Absolutely pathetic wire to wire

USMNT has never won a World Cup game in which they didn’t score first

I should get a MEDAL for how much restraint I’m showing in not responding “shut up, nerd” to every political pundit’s asinine Balogun posts

Erling Haaland is so big. Why does he not simply eat the smaller boys?

The Tour de France starts in like 6 minutes you should read my story for ESPN on the main guy in bike racing

Never forget Javier Mascherano gave his anus for Argentina in 2014

Absolutely insane that Cape Verde — a country of 500,000 — played Spain, Uruguay and Argentina…and lost to none of them in regulation. Easily one of the greatest performances in World Cup history.

Messi has the most World Cup goals ever, and is now tied for the most World Cup assists ever

His continued exuberance about a Ro32 PK makes a bit more sense when you remember it’s the closest he’s gotten to scoring in a World Cup final.

Today: CONMEBOL 2 Axis powers 0

PARAGUAY YES

Iran were let down by FIFA, the US government, luck, and themselves. www.theguardian.com/football/202...

At first glance I’ll say 85% Canada, 10% Mexican fans who bought tickets thinking El Tri could be in this game, 4% Korean fans who did the same, 1% South Africa

Overwhelmingly pro-Canada crowd here for the first Round of 32 game

The World Cup and, more broadly, just going outside and having fun, is an existential threat to MAGA. www.garbageday.email/p/going-outs...

If this was a backdoor tryout for Turner to start against Bosnia, it hasn’t gone the way he probably hoped it would have

Pulisic has been on for five minutes and has already created three chances in the box. Not too shabby.

probably a good time to repost this/bookmark it for reposting over the next nine months www.baseballprospectus.com/news/article...

The top scorers at the 2006 and 2010 World Cup got five goals. Messi’s matched that in two games.

Well yeah where else is it supposed to go

A reminder that Tim Howard's saves record was set in a match that had 30 mins of extra time. To even come close to that in under 90 minutes is completely insane. www.theguardian.com/football/liv...

That stretch by Bosnia was the most exciting in the entire game, so naturally we go to a hydration break to sap the game of all its momentum.

In Detroit, Every Hitter Is in a Pinch blogs.fangraphs.com/in-detroit-e...

IVE NEVER BEEN WRONG. ONLY EARLY.

what a gift it is to be alive at the same time as Lionel Messi

Classic France. Look awful for an hour, win 2-0 anyway.

What a game we’ve got going on here at [REDACTED] Stadium

They are! Loudly and with regularity.

The pop every time Iran touches the ball is wild. This crowd rules

Crowd here tonight is overwhelmingly for Iran, as can be expected in a city with such a massive Persian population. Should be an electric atmosphere when this one kicks

Gorgeous counterattack by the Aussies

"you can have your life back," my wife says

They wisened up and gave my pal a holy goddamned tv show

Balogun, on whether the US could win it all: “like Poch says: why not us?”

Christian Pulisic said he got kicked in the calf: “I just got a bit of a kick in the first half but I’m hoping it’s nothing”... “I’m staying positive. I don’t think it’s anything at all”

After a lifetime of watching the USMNT play at the World Cup with less talented players, I gotta say, it’s more fun watching them play with more talented players.

FWIW, the players on the field were made to wait about 20-30 seconds after the hydration break to begin play again. Looked an awful lot like it does at NFL games where everyone just stands around while the TV station comes back from commercial.

Pulisic looks like an honest-to-god superstar. He’s controlling everything.

Whoever decided to glass-in the SoFi press box will never see the gates of heaven

Where does the 2026 USMNT come from? And how did they ascend from soccer-loving kids to the World Cup? Story + data viz on the many paths to the U.S. World Cup team, w/ @emilygiam.bsky.social: www.nytimes.com/athletic/734...

Call it the Hand of OG

Spurs pulled a Duke

WHAT ABOUT SCARVES THO

Absolutely brutal minute for Josh Hart

The story of app development post-ChatGPT is that we get features we didn't ask for, and the companies hope we come around later. Oftentimes we don't. So I am writing about my fav sports app, ahead of the World Cup. It's called "Sports" lol. Apple's best work in years! slate.com/technology/2...

Kaleb was nominated for an LA Press Club Award for this piece, co-published in @essesmag.com and Rolling Stone. He is a finalist. I’m so proud of him and so angry and sad that he isn’t here for it. You can read it here: www.essesmag.com/articles/do-...

GREG DAVIES: seems like a kind of a shit task. Everyone just seems like they're going home normally. ALEX HORNE: well before you say that let's have a look at how Odysseus did. cut to panel of AJAX, MENELAUS, AGAMEMNON, and DIOMEDES who are all staring at ODYSSEUS with his head in his hands