Lionel Messi scores late in the first half against Austria to become the all-time leader in goals in the World Cup with 17 goals total passing Germany's great Miroslav Klose. Messi had missed on a penalty kick earlier in the half and it was fitting that he would break the record on a regular goal and not a penalty kick.

Lionel Messi scored both goals in Argentina's 2-0 win over Austria today...amazing...he now has 18 goals in World Cup play.

June 22 scores:

France 3 Iraq 0
Norway 3 Senegal 2
Algeria 2 Jordan 1
Argentina 2 Austria 0

It could be a short-lived record as Mbappe is only a few goals behind Messi.

Mbappé is currently 2 goals behind Messi. Messi has scored 5 goals in the 2026 World Cup so far and Mbappé has scored 4. So, yes, he could catch or even surpass Messi this year. It's exciting to watch these two play! Mbappé only 27 years old and Messi is 39 it's highly likely that will be the all-time goal scoring leader at some point in his career...maybe even before this World Cup is over.

The top all-time goal scorers in Men's FIFA World Cup history are:

Lionel Messi (Argentina) 18 Goals
Kylian Mbappé (France) 16 Goals
Miroslav Klose (Germany) 16 Goals
Ronaldo (Brazil) 15 Goals
Gerd Müller (Germany) 14 Goals
Just Fontaine (France) 13 Goals
Pelé (Brazil) 12 Goals
Sándor Kocsis (Hungary) 11 Goals
Jürgen Klinsmann (Germany) 11 Goals

June 23 scores:

Protugal 5 Uzbekistan 0
England 0 Ghana 0
Croatia 1 Panama 0
Columbia 1 DR Congo 0

June 24 games:

Switzerland 2 Canada 1
Bosnia-Herzegovina 3 Qatar 1
Morocco 4 Haiti 2
Brazil 3 Scotland 0
Mexico 3 Czechia 0
South Africa 1 South Korea 0

The following teams have qualified for the Knockout Round of 32:

Argentina (Group J)
Canada (Group B)
Colombia (Group K)
France (Group I)
Germany (Group E)
Mexico (Group A)
Norway (Group I)
Switzerland (Group B)
United States (Group D)

Kevin Blue is riding high as Canada gets into knockout round for first time!

12 teams have now qualified for the Knockout Round of 32 and 20 spots are still up for grabs:

Mexico (Group A)
USA (Group D)
Germany (Group E)
Argentina (Group J)
France (Group I)
Norway (Group I)
Colombia (Group K)
Switzerland (Group B)
Canada (Group B)
Brazil (Group C)
Morocco (Group C)
South Africa (Group A)

The USA plays Türkiye in Los Angeles at 7 pm tonight and, hopefully, we'll ge to see Max Arfsten play quite a bit since the Americns have secured their spot in the next round of 32.

Türkiye scores in the final second to beat the USA 3-2. The USA will now play next Wednesday, July 1st in the Knockout Round at 3 pm against Bosnia-Herzegovina at Levi Stadium in Santa Clara. Former Aggie, Max Arfsten, didn't get to play against Tûrkiye.

Other June 25 scores:

Côte d'Ivoire 2 Curaçao 0
Ecuador 2 Germany 1
Netherlands 3 Tunisia 1
Japan 1 Sweden 1
Paraguay 0 Australia 0

Côte d'Ivoire, Ecuador and Bosnia-Herzegovina also advanced to the round of 32.

June 26 scores:

France 4 Norway 1
Senegal 5 Iraq 0
Cabo Verde 0 Saudi Arabia 0
Spain 1 Uruguay 0
Belgium 5 New Zealand 1
Egypt 1 Iran 1

26 teams have now qualified for the Knockout Round of 32. Netherlands, Japan, Sweden, Australia, Spain, Cabo Verde, Paraguay, Egypt, England, Ghana and Portugal qualified today for the next round.

The final Group games were today.

England 2 Panama 0
Croatia 2 Ghana 1
Columbia 0 Portugal 0
DR Congo 3 Uzbekistan 1
Algeria 3 Austria 3
Argentina 3 Jordan 1

The field of 32 is now set:

Mexico
South Africa
Switzerland
Canada
Bosnia & Herzegovina
Brazil
Morocco
USA
Australia
Paraguay
Germany
Ivory Coast
Ecuador
Netherlands
Japan
Sweden
Belgium
Egypt
Spain
Cabo Verde
France
Norway
Senegal
Argentina
Algeria
Austria
Columbia
Portugal
DR Congo
England
Ghana
Croatia

First game in the Knockout Round is Sunday, June 28:

Canada vs South Africa at 12 noon in Los Angeles.

Canada scores a goal in the second half stoppage and wins 1-0 over South Africa. Canada advances to the Round of 16 for the first time in history. Former Aggie AD, Kevin Blue, who is now the CEO of Canada Soccer, must be celebrating tonight!

Brazil scores in the 2nd half stoppage time and wins 2-1 breaking the heart of Japan.

Up next today: Germany vs Paraguay at 1:30 pm and the Netherlands vs Morocco at 6 pm.

Paraguay stuns Germany by winning on penalty kicks 4-3 and Morocco upsets the Netherlands on penalty kicks 3-2. This is the first time the Netherlands failed to advance from the Round of 32 to the Rond of 16.

The tension and drama in these games that end up being decided on penalty shootouts are almost unbearable for fans of each team. World Cup Soccer...nothing like it!

June 30 scores:

Norway 2 Ivory Coast 1
France 3 Sweden 0
Mexico 2 Ecuador 0

Tough match for the USA tomorrow vs Bosnia & Herzegovina at Levi Stadium in Santa Clara at 5 pm. It should be and exciting game with the American star, Christian Pulisic back from injury and most certain to be in the starting lineup.

The USA defeats Bosnia & Herzegovina 2-0 and now moves onto the Round of 16 for the first time since 2002. The Americans played the final 36 minutes down a man without their striker and leading scorer, Flo Balogun after he was given a bogus red card in the 64th minute.

The USA will play Belgium in Seattle at 5 pm next Monday, July 6th. Unfortunately, we will be playing without Balogun for this game because of the red card.

Belgium advanced in dramatic, comeback to beat Senegal 3-2 on a penalty kick in the 2nd 15 minute extra period. Belgium was down 2-0 but scored in the 87th and 89th minutes to tie the game and force the extra play and win the game in the 120th minute.

England beat DR Congo 2-0 to advance as well.

Referee: Raphael Claus

VAR: Juan Ernesto Soto Arévalo

Time: 63 minutes

Incident: VAR overturn. Red card given to USMNT forward Folarin Balogun for serious foul play (SFP).

What happened: U.S. goal scorer Balogun was sent off following a VAR check after what seemed like innocuous contact with Bosnia defender Tarik Muharemovic.

VAR decision: VAR recommended an on-field review for a possible red card for SFP.

VAR review: VAR was uncomfortable with the replays that showed the Bosnian defender's right ankle buckle under contact from Balogun when both players were challenging for the ball. VAR believed Balogun was dangerous in his play and recommended the referee visit the pitchside monitor to review for a possible red card.

Verdict: Balogun can feel unfortunate to be red carded in this situation as, in my opinion, this was not a red card offense. With both players challenging for ball, the contact from Balogun on Muharemovic, while it looked bad in slow motion, was purely accidental and an unfortunate result from two players challenging for possession of the ball in a normal football movement.

VAR made their recommendation to the referee based on slow-motion and still replays, which is not aligned with VAR protocols, as these should be used for only point-of-contact purposes in a red card tackle situation. Once at the screen, however, it would have been a surprise if the referee did not send off Balogun considering the pictures he was presented by VAR.

https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/49244156/world-cup-var-review-misapplied-protocols-leave-usmnt-folarin-balogun-wrongly-red-carded-world-cup-vs-bosnia-herzegovina

July 2 scores:

Spain 3 Austria 0
Portugal 2 Croatia 1
Switzerland 2 Algeria 0

July 3rd games:

Egypt beats Australia on penalty kicks 1-1 (4-2 shootout)
Argentina 3 Cape Verde 2- Cape Verde loses a heartbreaker on an own goal.
Columbia 1 Ghana 0

July 4th scores:

Morocco 3 Canada 0
France 1 Paraguay 0

With the Canada loss to Morocco there will be some blowback as the Canadian coach Marsch was upset with the bully tactics that overwhelmed Canada in the 2nd half. It will be interesting to see if former UCD AD Kevin Blue continues to back Marsch.

Here is a link 2 days old about Blue and his job running Canada's men and women futbol.

Sorry forgot the link: https://www.thewaryone.com/p/kevin-blue-canada-soccer-ceo-talks

Final scores in the Round of 16 on July 5th:

Norway 2 Brazil 1
England 3 Mexico 2

There's some great soccer scheduled for today:

Portugal vs Spain at 1 pm in Dallas
USA vs Belgium at 5 pm in Seattle

Any opinion on USA's star player coming back after receiving a red card?

not unprecedented in the widest sense (has happened with qualifying matches) but very bad look and corrupt considering the nature of a head of state-commissioner call, 1 day before the game, in the actual tournament. I think it’s a ridiculous move coming from a commissioner who has already lost a lot of trust.

I have mixed emotions. I didn't feel like a red card was justified and I'm glad that Balogun gets to play.

However, the FIFA President, Gianni Infantino, has been courting Trump's favor for a long time and even gave him the fake FIFA Peace Prize, which he just made up so he could stroke Trump's vanity and gain his favor. The big downside of getting the red card overturned is that it has outraged all the other teams and, no matter what the Americans accomplish tonight and, perhaps further, it will be forever tainted from the viewpoint of the rest of the soccer world.

It was a great run by the Americans but a disappointing ending in their 4-1 loss tonight to Belgium. Simply way too many defensive mistakes against a superior opponent.

Spain advances to the quarterfinals with a 1-0 win over Portugal and will play Belgium.