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England, Argentina anticipate 'special game' in World Cup semifinal

July 11, 2026; Miami Gardens, Florida, U.S.; England's Harry Kane reacts.  Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images July 11, 2026; Miami Gardens, Florida, U.S.; England’s Harry Kane reacts. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

ATLANTA — England are one win away from their first World Cup final appearance in 60 years.

To get there, all they’ll have to do is beat an Argentina side looking to become the first back-to-back champion since Brazil in 1958 and ’62.

The two sides with a heated World Cup history face off on Wednesday in Atlanta for the right to face the winner of Tuesday’s Spain-France semifinal in East Rutherford, N.J., on Sunday. The losers of each semifinal will meet in a third-place match Saturday at Miami Gardens, Fla.

“This is as big as it gets, so I’m really excited for this week,” England captain Harry Kane told ITV this week. “I think it’s going to be a special game and what a tough team to play against but hopefully, that brings the best out in us.”

England’s World Cup history against Argentina is favorable on the whole, with a 3-1-1 record. Those two non-wins, though, are among the darkest marks in the country’s soccer history, a 2-1 loss in the 1986 quarterfinals on the infamous “Hand of God” goal by Diego Maradona, and a 2-2 penalty-shootout loss in the round of 16 in 1998, a match marred by David Beckham’s second-half red card.

Kane downplayed any notion of those past matches weighing on this England squad.

“I think it’s not something you want to focus too much on, surrounding the history. Yeah, that’s all part of it and that’s what (media members) will talk about, the fans will be involved in,” Kane said. ” … It’s England versus Argentina, it’s two of the biggest nations going toe to toe. Two giants in the semifinal of a World Cup. The rest of it is just a small part.”

While Kane led the way early for England with five goals in their first four matches, Jude Bellingham has been carrying the weight of late. Bellingham has delivered consecutive braces in the last two wins against Mexico and Norway to pull even with Kane and France’s Ousmane Dembele in the Golden Boot race with six goals apiece.

But they’re all chasing Argentine superstar Lionel Messi, who is tied with France’s Kylian Mbappe atop the leaderboard with eight goals in this tournament.

Messi, 39, has already broken the World Cup records for career goals (21) and assists (10) in this year’s tournament, his record sixth appearance. But Argentina showed they are more than Messi the last time out.

He didn’t score in Argentina’s 3-1 extra-time defeat of Switzerland in the quarterfinals, snapping his record nine-match World Cup scoring streak. It was an important showcase of the squad’s depth after he scored eight of their 14 goals through the first five matches.

Despite Messi’s heroics and the rest of the team’s strides, it hasn’t yet felt like Argentina have reached their peak in the knockout stage. They needed extra time to win two of their first three elimination matches and rallied from down 2-0 in the final 12 minutes of regulation to beat Egypt in the round of 16.

“Luck was with us (vs. Switzerland),” Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni said, a statement which could be applied to their entire knockout run. “We must be realistic, there are things we need to improve.”

And yet, here resilient Argentina are, respectful of their toughest opponent to date but certainly not intimidated.

“They have great players, but beyond the individual names they’re a team,” Argentina defender Gonzalo Montiel said. “Our focus is on ourselves first.”

–Field Level Media

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Gold medal gymnast Suni Lee returning ahead of LA28

Jun 28, 2024; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Sunisa Lee celebrates her uneven bars routine during the U.S. Olympic Team Gymnastics Trials at Target Center. Mandatory Credit: Matt Krohn-Imagn ImagesJun 28, 2024; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Sunisa Lee celebrates her uneven bars routine during the U.S. Olympic Team Gymnastics Trials at Target Center. Mandatory Credit: Matt Krohn-Imagn Images

United States gymnast Suni Lee announced on social media Tuesday that she is returning to the sport after not competing since the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Lee, 23, helped the United States win gold in the team competition at Paris and grabbed individual bronze medals in the all-around competition and the uneven bars.

The commitment to return to competition for the St. Paul, Minn., native comes two years before the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

Lee’s comment on an Instagram post read, “I’m back.”

“I know what I’m capable of. I’m willing to do whatever it takes to get there,” Lee said in a short video that included highlights of her gymnastics career. “Back in the gym. We’ll see.”

The video ends with the words, “This is more than a comeback, stay tuned,” typed onto a black screen.

Lee also competed at the 2021 Summer Olympics in Tokyo where she won the all-around gold medal and helped the U.S. to a runner-up finish in the team competition. She also won a bronze in the uneven bars.

–Field Level Media

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Folarin Balogun: Red-card reversal 'controversy' distracted USMNT

July 1, 2026; Santa Clara, California, U.S.; Folarin Balogun of the U.S. celebrates scoring their first goal.  Mandatory Credit: Phil Noble-Reuters via Imagn Images July 1, 2026; Santa Clara, California, U.S.; Folarin Balogun of the U.S. celebrates scoring their first goal. Mandatory Credit: Phil Noble-Reuters via Imagn Images

United States men’s national team striker Folarin Balogun said Tuesday that his overturned suspension in the World Cup went from elation among his teammates to a sense of uneasiness that impacted the side’s final match of the tournament.

In a visit to “CBS Mornings,” Balogun described the whirlwind of emotions that started with his red card in a round of 32 match against Bosnia-Herzegovina to FIFA rescinding his mandatory one-game ban for a round of 16 match against Belgium.

Resentment for the USMNT grew after President Donald Trump admitted that he reached out to FIFA for a review of the decision. The animosity picked up even more momentum when Belgium coach Rudi Garcia said his side was prepared to defend the credibility of the sport after Balogun was ruled eligible.

Belgium dominated the second half of a 4-1 victory on July 6 at Seattle that eliminated the United States from the tournament.

The USMNT’s ineffective play against Belgium was criticized, as was star player Christian Pulisic, who struggled to spark the offense before departing with a leg injury.

“It was a difficult game against Belgium and that can kind of overshadow whether we were focused or not,” Balogun said during his studio visit. “From me, being inside the camp and inside the setup, I know we had full concentration going into the game.”

And yet the team carried the weight of what became a heavy dose of world politics.

“My initial reaction was I was happy to be back in the team, but when I kind of started to reflect, I knew it was going to cause a lot of controversy,” Balogun said. “And I could almost see within my teammates a bit of nerves. Because it is something that is so unique.

“The closer we got to the game, I tried to just focus as best as I could, but it was difficult (with) a lot of outside noise. That’s hard to avoid.”

While the United States won Group D with victories in its opening two matches and won again in the knockout round, it failed to equal its best run in the tournament. The USMNT advanced to the quarterfinals of the 2002 World Cup at Japan and South Korea.

–Field Level Media

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Report: Michigan AD warned coach not to travel with staffer

Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel walks on the court after 96-66 win over USC at Crisler Center in Ann Arbor on Friday, Jan. 2, 2026.Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel walks on the court after 96-66 win over USC at Crisler Center in Ann Arbor on Friday, Jan. 2, 2026.

Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel was concerned about former football coach Sherrone Moore’s improper relationship with a staff member long before the coach’s firing, the Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday.

Moore was terminated in December 2025 for violating university policy by having a relationship with executive assistant Paige Shiver.

A law firm hired by Michigan to investigate the culture inside the athletic department found that the school missed a major warning sign prior to Moore’s first game as the Wolverines’ head coach in 2024, per the report.

Two days before the 2024 season opener, Manuel raised concerns about Moore’s relationship with Shiver.

“I told him I didn’t remember if we had already discussed, but that she couldn’t accompany him on trips,” Manuel wrote in a previously unreported note on Aug. 29, 2024, handwritten on Michigan letterhead.

The law firm of Jenner & Block’s findings indicated that the physical relationship between Moore and Shiver began on a January 2022 recruiting trip in Colorado, when Moore was an assistant on then-head coach Jim Harbaugh’s staff.

Allegations about a relationship between Moore and Shiver “surfaced repeatedly” beginning after Moore became the head coach in January 2024, including a hotline complaint received by Manuel and a report to school officials from Shiver’s father, per the report.

Shiver reported the relationship to the university in late 2025, leading to Moore’s dismissal.

Manuel, who was hired in 2016 and is under contract through 2030, is under fire for his handling of the scandal. ESPN reported Monday that the school’s regents are holding a meeting later this week that could lead to his ouster.

Manuel reiterated Tuesday that he remains the athletic director at Michigan.

“I think I’ve been fired by social media three times in my 10 years,” Manuel said on WTKA-AM, a local radio station. “I just move through it because, to me, it’s nonsense.”

He also defended the accomplishments under his tenure in Ann Arbor.

“I don’t need the credit (for Michigan’s success),” Manuel told The Michigan Insider, “but I’m not going to stand idly by and let people say all this happened despite Warde Manuel.”

–Field Level Media

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