Sports
Goalie error leads Mexico past South Korea, seals first place in Group A
June 18, 2026; Guadalajara, Mexico; Mexico’s Luis Romo celebrates scoring their first goal with Erik Lira as South Korea’s Son Heung-min reacts. Mandatory Credit: Paul Childs-Reuters via Imagn Images Luis Romo punished a critical 50th-minute error by goalkeeper Kim Seung-gyu, and co-host Mexico’s historical dominance of South Korea at the World Cup continued with a 1-0 victory in Zapopan, Mexico, on Thursday to win Group A.
Raul Rangel made a spectacular late double-save to keep Mexico’s second clean sheet and secure the top group spot, one that guarantees Mexico will play a round-of-32 match and a potential round-of-16 fixture in Mexico City.
Both heroes for Mexico (2-0-0, 6 points) were starring in the venue where they play their club football for CD Guadalajara. Their actions sealed El Tri’s third World Cup victory in as many appearances against South Korea.
South Korea (1-1-0, 3 points) still would finish second in the group with a win in their finale against South Africa (0-1-1, 1 point), regardless of how Mexico performs against Czech Republic (0-1-1, 1 point).
South Korea all-time caps leader Son Heung-min didn’t go the whole 90 minutes for a second consecutive match, with the attacker departing before the hour mark.
Romo’s finish — only his fourth international goal — could not have been simpler after Seung-gyu crashed into a teammate while trying to make a catch and spilled the ball near the penalty spot.
Romo connected on the first bounce, stabbing it with his right foot into an open goal to send a crowd into delight after the fans had been critical of their side not long before.
Seung-gyu made some measure of amends, denying Raul Jimenez with a strong stop in the 75th minute at the near post and making a sprawling denial of Obed Vargas in the 85th.
Shortly after, the rarely tested Rangel was forced into an exceptional sequence, first denying Cho Gue-sung’s header at the back post and then maintaining his position just long enough to deny Yang Hyun-jun’s second effort.
It was a late outburst during a match that took time to get going.
Mexico’s Julian Quinones had the only effort on target before the half, with Seung-gyu denying his glancing header in the 20th minute.
By halftime, the home crowd had tired of Mexico’s passiveness and booed the co-hosts off the pitch.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Fire reel off last 10 points, send Storm to ninth consecutive loss
Jun 17, 2026; Portland, Oregon, USA; Seattle Storm center Dominique Malonga (14) is fouled by Portland Fire forward Emily Engstler (21) during the first half at Moda Center. Mandatory Credit: Troy Wayrynen-Imagn Images Emily Engstler’s basket with 1:17 left snapped a tie and the Portland Fire scored the final 10 points Wednesday night to rally past the visiting Seattle Storm 94-89.
Engstler’s fadeaway jumper put Portland (8-9, 2-5 Commissioner’s Cup) ahead 91-89. Engstler then drove the lane on the Fire’s next possession and fed Bridget Carleton for her seventh 3-pointer of the game with 40.5 seconds remaining for a five-point advantage.
Carleton scored a team-high 24 points and set a career high for made 3-pointers, while teammate Carla Leite added 20 points and 10 assists. Sarah Ashlee Barker contributed 12 points, and Karlie Samuelson came off the bench to net 10.
Dominique Malonga starred in defeat for Seattle (3-13, 0-7) with a career-high 28 points and a season-best 11 rebounds. Natisha Hiedeman added 19 points and tied her season high with five 3-pointers, while rookie Awa Fam matched her season best with 18 points on her 20th birthday.
It wasn’t enough to prevent the Storm’s ninth straight loss, one that saw the visitors get outscored 27-15 in the fourth quarter.
Coming off a 107-74 loss at Minnesota on Monday, Portland got off the mark in a hurry, particularly from 3-point range. The Fire made four in less than two minutes as they started the game with a 16-7 spurt.
Seattle quit turning the ball over and got going behind Hiedeman, who canned a pair of 3-pointers in a 16-5 run that allowed the Storm to take a 23-21 edge to the second quarter.
Neither team led by more than four points in a back-and-forth second period, which ended with Fam making a foul shot with 21.9 seconds remaining to give the Storm a 48-47 lead at the break.
After earning a 20-8 advantage in paint points in the first half, Seattle kept looking inside to Malonga in the third quarter, and she delivered. Malonga’s eight points helped the Storm establish the game’s largest lead at 68-56. While the Fire bounced back, they still trailed 74-67 going to the fourth period.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Ryan O'Hearn's 6 RBIs spark Pirates' demolition of Athletics
Jun 17, 2026; West Sacramento, California, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates left fielder Bryan Reynolds (10) celebrates with teammates after scoring against the Athletics during the first inning at Sutter Health Park. Mandatory Credit: Ed Szczepanski-Imagn Images Ryan O’Hearn homered and drove in a career-best six runs while leading the Pittsburgh Pirates to an easy 12-4 victory over the Athletics on Wednesday in West Sacramento, Calif.
O’Hearn had a two-run double in the first inning, a two-run blast in the fourth and a two-run single in the seventh as Pittsburgh racked up 16 hits while beating the Athletics for the second straight night to end a three-game series.
Marcell Ozuna homered among two hits while Bryan Reynolds (two RBIs), Spencer Horwitz (three runs), Nick Gonzales and Jared Triolo (two runs) also had two-hit games for the Pirates. Brandon Lowe drove in two runs.
Zack Gelof homered in the ninth for the Athletics to extend his career-best hitting streak to 21 games, which is the longest active run in the majors.
Jacob Wilson had a two-run single and Henry Bolte homered for the Athletics.
Pittsburgh starter Braxton Ashcraft (6-3) allowed two runs, one earned, and four hits over six innings. He struck out seven and walked three.
The Athletics activated Aaron Civale (shoulder) off the injured list prior to the game. Civale (5-3) gave up six runs and nine hits in three-plus innings, striking out two and walking two.
The Pirates led 3-0 just four batters into the game.
Horwitz doubled and Lowe walked before Reynolds hit a ground-rule RBI double. O’Hearn followed with the two-bagger to left to make it a three-run margin.
Triolo led off the second with a single and Horwitz hit a one-out double. Lowe and Reynolds followed with consecutive run-scoring singles to make it 5-0.
Civale walked Lowe to start the fourth and was removed in favor of left-hander Jose Suarez. Two batters later, the left-handed-hitting O’Hearn sent the ball over the fence in left to make it 7-0.
The Athletics got on the board in the sixth. Nick Kurtz singled and Shea Langeliers walked before both moved up on an infield out. Wilson followed with a two-run single to center.
The Pirates piled on with five runs in the seventh, beginning with Ozuna’s 448-foot homer to center off Scott Barlow.
Jake Mangum followed with a single and Barlow hit both Triolo and Henry Davis to load the bases. Luis Medina walked Horwitz to force in a run, and Lowe hit a sacrifice fly to make it 10-2.
After Reynolds struck out, O’Hearn’s single to left-center boosted the gap to 10 runs.
Bolte hit his second career homer in the seventh for the A’s before Gelof continued his streak in the ninth.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Jesse Marsch on Ismael Kone's injury: 'Could hear the bone snap'
June 18, 2026; Vancouver, Canada; Canada’s Ismael Kone is stretchered off after sustaining an injury. Mandatory Credit: Anne-Marie Sorvin-Imagn Images Canada midfielder Ismael Kone was scheduled to undergo surgery on his injured left leg after sustaining the ugly injury in his national team’s 6-0 win over Qatar on Thursday in Vancouver.
Coach Jesse Marsch said postmatch, according to The Athletic, that he “could hear the bone snap.”
“Your heart goes out to him,” Marsch said. “Everybody’s shaken for him.”
The coach added, “I haven’t spoken to Ismael yet, but he’s at the hospital. He will prepare for a surgery. I’m going to go see him after this press conference. We’ll see exactly what we decide to do for him. His family is with him at the hospital, so his mother’s there and his family.”
In the 51st minute of the Group B match, Qatar midfielder Assim Madibo attempted a tackle on Kone, but his right foot brought Kone to the ground. Trainers were immediately called onto the pitch as Kone was in visible discomfort before being stretchered off moments later.
Sitting up on the stretcher, Kone gave a thumbs-up sign to the fans while taking oxygen.
After a video review, Madibo was shown a red card, Qatar’s second of the afternoon, leaving the team with nine players to finish the match.
Kone was replaced by Nathan Saliba, who scored in the 64th minute. Canada improved to 1-0-1 (4 points) to tie Switzerland for the top of the group standings, while Qatar dropped to 0-1-1 (1 point).
At the end of the match, Marsch and Qatari coach Julen Lopetegui had a tense exchange as they shook hands. In response to Lopetegui’s comments, Marsch gave a dismissive wave.
Kone, who turned 24 on Tuesday, has made 42 international appearances and scored four goals. He came on as a substitute in all three of Canada’s World Cup matches in 2022. On June 12, Kone started and played the full 90 minutes of Canada’s 1-1 draw against Bosnia and Herzegovina.
He started his professional career at CF Montreal in 2021 before stints at Watford, Marseille, Rennes and Sassuolo, his current club in Serie A in Italy.
“It’s a huge loss for us,” Marsch said of Kone. “He’ll be fine. Right, we’ll get him good doctors, we’ll get him back. Obviously, our heart is with him, but that kid’s got a big future, and he’s a big part of everything we do.”
–Field Level Media
Fire reel off last 10 points, send Storm to ninth consecutive loss
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