History Kane-firmed!

28/06/26 11:19

Day 17 in the Footcall House...

The final Group Stages matches take place and England takes to the stage for their final group game!

Panama 0 v 2 England

Panama clearly had forgotten to bring their kit for this match and were given England’s white leaving us in the red strip. I’d barely got my Guinness to settle when Panama nearly did a San Marino with an early shot almost from the kickoff had Pickford on guard much quicker than we had wished for. We all had a strong case of Ghana deja-vu as England seemed to have a lot of the ball but just didn’t create much in the way of goal scoring opportunities. I am too long in the tooth to worry or get excited about England’s form and the first half left us feeling like we going through the motions once again.

After the break, Jude Bellingham had clearly had enough of this nonsense and stuck his leg out to get a toe on a corner to put it in the net and give us all a moment of much needed relief. Minutes later he proved to be the decisive linchpin offering up a sublime cross to meet the head of Captain Kane to nut it into the net. Harry’s goal sees him top the the all time World Cup England goal scorers as he edges clear of Gary Lineker, what a legend our leader is proving to be.

Panama Hats off to them for giving it a go, they had us on the ropes at times but we got the job done and queue Wonderwall. Now we are all set to take on DR Congo in the Knockouts on Wednesday at 5pm!

Senegal 5 v 0 Iraq

Senegal needed goals to overturn a negative goal difference in their league position and that’s exactly what they delivered. Five of them in fact with two venomous shots from Pape Gueye sees them secure third in Group I and qualification beckons.

Croatia 2 v 1 Ghana

Petar Sucic fired the Croatians in front in this must win game for the Europeans. The boys in check kept the Black Stars in check but you just can’t ever rule out these energetic Africans. In the second half Luckassen gave Ghana hope and drew level. But Vlasic sealed the deal for Croatia and secure a place as Group L runners up. Ghana however do still qualify as one of the best third placed teams.

Colombia 0 v Portugal

Group K decider with the top two teams. End-to-end encryption in this game with lots of goalmouth action but ultimately no goals. One of the best nil nils you are ever likely to see and the point each sees Colombia top the group with Portugal in second and both going through.

DR Congo 3 v 1 Uzbekistan

Congo & The Medics needed victory to advance to next stage of the Cup as a third placed team. You’d be forgiven for thinking the Uzbeks were a team that had their luggage already at check in but not a bit of it as they were the team who had the ball in the net early on only for it to be dismissed for offside. However they were the team to go in front as Shomurodov with a looping shot into the net.

After the break Congo did draw level with a very cool penalty from Yoane Wissa. Mayele then raised Congo’s hopes with a lovely little redirection into the net and into the KOs should it stay this way. In the last moments Wissa scored his second and Congo’s third to put them through without any doubt. What an incredible achievement.

Jordan 1 v 3 Argentina

The reigning champions flew out of the blocks with a dream free kick from Lo Celso in the 19th. Martinez made it two nil from the penalty spot. After the break Jordan did get one back with a superb move. But it was the little Maestro Messi who came on in the second half to score in seven consecutive matches from a free kick and make it 3-1 and game over.

Algeria 3 v 3 Austria

A bizarre scenario had been suggested that the losing team from this match might benefit from a better KO Stage draw. The reality was a point was enough for either or indeed both teams to advance. Arnautovic put Austria in front and then Belghali made the scores level by dancing his way through the defence just before half time. The exuberance was off the scale with their celebrations. It was a great game and Sabitzer put the Europeans in front again then Algeira equalised in the 60th minute. So many great goals. Deep into stoppage time it was the Africans who forged ahead and suddenly the table turned upside down again. But the story wasn’t over yet as Austria managed yet another equaliser in this dramatic match in the 96th. What a game in this six goal thriller! Both teams both through in one of the matches of the tournament.

And so to the Footcall League...

The final Group Stages League for you all to savour (or whimper) over.

Croatia 2–1 Ghana
Alan Williams, Alison Maddigan, Andrew Pearce, Andy Green, Ben Kirchell, Ben Sibbick, Brett Baptiste, Caroline Holding, Charlie Goodwin, Charmaine Stimson, Chay Vowell, Daniel Griffiths, Darren Cook, David Foster, David Ginger, Dean Johnson, Derek Roach, Graham Abberley, Graham Weaver, Hannah Wakefield, Henry Forrest, Jack Goodwin, Jack Wakefield, James Bradford, James Ridley, Jane White, Jason Shillito, John Quince, Kelly Sains, Krishan Bindra, Les Herbert, Mark Daniels, Mark Mandry, Matt Clark, Matt Green, Mick Mallion, Mick Spicer, Mike Billington, Mike Davies, Ned Allfrey, Neil Jefferis, Nick Rowland, Patrick Ferguson, Paul Foster, Peter Mulvey, Rachel Rowland, Romeo Hermosa Riza, Rosie Franklin, Ryan Gibson, Ryan Thomas, Sadie Colyer, Sean Fossey, Simon Butler, Simon Lowe, Stephen Bingham, Suzanne Bantel, Thomas Foster, Tim Amos, Tom Edwards, Tom Morley and Tony Gardner.

Panama 0–2 England
Adam Billington, Adam Jones, Alan Williams, Alec Meadows, Andrew Brunt, Andrew Hawkins, Andrew Hodgson, Birgit Hoffstadt, Cassandra Henry, Charlie Goodwin, Charmaine Stimson, Chris and Nick Kotsonis, Chris Martin, Colin Whitaker, Dan Schroeck, Daniel Griffiths, Darren Cook, David Wootton, Dugald McArthur, Graham Weaver, Jack Mason, Jake Knott, James Parker, Jamie Marshall & Ian Pope, Jamie Sains, Jason Macklin, Joanna Mackenzie, Joe Murphy, Jonathan Rowland, Keith Reynolds, Kelly Sains, Kevin King, Linet Leon, Mark Fossey, Matt Green, Michael Maynard, Mick Mallion, Mick Spicer, Patrick Ferguson, Paul Martin, Peter May, Peter Smith, Ray Pointing, Richard Croft, Richard Goodwin, Romeo Hermosa Riza, Rosie Franklin, Sean Broad, Sean Ellis, Simon Dudson, Slater Kingsley, Stuart Acott, Suzanne Bantel, Thomas Baus, Tom Morley, Vikki Hill, Will Relf

Colombia 0–0 Portugal
James Ridley, Scott Woolford and Terence Tettey

DR Congo 3–1 Uzbekistan
Just two players got this right and they were Jonathan Hodgson and Ned Allfrey.

Algeria 3–3 Austria
Nobody got this one correct.

Jordan 1–3 Argentina
Bastian D'Avanzo, Ben Davis, Elizabeth Knott, Elizabeth Mailey, Henry McKillop, Isla Knott, Joanna Mackenzie, Mike Davies, Neil Larkin, Pam Herbert, Peter Smith, Ross Wood, Sean Fossey, Simon Lowe and Sue Huke.

A few players played their Footcall Joker on the England two nil and secured 6 points in the process but my Player of the Day must go to Sean Briscall who reeled a stupendous 10 points from these six games including three red squares, well done Sean; Keith will be proud of you!

More importantly that brings the Group Stages to a close, I for one am thankful I don’t six games a day to analyse. And we have an outright winner and that is Adam Billington who tops the table by one solitary point from Andrew Brunt. Well done Adam you win £70 for your success so far and maybe this will be even more come the end of the tournament.

The full list of prize money winners for the Groups are as follows...
1st: Adam Billington (£70)
2nd: £45 Andrew Brunt (£45)
3rd £40 Jason Macklin (£40)
4th: Dugald McArthur (£33)
4th: Neuer Than Ever FC (£33)
6th: Ben Sibbick (£25)
7th: Tom Morley (£20)
8th: Romeo Hermosa Riza (£15)

We now carry forward your Group Stages points into the Knockouts and we shall see how your fare from here on in.

That’s all from Footcall News, you’re up to date!

David

Hat-tricolore!

27/06/26 11:19

Day 16 in the Footcall House...

The penultimate day of the Group Stages. The qualifiers are sorting themselves out and the permutations are insane for who of the third place teams will qualify!

Curacao 0 v 2 Ivory Coast

Curacao had a chance of being the lowest ranked nation ever to advance to the Knockouts. This was a game dominated by Ivory Coast and Nicolas Pepe would have got the Drogba nod of approval with the two goals he scored to set up a potential clash against Norway. Sadly for the little guys they’re heading home.

Ecuador 2 v 1 Ivory Coast

The Germans have been dominate at times so far but had to fight back in their last match to win. They opened up the scoresheet with a lovely worked move and a goal from Sane in the second minute to go one up and surely would take control from here on in.

Ecuador however don’t know when they are beaten and seven minutes later Angulo hit the ball through the legs of the German defence and into the bottom right corner even up the score. Soon after Ecuador were saved from giving a penalty away by Mr VAR.

After the break the match was up for grabs. Keeper Neuer had his defenders all in a tizz. Sane should have put Germany ahead. The last twenty was feature rich and it resulted with Gonzalo Plata flicking beyond the keeper’s grasp and into the net to put Ecuador in front. Astonishingly they held on to the final whistle and take the three points and every chance of going through to the latter stages. There is every chance if England top Group L we will be facing off against these plucky South Americans!

Japan 1 v 1 Sweden

Terrific high tempo match that astonishingly yielded zero goals in the first half. After the break, Japan’s Daizen Maeda who has more grey hair than me put the boys in blue in front. However just a few minutes later the Swedes pulled back an equaliser against the run of play with a goal from Elanga with a gem of a left foot curler. It finished one a piece and Japan take second and Sweden celebrated their third place as there is a good chance they too will qualify.

Tunisia 1 v 3 Netherlands

Tunisia very nearly scored early on, I don’t what the heck Van Hecke was doing but his ball watching nearly cost the Dutch the lead. They rode their luck and were rewarded with an own goal from Skhiri to put the team in orange one up. Brobbey put Netherlands two nil up and the signs were looking ominous for the Tunisians.

After the break Mastouri gave Tunisia hope with a second half goal but that was extinguished when van Hecke atoned for his earlier complacency with a headed goal. And so it stayed 3-1 and the Dutch march on into the next phase.

Paraguay 0 v 0 Australia

A game without goals but not without effort. The short and long of which sees the Aussies secure second place in Group D to advance to the Knockouts. Paraguay also have a chance of going through and it’s likely they will be playing the Germans next.

Turkiye 3 v 0 United States

The US team had already qualified so it didn’t matter too much what happened here. But you can trust Trusty to pull his weight in the US team and he put the home team in front in the third minute. Guler managed to catch the Americans napping and make it one all. A great game saw the US denied a goal only to see Turkiye go in front from the boot of Yilmaz.

After the break the Yanks made the scores equal once more from a rifled bullet Berhalter. Pulisic should have secured it for the Americans and just when it was looking like a two all draw the Turks had other ideas. In the 98th minute Ayhan scored from point blank range. It finished 3-2 to Turkiye but it made little difference to the Group standings a the US top the table and the Turks finish at the other end of Group D and heading home.

And so to the Footcall League...

Hope you have all managed to take a look at our new Mini Divisions, just another way of looking at your success of failure in miniature!

All the results led to this...

Norway 1–4 France
5 players got it exactly right:
Andrew Pearce, John Dawson, Katherine Beattie, Mick Spicer and Sophie O'Connor.

Senegal 5–0 Iraq
Nobody predicted this scoreline.

Cape Verde 0–0 Saudi Arabia
24 players got it exactly right:
Aaron Sutcliffe, Amaia Borges Clark, Andrew Brunt, Bethany McPeake, Bryan Relf, Carolyn Burzlaff, Dave Billington, Geoff Mason, Henry McKillop, Jamie Marshall & Ian Pope, John Dawson, Kelly Sains, Mark Brown, Patrick Ferguson, Robert Skyrme, Ryan Thomas, Sadie Colyer, Sean Casey, Simon Field, Terence Tettey, Thomas Frost, Toby Silk, Tom Morley and Vikki Hill.

Uruguay 0–1 Spain
13 players got it exactly right:
Adam Jones, Ben Kenway, Dugald McArthur, Jonathan Hodgson, Keith Firmston, Matt Clark, Mike Billington, Peter Breitenbach, Richard Goodwin, Sara Wood, Sean Briscall, Sean Casey and Stuart Acott.

Egypt 1–1 Iran
92 players got it exactly right:
Adam Billington, Adam Botting, Adam Melville, Adam Nicholson, Alan Williams, Alec Meadows, Alex Church, Alfie Banks, Alison Maddigan, Amaia Borges Clark, Ami Hale, Andrew Brunt, Andy McLaughlin, Ben Cooper, Ben Sibbick, Birgit Hoffstadt, Brett Baptiste, Bryan Relf, Carolyn Burzlaff, Charlie Goodwin, Charlotte Briscall, Chris Sampson, Christine Jenner, Colin Jessop, Colin Whitaker, Craig Wood, Dan Schroeck, Daniel Mackenzie, Danny Cook, Dave Billington, Dave Overy, David Catt, David Ginger, Elizabeth Knott, Ellis Parsons, Emma Wakefield, Graham Abberley, Graham Weaver, Grant Mcculloch, Guy Young, Habib Kashi, Hannah Wakefield, Ian Hayes, Jack Butler, Jack Goodwin, Jack Kipling, Jack Mason, James Rowland, Jamie Sains, Jane White, Jason Macklin, Jason Shillito, Jill Fuller, Joanna Mackenzie, Joe Murphy, John Quince, Jonathan Hill, Jonathan Rowland, Kelly Sains, Kevin King, Lasse Thiemer, Lee Harris, Lee Woods, Lewis Alderman, Linet Leon, Luke Noble, Mark Mandry, Matt Clark, Matt Green, Mike Davies, Neil Jefferis, Neil Larkin, Patrick Ferguson, Peter Mulvey, Peter Short, Philip Vingoe, Ray Pointing, Ross Wood, Roy Trute, Sean Fossey, Sid Sollis, Steve Cowland, Stuart Taylor, Terence Tettey, Thomas Baus, Toby Middlemiss, Toby Silk, Tom Brudenell, Tom Edwards, Tom Morley, Toyah Wood and Will Relf.

New Zealand 1–5 Belgium
Nobody predicted this scoreline.

My Players of the Day award goes to Krishan Bindra and Ellis Parsons both of whom hauled in an incredible 11 points from these six matches. Ellis had three red squares back-to-back which is a very rare thing and Krish is up into 25th now and eyeing up a top of the table spot going into the Knockouts!

That’s all for now folks.

David

Served on a Plata!

26/06/26 11:17

Day 15 in the Footcall House...

Here we go again, six games a day is relentless especially when they broadcast half of them at sill-o-clock!

Curacao 0 v 2 Ivory Coast

Ecuador 2 v 1 Ivory Coast

Japan 1 v 1 Sweden

Tunisia 1 v 3 Netherlands

Paraguay 0 v 0 Australia

Turkiye 3 v 0 United States

And so to the Footcall League...

Hope you have all managed to take a look at our new Mini Divisions, just another way of looking at your success of failure in miniature!

All the results led to this...

Curaçao 0–2 Ivory Coast
108 players got it exactly right:
Adam Billington, Adam Botting, Adam Jones, Adam Melville, Alan Williams, Alex Church, Alison Maddigan, Andrew Brunt, Andrew Dickie, Andrew Hodgson, Andrew Pearce, Anthony Lloyd, Ben Cooper, Ben Davis, Ben Kirchell, Ben Roberts, Ben Sibbick, Bethany McPeake, Birgit Hoffstadt, Bradley Jackson, Brett Baptiste, Carl Andrews, Charlotte Briscall, Chris Griffin, Chris Martin, Chris Toyne, Chris and Nick Kotsonis, Christine Jenner, Colin Jessop, Craig Amos, Craig Wood, Dan Schroeck, Dave Billington, Dave Herbert, Dave Overy, David Blakeman, David Jenner, Dean Johnson, Dugald McArthur, Ellis Parsons, George Relf, Graham Abberley, Grant Mcculloch, Guy Young, Habib Kashi, Hannah Wakefield, Harry Field, Hélène Wilkinson, Iain Baker, Ian Hayes, Jack Butler, Jack Goodwin, Jack Mason, Jake Knott, James French, James Jones, James Ridley, James Smith, Jason Macklin, Jason Shillito, Jill Fuller, Jonathan Hodgson, Jonathan Rowland, Keith Firmston, Keith Reynolds, Kevin King, Krishan Bindra, Lee Albrecht, Lee Harris, Lee Woods, Lewis Alderman, Linet Leon, Luke Noble, Manoj Gupta, Mark Brown, Mark Daniels, Mark Fossey, Matt Clark, Maxine Read, Michael Maynard, Mike Billington, Neil Jefferis, Nick Billington, Patrick Ferguson, Paul Wakefield, Peter Mulvey, Ray Pointing, Richard Croft, Richard Goodwin, Robert Skyrme, Romeo Hermosa Riza, Ross Wood, Roy Trute, Ryan Thomas, Sean Casey, Sean Fossey, Shaun Cook, Stephen Bingham, Stuart Acott, Stuart Taylor, Suzanne Bantel, Tat-Wah Liu, Toby Middlemiss, Tom Morley, Tony Gardner, Toyah Wood, Will Relf and Yasmin Coupland.

Ecuador 2–1 Germany
4 players got it exactly right:
Alex Tinsley, Ellis Parsons, Guy Young and Jack Goodwin.

Japan 1–1 Sweden
69 players got it exactly right:
Adam Billington, Alec Meadows, Alex Tinsley, Alfie Banks, Amaia Borges Clark, Andrew Brunt, Andrew Dickie, Andrew Pearce, Andy Kirchell, Anthony Lloyd, Archie Goodwin, Ben Cooper, Ben Kenway, Ben Roberts, Betsy Robertson, Brett Baptiste, Caroline Holding, Charlie Goodwin, Charmaine Stimson, Chris and Nick Kotsonis, Craig Wood, Daniel Mackenzie, Dave Billington, Dave Herbert, David Foster, Dugald McArthur, Eddie Bojtler Jnr, Ellis Parsons, Emma Wakefield, Geoff Mason, George Relf, Hélène Wilkinson, Henry Forrest, Henry McKillop, Ian Gallagher, Jack Kipling, Jack Mason, Jake Knott, James Ridley, Jason Macklin, Jason Shillito, John Lowit, Jonathan Hill, Krishan Bindra, Lasse Thiemer, Lee Albrecht, Lewis Alderman, Mark Fossey, Matt Clark, Matt Green, Mia Mclaughlin, Mick Mallion, Patrick Ferguson, Paul Martin, Paul Wakefield, Peter May, Richard Croft, Romeo Hermosa Riza, Roy Trute, Ryan Tapper, Scott Woolford, Sean Casey, Sean Ellis, Thomas Foster, Toby Middlemiss, Tom Fielding, Tom Morley, Toyah Wood and Will Relf.

Tunisia 1–3 Netherlands
42 players got it exactly right:
Adam Melville, Alice Brown, Alison Maddigan, Andrew Brunt, Andy Green, Bastian D'Avanzo, Ben Davis, Ben Sibbick, Bob Turner, Bradley Green, Charlie Goodwin, Chris Maker, Chris Newbury, Colin Jessop, Dennis Mayes, Elizabeth Knott, Eric Church, Geoff Mason, Iain Baker, Isla Knott, James Ellis, James Smith, Jamie Marshall & Ian Pope, John Quince, John Trent, Jonathan Hill, Krishan Bindra, Manoj Gupta, Mark Brown, Martin Stobitzer, Michael Maynard, Ned Allfrey, Neil White, Nigel Mirza, Pam Herbert, Robert Skyrme, Shaun Carroll, Simon Lowe, Sophie O'Connor, Sue Huke, Tom Edwards and Yasmin Coupland.

Paraguay 0–0 Australia
9 players got it exactly right:
Alison Maddigan, Caroline Holding, Graham Weaver, Ian Gallagher, Patrick Ferguson, Paul Foster, Sadie Colyer, Tom Edwards and Will Relf.

Turkiye 3–2 USA
8 players got it exactly right:
Adam Nicholson, Andy McLaughlin, Ben Davis, Dave Herbert, Henry McKillop, Jack Wakefield, Martin Stobitzer and Spencer Collins.

My Players of the Day award goes to Krishan Bindra and Ellis Parsons both of whom hauled in an incredible 11 points from these six matches. Ellis had three red squares back-to-back which is a very rare thing and Krish is up into 25th now and eyeing up a top of the table spot going into the Knockouts!

That’s all for now folks.

David

Irn Bru-te Force!

25/06/26 11:14

Day 14 in the Footcall House...

Now we enter the final leg of the Group Stages, it’s make or break time. Finishing in the top two will guarantee you into the KO Stages and the best eight teams finishing third in their Group will also go through. Some of the permutations are mad so it could get very interesting come Sunday evening.

Switzerland 2 v 1 Canada

The Swiss dominated the game and rode their luck in the early stages watched on by the Canadian Prime Minister and his GLW. First half ended goalless.

Vargas kicked things off early in the second followed by Manzambi power shot to make it two nil to Switzerland. Promise David got one back for Canada with a superb header... I’m sure some of you are saying Promise David you will keep us entertained with your Footcall bantz.

Canada came so close to equalising but still qualify in second despite it ending 2-1 to the Swiss who top Group B.

Bosnia 3 v 1 Qatar

Fabulous game packed with goals for this Group B decider. Young Alajbegovic scored in the 29th minute to put Bosnia one up with a piece of right foot magic. Five minutes later they were two up with a Abunada own goal.

It was all Bosnia in this one sided match but Qatar got one back with Haydos just before half time. Qatar were no push over as so many close efforts with the uprights being struck numerous times but it was Mahmic who sealed it for Bosnia in the 80th minute in this impressive game and they finish third in Group B.

Scotland 0 v 3 Brazil

The Scots who arguably have the most loyal and passionate fans needed just a point from this game to qualify. Well it didn’t start well as a mistake at the back let Vincius Junior in on goal to tap it in from close range. Seven minutes in and their backs were against the wall. Moments later it was two nil with another defensive error but Mr VAR ruled out for a foul. Bullet dodged. Game on again.

Sadly Scotland were being outclassed all over the park and Vincius Junior added to his tally just before half time. It really was looking like VJ Day in Miami.

In the second half Cunha made it three nil to the South Americans and Scottish hopes were hanging by a thread much to the dismay of Mrs Footcall. The game ended that way and the fate of the Scottish nation will go down to the wire.

Morocco 4–2 Haiti

An absolute goalfest here with underdogs Haiti seizing the initiative in just the 10th minute, this certainly wan’t in the script. Hakimi equalised in the 39th as he bundled it over the line. The Haitians went ahead again with an extraordinary strike that must be a goal of the tournament contender. Goal number four came soon after as Morocco’s Saibari made it level again and it wasn’t even half time yet.

After the break Morocco showed their experience and put two more goals on the score sheet to make it 4-2 to secure second place in Group C and send Haiti back home.

Czechia 0 v 3 Mexico

The final matches of Group A were decided in the small hours of the morning and host nation Mexico looked to top the table and move on. The first half was full of incident but no goals.

However the second half lit up when Chavez broke the Mexican duck. A comical ping pong tennis moment concluded as Quinones tucked it away to make it two. As the clock ticked down Fidalgo managed to make it a triple whammy. Mexico top Group A sending Czechia home but the star of the show had to be Guillermo Ochoa who came on with almost 41 years under his belt. What is it about this tournament and veteran keepers?

South Africa 1 v 0 South Korea

A battle of the two Souths and Korea really needed three points to give themselves a chance of qualification. A few chances were spurned in the first half leaving the admin department untroubled.

In the second half South Africa’s Maseko left foot unlocked the Korean stronghold and scored the only goal of the game to give them the three points and secure second place and a ticket to the KO Stages for the first time ever. As for South Korea, they have a nervous wait to see if results go their way.

And so to the Footcall League...

Six matches equals much movement in the Footcall table this evening.

Not only that, we have our new Mini Divisions all set for you to enjoy. Now rather than seeing your team in mid table mediocrity you can scroll down beyond page four to see yourself in a doing somewhat better in a smaller group of players!

Hopefully the data that some of you supplied has helped us to compile the divisions and include players that know each other. Of course we still had to balance each division evenly and Matt Clark knows a lot of players so we have done our best.

Switzerland 2–1 Canada
89 players got it exactly right:
Aaron Sutcliffe, Adam Billington, Adam Nicholson, Alec Meadows, Alex Church, Alex Tinsley, Amaia Borges Clark, Andrew Brunt, Andrew Dickie, Andrew Hawkins, Andrew Pearce, Andy Green, Bastian D'Avanzo, Bob Turner, Bradley Green, Charlie Field, Charlotte Briscall, Charmaine Stimson, Chris Martin, Chris Newbury, Christine Jenner, Colin Whitaker, Dan Schroeck, Daniel Griffiths, Daniel Mackenzie, Danny Cook, Darren Cook, Dave Billington, David Catt, Dennis Mayes, Dugald McArthur, Edward Catt, Elizabeth Knott, Ellis Parsons, George Relf, Grant Mcculloch, Guy Young, Hannah Wakefield, Iain Robertson, Ian Hayes, Jack Goodwin, Jake Knott, James Ellis, James French, James Ridley, Jane White, John Lowit, Jonathan Hill, Krishan Bindra, Lasse Thiemer, Lee Albrecht, Lee Harris, Lee Woods, Les Herbert, Luke Noble, Manoj Gupta, Mia Mclaughlin, Michael Maynard, Mick Spicer, Mike Billington, Mike Davies, Nick Billington, Nick Rowland, Nick Wing, Paul Wakefield, Peter Breitenbach, Peter Mulvey, Philip Vingoe, Rachel Rowland, Ray Pointing, Riani Wells, Romeo Hermosa Riza, Roy Trute, Sadie Colyer, Sean Fossey, Shaun Cook, Simon Butler, Simon Dudson, Simon Field, Steve Cowland, Stuart Acott, Tat-Wah Liu, Thomas Foster, Tim Amos, Toby Middlemiss, Tom Edwards, Tony Gardner, Toyah Wood and Wendy Strohm.

Bosnia-Herz 3–1 Qatar
9 players got it exactly right:
Alfie Banks, Emma Wakefield, James Ellis, Les Herbert, Manoj Gupta, Nigel Mirza, Simon Lowe, Stuart Acott and Stuart Battye.

Scotland 0–3 Brazil
30 players got it exactly right:
Adam Nicholson, Alex Tinsley, Alison Maddigan, Ben Davis, Ben Roberts, Chay Vowell, Chris Maker, Chris Sampson, Christopher Pearce, Dave Herbert, George Relf, Grant Broad, Jack Goodwin, Jason Shillito, Mark Mandry, Michael Maynard, Mick Mallion, Mick Spicer, Neil Jefferis, Nick Wing, Paul Foster, Peter Mulvey, Peter Short, Richard Croft, Ryan Thomas, Sid Sollis, Tat-Wah Liu, Tom Brudenell, Tom Edwards and Vikki Hill.

Morocco 4–2 Haiti
Nobody predicted this scoreline.

Czechia 0–3 Mexico
6 players got it exactly right:
James Parker, Mark Fossey, Mark Mandry, Michael O'Neill, Sadie Colyer and Tim Amos.

South Africa 1–0 South Korea
11 players got it exactly right:
Chris Maker, Danny Cook, David Catt, Graham Abberley, Harry Squires, Henry McKillop, Iain Baker, Maxine Read, Sophie O'Connor, Tracey Beattie and Vikki Hill.

My Player of the Day award goes to James Ellis who managed to pick up two red squares and a golden 2 to score nine points for the day and see him up in to 66th.

I’d like to give a special mention to good ol Les Herbert who was in the Footcalling doldrums right at the foot of the table but a double red sees him feeling not quite so blue. Don’t get too excited Les, you’re still in 290th!

Back soon for more shenanigans!

David

Never Ghana Give You Up!

24/06/26 11:13

Day 13 in the Footcall House...

The final second matches of the Groups this evening and I would like to welcome Iain Baker as our guest report writer today. Over to Iain who’s pitch side...

Portugal 5 v 0 Uzbekistan

There’ve been a few moments in this world cup where the plucky minnow has upset the established footballing world order. This was not one of them.

Portugal and Ronaldo in particular have finally showed up at this competition. Ridiculed when it was originally unveiled, the bronze statue of the (now 41 year old) footie icon now looks more and more like the real thing. Still, is anyone doubting whether he could still cut it on the world stage, if there were he certainly quietened those doubters with a well taken goal for Portugal’s first. Their second came from a cleverly worked free kick from Mendes.

The Portuguese didn’t have it all their own way with Ganiev scoring a wonderful goal that was later chalked off by those sour pusses in the VAR shed. Inevitably, Ronaldo made it three nil before half time to give the team in red some breathing space.

Uzbekistan rallied in the second half but couldn’t find a breakthrough and Portugal ran away with it, scoring a further two goals. With Portugal’s unpredictable and clever set pieces, it’s surely too early to rule them out of this tournament.

England 0 v 0 Ghana

England’s second group game in Boston was in stark contrast to the open, end-to-end swashbuckle fest served up against Croatia. The Black Stars of Ghana are no mugs.They clearly came with a game plan to sit deep and play on the break and in a frustrating first half for England, they stood firm, with England falling to test Asare in the Ghanian goal. For all England’s possessional dominance, Ghana will have been the happier team with the first half. Hustling and harrying an England team that couldn’t find a way through two stubborn walls of yellow shirts.

After the break, Ghana showed more ambition, with Senaya going close, only to have his shot denied by Djed Spence’s block. However it was England still in the ascendancy, pinning Ghana back and applying consistent pressure but still not moving the ball around quickly enough. England’s urgency came in the form of Spence, linking up well with Anthony Gordon for the best moments of the half.

Largely though, the script of the second half remained unchanged. Ghana’s resolute and clever defending keeping England at bay, with the Black Stars also causing a couple of heart in mouth moments for the England defence.

Could the Three Lions find a way through? Saka thought so, drawing the best save of the game from the keeper, before Kane sent his effort well over the bar. England’s positive substitutes saw them pile the pressure on Ghana with a series of late corners all of which were repelled well by the boys in yellow. The game finished goalless and left England frustrated but maybe this is the reality check that may yet serve us well.

Panama 0 v 1 CroatiaEngland’s final group opponents, Panama took on the now ageing Croatian team in Toronto. He may be 40 and making his 200th World Cup appearance, but Luka Modric won’t go quietly. His early header off target provided the first chance of the match and getting into his groove, he continued to conduct play and create chances from deep. However, the Europeans didn’t have it all their own way, with Panama’s pace on the break creating problems, including the best chance from close range in a goalless first half.

Croatia made their technical superiority count in the second half with substitute Budimir scoring the games only goal from a sweeping attack from Croatia and giving them their first win of this World Cup and a fighting chance of qualifying through to the Knockout Stages.

Colombia 1 v 0 DR Congo

Facing off in Guadalajara in a stadium packed with Colombian fans, it was Congo who started the brighter of the two teams. On another day, Edo Keyembe’s left foot shot might have gifted us one of the goals of the tournament, but it sailed just wide of the goal.

As the game wore on, Congo keeper Mpasi was increasingly called into action in what turned into the Mpasi v Munoz show. Time and again the keeper denied Munoz, Rodriquez and Diaz in an inspired display of shot stopping.

Having had a goal disallowed in the first half, Columbia’s Munoz finally broke Congo’s resistance on the 76th minute with a confident left footed shot to seal Columbia’s qualification from Group K.

And so to the Footcall League...

Portugal 5–0 Uzbekistan
6 players got it exactly right:
Andrew Dickie, Archie Goodwin, Dave Herbert, John Lowit, Shaun Carroll and Tom Fielding.

Panama 0–1 Croatia
36 players got it exactly right:
Aaron Sutcliffe, Adam Billington, Adam Jones, Alice Brown, Amaia Borges Clark, Andrew Hodgson, Andrew Pearce, Anthony Lloyd, Ben Sibbick, Caroline Holding, Charlie Field, Craig Amos, Dan Schroeck, Dave Herbert, Dugald McArthur, Habib Kashi, Iain Robertson, Ian Gallagher, Jack Butler, James Ridley, Jane White, Jason Macklin, Keith Firmston, Mark Brown, Matt Clark, Matt Green, Mick Spicer, Paul Martin, Peter Breitenbach, Peter Short, Richard Goodwin, Stuart Acott, Terence Tettey, Thomas Foster, Tim Amos and Vikki Hill.

Colombia 1–0 DR Congo
30 players got it exactly right:
Adam Jones, Alfie Banks, Betsy Robertson, Bryan Relf, Chris Martin, Craig Wood, Darren Cook, David Catt, Ellis Parsons, Iain Robertson, James Bradford, James Smith, Jamie Sains, Jane White, Keith Firmston, Mark Brown, Matt Clark, Maxine Read, Mia Mclaughlin, Peter Breitenbach, Peter Short, Riani Wells, Richard Goodwin, Rosie Franklin, Sara Wood, Sean Briscall, Stuart Acott, Tat-Wah Liu, Tom Morley and Wendy Strohm.

The Player of the Day Award must go to Andrew Reggie Brunt who was the ONLY player to guess England to finish nil nil with Ghana and not only that he played his joker on it as well so he scooped a lovely golden square for his efforts. Well played ol boy, well played indeed!

Back tomorrow to start the last lap of the Group Stages!

David

Kylian Killing Em!

23/06/26 11:12

Day 12 in the Footcall House...

Yet more matches for us to digest, I hope you’re not too full, we still have a long way to go.

France 3 v 0 Iraq

France were supreme in this match and if Messi is leading the all time goal scorers list the boys in blue have their own wonder kid likely to challenge for that mantle. Mbappe was on top form in this game once again as he knocked in beauty from outside the area to score his 15th World Cup goal.

Iraq were somewhat outclassed by France but they did have the odd chance. As we neared half time the heavens opened and it was such a deluge with a chance of lightning they took the decision to stay in the changing rooms and play Canasta until it brightened up. It took two hours to get all the spectators back in and the players on the pitch.

Soon after Kylian scored his second and put the game effectively out of sight for Iraq. His pace is something else and such a threat against any team. Finally it was Dembele who was the Frenchman to cap it all off for a rather extended night but a great result.

Norway 3 v 2 Senegal

The second match in Group I could see the Vikings row boat themselves into the KO Stages. Playing in black they looked sharp with chances falling for Marcus Pederson and Martin Odegaard. But it was just before half time when Pederson put Norway in front.
In the second half the blonde number 9 in the shape of Erling Haaland who put Norway further in front. Sarr got one back for Senegal but Haaland hit back again to restore their two goal cushion.

In the dying moments of the game Ismaila Sarr scored again to make it 3-2 and give the Africans a slim chance of getting an equaliser but it was not to be and Norway took the spoils then treated us all with a show-rowboat demo in front of their fans.

Jordan 1 v 2 Algeria

Al Geria had most of the ball but Al Rashdan scored the goal to put Jordan in front for the very first time in a World Cup match.

In the second half Benbouali got the Algerians back on level terms with a terrific header and gradually the team in white started to take control. Their possession paid off when Gouiri put Algeria 2-1 up in the 82nd minute from close range.

And so it stayed until the final blow and Algeria as it stands should qualify but sadly for Jordan their race is run.

And so to the Footcall League...

France’s three nil was the most popular result in Footcall history a record, a phenomenal 115 people guessed that scoreline and they were; Andrew Pearce, Nick Wyatt, James Smith, Daniel Mackenzie, Joe Murphy, Grant Broad, Ellis Parsons, Ryan Tapper, Chris Newbury, Eddie Bojtler Jnr, Jane White, John Dawson, Chris Griffin, Keith Reynolds, Scott Woolford, Matt Green, Roy Trute, Lee Harris, John Lowit, Mick Spicer, Kathryn Rowland, Rosie Franklin, Stuart Acott, Dennis Mayes, Bob Turner, lain Baker, Peter Short, Christine Jenner, Richard Goodwin, Ami Hale, Mick Spicer, Andrew Brunt, Habib Kashi, Harry Whitehouse, Sean Ellis, Christopher Pearce, Jill Fuller, Sadie Colyer, Thomas Frost, Jonathan Rowland, Dave Overy, Adam Billington, Paul Firmston, Sean Broad, lan Hayes, Guy Young, Jack Butler, Chris and Nick Kotsonis, Amaia Borges Clark, Colin Whitaker, Simon Dudson, Sean Briscall, David Wootton, Mark Mandry, Ned Allfrey, Betsy Robertson, Tom Edwards, Ben Kirchell, Jack Goodwin, George Relf, Alan Williams, Graham Weaver, Andy McLaughlin, Neil Jefferis, Dan Schroeck, Anthony Lloyd, Birgit Hoffstadt, Alison Maddigan, Dean Johnson, Jason Macklin, Jack Wakefield, Alison Maddigan, Ross Wood, Aaron Flynn, Sean Casey, Chris Sampson, Lewis Alderman, Bethany McPeake, James Ridley, Jonathan Hill, Jamie Marshall & lan Pope, Philip Vingoe, Romeo Hermosa Riza, Nick Billington, Andrew Hodgson, Jake Knott, Adam Botting, Linet Leon, Terence Tettey, Henry Mckillop, Mark Fossey, Sean Fossey, Alex Church, Tracey Beattie, Andrew Pearce, Charlotte Briscall, Hannah Wakefield, Tony Gardner, Craig Amos, Luke Noble, Krishan Bindra, David Jenner, Chris Maker, Richard Croft, Graham Abberley, Ben Sibbick, Pat Saint Johnson, Thomas Foster, Manoj Gupta, Stephen Bingham, Patrick Ferguson, Jason Shillito, Grant Mcculloch, Chris Martin, Lee Woods and Ben Cooper.

The Norway result had a more select band of merry men; Ellis Parsons, Aaron Flynn, James Ridley and Henry McKillop.

And 32 players guessed Algeria to win 2-1 who were; Nick Wyatt, Dan Schroeck, James Ellis, Richard Croft, Rachel Rowland, Kelly Sains, lain Baker, Charlie Goodwin, Paul Foster, David Foster, Andy Green, Craig Wood, Tom Edwards, Jack Goodwin, Ben Kirchell, Sid Sollis, Alan Williams, Neil Jefferis, Sophie O'Connor, Dave Herbert, Neil White, Jake Knott, Sean Fossey, Andy Kirchell, Nick Wing, Kevin King, Isla Knott, Tracey Beattie, Adam Melville, Edward Catt, Pat Saint Johnson, Chris Martin, Slater Kingsley and Nick Rowland

I’d like to award the Player of the Day Award to Alex Tinsley who played his Joker on the French match to great effect and he is now up in to 2nd place. Well played Alex, now you have make some effort to push on from here and try and overtake Andrew!

That’ll do for now!

David

Another Fine Messi!

22/06/26 11:11

Day 11 in the Footcall House...

I am back; what did I miss? Any big news headlines? No? Good. Haha. My big thanks go out to Matt for such a Scott Sterling effort filling as Ed whilst I wandered around London with my camera in blistering heat all weekend. There is absolutely no truth in the rumour that the Prime Minister stepped down to take on a two figure sum in an ambassadorial role at Footcall HQ. Yes, it took me a moment to get back in the Footcall flow but I’m here now, so Sir Keir, you can do one take your chances down the dole office; normal service has been resumed.

My first duty as the returning officer this week will be sort out the mini divisions where (if you are my brother Simon or Les Herbert) you can see yourself at the bottom of small league as well as the big one!

So this is the last call for you to help us create the divisions and like all good dating sites we shall try and match you up with other players you may know. I can’t promise this will work as we don’t have all the data from everyone taking part but if you haven’t done so already can please click the green button below and let us know which players taking part this year you might like to compete with that will help our system try and match you up...

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So let’s get back to the action and try and get up to date...

Spain 4 v 0 Saudi Arabia

After a lack lustre first game against Cape Verde the Spanish gave themselves a good talking to and decided to come to play. This was aided by the inclusion of the boy wonder, Lamine Yamal.

Well it didn’t take long for the youngster to make his mark when his quick feet saw him tap in on the near post from a great cross. Oyarlazabal doubled the lead from the edge of the six yard area. Three minutes later that same guy made it thee nil and the signs for Saudis were looking ominous.

Spain in full control in the second half and were able to rest some players and it didn’t take long to make it four nil from outgoing Chelsea player Marc (Sideshow Bob) Cucurella only to see it ping off the keeper onto the defender Al Tambakti and into his own net.

Torres actually made it five zip only for Mr VAR to rule it out for offside. But no bother, Spain bossed it and now they top Group H and have sent a message out to the rest of the teams, they mean business.

Belgium 0 v 0 Iran

The remnants of Belgium’s Golden Generation might be getting a bit old they don’t compare to this Iranian team which is the oldest team in this tournament and one of the most elderly in World Cup history. This really should have been a one horse race with De Bruyne and the boys in red.

In fact the real moment of magic came when Iran actually played a disguised free kick just the Dutch did a four years ago in Qatar and tucked it in the Belgian net. Sadly for the Iranians and us neutrals watching on, it was denied for offside.

Belgium had a point blank effort spurned by De Cuyper by a last ditch effort by the Iranian keeper. Just to add to their woes, Ngoy got himself sent off for being cynical. Iran defended to the bitter end but Belgium really should have found a way through; it never happened and Group G is wide open.

Uruguay 2 v 2 Cape Verde

We weren’t sure what to make of this match as any game against CV on paper should be an open ticket to beat the tiny nation of just 530,000.

Well there must be something in the water there as the Verdeans went one up with a phenomenal free kick from Kevin “Have a go” Pina. What a team Cape Verde are, they were dominating this match through passion, skill and pure fitness.

Unfortunately they gave Uruguay a way back in with a well worked move that was headed in from four yards out by Araujo. Canobbio then put the two time World Cup winners up in front to the joy of all the Footcallers who simply love a two one scoreline.

Now it looked like Uruguay were going to run away with it but CV had not read the script and Helio Varela scored an absolute beauty to level the scoresheet and even followed it up with one of the celebrations of the tournament.

This match was proper end-to-end stuff and Uruguay scored only for VAR to rule it offside. Cape Verde never gave up and their commitment was undeniable and how this finished two a piece I will never know. One of the games of the cup and little CV should be rightly proud of themselves, I for one really hope they can make it to the knockouts.

New Zealand 1 v 3 Egypt

Neither of these nations had ever won a World Cup match so would this be the day for that to happen? Well it was the South Hemisphere teams who broke the deadlock on fifteen minutes from a set piece met by fabulous header by Surman.

New Zealand rode their luck and held on to the lead and it took half time to come and go before Egypt even things up. Zico had a free header in the centre of the box from a well worked move. One all; game on.

Mohammed Salah game to join the party with a lovely goal to score his 68th goal for his country. Then Trezeguet tapped in from close quarters to make it three one. Zizo should have made it four one but the keeper made an incredible recovery. New Zealand tried to get one back but to no avail and Egypt walked off with their first every three pointer.

Argentina 2 v 0 Austria

The top two in Group J faced off this evening and maybe we might even see some World Cup history being made. Argentina were awarded a penalty and up stepped Lion E.L. Messi with a slightly hesitant run up which saw him sweep the ball with his left foot wide of the right hand upright. The wait had to go on. Well it didn’t take long as fabulous training ground move saw Mr Messi side foot it in sending the keeper the wrong way to score his 17th World Cup goal and send him above Miroslav Klose in the all time World Cup goal scorers.

Messi nearly doubled his lead but he was offside and they went to the break with a one goal lead. You’d be forgiven for thinking there are any other players in the Argentinian team but it is clear that they have built their side around their talisman.

The dominated the second half and Austria barely got a look in and it looked for all the world like Argentina were going to score again. And in the 95th minute they did from the left boot of that guy Messi again to tuck away his fifth of the tournament and his 18th in all World Cups. What a player he is, it’s no wonder he is called the GOAT.

And so to the Footcall League...

Spain’s four nil win saw all these players get a valuable red square; Eddie Bojtler Jnr, John Dawson, Stephan Abdallah, Mike Davies, Sadie Colyer, Thomas Frost, Bradley Green, Jason Shillito, Chris and Nick Kotsonis, Andrew Dickie, Sid Sollis, Stuart Battye, Geoff Mason, Ben Kenway, Dean Johnson, Jonathan Hill, Paul Wakefield, Michael ONeill, Mark Brown, Lee Albrecht, Craig Amos, Chay Vowell, Chris Maker, Ryan Gibson and Patrick Ferguson.

Simon Jenner was the ONLY player to predict the Belgium Iran game to finish goalless. So that backfired for my brother’s quest for the Vuvuzela award given to the player who finishes bottom of the table. You have just created a gap between you and Matt, still a long way to go.

Nobody at all had CV to finish two all with Uruguay.

But a few did pick Egypt to beat NZ 3-1 and they were, Nick Wyatt, Adam Nicholson, John Lowit, Thomas Frost, Andy Green, Ben Davis, Jonathan Hodgson, Tom Edwards, Andrew Brunt, Jack Wakefield, Cassandra Henry, Mark Brown, Nick Wing, Shaun Carroll and Patrick Ferguson.

But a colossal amount of reds were dished out for the Argentina two nil win and they were; Dan Schroeck, Andrew Hawkins, Ellis Parsons, Ryan Tapper, Eddie Bojtler Jnr, Alec Meadows, Lee Harris, Stephan Abdallah, Rosie Franklin, James Rowland, Carl Andrews, Christine Jenner, Richard Goodwin, Charlie Goodwin, Ami Hale, Mick Spicer, Habib Kashi, Harry Whitehouse, David Foster, James Ridley, Dave Overy, Adam Billington, Paul Firmston, Guy Young, Jason Shillito, Chris and Nick Kotsonis, lain Robertson, Toby Middlemiss, Darren Cook, Mark Mandry, Ned Allfrey, Charmaine Stimson, Jack Goodwin, George Relf, Dan Schroeck, Anthony Lloyd, Birgit Hoffstadt, Jason Macklin, Alison Maddigan, Aaron Flynn, Caroline Holding, Chris Sampson, Thomas Baus, Michael O'Neill, Romeo Hermosa Riza, Nick Billington, Dave Herbert, Kevin Appleton, Andrew Hodgson, Chris Toyne, Jake Knott, Linet Leon, Henry McKillop, Mark Fossey, Ray Pointing, Jack Kipling, James Jones, Neil Jefferis, Steve Cowland, Dugald McArthur, Kevin King, Sean Fossey, Alex Church, Tracey Beattie, Andrew Pearce, Charlotte Briscall, Jade Amos, Craig Amos, Luke Noble, Slater Kingsley, Krishan Bindra, David Jenner, Richard Croft, Grant Mcculloch, James French and Lee Woods.

I am going to give my Player of the Day Award to Sean Broad who texted me on Saturday to say “I’m not doing bloody Footcall anymore... it’s annoying me I can’t get one single prediction correct!” Fast forward 24 hours and Sean has three red squares under his belt and has raced into 187th place! See Sean; you just have to have a little faith and the Footcall gods will repay you!

Following on from our message to Birgit we had a lovely reply...
Dear David, Matt and the entire footcall community!

Thank you so, so much for the good wishes for Martin's recovery. Every single motivating word helps. And as you can imagine, I loved my yesterday's V.I.P. moment. "Birg-illiant" is from now on my alias and now, let the best team win (or Germany).

With love from Essen,
Birgit & Martin

What a lovely story, you're up to date!

David

A Feast of Goals, Saves and Total Chaos

21/06/26 00:33

Day 10 in the Footcall House...

I am still on my 24hr photographic mission, 35,000 steps in I am really starting to feel it now, thankfully Matt is here once again pitch side...

Netherlands 5 v 1 Sweden

Brobbey’s early double, Gakpo’s second‑half fireworks, and Sweden left feeling very “Oranje‑crushed”

If the Netherlands wanted to make a statement, they delivered it in capital letters, underlined twice, and posted first‑class from Houston. Sweden barely had time to adjust their shape before Brian Brobbey introduced himself to the World Cup with all the subtlety of a marching band. Just five minutes in, he tapped home a low Gakpo cross to make it 1-0, and by the 17th minute, he’d doubled the lead with another close‑range finish after Denzel Dumfries carved Sweden open again.

Sweden thought they’d found a lifeline when Gustaf Lagerbielke headed in just before half‑time, but the offside flag rose faster than Dutch hopes, and the goal was chalked off.

If Sweden needed the break to regroup, the Netherlands used it to reload. Cody Gakpo struck two goals in seven minutes after the restart, sweeping in a Dumfries cross on 47 minutes, then cutting inside to bury a second on 54 minutes, turning a comfortable lead into a full‑blown Oranje festival.

To their credit, Sweden didn’t fold. Anthony Elanga sprinted through on 59 minutes, drilling home a consolation that at least gave the travelling fans something to cheer. But this was the Dutch’s night, and substitute Crysencio Summerville added a fifth in the 89th minute, sweeping in a crisp finish to complete the rout.

By full‑time, Sweden looked like they’d been hit by a tactical tornado, while the Netherlands strutted off with four points, five goals, and a performance loud enough to echo across Group F.

The message? If you want to stop the Dutch… you’d better bring more than flat‑pack defending.

Germany 2 v 1 Ivory Coast

Undav the influence: supersub steals the show as Elephants are trunk‑slammed at the death.

Germany arrived in Toronto expecting a smooth evening, but Ivory Coast clearly hadn’t read the script, or, more likely, rewrote it in bold orange marker. After a bright German start featuring a Havertz header clawed away by Yahia Fofana and a Pavlovic goal ruled out for a foul, the Elephants delivered the first shock of the night.

On 30 minutes, teenage livewire Yan Diomande tore down the left, fizzed in a wicked low cross, and after Amad Diallo’s effort was blocked, Franck Kessié pounced to stab home the opener. Germany, stunned, suddenly looked less like Die Mannschaft and more like Die Mess‑schaft.

Two more German “goals” were chalked off before the break, at this point the VAR room was practically charging rent, and Ivory Coast went in deservedly ahead. The Elephants even threatened a second after half‑time, with Chris Inao and Diomande both going close. Germany were wobbling like a Jenga tower in a hurricane.

Then came the turning point: Deniz Undav, the Bundesliga’s late‑bloomer‑turned‑superhero, entered the pitch. Within eight minutes, Nadiem Amiri whipped in a delicious cross and Undav volleyed home the equaliser with the confidence of a man who scores in his sleep.

Ivory Coast still had their moments, Simon Adingra nearly stole it, but deep into stoppage time, Germany struck gold. Felix Nmecha threaded a pass through the lines, Undav spun, and fired in a 94th‑minute winner, completing a brace that turned the Elephants into emotional support animals.
Germany march into the knockouts; Ivory Coast march away wondering how a game they once controlled slipped through their trunks.

Ecuador 0 v 0 Curacao

Room for one more? Curacao’s keeper turns Kansas into his personal save‑and‑display museum.

If Ecuador arrived in Kansas City expecting a routine three points, they instead ran into a 37‑year‑old brick wall wearing goalkeeper gloves. Eloy Room didn’t just have a good night, he had the kind of night that gets its own documentary. With 15 saves, the most ever recorded in 90 minutes of a World Cup match since 1966, Room single‑handedly dragged Curacao to their first ever World Cup point.

The tone was set early. Three minutes in, Enner Valencia burst through on goal, ready to write the opening chapter, but Room slammed the book shut with a save so sharp it could’ve sliced plantains. Ecuador kept coming, and Room kept saying “no” in increasingly dramatic ways. Gonzalo Plata’s close‑range header? Parried. Angulo’s long‑range rocket? Swatted away for save number fifteen, a moment that literally made history.

Curacao weren’t just passengers, either. On the hour mark, they produced a triple chance that nearly stunned the stadium, Leandro Bacuna denied, Livano Comenencia denied, Jurgen Locadia denied again by a desperate Ecuador block. Even the Ecuador keeper wanted in on the action.

But this was the Eloy Room Show, and everyone else was just renting seats. Ecuador fired 27 shots, hit the woodwork, generated an xG of 3.05, and still couldn’t find a way past the man who apparently decided to cosplay as a forcefield.

By full‑time, Ecuador looked like they’d tried to score against a garage door. Curacao, meanwhile, celebrated like they’d won the whole tournament, and honestly, who could blame them?

The Blue Wave didn’t just earn a point. They earned a place in World Cup folklore.

Japan 4–0 Tunisia

Samurai Blue slice through Tunisia as Renard’s rescue mission becomes Renard’s resignation letter. Japan didn’t just win the 1,000th match in World Cup history, they turned it into a four‑goal masterclass, a highlight reel, and a Tunisian nightmare all rolled into one. Tunisia, fresh off sacking Sabri Lamouchi after the 5–1 Sweden disaster, hoped Hervé Renard would sprinkle some of his trademark magic. Instead, they got a performance so flat it could’ve been served under a door.

The tone was set almost immediately. Four minutes in, Keito Nakamura danced down the left and whipped in a cross that Daichi Kamada tucked home with ease. Tunisia’s defence stood still long enough to qualify as modern art.

Then came Ayase Ueda, who decided the match needed a long‑range stunner. On 31 minutes, after a loose Tunisian clearance, he arrowed a vicious strike into the bottom corner, a goal so clean it should’ve come with a hygiene rating.

Tunisia, meanwhile, offered all the attacking threat of a deflated beach ball. Their xG? A microscopic 0.05, which is basically football’s way of saying “don’t bother.”

Japan weren’t done. On 69 minutes, Ueda turned provider, flicking a clever ball through for Junya Ito, who sprinted clear and rolled in a calm third, the kind of finish that suggested Tunisia’s back line had switched to airplane mode.

And then, for the encore, Ueda rose highest in the 83rd minute to nod in his second and Japan’s fourth, completing a brace and completing Tunisia’s misery.
By full‑time, Japan had produced their biggest ever World Cup win, while Tunisia had produced… well, another crisis. Renard’s men are out. Japan are flying. And Monterrey may never recover from the Samurai Blue storm that just blew through it.

And so to the Footcall League...

Steve Cowland has been reeling them in like a man fishing with dynamite. With 9 correct scores from 36 games, he’s landed a 25% strike rate that most Footcall managers can only angler for. For a glorious spell he sat second in the league, bobbing near the summit while others floundered below. His predictions weren’t just good... they were finn‑omenal, the sort of form that makes the rest of us look like we’re casting blindfolded. Whether he surges again or not, Steve’s early‑tournament heroics prove one thing: in Footcall 2026, he’s no small fry.

Two notable 6 pointers go to Henry McKillop and Matt Green. They weren’t just on the money, they were striking Footcall gold. Both unleashed their jokers on Germany’s 2-1 win, and both walked away with glorious six‑pointers, proving that even Captain Clueless can steer the ship straight when it matters. Matt Green, meanwhile, read the game like a bestseller, flipping his joker into pure treasure. Their timing was sharp, their instincts spot‑on, and their reward? Matching gold squares that lit up the leaderboard. In a tournament full of wild guesses, these three showed everyone how to turn prediction into perfection.

Nobody at all guessed the Japan result correctly but there were red squares aplenty in the Germany game; Andrew Hodgson, Steve Cowland, Jonathan Rowland, Richard Goodwin, Mick Spicer, Jason Macklin, Guy Young, Ian Hayes, Colin Jessop, Emma Wakefield, Shaun Cook, James Jones, Jack Mason, Iain Robertson, Ben Sibbick, Lee Albrecht, Alan Church, Jack Goodwin, Dan Schroeck, Manoj Gupta, Craig Amos, Tom Morely, Ami Hale, Dave Overy, Nick Billington, Jill Fuller, Danny Cook, Anthony Lloyd, Andrew Brunt, Patrick Ferguson, Hélène Wilkinson, Linet Leon, Romeo Hermosa Riza, Dave Billington, Stuart Battye, Jack Butler, Peter Mulvey, Charlie Goodwin, Philip Vingoe, Alan Williams, Terence Tettey, Rosie Franklin, Sean Fossey, Grant Mcculloch, Mark Fossey, Toby Middlemiss, Andrew Pearce, Matt Clark, Nick Wing, Pat Saint Johnson, Tony Gardner, Paul Wakefield, Lee Woods, Ray Pointing, Thomas Foster, Kevin King, Charlotte Briscoll, James Ellis, Ben Roberts, Tom Fielding, Christine Jenner, Jamie Sains, Habib Kashi, Nigel Mirza, Neil Jefferis, Harry Field, Mark Daniels, Stuart Taylor, Jonathan Hodgson, Ben Kenway, Ton Brudenell, Rachel Rowland, Richard Croft, Sean Briscall, Ellis Parsons, Carl Andrews, Toyah Wood, George Relf, Daniel McKenzie, Alex Tinsley, Eddie Bojtler Jnr, Henry Forrest, Peter May, Jason Shillito, Nick Wyatt, Luke Noble, Dave Herbert, Charlie Field, Ben Kirchell, Chris Martin, Bob Turner, Joe Murphy, Chris Newbury, Richard Croft, Ben Cooper, Hannah Wakefield, Ellis Parsons, Nick Rowland, Edward Catt, Jack Goodwin, David Catt, Charlie Goodwin, Chris Griffin, Andrew Dickie, David Wootton and Carl Andrews.

More impressive red squares were achieved in other games by James Bradford who was the ONLY player to guess Netherlands would thrash Sweden 5-1 and this must go down as one of the predictions of the tournament.

Meanwhile Andrew Brunt and Jade Amos take the honours for predicting the Ecuador vs Curacao match would be goalless.

But my Player of the Day must go to Birgit Hoffstadt who didn’t just play her patriotic joker, she unleashed it with Bundesliga‑level precision. Backing her home nation to beat Ivory Coast 2-1, she hit the prediction sweet spot and bagged a glorious six‑pointer, better known in Footcall as the gold square. While others saved their joker like nervous goalkeepers, Birgit smashed hers top‑bins, proving timing is everything and she is now up into a Footcall career high of 7th. Her call wasn’t bold, it was Birg‑illiant, the kind of prediction that makes the league table sit up and salute.

And it is at this moment we would like to spare a thought for our German friends Birgit and Martin who have been Footcall supporters for many years now. Martin is going through some serious health issues right now and we want them both to know that the Footcall family sends its support and best wishes.

Matt Clark

Bravehearts in Boston!

20/06/26 00:32

Day 9 in the Footcall House…

I am out and about today on photography event around London so I have entrusted my good friend Matt to write today’s report.

USA 2 v 0 Australia

The USA and Australia met in their second match of the tournament a showdown that was less “Down Under” and more “Down a goal… then another.”

From the opening whistle, the USA looked star-spangled and dangerous whilst the Australian attacks had a habit of boomeranging right back at them.

The breakthrough arrived midway through the first half when the USA crossed the ball into the six yard area only to see poor Cam Burgess redirect the ball into his own net. The US were one up and deserved it too.

Australia were clearly suffering and time and again they were left wanting as they gifted the Yanks a hatful of chances!

A second American goal demanded a VAR overview but eventually it was given to Alex Freeman and this all but sealed the Socceroos fate and we still had another 45 minutes to play.

The second half was all about possession for the Americans and in the heat of the sun it was obvious that the Aussies were losing heart.

The match ended without any further goals and the result leaves the USA in pole position in Group D, while Australia are certainly not out of it they need to pick themselves up for their final match against Paraguay. For now, the Americans can declare independence from pressure, while the Socceroos are left carrying the can-berra of defeat.

Scotland 0 v 1 Morocco

A game that started like a sprint… and left Scotland playing catch‑up all night.

If this match were a movie, Morocco skipped the opening credits and went straight to the plot twist. After just 71 seconds, Ismael Saibari smashed in a rocket so early the Tartan Army were still adjusting their kilts. It was Morocco’s fastest-ever World Cup goal talk about a Saibari‑speed opener.

Scotland, meanwhile, took 46 minutes to muster a shot, which is roughly the same amount of time it takes VAR to make a decision in the UK. The first half was so flat it could’ve been served as a Moroccan pancake.

Morocco nearly doubled the lead when Saibari rattled the bar. But Angus Gunn kept Scotland alive with saves that were more clutch than a Glasgow nightclub at 3am.

Then came the penalty panto. John McGinn went down, Scott McTominay went down, half the stadium went down, but the referee waved everything away like he was shooing midges in the Highlands. Even pundits couldn’t agree: some said “stonewaller,” others said “nae chance.”

Scotland finally found some fire late on, with Gannon‑Doak and Dykes causing chaos, but still couldn’t hit the target… literally… zero shots on goal. Morocco held firm, defending like a team who’d locked the door and swallowed the key.

In the end, Scotland huffed, puffed, but couldn’t blow the Moroccan house down. A night of “what‑ifs,” “nearlys,” and “ref, are you kidding me?”

Brazil 3 v 0 Haiti

Cunha, Vini and a whole lot of samba… Haiti left feeling “Braz‑illed”

If Brazil needed a spark after their opening‑match wobble, Matheus Cunha lit the fuse like a man who’d mistaken the World Cup for Carnival. His first goal came in the 23rd minute, a scrappy rebound finish but hey, they all count.

Thirteen minutes later, Cunha doubled up with a left‑footed rocket that flew into the top corner like it had booked a one‑way ticket to Philadelphia. Haiti’s defence could only watch as he completed a brace faster than you can say “Sele‑samba‑ção.”

Just before half‑time, Vinícius Júnior decided he wanted in on the fun. After a slick Paquetá pass, he slid the ball under the keeper with the calmness of a man ordering room service. Brazil went into the break 3–0 up, and Haiti looked like they needed a holiday from this holiday.

The second half was more relaxed. Brazil managed the game, Haiti battled bravely, and the crossbar denied Gabriel Martinelli a goal so good it deserved its own samba band. Endrick even scored on his World Cup debut… until VAR said “não, meu amigo.”

Haiti pushed for a consolation, but Alisson shut the door, locked it, and posted a “Do Not Disturb” sign. With this defeat, Haiti became the first team eliminated. A tough end to their long‑awaited return.

Brazil, meanwhile, danced off top of the group and looked every bit like a team warming up for something bigger.

Turkey 0 v 1 Paraguay

A 64‑second stunner, a red‑card shocker, and a Turkish tragedy in San Francisco.

If Turkey wanted a calm start, Paraguay clearly didn’t get the memo, because Matías Galarza scored after just 64 seconds, the fastest goal of the entire World Cup. It was so early that some fans were still finding their seats while Turkey were finding themselves Galar‑zapped.

From there, Turkey launched attack after attack after attack 62 attempts across their first two games, yet still no goals. At this point, they weren’t just knocking on the door; they were trying to kick it down with a battering ram.

Then came the moment that had everyone talking: Miguel Almirón’s red card for covering his mouth during a confrontation, the first dismissal of the tournament under the new IFAB rule. Paraguay went down to ten men, Turkey went up in hope, and the referee went straight to the VAR screen like it was Black Friday.

The second half was basically a Turkish siege. Mert Müldür hit the bar and the post in one go a shot so unlucky the highlights should be played with the sad trombone SFX. Demiral headed wide, Uzun missed from six yards, and every Turkish fan aged about ten years in stoppage time.

Paraguay, battered but unbowed, clung on like a team defending not just a lead but their entire national honour.

Turkey? Out of the World Cup. Paraguay? Alive, kicking, and probably still celebrating that 64‑second sucker punch.

And so to the Footcall League…

USA 2-0 Australia:
Alex Church, Alex Tinsley, Alison Maddigan, Amaia Borges Clark, Ben Cooper, Caroline Holding, Charlie Goodwin, Chris Toyne, Colin Jessop, Dan Schroeck, Daniel Mackenzie, Daniel Winter, Dave Billington, Dave Overy, Dugald McArthur, Eddie Bojtler Jnr, Grant Broad, Grant Mcculloch, Guy Young, Harry Whitehouse, Hélène Wilkinson, Henry McKillop, Ian Hayes, Jack Butler, Jade Amos, James Ellis, Jill Fuller, John Dawson, Keith Reynolds, Kelly Sains, Lewis Alderman, Manoj Gupta, Matt Green, Michael O'Neill, Mick Spicer, Mick Spicer, Nick Billington, Pat Saint Johnson, Patrick Ferguson, Paul Martin, Peter Mulvey, Riani Wells, Richard Goodwin, Romeo Hermosa Riza, Scott Woolford, Sean Fossey, Shaun Carroll, Simon Dudson, Steve Cowland, Stuart Acott, Stuart Acott, Thomas Foster, Tim Amos, Toby Middlemiss, Toyah Wood and Vikki Hill.

Morocco 1-0 Scotland:
Adam Jones, Amaia Borges Clark, Ami Hale, Ben Sibbick, Dugald McArthur, Graham Abberley, Jack Mason, James Jones, James Smith, Keith Reynolds, Kevin Appleton, Matt Clark, Matt Green, Mick Spicer, Peter Breitenbach, Richard Goodwin, Ryan Tapper, Sean Casey, Simon Jenner, Thomas Baus, Thomas Foster and Toby Middlemiss.

Brazil 3-0 Haiti:
Adam Billington, Alan Williams, Alex Church, Alex Tinsley, Alison Maddigan, Alison Maddigan, Amaia Borges Clark, Ami Hale, Andrew Brunt, Andrew Brunt, Andrew Hawkins, Andy Kirchell, Archie Goodwin, Ben Kenway, Birgit Hoffstadt, Bob Turner, Caroline Holding, Charlie Field, Charlie Goodwin, Chris Griffin, Chris Sampson, Chris and Nick Kotsonis, Christine Jenner, Christopher Pearce, Colin Whitaker, Craig Amos, Dan Schroeck, Daniel Griffiths, Darren Cook, David Jenner, Dugald McArthur, Eddie Bojtler Jnr, Graham Abberley, Grant Broad, Guy Young, Henry Forrest, Iain Baker, Iain Robertson, Ian Gallagher, Ian Hayes, Jack Butler, Jack Goodwin, Jack Kipling, Jack Mason, Jake Knott, James Jones, James Parker, James Ridley, James Smith, Jamie Sains, Jamie Marshall & Ian Pope, Jason Macklin, Jason Shillito, Jonathan Hodgson, Jonathan Rowland, Keith Firmston, Kelly Sains, Kevin King, Lee Harris, Lee Woods, Lewis Alderman, Mark Brown, Mark Mandry, Matt Clark, Matt Green, Maxine Read, Mia Mclaughlin, Michael Maynard, Mick Spicer, Ned Allfrey, Neil Jefferis, Nick Billington, Nick Wyatt, Pat Saint Johnson, Patrick Ferguson, Paul Firmston, Paul Martin, Peter May, Peter Mulvey, Ray Pointing, Richard Croft, Richard Goodwin, Romeo Hermosa Riza, Roy Trute, Ryan Tapper, Ryan Thomas, Sadie Colyer, Sara Wood, Sean Briscall, Sean Casey, Sean Fossey, Steve Cowland, Stuart Acott, Stuart Acott, Stuart Taylor, Thomas Baus, Thomas Foster, Tom Morley and Wendy Strohm.

Paraguay 1-0 Türkiye:
Tom Brudenell was the ONLY player to guess Paraguay to win one nil so that has to be the prediction of the day. Well played Tom!

Player of the day goes to Dugald McArthur for achieving the prestigious “Golden Square”!

Special mentions also go to Thomas Foster for 3 back-to-back 3 pointers, and former Footcall Champion Amaia Borges Clark who just needed a Turkey goal for 5 back-to-back red squares, rising from mid-table to joint 11th.

Matt Clark

Canadian Maple (be)Leaf!

19/06/26 12:04

Day 8 in the Footcall House...

Another four more games to savour in this relentless merry-go-round.

Czechia 1 v 1 South Africa

The first match in the second wave of Group Stages kicked off lively with a very quick goal as Michal Sadilek found the back of the South African net to put the Czechs in front.

The South Africans are an incredibly fit and determined team that really hunt down every ball to try and get back in the match. Both keepers had to be on duty to keep their nations dreams alive.

In the second half the African attrition finally paid off when they won a penalty in the 83rd minute. Teboho Mokena (known to his friend as “Hey”) stepped up thumped it in the bottom left corner to draw his team level.

That’s how it stayed until the final bell and now both sides need a win in their final game to progress.

Switzerland 4 v 1 Bosina

Now I’m not going to lie, the first half of this match was a real snooze fest. Just about every attempt on goal was either lack lustre, off target or just plain pony poo. If the whole match had been like this my headline would have been Swiss Army Naff! We shall give both sides some credit for their stout defending.

Of course as we saw with England teams can come out rejuvenated after getting the half time Fruit Shoot and Tangfastics (hey Haribo... call me, let’s talk!) We were four fifths of the way through this match and somebody lit the blue touch paper and what a difference the second half subs made turning the game around with the big number 9 Johan Manzambi smashing it in the net; remember his name folks. Vargas doubled their lead moments later and the Swiss were purring like a well timed watch.

Bosnia went down to 10 and it really looked like this Swiss mountain was too high for them especially Ya Man-zambi made it 3-0 with stoppage time approaching. The Bosnians netted a lovely consolation goal with Mahmic but it was too little too late and Switzerland finally buried them with a Xhaka penalty in the 97th minute which I know would have broken a few Footcaller’s hearts. That was it, the Swiss will most likely progress out of the Groups.

Canada 6 v 0 Qatar

What a treat we had in store as the Canadians played on home turf in Vancouver. Qatar had managed a draw in the first game against the Swiss so you never know what might happen.

It only took 16 minutes for Cyle Larin to put the home side in front from barely six yards out. The early signs were looking ominous for Qatar and their fears were confounded when Jonathan David doubled then trebled the Canadian lead. Qatar compounded their woes with a red card and the second half was looking like a Canadian runaway Rocky Mountaineer train!

Then a heart breaking moment unfolded when ex-Watford midfielder Ismael Kone suffered a devastating injury from a challenge that caused a horrific break. Kone was clearly in a bad way and had to be stretchered off. The full horror was quite visible and there is no question that he is out of the rest of the tournament and the bigger question is whether he will ever play again.

Still the show had to go on and Saliba made it four nil and Qatar’s Manai put it in his own net to make it five. The Canadians were awarded an incredible 19 corners in this match and I hope my statto man Matt can confirm if this is some sort of record.

Finally David reluctantly scored again in the 92nd minute to round off the route and make it a cool half dozen. This was a more convincing win than Germany’s 7-1.

A great victory but the solidarity from the Canadian team at the end of the match in support of Ismael Kone was as memorable as how the Danes showed their love for Christian Eriksen back in Euro 2020 just reminding us that there some things more important than football.

It really looks like Canada are going to qualify for the Knockouts and let’s hope they can do it for Ismael.

Mexico 1 v 0 South Korea

A rather disappointing first half in this Group A match. Some last ditch defending kept Mexico from going a goal down early doors. They also had the odd chance in the Korean penalty area but the first half finished without troubling the admin department.

After the break a moment of madness from South Korea’s keeper Kim as he came out to collect only to drop it right into the path of Luis Romo who tapped it into the Korean net. The goal certainly spiced things up but despite their best efforts Korea although they were so close to equalising in the six yard area but ultimately they failed to get it between the sticks and time was running out.

The game finished one nil but neither team really lit the place up but the three points to the Mexicans sees them top Group A and sail through into the Knockouts.

And so to the Footcall League...

Unsurprisingly nobody at all picked Canada to win six nil.

Yet another huge haul of red squares dished out for the Czechia draw including; Dan Schroeck, Andrew Hawkins, Wendy Strohm, Ellis Parsons, Chris Newbury, John Dawson, Stephan Abdallah, Jamie Sains, Rosie Franklin, Jill Fuller, lain Baker, James Rowland, Peter Mulvey, Elizabeth Knott, Ami Hale, Sadie Colyer, Derek Roach, Harry Whitehouse, Jonathan Rowland, Alex Tinsley, Adam Billington, Ian Hayes, Peter May, Matt Clark, Colin Whitaker, Darren Cook, Simon Dudson, Emma Wakefield, Ned Allfrey, Jack Goodwin, Anthony Lloyd, Andy McLaughlin, Dan Schroeck, Birgit Hoffstadt, Alison Maddigan, Katherine Beattie, Cassandra Henry, Sean Casey, Bryan Relf, Thomas Baus, Will Relf, Alfie Banks, Jonathan Hill, Paul Wakefield, Nick Billington, Andrew Hodgson, Alan Williams, Sean Fossey, Toby Silk, Ray Pointing, James Parker, James Jones, Lee Albrecht, Shaun Cook, Neil Jefferis, Steve Cowland, Andrew Pearce, Charlotte Briscall, Shaun Carroll, Luke Noble, Slater Kingsley, Chris Maker, Graham Abberley, Simon Butler, Patrick Ferguson, Jason Shillito and Sean Fossey.

My good friend James Ridley spotted a glitch in the matrix with the Mexico scoreline and my thanks go to him for his eagle eyes! The one nil victory awarded red squares to; Andrew Hawkins, Wendy Strohm, Scott Woolford, Harry Field, Stuart Acott, Mike Davies, Stuart Acott, Richard Goodwin, Simon Field, Craig Wood, Ben Davis, Amaia Borges Clark, Sean Briscall, Peter Breitenbach, Charmaine Stimson, Keith Firmston, Jack Mason, Chris Sampson, James Ridley, Matt Green, Dugald McArthur, Adam Botting, Andy Kirchell, Matt Clark, Jack Kipling, Tracey Beattie, lan Gallagher, Mick Mallion and Peter May.

But my player of the day must go to Thomas Frost who was the ONLY player to predict Switzerland to win 4-1. That 97th minute goal snatched nearly a dozen Footcallers a red square and handed it to Thomas. Let me know if you were watching this live Tom, I bet you couldn’t believe it?

What a day, this tournament is really living up to expectations!

David

Four For Two!

18/06/26 12:03

Day 7 in the Footcall House...

Here we go again, another World Cup matches and this time we saw the return of the mighty Uzbekistan!
...only joking, it’s England of course.

Portugal 1 v 1 DR Congo

Apparently there is no truth in the rumour that DR Conga is a part time team made up of medical students! They were here by right and ready to play and boy did they give Portugal a good run for their money. Surely the Europeans were hot favourites especially with their talisman Cristiano Ronaldo on the field. But he’s 41 now and playing his 6th World Cup and it was noticeable that he certainly didn’t have the pace we have been so used to over the years.

Portugal did have most of the possession and Joao Never Say Neves headed his team in front. We really thought Portugal would capitalise on this but they didn’t bank on Newcastle Utd’s Yoane Careless Wissa heading home a terrific cross to balance the books before half time.

The second half had lots of huff and puff but ultimately the goals were untouched despite a Portuguese attempt being ruled out for offside.

One all is a tidy result for DRC and Portugal will have to lift their game if they want to proceed.

England 4 v 2 Croatia

Once again England expected, the fans found a way of getting there and we were ready to face up against Croatia once again. We have had history against this nation over the years and I’ll never forget some of their unsportsmanlike behaviour. But this is a different era but both sides had their hero characters in Modric and Kane. The optimism is the same as ever and surely England would perform like we know they can.

It was old man Modric who kicked out at Madueke and gave England a penalty. Kane gave a hesitant run up and Croatian keeper Livakovic saved it! VAR revealed that there had been encroachment and Harry had a second go and this time did not mess about and put it in the net.

In typical England style we let the Croats back in as Baturina hit a pearler from just outside the area straight in the top left corner. Moments later from a lovely delivered corner from Rice dead onto the forehead of Captain Kane who was totally unmarked. Back in the lead again. Once again we took our eye off the ball and Musa latched on to a loose ball to even the scores in the 50th minute of the first half!

After the break it was clear Tuchel had put a rocket up them because England came out regenerated. So much more purpose and intent and that was rewarded by a superb goal from Jude Bellingham. Surely we wouldn’t let this slip this time?

We didn’t. We doubled down. The Croatian keeper was on the red alert as time and again he stopped England adding to their tally. The pressure was all too persistent and Marcus Rashford made it four lions on a shirt when he checked the ball in the box and then tucked it away in the bottom right corner.

The whistle blew and England took the spoils in what was one of their best performances for a long time, we know they can do it. Now they just have to repeat it.

Ghana 1 v 0 Panama

The second match in Group L featured plenty of action and it really was looking like Panama were going to nab their first ever World Cup point. But a late late winner for Ghana in the 95th minute put paid to that as Yirenkyi tapped it from a brilliant break down the left hand side.

Ghana survived a goalmouth scare in the dying moments of the game but they denied Panama the equaliser and take the all important three points through to match two.

Uzbekistan 1 v 3 Colombia

The final game of the day kicking off at 3am BST, there’s your reason as to why these reports arrive in your inbox later in the day! Luis Diaz the Colombian striker struck the upright and came really close to putting his team in the lead. Diaz once again was in the mix as he set up Munoz to redirect the ball into the Uzbek net.

In typical WC26 form the other team were not down or out as they forged a fantastic equaliser. But the cream rises to the top as that man Diaz who is more effective than Daz washing powder, put the Colombians back in front.

Uzbekistan really showed the dogged nature of teams playing in white and pushed for another equaliser. However it was Colombia who were to bang the final nail in the Uzbek’s box with a awesome header from the barnet of Campaz in the 99th minute.

Uzbek nearly had one of the goals of the tournament in the final moments of the game, it was only a consolation effort but had it gone in we would have had that on replay time and again.

And so to the Footcall League...

Nobody at all picked Portugal to draw one nor did anyone have England to win 4-2.

But we had a shed full of you pick Ghana to win 1-0 and they include; Andrew Pearce, Ryan Tapper, Tat-Wah Liu, Lee Harris, Stuart Acott, Suzanne Bantel, Yasmin Coupland, Peter Mulvey, Carl Andrews, Richard Goodwin, Richard Goodwin, Charlie Field, Adam Jones, Guy Young, lain Robertson, Peter Breitenbach, Ben Kirchell, Mia Mclaughlin, Andrew Brunt, Jason Macklin, Sean Casey, Bethany McPeake, Matt Green, Danny Cook, Jamie Marshall & lan Pope, Kevin Appleton, Alice Brown, Jake Knott, Terence Tettey, Alan Williams, Matt Clark, James Jones, Steve Cowland, Adam Melville, Tony Gardner, Ben Sibbick, Manoj Gupta, Tom Fielding, Ryan Gibson, Patrick Ferguson, Andy Booth, Grant Mcculloch and Chris Martin.

Meanwhile Richard Croft, Spencer Collins, Manoj Gupta, James Rowland, Mike Davies, Peter Mulvey, Sue Huke, David Foster, Elizabeth Mailey, Bradley Green, Joanna Mackenzie, John Trent, Nigel Mirza, Simon Dudson, Tom Edwards, Sid Sollis, Stuart Battye, Neil Jefferis, Caroline Holding, Will Relf, Nick D'Avanzo, Romeo Hermosa-Riza, Henry McKillop, Henry Mckillop, Nick Wing, Eric Church, Isla Knott, Craig Amos, Stephen Bingham, Bastian D'Avanzo, Tom Morley and James French all had Colombia to win 3-1 so well done you lot, three points all coming your way.

But my player of the day must go to long time Footcaller, Colin Jessop, who bagged a handsome 7 points in the four games. Well done Col, you’re up into fifth place, mind you don’t get a nose bleed!

That’s it for our fist lap of all the groups, back to the start we go!

David

Mbappe The Chappie!

17/06/26 12:03

Day 6 in the Footcall House...

Four more matches for you to savour.

France 3 v 1 Senegal

Tournament favourites opened their campaign with 45 minutes decidedly average football. Les Bleu failed to trouble Senegal’s goalmouth and it was the Africans that threatened to break the deadlock. Let’s be honest we expect more from the World Cup 2022 finalists, croque of sh*t monsieur?

Whatever Didier said to his boys in the interval certainly did the trick as they came out firing second half. Kylian Mbappe had a penalty shout denied but moments later redirected a pass straight into the left corner. One nil and the gloves were off and Barcola double France’s lead.

With the clock running out it looked like it was going to remain two nil but Mbaye decided to spice things up with a rifled shot that the keeper could absolutely noting about. It was the 95th minute and both teams were running on fumes. But we just had enough time for a moment of World Cup magic from the right boot of Mbappe as hit the ball with power of a traction engine straight into the top left corner from more than 25 yards out. Surely a contended for goal of the tournament.

A slow start for France but ultimately they did show up and deliver the goods.

Iraq 1 v 4 Norway

The Norwegians were the bookie’s favourite for this match and it really set off at a high tempo from both sides. It was that man, Erling Haaland who was the forefront of every move for the Scandinavians and in the 29th minute he made the decisive difference.

Iraq were not going to take defeat lightly and they managed an equaliser ten minutes later from the head of Hussein. Erling Braut Haaland embarrassed the keeper as he charged in on a loose back pass and managed to be first to the ball and nick it into the net for the Norwegian lead once again.

In the second half Norway really dominated despite Iraq’s best efforts and they added another to their tally with the final goal of the game coming from the chest of Hussein in the 96th minute. Sadly it was at the wrong end and had put it in his own net to make it 4-1 to Norway.

Argentina 3 v 0 Algeria

Reigning champions Argentina entered the World Cup stage along with their standard bearer, Lionel Messi. However we had a shock turn of events as Algeria were the ones to score first but that too was ruled offside. Makes you wonder how many goals throughout history would have been ruled null and void had we VAR back in the day?

Needless to say the Argies kicked things off legitimately with a belter from the left peg of Lionel. The Mr Messy I grew up with in the Mr Men books was the polar opposite of the genius out there on the field who has the neatest feet in the business; in front of goal he’s ruthless.

In the second half Lionel popped up out of nowhere just like he does in the Walkers crips adverts! He tapped it in from a rebound and looked rather sheepish at one of the easiest goals ever. He then capped off a supreme performance with a fabulous goal passed through the crowded box into the bottom left corner.

The 38-year-old Mess has moved him level with Miroslav Klose with 16 goals a piece as the highest scorers in World Cup history.

Austria 3 v 1 Jordan

Ridiculous kickoff time of 5am for this match, the players must have to set their alarm for 3.30am ;-)
Austria’s Romano Schmid kicked things off with a worldie goal in the top right. It really looked like they were going to dominate the game from here on in. Just like a lot of underdogs in this tournament, Jordan (playing in white) were not going to lie down.

After the break Ali Olwan found an equaliser and suddenly it was game on. But Austria found another level and one of their crosses was redirected by Al Arab into his own net. Then former Hammer Marko Arnautovic put the hammer down and carried his team to victory finishing off the game in the 102nd minute with Austria’s third goal this time from the penalty spot.

And so to the Footcall League...

Three one to France was a popular prediction and Nick Wyatt, Dan Schroeck, Spencer Collins, John Dawson, Chris Griffin, Manoj Gupta, Jamie Sains, Mick Spicer, Vikki Hill, Stuart Acott, Robert Skyrme, Yasmin Coupland, Ryan Thomas, Charlie Goodwin, Sean Ellis, Paul Firmston, Ben Davis, John Trent, lain Robertson, Simon Lowe, Mark Mandry, Sid Sollis, Stuart Battye, Andy McLaughlin, Neil Jefferis, Bradley Jackson, Bethany McPeake, Harry Squires, Danny Cook, Michael O'Neill, Jamie Marshall & Ian Pope, Nick D'Avanzo, Pam Herbert, Romeo Hermosa-Riza, Dave Herbert, Neil White, Alice Brown, Martin Stobitzer, Henry Mckillop, Tim Amos, Toby Silk, Eric Church, Lee Albrecht, Philip Vingoe, Isla Knott, Andrew Pearce, Adam Melville, David Catt, Chay Vowell, Krishan Bindra, John Quince, Bastian D'Avanzo, Ryan Gibson, Tom Morley, Patrick Ferguson and Sean Fossey all bagged a nice red square.

Three nil to Argentina topped the previous record from yesterday of the most correct predictions and a huge group picked up reds for that result; James Smith, Daniel Mackenzie, Joe Murphy, Keith Reynolds, Lee Harris, Vikki Hill, Dennis Mayes, Bob Turner, Peter Short, Mike Davies, Christine Jenner, Richard Goodwin, Andrew Brunt, Habib Kashi, Sue Huke, David Foster, Jill Fuller, David Ginger, Jonathan Rowland, Andy Green, Dave Overy, Adam Billington, lan Hayes, Guy Young, Jack Butler, Hélène Wilkinson, Jason Shillito, Toby Middlemiss, Andrew Dickie, Emma Wakefield, Jack Goodwin, George Relf, Sid Sollis, Andy McLaughlin, Neil Jefferis, Dan Schroeck, Anthony Lloyd, Birgit Hoffstadt, Jason Macklin, Alison Maddigan, Chris Sampson, Bryan Relf, Thomas Baus, Nick Billington, Neil White, Andrew Hodgson, Adam Botting, Linet Leon, Mark Fossey, Ray Pointing, Toby Silk, Mark Fossey, Matt Clark, James Jones, Brett Baptiste, Lee Albrecht, Shaun Cook, Neil Jefferis, Steve Cowland, Dugald McArthur, Stuart Taylor, Peter Mulvey, Kevin King, Sean Fossey, Alex Church, Tracey Beattie, Andrew Pearce, Charlotte Briscall, Hannah Wakefield, David Catt, Craig Amos, Luke Noble, David Jenner, Chris Maker, Richard Croft, Manoj Gupta, Tom Fielding, Ryan Gibson, Patrick Ferguson, Daniel Winter, Patrick Ferguson, Grant Mcculloch and Lee Woods.

Only a small handful of players got Austria to win 3-1 and they were; Chris Newbury, Spencer Collins, Joanna Mackenzie, John Trent, Charmaine Stimson, Tom Edwards, Alan Williams, Philip Vingoe, Pam Herbert, Martin Stobitzer, and Bastian D'Avanzo.

But my player of the day must go to Simon Butler who was the ONLY player to guess Norway to win 4-1. Apologies to anyone who saw the league table before it was updated and thought they were getting a red square for a 3-1 result. That extra goal wiped them all out and gave the spoils to Simon. Well done!

Next up... ENGERLAND!!

David

CV Can Put That On Their CV

16/06/26 10:37

Day 5 in the Footcall House...

Just ahead of the report I have lovingly crafted for you, I wanted to highlight a new feature we have on the Footcall League Table. I am sure many of you have noticed the new icons that have been added. The first is quite obvious and the joker character represents players who have used their Footcall Joker to date; any points scored are doubled and appear in a golden box as either two points or the magical six pointer. Also the little star symbol indicates if a player used the Footcall AI Predictor to generate their scores. Out of the 295 entries we had 66 players used AI which is about 23% of the field. I know a few players have two teams one of each flavour and it will be interesting to see how it unfolds over the next few weeks.

Spain 0 v 0 Cape Verde

For those of you that don’t know, Cape Verde is a tiny little island in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of West Africa. They are third smallest nation to play in the World Cup just behind Iceland and dear old Curacao. All I know about it is this is the place you stop off for a Watneys Party Seven and a pack of Percy Pigs if you are doing a round the world yacht race! What their footballing prowess is like we were about to find out.

The Spaniards who are the current Euro champions had us salivating at the excitement of seeing young Lamine Yamal pick up where he left off. Well we’d have to wait for that as he was on the bench.

The game started well and Spain looked to show their class and experience but they hadn’t banked on the Caped Crusaders Verde bringing their appetite for a good dust up.

Try as they might the Spanish could not break their opponents down and if it wasn’t the dogged back four saving the day there was a World Cup superhero making his name between the sticks. At 40 years old Vozinha was not in first flush of footballing youth but nether-the-less he played like a man half his age saving the ball from hitting the net countless times. Wave after wave the Armada pushed forward but time and again old man Voz did the business at keeping the sheet cleaner than their white strip. What is it about this tournament and old men in gloves? Vozinha now joins the ranks of Neuer and Zoff in the pantheon of keepers who are closer to getting their bus pass than your average footballer.

The introduction of Yamal made sod all difference and it was clear that the Spanish really weren’t at the races today. The whistle blew and astonishingly still the scoreboard lads were gently dozing in the corner. An incredible performance from the whole CV team and the guy in goal was entitled to wear his cape on the bus back to the hotel.

Belgium 1 v 1 Egypt

Clearly the Egyptians had watched the heroics of Cape Verde earlier and thought they too would like a slice of that pie. Just 19 minutes in their diligence paid off and Ashour made a bit of space with a deft touch and powered it past the outstretched fingers of one of the best keepers in the tournament. Incredibly Egypt were in the lead and deserved of it too much to shock of the Belgian fans.

Despite having a rocket put up them by the manager the Europeans just could not break Egypt down and once again the team in white seemed to snuff out the boys in red and nearly extended their lead.

In the second half Egypt tried desperately to hang for their first ever World Cup victory but the introduction of Lukaku proved decisive. It was Egypt who were to score the second goal of the game but this time sadly it was Hany putting into his own net.

Full time came and Belgium breathed a sigh of relief and the mantle of being the golden generation seems to be a distant memory.

Saudi Arabia 1 v 1 Uruguay

An end to end game mostly dominated by Uruguay. But it was the Saudis who took the early lead from a ricochet that fell to Al Amri. Both keepers were kept active and the first half finished one nil.

After the break it was all hands to the pump in Saudi defence as Uruguay really pushed for the equaliser. The set pieces had 18 men in the box! Finally the pressure paid off when Araujo found enough space onside to hit home the leveller.

It was pretty much one way traffic after that as the South Americans go for the winner. They definitely would have done it had it not been for the heroics of the Saudi keeper, Al Owais. Another great match full of action.

Iran 2 v 2 New Zealand

The antipodeans kicked off their WC campaign with a great start from Motherwell’s Elijah Just who just happened to be in the right place at the right time. Rezaeian equalised with a dinky little toe poke over the oncoming keeper.

In the second half Just linked up with Nottingham Forest’s Chris Wood for a one two hitting which ended up in the back of the net to forge ahead once again, surely they weren’t going to let this slip again. Well their lead lasted all of nine minutes as Mohebbi nutted home a peach of a cross for a glorious equaliser.

Once again the keepers showed us who are the heroes of this tournament as both of them kept the scores level until the final whistle.

And so to the Footcall League...

Lots of movement in the ol table today and the Belgium Egypt draw rewarded the following with red squares, David Blakeman, James Ellis, Adam Nicholson, Paul Martin, Peter May, Chris and Nick Kotsonis, Dean Johnson, Katherine Beattie, Cassandra Henry, Matt Green, Dugald McArthur, Ian Gallagher, James French.

Meanwhile The Uruguay draw had one of the highest number of reds in Footcall history; Andrew Hawkins, Wendy Strohm, Joe Murphy, Ryan Tapper, Neil Larkin, Lee Harris, James Rowland, Carl Andrews, Christine Jenner (now up to 140th!), Dave Billington, Maxine Read, Christopher Pearce, Jill Fuller, Jonathan Rowland, Andy Green, Paul Martin, Ian Hayes, Jack Butler, James Bradford, Alex Tinsley, Amaia Borges Clark, Mark Mandry, Ned Allfrey, George Relf, Anthony Lloyd, Birgit Hoffstadt, Jason Macklin, Alison Maddigan, Katherine Beattie, Bryan Relf, Harry Squires, Kevin Appleton, Andrew Hodgson, Jake Knott, Matt Clark, Jack Kipling, James Jones, Shaun Cook, Steve Cowland, Dugald McArthur, Stuart Taylor, Kevin King, Alex Church, Tony Gardner, Luke Noble, Manoj Gupta, Tom Fielding, Tom Morley, Patrick Ferguson, James French and Lee Woods all scooped three pointers. If I close my eyes I can still see all those red squares doctor!

Grant Broad, Nick D'Avanzo, Philip Vingoe and Slater Kingsley were the only four players to guess the Iran v NZ match to finish two all. Great call guys, much needed three pointers all round.

The cream has risen to the top with Kevin up there once again, let’s see how long that lasts. Former winner Amaia Borges Clark and Katherine Beattie both picked up six points today but player of the day must go to Paul Martin my old school mate, we sat next to each other in Junior school (1979-83) who hauled in a whopping seven points to jump up into joint seventh!

Over and out for today Footcallers!

David

Germans Shaken But Not Stirred by Curacao

15/06/26 13:20

Day 4 in the Footcall House...

Germany 7 v 1 Curacao

Germany didn’t wait around to break the ice. Just six minutes in, Felix Nmecha received a crisp pass from Florian Wirtz and curled a beautiful effort into the far corner. It was a goal so smooth, it went down like a top shelf drink that hardly anyone orders.

But just when you thought Germany would walk it, the Caribbean side decided to mix things up. In the 21st minute Livano Comenencia found a pocket of space and hit a deflected screaming shot past a old man Manuel Neuer. The Blue Wave fans went absolutely wild, celebrating their nation's first ever World Cup goal. For a brief moment, Germany looked shocked and we were all wondering how this was going to play out.

Nico Schlotterbeck quickly restored order by heading home unmarked from a corner in the 38th minute. To make matters worse right before the break, Riechedly Bazoer gave the referee no choice but to point to the spot. Kai “have a go” Havertz stepped up rolled in the penalty to make it 3-1 going into the break.

If the first half was a refreshing appetiser, the second half was a complete German feast. Just seconds after the restart, Joshua Kimmich threaded a pass to Jamal Musiala who slotted it home.

Curacao simply couldn't find an antidote for the German pressure. Nathaniel Brown joined the party in the 68th minute, capping off his World Cup debut with a beautifully struck volley. Then came the substitutes to twist the knife further as Deniz Undav came off the bench and immediately made a splash, hammering in Germany's sixth from close range.

To put the final garnish on a spectacular evening, Havertz completed his brace in the 88th minute storming through traffic to make it seven. It was a performance that tied Germany's record for the most goals they've ever scored in a single World Cup match.

Curacao, the smallest nation to ever grace the tournament (about the size of the Isle of Man), will have to shake off this hangover quickly as they look to brew up something better against Ecuador next. Germany, meanwhile, looks like they are fully intoxicated by the prospect of another golden trophy.

Netherlands 2 v 2 Japan

This Footcall judge certainly gave this goalless first half nil points. There were chances at both ends but this had nil nil stamped all over it.

That was until the second half began; what a contrast! The deadlock was broken from a Ryan Gravenberch floated a ball into the box and Virgil van Dijk guided his header in off the post to get the Dutch underway.

The Netherlands’ lead lasted barely seven minutes before Kubo showed off some neat footwork to feed Nakamura. The winger let fly from the edge of the box, and a cruel deflection off Jan Paul van Hecke sent the ball spinning past Verbruggen to even the scoresheet.

Back came the Dutch to take the lead again from the boot of Crysencio (don’t call me Jimmy) Summerville.

Just as we thought the Dutch were going to take the three points a late, whipped corner kick met the head of Palace midfielder Kamada. The ball deflected off his noggin and ricocheted toward the roof of the net. Verbruggen desperately clawed at the air, but he couldn't keep it out.

The stadium erupted as the entire Japanese bench emptied onto the pitch to celebrate a dramatic equaliser.

Ultimately, Koeman’s defensive gamble clogged up his team's momentum, and Japan's never-say-die attitude earned them a well-deserved share of the spoils.

Ivory Coast 1 v 0 Ecuador

A barn stormer of a match dominated by Ecuador with plenty of shots from ya boy, Yeboah and Alan Minda (wasn’t a British boxer back in the 70s?). Both players thumped the woodwork twice in almost the identical place. Astonishingly the first half finished without a goal but it had plenty of promise.

In the second half it was Cote d’Ivoire were the boys to strike the crossbar from the boot of Pepe whilst Ecuador played push me pull you with plenty of end-to-end encryption! But it was the Africans that sealed the deal in the 90th minute from a redirected shot by Diallo.

Ecuador who had the form going into this match will be hopping Amad with that result and they will need to bounceback for their next game against Curacao.

Sweden 5 v 1 Tunisia

A real goal-fest promised as Sweden raced ahead with two brilliant goals from Ayari and Isak. They have so much pace and look a real threat on the break.

Rekik managed to get Tunisia back in the match just before half time but they didn’t count on the Swedes switching on the after burners with a dominant second half performance.

Goals from Gyokeres, a moment of controversy by Svanberg and a second belter from Ayari saw the Scandinavians take the spoils with a very convincing victory; they really are ones to watch.

And so to the Footcall League...

Footcallers doing well today include, Richard Croft, lain Baker, James Rowland, Elizabeth Knott, Sean Ellis, Paul Foster, Sadie Colyer, Andy Green, Emma Wakefield, Andrew Brunt, Geoff Mason, Carolyn Burzlaff, Bethany McPeak, Harry Squires, Paul Wakefield, Michael O'Neill, Adam Botting, Adam Aspinall, Henry McKillop, Aaron Sutcliffe, Mark Daniels, Nick Wing, James Parker, Shaun Carroll, Slater Kingsley, Peter Smith, Ben Sibbick all scored red squares for the Dutch match.

Meanwhile James Smith, Mick Spicer, Rosie Franklin, Suzanne Bantel, Adam Jones, Peter Breitenbact, Graham Weaver, Dean Johnson, Kevin Appleton, Alice Brown, Matt Clark, Jade Amos all picked juicy little three pointers for the Ivory Coast victory.

Nobody guessed Sweden would win 5-1 but there were plenty of one pointers up and down the table.

Adam Nicholson has been joined at the top by Hall of Famer Appleton, let’s see who breaks free of the pack.

My player of the day must go to my good friend and fellow Footcaller, Neil Ytee White was the ONLY player to guess Germany to win 7-1. This is right up there as one of the best predictions we have ever had and a worthy entry into the Footcall Hall of Fame Predictions list...
https://www.footcall.co.uk/hall-of-fame/

Well played ol boy you have rocketed into 93rd place!

That’s it for today Footcallers!

David

Qatar-strophic for the Swiss

14/06/26 18:54

Day 3 in the Footcall House...

Hot on the heels of last report we are back with some more words of wisdom.

Qatar 1 v 1 Switzerland

The Swiss got off to a tidy start, clocking into work with their usual precision. Their passing was smoother than melted bar of Milka chocolate and they soon found the breakthrough goal from the penalty spot after a shocking collision between the striker and advancing keeper. Embolo tucked it away from the spot leaving Qatar feeling the early pressure.

Whilst having the Lion bars possession, the Swiss really didn’t capitalise on their lead and their opponents gradually settled into the match. The second half was a real matter of neutral territory as Qatar kept snuffing out any advances.

As the clock ticked down, the Swiss were hanging on whilst Qatar pushed for an equaliser and their efforts were rewarded in the 94th minute goal from the head of The (Boualem) Khoukhi Monster!

At full-time, honours were even. Switzerland left feeling they had let victory cuckoo away while Qatar were happy to pocket a valuable point.

Brazil 1 v 1 Morocco

The Brazilians were the obvious hot favourites for this match despite their taliman Neymar on the bench. But it was the north Africans that were the ones to watch from the whistle with some slick passing and link up play. Brazil were second to the ball in almost every part of the field.

Ismael Saibari put the Moroccans ahead after dominate start with a deftly lobbed the ball over the advancing leaving keeper Alisson in Nowhereland!

This was the kick up the jacksy the south Americans needed and soon enough Real Madrid’s Vinicius Junior draws Brazil level with a spectacular effort before half-time. Pick that out!

Despite being the game being there for the taking, the second half was as dull as wet afternoon in Rhyl with neither side seemed to hit the heights of the first 45. Both keepers were tested but kept their scoresheet level right up until the final whistle.

An honourable draw and Morocco had a lot to be proud of keeping their opponents quiet and Brazil will really have to lift their game if they want to be contenders for the trophy.

Haiti 0 v 1 Scotland

It’s been 28 years since the Scots had qualified for the World Cup Finals, some of you Footcallers weren’t even born. Their dramatic victory over Denmark in the qualifiers see them back on the big stage once again. Their opponents Haiti were a team of players that reside in a host of countries and the unrest in their home nation some of the players had never even set foot there.

Scotland started brightly enough with Mctominay and Gannon-Doak causing a few headaches in the Haitian defence. At the drinks break clearly Steve Clarke told his boys he wanted more direct play and in true Wimbledon ’88 style a long ball over the top a sumptuous touch by Che Adams set up an opportunity for Aston Villa’s John McGinn to send it goal bound. His shot took a slight deflection wrong footing the keeper and found the back of the net putting the Scots one nothing up!

In the second half the Scots worked tirelessly to preserve their advantage and despite Haiti having most of the possession the final whistle blew much to the glee of the tartan army.

Now Scotland face Morocco on Friday and victory will definitely see them through to the Knockouts.

Australia 2 v 0 Turkiye

Turkiye started by completely dominating the game with possession leaving the Aussies chasing shadows. Arda Guler and Ferdi Kadıoglu were cooking early, but they just couldn’t finish the moves.

In the 27th minute the Aussies hit Turkiye on the break as Paul Okon-Engstler lofted a gorgeous ball over the top and young Nestory Irankunda pounced on it out-pacing three defenders to drill a low strike into the bottom corner becoming Australia’s youngest-ever World Cup goalscorer. He immediately sprinted to the corner flag, throwing punches Tim Cahill-style proving he’s got the moves to back up the hype.

Vincenzo Montella’s men threw the kitchen sink at the green and gold in the second half hitting a ton of shots at goal. However they didn’t bank on the Aussie brick wall between the sticks named Patrick Beach. He pulled off eight massive saves proving that trying to beat him was no day at the beach.

Then in the 75th minute Colin Metcalfe intercepted a loose pass and he slotted it home from 25 yards out into the bottom right corner to double the Socceroos lead.

Turkiye weren’t without effort but ultimately failed to trouble to scoresheet as keeper Beach kept his nation in the race, time and again blocking any attempt on goal by the team in red. It’s only his third ever cap for Australia and now he can sew the Man of the Match badge on to it!

With three points in the bag the Socceroos are sitting pretty in Group D tied with the USA. Turkiye will need to re-group quickly before facing Paraguay otherwise their World Cup campaign might be cooked early!

And so to the Footcall League...

A handful of red square players for the Qatar Swiss result including... Lee Harris, Paul Martin, Mick Spicer, Dave Billington, Jill Fuller, Andrew Brunt, Jack Mason, Jason Macklin, Thomas Baus, Linet Leon, Martin Stobitzer. and Jack Kipling.

A surprising number of Footcallers had Morocco to draw one all with Brazil including... Ryan Tapper, Adam Nicholson, Scott Woolford, Sadie Colyer, Alex Tinsley, Iain Robertson, Ned Allfrey, Jonathan Hodgson, Ben Roberts, Stuart Battye, Alan Williams, Matt Green, Philip Vingoe, Kevin Appleton, Andrew Hodgson, Tim Amos, Shaun Carroll, Ian Gallagher, Ben Sibbick, Tom Fielding and Patrick Ferguson.

Adam Billington is leading the table with a 15 massive points but undoubtedly my player of the day must go to Christopher Pearce who was the ONLY player to guess Australia to win two nil. This result has propelled him into 186th place and what a shame he didn’t have his Joker on it!

Onwards to the next World Cup chapter.

David

USA 4 Over PAR

13/06/26 03:53

Day 2 in the Footcall House...

After the Footcall tech boys worked all night we have finally got the brand new league table up and running so it’s all systems go. The crazy schedule of matches at all hours of the day and night will mean the Footcall reports will be delivered at some random times. You know me, I shall do my level best to keep you informed.

South Korea 2 v 1 Czechia

South Korea cooked up a spicy 2-1 victory over Czechia in their World Cup opener. The Taegeuk Warriors started brightly pushing forward with confidence and peppering the Czech defence and their early pressure paid off when a slick move ended with the Koreans grabbing the opener sending their fans into a state of delirium.

Their opponents however, weren’t ready to Czech out just yet. They battled back and found an equaliser that briefly levelled the field. For a while it looked like both sides might have to settle for a point but South Korea had other plans.

With the game entering its final stages the Koreans found another gear and a flowing attack sliced through the Czech back line like a hot knife through dumplings and the winning goal sparked scenes of pure Seoul-ebration.

The Czech defenders spent much of the game trying to keep things tight but South Korea’s pace proved decisive. The result leaves Korea on top form and Czechia searching for answers before their next Group A assignment.

Canada 1 v 1 Bosnia

The Canadians started brightly enough skating across the pitch with plenty of energy. For a while it seemed like Canada might be heading for a result as comfortable as a moose lounging in a lake.

But Bosnia weren’t about to roll over and accept defeat. They gradually found their rhythm passing with real purpose and causing increasing problems for the Canadian defence. Their persistence paid off when they grabbed an equaliser with a moment of Larin-delight-us that left the match perfectly balanced.

The second half became an end-to-end affair as Canada pushed forward looking for a winner and Bosnia kept threatening on the counter and nearly stole all three points.

As the final whistle blew, both sides were left wondering what might have been but the draw keeps Group B nicely simmering.

USA 4 v 1 Paraguay

From the opening whistle, the Americans were bossing the match better than Spruce Bringsteen. They attacked with such enthusiasm that Paraguay’s defence looked like it needed a constitutional amendment. An unlucky touch from a Paraguayan defender Bobadilla put it in his own net. With all Baloguns blazing, the second larin of the day, Fo-larin, put the Yanks two up and then incredibly three up with moments of magic landing faster than a drive-thru burger order.

Paraguay briefly found a route back into the contest with a goal that gave their fans a little glimmer of hope. However, Christian Pulisic marshalled the Americans and they soon put their foot on the gas and turned the game into a Yankee doodle dandy of an attacking display which added a fourth goal to their tally.

The United States declared football independence from Paraguay with a star-spangled 4-1 victory that left Group D seeing stars and stripes everywhere.

And so to the Footcall League...

We now have a brand new look league table with brighter more prominent red (not pink) squares and also the introduction of the new golden squares. These are awarded to those that played their Footcall Joker and had their points doubled for that respective match.

No six pointers today sadly but Adam Nicholson, Mick Spicer, Rachel Rowland, Rosie Franklin, Robert Skyrme, Sadie Colyer, Andrew Brunt, Harry Whitehouse, David Foster, David Ginger, Alex Tinsley, Adam Billington, Chris and Nick Kotsonis, Matt Clark, Emma Wakefield, Jonathan Hodgson, Neil Jefferis, Tom Brudenell, Jamie Marshall & lan Pope, Philip Vingoe, Dave Herbert, Kevin Appleton, Linet Leon, Terence Tettey, Aaron Sutcliffe, Mark Daniels, Sean Fossey, Toby Silk, Nick Wing, Charlotte Briscall, Shaun Carroll, Chris Maker all claimed red squares for the Korean victory.

Meanwhile the Canada Bosnia draw awarded Dan Schroeck, Nick Wyatt, James Ellis, Ellis Parsons, Adam Nicholson, Scott Woolford, Manoj Gupta, Toyah Wood, Harry Field, Richard Goodwin, Elizabeth Knott, Charlie Goodwin, Ami Hale, Mick Spicer, Andrew Brunt, Paul Foster, James Ridley, Jonathan Rowland, Alex Tinsley, Adam Billington, Guy Young, Hélène Wilkinson, Nigel Mirza, Darren Cook, Jack Goodwin, Sid Sollis, Sophie O'Connor, Jack Mason, Carolyn Burzlaff, Colin Jessop, Ross Wood, Alison Maddigan, Lewis Alderman, James Ridley, Alfie Banks, Danny Cook, Dugald McArthur, Mark Brown, Andrew Hodgson, Adam Botting, Mark Fossey, Lee Albrecht, Dugald McArthur, Craig Amos, Richard Croft, Stephen Bingham, Andy Booth all with three lovely points.

But undoubtedly my player of the day must go to Kathryn Rowland who was the ONLY player to guess the USA to win 4-1. Well played Kathryn that could be one of the best predictions of the whole tournament!

Before you know it you will have another report on your mat.

David

Day 1. Goals 2. Red Cards 3.

12/06/26 02:37

Day 1 in the Footcall House...

Here we go again with the 15th edition of our little competition ready to ride the Footcall train once again. After a slower start than my old Vauxhall Viva on a January morning we hit top gear with a terrific turnout. The final tally is still to be counted as we deal with some technical difficulties which is quite customary for day one of most Footcalls. It’s been a long day at Footcall HQ as I chase all the naughty latecomers but as soon as we have done a proper head count later today you will be the first to know.

Once again let me give a big shout out to all the hardcore Footcallers who suffer more glutton for punishment than me at times, you guys are the bread and butter of this event and I am eternally grateful. For all the newcomers to our little show you are in for a right royal treat and I shall do my level best to keep you informed with the capers on the field and backstage in the Footcall changing rooms (properly segregated of course!) Be prepared for some top level bantz and an emotional rollercoaster ride that’s more that Thorpe Park’s Hyperia! Just when you think you’re riding high in the Footcall league this game has an uncanny knack of pulling you back down. If you are one those people who specialise in snatching defeat from the jaws of victory you’ve come to right place; Footcall is a safe place where you can wallow in the misery of being ranked lower a Liz Truss popularity poll.

When I think back to 2024 you only have to ask Jo Mackenzie about Footcall heartbreak as she would have topped the table had England lifted the trophy. With all her eggs in the one Footcall basket saw her tragically drop right out of the money bracket, but hey Jo, at least you got an anecdote out of it!

Meanwhile the Spanish victory saw Chris Sampson hang on to the top spot and claim his second Footcall trophy and put him in an elite bracket alongside Mick Mallion as a multiple winner. Once again Kevin Appleton proved he really is the Footcall GOAT as he bagged a few more points to add to his Hall of Fame tally, let’s see how he gets on this time round. I’ve heard a rumour he’s planning on running a Footcall Training Academy in a remote secret location in the south of France... sign me up Kev!

Your contributions to the Footcall arena are most welcome and we have a lively Facebook page and WhatsApp Group. If you have any comments about the action on the field or the league table we’d love to hear it but keep it clean and respectful as we have impressionable youngsters and naive old folk alike so play fair people.

Let me start by commending (most of) you on your inspirational team names, special shout outs go to all you dedicated individuals who thought long and hard about the punniest and most witty name you could muster, my hat is well and truly doffed! As for all you lot who picked one from an online search of “funny World Cup 2026 team names” it really must have taken it out of you!

Don’t forget after the Group Stages I will be asking you to vote for your favourite team name – I know for some of you this is the highlight of the tournament. For those of you who are interested I have compiled a list of all the former winners of the FTN Award on the Hall of Fame page.

So that's enough chit chat from me, let's get this show on the road and may I wish you every success for your Footcall 2026 campaign!

Mexico 2 v 0 South Africa

After the obligatory opening ceremony which had all the flair of an episode of Ru Paul’s Drag Race. Shakira showed us that those hips still don’t lie and Burna Boy really set the place alight... at times it was like Speedy Gonzalez meets Santo Bugito!

After all that jazz was done and dusted it was time for the first World Cup 2026 match and this was to feature co-hosts Mexico taking on the mighty South Africans. A lively match up was in prospect and right from the off it didn’t disappoint. The Mexicans really dominated the midfield and had the Xoloitzcuintli’s (look it up) share of the ball.

The hosts struck early when Julian Quinones scored in the ninth minute, becoming the first goalscorer of the tournament. The packed Azteca crowd erupted, and Mexico never really looked back. Quinones was lively throughout, causing problems whenever he got on the ball and proving to be South Africa’s biggest headache.

South Africa battled hard but made life increasingly difficult for themselves. Just after half-time, Sphephelo "Yaya" Sithole (I had to type that very carefully I can tell you) was sent off for hauling down Brian Gutierrez when he was through on goal. Down to ten men, the visitors were suddenly facing an uphill climb that looked higher than Table Mountain.

Mexico took full advantage when veteran striker Raul Jimenez headed home Roberto Alvarado’s cross in the 67th minute. Ya boy Raul bobbed up at the far stick and nutted it in the net beyond the keeper’s outstretched arm. What a game he had, it was Jimenez’s first World Cup goal and effectively sealed the result.

Then the match took a twist as things then descended into card-giving madness. South Africa’s Themba Zwane received a red after a VAR review for striking an opponent, reducing his side to nine men. Not wanting to feel left out, Mexico defender Cesar Montes was also dismissed in stoppage time for a last-man foul. I’d not seen this many cards dished out since Brazil played USA in a women’s friendly match two days ago!

The final score read Mexico 2, South Africa 0, but the lasting memory may be a World Cup opener featuring more red cards than goals. Football had officially returned and Footcall has officially arrived with plenty of drama.

And so to the Footcall League...

One game done and we have our first league table, hoorah!

A whopping 14 of you played your Joker on the opening match with a two nil victory to Mexico and are collectively topping the table like a Tour de France peloton. We have a slight glitch in the table as James and Brett appear to be erroneously up the top despite not bagging a full six points. I shall get tech support on this later today and get it fixed don’t you worry.

Let’s give mention to Lee Albrecht, Carl Andrews, James Rowland and Tom Morley who all claimed a perfect 6 pointer in the new Footcall 2026 feature. Well lookie here, if it isn’t dear ol Kev Appleton up the top of the table yet again! Plenty more players scored sixes and I shall do my best to mention you all at other times if you have any other success.

Two Nil was a popular prediction as a shed load of you picked up three pointers and you will still have your Joker to come.

I would like to give the first Footcall Player of the Day (FPOTD) award to Mick Spicer who had not one but both of his times up top with Joker Sixes, he must be cock-a-hoop with that result. Thank god South Africa didn’t score eh Mick?

Stay tuned for more fun and frolics in day two as I have the arduous task of compiling the mini divisions for us all.

Good luck everyone!

David