's win broke their long-standing 'curse' by winning their first knockout stage game in 40 years.
— in added time, Belgium were awarded a penalty. Referee Said Martinez determined that Tielemans' ankle was clipped by Lamine Camara before he got the ball. Belgium midfielder Youri Tielemans, who plays for Aston Villa, broke an all-time FIFA World Cup record with his winning goal from the penalty spot: the 125th minute.
— Majda Baliċ, Media Specialist with IOM Bosnia and Herzegovina: A total of 17 of the 26 national team players were born outside the country, yet continue to share a strong connection with Bosnia and Herzegovina. Reflecting that sense of connection, national team head coach Sergej Barbarez has rallied players and fans around a simple message: "Dream big. Dream BiH." National Team Director Emir Spahic expressed a similar sentiment, describing the search for talented players abroad as reconnecting with the country's own people rather than recruiting from elsewhere. "We are not taking anyone away from another country. We are simply bringing our children home."