World Cup Day 24 recap: France defeats Paraguay on Kylian Mbappé goal

England famously found itself on the wrong side of World Cup history at Azteca Stadium, surrendering Diego Maradona’s iconic “Hand of God” goal and another strike known as the tournament’s “most beautiful goal.”

Maradona and eventual champion Argentina eliminated England 2-1 in the quarterfinals of the 1986 World Cup, leaving the Brits to stew over their link to a soccer legend.

England will return to Azteca Stadium on Sunday to take on World Cup co-host Mexico in a round-of-16 match kicking off at 5 p.m. PDT and airing on Fox and Telemundo.

England coach Thomas Tuchel said during interviews before their departure for Mexico that this will be a way to “make amends” with the stadium that hosted a goal Maradona punched in with his fist, and “karma will come back for us.”

SEATTLE — James Wilson, one of just six men who signed both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, never could have imagined how grand the country he was founding would become. But he knew how it could get there.

Wilson envisioned a steady stream of foreigners coming to America every year, reinvigorating the energy and vitality the nation needed if it were to survive, much less thrive. Which is why Wilson, who moved to the colonies from Scotland at 22, argued against barriers on immigration that would “deprive the government of the talents, virtue and abilities of such foreigners as might chose to remove to this country.”

What Wilson had in mind, then, is something such as the U.S. national soccer team, which gathered to train Saturday morning, on the country’s 250th birthday.

France 1, Paraguay 0 — 70th minute

Kylian Mbappé scored on a penalty kick to give France the lead in its round-of-16 match against Paraguay.

It was Mbappé’s seventh goal of this World Cup and his 19th career World Cup goal.

France was given a penalty kick after VAR determined Desire Doue was fouled by Paraguay’s Diego Gomez in the box.

Paraguay 0, France 0 — 64th minute

A well-placed shot by France midfielder Manu Koné from outside the box in the 56th minute was batted away by Orlando Gill in the biggest save of the game by the Paraguay goalkeeper so far.

In the 51st minute, a scoring chance for France’s Kylian Mbappé went no where when Paraguay’s Juan Jose Cáceres cleared the ball away.

Paraguay 0, France 0 — Halftime

Tempers flared between the two teams briefly when France’s Kylian Mbappé pushed Andres Cubas after he was pulled down by the Paraguay midfielder in the 34th minute.

It was one of the more exciting moments of a first half that featured France dominating possession but failing to create any major scoring chances.

France controlled the ball for 80% of the first half but had just one shot on goal. It kept the ball constantly on Paraguay’s side of the pitch, but its feeds into the box often failed to connect or were swept away.

Paraguay 0, France 0 — 24th minute

France has controlled the ball for 81% of the match so far, but has yet to generate a shot on goal despite a couple of decent feeds into the six-yard box.

France has passed the ball 170 times and has four corner kicks, but its chances have been limited against a Paraguay team that seems to determined to hold off its talented scorers for as long as possible.

Paraguay 0, France 0 — 11th minute

France has dominated possession so far, keeping the ball on the Paraguay side of the field. However, it has not been able to able to generate any shots or chances so far despite completing more than 70 passes in the first eight minutes.

France, arguably the most dominant team at the World Cup so far, enters its round-of-16 showdown with Paraguay undefeated after outscoring opponents by a combined 13-2.

France star Kylian Mbappé has scored six of those goals and has been a force on offense.

Paraguay, which finished third in Group D, pulled off a stunning win over Germany in penalties. Can goalkeeper Orlando Gill and 41st-ranked Paraguay achieve an even bigger upset against No. 3 France?

Morocco 3, Canada 0, final

Former LAFC goalkeeper Maxime Crépeau sprinted toward Morocco’s goal twice while trying to help Canada head home a set piece. Crépeau hustled back to be sure Canada’s goal was never left unattended.

But the exhaustive effort to try to score in stoppage time once again left Canada vulnerable in transition.

Brahim Díaz passed to Soufiane Rahimi, who pushed the ball past Crépeau for a goal in the eighth minute of stoppage time.

It was a tough ending for Canada, the first the World Cup’s co-hosts to bow out of the tournament.

While Canada will surely lament missed scoring opportunities during a first-half it dominated, the Canadians have made the deepest World Cup run in the country’s history. The team had never previously won a World Cup match and rallied to reach the Round of 16.

Alphonso Davies, Canada’s top scoring threat who had been recovering from injury but played in the team’s first knockout round match as a substitute, didn’t play in the elimination game. It’s unclear whether he suffered an injury setback between games.

Morocco 2, Canada 0, 82nd minute

Canada’s push to score an equalizer left the team exposed in transition.

After Morocco earned possession on its side of the field, the team quickly pressed forward.

The ball was lofted to Brahim Diaz, who was onside and sprinted up the field. He split two defenders on the left side of the box and passed to Azzedine Ounahi, who slotted home a goal from the center of the box.

Morocco 1, Canada 0, 80th minute

Sofyan Amrabat fouled Stephen Eustáquio just outside the box in the 76th minute and the referee awarded Canada a free kick at the top of the box.

Jonathan David tried to bend the ball over the Moroccan wall and into goal, but the shot sailed high over the cross bar in the 78th minute.

Canada quickly mounted a run and forced a goalkeeper save. Canada won a corner on the play in the 79th minute, but Morocco was able to clear the threat and earned a free kick following a foul by Canada’s Promise David.

Morocco 1, Canada 0, 69th minute

Canadian substitute Cyle Larin was going for the ball while trying to break up a goal kick and lightly collided with Moroccan goalkeeper Yassine Bounou.

Larin was hit with a yellow card in a match full of them.

While Canada coach Jesse Marsch sent in Larin, a natural goal scorer, his team has struggled to recover from surrendering a goal and has been far less dominant in the second half.

The hydration break in the 69th minute gives Canada a chance to regroup.

Morocco 1, Canada 0, 50th minute

Canada delivered a strong first half, but it earned no goals.

After Canadian Luc De Fougerolles became the seventh player to earn a yellow card after a late challenge, Morocco delivered a crushing blow.

Achraf Hakimi took a free kick on right side and fed Azzedine Ounahi, who booted a rocket that skipped from outside the box along the right side and in for a goal.

Canada 0, Morocco 0, halftime

Canada has poured on the pressure and frustrated Morocco during the first half, but the teams remain scoreless at the break.

Canada defender Richie Laryea has been a menace, defending well and leading Canada’s switch transition attack while aggressively fighting for all free balls.

Achraf Hakimi got tangled with Laryea multiple times. In the 40th minute, Laryea took a tumble during a promising run toward the right side of the box and yelled back at Hakimi. A shoving match ensued and both players ended up with yellow cards.

Canada’s Jonathan David tackled Moroccan playmaker Brahim Diaz and go a yellow card in the 43rd minute and Azzedine Ounahi took a swipe that got all leg and no ball in the 45th minute for another yellow card.

In all, six yellow cards were issued in the first half and that lives little room for error for the group that must avoid a second yellow and ejection from the match.

Morocco managed one shot on goal before the break, but it was saved.

Canada 0, Morocco 0, 22nd minute

In the 21st minute, center forward Ismael Saibari was treated for an apparent hamstring injury and had to leave the match two minutes later. He was replaced by forward Soufiane Rahimi.

Saibari may have picked up the injury in the 17th minute when he was ruled offside during an Morocco run.

The teams were scoreless during the hydration break in the 24th minute, but Canada had two shots on goal to zero for Morocco and generally have controlled the early portion of the match.

Canada 0, Morocco 0, 8th minute

Canada has been aggressive early, pushing the ball in front of Morocco’s goal.

Canada’s Jonathan David took a shot that was blocked by Morocco goalkeeper Yassine Bounou in the fifth minute.

The Canadians then earned three consecutive corner kicks in the fifth and sixth minutes.

The first was punched away by Bounou, the second was headed away by a Morocco player and the third was again headed away.

SEATTLE — Growing up the son of an NFL wide receiver, Alex Freeman said he felt a lot of pressure to play the American version of football, not the one the rest of the world plays.

“I always got asked if football was the path,” he said last summer. “But I always had a secret love for soccer.”

And he had to keep it a secret because he wasn’t sure his father Antonio, a Super Bowl winner with the Green Bay Packers, would understand.

But his stepfather did. Jake Hinkle introduced Alex to the sport and served as his first coach while his mother Rochelle urged him on.

VANCOUVER, Canada — When the first men’s World Cup game played in Canada kicked off last week, Anthony Totera sat in the stands and wept.

“It was a dream come true,” said Totera, who has spent most of his 57 years on earth promoting Canadian soccer. “I can’t describe the emotions. It was something surreal.”

If the 1994 World Cup, the first held in the U.S., forever altered the direction of American soccer, this summer’s tournament, which Canada is sharing with the U.S. and Mexico, has the potential to do the same for that country.

SEATTLE — Cristian Roldan and Haji Wright grew up less than three years and 30 miles apart, Roldan in Pico Rivera and Wright in Culver City. The odds that they would go on to become teammates on not one, but two, U.S. World Cup teams seem astronomical.

Yet despite starting at the same time and place and arriving together at the same destination, the two players followed completely different paths to get there.

Wright joined the Galaxy’s academy at 14 and signed with Schalke of the top tier German Bundesliga days after his 18th birthday. Roldan was still playing for El Rancho, when he was 17, making him the only member of the U.S. World Cup team to play four years at a public high school.

Fox has adopted a new split-screen approach to ads during the World Cup’s mandatory hydration breaks, after a stir among viewers over how it had been handling the pauses.

At the start of the tournament, the network aired full-screen ads during the three-minute breaks, cutting away from the field during the opening match between Mexico and South Africa. Soccer fans complained that they were missing on-field action, and the backlash mounted.

Playing in goal for the U.S. men’s national soccer team is a little like playing right field for the Yankees. You’re following a long line of great players, making the comparisons — and the high expectations — unavoidable.

Matt Freese is the latest to be thrown into that crucible. But he considers that pressure to be a privilege, not a problem.

A bowl of lemons sits on a table in the conference room Mauricio Pochettino has turned into an office at the U.S. men’s soccer team’s beachfront resort in south Orange County. The citrus fruit, the coach believes, has the spiritual ability to absorb negative energy. On the corner of another table, the flame from a candle flickers.

“I like candles,” says Pochettino, who believes they release therapeutic fragrances and create a calming environment.

But it is the massive, blood-red mural covering the entire south side of the room that truly reveals what Pochettino believes. In the center of the wall, just behind the coach’s desk, white block letters spell out “Why Not” above a script “U.S.,” which, despite the periods, is meant to be read as “us.”

Christian Pulisic is back. Back like Captain America, revived and ready to go after being put on ice for a spell, needed to save the day.

Forget everything else about Thursday’s match against Turkey at SoFi Stadium and marinate on that.

Never mind the United States’ 3-2 loss in their final World Cup Group D match; the result was inconsequential. The Americans knew they were going through to the round of 32, and more, they’d already won the group. No pressure is a privilege, well-earned.

Never mind how the match ended, with a gut punch of a goal from Kaan Ayhan in the final moments of stoppage time.

After the total failure that was Mexico’s participation in the Qatar 2022 World Cup, where they were eliminated in the group stage, the future looked very dire for “El Tri.” By 2024, the situation had worsened after another international failure at the Copa América. The 2026 World Cup co-hosts had even more pressure now. In a crisis-control move, the Mexico Football Federation opted to bring back its proven problem solver, head coach “El Vasco” Javier Aguirre, for a third stint.

In a short time, Aguirre was able to shape “El Tri” into a competitive squad by breaking from his usual approach. The man who shockingly demoted then-24-year-old goalkeeper Guillermo “Memo” Ochoa in favor of a more experienced player prior to the 2010 World Cup was now relying on upstarts.

¿Y si sí?

As Mexico moves to the Round of 16 in the 2026 World Cup following its Tuesday night 2-0 win over Ecuador — advancing in the knockout stage of the tournament for the first time in 40 years — El Tri fans have rallied behind a unifying phrase: “¿Y si sí?”

The simple three-word expression — which roughly translates to “What if… yes?” — has given Mexico supporters all over the world renewed hope: What if Mexico wins the World Cup?

The now ubiquitous phrase has been featured in memes and compilation videos. Even Mexican goalkeeper Memo Ochoa has gotten in on the action, posting a selfie on Instagram wearing a straw cowboy hat with “¿Y si sí?” etched on it.

The Los Angeles Organizing Committee has collaborated with an array of agencies to create one primary fan festival and 10 official fan zones throughout the L.A. area during the 39-day World Cup.

Match broadcasts there will be available via Fox and Telemundo, allowing attendees to follow the tournament live throughout the competition. Each venue will have different programming.

Remember when we were sure the World Cup would suffer from all the issues that had everyone seeing red before the first ball was kicked?

And remember when we were certain soccer could never catch on in this country?

Despite controversies over visas and ticket prices and transportation, and in spite of consternation over expansion and new rules, the game has, as usual, proved too good to fail.

And we, the American people, have become unusually engrossed in it.

Some kids grow up with video games and summer camp. Sebastian Berhalter grew up with the World Cup.

He was 13 months old when his father, Gregg, played in the tournament for the first time and 5 when his dad was called back. And four years ago, when Sebastian was already a professional in his own right, he went to Qatar to watch his father coach the U.S. to the round of 16.

Yet none of that prepared the younger Berhalter for his own World Cup debut earlier this month.

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — What do you mean U.S. forward Folarin Balogun got red-carded? For that?

As a nation, we’re pretty new to all this. And this VAR abomination we’ve all now been introduced to? Thanks, we hate it.

Soccer’s video assistant referee system is worse than the NBA’s tedious in-game reviews. Worse than the existential NFL question of whether it is or is not a catch. Dumber than not being able to challenge obviously miscalled balls and strikes in a pre-ABS baseball world.

MEXICO CITY — After Mexico’s 2-0 victory over Ecuador in the first round of the knockout stage of the World Cup, fans streamed into the streets here to celebrate, blowing horns, waving flags and shouting: “Let’s go to the Angel!”

An estimated 1 million people had flocked to the Angel of Independence, a towering monument on Mexico City’s main boulevard, to watch the game on massive screens. More revelers headed there after the match to party. Red, green and white fireworks exploded, music boomed and strangers danced and cheered together.

But the street was much too crowded. Panic surged, and many fans found themselves packed together with no clear escape.

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Mauricio Pochettino’s team continues to do things in this summer’s World Cup that no U.S. team has ever done before.

Its three wins are the most in a single tournament. So are the 10 goals in four games. It has the best goal differential ever and its two shutouts ties a record.

Yet all that means absolutely nothing to the players.

Like a good striker, Folarin Balogun never loses sight of the goal. And the goal for the U.S. team in this summer’s World Cup hasn’t been just to win, which they’ve done, but to inspire.

And that’s how Balogun found himself on the field, shaking hands with Brazilian referee Raphael Claus, about 45 minutes after Claus gave him a controversial red card in Wednesday’s win over Bosnia-Herzegovina, a red card that will keep him out of Monday’s round-of-16 game with Belgium.

“Little kids are watching, and we have to show them the correct way to handle things, even when you think it’s unjust,” Balogun said Friday.

It’s knockout time at the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

The round of 16 is in full swing, with tournament co-hosts U.S. and Mexico among the teams vying for a spot in next week’s quarterfinals.

Here’s everything you need to know about the World Cup round-of-16 matches being played Sunday and Monday across the U.S., Mexico and Canada (all times Pacific).

The first 23 days of the 2026 FIFA World Cup offered plenty of memorable moments.

Check out The Times’ daily recaps ahead of Saturday’s two-game slate:

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World Cup recap: Egypt, Argentina and Colombia advance to the round of 16

Live updates from Friday’s knockout round games at the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Get the latest news, results and highlights from the 39-day tournament.

July 3, 2026

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World Cup recap: Spain, Portugal and Switzerland advance to round of 16

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July 2, 2026

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World Cup Day 21 recap: England, Belgium and U.S. advance to round of 16

England and Belgium rallied from early deficits and the U.S. held on despite a red card, winning Wednesday to clear the first World Cup knockout round.

July 1, 2026

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Kylian Mbappé leads formidable France on same day Norway and Mexico advance at World Cup

Kylian Mbappé scored his fifth and sixth World Cup goals, leading France to a World Cup knockout round win Tuesday. Mexico and Norway also advanced.

June 30, 2026

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FIFA World Cup recap: Ismael Saibari lifts Morocco to thrilling win over Netherlands

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June 29, 2026

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FIFA World Cup Day 18 recap: Late goal seals Canada’s historic knockout win

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June 28, 2026

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FIFA World Cup Day 17 recap: Lionel Messi makes history again; Iran eliminated

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June 27, 2026

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FIFA World Cup Day 16 recap: Belgium wins group; Egypt ties Iran to advance

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June 26, 2026

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FIFA World Cup Day 15 recap: Netherlands wins group; Japan, Sweden advance

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June 25, 2026

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South Africa pulled off a stunning 1-0 win over South Korea Wednesday night, advancing to the World Cup knockout stage for the first time.

June 24, 2026

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June 23, 2026

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FIFA World Cup Day 12 recap: Lionel Messi breaks scoring record; Algeria wins

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June 22, 2026

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FIFA World Cup Day 11 recap: Mo Salah and Egypt defeat New Zealand

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June 22, 2026

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FIFA World Cup Day 10 recap: Japan, Netherlands dominate; Curaçao makes history

Live updates from the 2026 FIFA World Cup on Saturday. Get the latest news, results, standings and highlights from the 48-team, 39-day tournament.

June 20, 2026

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FIFA World Cup Day 9 recap: U.S. wins its group after Paraguay defeats Turkey

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June 19, 2026

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FIFA World Cup Day 8 recap: Switzerland, Canada and Mexico win

Live updates from the 2026 FIFA World Cup on Thursday. Get the latest news, results, standings and highlights from the 48-team, 39-day tournament.

June 18, 2026

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FIFA World Cup Day 7 recap: Colombia fends off Uzbekistan; Harry Kane ties record

Harry Kane tied a World Cup record during England’s win, Cristiano Ronaldo was held scoreless during a draw, Ghana stunned Panama and more during Day 7.

June 17, 2026

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FIFA World Cup Day 6 recap: Austria beats Jordan; Lionel Messi scores hat trick

Stars Kylian Mbappé, Erling Haaland and Lionel Messi all scored while leading France, Norway and Argentina to wins on Day 6 of the 2026 World Cup.

June 16, 2026

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FIFA World Cup Day 5 recap: Spain plays to a draw with Cape Verde

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June 15, 2026

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FIFA World Cup Day 4 recap: Sweden dominates; Netherlands plays to draw

Follow along for live updates from the 2026 FIFA World Cup on Sunday. Get the latest news, results and highlights from the 48-team, 39-day tournament.

June 14, 2026

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FIFA World Cup Day 3 recap: Australia and Scotland win their openers

Follow along for live updates from the 2026 FIFA World Cup on Saturday. Get the latest news, results and highlights from the 48-team, 39-day tournament.

June 13, 2026

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FIFA World Cup Day 2 recap: Canada plays to draw; U.S. wins its opener

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June 12, 2026

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World Cup recap: U.S. defeats Paraguay with dominant offensive display

Folarin Balogun scores twice and Christian Pulisic sets up two goals to lead the U.S. to a 4-1 win in its World Cup opener over Paraguay on Friday.

June 12, 2026

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FIFA World Cup Day 1 recap: Mexico and South Korea open with victories

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June 11, 2026

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World Cup: Mexico defeats South Africa in game marred by 3 red cards

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June 11, 2026