Sports
France primed for rematch with Morocco side that won't have top scorer
July 4, 2026; Houston, Texas, U.S.; Morocco’s Ismael Saibari is checked on by teammates after sustaining an injury. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-Imagn Images FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — France and Morocco meet on Thursday in the World Cup’s first quarterfinal, reprising their engrossing semifinal in 2022.
France again will be favored after edging that meeting in Qatar 2-0 on an early first goal from Theo Hernandez and late second from Randal Kolo Muani.
And this time, France’s Kylian Mbappe enters in even better form than that of his Golden Boot-winning 2022 performance.
Mbappe owns seven goals through five matches, including his decisive penalty in France’s professional 1-0 triumph over a petulant Paraguay in the round of 16 on Saturday. He’s tied with Norway’s Erling Haaland and one behind Argentina’s Lionel Messi for the tournament lead.
Les Bleus also enter the match with a sense of minor injustice after they were the recipients of all three cautions issued by Uzbek referee Ilgiz Tantashev on Saturday, despite Paraguay’s consistent role as instigators.
That included one to Michael Olise, who leads the tournament with five assists but could be out of a possible semifinal if he earns another caution on Thursday. France appealed Olise’s yellow card against Paraguay, but manager Didier Deschamps confirmed that FIFA’s disciplinary committee had not overturned the decision.
Thursday’s match will be officiated by Argentine Facundo Tello, with the two assistant referees and the fourth official also coming from Argentina, the nation that defeated France on penalties in the 2022 final and will play its own quarterfinal on Saturday.
“I try to trust the referees,” Deschamps said through an interpreter. “I hope that Mr. Tello and his assistants, who we’ll have tomorrow, are as good as (French referee Francis) Letexier and his assistants who refereed another match.
“Obviously, there are always decisions that can lead to discussion. It all depends on which side you’re on, but I consider Morocco to be the opponent. I’m not going to consider the referee an opponent. Quite the opposite, he’s there to ensure the laws of the game are applied as fairly as possible.”
Meanwhile, the Atlas Lions will no longer be a surprise to the world at this stage.
They have followed their 2022 semifinal appearance by winning the 2025 African Cup of Nations — albeit after the fact via an AFC ruling disqualifying Senegal for its behavior in the final — and reaching this stage by drawing Brazil in the group stage and defeating the Netherlands on penalties in the round of 32.
But Morocco will have to carry on, at least on Thursday, without striker Ismael Saibari. He leads his side with three goals at this tournament, but he played only 22 minutes of their round of 16 victory over Canada on Saturday after succumbing to a muscle strain.
While his injury originally was not characterized as serious, he did not participate in Tuesday’s training and was ruled out by manager Mohamed Ouahbi during his news conference Wednesday evening.
“Everybody is available except for Saibari,” he said through an interpreter, “because the match is too early. But I am sure, and I hope that he is not out for the rest of the competition.”
Without him, Morocco eventually overcame a resolute Canadian effort with a brace from Azzendine Ounahi and then Soufiane Rahimi’s second goal of the tournament late in added time.
Only Belgium have more multiple-goal scorers this tournament with four.
–Ian Nicholas Quillen, Field Level Media
Sports
Wyatt Langford helps Rangers uncork 4-run 8th to beat Astros
Jul 10, 2026; Arlington, Texas, USA; Texas Rangers left fielder Wyatt Langford (36) bats against the Houston Astros during the first inning at Globe Life Field. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images Wyatt Langford slugged a tiebreaking home run as the Texas Rangers exploded for four runs in the bottom of the eighth inning en route to a 7-3 win over the Houston Astros on Friday in Arlington, Texas.
Langford answered the Astros’ rally from a three-run deficit with his ninth homer of the season. He drilled a 1-0 fastball from left-handed reliever Bryan King 404 feet to left field, marking the first homer King (2-2) has allowed to a right-handed hitter this season.
Three batters later, Jake Burger joined Langford in that exclusive category. After Langford supplied the Rangers with a 4-3 lead, King walked Josh Jung and surrendered a single to Brandon Nimmo before Burger smacked his 16th homer to left-center. King had not allowed more than one run since April 21 before Texas hung a four-spot on him.
Trailing 3-0 entering the top of the sixth, the Astros mounted their comeback against Rangers starter Cal Quantrill, who had retired eight consecutive batters. Yordan Alvarez blasted his 30th home run of the season and 200th of his career leading off the sixth, a 455-foot shot to right.
Yainer Diaz clubbed a two-run homer off Texas reliever Chris Martin that knotted the score at 3-3 in the seventh.
Quantrill stranded Jeremy Pena and Isaac Paredes in the first after Pena was doubled off at second base on a Christian Walker flyout to left field. Jose Altuve and LaMonte Wade Jr. stroked consecutive singles to open the second, only for Quantrill to retire the subsequent three batters.
After Alvarez singled with one out in the third, Quantrill hit his stride before Alvarez struck a bigger blow. Quantrill allowed one run on five hits and one walk with one strikeout in six innings.
The Rangers struck for two runs in the bottom of the first against Astros right-hander Hunter Brown. Nimmo plated Langford on a single and Burger followed with a run-scoring groundout that drove home Jung.
Joc Pederson stretched that lead to 3-0 with his leadoff homer in the fifth, his 15th of the season.
Brown labored but completed six innings, allowing three runs on four hits with five walks and four strikeouts.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Aaron Donald works out with Rams as comeback rumors swirl
Former Pittsburgh Panther and retired NFL defensive tackle Aaron Donald waves to the crowd while walking out onto the field during his jersey number retirement ceremony during halftime of the Pittsburgh Panthers vs Notre Dame Fighting Irish game at Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh, PA on November 15, 2025. Former Los Angeles Rams All-Pro Aaron Donald has made rumblings about a potential comeback in 2026 after the 10-time Pro Bowler retired in 2024.
The chances of the standout defensive tackle coming out of retirement look significantly more likely after TMZ released photos of Donald working out at the Rams’ facilities on Friday.
?? EXCLUSIVE: Deep breath, Rams Nation … Aaron Donald was spotted working out at the team’s practice facility on Friday — as the retired NFL superstar continues to mull a comeback! (?? @TMZ_Sports ) pic.twitter.com/IHjQP5akmD
— TMZ (@TMZ) July 11, 2026
A dominant presence for the Rams with eight All-Pro selections over a 10-year career, Donald has been out of action since he last suited up and recorded eight sacks in the 2023 season.
Speculation about a potential comeback has ramped up since the Rams traded for the reigning NFL Defensive Player of the Year, Myles Garrett. Should Donald be able to play anywhere near his own stellar standards, a Donald-Garrett pairing would be a dynamic force for the Rams.
Head coach Sean McVay did little to throw water on the situation last month, saying in part he had “talked to (Donald) about the opportunity to bring him on board.”
“If Aaron decides he wants to dust ‘em off at the age of 35,” McVay said, “I bet you he can still do it at a pretty high clip.”
Donald, who had 111 sacks, 543 tackles and 176 tackles for loss in his career, acknowledged at the time that McVay’s pitch had piqued his interest.
“It for sure got me thinking,” Donald told media personality Pat McAfee.
Garrett, 30, owns the NFL record for sacks in a season with 23 last year. He has played nine seasons and 134 career games and recorded 412 career tackles, 125.5 sacks, 23 forced fumbles and six fumble recoveries, all with the Cleveland Browns.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Sonny Gray-led Red Sox top Mets for 7th straight victory
Jul 10, 2026; New York City, New York, USA; Boston Red Sox designated hitter Masataka Yoshida (7) hits a two run double against the New York Mets during the first inning at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images Wilyer Abreu had three hits, including a two-run homer, Friday night as the Boston Red Sox capped an eventful day by beating the host New York Mets, 6-2, in the opener of a three-game interleague series.
The first pitch was pushed back from 7:15 to 7:51 p.m. ET after the Red Sox didn’t land at nearby LaGuardia Airport until after 4 p.m. ET. Boston’s flight out of Chicago was delayed almost 24 hours due to multiple mechanical issues on the club’s charter plane.
Anthony Seigler was 2-for-5 with a two-run homer for the Red Sox, who won their seventh straight. Masataka Yoshida was 2-for-4 with a two-RBI double while Tsung-Che Cheng also had two hits.
Sonny Gray (11-1) won his ninth straight decision after giving up one run on five hits and one walk while striking out three over six innings.
Brett Baty homered and went 3-for-4 as he extended his career-long hitting streak to 10 games for the Mets, who lost for the second time in six games. New York scored 42 runs in its previous five contests.
Juan Soto had a sacrifice fly while Jared Young and A.J. Ewing finished with two hits each.
Starter Nolan McLean (6-6) allowed two runs on five hits and two walks while striking out seven over six innings.
Seigler’s leadoff fly to left glanced off the glove of Soto for a two-base error. Seigler went to third on a bunt by Ceddanne Rafaela and Abreu walked before both runners scored on Yoshida’s two-out double down the third base line.
The Mets built a run in the third. Baty singled and stole second before Zack Short worked a walk. Baty went to third when Short was forced on A.J. Ewing’s grounder and raced home on Soto’s fly to left.
Seigler hit a two-run shot just fair down the left field line against A.J. Minter in the seventh. Abreu hit his two-run homer off Cionel Perez in the ninth.
Baty homered with two outs in the ninth.
–Field Level Media
Wyatt Langford helps Rangers uncork 4-run 8th to beat Astros
Aaron Donald works out with Rams as comeback rumors swirl
